Gluten Free Buttermilk and Cranberry Scones

Ellis and I are sitting here at the breakfast table and I'm realizing I haven't really posted anything since he was born.  I'm nearly positive that's because he hasn't slept through the night, more than 5 times since he was born, which combined with the lack of sleep at the end of pregnancy means I haven't slept right in almost a year.  I'm happy to report (and hope I am not jinxing myself) that he has finally started sleeping through the night a little more regularly and I now seem to have more energy, go figure.

Yesterday, armed with my new found energy I was inspired to use some of the buttermilk I have sitting in the fridge and bake.  I found a recipe for buttermilk scones and could not wait to try it, I'm always so tempted at Starbucks by the pretty scones in the case.  Fortunately I can always resist them, but it's getting harder and harder, until now!!  Ceci and I made these up yesterday afternoon while Ellis was sleeping and we could hardly keep our hands off them to save them for this morning's breakfast.  Ellis even ate bits of them for his breakfast, after I picked around the cranberries for him.

I love baking with buttermilk, it gives a really nice tang to the scones, as well as a velvety moisture, making them impossible to resist.  The recipe called for cinnamon to be sprinkled on top and gave a warmness to the scones.  I realized when we were making the scones that I take a lot of language for granted with Ceci, she is 4 and a half now and communicates with us incredibly well.  I told her to sprinkle cinnamon on, and turned to put some dirty dishes in the sink, I turned back to see her hand all the way into the (costco size) cinnamon jar, and piles of cinnamon on top of several scones.  Oops, guess I should have explained the difference between sprinkle and dump, one of the scones I had to dump the excess cinnamon off.  She is a crack up!  The scones were still delicious

Gluten Free Buttermilk and Cranberry Scones

1/4   Cup Soy Flour
3/4   Cup Sweet Rice Flour
1/2   Cup Oat Flour
1/2   Cup Brown Rice Flour
1      teaspoon Xanthan Gum
1/4   Cup Granulated Sugar
4      teaspoons Baking Powder
1/4   teaspoon Baking Soda
1      Egg
1      Cup Buttermilk
3 1/2 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, melted
1/2   Cup Dried Cranberries (or any dried berries, raisins, or chopped up dried fruits)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees (F)
Whisk dry ingredients thoroughly in a large bowl and set aside.
Mix Egg, Buttermilk, and melted butter, then add all at once to dry mix, with dried fruit.  Stir with a rubber spatula until the dry ingredients are moistened, batter will be very wet.
Using a large spoon, or a muffin scooper with a 2 1/2 inch bowl, drop batter in mounds on a silpat or parchment lined baking sheet, sprinkle tops with cinnamon.
Bake for 12-15 min, until a toothpick inserted into the middle of scone comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack, or serve warm.

Inside view of Buttermilk Cranberry Scones

Happy Coffee

For Mother's Day this year Tim got me a Keurig coffee maker, with an auto on timer to help me start my days with two kids.  I have spent the last several months taste testing several coffees and found a few I like.  Until about two weeks ago, I found San Francisco Bay Coffee company through Amazon.com.

I was so thrilled to find these coffee pods, there is no plastic cup on them!!!  So much less waste!  I was sick about throwing away those little plastic cups everyday and now I don't have to.  I chose to sign up for Amazon's subscribe and save program, where they automatically charge your credit card and ship your item on a regular basis, this brought the cost of the coffee pods down to 41 cents each, the cheapest I have found anywhere.  One more reason I decided to get this coffee with out taste testing it was that for every 1 or 2 star review on Amazon the San Francisco Bay Coffee company personally responded and offered a resolution to any possible problem with the product.

view of the bottom of the coffee pod

I subscribed to the French Roast flavor of coffee, because it is considered their dark roast.  San Francisco Bay offers 2 other varieties of coffee, I personally like coffee you can stand a fork up in.  Their French Roast coffee delivers!  I love the strong dark taste, and it's perfect with a little milk and a bit of agave nectar.  It has an amazingly rich smell, and it goes down smooth and easy. I'm very happy we found these coffee pods and I'm also glad someone thought to get rid of those plastic cups.  The only drawback to these pods is they need to be stored in an air tight container to maintain freshness, I put them in a Rubbermaid storage container I had laying around.  The good part of that is they send you 3 vacuum sealed bags of 12 pods each so you are only storing at most 12 pods at a time the others can stay in their factory bags until you are ready to open them.

