Bake This. Eat That. Then Move!

Almond Lemon Ricotta Cheese Muffins - Gluten-Free

2012-01-27T22:56:00.001-08:00

Y.A.M

Yet. Another. Muffin.

What can I say? I love muffins. They are comfort food to me. So the more choices the merrier!

These muffins really are as good as they look. Originally based on this one from the Food Network, I found many variations online. I looked at a bunch and picked up ideas to blend into yet another variation - Gluten free and reduced sugar. And of course, using Ricotta Cheese ups the protein, which is a great addition to any muffin. And who knew adding Ricotta cheese fluffs up a muffin, creating a texture similar to a gluten-full muffin? I surely will start experimenting with Ricotta cheese in more of my baking.

Gluten-free Lemon Almond Ricotta Muffins

Ingredients:

1 cup Gluten-free flour blend (or your favorite GF blend)
1 cup Almond Meal/flour
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1 scant tsp Xanthan Gum
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 cup Sugar (you can replace half the sugar with Erythritol or Splenda)
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1 Tbs lemon zest (this gives a strong lemon flavor; use less for a more subtle lemon flavor)
1 large egg
1 cup Ricotta cheese (I used reduced fat)
1 tsp Almond extract(use a little more for a more intense almond flavor)
1 Tbs fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup milk
sliced almonds, not toasted

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 12 muffin tins with paper liners.

Whisk flour, almond meal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and set aside. Set aside.
Using an electric mixer, cream the butter. Add sugar and lemon zest and mix until blended well.
Add the Ricotta and blend.
Add the egg, lemon juice, and almond extract.
Add the dry ingredients and mix until fully incorporated.
Slowly add the milk and mix until just blended. The batter will be thick.
Fill muffin tins pretty full (an ice cream scoop is great for this).
Sprinkle the sliced almonds over the tops, and press them into the batter lightly.
Bake for approximately 20 - 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
Remove muffins from tins to cooling rack.

These freeze very well in an airtight freezer bag - just be sure you get all the air out. I take them out of the freezer and pop them into the microwave for about 15 seconds. They still taste fresh baked!

Almond Banana Blueberry Muffins - Gluten-free

2012-01-03T21:55:00.001-08:00

My new favorite gluten-free muffin. And relatively low in processed sugar - it's not a super sweet muffin.

I love baking with almond meal/flour - skins on or blanched - it doesn't matter to me. I use both. If I'm making a cake and I want it to be a little lighter texture, I tend to use the blanched. For cookies, or anything more substantial, the regular skin-on works great (even for Macarons!). The Almond Meal from Trader Joe's is a great deal - cheaper even than buying almonds and grinding them up in the processor.

I like to make a batch of these and stick them in the freezer (making sure to get all the air out of the freezer bag). I take out one each day for a snack, let it thaw for a while, and then pop it in the microwave for about 10 seconds, for that 'just baked' taste. Works every time. They are moist and delicious.

OK - I confess. sometimes I put in chocolate chips instead of blueberries. Whatever works, right?

Gluten-free Almond Banana Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups Gluten-free flour blend (or your favorite GF blend)
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbs Almond Meal/flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1 1/2 tsp Xanthan Gum
1 tsp Cinnamon (optional)
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 cup Sugar (you can replace half the sugar with Erythritol or Splenda)
1 1/2 cups smashed RIPE bananas (approx 3 medium)
1/4 cup plain yogurt (I use 2% Greek yogurt, but any will do)
2 large eggs, slightly beaten
6 Tbs butter, melted and slightly cooled
2 tsp Almond extract
1/2 to 1 cup blueberries (or whatever fruit or chocolate you want to add)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 12+ muffin tins with paper liners.

Whisk dry ingredients in a large bowl. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine smashed bananas, yogurt, eggs, melted butter, and almond extract.
Add wet ingredients to dry and mix gently to just combine.
At this point, you can gently fold in the blueberries, or, you can see what I do in step 6
Fill muffin tins pretty full (an ice cream scoop is great for this). If you have too much batter for 12 muffin tins, break out another tin and make a couple more.
If you didn't fold your blueberries into the batter in step 4, poke 4 or 5 blueberries into the batter of each muffin with a knife. Is that weird? I do it because this way the muffins don't sink to the bottom or break down from the folding and give me messy blue-colored muffins (although you might like them that way!). This gives me a muffin with whole blueberries throughout.
Bake for approximately 20 - 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
Remove muffins from tins to cooling rack.

Allow to mostly cool before digging in, but they're awfully good when they're a little warm!

Bon Jour! French Macarons!

2011-12-30T12:51:00.000-08:00

And Happy New Year!

A French Macaron (pronounced mac-a-ron), made with almond meal and egg whites, is not a Macaroon (pronounced mac-a-roon) made with coconut and egg whites (and often other stuff). What you see here is a macaron. I've been surprised at how many people I know have never heard of a macaron.

And of course, they're naturally gluten-free.

I put off making these babies for a long time because, well, I was intimidated. I knew they were challenging, but I knew that eventually I would try. I finally tried, and failed. Twice. It's all about getting the batter at the right consistency. First time I overmixed it (and then I overbaked), and second time I undermixed it. I think I had to get it wrong both ways before I figured out the right consistency.

The good news is they tasted great, even though they looked funny (no, I did not take pictures).

The ones here are made with blanched Almond meal/flour (and while I love Bob's Red Mill company and products, I buy my blanched Almond meal from Honeyville Farms at almost half the price). But I have also made them Trader Joes Almond Meal with skins on, and it works as long as you sift it a couple of times.

I have probably read 30 blogs and websites about making macarons, and I found it interesting to see the slightly different techniques used (and not used). But somehow they all seemed to end up with beautiful pictures of Macarons.

The blog I found the most helpful, and who's recipe I used (with minor tweaks) is from Stella at Bravetart, who is a professional macaron baker (hello.... can you say 'dream job'). Really good and sometimes amusing explanations and descriptions, with an emphasis on what's important when making macarons, and what's not. Worth a read (or two) if you're considering making macarons.

From what she describes, and from what I've read other places, and most importantly, from what I found in my own Macaron-baking experience, here's what stands out for me:

I've used both almond meal with skin on and blanched Almond Meal. They both work just fine - but it's important to sift it first, no matter which one you use, but especially for the meal with the skin on. If you're left with a few bits that simply won't sift, just add it in - it won't hurt the batter.

The temperature of your egg whites really doesn't matter. I've used them just a few minutes after taking them out of the refrigerator. Most recipes say they need to get to room temperature or set out for a day or more. Yikes!

Unless you have a big commercial oven - don't try and bake more than one tray at a time, at least, that's been my experience.

The good news is you can pipe the macarons and put the first tray in the oven immediately while the other(s) sit out and wait their turn. Most recipes say the piped macarons should sit out for 30-minutes or more. I have found it makes no difference.

Great tip: trace circles onto your parchment paper using a cookie cutter (1 1/2"), and then turn paper over onto your baking sheet. You can still see the circles to use as a guide when you're piping the batter.

Great tip: Get everything prepped before you actually start mixing it up. I get my ingredients weighed, my circles drawn, by my pastry bag ready, etc. so that once I start the process I don't have to stop in the middle to prepare an ingredient.

Great tip: To fill your pastry bag without it all smooshing out the tip, twist the bag right above the tip and clip it closed with a binder clip. Set it in a tall glass or container. Fill the bag with the batter. When you're ready to pipe, just lift and remove the clip.

These taste great when they are freshly made, BUT, something magically happens to the flavor and texture when you refrigerate them for a few hours or overnight, and then let them come to room temperature. Really. Amazing.

Here's the recipe from Bravetart (slightly modified)

French Macarons
Ingredients:

4 oz Almond Meal/Flour
8 oz Powdered Sugar
5 oz Egg Whites
2 1/2 oz Sugar
1 Vanilla Bean, scrapped, or 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 tsp Almond Extract (not in original recipe)
1/2 tsp Salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees, line two baking sheets with parchment paper, and have your pastry bag with tip ready.

Add the almond meal and powdered sugar to your food processor and process for 15 seconds or so. Then sift, adding any bits that don't sift into the mix.
Combine egg whites, sugar, vanilla bean scrapings (not extract) and salt in your stand mixer bowl and using the Whip beater attachment, whip for 3 minutes at medium (about setting 4 on a Kitchenaid)

Increase the speed to medium-high (setting 7) for another 3 minutes.

Then increase the speed to 8 for another 3 minutes.

Turn off the mixer and add any additional flavorings or colors - this is when I add the Almond extract and/or Vanilla extract - and whip for a minute to blend. The egg whites will be *very* dry and stiff.

Remove the beater and bang it against the side of the bowl to remove all of the egg whites.

Add the almond meal/sugar mixture to the egg whites, and start folding it in (counting your folds). It will come gradually together. Once you get to about 35 - 40 folds, you'll want to pay attention to the consistency. If you pick a little up with a spoon and drop it back it, it should gradually blend into batter again, after about 20 seconds. If it's still too thick, you'll want to do one or two folds, and then test it again. You don't want it to get to the point where it 'runs' off the spoon. Rather, it should be "lava" like.

When you have the batter just right (!), transfer some of it to your piping bag fit with about a plain tip.

Start piping out the batter onto the pre-traced circles, staying just inside the edge of the circle.

When you've piped your first tray, rap the tray against the counter 3 times, turning it once, for good luck. OK - not really for for good luck. It's to remove any air bubbles that might be lurking within your macarons.

Put your first tray in the oven. While they're baking, you can pipe your second pan, bang it, and let it rest until it's time to bake. The original recipe calls for about 18 minutes of baking. I found in my oven it took about 26 minutes. Moral of this story: know your oven. How do you know when they're done? I'm still trying to figure that out. You want to be able to gently peel one off of the parchment, without pulling the whole top off (don't ask me how many times I've done that!). I think that's just something that comes with practice.
When the first tray is done, let them cool on the tray on a cooking rack for a while, before peeling them off.

Once completely cooled, put them together with your favorite filling, and then strut around the house proudly because you, my friend, made French macarons!!

These were some of my first ones made with the Trader Joes Almond Meal. No color - just the natural specs of the skin. I kinda like that look. Cute though, aren't they?

I could make these all day, experimenting with flavors and colors. If I only had the time. Now I must go make some. Right now.

Gluten-free Ricotta Strawberry Crepes

2011-07-17T22:48:00.000-07:00

I get hungry all over again just when I look at them.

I grew up eating 'blintzes,' which is basically Cottage or Ricotta cheese enclosed in a crepe, sometimes with fruit. We bought them frozen, and heated them up until cooked through. I loved those blintzes. So much, that in later years, I would buy them frozen, and heat them up. Definitely brought me back to my childhood. Comfort food.

Well, no need to do **that** anymore. While these are not quite the same as the paper thin crepe folded around sweetened Ricotta cheese, these are even better! This 'recipe' is really just an invitation to get creative with your own Ricotta fillings. Just make it up! That's what I did.

I used the crepe recipe I blogged a while back. Very quick prep, and no special equipment needed.

For this recipe, I wanted to keep the refined sugar content down - keeping it a little more savory than sweet. But you can adjust the amount of sweetener to your own taste. I diced fresh strawberries to incorporate into the mixture, which ensured strawberry in every bite. Yum!

Use your favorite crepe recipe, or mine

Here's what I did for the filling:

Strawberry Ricotta Cheese Filling for Crepes

Ingredients:

3/4 Ricotta Cheese (I used skim)
2 Tbs Greek Yogurt
2 tsp Organic Agave (or your choice of sweetener)
4-5 Strawberries, diced and then placed on a paper towel

Directions:

Wash and dice the strawberries first, and put them on a paper towel to dry out a bit.
Whisk together the cheese, yogurt, and sweetener
Add in the strawberries and mix gently.
Place a crepe on a plate, and put a few tablespoons of filling on one side, leaving about 1/2 inch border (don't put too much or it will be hard to roll).
Roll it up from the filling side, ending with the seam side down.
Repeat, eat, enjoy!

Now it's your turn.. how are you going to make your Ricotta filling?

4th of July, 2011

2011-07-03T10:32:00.000-07:00

Happy and Safe 4th of July, 2011 !!

Organic Berries from Whole Foods (on sale :-). Sweet Tart and Creme Patissiere (Pastry Cream) recipes both from Joy of Baking. What a great website! Will be looking there for recipes to convert to Gluten-free.

Gluten-free Bakewell Tart (aka Almond Tart)

2011-06-27T22:15:00.000-07:00

You may be asking, 'What is a Bakewell tart'? I know I was. But I just knew when I came across this recipe on cakes'n'bakes I had to try it. Immediately. So I did.

According to Wikipedia, "The Bakewell Tart, not to be confused with the Bakewell Pudding, is a shortcrust pastry with a layer of jam and a sponge filling with almonds." It may or may not have originated in Bakewell, England. Wikipedia wasn't clear about that. Do I care? Nope.

This tart is quite delicious. In particular, the crust is wonderful to handle considering it is gluten-free. I suspect I will be using the crust for many different tarts this summer (I don't even know where to begin!).

I rarely make a recipe exactly as written, but I did this time, and I wasn't disappointed. However I will try a few changes next time: I think I will prebake the crust for 5 or 10 minutes before filling it. Just to give it a bit more color. I might add a bit more almond extract to the filling for a more intense almond flavor. And finally, I will try replacing the sugar in the filling with a combination of Splenda and Erythritol. I suspect it will work.

Oh.. and I didn't have a 10" tart pan - mine is 9.5" so I ended up with extra filling and dough. What to do, what to do, what to do...??? Easy!
Got out my mini muffin tin and ta da! (three of the five left, after I devoured two :-)

Happy baking!

Gluten-free Bakewell Tart (from Bakes 'n' Cakes)
(Makes 1- 9 1/2" or 10" tart)

Ingredients:
Tart Pastry

1 2/3 cups Gluten-free flour (recommended 1 cup Brown Rice flour, 2/3 cup Potato Starch, 1/3 cup Tapioca Flour)
1 tsp Xanthan Gum
2 Tbs Sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, Cold
2 Egg Yolks
1/2 tsp Almond Extract
1 - 2 Tbs Cold Water

Almond Filling (Frangipane)

9 Tbs Butter, room temperature
1/2 cup Sugar
3 Eggs
1/2 tsp Almond Extract
1 1/4 cups Almond Meal
2 Tbs Gluten-free Flour Mix
1/2 cup Jam (I used Red Raspberry)

Also, sliced almonds and powdered sugar.

Directions:
Pastry

Sift together the flour, xanthan gum, sugar, and salt and add to food processor.
Quickly cut the butter into small pieces and process with flour until blend is small and crumbly.
In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg yolks and almond extract. Add to flour mixture and process for a few seconds.
With processor running, slowly dribble in the cold water until the mixture comes together to form a ball.
Form the dough into a disc, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, remove dough and roll out on lightly floured surface (silpat mats are great for this) using a lightly floured rolling pin. Roll to about 1/4 inch thickness. The circle should be larger than the tart pan. If the dough tears while rolling, pinch it together
Lightly grease and flour the tart pan.
Gently loosen the dough from the surface (I used my longest offset spatula), fold in half, and lift it into the tart pan. Don't worry if it tears - it can easily be patched.
Press the dough into the pan, and cut off the excess.
Put the tart pan into the freezer for about 15 minutes. A good time to make the filling!

