Favorite Sandwich Bread - Ginger Lemon Girl

Favorite Sandwich Bread

Ginger Lemon Girl

I just love making bread lately. The house just has that "homey" feel when there is the smell of bread baking. I wanted to try a recipe that a fellow gluten free friend recommended. I scanned the ingredients and thought "another time when I have more time". I also needed a few of the ingredients. It is a lot of *stuff* but this bread is well worth it! It is from the Ginger Lemon Girl Blog. I made a few changes to the recipe so here is my version.

Dry Ingredients:
1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup white rice flour
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1/4 cup millet flour
1/4 cup potato starch
3 heaping tablespoons ground flax seeds
1/2 cup instant non-fat milk
3 teaspoons xanthan gum
1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
1 Tablespoon Sure Jell
1/2 teaspoon salt

Leavening/Proofing Ingredients:
2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1/4 cup warm water (110 degrees)

Wet Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup warm water (110 degrees)
3 eggs, room temperature, beaten
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar


Directions:

Proofing the Yeast: Mix together yeast, 2 teaspoons brown sugar, and 1/4 cup warm water. Set this mixture aside to proof. It should become aromatic, bubbly, and appear to be "growing" if it's proofing correctly.

In the bowl of your stand mixer whisk together ALL dry ingredients. Whisk or sift ingredients together thoroughly. Set aside.

In a medium sized bowl whisk together all wet ingredients. Add proofed yeast to this mixture. If your yeast did not get bubbly and aromatic, start fresh with new yeast.

Using the paddle attachment of your stand mixer on slow speed, gently pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix dough on medium speed for 5-8 minutes. Occasionally use a rubber spatula to push dough down the sides of the mixer bowl. While your dough is mixing, you can prepare your loaf pans. (Finished dough should resemble a VERY thick cake batter)

Heat oven to 200 degrees and CUT OFF immediately. Spritz loaf pan (or pans if you are using smaller 8 x 4 1/2 pans) with non-stick cooking spray or olive oil.

Pour dough into loaf pan (or pans -- dividing evenly).
Spray a sheet of plastic wrap with non-stick spray and gently cover the loaf pan, with the sprayed side facing the dough.

Place covered loaf pans in the warmed oven and let rise for 50 minutes to an hour for large loaf pan, or 30 minutes for 2 small loaf pans. The dough should have risen to the top of the pans. GENTLY remove plastic wrap.

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Place risen loaf of dough in the oven. For a large 9 x 5 or 10 x 5 loaf, bake 45-55 minutes. For smaller 8 x 4 1/2 loaves bake 30 minutes. Crust should be light brown in color and a thermometer placed in the middle of the loaf should read around 190 for a finished loaf.

Let loaf or loaves cool completely before cutting.

I store this bread on the counter for 2 days, if there is leftover bread after that point, I refrigerate or freeze remaining slices.

Frozen or refrigerated bread slices and be made soft and pliable again by microwaving on medium power for 10-20 seconds.

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Isn't it beautiful?




To your health - gluten free!

Stephanie

Linzer Cookies Go Gluten Free

This is a cookie that my mom would make just for Christmas so when I came across a recipe for it made gluten free I was excited. There are no nuts in this recipe which is OK with me since I am not a "nut in things" person. They turned out well. I used a donut cutter I got on eBay to cut the dough. But it is also on Amazon.com .

Raspberry Linzer Cookies

1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened

4 oz Philadelphia cream cheese (softened)

2 cups Beth's All Purpose Flour (From Gluten Free Pantry)

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp baking powder (aluminum free)

1/2 tsp grated lemon peel (I used Penzey's)

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp lemon juice

Raspberry Fruit Spread

In a heavy mixer beat butter and cream cheese together until fluffy.

Whisk together flour mix, sugar, baking powder, and lemon peel. Beat 1 cup of flour mixture into the butter mixture.

Add egg, vanilla and lemon juice. Beat in remaining 1 cup of flour mixture.

Cover and chill for 2 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Divide dough in half. On a well floured (rice flour) surface, roll out half the dough to a 1/4 inch thick or less.

Using a 2" cutter cut dough into circles. Cut as many as the dough will allow and bake for 10 mins or until the sides are lightly brown.

Place the center cutter in the circle and roll out the remaining dough and cut "lids" for your cookies and bake them as you did with the bottoms.