P. S. My aunt just let me know that Costco in Oregon carries these pods in a box of 80 for $26.00, or 32 cents/each.

Gluten Free Pumpkin Pancakes

I got inspired by fall the other day and decided to make pumpkin pancakes for breakfast, it just seemed like the thing to do.   I found a small ziploc of pumpkin in the freezer (I have some stashed in there for making pumpkin scones) and figured I would mix it into the pancake mix somehow.  It wasn't to hard, just mixed the pumpkin into the liquids, and added some spices.    I couldn't have been happier with the result!  They were perfectly fall, with the cinnamon, cloves, and ginger.  The pumpkin gave them extra moisture, while making a delicious flavor.  With a bit of butter and syrup they made a fabulous treat on a fall morning.

I used Bob's Red Mill Pancake Mix that we had in the cabinet and followed the instructions on the package.  I just added the pumpkin and the spices, and cooked them up just like normal.

Gluten Free Pumpkin Pancakes

1 Batch of Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Pancake Mix (prepare according to instructions on package)
1/2 Cup Pureed Pumpkin
1     tsp Cinnamon (ground)
1/8  tsp Cloves (ground)
1/8  tsp Ginger (ground)

Mix up the pancakes according to the package and add in the pureed pumpkin and spices, and mix well.  You may need to add another tablespoon or two of milk to the batter to make the consistency nice and liquid-y.  Pour 1/4 cup of batter into a medium-hot non-stick pan and cook for about 3 minutes on one side, flip over and cook for another 2-3 min.  Cooking time may vary depending on your pan, and stove.  Cook until golden brown on the outside and cooked through the center.

Enjoy with butter and maple syrup, or any other delicious toppings you can think of!

Gluten Free "White" Irish Soda Bread

Finished White Soda Bread

I made this recipe last year for St. Patrick's day and fell in love with it, so much that I made it a few more times after St Patty's day, last year and enjoyed it.  I had the recipe card tucked away in my recipe box this whole time waiting for this year when I blinked and almost let the holiday slip by me.  When I checked the fridge the other day to start making the bread I was totally out of unsalted butter, never mind I forgot about needing buttermilk.  A quick trip to the grocery store this morning solved both problems.

Yesterday at work one of our patients, a true Irishman, asked how I would be celebrating St. Patrick's day, and laughed when I told him I was making Corned Beef and Cabbage, and Irish Soda Bread.  He informed me that is not what you eat in Ireland, I can't say we got so far as discussing what they do eat, because the conversation turned to what color of soda bread I would be making.  Silly me had very little idea that there were different kinds.  I told him I think I was making white, he said brown was always his favorite and far more popular in Ireland, so he said he would "ring his Mum and ask for his Granny's brown bread recipe." I love it!  Sadly he won't get it to me until the 18th, so a little late for me to convert over to GF, and post, so in the mean time we can all enjoy this white version I worked up last year.

I was really excited to make this bread with Ceci, we need lots of projects around the house now that she seems to have given up her nap.  Part of me finds the lack of nap very distressing, while a larger part finds a new freedom in not being tied to the house at a specific hour of the day.  Ceci seems to find a great joy in helping me bake lately, the other day she helped make chocolate cookies and managed to help with every step of the process.  Today was no different, she helped measure flours, and quickly climbed up on the island to help knead the dough too.  If I haven't said it lately, I should, I love this age!  2 and a half is, and has been so much fun, she is busy all the time and needs constant stimulation, and cooking and baking seems to fit the bill.