Filling

Using a mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. (Don't worry if the batter starts to look curdled).
Gradually add the almond meal and the flour. Mix well.

To assemble:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
Spread an even layer of jam over the bottom of the tart.
Pour the almond batter over the jam layer, spreading and smoothing the top.
Bake for approximately 30 minutes. The top may poof up and brown some.
About five minutes before it's done, sprinkle with the sliced almonds and return to oven until done.

Remove from the oven, and allow to cool completely before removing it from the tart pan. Dust with powdered sugar, and have at it!

Gluten-free French Pancakes (aka Crepes)

2010-12-31T10:40:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

I haven't had much time to post recipes this year, but I thought I could add one you might like to try on New Years morning. Hopefully I will have more time in the New Year.

This was so easy convert to gluten-free (I love when that happens). The original recipe is from Joy of Cooking and it's one that I used to make for my kids - it is one of their favorites.

It's a great breakfast recipe because it's quicker to make than regular pancakes, but just as satisfying. The bad news is you can't make them on a griddle - so you can only make one at a time (challenging if you have more than one kid:-) - or you can use two frying pans if you have them.

When I make them, they are not quite as thin as traditional crepes made using a crepe pan (which cooks on the upside-down bottom of the pan). I could probably make them thinner if I used less batter - I'll have to try that some time. But they are definitely thin enough to roll up with your favorite filling if you choose.

The original recipe says to cook them in a few drops of oil in the pan, which I did. They were fine that way, but I also tried cooking them in a tiny bit of butter instead, and I liked the way they tasted even better. No surprise there, I guess.

Gluten-free French Pancakes (adapted from Joy of Cooking)
Makes about 6 - 6"-7" Pancakes

Ingredients:

3/4 cup your favorite Gluten-free Flour Mix
1 tsp Baking Powder (not needed if your Gluten-free flour mix has it)
1-2 Tbs Powdered Sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp Xanthan Gum (not sure if this is needed - I'll try it without next time)
2 Eggs
1/3 cup water
2/3 cup Milk
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

Directions:

Sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, xanthan gum, and powdered sugar and set aside.
Beat the 2 eggs. Add the milk, water, and vanilla and beat.
Make a well in the dry ingredients, and add the egg mixture. Mix together, but don't worry if there are small lumps in the batter.
In a small frying pan (mine is about 7", but you can use even a smaller one) heat a bit of oil or butter.
Add about 3 or 4 Tbs of batter, and swirl it around so it covers the bottom of the pan.
Cook over medium heat until the bottom is lightly browned, and carefully flip over. The second side usually cooks more quickly than the first side - so watch it carefully.
Enjoy with your favorite topping!

Gluten-free Waffles!

2010-09-14T22:47:00.000-07:00

Just because sometimes I really want a Waffle! And because I can't always get to Sfoofs, my very favorite cafe for Gluten-free waffles.

So it was a "do-it-yourself" morning. Except I planned it last night. That's because this is a yeast-based waffle which is easiest and tastiest when you make batter ahead of time and let it rise in the refrigerator overnight. When you think of it, it's really a great idea. Because then all you have to do in the morning is fire up the waffle iron and bake away. Easy peasy. And if you're really good, the coffee is brewed by the time your first waffle is ready.

I remember going to the World's Fair in New York when I was a kid, and having my first Belgian Waffle with powdered sugar, whipped cream, and strawberries. It became one of my favorite treats, and still is! Unfortunately, I had no whipped cream or strawberries on this morning, so maple syrup and bananas had to fill in. No complaints.

The thing that I love about these particular waffles is that they are crisp on the outside, but soft and waffley on the inside. Perfect!

Gluten-free Waffles
Makes about 6 - 7" Waffles
Ingredients:

3/4 cup Brown Rice flour
3/4 cup White Rice flour
1/4 cup Tapioca Starch
1/4 cup Potato Starch
2 tsp Yeast
1 1/2 tsp Xanthan Gum
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp Sugar
1/4 cup Butter, melted
2 cups milk, warmed to about 100 - 105 degrees
2 Eggs
2 tsp Vanilla Extract

Directions:

Combine the flours, yeast, xanthan gum, salt, and sugar in a bowl and whisk together to blend.
Combine the melted butter and warm milk, and add to the flour mixture.
Mix the eggs and vanilla together, and whisk into the flour mixture to blend well.
Cover with plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator overnight.
In the morning, mix the batter for a few seconds.
Preheat the waffle iron, and add 1/2 - 1 cup of batter, depending on the size of the waffle iron.

While the waffle is cooking, gather up your toppings: fruit, syrup, jam, etc.

Leftovers can be frozen in a freezer bag, putting parchment or wax paper between layers of waffles. Then just thaw briefly, and put in your toaster to reheat. *Almost* as good as fresh!

Gluten-free Rugelach - Finally! (Sugar-free Option)

2010-09-10T22:45:00.000-07:00

It's the real thing, minus the wheat. Honestly - if you put this side by side with this you would not be able to taste them and tell which is gluten-free.

Rugelach is a fun, traditional Jewish cookie that can be filled with all kinds of things - different flavors of jams (I use sugar-free), different kinds of chopped nuts, different kinds of chopped dried fruit like currants or cranberries, and of course, Chocolate.

The dough is a little more delicate to work with than its wheat-based sister, but not as bad as I expected. I was easily able to patch any small tears in the dough. I roll the dough out a little bigger than a 9" circle, and then do a rough trim to 9", patching as needed (as you can see below).

Like a pie dough, you want to be sure to refrigerate it for several hours or overnight, then rolling it out quickly while it's still cold. Also like a pie dough, it should be rolled from the center outward, not 'back and forth.' If you find the dough sticks to the rolling pin, just peel it off and press it back onto your circle. And be sure to use rice flour on your rolling surface and on your rolling pin to help prevent sticking.

In the past, I would heat up my jam to make it more spreadable. This time, I just brushed it on liberally straight from the jar. I use sugar-free jams that are only fruit sweetened. Some taste better than others, so it's always good to use a jam that you know has a nice taste. Unfortunately, the brand I like is not inexpensive, but it's worth it. The jam quality can make or break the flavor of your rugelach.

This recipe is relatively low sugar, and can easily be made without any processed sugar. I've made the dough without any sweetener, and also with a little bit of Erythritol. It tastes good both ways - so play around with it and see what works for you.

Gluten-free Rugelach (with Sugar-free option)
Makes 48

Ingredients for Dough:

2 cups Gluten-free Flour
1 1/2 tsp Xanthan Gum
1/4 cup granulated sweetener like Sugar, Splenda, or Erythritol, optional
1/4 tsp Salt
1 cup Unsalted butter, COLD (I sometimes freeze it)
1 - 8oz package Neufchatel Cream Cheese, COLD
1/3 cup plain non-fat yogurt

Ingredients for Filling

1/2 cup Sugar or Splenda
1 Tbs Cinnamon
1 cup small/coarsely chopped nuts
1/2 cup mini-chocolate chips, or chopped raisins, or whatever dried fruit you like
Apricot or Raspberry Jam
1 Egg beaten with 1 tsp of water, for an egg wash.

Directions:

Mix together the flour, xanthan gum, salt, and optional sweetener and put in food processor (not a mixer!).
Cut cold butter and cold cream cheese into small pieces and add to flour along with the yogurt.
Pulse until the ingredients come together as a dough (it may be slightly crumbly).
Remove the dough from the processor, and shape it with your hands into 4 equal portions, shaping each into a round disk.
Wrap each in plastic and refrigerate for at least several hours, or up to 2 days.
When you're ready to bake the cookies, Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Then combine the sugar and cinnamon in a bowl and set aside.
Sprinkle your rolling surface and rolling pin with rice flour, and roll one of the doughs into a 9" circle (keep the other doughs in the refrigerator). Be sure to roll from the center outward, and not back and forth.
Brush the jam onto the entire dough (if it's too thick to spread, you can heat it up a bit).
Sprinkle the sugar-cinnamon mixture evenly over the dough.
Then sprinkle the nuts over it, followed by whatever other ingredients you are using for your filling.
Gently roll your rolling pin over the surface to press the filling lightly into the dough.
Cut the dough into 12 wedges, and roll each section from the outside of the circle to the inside (wide to narrow).
Assemble on parchment-lined cookie sheet, and brush with the egg wash.
Put the cookie sheet into the refrigerator to rest for 20 minutes (this step is important to keep the top of your rolls from popping up during baking).
After chilling, bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes, until golden. Move to wire racks to cool.

I usually start prepping the second disk after I pop the first batch in the oven.

These keep at room temperature for several days if placed in an airtight container. They freeze very well too. Enjoy!

Gluten-Free Peach Cobbler with Vegan option

2010-08-30T11:13:00.000-07:00

Does this look good enough to eat, or what?!

So many peaches... so little time! Peaches are at their prime, and I simply can't get enough of them. I've been buying the Organic Frog Hollow peaches at Whole Foods - expensive, but oh so good! They will be gone before you know it, so I'm taking full advantage of them while I can.

The good news is this cobbler can be made with just about any fruit! I have made it with blueberries, and with nectarines, and even a combination of blueberries and nectarines. As fall comes, I plan on trying it with pears, and cranberries, and who knows what else?

I adapted this recipe from this blog, reducing the sugar, and modifying a few other quantities and ingredients. I have made it both Vegan and non-Vegan, and it comes out fabulous either way. I have also made it replacing some of the sugar with Erythritol, which worked just fine. (Erythritol is a wonderful substitute sweetener, however because of it's wildly high price, I don't use it very often.)

It's a simple recipe to make - no mixer needed. Use any seasonal fruit that makes you happy, and use plenty of it. I found that many fruits cook down so much during the baking process, by the time you cut into it, you can barely see the fruit (but oh, you can most definitely taste it).

I used about 5 lbs of peaches, cut into good-sized wedges, and double layered in the baking pan. (Don't they look yummy!)

The batter then gets spread over the peaches - it doesn't have to be spread perfectly evenly, and it's OK if some of the peaches peek out. It will cover the peaches as it bakes. The crumb topping is sprinkled on top of the batter, and into the oven it goes.

45 minutes later, out of the oven it comes! Must.Wait.For.It.To.Cool.....

So there you have it. I know you're going to run out and buy some fruit and immediately make one of your own.

Gluten-free Peach Cobbler (with Vegan option)

Ingredients for 8" Square Baking Pan:

Approximately 5 lbs of Peaches or other seasonal fruit (less will work as well. For example, 2-3 cups of Blueberries)

Batter Ingredients:

1/4 cup Rice Flour
1/4 cup Tapioca Flour
1/2 cup Sorghum Flour
1/2 tsp Xanthan Gum
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/8 cup Sugar (or sugar substitute; I think this would also work with Splenda)
1/4 cup Butter, COLD (or butter substitute for Vegan. I used Earth Balance)
1/2 cup Almond Milk (or regular Milk or another Milk substitute)

Crumble Topping Ingredients:

1/8 - 1/4 cup Sugar (how sweet do you like it?)
1/8 - 1/4 cup light brown Sugar
1/2 cup Sorghum flour
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 cup rolled Oats, Optional (Gluten-free, if necessary)
3 Tbs Butter, COLD, or Butter substitute

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 8" by 8" baking pan (use butter, or butter substitute for Vegan).

In a bowl, mix the batter dry ingredients together - Rice flour, Tapioca flour, Sorghum flour, Xanthan Gum, Baking Powder, Salt, and Sugar.
Cut the cold butter or butter substitute into small pieces and work it into the dry ingredients with your hands until the texture becomes like damp sand - slightly moist and crumbly. Patience grasshopper. It takes a few minutes - so just keeping working it until the butter is completely incorporated and there are no big lumps of it. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, mix together the crumble topping - Sugars, Sorghum flour, & Cinnamon.
Once again, cut the Butter into small pieces and work into the dry ingredients.
If you're using peaches or other skinned fruit, carefully peel and cut into wedges (I get about 6 wedges out of a single peach) (If you're using fruit like blueberries, gently wash and pat dry).
Line the greased pan with 1-2 layers (or more!) of peaches.
Take your first bowl - the batter - and add the Almond Milk, mixing with a spoon until combined.
Spoon the batter over the peaches, gently spreading to cover most of the peaches
Take the second bowl - the Crumble mixture - and crumble it over the batter with your hands.
Pop the pan into the oven for approximately 45 minutes, and enjoy the aromas that fill your house

This is best and easiest to cut once it's cooled to room temperature. Serve by itself, or with a big scoop of of Vanilla frozen Yogurt. Make some tea. Invite some friends over.

When I made this yesterday, and it cooled enough to cut and serve, I almost put a message on Facebook inviting you all over to have some..... almost....

Do you Snickerdoodle?

2010-08-05T22:31:00.000-07:00

Almond Snickerdoodle, that is. And gluten-free. And reduced-sugar, if you like it that way. Personally, I was never much of a snickerdoodle fan (I mean really... where's the chocolate??). Until I made these. Now I can't stop eating them. It's bad.... very bad.

It took me 5 tries to get this cookie the way I wanted it. It's a balancing act with the flours and the almond meal to get it to a texture that I really like. This is a very light, soft (almost cake-like) cookie. It's hard to eat just one.

I have really enjoyed incorporating almond meal/flour into recipes. Almond meal and almond flour are not the same, although they can sometimes be used interchangeably. Almond meal usually is not as finely ground, and is usually not blanched. Almond flour is finer, and blanched, and considerably more expensive.

Which is better to use for baking? It's really personal preference. For me, when I'm baking cookies - I like to use almond meal. It seems to give cookies more substance than the finer almond flour. This Snickerdoodle is probably the lightest cookie I've ever made using almond meal. I get my almond meal at Trader Joe's ($3.99/lb bag). Almond flour, on the other hand, I like for cakes where a light, fluffy texture is preferable. You can find almond meal at Whole Foods or online, where the price starts at about $7.50 lb. and goes up from there. If you do a lot of baking, it can add up quickly!

This recipe is very easy to make, so have at it!

Gluten-free Almond Snickerdoodles
Makes about 20 - 3/4 oz cookies. This recipe can easily be doubled.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Butter (1 stick)
1/4 cup Sugar
1/8 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Splenda (or use just regular sugar)
1 Egg
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract (or Almond Extract for a more intense almond flavor)
1/2 cup Almond Meal
1/2 cup Rice Flour
1/2 cup Potato Starch
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Xanthan Gum
1 tsp Cream of Tartar
pinch of Salt

Coating Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon Sugar
1 Tablespoon Splenda
1/2 tsp Brown Sugar
2 tsp Cinnamon

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a very small bowl, mix together the coating ingredients. I usually mix it with a small whisk, and then put it through a strainer to make it fine. It looks nicer on the cookie that way (but you may not care how it looks, as long as it tastes good!). Set aside.
In another bowl, mix together the almond meal, rice flour, potato starch, baking soda, salt, cream of tartar, and xanthan gum with a whisk and set aside.
Using an electric mixer beat the butter and white & brown sugars together until light and fluffy. Then add the Splenda and beat to incorporate.
Add the egg and beat.
Add the vanilla extract and beat.
Gradually add the dry ingredients (at low speed) and mix until completely blended.
Scoop generous tablespoons of batter onto your parchment-lined cookie sheet, leaving 2 inches in between (they do spread!) (or, if you're a bit obsessive like me, you can weigh each one. I make them either 3/4 oz or 1/2 oz).
When you have your cookie sheet full, gently roll each into a ball, and then roll the ball in the sugar-cinnamon coating.
When each cookie has been coated, press them down lightly with the ball of your hand to make a circle, about 1/4" high.
Bake for about 10 minutes.
Let cookies cool on cookie sheet for about 5 minutes before moving to cooling rack.