When cool, spread on the fruit spread and place a top on them. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Coconut Oatmeal Cookies

I found this wonderful looking cookie recipe for these coconut oatmeal cookies but then saw that it needed a special flour mixture only provided by a specific vendor. I don't like recipes that require you to buy their product. But I was determined. I thought "I can make this mixture" since I knew what was in it and if you look at the order you can kind of figure out how much to use. So here is the Coconut Flour mixture I made:

Coconut Flour Mixture

2 Cups White Rice Flour
2/3 Cup Potato Starch
1/3 Cup Tapioca Starch / Flour
1/3 Cup Coconut Flour
1/4 Cup Glutenous (Sweet) Rice Flour

Whisk the mixture together until well blended. Makes a little over 3 1/2 cups.


Coconut Oatmeal Cookies

2 cups Coconut Flour Blend
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar (packed)
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Rolled Oats
1/2 cup flaked coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl add flour, xanthan gum, baking soda and salt. Whisk together until combined and set aside.

In a stand mixer, cream butter, brown sugar, sugar and vanilla on high speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs and mix. Stop mixer and scrape down sides. Add flour mixture one cup at a time until combined. Fold in oatmeal and flaked coconut using slowest mixer speed (or by hand).

Place drops of dough onto a parchment paper covered cookie sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 10-12 minutes. Allow cookies to cool for 3 minutes after removing from oven.

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Happy Baking!

Stephanie

Cheesy Crackers

I thought this recipe looked interesting. Since I was house bound today I decided to try it. I used the center out of my donut cutter and a small star cookie cutter from my grandfathers collection of cutters I inherited. Next time I make these I am going to use Parmesan cheese with rosemary seasoning.

Cheesy Crackers

3/4 c white rice flour
1/4 c tapioca starch or corn starch
3/4 t celtic salt
1/4 t xanthan gum
1/2 t paprika
1/2 t chili powder
4 T cold butter, cut into cubes
8 oz cheddar cheese, grated
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350. Mix flour, salt, xanthan gum, paprika, and chili powder, and cheese. If the dough holds together a little, dump into a bowl and knead with your hands until it holds together. If its too sticky, add a little flour, if too dry, add water a tablespoon at a time until it feels like it won't be all sticky when you roll it out. Once the dough is all kneaded, split it in half and wrap each piece in plastic wrap. Stick in the fridge for at least half an hour. Once it's chilled, roll out between two pieces of floured wax paper. Cut into squares or any shape you desire, and bake 15-20 minutes until browned and slightly crispy.

Surprise Package Cookies Go Gluten Free

I found this great gluten free blog the other day while hunting out new Christmas cookie recipes that were gluten free. It was called "It's Just Not Dinner Without Cat Hair" . So I decided to try it and it was fantastic. I recommend this recipe. The cookie part was wonderful - chocolate was the icing on the cake.


Surprise Package Cookies

½ cup butter
½ cup sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
½ tsp vanilla
1 tsp GF baking powder
1/3 tsp celtic salt
2/3 cup white rice flour
1/3 cup tapioca starch
¼ cup cornstarch
2 tbsp sweet rice flour
1 ¼ tsp xanthan gum
1 pkg Andes Candies (I used the Hershey's Limited Edition Mint Mini Bars and broke in 1/2)

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugars together. Add the egg and beat well. Add the vanilla.In another bowl, sift together the flours, baking powder, salt, and xanthan gum. Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until completely incorporated.

Refrigerate the dough for at least 3 hours.

When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Shape a tablespoonful of dough around 22 candies, forming rectangular cookies.




Bake on parchment paper for 10 to 12 minutes or until the cookies just begin to turn golden brown. Cool on wire racks.When the cookies have cooled, melt the remaining Andes Candies and drizzle over the cookies.

Here is the finished product. This one had the white chocolate candy inside. YUM!

Feeling Blue? How about a Blueberry Muffin?

We are home from school today with the snow so I am baking Christmas Cookies. I wanted to make something that I could eat as well. So I pulled out a recipe I have for Blueberry Muffins made with Almond Meal. They turned out so good!! They are a blueish color because you dump the cooked juice in with the batter. This one is a keeper!

Blueberry Muffins

2 Cups Blueberries (frozen or fresh)
½ Cup water
2 ½ Cups Almond Flour
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp pure vanilla extract
½ cup honey (I substituted Stevia - 1/4 C)
3 eggs

1. Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a muffin tin with large baking cups.