Gluten Free "White" Irish Soda Bread

1/2   Cup Soy Flour
1      Cup Brown Rice Flour
1      Cup Sweet Rice Flour
1 1/2 Cup Tapioca Starch
1 1/2 tsp Xanthan Gum
4      Tbs Sugar
1      tsp Baking Soda
1 1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
4      Tbs Cold Unsalted Butter, cut into 1/2" pieces
1 3/4 Cold Buttermilk
1      Egg, lightly beaten
1      Cup Golden Raisins

Preheat oven to 375 degrees (F).  Line a sheet pan with parchment, or silpat

Combine flours, sugar, baking soda, and salt in bowl of mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.  Ad the butter and mix on low until butter is mixed into flour.

With a fork lightly beat buttermilk and egg together in measuring cup.  With the mixer on low, slowly add liquid to flour mixture.  Add Golden Raisins to dough, mix until distributed through.

Dough will be very wet, dump dough onto a well floured surface and knead a few times into a round loaf.  Place loaf onto prepared pan, and cut a shallow X into the top of the bread.

 

Bake 45-55 min, or until a toothpick inserted into the top of the loaf comes out clean.

Let cool, and eat immediately, or smear with cold butter and enjoy!

My GF dreams come true: Delicious Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls

Delicious gluten free cinnamon roll with cream cheese frosting

I don't know what it is, I've never eaten many cinnamon rolls in my life, let alone store bought ones, but I crave cinnamon rolls like it's my job.  It's a good thing cinnamon is a legal substance because you wouldn't think so the way I want to eat it in everything.  Lately, I want cinnamon rolls all the time, maybe it's this insanely cold and snowy winter, who knows, but there is no way for me to get enough of that hot cinnamon-ey sticky sweet deliciousness.  If I could make them everyday and eat the whole pan without gaining a million pounds, I would try.


After having a chat with my friend Sheri about flours and gluten free alternatives I was inspired to make some cinnamon rolls and play with the proportions of flours.  We discussed the use of cornstarch as a flour component in recipes, I don't know if I can afford to do that since I only pay about $1/lb for my flours at China-mart grocery store that we frequent.  Instead I realized I should stop using the larger grinds of rice flours and sub in potato starch which is a super light powdery flour.  Not to be confused with potato flour which is very heavy, grainy, and smells like potatoes.  I first tried out my theory a few weeks ago making a very lovely batch of cinnamon rolls, my only down fall was that I followed the recipe for glutinous rolls and split the dough so it made these itty bitty rolls that were tasty but not what I had in my mind's eye.  After my flour ratios sat on the white board on the fridge for weeks and Tim getting crabby about me never writing it down on paper, I wrote it out finally.


Then my parents came to visit and I usually use my dad's presence as an excuse to bake all sorts of GF treats, my partner in crime really.  My mom has commented several times over lately how similar my dad's and my palates seem to be, that we like the same foods and have similar cravings.  Of course they were excited to have fresh home made gluten free cinnamon rolls with cream cheese icing, trust me no one could turn these things down if they saw them.  They are big, fluffy, soft, chewy, tender, sweet, and just perfect!  Both my mom and Tim said they are better than glutinous cinnamon rolls that you could find at the mall food court.  The rolls were perfect in my opinion, they pulled apart, and the rolls were not overly sweet, a perfect compliment to the sugar cinnamon filling and the super sweet icing.


Making cinnamon rolls is never a simple process, but I'm learning to embrace the time to create deliciousness.  They are well worth the wait of the two proofings and the baking proceesses.  I hope you will try them sometime.  I made them at night and we heated them for breakfast in the morning the next day and they were sooo good!  If you are ambitious I suppose you could wake up super early and make them from scratch to have for breakfast too.  You could also start making them the night before and work up to the point just before the second proofing and put them in the fridge until morning and proof and bake them for breakfast.