Makes about 16 - 3 1/2" cookies. This recipe can be easily doubled or tripled if you need more.

Happy 4th of July!

2010-07-04T10:38:00.001-07:00

Hope your holiday is safe and happy!

Banana Cake recipe here (I used non-fat yogurt instead of Sour Cream)

Whipped frosting recipe here.

Get creative and have fun!

Strawberries n' Cream Rolled Cake

2010-06-07T10:13:00.001-07:00

Summer fruit is here! and there! and yes, everywhere! There is so much coming into season right now it's hard to know where to start. Since strawberries are abundant and the price is right it seems like a good place. Friends coming to dinner - none wheat-intolorant - I decided to go for fully loaded cake - wheat and sugar (although it's not that high in sugar), but something light.

Roll cakes are fun to make, and not that difficult. They often have a 'sponge cake' texture, making them easy to work with. I used a recipe I haven't used before from a big, beautiful cookbook I have called Cooking A to Z.

I took lots of pictures because I thought I might be helpful if you've never made a rolled cake before. The recipe is below the pictures.

I like to get everything out and ready to go when I'm baking. I chopped the strawberries before I started mixing everything, and I measured out my dry ingredients.

Like many cakes, you really have to beat the butter and eggs for a few minutes until the batter is light and fluffy. I lined my jelly roll pan with parchment paper (the recipe actually suggests greasing the pan and then putting the paper in. I also greased the paper, and then cut the corners so I could fold them down. Pour in the batter.

Then gently spread it out. An offset spatula works best for this.

.

Bake for just 15 minutes, and there you have it, ready to rock and roll.

The tricky part is turning it out without breaking it. I managed to do it without breaking it. I turned it out on to a piece of parchment paper sprinkled with powdered sugar, which was layed out onto a clean towel. I then rolled it up tightly in the parchment paper, and then rolled the 'roll' in the towel to hold it in place while it cooled.

While the cake was cooking, I mixed the whipping cream with a little powdered sugar and vanilla using my stand mixer (with the bowl chilled) which takes about a minute :-). Then gently folded in the chopped strawberries.

Once cooled, I gently unrolled the cake, and spread it with the whipped cream and strawberries with my handy dandy offset spatula, leaving about an inch or so around the edges.

Carefully roll it up again (making sure the seam side is down), sprinkle with powdered sugar, and refrigerate until your ready to serve.

Or.... you might want to cut a little piece off to make sure it tastes OK. *ahem....*

OK. Your turn.

Sponge Cake Roll

Ingredients:

4 eggs, separated
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1/4 tsp cream of tartar (optional)
2/3 cup cake flour, sifted

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 11" x 15" jelly-roll pan, and then line with parchment paper. (I greased the parchment paper as well)

In mixer bowl, beat egg yolks for about 30 seconds, and then add most of the sugar (holding back a couple of tablespoons) and beat about 4 or 5 minutes, until them mixture is thick and falls from the beaters in a "ribbon."
Add vanilla and beat.
In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until just foamy, and then add salt and optional cream of tartar. Beat to soft peaks, and then add remaining sugar and beat until still peaks form.
Fold the flour gently into the egg mixture, 1/3 at a time.
Fold about 1/3 of the egg whites into the batter, to lighten. Then gently fold in remaining egg whites.
Pour batter into prepared pan and spread to cover entire pan using an offset spatula.
Bake about 15 minutes, until the top springs back when gently pressed with finger. Let the cake rest in the pan for about 5 minutes.
Carefully turn the cake onto a piece of parchment paper sprinkled with powdered sugar, and carefully roll the cake tightly in the parchment paper. Roll again in a clean towel to hold in place and let cool on a wire rack.
Once the cake is completely cooled, unroll, spread on the filling to within an inch of the edges, and re-roll. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and refrigerate until ready to serve.

See? Wasn't that easy? And the beauty of rolled cakes is that you can fill it with so many different things - chocolate, almond paste, jam, etc. It's like having a brand new cake everytime you bake it.

Gluten-free, No-Added-Sugar Banana Apple Muffins

2010-02-22T22:07:00.000-08:00

I'm back!!!! Yes - it's been a while since I've posted. Oh - I've been baking plenty, but it's been tricky getting pictures because the light in my house is not so good this time of year, plus I've been super busy. But I did manage to get some decent pics of these yummy muffins I recently made. Gluten-free of course, but also no added sugar. And if you leave out the Chocolate Chips, they are actually sugar-free (but why would you want to do that?? :-)

I've been dabbling a little with Agave Syrup and NuStevia - still trying to make them work in cookies, but they worked well in these muffins. I've made these muffins with and without the chips. I've also add chopped dried apricots which adds some nice flavor. I'll bet they would be good with raisins (if you like raisins - I don't). And summer fruit will be here before we know it!

These muffins have a wonderful moist texture, and also freeze well. I made them jumbo-sized and got about a dozen out of one batter (each muffin was about 4.75 oz of batter - yes, I actually weigh them when I want to be sure they are all the same size). Obviously, you can also make them standard size, but you may have to watch the baking time.

Gluten-free No Added Sugar Banana Apple Muffins

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups Gluten-free flour blend (or your favorite GF blend)
2 tsp Baking Soda
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Xanthan Gum
1 heaping tsp Cinnamon
1/2 to 3/4 tsp NuStevia
1/2 cup Oat Bran
1/2 cup finely chopped nuts
1 1/4 cup smashed (approx 3 - 4 bananas)
1 to 1 1/2 cups chopped Apple (I like Granny Smith)
1 Egg, lightly beaten
2/3 cup Agave Syrup
3 Tbs Canola Oil
5 Tbs Unsweetened Applesauce
1/3 cup non-fat Milk or Buttermilk
2 tsp Vanilla
Optional: 1/2 to 3/4 cup Chocolate Chips (I used mini-chips because I wanted to use them up)
Optional: 1/2 to 3/4 cup chopped dried Apricots

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 12 jumbo muffin tins with paper liners.

In a mixer bowl, add all dry ingredients and mix together with whisk.
Add all wet ingredients, including banana and apple.
Fold in chocolate chips or dried apricots, or anything else you want to try.
Fill muffin tins about 3/4 full (an ice cream scoop is great for this).
Bake for approximately 35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
Remove muffins from tins to cooling rack. Allow to cool before digging in.

There are so many ways you can change up the ingredients in these muffins. It's a good base to start with and add your own 'flavor.'

Gluten-free Linzer Cookies - The BEST!

2009-12-17T23:13:00.000-08:00

OK - I haven't been this excited about a Gluten-free cookie since I made the Black & Whites. Now we have -- the Gluten-free Linzer Cookie.

I've been making Linzer Cookies over the holidays for the past 25 or 30 years using a recipe I think I found in a magazine. I don't even remember. It really is the best Linzer cookie I've ever had. I make 100's every holiday season - and give them as gifts. It's the only recipe I have that I have never shared with anyone. Today I going to share the Gluten-free version :-)

Since I hardly eat any wheat these days, I knew that this cookie had to go Gluten-free. Finding the time would be tricky, because this is no cookie recipe for the faint of heart - it's not the easiest recipe, and it's time consuming. But it simply had to be done.

So late one night I made the dough and stuck it in the refrigerator overnight (a must for these cookies), and figured I'd find an hour here and there to bake a few at a time to see if they worked. Well they did work! In fact, if you handed them to people without telling them they are Gluten-free, they'd never know. The taste is that close :-)

I consider this a fairly low-sugar recipe when you consider it's 1 cup of sugar (not including the powdered sugar top) to 6 - 2/3 dry ingredients. Still, I'll probably be trying it with Splenda soon, just to see what happens. I've also used good quality Raspberry Fruit Spreads that are sugar-free (naturally sweetened) and that has worked well. A good option if you're trying to cut back on sugar.

The fun thing about Linzer cookies is that you can make them for any occasion, in any shape. These are actually the regular Linzer cookies I made last year for Valentine's Day, but could be done with the Gluten-free version just as easily.

I wouldn't attempt this recipe without a good strong stand mixer. It's a very stiff dough and difficult to mix well with a wooden spoon. I did it back when I first started making them (pre-Jazzercise days, obviously), and I have to say I hated when the last ingredient got added and I had to blend it. I didn't have a mixer back then (I have two now - LOL).

As I said, you can make them any shape you want - but traditional Linzer cookies are round with a hole in the middle. I have a set of Biscuit cutters that come with several sizes that work perfectly. I usually make these into 2" cookies, using my smallest cutter for the center hole, but you can make them any size you want. I also have a set of Heart cutters. This is my favorite one. Not part of the set - you can't tell from the picture but it's only about 3/4" high and 3/4" wide. Really small.

OK - enough shmoozing. On to the recipe!

Gluten-free Linzer Cookies
Makes about 60 2" cookies (120 bottoms and tops)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups Butter (3 sticks), slightly softened
1 cup Sugar
1 Egg + 1 Egg Yolk
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
3 1/3 cups Ground Almonds
3 cups of your favorite Gluten Free Mix
1/3 cup Sweet Rice Flour
1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Xanthan Gum
1 1/4 tsp Cinnamon
1 Jar Raspberry Jam (good quality - I like Mary Ellen Brand)
Powdered Sugar

Directions for making the dough and baking

Mix the flours, baking powder, cinnamon, and xanthan gum together with a whisk and set aside.
Using an electric mixer beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until blended.
Add the ground nuts and mix on low speed until completely blended.
Gradually add the dry ingredients at low speed and mix until completely blended. The dough will be stiff.
Shape the dough into a round disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill overnight.
When you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Break off about 1/4 of the dough (it will be very hard) and roll between two pieces of wax paper OR between a Silpat mat (love mine) and wax paper, to about 1/8" to 1/4" thickness. Do not use the rolling pin directly on the dough - it will stick! Also, in order to hold the shape of your cut out cookies, the dough must be cold or cool. If it starts to warm up and becomes hard to handle, put it back in the refrigerator for a while.
Cut an equal amount of tops (with the center hole) and bottoms.
Bake approximately 12 minutes, until the edges just barely start to get golden.
Let cookies cool on cookie sheet for about 3-5 minutes before moving to cooling rack.
Repeat with remaining dough and scraps.

Cool cookies to room temperature before assembling. If you're not going to assemble the cookies now, they keep at room temperature in an airtight container for a few days, or you can freeze them until you are ready to assemble.

Directions for assembling the cookies

Set up two long sheets of wax paper or parchment paper.
Line your cookie tops on one sheet (close together), and the cookie bottoms on the other. For the cookie bottoms, the bottom of the cookie (flat size) should be facing up. That will be on the inside of the cookie when you assemble it.
Put the jam in a small saucepan and heat it up, stirring occasionally to thin it out.
Meanwhile,using a sifter or hand strainer, liberally sprinkle the tops with powdered sugar.
When the jam is thinned, spoon a little onto the cookie bottoms, spreading over the cookie to within about 1/8" of the edge (it will spread when you put the top on it.
Immediately put a top on it, and repeat until all cookies are topped. If the jam begins to thicken, heat it again to thin out.
Once the cookies are all assembled, use a small spoon to carefully drop a bit of the jam in the center of each cookie
Allow cookies to set for several hours, before wrapping as gifts (however, they are ready to eat as soon as they are assembled :-)

Any leftover jam can be poured back in the jar and used later. I also usually gather up the excess powdered sugar on the wax paper and pour it back into the bag - no need to waste it!

These cookies are a bit of work, but your friends will love you for it!

Gluten-free Pumpkin Cranberry Bread

2009-12-02T22:13:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year, isn't it :-) Pumpkin this and pumpkin that. One of my favorite recipes is a Pumpkin Bread with Cranberries. No chocolate (although I'll bet that would be a great addition) and no nuts (because I don't like nuts in breads..what can I say?).

I like using fresh cranberries when they're in season, but frozen work just fine too.

I have a basic go-to Pumpkin Cranberry bread that I make every year - but this year I decided to convert it to Gluten-free. It worked like a charm (first try!). I also replaced some of the sugar with Splenda - with no noticeable difference. Next time I might try replacing even more.

I love the combination of the sweet pumpkin bread with the slight tartness of the cranberries. It's a wonderful explosion of flavor.

This recipe makes 2 full size loaves or 6 mini-loaves (which is what I made). Like most quick breads, they freeze great, and they make great little gifts!.

Gluten-free Pumpkin Cranberry Bread

Ingredients:

2 cups Gluten-free flour blend (or your favorite GF blend)
1 cup Sweet Rice Flour
3 tsp Cinnamon (you can also replace the cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves with 4-5 tsp of Pumpkin Pie Spice)
1 tsp Nutmeg
1 tsp Ground Ginger
1/2 tsp Cloves
1 1/2 tsp Salt
2 tsp Baking Soda
2 cups Sugar
1 cup Splenda
2 tsp Xanthan Gum
4 Eggs
1 - 15oz can of Pumpkin Puree (I use Organic)
1 cup Canola Oil
1/2 cup Orange Juice
2 - 2 1/2 cups Fresh or Frozen Cranberries

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9 X 5 loaf pans, or six mini-loaf pans.

Mix the flours, baking soda, spices, salt, and xanthan gum together with a whisk and set aside.
In separate bowl, combine the sugar/Splenda, pumpkin, eggs, canola oil, and orange juice and beat to blend.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just blended.
Fold in the cranberries.
Spoon the batter into the prepared loaf pans.

If you're making 2 loaves, bake for about 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Bake the mini loaves for about 35 minutes.

Cool in the pans for about 15 minutes, and then remove to wire racks to cool completely. Enjoy!

Chocolate Macaroons, Naturally Gluten-Free

2009-11-11T23:39:00.000-08:00

Nearly all macaroon recipes I've ever made have no wheat. This is one of my favorites. It's chocolaty, with a soft and chewy center, and fairly easy to make. I found it on allrecipes.com a few years ago, and have made it over and over again. If you're not a fan of coconut - no worries. There's so much chocolate in these that the coconut definitely takes a back seat in the flavor category. I used Ghiradelli semi-sweet chocolate chips - on sale this week several places so I stocked up. They are my favorite chips.

OK - so it's not the prettiest cookie on the block, but it's nothing that a light dusting of powdered sugar can't fix... which is what I plan on doing before serving these at an up coming event. For now - into the freezer they go, right next to the pretty cookies :-)

Gluten-free Chocolate Macaroons

Ingredients:

3 Egg Whites (room temperature best, but not required)
Pinch of Salt
3/4 cup White Sugar
2 1/4 cups Shredded Coconut, unsweetened
1 1/4 cups Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips
1/2 cup Chopped Nuts (Almonds or Walnuts are good)
1 tsp Vanilla

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325F degrees.

