Elana Amsterdam took the publishing world by surprise in 2009 when her first cookbook, The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook, became an overnight success. Now, Elana’s second cookbook, Gluten-Free Cupcakes: 50 Irresistible Recipes Made with Almond and Coconut Flour is set to release this month, and it will surely be another best-seller. Even more wonderful … it is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble for an incredible promotional price. Gluten-Free Cupcakes is almost 50% off - $9 for a full-color cupcake cookbook if you pre-order it now!

If you have Elana’s first book, then you will know what to expect … beautiful photographs that showcase the recipes, a neat and tidy format, and recipes that produce delicious results with unbelievably short, whole food ingredient lists.

Though the book is promoted as gluten-free, the cupcakes really are grain-free too. As an added bonus, most of the recipes are dairy-free and all are soy-free. Because of their grain-free nature, all but a couple of the cupcake recipes do contain eggs (if you are confusing eggs for dairy, see this post), so this is not a vegan publication. However, Elana includes a perfected vegan chocolate cupcake recipe to share with vegan and egg-free friends (49 batches until success!).

The chapters are broken down as follows:

1. Classic Cupcakes
2. Chocolate Cupcakes
3. Fruity Cupcakes
4. Warm & Spiced Cupcakes
5. Special Occasion Cupcakes
6. Savory Treats
7. Frostings, Fillings, and Toppings

I had the honor of previewing this cookbook, and have already eagerly dog-eared several recipes. Some that I plan to make very soon include the Vanilla Cupcakes, Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes (I am too curious on this labor of love!), Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes, Pina Colada Cupcakes, Cinnamon Crumb Cupcakes, Honey Walnut Cupcakes, German Chocolate Cupcakes, Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes, Breakfast Bran Muffins, and finally the Pecan Pie Cupcakes ... all topped with piles of dairy-free frosting of course!

Nonetheless, there are so many more cupcake and topping recipes that you will want to dog-ear your own favorites. Make sure you order a copy while it's on pre-order discount and be one of the first to dive into these recipes.

This is a third-party review by Alisa Fleming, founder of GoDairyFree.org, blogger at Alisa Cooks, and author of Go Dairy Free: The Guide and Cookbook for Milk Allergies, Lactose Intolerance, and Casein-Free Living. Alisa is also a freelance writer for several publications, with an emphasis on creating recipes for various types of special diets.

To purchase Gluten-Free Cupcakes, visit Amazon or Barnes & Noble.