AMAZING Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls


Dry Ingredients:
2   Cups Tapioca Starch
1   Cup Sweet Rice Flour
3/4 Cup Potato Starch
1/4 Cup Soy Flour
1   Tbs Xanthan Gum


2 1/4 tsp Active Dry Yeast


Wet Ingredients:
1   Cup Milk
1/3 Cup Sugar
1/3 Cup Butter
1/2 tsp Salt
2   Eggs


Filling:
3   Tbs Butter
1/2 Cup Sugar
2  tsp Cinnamon


1/2  Recipe for Cream Cheese Frosting


Directions:


Blend flours and Xanthan gum in a mixing bowl, then remove 2 cups of blended flours  and place into bowl of a stand mixer with yeast. In a medium saucepan heat and stir milk, the 1/3 cup sugar, the 1/3 cup butter, and salt just until warm (120 to 130 degrees F.) and butter almost melts.  Or combine milk, sugar, and butter in a microwave safe bowl, heat in microwave at 30 second intervals just until butter melts, stirring mixture between microwaving.  


Add milk mixture to dry mixture along with eggs. Beat with an electric mixer on low to medium speed 30 seconds, scraping bowl. Beat on high speed 3 minutes. Stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can, starting the mixer on a slow speed at first so as not to disperse flour into the air.


Turn dough onto a floured surface. Knead in enough remaining flour to make a moderately soft dough that is smooth and elastic (3 to 5 minutes total). Shape dough into a ball. Place dough in a lightly greased bowl; turn once to grease dough. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double in size (about 1 hour).


Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Cover and let rest 10 minutes. Lightly grease a 9x9x1-1/2-inch round baking pans.

Rolls rolled up and sliced

Roll the dough into a 12x8-inch rectangle. Brush the 3 Tablespoons melted butter over dough. Combine the 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over dough. Roll up into a spiral, starting from a long side. Seal seam. Slice roll into 10-12 equal pieces. Place in prepared pan. Cover and let rise in a warm place until nearly double (about 30 minutes).

Bake in 375 degree F oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden. Cool slightly; remove from pans. Drizzle with Powdered Sugar Icing. If desired, serve warm. Makes 10-12 rolls.

To have warm cinnamon rolls in the morning; prepare and shape rolls. Cover with oiled waxed paper, then plastic wrap. Chill 2 to 24 hours. Let stand at room temperature for 20 minutes. Prick any air bubbles with a wooden pick. Bake as directed.

Finished Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting

Gluten Free Bisquick Pancakes

Mickey Mouse Head Pancakes

We have been consuming a large amount of Gluten Free Bisquick around here lately, biscuits, dumplings, cakes, and pancakes.  One night we decided to have breakfast for dinner, including pancakes, which is very rare in this house.  My husband would be more than happy to sit down to a huge steak with potatoes on the side every night, I can't eat like that, and neither can Ceci.  We got creative one night and decided to make pancakes, and it couldn't have been easier with Gluten Free Bisquick.  Since Ceci hasn't really had pancakes before, we eat a lot of gluten free waffles, I decided to make the pancakes into a fun shape she would like to eat.  It worked really well, along with some home made blueberry jam she ate 3 that night.  I would have eaten a whole batch myself if I didn't have to share, they are light and fluffy, sweet and simple.

I think she was pretty excited to get a Mickey Mouse Pancake!

I kept it simple and followed the recipe on the box, which is unreasonably easy and quick.  I tried to find it online and link it here, but for some reason it was pretty difficult to find the plain pancake recipe, even on the Betty Crocker website.  So here it is from the box

Gluten Free Bisquick Pancakes

1   Cup Bisquick Gluten Free mix
1   Cup Milk
2   Tbsp Vegetable Oil
1   Egg

STIR  ingredients until blended.
POUR slightly less than 1/4 cupfuls onto hot greased griddle
COOK until edges are dry.  Turn; cook until golden.

makes 10 pancakes

I think we will be eating more breakfast for dinner around this house in the coming months.  I'll have to work on my pancake shapes though, Ceci might get tired of mickey heads pretty quick, maybe hearts aren't too difficult.

Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Mighty Tasty Hot Cereal

Ceci has a new favorite breakfast, Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Mighty Tasty Hot Cereal.  We ate it at my parent's house a few weeks ago while visiting and she gobbled it up every morning.  I had avoided buying it in the past because I thought it was expensive, about $3-4, compared to a box of cream of rice for less than $2.  I found out from eating it at my parents that it only takes a 1/4 cup to make a huge bowl, and if I make a half portion for Ceci I only needed to use 2 Tablespoons.