Melt chocolate in double-boiler (aka bowl over simmering water) and let cool.
Using an electric hand mixer whip the egg whites until foamy. Then slowly add salt and sugar a little at a time, until the mixture stands in peaks (about 5 minutes).
Gently stir in the Vanilla.
Gently fold in the chocolate, coconut, and nuts until completely blended.
Scoop (about a heaping tablespoon) the dough about 2 inches apart onto parchment-lined cookie sheets. Use your fingers to shape them into a dome.
Bake for 10-12 minutes.
Let cookies cool on cookie sheet for about 5 minutes before carefully moving to cooling rack.

The cookies will be soft until completely cooled. Makes 3 to 4 dozen cookies, depending on size.

Note: the dough may become dry and crumbly while you're working with it. Just press it together with your hands to form the domes and they will hold together.

Gluten-free Low-Sugar Banana Bread

2009-11-01T22:34:00.000-08:00

Yes - those are chocolate chips. That's pretty much the only way I eat Banana Bread - with chocolate chips. They just seem to belong together. But for those of you nut fans, feel free to replace the chocolate chips with chopped nuts :-)

Bananas, waiting for sweet browns spots so they can be transformed into a Banana Bread. I do wish Ghiradelli or another fine chocolate company made mini-chips. Nestle is OK, but not my favorite brand of chocolate.

This was my third try (I seem to have a lot of third tries?) and my best, at a Gluten-free Banana Bread. The first was just short of a disaster. It was a very big loaf in a not-so-big loaf pan. It ended up being like...well...bread. With a banana taste. It was plain weird.

I learned a lot from that first one. The second one was closer, but the taste was a little off. Must have been the Vegenaise. It really doesn't have a place in banana bread after all. LOL.

So this last one I knew what I had to do to make it right. The nice thing about it too, is that it's relatively low-sugar. If you use really, really ripe bananas (which I would never eat by themselves - feh!), they naturally add sweetness, so you don't need lots of sugar.

OK - so that white stuff you see around the edge of the loaf pan - it's about a Tablespoon of sugar mixed with cinnamon. I just shake it into the pan after I grease it. It's not necessary, but it does add a nice little touch to the finished bread.

Notice the cracks on top of the finished loaf. A **must** for a properly baked, moist Banana Bread. Know what I mean?

So delicious. Must.put.half.in.the.freezer....quick.

Gluten-free Low-Sugar Banana Bread

Ingredients:

2 cups Gluten-free flour blend (or your favorite GF blend)
1/2 cup Sugar (will try 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1/4 cup Splenda next time)
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
2 tsp Xanthan Gum
1/2 tsp Salt
3 very ripe medium Bananas, mashed (approx 1 1/2 cups)
1/3 cup Plain Fat Free Yogurt
2 Eggs, lightly beaten
3 oz Butter, melted and cooled slightly (6 Tbs)
1 tsp Vanilla
1/2 - 3/4 cups chocolate chips (I used mini chips because they don't sink; use the lesser amount if you use regular size chips)
1 Tbs sugar + cinnamon to taste (optional)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 X 5 loaf pan, and sprinkle with sugar-cinnamon mix if desired.

Mix the flour, baking powder, salt, and xanthan gum together with a whisk and set aside.
In separate bowl, mix together mashed bananas, sugar, yogurt, slightly beaten eggs, melted butter, and vanilla.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, mixing with a spatula to combine until just mixed.
Fold in the chocolate chips (or nuts).
Pour into prepared loaf pan, and bake 55 - 60 minutes, until toothpick comes out dry. Top of loaf should be golden brown.
Cool in pan on wire rack at least 15 minutes. Then remove from pan and cool on wire rack.

Try really hard not to cut into it to eat until it is completely cooled (Ha Ha! Good luck with that!)

Halloween Cupcakes?

2009-10-31T13:26:00.000-07:00

You bet! Who says Halloween has to be scary?? Thank you Martha Stewart! 300 mini-cupcakes baked and decorated by a team of 4 of us, ready for the big neighborhood Halloween Party! Made some Gluten-free for the kids who might not be able to have gluten. I think we're covered!

We used her Butter Cupcake recipe and got about 85 mini-cupcakes out of a single batch!

Bring on the kids!

Happy Halloween!

Gluten-free Rolled Sugar Cookies

2009-10-27T22:22:00.000-07:00

Third time's a charm!

I've been baking lots and lots of gluten-FULL rolled sugar cookies for an upcoming children's Halloween party, but in the back of my mind I was wondering if there were going to be any kids there that can't have gluten. Then a friend of mine who is a teacher asked me if I had a recipe for gluten-free sugar cookies - because she had a couple of students who can't eat gluten - well, that's all it took.

I was on a mission!

I had one recipe sitting around that I found a while back but had never tried. Then I poked around and found another one online. So I tried them both. Both turned out pretty good. But a little on the crisp side. The first recipe had a nice flavor, but was a little too gritty from the rice flour, and for some reason, the cookies from the second recipe came out of the oven a little.... well.... wrinkled. They would have worked anyway, since they would be decorated - but it still wasn't exactly what I had hoped for.

Then late last night it hit me - why not just convert my regular sugar cookie recipe to gluten-free. Big duh! So 11:30 p.m. I marched into my kitchen and made the dough, just guessing which GF flours to use, and in what proportion. Then into the refrigerator the dough went to chill overnight.

First thing this morning - oven was preheating and I was rolling away.

And just for fun...

Even though it chilled, the dough was a little softer than I'm used to for rolling - which might have meant I could have used a little more flour in the batter. But I just liberally sprinkled Sorghum flour on my rolling surface (I use a silpat) and rolling pin, and it worked just fine. When it started to stick a little - I sprinkled more flour.

I cut off a piece of the dough at a time to work with, and kept the rest in the refrigerator to stay cool. You always want the dough for rolled cookies to be cool so it's easier to handle. I love working with this type of dough. It's like playing with Play Doh :-)

Into the oven they went. I watched them carefully because if overbaked, I knew they would be too crisp. They came out perfect! Get out the decorating supplies!

I'm not a cookie decorator, but I could really get into it if I had the time!

These are delicious. Crisp on the outside, but soft in the middle. Yay!

If you give these a try, please let me know how they worked for you!

Gluten-free Rolled Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

3/4 cup Butter ( 1 1/2 sticks), room temperature
1 cup Sugar
2 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 cup Sorghum Flour
1/2 cup Sweet Rice Flour
1/2 cup Tapioca Starch/Flour
1/2 cup Potato Starch
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Xanthan Gum
1/2 tsp Salt

Directions:

Mix the flours, baking powder, salt, and xanthan gum together with a whisk and set aside.
Using an electric mixer beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs, one at a time, incorporating each well.
Add the vanilla extract.
Gradually add the dry ingredients (at low speed) and mix until just blended.
Shape the dough into a round disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill overnight, or several hours.
When you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Sprinkle some Sorghum flour on your work surface and rolling pin, and roll 1/4 or 1/2 the dough to about 1/4" thickness. (refrigerate remaining dough until needed). Sprinkle additional flour if needed.
Cut into your favorite cookies shapes, and place on parchment-lined cookie sheets, about an inch apart
Bake approximately 12 minutes. This may vary depending on the size of your cookies. Cookies are done when edges are just barely turning golden.
Let cookies cool on cookie sheet for about 5 minutes before moving to cooling rack.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar, frost with your favorite frosting, or decorate for whatever holiday it happens to be!

Makes about 16 - 3 1/2" cookies. This recipe can be easily doubled or tripled if you need more.

Rugelach - a Jewish Treat!

2009-10-18T22:17:00.000-07:00

I'm taking off my gluten-free hat for the moment. I know many of you have never heard of this delicious Jewish cookie (let alone be able to pronounce it :-), but it was one of my favorite snacks growing up in New York. I've tried a few different recipes, and this is the one I've settled on because the cookie comes out like a tender pastry. It's also is pretty low in sugar - always a plus! This recipe is adapted from a recipe I found on allrecipes.com. The good news is that I do have a gluten-free version of this recipe that I will put up soon.

Rugelach can be filled with many different types of jams and nuts. Raisins and currants are often used as well. I tend to go with Apricot jam (sugar-free), chopped almonds, and mini-chocolate chips.

It's a little time consuming to assemble, but I find it fun and relaxing. Here's what the dough looks like when it's rolled out and layered with the filling, before the individual cookies are rolled up. You also can shape the dough in a rectangle, and cut strips that can be folded over into a square shape if you prefer.

I know, I know - it looks like a pizza! That's my wonderful photography at work. That dough is ready to be cut into 12 wedges, as if you are cutting a pizza. Then you roll up each triangular wedge from the outside to the inside.

Here they are ready to pop in the oven.

Rugelach

Makes 48.

Ingredients:

2 cups Flour
1/4 tsp Salt
1 cup Unsalted butter, COLD
1 - 8oz package Cream Cheese, COLD
1/3 cup plain non-fat yogurt (can use sour cream)
1/2 cup Sugar
1 Tbs Cinnamon
1 cup finely chopped nuts
1/2 cup mini-chocolate chips, or chopped raisins, or whatever dried fruit you like
Apricot or Raspberry Jam
1 Egg lightly beat with 1-2 teaspoons of water, for an egg wash.

Directions:

Cut cold butter and cold cream cheese into small pieces.
In a food processor (Not a mixer), pulse flour, salt, butter, cream cheese, and yogurt until crumbly.
Remove the dough from the processor, and shape it with your hands into 4 separate round disks.
Wrap each in plastic and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 2 days.
When you're ready to bake the cookies, Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Then combine the sugar, cinnamon, chopped nuts, and chocolate chips or raisins in a bowl.
Sprinkle a little flour on your surface, and roll one of the doughs into a 9" circle (keep the others in the refrigerator).
Warm up the jam until it's easily spreadable, and brush the jam onto the entire dough.
Sprinkle the sugar mixture evenly over the dough.
Gently roll your rolling pin over the surface to press the filling lightly into the dough.
Cut the dough into 12 wedges, and roll each section from the outside of the circle to the inside (wide to narrow).
Assemble on parchment-lined cookie sheet, and brush with the egg wash/
Put the cookie sheet into the refrigerator to rest for 20 minutes (this step is important to keep the top of your rolls from popping up during baking).
After chilling (out :-), bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes, until golden. Move to wire racks to cool.

I usually work on the second disk after I pop the first batch in the oven.

These keep at room temperature for several days if placed in an airtight container. They freeze very well too. Don't you just want to put your hand through the screen and grab one :-)

Gluten-free Lemon Cookies with White Chocolate

2009-10-13T20:09:00.000-07:00

I love all things lemon! I squeeze it on my cooked veggies, on chicken, on fish, and in my salad. And it's one of my favorite ingredients to use in baking whether it's cookies, cakes, muffins, or bars. And lemon zest! Don't get me started on the wonderful fragance and flavor it adds to baked goodies.

OK - so maybe I'm being a little over dramatic - but it truly is one of my favorite flavors.

I came across this recipe for White Chocolate Lemon Cookies here which had been adapted from a recipe using limes here, who got the recipe from here. Isn't the internet just grand! ;-).

So of course, I had to stick my two cents in, and adapt it further to make it gluten-free.

I am so pleased with the results - another one of those success stories that if you didn't tell it was gluten-free, no one would ever know. The texture is like a real cookie - slightly crisp on the edges and chewy in the middle.

They are simple to make.

Gluten-free White Chocolate Lemon Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup Unsalted Butter, slightly softened
3/4 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup White Sugar
2 Eggs
1/2 tsp Almond Extract
2 Tbs Lemon Zest
2 1/2 tsp Lemon Juice
3/4 cup Sorghum Flour
3/4 cup Rice Flour
1/2 cup Tapioca Starch/Flour
1/2 cup Potato Starch
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Xanthan Gum
1/2 tsp Salt
12 oz White Chocolate, chips or chopped

Optional Sugar Roll:

1/2 cup Fine Sugar (you can sift regular sugar through a mesh food strainer mixed with 1 Tbs lemon zest, dried out and pressed through a mesh food strainer

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F degrees.

Mix the flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and xanthan gum together with a whisk and set aside.
Using an electric mixer beat the butter until creamy, and add the sugars, blending well.
Add the eggs, one at a time, incorporating each well.
Add the almond extract, lemon juice, and lemon zest.
Add the dry ingredients and mix until just blended.
Gently stir in the white chocolate. The dough will be soft, and slightly sticky. You can work with it as is, or refrigerate it for an hour or two to make it easier to work with.
Spoon (I used a small scoop) a full tablespoon of dough and roll gently into a 1" ball.
Optionally, you can roll the ball into the sugar-zest mixture. Not necessary, but a nice touch.

Bake on parchment paper-lined cookies sheets approximately 12-13 minutes until the edges start to get golden. Let cookies cool on cookie sheet for about 5 minutes before moving to cooling rack.

These can be served as is, sprinkled with powdered sugar, or drizzled with a mix of 1/2 cup powdered sugar mixed with 1-2 Tbs lemon juice.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Gluten-free Blueberry Peach Crumb Bars

2009-10-05T21:22:00.000-07:00

...or buh bye to summer.

The last of the peaches (white peaches actually), mixed with blueberries and baked up in crumb bar. I found several different recipes for wheat -based fruit crumb bars online, and took a little from each, and then made it gluten-free. This is different from the Peach crisp I a few months ago, because it has a soft cookie-like base. It came out quite good.

TIP: When I have to work cold butter into flour, I like to quickly grate it into the flour using the largest grater size on a box grater. This works even better with frozen butter. You do have to work quickly if you do it this was because the butter becomes warm quickly as you're holding it. But you can also cut the butter into small pieces, and work it into the flour. Either way, it does take a few minutes to get it to a fairly fine consistency.

Pressing the dough into the baking pan. I smoothed and leveled it once it was all in there. I used parchment paper - but next time I won't. This is easier to serve up without the paper on the bottom.

Assembled. Baked. And about 55 minutes later...

I'm thinking that even though fresh peaches and blueberries are pretty much gone for the year, I'll bet this recipe would be great with apples or pears.

Peach Blueberry Crumb Bars

Ingredients:

Dough:

1 1/2 cups Rice Flour
1 cup Sorghum Flour
1/2 cup Potato Starch
1/2 cup Tapioca Starch
3/4 cup Sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp Xanthan Gum
1/4 tsp Salt
1 tsp Vanilla
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup (2 sticks) Unsalted butter, cold

Filling:

4 cups Peaches, sliced
1 cup Blueberries
2 Tbs lemon or orange juice, approximately
1/2 cup Rice Flour
1/2 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Light Brown Sugar (plus extra)
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp Nutmeg

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease or spray the bottom of a 9x13 baking pan.

Whisk together the dough dry ingredients, including the sugar.
Cut up or grate the butter into the flour mixture, and work in with finger for a few seconds.
Mix together lightly beaten egg and vanilla, and add to flour-butter mixture.
Work the dough with your fingers for a few minutes until the butter is complete incorporated and the mixture is fine and crumbly.
Press half the dough into the prepared pan, smoothing and leveling.
Mix the peaches, blueberries, and juice.
Whisk together the filling dry ingredients, and sprinkle over the fruit, mixing gently
Spread the fruit mix over the dough.
Optional: Before sprinkling the remaining dough over the fruit, add about 1/4 cup light brown sugar to the dough mixture and work it in.
Sprinkle the remaining dough mixture over the top of the fruit. (I didn't use it all)

Bake for about 55 - 60 minutes. Allow to cool completely before cutting (I know, it's hard to do that).