2. In a small saucepan, simmer the blueberries with the water until the berries release the juice and the mixture has thickened slightly. Let cool.

3. Combine the almond flour baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a bowl.

4. Combine the blueberries, vanilla, honey and eggs in another bowl.

5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix well.

6. Evenly fill each baking cup with the batter.

7. Bake for 23 – 30 minutes.

Pepperoni Sausage Thick Crust Pizza

Another Pizza Crust - Thicker

If you like a thicker crust then this is the one for you. This pizza is one of the pizzas I made the other day when I used my new pans from the case I ordered and then froze. This pizza is a sweet Italian Sausage and Pepperoni pizza. It has Muir Glen Organic Pizza Sauce on it. That is our favorite.

3/4 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup white rice flour
1/3 cup garbanzo bean flour
1/3 cup sorghum flour
1 teaspoon xanthum gum
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 cup whole milk
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 teaspoons sugar
2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees
Place all the dry ingredients in the mixing bowl.
Mix in a mixer for 3-4 minutes until well blended.

Transfer dough to a sweet rice sprinkeled pan or olive oil greased (my personal preference) pan Oil hands with olive oil and press dough (which is sticky ) into the pan.

Bake crust only for 10-14 minutes

Add desired toppings and return to the oven to bake until the cheese is a golden brown. If you want to freeze it then do not back the second time just cover with Saran Wrap and place in the freezer.

Makes 2 - 10 in crusts or 1 12 inch thick crust

I think it looks pretty yummy.

Happy baking!

Stephanie

Italian Soup

It was a good day for making some comfort food. This is a soup that my family loves. Normally I add cannellini beans but not tonight. I am on a special diet that does not allow starch and sugar. So I adapted. I am not much for recipes. I throw things in my hand and then in the pot. A little of this and that. But I will try.


Italian Soup

1 lb Sweet Italian Sausage
1/2 head of cabbage (chopped)
1 medium onion (diced)
1 can of Glen Muir Organic Stewed Tomatoes with Basil
1 carton of Organic Swanson's Beef Broth
2 tsp Penzey's Italian Spices
2 tsp Penzey's Minced Garlic
1 tsp Celtic Salt
3 cups water

Simmer until the flavors "meld" together. Serve with shredded Italian cheese mixture or Parmesan cheese.

We will have a slice of Pamela's gluten free bread with this.

Here are the ingredients I used. My sausage was from my friends natural food store from a local farmer that raises his pigs hormone and antibiotic free.

It was such a busy day again. I did manage to bake 2 pizza crusts in my new foil pans and then assemble pizzas with sausage and pepperoni and one with ham and pepperoni. They are both in the freezer. My daughter has a pizza party at lunch time on Thursday so I will be baking one of them up for that. But at least I don't have to make it then.

Now to start my Christmas Cookie baking! I bought my supplies today.

Coconut Banana Bread

Coconut Banana Bread

1 cup Tropical Traditions organic coconut flour
1/4 cup shredded coconut
6 eggs
1 ripe banana (mashed)
2 Tbsp. virgin coconut oil
1/2 cup coconut milk
3 Tbsp. honey ( I used 3 TBS Stevia powder)
1 tsp. aluminum free baking powder
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. amaretto extract
1/2 tsp. celtic sea salt


Pre-heat oven at 350 F degrees. Mix coconut flour and baking powder (put it in separate bowl.) In a mixing bowl, beat eggs gradually, and then add milk, honey, coconut oil, amaretto, vanilla and salt. Continue mixing. Then add the coconut flour with baking powder, mashed bananas and coconut flakes. Blend well. Grease a loaf pan with coconut oil and fill with batter.Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes.

This recipe made the most beautiful banana bread loaf. It is so spongy - almost like a pound cake and it tastes amazing.

By the way Tropical Traditions has a Buy One Get One free on the coconut flour until 12/18/08.

To your health - naturally!

Stephanie

Gluten Free Herbed Pizza Crust - Wild Oats

This is my ultimate pizza crust. I love this. I temporarily lost the recipe but just recently got it back. It was listed on the Wild Oats website about 4 years ago when I first went gluten free and now that Whole Foods Market and Wild Oats merged the recipes are disappearing. I wrote to Whole Foods and the nice woman in customer service found it for me. I am so happy!