This morning I finally opened the bag I bought for our house and made one portion from 1/4 cup of dry cereal.  We put some frozen blueberries in, and Ceci dug right into my bowl with me.  Usually I scoop 1/3 of my bowl out into a small bowl for her, but today we "share all togethers."  (I love her cute speech pattern.)

It has a great taste to it, somewhat reminiscent of their polenta, which makes sense because there is corn in it along with Brown Rice, Buckwheat, and Sorghum.  It's rich and hearty, I really felt full until lunch, which seems like a miracle in and of it self.  I did add a little milk before we ate it to thin it out a little bit, it was almost solid after microwaving it.  I'm so glad to find another healthy gluten free product that Ceci will eat without an argument or me having to sit there and spoon food into her mouth begging and pleading.

Our Recipe

1/4 cup Bob's Red Mill GF Mighty Tasty Hot Cereal
1   Cup Water

Serving Suggestion:

2  Tbs Milk
1/3  Cup Frozen Blueberries

Gluten Free Coffee Cake

Perfect Brunch for the start of a snow storm

This weekend I started craving Cinnamon Rolls, but couldn't get up the motivation to make them, that whole proofing/rising process didn't sound fun while I'm suffering from some kind of cold or sinus infection.  So I considered how to get my sugary cinnamon fill without waiting hours on end, COFFEE CAKE!  We were having friends over for brunch and I love providing warm baked goods to indulge in, since Sheri was bringing everything else.  I quickly searched the web for a recipe, since the few I found in books around the house involved yeast, I was trying to avoid the rising process, not just find a new form of it.  I found one on the celiac.com page that was exactly what I wanted, yellow cake with a crumb topping, and super easy to make!  The Coffee Cake called for GF All Purpose flour, which I don't keep on hand.  You may have noticed I have a few flours I prefer, and use repeatedly, so after some quick math I came up with my own rendition.  Leaving the nuts out of the topping of course since we are now working toward a nut free home.

It came out perfect, first the entire house smelled of delicious warm cinnamon, and tricked our friends into thinking there might have been cinnamon rolls in the oven.  They told us they were not disappointed though, the cake was delicate, and fluffy, while the topping was sweet and crunchy, in perfect contrast.  Exactly what I had wanted from a coffee cake.  It was so good the 9x9 inch pan was nearly empty when brunch was over, and the tiny piece that was left, was my late lunch later.

Coffee Cake

Cake Recipe

1/4   Cup Soy Flour
1/4   Cup Brown Rice Flour
1/2   Cup Tapioca Starch
1/2   Cup Sweet Rice Flour
1 1/2 tsp Xanthan Gum
3/4   Cup Sugar
  2    tsp Baking Powder
1/2   tsp Salt

1/4   Cup Canola Oil
  1    Egg (Beaten)
1/2   Cup Milk

Spicy Topping


1/2   Cup Brown Sugar
  2    Tbs Tapioca Starch
  2    tsp Cinnamon
  2    Tbs Butter (melted)


Preheat oven to 375 degrees (F), and grease a 9x9x2 inch baking pan.

Sift together dry ingredients for cake in a large mixing bowl and set aside.  Combine wet cake ingredients in a separate small bowl, and add to dry cake ingredients.  Mix together until smooth, pour into prepared pan.

In a small bowl stir together spicy topping ingredients, and sprinkle over top of cake.

Bake at 375 degrees (F) for 25 min.

Enjoy!

Gluten Free Pumpkin Scones

Gluten Free Pumpkin Scone with golden raisins and topped with maple sugar

Today I decided I couldn't wait any longer to try this recipe, I love the fall, and I love pumpkin themed food.  I dislike that I can't just walk into a donut or coffee shop and grab a pumpkin muffin, or donut, or some other yummy baked good and enjoy it.  But after making these scones today I won't have to be sad about that ever again, I will only have to be sad when I run out of them and have to wait the 15 minutes for the oven to finish baking.