Now... on to some Fall baking...

Gluten-free Ginger Cranberry Cookies

2009-09-27T20:55:00.000-07:00

That's ginger, as in candied ginger. Lots of chunks of sugar ginger, chopped up and incorporated in the dough, and sprinkled on top. If you like candied ginger, you'll like these cookies. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of ginger cookies, but the rest of my world seems to be, so I thought it would be fun to make them. I based the recipe on my Basic Gluten-free Cookie recipe, with just a few modifications to give them a totally different flavor.

After making the dough, I scooped it onto a cookie sheet (I used a medium size scoop) and pressed them gently into circles, about 2" diameter.

They baked up into a nice looking cookie - thick, soft, and chewy. Be sure to adjust the amount of chopped ginger you add based on how strong you want the ginger flavor.

Gluten-free Ginger Cranberry Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup Unsalted Butter, slightly softened
3/4 cup Brown Sugar
1/3 cup White Sugar
2 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla
1 cup Sorghum Flour
1 cup Brown Rice flour
1/2 cup Tapioca Starch/Flour
1/2 cup Potato Starch
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 1/2 tsp Xanthan Gum
1/2 tsp Salt
3/4 cup Flaked Coconut, unsweetened
2 - 4 Tbs Coarsely Chopped Candied Ginger (I used 4), plus extra
1/2 cup Dried Cranberries, plus extra

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325F degrees.

Mix the flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and xanthan gum together with a whisk and set aside.
Using an electric mixer beat the butter until soft, and add the sugars, blending well.
Add the eggs, one at a time, incorporating each well.
Add the vanilla and blend.
Add the dry ingredients until just blended
Add the coconut, ginger, and cranberries and mix until just blended, about 10 seconds.
Spoon a full tablespoon of dough (or use scoop) and press into a 2" circle (about 1/4" thick).
Sprinkle additional chopped ginger on top of each cookie, to taste. Chop and sprinkle extra dried cranberries on top of each cookie.
Bake approximately 17 minutes (top of cookies won't brown much)
Let cookies cool on cookie sheet for about 5 minutes before moving to cooling rack.

Makes 3 to 4 dozen cookies, depending on size.

My friends liked them. Maybe your friends will like them too!

Quinoa Tabouli (aka Tabouleh) - Gluten free!

2009-09-23T13:12:00.000-07:00

It's been too hot to bake. I'm ready for autumn clouds and rain. But I'm in the kitchen anyway - cooking up something that doesn't require me to turn on the oven :-)

Quinoa (pronounced 'keen-wah') - another of nature's super foods! It's a gluten-free grain that is high in protein and fiber, full of nutrients, and easy to digest. Where has it been all my life??? I only found out about Quinoa a few years ago. Not much flavor by itself, it can be used in so many ways by adding seasonings and veggies and meat to it. Sometimes I add Chicken, onions, and mushrooms to it with a sprinkle of feta, and it's my main course. But not today.

Today I made my favorite way to eat Quinoa. I made tabouli, replacing the Bulghur with Quinoa. Tabouli is very easy to make - and it's another of those 'to taste' dishes that you can really get creative with. It's also a great way to practice your chopping skills since most of the ingredients are finely chopped. (Think Julia Child in Julie and Julia - the onion scene. Hysterical!!).

I like a lot of tradtional Tabouli flavors - parsley, mint, green onions, lemon, among other things.

But here's the thing about Quinoa - if you buy it in bulk, or if you buy it in a bag or box, and it doesn't say it's been pre-rinsed - you MUST rinse it or soak it. Really well. Quinoa has an outer coating that is bitter, and if you don't get rid of it, your Quinoa will taste bitter. That's just the way it is.

If I have time, I will soak it in a strainer sitting in a bowl of water for about 5 or 10 minutes, replacing the water at least once. But I've also been known to just rinse it in a strainer under running water for a few minutes - and that usually works just fine. Keep in mind that Quinoa is tiny, so your strainer should have find mesh - or you'll see the Quinoa go down the drain :-). Here it is soaking.

You can cook Quinoa in Chicken broth, Vegetable broth, Water, or any combination. It cooks much like Rice (1 cup of quinoa to 2 cups of liquid), but much quicker. When I'm cooking it for a cold salad type of dish - I usually put it in a bowl right after it's cooked, fluff it up a bit with a fork, and let it come to room temperature before adding my other ingredients.

Chop chop! A little olive oil and lemon juice, and there you have it. Into the refrigerator to chill.

Big softball game and potluck coming up this Sunday. This may have to be on the menu!

Quinoa Tabouli (Serves 6-8)

Ingredients:

1 cup Quinoa, rinsed very well
2 cups Broth or Water
1 cup (approx) Fresh Mint, chopped fine
1 cup (approx) Fresh Parsley, chopped fine
3-4 Green Onions (approx), chopped
1 cup Cucumber (or Celery), chopped
1 Tomato, chopped and drained
Juice of 1 Lemon (approx)
3-4 Tbs (approx) Olive Oil (see Option below)
Salt, to taste
Option: Instead of the Olive Oil, you can add a Balsamic Vinaigrette

Directions:

Bring liquid to a boil and immediately add the rinsed Quinoa. Reduce heat to a low simmer, cover and cook until all liquid is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Move cooked Quinoa to a bowl and let cool.
Once the Quinoa is cooled to near room temperature, add the chopped ingredients and toss.
Add Olive Oil,lemon juice, and salt, to taste. Toss well.

This is good eaten at room temperature, or chilled - which also gives the flavors time to blend nicely.

Time for lunch (Quinoa :-)

Nearly Guilt-Free, Kinda' Healthy Chocolate Cake

2009-09-15T16:43:00.000-07:00

Honestly - this is the closest thing to a really healthy chocolate cake I've ever had. I've made it many times, and it's one of those things that if you leave it on the kitchen counter, every time you walk by it you'll sneak a little piece.

Leave your guilt at the door, because the main ingredient is this:

Do you recognize them? They are Garbanzo beans, in all of their almost-a-chocolate-cake glory. Everytime I tell people about this flourless, gluten-free chocolate cake that is made from Garbanzo beans, they say, "Oh - you mean garbanzo bean flour?" Noooooo..... I mean Garbanzo beans. As in high protein, high fiber. Straight up. Don't ask me why it works. It just does.

This is adapted from a recipe I found on Allrecipes.com a few years ago. I've made it in a round cake pan, a springform pan, and a square (pretending they are brownies). It has a soft texture, and is great served with a little frozen yogurt. It's not dry, but can be a little crumbly, so I find it's easiest when eaten with a fork.

You start with about 19 oz of Organic Garbanzo Beans. That's 2 - 15 oz. cans, once you drain all the liquid. Sidebar: did you know that Organic Garbanzo beans are cheaper from Whole Foods than from Safeway (for you out-of-towners Safeway is a West Coast grocery chain).

Rinse and drain them well, and grind them up in a Food Processor (no mixer needed) REALLY well (i.e. don't be leaving any chunks of Garbanzo Bean in there!).

Add the sugar and baking powder, and blend. Then add the melted chocolate and vanilla.

Bake, cool.....

Sprinkle with powdered sugar or frost, cut, eat.....

Oh - and this is one of the easiest cakes I've ever made.

Garbanzo Bean Chocolate Cake (adapted from Allrecipes.com)
Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
2 - 15 oz. Can Garbanzo Beans (I use Organic)
4 Eggs (I use Range-free or Organic)
3/4 cup Sugar
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp. Vanilla

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Spray a 9" round or square cake pan or springform pan, or use parchment paper.

Rinse and drain the Garbanzo Beans. Grind completely in a food processor with the eggs until smooth. (No Chunks!)
Add the sugar and baking powder to the beans and blend.
Melt the chocolate in a bowl over hot (not boiling) water or, melt in the microwave in 30-second increments. Add the melted chocolate and vanilla to the mixture and blend until smooth, scraping the sides as necessary.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake approximately 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Allow it to cool completely before removing from the pan or cutting. Yup... chocolate cake with garbanzo beans..... all the protein and fiber with none of the bean taste. I'm telling you... it's a miracle!

Gluten-free Pizza

2009-09-13T21:12:00.000-07:00

This was my second try at a gluten-free Pizza crust. The first (just yesterday) was forgettable. Still... I was on a mission.

I love Pizza. I'm a Pizza-snob. Because I believe that you really can't get what I consider 'great' Pizza outside of New York. Really thin crust, with just the right amount of grease in the ever so slightly sweet sauce, and thin strings of mozzarella cheese stretching out with each bite. Yeah... you get the picture.

I've learned to live with California Pizza - and have found a few places here in Northern California that make acceptable Pizza. But I figured, since I'm not getting my 'great' pizza anyway, I might as well find a recipe for Gluten-free Pizza, since I'm trying to avoid wheat.

So my first attempt was bad. I realized when I was trying to eat it that someday I need to do another blog called "Bonnie's Baking-Blooper Blog." It's got a nice ring, don't you think?

My old (cheap and warped) Pizza pan was long gone, so I recently bought a new one. Oh - I have a Pizza Peel and Stone and all that - which I've mostly used for bread baking. But this new one from Calphalon is very cool - it's got holes on the bottom to help crisp up the crust. I love it!

Since I didn't have any great expectations for this second try to be any good, I didn't bother taking pictures along the way. But go figure - it was good. I'm really happy with the result.

It's easy enough to throw together - but you have to be careful about getting the dough to the right consistency to be able to work it into a big circle. Not too dry and not too wet. As I mentioned, I like my Pizza thin so I had to really work that circle, from the center out, with my fingers. I was able to fix any little tears that happened just by squeezing it back together. I think now that I've made it once, next time I'll be able to make the edge a little neater looking.

I adapted this recipe from a book by Carol Fenster called "Special Diet Solutions."

Gluten-free Pizza Crust

Ingredients:

1 Tbs. Yeast
2/3 cup Brown Rice flour
1/2 cup Tapioca flour
2 Tbs. powdered milk or extra Tapioca flour (I actually used dry buttermilk because I had some)
2 tsp Xanthan Gum
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp unflavored gelatin
1 tsp Italian Seasoning (I just added some Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Thyme, and Rosemary to taste)
2/3 cup warm water, approximately (temperature around 100 degrees, not too hot or it will kill the yeast)
1/2 tsp sugar or honey or agave (I used sugar)
1 tsp Olive Oil (I think I'll add 1 Tbs next time)
1 tsp cider vinegar

Directions:

Add all ingredients to electric mixer bowl and blend on low speed.
When blended, mix on high speed for about 3 minutes. If mixture seems too dry (the machine is starting to bounce around), add a bit more water. The dough should be soft.
Put the dough on a (rice) floured surface, and form into a ball. Then flatten it out slightly into a circle with your hands.
Place the dough on your Pizza pan, and begin working it out into a larger circle, pressing from the middle out. Work it to the size and thick/thinness you prefer. If it cracks in spots, just press it back together.
When you have it at the right size, thicken up the edges a little to keep your toppings on, and so it looks like a Pizza (LOL).
Set it in a warm place and let it rest for about 20 minutes or so. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
After resting (the Pizza, not you) pre-bake the dough for 10 minutes.
Remove from oven and add your toppings.
Bake again, for about 15 to 20 minutes, until until the cheese is melted (you did use cheese, didn't you?) and the crust edge is nicely browned.

I used Organic Pasta Sauce from Whole Foods which is tasty and well priced, Mozzarella cheese, and some thinly sliced ham I also got at Whole Foods. Next time I will definitely use Goat cheese and mushrooms. I think next time will be soon!

Gluten-free Cupcakes

2009-09-11T22:03:00.000-07:00

Just plain ole' yummy cupcakes, minus the wheat. Some yellow. Some chocolate. Light and sweet (yes, they have sugar). These cupcakes can be dressed up with any flavor of frosting. I chose to make a cream cheese chocolate frosting - I kind of made it on the fly, but I'll do the best I can to describe how I made it.

Here's the batter for the yellow cupcakes. Not really very interesting at this point, is it?

Here are the yellow cupcakes - out of the oven and cooling off. Still pretty boring, don'tcha think?

Sometimes I wonder why I bother with those other pictures.

I think next time I make these (which might be very soon because I'm very curious) will replace half the sugar with Splenda, and the mayo with plain yogurt.

I'm embarrassed to say, I ate one for dinner (!)

Gluten-free Cupcakes - Yellow and Chocolate

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups White Rice Flour
3/4 cup Tapioca Starch/Flour
3 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Xanthan Gum
1 tsp Salt
1 1/4 cups Sugar (add additonal 1/4 cup if making chocolate cupcakes)
4 Eggs
2/3 cup Mayonnaise (I use Canola)
1 cup Milk (I use non-fat)
2 tsp Vanilla
Zest of 1 orange (optional)
1/2 cup Unsweetened Cocoa (if making chocolate cupcakes)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Grease cupcake pans or use cupcake liners.

Mix the Rice flour, Tapioca flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, xanthan gum and set aside.
Mix the eggs, sugar, and mayonnaise until light and fluffy.
Add the dry ingredients and milk, alternating.
Add the vanilla and mix the batter well.
Fill the cupcake liners about 3/4 full (I like to use a large cookie scoop).
Press the ball into a circle that is about 1" high.
Bake approximately 14 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Let cool completely before frosting.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing

Ingredients:

About 4 oz dark chocolate, melted and cooled slightly
8 oz Cream Cheese, room temperature (I used Neufchatel)
2 tsp Vanilla
Powdered Sugar
Milk

Directions:

Beat the cream cheese and melted chocolate until smooth.
Start adding Powdered Sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, until it is as sweet as you would like.
Add vanilla
Add a little milk at a time until the frosting reaches a good consistency for spreading or piping.
Continue adjusting the sugar and milk amount as needed.

If the frosting tastes right but is a little too soft to spread or pipe, you can refrigerate it for a while to thicken it.

Then have one for dinner, like I did (!)

Gluten-free Scones

2009-09-03T16:17:00.000-07:00

So, I have this recipe for gluten-free scones that is my go-to recipe when scones are needed. Most of my gluten-free friends seem to like them. Scones in general tend to be on the dry side, and these were that. Some people just like a nice dry, crumbly scone.

However **this** scone recipe is my NEW go-to scone recipe. It's way less dry, not crumbly, with nice texture and crumb. And it fairly low in sugar - always a Plus!

I came across it online, and made some ingredient changes that made sense to me. I'm very happy with them, and will experiment with different flavorings in the future (that's one of the beautiful things about scones).

I added dried fruit and orange zest to these, and mini semi-sweet chocolate chips because I had a bunch I needed to use. Next time, I will add dark chocolate chips. Dried cranberries or raisins are always great in scones as well. And maybe some of the blueberries I froze! Ok...ok... I need to calm down.

Before we get to the pics, I should apologize for the quality of my photos. I am not a photographer, and while I can usually get a pretty focused picture, and can manage to use the Macro just fine, I never quite can get the lighting right (at least, that's what they always tell me at Foodgawker. I know I can learn how to do it, but to tell you the truth, I don't care to learn how. LOL. I'll just muddle along with my little Canon camera set to Automatic, and keep apologizing for poor quality photos (with apologies to my brothers, the family Paparazzi).