Gluten-Free Herbed Pizza Crust

This quick and easy crust will satisfy cravings for thin and crispy pizza.

Double the recipe, form into eight individual pizzas, par bake for 10 minutes, wrap and freeze for future use.
Prep Time: 15 minutes,
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Makes: One large pizza or 4 individual pizzas

1 envelope instant dry yeast
3/4 c. Organic Milk, warm (about 110°F)
1/2 tsp. raw honey
1 2/3 c. brown rice flour
1/2 c. tapioca flour
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 Tbsp. xanthan gum
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. garlic
1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp. Braggs apple cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 425°F. Dissolve yeast in a small bowl with milk and honey. Set aside. Sift together brown rice flour, tapioca flour, cornstarch, xanthan gum, sea salt and herbs. Whisk olive oil and vinegar together. Add to dry mixture. Mix. Add milk and yeast. Mix well. The dough should be soft and pliable. Turn onto a floured work surface (use rice flour) and knead gently for about a minute. Roll or pat dough into a 12-inch round, place on a pizza stone or lightly oiled pan. Crimp edges to hold in toppings. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, add toppings and bake 15-20 longer, or until the crust is lightly browned.


This is what the bottom of the crust looks like after baking.

This is how thick the crust is.

Enjoy!! Tomorrow I will bake it with the toppings I placed on top. It's pizza day at my kids school again.

Tonight I ordered some aluminum pizza pans (12") from buythecase.net plus I used BTCORD1 for my promo code to get $5 off. So the total shipped to me for 36 pans was $32. I will now have a way to make crusts in advance and even full pizza's and freeze them. ALDI'S has 2 gallon zipper bags that I believe will work for these pans. I need to make my pizza Friday's less stressful and also have the pizza's on hand for those nights when we would have ordered a pizza to be delivered.

To your health!

Stephanie

Coconut Muffins

Coconut Muffins

I am doing a special diet at the moment and I was craving a sweet muffin but still cannot have grains and sugars.. So I dug this up from my new coconut flour book. It turned out pretty well. I used my bun pan to make these so they are shallow but you are supposed to use a muffin pan.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

3 Organic Eggs
2 Tbs Melted Butter or Coconut Oil
1/3 Cup Sucanat / Sugar or I used Stevia to taste
1/4 tsp Sea Salt
1/2 tsp Coconut Extract (I didn't have this so I used Almond Extract)
1/4 Cup Sifted Coconut Flour (I used Tropical Traditions )
1/4 tsp Baking Powder
1 Tbs Flaked Coconut

Blend together eggs, butter, sugar, salt and coconut extract. Combine coconut flour with baking powder and whisk into batter until there are no lumps. Pour batter into greased muffin cups. Sprinkle with grated coconut on top. 400 degrees F for 15 mins. Makes 6 muffins.

Almond Cheese Bread

Almond Cheese "Bread"

This is a recipe that is from the specific carbohydrate diet. It is low carb and grain free. I love this! I haven't made them in a while. I could have put it in a bread pan but I decided to use my little bowls so that I could put the lids on and store them in the refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 325:

3 cups almond flour

leavening is:
1/2tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda

Add your own spices - I use Italian, Rosemary, Basil, Thyme, Cilantro, Cumin - whatever the taste I am going for.

1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp cilantro dried
2-3 pressed garlic cloves or minced

1/2 cup freshly grated raw Parmesan cheese (or other hard cheese like cheddar)
3 eggs
1 cup yogurt

Line baking sheet with parchment paper or oil well with coconut oil. You can place dollops of dough on a cookie sheet to make biscuits.

Bake about 15-20 minutes, they are done when they spring back in middle: do not judge how don it is by color: do not overcook!

Here is what the dough looks like. I get my almond meal from Country Life Natural Foods. They will ship via UPS to anywhere. Look under the "Nuts" section to find the ground almond meal. It is $18 for 5 lbs.

I HAVE BUNS ..... Hamburger Buns that is......

Gluten Free Pantry Favorite Sandwich Bread - makes Hamburger Buns

I am so excited. This is one of the last items on my list to figure out how to make. We loved the GF Pantry Favorite Sandwich Bread mix for bread so I decided to try it on making hamburger buns. The issue was how to make them round and the right size. So I scoured the internet looking for an option and then I came upon English Muffin rings. BINGO!