The scones have a great dry crumbly texture which goes beautifully with a cup of coffee, and the pumpkin is a perfect compliment to the gluten free flours, its as if they were made for one another.  I also love the level of spice, it fills your nose with all those happy fall smells and aromas, the house smelled so good when these came out of the oven, I can't even explain how happy it made me.  The golden raisins are nice too, they add a nice texture to the perfect scones.

I found this link, Andreasrecipes.com, on the list created by Shauna, the Gluten free Girl, Gluten Free Thanksgiving.  Andrea Meyers wrote a lovely story and recipe for these scones and it made me want to make them even more.  She used Bob's Red Mill GF All Purpose Baking Flour, which is great if you have it on hand, or don't have a variety of flours to utilize.  Sadly I can't find it in a large enough quantity, or for a decent price here on Long Island, and I enjoy mixing and matching my own flour combinations.  If that all sounds a little intimidating, then by all means use the Bob's All Purpose Flour, I love it when people bake gluten free, but if you are at all intimidated don't stress, keep it simple and use one of the many premixed flour options out there.

I can hardly wait to make these again for my parents to enjoy, Tim has suggested we should add a little drizzle of powdered sugar icing when we make it next.  That makes me happy, the more sugar the better!    I'll let you know how that works out.  Tell me if you can think of any other add-ins or changes that I can use to tweak this recipe, I know I will be making it again in the next couple of months.

Adapted with permission from Andrea Meyers.

GLUTEN-FREE PUMPKIN SCONES

Makes 8 scones.
Equipment

food processor with blade attachment
small bowl
large mixing bowl
baking sheet, greased or lined with parchment paper

Ingredients

1/4 Cup Soy Flour

3/4 Cup Brown Rice Flour

1/2 Cup Sweet Rice Flour

1/2 Cup Tapioca Starch
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/3 cup (58 g) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon gluten-free baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 stick (8 tablespoons/113 g) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1/2 cup (120 mil) pumpkin puree
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup (50 g) raisins or golden raisins

milk
cinnamon & sugar mix

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400° F/200° C.

2. In food processor bowl, mix the flour, xanthan gum, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Add the pieces of butter and pulse about 10 to 12 times. The mixture should resemble coarse cornmeal.

3. In a small bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, egg, and vanilla extract until smooth.

4. Pour the flour mixture into the large mixing bowl and add the raisins. Stir in the pumpkin mixture until large dough clumps form. Press it all together with a spatula, making sure you don’t have any loose bits of flour.

5. Flour your hands well. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and pat into an 8-inch circle about 3/4-inch thick. Brush milk on the top and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar mix.

6. Cut into 8 triangles and place them on the prepared baking sheet about 1 inch apart. Bake until golden, about 15 to 17 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes and serve warm or at room temperature.

Why Xanthan Gum is Important: Zucchini Bread Failure and Recovery

Zucchini "Bread" drizzled with Cream Cheese frosting.

This week we made a huge pot of spaghetti sauce for dinners, Ceci LOVES pasta and sauce, it's one of the few things she will eat without convincing.  Lately we have taken to adding zucchini and carrots to the sauce to increase her veggie intake.  I know any Italian Americans reading this are horrified, but it's one of the only ways she won't reject vegetables, and I'll take anything I can get.  In the process of making the sauce I realized there was a lot of zucchini, so I set some aside and planned to make Zucchini Bread, one of my favorite quick breads.

I was in such a hurry the day I made the Zucchini Bread that I neglected to add Xanthan Gum to the batter.  It could have been that I was trying to entertain, feed, potty train, and educate a busy 2 year old while making bread.  Ceci was in fact helping me mix flours, but I was struggling to make sure she didn't spill the containers of flour.  I should also mention that her creativity continues to this moment, she is literally sitting on top of me over one arm while I try to type on the laptop, but the intermittent snuggles are worth it.

"Ta-da!"  "I helping Mommy!"