Here's my dry ingredients blended with the butter, zest, fruit and chocolate, to which I just added the eggs and yogurt. No need for an electric mixer for this recipe - just mix with a spatula or wooden spoon.

I forgot to take a picture of the next step, which is working the dough into a ball, and then pressing it into a circle that is about 1" in height. What you see here is the 8 sections (it can easily cut into 10-12 sections, for a slightly small scone).

I like to brush my scones with an egg wash, and sprinkle them with a tiny bit of sugar before baking, but that is totally optional.

And if you're still not sure this is your cup of tea.....

Yeah - looks good enough to eat, doesn't it? You can add a little butter, or honey, but I like them just the way they are. And happily, they freeze great. Just be sure to get as much air out of the freezer bag as possible. I find a straw very helpful for sucking out the air. That's right..... a straw. LOL.

These will be perfect for after my Jazzercise Class Walk at the reservoir on Labor Day.

Gluten-free Scones

Ingredients:

3/4 cup Brown Rice flour (plus extra as needed)
1/2 cup White Rice flour
3 1/2 Tbs Tapioca starch/flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
2 tsp Xanthan Gum
1 tsp Salt
4 Tbs. Sugar
2 Eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup non-fat or low-fat Plain Yogurt
1/2 cup Unsalted Butter, cold
1/2 cup Dried Fruit, Blueberries, etc. (optional)
Handful of Chocolate Chips (optional)
Zest of 1 Orange or Lemon (optional)
1 Egg, beaten with 1 tsp water for egg wash (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400F degrees.

Sift all of the dry ingredients together in a bowl.
Cut up the butter into small pieces and add to dry ingredients. Work butter and flours together with your hands until the flour is well combined. The result will be like moist flour. (Tip: I often freeze the butter and then quickly grate it into the dry ingredients. I find it easier to work into the flour with my hands that way.)
Add your dried fruit, zest, or other flavorful ingredients.
In a separate bowl, combine the eggs and yogurt and blend together well with a whisk.
Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and blend together into a soft dough. Add a bit more flour if the dough is too soft or sticky.
Turn the dough onto a (rice) floured surface, and knead a few times to shape into a ball. If the dough is too soft to form a ball, add more flour as needed.
Press the ball into a circle that is about 1" high.
Cut into sections (a pizza cutter works well), and brush with egg wash, if desired.
Bake approximately 15-17 minutes until lightly browned.

Serve warm or at room temperature. Very satisfying!

Gluten-free Black and White Cookies (!!!!!)

2009-09-01T14:00:00.000-07:00

So you may be asking yourself, what's the big deal (!!!!!) about Gluten-free Black and White Cookies. And I can only answer, you clearly are not from New York (or nearby), nor have spent much time there. Because if you were, or did, you wouldn't have to ask.

Black and White cookies are a New York delicacy. A tradition. A trademark. And for some reason, you don't find them anywhere else (except maybe New Jersey, or Connecticut, or one of those other nearby states). In California, you might find them occasionally in a deli or bagel place (NOT Noahs! I said BAGELS). But even when you do, they are usually not fresh - and one thing for sure - you want to eat a Fresh Black and White Cookie. The traditional Black and White cookie is almost like a tea cake - soft and a little spongy. The top has half white icing and half chocolate icing. Or, if you're into creative Black and White cookies, you can go visit The Black and White Cookie Company in NY.

Most of my friends here in California have never even heard of a Black and White Cookie (except maybe on an episode of Seinfeld, or Sex and the City. LOL).

I do have one friend in particular here who like me, is originally from NY. She, like me, has the same landing pattern when going home to visit. Head out for Pizza first, then a Black and White Cookie. (She actually goes for a Knish, too.) She totally gets it. She was the first person I called when I baked these - because she understands the love for Black and White Cookies, AND because she is Wheat-intolerant. Needless to say, she was very, very happy. I gave her a few and told her she can share them, and she looked at me and said, "I have to share them???" LOL. "No, I just thought if you didn't want them all, feel free to share them." "You don't HAVE to."

This recipe take a little time, so I suspect most of you won't bother making them unless you are serious about Black and White Cookies.

It starts with a typical gluten-free looking batter - something in between a cookie batter and a cake batter.

Traditional Black and White cookies are BIG. Easily a 5" or 6" circle, or even bigger. I chose to make these a little smaller - maybe 4" - since I was just experimenting. I used my largest cookie scoop.

I baked them, and they came out like hockey pucks. Ha! They didn't spread much. No picture needed. So I made some adjustments to the remaining batter, scooped them out, and gently flattened them to about 1/4" to 1/2", maintaining a circle.

Much better. They may not look so good to you in this picture, but here's a very important thing if you are baking these. The top of the cookie becomes the bottom! A Black and White Cookie is dome-shaped, and the flat part (bottom, when baking) becomes the top of the cookie.

Once the cookies cool, you prepare your icings - which can make or break a Black and White Cookie. Wherever you go to buy your B&W, rarely will you find the icing the same at any two places. Everyone has their favorite. To tell you the truth, I'm still working out the icing kinks. I know I have to include *some* icing recipe with this cookie, and I started out with good intentions when I was making it, but it ended up being a 'by the seat of my pants' recipe. The phone rang, and I was yapping on the phone (it was an important call) while trying to make the icing, and dumping in a little more of this and that, and I don't know what quantities I ended up including.

The thing is - they tasted really good. So I guess you can say it's a "to taste" type of icing recipe. They came out a little messy - I can fix that next time. But they are really, really good.

Will definitely make more perfect looking next time.

Oh - and since people always ask me what I do with all this stuff I bake, I cut these in half and brought them to class with me for my students. My bad :-)

Gluten-free Black and White Cookies

Makes about 26 4" cookies.

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups Gluten-free mix (your favorite or my favorite)
1 1/4 cups Brown Rice flour
1/2 cup Potato Starch (not flour)
1/2 cup Tapioca Starch/flour
3 tsp Xanthan Gum
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1 cup (2 sticks) Unsalted Butter
1 3/4 cups sugar
4 Eggs
1 1/4 cups milk (approximately)
1 tsp lemon extract
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees (I might try 350 degrees next time). You might want to consider baking just 1 or 2 first, to ensure that the consistency of the batter is right. If they turn out too heavy, you can add a bit more milk to the batter.

Sift flours, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.
Using a mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until blended well.
Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Stir in the vanilla, lemon, and milk.
It will be thick, but if batter is too thick, add a bit more milk. It should be a little thicker than a cake batter.
Gradually add the flour mixture until well blended.
Scoop large scoops of batter onto parchment-lined cookie sheets leaving about 1" inbetween. Gently flatten into a circle about 1/4" to 1/2" high. They won't spread much, but they will puff up.
Bake about 15 minutes, until lightly brown. May have to adjust baking time depending on the size cookie you make.
Remove from oven and let them sit for about 5 minutes before moving them to a cooling rack.

Here's a basic icing recipe that I use. You can make adjustments to get a flavor you like and the right consistency for spreading. This recipe uses corn syrup. I HATE using corn syrup in anything. I use a minimal amount here to help the icing set and give it some shine, but in the future I will experiment with adding a little oil instead.

White Icing

Ingredients:

3 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp light corn syrup
1 Tbs butter
1 tsp vanilla
Hot water

Directions:

Whisk the ingredients together vigorously to blend and remove all lumps, adding small amounts of hot water at at time until the icing reaches a good consistency to spread, without being runny.

Chocolate Icing

Directions:

Same as above except add 1/3 cup Dutch Processed Cocoa

When cookies are completely cool, ice one side of each cookie with the white icing. Then ice the other side with the chocolate icing. There you go! A Gluten-free Black and White Cookie (!!!!!)

Gluten-free Blueberry Pancakes

2009-08-27T12:01:00.001-07:00

For when you're not in a rush! Every now and then there is that morning where you can actually slow down and have a relaxing breakfast. What a treat! Here's my favorite recipe for gluten-free pancakes. I don't know if it's because I haven't had a regular pancake in a looonng time, but these don't taste gluten-free to me. They taste like ...well.... pancakes. They are light and fluffy. I happen to have a lot of frozen blueberries at the moment because I stocked up when they were at their peak and the price was low - so they were perfect for these pancakes. I added them still frozen - no need to thaw. You can add any fruit, or anything else you want to the batter (I didn't say it, but you know I'm thinking chocolate chips :-).

I have an electric griddle that I like to use for pancakes. (Did you hear the one about the 500 mini-crumpets I made on this griddle....?? LOL). You can use a frying pan and make one at a time, but griddles are nice because you can make a bunch together. Here are two of the three I made at one time.

With pancakes, you want to cook the first side until the batter starts to bubble before you flip them. Call me crazy, but there's something very satisfying about flipping a pancake :-)

What's a good pancake stack size to you? 2? 3? More????

These really were good!

And I must have been really really hungry!

Oy....

You can use all White Rice flour or all Brown Rice flour, or combine the two to equal 1 cup. I also sometimes use half Buckwheat flour, and/or add ground Flax Seed (superfood!) for additional nutrition and fiber. I made 9 large pancakes from this batter. Needless to say, I froze the rest for another day. Honest, I did!!

Gluten-free Blueberry Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 cup Rice Flour (brown and/or white/or half buckwheat)
3 Tbs. Tapioca Starch/flour
1/3 cup Potato Starch
1/4 tsp. NuStevia powder (or 1 Splenda packet), optional
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
2-4 Tbs. Ground Flax Seed (optional)
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Xanthan Gum
4 Tbs. Buttermilk Powder (*see note)
2 Eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 tsp. Vanilla
1 1/2-2 cups Water, approximately (I sometimes use half milk/half water; use the lesser amount if you like a thicker pancake)
3 Tbs. Canola Oil (I sometimes use melted butter)
1 cup blueberries, frozen or fresh

*Note: if you don't have buttermilk powder, you can leave it out, or use milk instead of water. You can even add a little lemon juice to the milk to give it a little tang if you want to.

Directions:
If you're using an electric griddle, preheat it to about 350 degrees. Otherwise, heat your frying pan or gas griddle as you normally do. I usually add a little butter.

Combine all of the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
Add the water, vanilla, eggs, and oil and beat just until blended. A few lumps are OK.
Pour onto hot pan. When they start to form bubbles, flip and cook the other side until golden brown.
Serve them up with your favorite toppings!

Tip: To get an 'even' spread of blueberries in your pancakes, instead of adding them to the batter, drop them one by one onto each pancake after you pour them on the griddle. This also keeps them from breaking up in the batter and turning the batter blue :-)

Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Bar - Breakfast on the Run

2009-08-24T22:43:00.000-07:00

Here we have it. Completely Healthy. And Gluten-free. And No Added Sugar. And Vegan. Any other requests??? This dense, chewy breakfast or snack bar is completely no-guilt and very satifying. It's great with a hot cup of coffee, or a cold glass of milk. I'm pretty sure these are very kid-friendly, too.

Like so many things I bake these days, you can add other ingredients to make it your own. I think sunflower or pumpkin seeds would be good, and maybe a little cinnamon. These keep for a few days at room temperature. Personally, I like them cold, so I keep a few in the refrigerator, and freeze the rest, thawing as needed.

And no matter what I tried, I could not make these look pretty in the picture (they do, however, look better in person though, like so many of us ;-)

Hmmmmm..... maybe this one.

Oh well.... never mind...

Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Bar - Breakfast on the Go (Gluten-Free, No Added Sugar, Vegan)

Ingredients:

2 cups Rolled Oats
2/3 cup finely chopped or ground Almonds
1/3 cup unsweetened Coconut
1/2 tsp Salt
4 oz good quality bittersweet or dark Chocolate, chopped small
14 oz of very ripe Bananas (about 4 bananas)
1/2 tsp. Vanilla
1/4 cup Peanut or Almond butter
1/2 cup Dried Fruit (I like cherries or apricots)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F). Grease or line a 9 X 9 baking pan.

In mixing bowl, combine the oats, ground almonds, coconut, and salt. Set aside.
In another bowl, combine the bananas, vanilla, and nut butter. Mash thoroughly.
Add the Oatmeal mixture to the bananas and mix well.
Gently add in the chopped chocolate and dried fruit.
Spread mixture evenly in the prepared pan, and bake for about 25 minutes.
Let cool completely before cutting into whatever size bars you wish.

Easy, huh?

Your Basic Gluten-Free Cookie

2009-08-19T23:28:00.000-07:00

Here's the thing - this is a great base for a gluten-free cookie. What I mean is - you can add anything to it you want to to make it your own. Chocolate (white and/or dark!!), Candied Ginger, different kinds of nuts or dried fruits, ....whatevah! The possibilities are endless.

In my case, I had a bunch of ingredients I wanted to get rid of - starting with some dried mango. Not an ingredient I usually keep around - I bought some for a candy recipe I tried (one that went terribly wrong...). Dried mango is a little strange - or maybe it's just the dried mango I happened to buy at Trader Joes. I needed to chop it up - but it didn't chop. Unchoppable. So I ended up ripping it into little pieces. LOL.

Anyway, I also had some dried cranberries, dried cherries (my favorite!), and some slivered almonds. Oh - and some coconut. So I came up with a recipe that I thought would work - and it did!

The thing that's so great about this cookie, besides it's flexibility, is the texture. It's nice and thick, with a slight crunch, and it's chewy in the middle. I think it make a great Chocolate Chip cookie. I would try it as CCC this week, except I already have a gluten-free Chocolate Chip cookie dough in the refrigerator resting..... until Friday morning when I'll bake it. Why is it resting? Because it's the New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookie - gone gluten-free!!!!!! But that's a story for another day :-)

So - these are the cookies before they went into the oven. I scooped them with my middle size scoop, and then flattened out the top just slightly, keeping them thick.

and 16 minutes later.....

And yes, they taste as good as they look. Go ahead, make them yours!

Basic Gluten-Free Cookie

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Chopped Dried Mango
1/2 - 1/3 cup Juice (Orange, Apple, etc.)
1 cup Unsalted Butter, softened slightly
3/4 cup Light Brown Sugar
1/2 cup White Sugar (I will use less next time)
2 Eggs
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 cup Sorghum flour
1 cup Brown Rice flour
1/2 cup Tapioca starch/flour
1/2 cup Potato Starch
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 1/2 tsp Xanthan Gum
1/2 tsp Salt
3/4 cup Coarsely Chopped Nuts
3/4 cup Unsweetened Flaked Coconut
1/2 - 1 cup Dried Cherries, Cranberries, etc.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees (F).

Simmer orange juice and mango in a small pan over medium-low heat for 8 minutes. Set aside.
Beat the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, blending well after each addition. Add the vanilla.
In a separate bowl, combine the flours, baking soda, baking powder, Xanthan Gum, and salt, and mix with whisk or fork.
Add the flour to the butter mixture and mix until just combined.
Fold in the nuts, dried fruit, and coconut to evenly combine.
Scoop onto parchment lined cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart. Flatten the top slightly.
Bake approximately 16 minutes. They will not brown much on top. Remove from oven and leave the cookies on the sheet for 5-10 minutes. Then move them to a cooling rack.

Makes about 40-44 2 1/2" cookies. You can make them smaller, but you will have to adjust the baking time. Enjoy!