I ordered 8 rings and made one bread recipe's worth of dough. I greased my cookie sheet and the inside of the rings with coconut oil and filled them 1/2 way with dough. I then let them rise for about 30 mins until they reached about the top of the rings. Then popped them in the oven for 25 mins at 375 degrees.

These are the rings that I purchased. You can get 4 muffin rings for $3.99 per set from the Kitchen Store plus shipping.

Here are my beautiful hamburger buns.

Here is a side view. You would swear these were gluten buns!

I had a little dough left over so I decided to make some mini muffins with them so that we have some small biscuits when we eat soup this week. They turned out great. I baked them at 375 as well but only for 15-20 mins.

Bring on the comfort food. To your health Naturally (and gluten free) :o)

Stephanie

More Baking - Pumpkin Tea Bread

I treated myself to a new bread making book. Bread making was something I was very *scared* of but now that I have to get gluten free products it is something I have enjoyed. I heard over and over from my gluten free friends that this was the one to buy.

I decided yesterday to make some pumpkin bread. I looked through the book and decided to try the Pumpkin Tea Bread. This was WONDERFUL!

It made two loaves. I made one (left) without raisins and the other with. Make sure that if you add raisins you soak them in hot water until soft or they will pull the moisture out of your bread.

PUMPKIN TEA BREAD

Four Flour Bean Mixture 2 Cups
Xanthan Gum 1/2 tsp (rounded)
Baking Powder 3 teaspoons
Baking Soda 1 teaspoon
Pumpkin Pie Spice 2 teaspoons
Dried Orange Peel 1 teaspoon
Salt 1/2 teaspoon
Butter 1 stick
Cream Cheese 3 ounces
Cane Sugar 1 Cup
Brown Sugar 1/2 Cup
Eggs 2
Pumpkin (canned) 1 Cup
Orange Juice 1/2 Cup (scant)
Chopped Pecans (optional) 3/4 Cup

Preheat oven to 375. Grease two loaf pans and line the bottom of each with a piece of parchment paper. Grease the paper and dust with rice flour.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour mix, xanthun gum, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, orange peel and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of your mixer, cream the butter, cream cheese, and both sugars until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the pumkin and orange juice. Mix well. With a spoon stir in the dry ingredients until just mixed and then fold in the nuts.

Spoon the batter into prepared pans and bake about 1 hour (mine needed 45 mins) or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool the loaves in pans for 10 mins before removing. Allow to cool completely before cutting.



Four flour Bean Mix (makes 9 cups - I cut in 1/2 and put the rest in a baggie in the freezer)
2 cups garfava bean flour
1 cup sorghum flour
3 cups cornstarch
3 cups tapioca flour

Chebe Pizza Crust

I decided to try a new product for my kids pizza day at school. I needed something easy so I didn't have the marathon session I had the last time I decided to make pizza for them. This was wonderful!! It made up very quickly and easily. The dough smelled divine too with all the italian herbs built right in. The crust came out a little chewy which is fine because it held together well after being cooked. (side note for my local friends - Harvest Health has this on sale for $2.49 this month) My kids both liked it so it is now a new mainstay in my cupboard.



I made the dough and then covered my hands in olive oil and needed it until well mixed. I rolled it out on my counter top with a rolling pin and then placed it on a pan that was lightly covered in olive oil (I don't think they tell you to do any oil but I wanted to). I baked it for 10 mins and then flipped it over in the pan so that the other side got "exposed" to the oil. I covered it with Muir Glen Organic Pizza sauce, diced ham and an Italian cheese mixture.

(Above) is a picture of the crust after being baked for 10 mins and flipped over.

Above is the picture of the pizza assembled. I never got a picture of it done because I was running behind and had to quickly pack it up and run to my kids school for lunch time.

Gluten Free Banana Bread

I had a few soft banana's on my counter today. Normally I would make banana bread but now that we are gluten free I hesitated. But then I started to dig and found the following recipe and made it. I was waiting for my regular bread to bake and I think my chocolate chips sank to the bottom of the batter. You can see them in the picture. Oh well it still tastes good. It took longer to bake than I thought it would and when it came out we couldn't wait to dig in. So the chocolate was still gooey.