We got the batter all mixed and into the pans, put it into the oven and set the timer, without a problem.  After about 15 minutes I checked the oven and noticed that the bread was not rising at all, and didn't look like it was dry and fluffy.  I looked like a pan of brown bubbly goo, and there was nothing I could do at that point.  This has happened one other time and I caught it before I put the item in the pan and was able to add Xanthan Gum before I baked it.  Sadly that did not happen here so I let it bake through and sadly pulled it out of the oven when it was done.  I did taste it when it was cool enough and it was very moist and delicious!  I decided to save it and figure out what to do with it later, besides eat it.

We were invited to dinner and I decided to recover the second loaf of Zucchini bread, for dessert.  I flipped it out of the pan and prepped some cream cheese frosting, which I thinned out with some orange juice so that it could be drizzled over the "cake".  Tim and I have discussed at length what we should call the resulting concoction with no good result, options include a cake, bar, mess, but mostly delicious.  Above all it is really yummy, lots of spice from the cinnamon and moist from the zucchini and oil, with a crispy crust from the sugar.  Everyone enjoyed the dessert and said it was no problem I had forgotten an ingredient.  I was really relieved that it was accepted, and I got a chance to use up the bread and didn't have to throw it out (I don't like to throw out food.)

As you can see, Xanthan gum is a binder, and often used as a replacement for Gluten.  It has no taste, but it's coagulation/solidifying properties are far more important than taste.  To better understand you can visit the Wikipedia article on Xanthan Gum, where it is explained far more scientifically, and clearly than I could ever try to.  I have also learned that some people cannot tolerate xanthan gum due to it's source of origin, and xanthan gum can be derived from wheat.  Please check your sources, if you can digest xanthan gum, be sure to buy it from a reliable Gluten Free distributor. Such as Bob's Red Mill Xanthan Gum.

Here I've given you the proper recipe for the proper Zucchini bread, but if you are feeling a little crazy, by all means go ahead and leave out the Xanthan gum and see how you like it.

Zucchini Bread

3   Eggs, beaten
1   Cup Vegetable or Canola Oil
2   Cups Sugar
2   Cups Grated Zucchini

1/4  Cup Soy Flour
1/4  Cup Brown Rice Flour
3/4  Cup Sweet Rice Flour
3/4  Cup Tapioca Starch
1     tsp Xanthan Gum
1     tsp Salt
1     Tbs Cinnamon
1     tsp Baking Soda
1     tsp Baking Powder
2     Cups chopped Walnuts

Combine eggs, oil and sugar in bowl, and mix well.  Add Zucchini and blend well.  Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl, and combine together.  Add dry ingredients to wet mix and blend slowly, just until combined.  Gently fold in walnuts.  Pour into 2 greased loaf pans and Bake at 325 degrees F for 60 minutes.  Remove from pans and cool completely.

Cream Cheese Frosting, is delicious on top of this to elevate it to a true dessert.  I added a couple Tablespoons of Orange Juice to 1 cup of the frosting to thin it down some.  It added a little hint of citrus kick and allowed the frosting to drizzle instead of having to spread it.

Gluten Free Banana Bread or Muffins

Decisions, decisions...

Our family loves bananas, especially Ceci who usually eats one for breakfast.  It seems that this time of year no matter how many or few we buy they ripen so fast we can't eat them before they become entirely brown.  The up side of this is I love Banana Bread, so I adapted a recipe and keep it near the mixer until the temperature and humidity come down.  I love to add chocolate chips at the end, making it DELICIOUS!  Good luck!

I just made another batch of these the other day and Ceci can't get enough so I thought I would post some revisions I've made, for muffin format, as well as having subbed out the egg today so we can share them with our cousin Mateo.  Also Walnuts are no longer an optional addition for us but I left it on the recipe to inspire those of you who can eat nuts, I may try the next batch with blue berries instead of chocolate chips, I'll let you know how it goes.  Enjoy!