Peach (or Nectarine) Chicken Salad

2009-08-11T22:37:00.000-07:00

It's what's for dinner! Or lunch! This simple salad is light and refreshing, great for a summer meal. It's low in fat, but very satisfying.

I've made this for many friends this summer - and have been asked for the recipe - so here you go.

Peach (or Nectarine) Chicken Salad (serves 4)

Ingredients:

1 lb. cubed cooked chicken
About 3 fresh peaches or nectarines, peeled and cubed
1 medium cucumber (I like English), seeded and chopped
3 Tbs. finely chopped red onion
1/2 lb string beans, cut into 1" pieces, and steamed lightly.

Mint Vinaigrette:

1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 Tbs lemon juice
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup fresh mint, finely chopped
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp. pepper

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine the peaches, chicken, cucumber, string beans, and onion; set aside
In a blender combine the vinegar, lemon juice, honey, mint, salt and pepper. Process until smooth. Adjust the flavor to taste.
Pour over chicken mixture and toss to coat.
Optionally, cover and refrigerate to chill.
Serve over chopped lettuce.

It's especially good with a sprinkle of feta cheese. Enjoy!

P.S. those are apricot halves with a couple of blueberries, just for fun.

Chocolate Cupcakes - Gluten-Free AND Vegan!

2009-08-09T21:42:00.000-07:00

It's true. You can have your gluten-free and vegan, and eat it too.

First, you have to know, chocolate cupcakes + chocolate frosting = chocolate kitchen. What a mess :-) But really, it was a miracle experience for me, because despite the chocolate mess all over my kitchen (not done cleaning yet....), I managed to not get any chocolate on my white pants. Yessirree - living on the edge in the kitchen - white pants and chocolate. Hey - that would make a good blog name - maybe I should change it! ....OK - back to the topic at hand.

The cupcakes as they came out of the oven:

You may be wondering why I am playing with vegan?? I mean - isn't gluten-free and low sugar hard enough. Well heck yeah! Except I my daughter-in-law, Ritu, is Vegan. And it was recently her birthday. And while I do have a recipe for a fabulous chocolate vegan cake, I came across this recipe for gluten-free *and* vegan. So naturally - I had to try it. And dress it up for a birthday.

The verdict (my opinion).... great texture, pretty good flavor but can use some tweaking. Ritu's opinion (the one that counts :-) - great tasting and great texture. They're fun to look at, too.

And yes! The frosting is gluten-free and vegan too, but definitely Not low-sugar. LOL.

Chocolate Cupcakes - Gluten-Free & Vegan (adapted from Katrina's Kitchen)

Ingredients:

3/4 rounded cup sorghum flour
3/4 rounded cup potato starch or tapioca starch
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup sugar (I used 3/4 cup)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 Tbs Ener-G Egg Replacer, beaten with 1/4 cup warm water
3 Tbs oil (I used canola)
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp vinegar
1 cup warm water or coffee

Directions:
Line a 12-cup cupcake pan with paper liners. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Whisk together the dry ingredients
Add in the warm water (or coffee), Energ-g, oil, vanilla, and vinegar and beat until smooth. Beat for 2-3 minutes.
Scoop the batter into the 12 cups.
Bake for about 15-20 minutes, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Remove the cupcakes to a wire rack and let cool completely before frosting.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting - Gluten-Free & Vegan

Ingredients:

3 oz vegan chocolate chips or dark chocolate
3 cups powdered sugar (!)
3 Tbs vegan butter
1 vanilla
3-8 Tbs milk substitute (e.g. soy milk, almond milk)
4 oz vegan cream cheese (I used Tofutti)

Directions:

Melt dark chocolate and butter in a double boiler. Remove from heat and let cool about 5 minutes.
In mixer, beat chocolate and sugar, adding milk by the Tbs until blended well.
Add the cream cheese, and the vanilla and beat until fairly stiff (adding milk if needed)
You can frost the cupcakes as is, or refrigerate the frosting for a while to thicken, and pipe the frosting on the cupcakes.

Summer Fruit Cake - Gluten-free!

2009-08-06T16:05:00.000-07:00

Success!! After an unsuccessful attempt at this gluten-free cake (pilot-error), I had to try again. Delicious Organic Nectarines are on sale this week at Whole Foods - I could not let the opportunity pass. Yesterday, I actually left an important ingredient out - big DUH - but I after tasting it I realized that I need to tweak the recipe anyway, to get the taste I was looking for. The recipe I've included below was adapted from a Peach Cake recipe at the Karina's Kitchen blog. I made just a few changes. I am very happy with the result.

It's a slightly different taste than the non-gluten-free version I made a few days ago, but definitely delicious. I didn't dare make it in a tart pan - way too much batter. It definitely stands out as a cake though. The before (look familiar?):

And the after:

I used a combination of sugar and Agave. Next time I will likely cut back on the sugar - it doesn't need a lot, in my opinion.

Summer Fruit Cake - Gluten-Free

Ingredients:

2/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 - 3/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup Agave nectar
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup non-fat plain yogurt
2 cups Gluten-free flour mix
2 tsp xanthan gum
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
Summer fruit (I used 4 medium-to- large nectarines, peeled and sliced)
Optional: a light sprinkle of cinnamon-sugar for the top

Directions:
Grease or spray a 9" or 10" cake pan (I highly recommend a springform pan). Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream the butter and sugar. Beat well.
Add the Agave, vanilla, and yogurt and continue beating (don't worry if the batter looks clumpy - it will smooth out after you add the dry ingredients.
Mix together the gluten-free flour, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, cinnamon, and salt.
Add flour mixture to batter and blend well.
Add the eggs, and mix until blended well.
Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, and spread to cover the entire bottom using a knife or spatula.
Arrange the fruit on the top of the batter.
Optionally sprinkle lightly with sugar-cinnamon mix.
Bake for about 40-45 minutes.

Allow to cool a bit before cutting. Eat warm or at room temperature. I'm thinking I need to go fill that empty coffee cup. Now! :-)

Summer Fruit Cake

2009-08-03T23:20:00.000-07:00

Continuing with my kitchen play with wheat and sugar, probably the last for a while, I made a Summer Fruit Cake with peaches and blueberries. Wish I had taken a 'before' picture of it - it looked like sooo much fruit. But by the time it baked up, the fruit got eaten up by the dough. It's in there - really it is. So next time - even more fruit! This recipe can use any fruit - even winter fruit like Apples! But with summer fruit at it's best, it's fun to find different ways to use it in baking.

I made this using a tart pan, even though it's a cake. A big tart pan (11"). So it came out kind of short (low??). Still tasted great though. I would definitely recommend using a 10" tart pan, or a 9 or 10" springform pan.

The other great thing about this recipe is it's really quick and easy to make. Go for it! Oh... and later this week, I'm going to make almost the same thing, but wheat-free and low sugar. Honestly!

Summer Fruit Cake (from thathomesite.com)

Ingredients:

1 stick unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup flour, sifted
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
pinch of salt
Summer fruit (I used 7 medium peaches and a bunch of blueberries
Optional: a light sprinkle of cinammon-sugar for the top

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease or spray the bottom of your baking pan.

Cream the butter and sugar. Beat well.
Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well.
Mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt
Add flour to batter and mix.
Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, and spread to cover the entire bottom using a knife or spatula.
Arrange the fruit on the top of the batter.
Optionally sprinkle lightly with sugar-cinnamon mix.
Bake for about 40-45 minutes.

Allow to cool before cutting. Eat warm or at room temperature.

Grown-Up Chocolate Chip Cookies

2009-07-30T22:23:00.000-07:00

First, if you are Gluten-free, or don't eat Sugar, hit the Back button now! This one ain't for you. I made Chocolate Chip Cookies. Real Chocolate Chip Cookies. Grown-up Chocolate Chip Cookies. Because sometimes.... you just gotta have a Chocolate Chip Cookie.

Chocolate Chip Cookies aficionados are always looking for the perfect recipe You know.... a slight crunch at the edge but chewy and soft in the middle.

For years, I stuck with the traditional Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe - the one on the back of the Nestle bag. I made it into pan cookies, or round cookies, or whatever. They were always quite tasty, or so I thought. And then I found the best Chocolate Chip Cookie ever. Affectionately known by millions as the "NY Times Chocolate Chip Cookie," it's based on a recipe from Jacques Torres. It is different, and it is special. And it's the only Chocolate Chip Cookie I make now.

The dough, just before going into the refrigerator to "rest" for at least 24 hours (but 36 hours is optimum).

This recipe calls for 3 1/2 oz balls of dough. I have made them that size (yes, I actually weigh each ball), and all I can say is That's a BIG cookie. More recently, I've been making them 2 1/2 oz balls of dough, which still bakes to a substantial cookie.

Here they are, ready to bake (OK - I confess, thse are actually 3 1/2 oz).

And here they are, hot out of the oven, in all their gooey splendor....

Notice the ratio of chocolate to cookie. Oh yeahhhhh....

P.S. To my Gluten-free friends (if you're still here) - a Gluten-free Chocolate Chip Cookie is coming this way soon... I promise.

So when you're ready for serious Chocolate Chip Cookie....

NY Times Chocolate Chip Cookie

Makes about 20 2 1/2" cookies.

Ingredients:

2 cups minus 2 Tbs. Cake Flour (8 1/2 oz.)
1 2/3 cups Bread Flour (8 1/2 oz)
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) Unsalted Butter
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar (10 oz)
1 cup plus 2 Tbs sugar (8 oz.)
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 to 1 1/4 lb. Good Quality bittersweet chocolate disks or chips (min 60% cacao)
additional sea salt for sprinkling

Directions:

Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside
Using a mixer, cream the butter and sugars together for about 5 minutes, until very light.
Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Stir in the vanilla
Reduce the mixer speed to low, and add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
Add chocolate pieces and incorporate (I find it's best to do this with a spatula or wooden spoon)
PRESS PLASTIC WRAP ALONG THE TOP AND REFRIGERATE FOR 24 TO 36 HOURS (UP TO 72 HOURS)
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Link a baking sheet with parchment paper or a non-stick baking mat.
Scoop (or chisel out :-) a generous size of dough and form into a ball. (I weigh each one to 2 1/2 oz, which makes for a plenty big cookie)
Place about 6 on your baking sheet. They spread quite a bit, so don't put them too close together. Sprinkle each one very lightly with sea salt.
Bake until golden brown, but still soft, 18 - 20 minutes. Note that if you make smaller cookies, you will have to adjust the baking time. Do Not Overbake!!
Transfer the baking sheet to a cooking rack (the cookies are too soft to move individually). Let them cool, and then transfer each cookie to another cooking rack. Eat warm (Hot chocolate will burn your mouth!), with a big napkin and a glass of cold milk.

These freeze well if wrapped carefully. Stick them in the microwave for 10 seconds to warm them up - almost as good as fresh!

Cherry Almond Chocolate Clusters

2009-07-28T17:05:00.000-07:00

I'm baaack! Still not fully unpacked, but I had to hit the kitchen anyway.

True confession..... I hate making ugly food. I love when food looks beautiful. Yes - taste is the most important thing, but honestly, there's something about creating food that looks pretty or beautiful...... before you devour it. I gotta get over it.

These tasty little candies are not pretty. I have some ideas about making them a little sweeter to the eye, maybe making them in candy molds, or adding a little drizzle of white chocolate, but for now they are what they are.

DAY 2: OK - made them smaller and dressed them up with White Chocolate. Better.

Several of you have had them recently, and I've been asked for the recipe - so here it is. This recipe is from the Food Network website - but I've simplified the instructions somewhat. Only three ingredients, and they are really easy (and somewhat messy) to make. Oh - and No Added Sugar - always a plus!

When making chocolate candies, you really want to use the best quality chocolate you can afford. All chocolate is not created equal. If you can't afford Sharffen Berger or Valrhona Chocolate, Ghirardelli is a good alternative. Lately, I've been using Trader Joe's brand called PoundsPlus (wonder what that means??? LOL). It's 72% Dark Chocolate, imported from Belgium, and tastes great.

Cherry Almond Chocolate Clusters

Ingredients:

1 cup coarsely chopped roasted almonds (see instructions below)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped dry cherries
6 oz. Dark Chocolate

Directions:
Set out parchment paper or wax paper on two trays (I use sheet pans).

Chop the chocolate into small pieces and melt it slowly in the top of a double boiler (I just put a bowl over a pot of simmering water)
Mix together the chopped nuts and chopped dried cherries.
When melted, remove the chocolate from the heat. Mix the nut-cherry mix into the chocolate and blend together completely with a rubber spatula or spoon.
Spoon out heaping tablespoons of the chocolate into mounds onto the parchment paper (I use a cookie scoop). You may have to shape them slightly with your hands (that's the messy part).
When ALL of the chocolates have been scooped, and not a moment before, lick your fingers :-)
Place the pans in the refrigerator to set for about 20 minutes or so
Option: Melt some good quality white chocolate and drizzle over the top of the cold chocolates. Return them to the refrigerator for at least 10 minutes to set.

That's it! They are ready to eat! These will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for a couple of days (if they last that long and it's not 100 degrees outside). I have also found that they freeze very well, much to my surprise. I place one or two in a small plastic snack-size bag, and then put the small bags into a freezer bag (make sure to get all the air out before closing the freezer bag) and pop them into the freezer.

Dry Roasting Almonds

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Line a baking pan with parchment paper or foil
Spread out nuts in a single layer
Bake for 8 - 10 minutes
Remove from oven and carefully grab corners of the paper and lift the nuts out, placing on cooling rack.

Gluten-free Blueberry Almond Cookies

2009-07-11T00:34:00.000-07:00

Before I leave for two weeks on a vacation to visit friends, I wanted to share another fun recipe. Still taking advantage of summer fruit while it's here - I really was in the mood for a new kind of cookie. Blueberries in a cookie? A cookie full of anti-oxidants? Sounds like a great idea.....but I haven't figured out if this is a cookie or a muffin :-) I adapted this recipe to make it gluten-free from a recipe by Giada De Laurentis at the Food Network.

It's looks like a cookie and bakes like a cookie, but it has the texture of a muffin. Kind of like a muffin top. Yeah! Who doesn't love a muffin top!

The original recipe called for 1 cup of sugar. I used 1/2 cup of the Splenda Blend product. I think next time I will cut it back to 1/3 cup. They are plenty sweet. You could probably use all Splenda as well - but baked goods generally don't brown with all Splenda. You could also use part Splenda and part sugar. But I would definitely keep it under a cup.

Gluten-free Blueberry Almond Cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups Gluten-free flour
1/2 cup almond meal or finely ground almonds
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Xanthan Gum
1 stick unsalted butter
1/3 - 1/2 cup Splenda-blend
1 egg
1 tsp almond extract
1/4 cup milk
1 - 2 tsp lemon or orange zest
1/2 cup chopped almonds (or any nuts, really)
1 cup fresh blueberries

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (175 degrees C). Parchment paper on your cookie sheet is recommended, or you can grease your cookie sheet.