Gluten Free Banana Bread


2 ripe banana's
1 egg
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup coconut oil (or any other vegetable oil)
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup potato starch
1/2 cup corn starch
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp guar gum
1/4 tsp baking soda.
1 tsp ground coriander (optional)
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.
In a large bowl mix all wet ingredients, sugar and egg.
Add potato starch, cornstarch, baking powder, guar gum, baking soda, salt and coriander.

Batter will be thin. Pour into a greased 9x4 loaf pan.

Bake for 50-60 mins or until the toothpick comes out clean.

Sorghum - Flax Bread

Oh my! This smells so good and just came out of the oven. What a beautiful loaf of bread. It took just over 3 hours from assembly to completion. Most of the time is in waiting for the "sponge" to rise and then the bread to rise before baking. I can hardly believe this is gluten free.

I got this recipe from Gluten Free Gobsmacked's blog. It looked intimidating but once you got into it, it wasn't very hard. There were just lots of ingredients. Rather than repost the recipe I just gave you the link. There are lots of instructions.

Here it is sliced. It tasted very good too! My son loved it. We smothered the warm bread with butter. I would say this is the best gluten free bread I have ever tasted. It is moist and spongy just like gluten breads.

Just realized I didn't comment on which options I took in her recipe. I used brown rice, gluten free oats and honey as my choices.

To your health!

Stephanie

Chebe Cheese Rolls

I decided to take the advice of a friend of mine who's family has been gluten free for quite a few years. She recommended Chebe brand for rolls and bread sticks. I bought a couple of bags when they were on sale at Meijer's. They were 2 / $6 so not too bad for gluten free. I decided to bake a few up tonight. the mix is easy. Just pour the package into a bowl and add 2 Tbs oil (I used coconut oil, 2 eggs and then you can be done but they suggest you can add 1 cup of shredded cheese and 1/3 cup of water until they were the right consistency.

I used my new bun pan that I got on eBay from a European seller. The package told me not to grease the pan and make little balls. That didn't work well. They stuck and stayed like little bon bons. The next two I made are pictured. I sprayed the pan and made the dough fit the holes and pushed it down to form a "roll" shape. They turned out great. Hint - They do not spread out but stay the way they are formed.

They are a little "chewy" in texture but they tasted great with melted butter. I have a package for Italian herb to make bread sticks. That will be next.

It's Pizza Day (but gluten free)

Friday's are pizza day at my children's school. It was met with tears from my 6 year old daughter when she realized that her favorite hot lunch day would not happen this week. So I planned a special suprise that I would bring them gluten free pizza today.

Well, that met some challenges. There was a praise assembly at my children's school this morning that my daughter was speaking in. She begged me to come. So now it is 7:45 am and she is getting on the bus. I am still in my pajamas with coffee cup in hand. So I cleaned up a few things and hopped in the shower by 8am and was out with hair dried and makup on by 8:20 am. Out the door and on the way to the assembly at 8:40 am. After that I had to go to CostCo to pick up a few things but UGH! they don't open until 10 am. So off to Marshall's across the street I go. I find boots for my son and then head back to CostCo. I make it out of there at 11am after getting groceries and a prescription. On my way home again to make pizza and be back at school by 12:30 pm

At this point I am thanking God (literally) that I went gluten free 2 years ago and already have my recipes and a good comfort level with baking gluten free.

Here is the pizza I made.

Gluten Free Pepperoni / Italian Herb Pizza

Here's what the dough looks like in the mixer:

For the pizza crust:

2 tsp dry active yeast (Red Star is gluten free)
1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup white rice flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour (starch)
3 Tbs Raw Milk
1 Tbs Xanthan Gum
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp granulated garlic (optional)
1 tsp Italian Herbs ( I use more like 1 1/2)

1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp olive oil
1 1/4 c warm water (110 degrees)
1 tsp honey

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Measure all dry ingredients into mixing bowl. Add all wet ingredients to the dry mixture. Mix on low speed for 1 minute. Switch to medium speed and mix for 3 minutes. Transfer dough to pan - I spread olive oil on the pan (liberally) to keep the dough from sticking. Sprinkle the dough with white rice flour to assist in not sticking to your hands. You can also put olive oil on your hands to assist with pressing dough to pan.

I get the dough mostly flattened on the pan and then rolling pin it flat and even out the edges manually. Bake for 10-14 minutes (crust only).

Let cool for a few minutes and add toppings. For this pizza I used Muir Glen Organic Pizza sauce and nitrate free pepperoni (from a local organic farm). My cheese was mozzerella from a local Amish Farm.