Banana Bread or Muffins

Preheat Oven to 375 degrees (F)

3     very ripe Bananas
3/4  Cup Sugar
1     Egg or equivalent egg substitute (1 Tbs Egg replacer and 2 Tbs Water)
1/4  Cup Canola Oil
1/4  Cup Soy Flour
1/4  Cup Sweet Rice Flour
1/2  Cup Brown Rice Flour
1/2  Cup Tapioca Starch
1/2   tsp Xanthum Gum
1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/4  tsp Baking Soda
1/2  tsp Cinnamon
1/4  Cup Chocolate chips or Walnuts (optional)

Place bananas and sugar into stand mixer and beat on high until a thick slurry is formed, the sugar will help break down the bananas in the mixer.  Add in egg and oil mixing at a medium speed until blended.  In a separate bowl mix all dry ingredients together except for the chocolate chips or nuts.  Pour dry ingredients into the banana mixture and mix slowly until incorporated, do not over mix or bread will be tough.  Remove bowl from mixer, and fold in optional chocolate chips or walnuts.  Pour batter into a greased loaf pan, 8"x4"x2", and bake for 50-55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.  Or, pour into muffin tins and bake for 22-25 min.  Remove from oven and turn out on to a cooling rack.

Try to wait a few minutes before you cut into it, this is the hardest part for me.  It looks so good, but it needs a few minutes to cool and stabilize on the inside.  Once it's cooled I recommend storing it in the fridge, especially in the warm weather, so that it won't spoil.  There are no preservatives in the batter, usually it tastes so good, we don't have time to worry about it going bad.  The crust is a little thick and protects the soft delicious, tender inside of the bread.  My husband who is not gluten intolerant claims that this version tastes better than the regular wheat flour ones he eats, he says the different flours give it a nutty background flavor.

Dig in!  "Mommy leave paper on, then hands no get stitey!"

Ceci's favorite Waffles

Pile of deliciousness!

Just over a year ago now wonderful friends of ours gave my husband and I an amazing waffle maker for our birthdays.  This inspired me to start making waffles for our weekend breakfasts much like I had growing up.  I love those memories dearly, my mom making waffles for us, and when I was old enough to help, finally when I could make them by myself.  It was just such a fun tradition to bring into my own home now.
As Cecilia (Ceci) was starting on solid foods I noticed other moms in our group giving their children frozen waffles for a morning snack.  I asked why frozen and they said it helped with teething and was something the kids could hold by themselves.  It made perfect sense to me, but I wasn't willing to pay the high price for premade frozen gluten free waffles.  I researched some recipes and found this one which I altered to be gluten free.  Now Ceci would live on them if I would let her, and my husband thinks they have better flavor and texture than regular wheat flour waffles.
I keep several types of flour on hand in my house so I can mix, match, and experiment, I know this is not always convenient for everyone so you can always substitute a Gluten Free All Purpose flour for my mixes if you would like.

Ceci's Favorite Gluten Free Waffles

1/2   Cup Chick Pea or Soy flour
1/2   Cup Tapioca Starch
1/2   Cup Sweet Rice flour
1/4   Cup Brown Rice flour
1      teaspoon Xanthum Gum
1/4   teaspoon salt
1      Tablespoon Baking Powder
1/2   teaspoon Cinnamon
2      Eggs
1 and 3/4 Cup Milk
1/2    Cup Canola or Vegetable Oil


Blend together all dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside.  In a separate bowl mix Eggs, Milk, and Oil.  Slowly incorporate the wet ingredients into the dry, mixing until lumps disappear.  Let mixture rest for 5-7 minutes, the batter will thicken.  Using a VERY hot waffle iron pour in about 1 cup of batter (or amount recommended by the manufacturer), and allow to cook in iron.  No peeking before the waffle is done, this will pull the waffle apart and be very frustrating to clean out of the iron (trust me).  


You can enjoy the waffles right away or set them on a wire rack to cool and then put them into a zip top bag and freeze.  When reheating the frozen waffles I suggest microwaving for 30 seconds to defrost them, and then placing in the toaster on a low setting to warm and crisp them.  Or if you have a teething toddler, take it right out of the bag, still frozen and hand it over.  

I hope you enjoy our first recipe posting, Ceci was very excited too, she wrote her own recipe for the occasion.  I'm sure you will notice as you follow along with us, she is constantly at my side and deeply involved in everything I do, and I love every moment of it, most of the time.  Maybe someday she can translate her sweet scribbles for me and we can make her version.