Combine the flour, almond meal, baking powder, salt, and Xanthan Gum and blend with a whisk.
With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar well (note that Splenda doesn't "blend" with butter as well - it will be fine once the other ingredients are added).
Add the egg and continue beating.
Add the milk, almond extract, and zest.
Mix in the dry ingredients.
Remove from mixer and mix in the nuts.
Gently fold in the blueberries (try not to break them)
Refrigerate the dough for about 30-40 minutes.
User a spoon or cookie scoop and place on cookie sheets. Flatten each cookie slightly (they won't spread much).
Bake for about 15 minutes. Remove the cookies to a wire rack to cool.

I used a medium-size cookie scoop and got about two dozen cookies. You could get more if you make a smaller cookie. Enjoy those blueberries while they're here!

See you in a couple of weeks!

Wheat-free Sugar-free Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

2009-07-06T21:38:00.000-07:00

I make these cookies a lot. Mostly for my wheat-free friends (maybe you've had one?). I'm not much of an Oatmeal Raisin cookie girl, but I actually like them.

I took the recipe from the Stevia website, and made it wheat-free, and changed up a few other ingredients. I made them over and over and over again, tweaking it a little each time, until I think I got it right. Sometimes I got suggestions from wise friends that I incorporated as well. I guess you can say I got obsessed with this recipe. Pretty funny, considering I'd really rather have a chocolate chip cookie.

Oh, and I didn't actually use regular Stevia - I've heard from too many people that it has an aftertaste. Never having baked with any Stevia product before, I tried a product called NuStevia which is not supposed to have the aftertaste. I certainly didn't detect any. I got it here: NuStevia Powder at iHerb.

If you are wheat-free/gluten-free, I'm thinking you will really like this cookie. It's a soft texture (not uncommon for wheat-free cookies), but not quite cake-like. They freeze very well, too.

Wheat-free Sugar-free Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Makes about 2 dozen 2" cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup raisins (packed)
5 oz apple juice
1/3 cup raw cashews or walnuts, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup Sorghum (or Soy flour)
1/2 cup butter or butter substitute, softened
1 tsp NuStevia
1-2 Tbs pure maple syrup
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 tsp vanilla
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup Sorghum flour
1/4 cup Oat flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp cornstarch or arrowroot
1 - 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Xanthan Gum
Optional: salted sunflower seeds and pumpkins seeds, golden raisins, chocolate chips.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (175 degrees C). Parchment paper on your cookie sheet is recommended, or you can grease your cookie sheet.

Place the raisins and apple juice in a small pot and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes.
In a mixing bow, cream the butter, nuts, and 1/4 cup Sorghum flour.
Add the NuStevia powder, Maple Syrup, Vanilla, a sightly beaten eggs
Cream about 1/3 of the stewed raisins and all of the juice into a blender or processor.
Stir the creamed raisins into the butter mixture. Then add the milk and oats.
In a separate bowl, mix together the flours, baking soda, cinnamon, cornstarch, Xanthan Gum, and salt and blend together well (a whisk is a good tool for this).
Stire the flour mix into the butter mixture, and add the rest of the raisins.
Mix until just blended (don't overmix).
To get a consistent size, use a cookie scoop (I used a medium size) and place each on the baking sheet.
Press each down slightly with the palm of your hand to flatten them out a bit.
If you're including the seeds and golden raisins, press them into each cookie
Bake for 11-12 minutes, being careful not to overbake.

Let them cool slightly before eating (if you can :-)

4th of July Cheesecake

2009-07-04T12:22:00.001-07:00

Happy 4th of July and have a safe and fun day!

The BEST Turkey Burger

2009-07-02T22:33:00.000-07:00

This is the only really good Turkey Burger recipe I've ever found. It's flavorful and juicy and easy to make. You can grill it (be sure to grease your grill though) or you can pan saute it in a little Canola oil, which is what I did because my Grill is out of propane. I've also cooked it on a George Foreman Grill, which is a handy little tool.

I adapted this recipe from one I found online a while ago. This is for 4 burgers:

Feta Turkey Burgers

Ingredients:

1 lb. Ground Turkey Breast
8 oz. fresh mushrooms, finely chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 Tbs. soy sauce (or to taste)
1/4 - 1/2 cup crumbled Feta Cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Directions:

Preheat Grill or Pan if pan saute
Mix together well the ground turkey, finely chopped mushrooms, finely chopped onion, soy sauce, and 1/4-1/2 cup of Feta
Season with salt and pepper, and form into 4 burger patties
Place patties on grill or in pan, and cook about 10 minutes, then turn over to second side. If you're cooking it in a pan, keep the heat very low. Sprinkle a little additional cheese and cook on second side until done (see note below). The burger will get dark brown.
Serve with your favorite condiments, or as is.

Note: Unlike regular beef burgers, turkey burgers cannot be served 'rare' and must be cooked through thoroughly. Internal temperature should be at least 165 degrees. I recommend purchasing an instant-read thermometer so there is no guess work :-)

Lettuce Wraps

2009-06-30T23:06:00.000-07:00

It's what's for lunch! Getting over the 'sandwich for lunch' habit is not easy. Because sandwiches are so easy - and there's so much variety in breads and fillings. My near-daily lunch has become a couple of lettuce wraps with a variety of different filling options. Quick.Easy.Healthy (!).Yummy.

Here's my lunch in process.

Here it is, ready to go.

Looks good, doesn't it? That particular wrap is simply tuna (I like it with a touch of dill and lemon) sprinkled with Greek Sheep Feta (everything's better with a sprinkle of Greek Sheep Feta :-)

Here are some ideas for lettuce wrap fillings. Start with your favorite spread on the lettuce:

Mustard
Mayonnaise, or Vegenaise, etc.
Avocado
Fruit Spread
Chutney
Cream Cheese

Then add your lunch protein:

Sliced Chicken, Turkey, or other meat
Turkey, Chicken, or Tuna Salad
A Burger, crumbled up

Add other toppings:

Roasted Red Peppers or Roasted Tomatoes
Grated Carrots
Your favorite cheese

Then just wrap it up and enjoy your fabulous lunch. (I'll bet you're already thinking of your own ways to fill a lettuce wrap). I think it's time to go eat lunch now....

Lettuce tip: be careful not to buy lettuce that is too narrow. You have to have enough width to wrap ..... or be very careful eating :-) If it's too wide, you can always trim it.

Wheat-Free Peach Crisp

2009-06-29T09:38:00.000-07:00

This time of year I have no self-control when I'm at the market. Surrounded by summer fruit at the beginning of it's peak, I wish there was a way to take it home and keep it from going bad too quickly (expecially when it's 100 degrees outside). I just keep running around Whole Foods, throwing all kinds of fruit in my basket, knowing full well I'm not going to be able to eat it all. *Sigh*

I got home and looked what I thought was a lot of peaches - 5. Well - it is a lot for just me to eat, especially considering I also bought strawberries and nectarines and apricots.

So I decided to make a Peach Crisp. Another perfect summer dessert. This is it before it went into the oven. Kind of boring looking, isn't it?

This is it after it came out of the oven. This recipe can be made using any kind of fruit - it's really an all-season kind of thing. Keep in mind that I really like to taste the natural fruit, so I don't add too much sugar. You can adjust the amount of sugar to your preference.

Hey - there are blueberries in that Peach Crisp! Well it turns out 5 medium peaches wasn't quite enough, so I threw in some blueberries. They added a lovely flavor, but still not quite enough fruit. Even though it was not as "full" as I would have liked, the Crisp still tasted delicious. I will be picking up some vanilla frozen yogurt today which will then make a complete meal... I mean dessert.

Peach Crisp

Ingredients:

6-7 Ripe Peaches
2-3 Tbs Arrowroot or Cornstarch or Potato starch
1/2 cup Oats
1/3 cup Sorghum flour (or Brown rice flour)
1/2 cup Almond flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup Splenda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
6 Tbs. cold butter substitute (or butter)
1 tsp Vanilla
1 - 2 Tbs Lemon Juice

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Peel and slice peaches. Mix in the vanilla and little lemon juice (Use less if the peaches are very juicy).
Mix in the Arrowroot/Cornstarch/Potato Starch to thicken a bit and set aside
Mix together the sugars, oats, flours, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder and blend well with a whisk or fork
Cut the cold butter into small pieces OR grate the butter into the dry ingredients and work it together with your hands to until it's crumbly.
Sprinkle the mix liberally over the peaches
Bake for about 40 minutes. Let it cool for a while after you take it out so the juices firm up. Serve alone or with Frozen Vanilla (fill-in-the-blank)

Balancing Wheat-Free Flours

2009-06-27T13:20:00.000-07:00

Wheat-free baking is not so hard. Really. The first thing you need to do is accept that your wheat-free baked goods will Never have the same texture of wheat-based baked goods. That said, I have found that if you play around with ingredients, you can sometimes get pretty darn close.

You can buy packaged wheat-free flours at Whole Foods and other health food stores that are ready to use, but they can be rather pricey. You can also find them on Amazon, but you usually need to buy a lot to get a good price. That's fine if you bake a lot (raise your hand if that's you!), but if you don't you'll have lots of flour sitting around. Most of these mixes have ingredients that keep well, so it shouldn't be a problem. Honestly though, I've never used a mix - but I'm sure some of them are good.

I've read a lot about combining your own flours to make wheat-free mixes. I've tried a few different combinations, and now have one that I use exclusively when a recipe calls for "wheat-free or gluten-free mix." Some recipes specify what flours to use, and that makes it easy. But when they don't, here's what I use:

1 part Sorghum Flour
1 part Rice Flour (white or brown)
1/2 part Potato Starch (Not Potato Flour
1/2 part Tapioca Starch or Flour

I usually make a bunch and keep it on hand. For example, I'll do 3 cups of Rice flour, 3 cups of Sorghum flour, 2 cups of Potato starch, and 1 cup of Tapioca flour. I whisk it together and keep it available for when I want to bake a goodie.

Bob's Red Mill is a company that makes a lot of these flours. Many stores carry this brand. I find Sorghum flour is hard to find locally, so I usually order a box from Whole Foods. It keeps well.

Other flours I've had success with include Oat flour and Almond flour. Almond flour can be expensive, especially if it's made from blanched almonds (better tasting, IMO). You can make your own by blanching almonds and removing the skin - and then chopping them in a food processor until they are very fine (but not quite almond butter, please!). Time consuming, but easy. I just bought some Coconut flour that I thought I would play with. It's not likely I will use it a lot, because it is ridiculously expensive. But I'm curious to try it.

There are other ingredients that are helpful in wheat-free baking that are not typical household staples, like Xanthan Gum, which helps improve the texture of baked goods. Xanthan Gum is not a chemical (even though it sounds like it!). It's a natural substance. It is pricey, at about $10.00 for an 8-oz bag, but you generally only use 1-2 tsp at a time, so it lasts a long time. It needs to be refrigerated.

I hope this information is helpful if you're interested in experimenting with wheat-free baking. There a lots of other wheat-free flours out there to try. My experience has been that this type of baking is actually very forgiving - so you can play around with different types of flours that sound good to you, and probably get good results!

No Baking Required

2009-06-26T14:30:00.000-07:00

The joys of summer fruit, also known as What To Do When You Buy Too Much. Papaya, Cherries, Peaches, Blueberries. A little bowl of heaven. No recipe required.

Wheat-Free Strawberry Muffins

2009-06-25T20:32:00.000-07:00

Like many of you, I've been collecting recipes for years. But now with the open and free exchange online from food blogs and forums everywhere, it's simply gotten out of control. I spend a lot of time looking at recipes and pictures of food, trying out some as they are, and modifying some to meet my taste.

This recipe is an original. It's the peak of strawberry season, and I happened to have a lot of strawberries that needed to be consumed sooner rather than later. Having played with a lot of 'wheat' recipes to make them wheat-free, with some success, I felt I could make the leap to an original recipe and turn these strawberries into something wonderful (before they.....ummm....rotted). Oh - and if it matters to you, this recipe uses all gluten-free ingredients.

I love baking muffins and quick breads. You can take a basic recipe, and change it up on a whim, adding whatever ingredients suit your mood. This is one of those recipes - add blueberries, raspberries, cherries. Go ahead - get crazy! Me - I'm all about the dark chocolate!

They baked up wonderfully, and the extras did great in the freezer. I think if you didn't know, you couldn't even tell they are wheat-free.

Makes about 18 regular sized muffins.

Ingredients:

2 + cups fresh ripe strawberries, diced
3 cups wheat-free mix (see note below)
1/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp Xanthun Gum
3/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla
4 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cups chopped pecans, optional
chopped up chocolate or chocolate chips, optional
2-3 Tbs milk, as needed

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease muffin tins or use paper liners. Spray paper liners with cooking spray.

Dice strawberries, and place in medium-sized bowl. Set aside.
Combine wheat-free flour mix, sugars, cinnamon, salt and baking soda, baking powder, and Xanthun Gum in large bowl: mix well.
Blend applesauce, oil, vanilla, and eggs. Add to flour mixture. If batter is too thick add a little milk to thin slightly.
Add strawberries to flour mixture, blending until dry ingredients are just moistened. Stir in optional pecans and/or chocolate. Divide batter into muffin tins.
Bake for 18 minutes, or until tester inserted comes out clean. Remove muffins to rack to cool.

Relax. Pour tea. Eat muffin.

Bake This. Eat That. Then Move!

Almond Lemon Ricotta Cheese Muffins - Gluten-Free

Almond Banana Blueberry Muffins - Gluten-free

Bon Jour! French Macarons!

Gluten-free Ricotta Strawberry Crepes

4th of July, 2011

Gluten-free Bakewell Tart (aka Almond Tart)

Gluten-free French Pancakes (aka Crepes)

Gluten-free Waffles!

Gluten-free Rugelach - Finally! (Sugar-free Option)

Gluten-Free Peach Cobbler with Vegan option

Do you Snickerdoodle?

Happy 4th of July!

Strawberries n' Cream Rolled Cake

Gluten-free, No-Added-Sugar Banana Apple Muffins

Gluten-free Linzer Cookies - The BEST!

Gluten-free Pumpkin Cranberry Bread

Chocolate Macaroons, Naturally Gluten-Free

Gluten-free Low-Sugar Banana Bread

Halloween Cupcakes?

Gluten-free Rolled Sugar Cookies

Rugelach - a Jewish Treat!

Gluten-free Lemon Cookies with White Chocolate

Gluten-free Blueberry Peach Crumb Bars

Gluten-free Ginger Cranberry Cookies

Quinoa Tabouli (aka Tabouleh) - Gluten free!

Nearly Guilt-Free, Kinda' Healthy Chocolate Cake

Gluten-free Pizza

Gluten-free Cupcakes

Gluten-free Scones

Gluten-free Black and White Cookies (!!!!!)

Gluten-free Blueberry Pancakes

Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Bar - Breakfast on the Run

Your Basic Gluten-Free Cookie

Peach (or Nectarine) Chicken Salad

Chocolate Cupcakes - Gluten-Free AND Vegan!

Summer Fruit Cake - Gluten-free!

Summer Fruit Cake

Grown-Up Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cherry Almond Chocolate Clusters

Gluten-free Blueberry Almond Cookies

Wheat-free Sugar-free Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

4th of July Cheesecake

The *BEST* Turkey Burger

Lettuce Wraps

Wheat-Free Peach Crisp

Balancing Wheat-Free Flours

No Baking Required

Wheat-Free Strawberry Muffins

The BEST Turkey Burger