Below is the unbaked dough after spreading and fixing the edges.



And here is the finished product. YUM!!

Bake the pizza until the top is lightly browned. Total time for me to prepare and cook was 45 minutes. I think this was a new record for me. My children were excited to get pizza today. That makes me smile. They have been such troopers this week. I am exhausted. We'll get in the groove and it will all work out.

To your health!

Stephanie

It's a Birthday Party with Cupcakes

My son got invited to a birthday part on Monday. "Oh no", I thought. Here we go! I haven't even gotten a chance to get into this diet and I already have to deal with glutenous cakes. So I called the mom and explained the situation and told her I would send a cupcake to the party with him.


I have not made a cupcake that my kids have liked that is gluten free. I like them but my palate is more tolerant of textures and flavors than theirs are. They love Bob's Red Mill GF Brownies so when I saw that they made a chocolate cake mix I was excited. Then I found sprinkles that were gluten free as well. Yippee!!


Here's what I used:

For the frosting I was stuck. I didn't want to buy the store stuff with the hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup. So a friend of mine told me how she makes it. I used a stick of butter, powdered sugar and raw milk. I made some frosting chocolate with organic cocoa powder. This is the result:

The best part. MY KIDS LOVED THEM!! They commented "At least we know that we can have cake now". Whew! Another crisis solved.

To your health!

Stephanie

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Tomorrow is "cookie" day at my kids school. So guess who is baking again today? And Thursday is a birthday party for my son so I will be making cupcakes tomorrow. I am realizing just how many things are centered around foods.

Here is one of our favorite recipes.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/2 Cups Gluten Free Flour Mix
2 Cups Organic Brown Sugar
2 Free Range Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla
1 Cup Organic Butter (2 sticks)
1 tsp Xantham Gum
1 tsp Aluminum Free Baking Soda
1 tsp Celtic Salt
2 Cups Gluten Free Oats (I use Bob's Red Mill)
1 - 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips or raisins

Note: If you use raisins and they are a little hard, place them in boiling water for a minute or so and this will soften them. It will also stop them from drawing the moisture out of the cookies.

Mix the sugar, eggs, butter and vanilla in the mixer bowl until blended. Add remaining dry ingredients and mix for 3-5 mins on low/med. Fold in raisins or chocolate chips.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place teaspoons of dough onto parchment paper. Push them down a bit to make them about 1/2" thick and round the edges to make them circular. They will then spread out evenly and make nicely shaped cookies. Bake for 10 mins or until lightly brown on the edges. They will continue to cook on the pan after pulled out of the oven.

Oh No I need a lunch - GF Sandwich Bread

I don't know what I was thinking. I have to make the kids lunches and I had nothing to put in them. My son left his lunch box at school so "ice packed" items were out of the question. So I decided to try a new recipe for some GF bread. I think this loaf cost about $3.50 to make. A far cry from the almost $6 my other options are. Some are even more! This was so easy too.

Easy Gluten Free Sandwich Bread




Dry Ingredients
2 1/2 cups Organic Brown Rice Flour
2/3 cup non-GMO cornstarch
1 Tablespoon xanthan gum
1 teaspoon Celtic Sea salt

Wet Ingredients
1 1/2 cups milk (warm not hot)
1 packet active dry yeast
2 Tablespoons Organic Virgin Coconut Oil (or vegetable oil)
2 large free range eggs

1. In a small bowl, combine milk and yeast.
2. Place all dry ingredients in a mixer bowl and wisk through to mix together.
3. Add yeast mixture, coconut oil and eggs.
4. Using an electric mixer, mix dough for 2 mins on medium.
5. Lightly grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan with butter.
6. Spread batter evenly into the pan.
7. Cover pan with greased saran wrap.
8. Allow dough to rise for 1 hour in a warm place.
9. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
10. Bake dough for 50 minutes.
11. Remove bread from oven and allow it to cool in the pan for 5 minutes.
12. Ater five minutes, turn bread out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Makes one 9x5 loaf

**Note: You will see in my photo there are blocks of butter on the dough. I did this to add flavor. I cut a small slit in the risen dough and plopped them on top. Yummy!

Now to make some lunches for my kids. Crossing my fingers that this bread goes over with them.

To your health - Naturally

Stephanie