Ceci's Valentine's Treats

Ceci enjoying her hard work when all the dipping was done

Last year I went on a Mom's Night out to a chocolate shop here on Long Island called The Chocolate Duck and had a great time making tons of chocolate goodies with some fun ladies.  This year I didn't go but was missing the treats, and last year it was tough anyway because the had us make a lot of things with nuts which I gave away to friends, family, and teachers.  One of the favorite items we made was an accident that my friend Sheri and I made as a last ditch effort to use up more of the melted chocolate, we dipped the potato chips from the snack table into the chocolate.  Everyone I gave them to RAVED about them afterward.  Tim would have eaten the whole batch of them if I hadn't hollered at him not to.

So this year I decided to make chocolate dipped treats at home, but with Ceci helping I needed to keep them nut free.  I bought Hershey's Chocolate Chips and melted them in the double boiler, and we dipped all sorts of yummy things pretzles, chips, ghram crackers, anything really.  We even made nut free clusters using dried edamame beans and craisins, chex and crasins, and for Tim I made cheerio clusters (in a separate bowl).  Ceci had a great time and was really good about being careful of the warm pan and even learned a new word, Generous.  She had trouble understanding that we should put more than a dot of chocolate on each item, so I explained that each item needs more chocolate so it tastes better and our friends and family like them more.  She was so adorable after that, each time she dipped she would show me the item and say "Mommy, this is generous!"  Yes my love,  You are generous!

It made for a super fun afternoon and an easy way to make treats for lots of people.

Gluten Free Beginet with Amaretto Honey

I was just marking the calendar for February and noticed that Mardi Gras is coming up.  I had made these Beignets last year, but it was several days after Mardi Gras and I never got around to posting about them sadly.  I thought I would get them up in time for this year's celebration.  They came out beautifully, and our friends who helped us eat them thought they were fantastic, and they can eat gluten.  I take that as high praise when someone who can eat gluten thinks gluten free foods taste great, or even better than the glutinous version.  It was also fun to make them for Ceci since one of her favorite movies is Disney's Princess and the Frog, featuring Tiana a struggling waitress in New Orleans who is famous for her beignet recipe.  

I have never been to New Orleans myself so I can't speak to the authenticity of the taste of these beignets, but if these don't taste authentic, I think that's okay because they taste DELICIOUS!!!  

I borrowed this recipe from About.com where the recipe called for a gluten free cake mix, I didn't have a cake mix in the house and was too lazy to go buy one so I subbed in Gluten Free Bisquick.  I was more than happy with the results, I like that the beignets were not over poweringly sweet, I believe the cake mix would have made it too sweet.  Everyone else eating them that night agreed that they liked this version too.  


A few Christmases ago I bought my husband a Cool Daddy Fryer for home so we could over indulge ourselves even more, and we used it to fry the beignets perfectly.  

I put out lots of different options as toppings, but the amaretto honey was the hit of the party.  Friends gave me flavored sugars for a past birthday and I had those out, vanilla sugar, cinnamon sugar with cardamom, and powdered sugar.  In my opinion any form of sugar is delicious, but the honey did bring them to a whole different level of yummy-ness!

Gluten Free Beignets

2       Cups Gluten-free Bisquick

1 1/2 tsp dry active yeast

1/8    tsp salt

2       Tbs granulated sugar

1/3    Cup lukewarm water

1       lightly beaten egg

1/6    Cup milk

Extra tapioca starch for rolling out dough

Canola or Vegetable Oil

1/4 to 1/2 cup confectioners sugar, honey, or cinnamon sugar

Combine gluten-free Bisquick, yeast, salt and sugar in a stand mixer, blend on slow just to mix the dry ingredients.  Add water, egg and light cream and mix until thoroughly combined. The batter should be thick and shaggy. If it's too thin add more Bisquick, 1 tablespoon at a time.  Scrape batter onto a large rolling mat or work surface. Use your hands to knead dough to form a ball.  Place the ball in an oiled bowl with a tight-fitting lid and refrigerate overnight.  When you are ready to fry your beignets, take the dough from the refrigerator and place on rolling mat or work surface that's liberally dusted with tapioca starch. Punch the dough down and work in enough tapioca starch to prevent the dough from sticking to the board. Roll the dough 1/2-inch thick and use a sharp knife, dipped in flour, to cut 2-inch squares or diamonds.  Use a floured spatula to place the cut pieces on a floured baking sheet. Let rise for 30 minutes.  Pour 2 inches of oil in a heavy saucepan or follow manufacturer's instructions for a home frying unit. Heat to 375 degrees F. Use a spatula to transfer the beignets to the frying pan. Deep fry beignets in small batches. Turn when golden and fry just until second side is light, golden brown.  Use tongs or a slotted spoon to transfer beignets to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Liberally dust with confectioners sugar, cinnamon sugar, or drizzle with honey. Serve hot.

Gluten Free Gingerbread Cookies

"Oh No!  Please don't eat me!"  Ceci helped with this one, makes me laugh.

I love holiday time!  I was so fortunate to grow up with some wonderful family traditions, like decorating gingerbread houses with our family friends.  My brother and I would so look forward to this event every year, because we got to see our friends, the Arndt family, and eat candy till we burst.  Another favorite holiday tradition was the Safeway Bakery Cookie Bake, with my dad's entire family.  My grandma worked for the Safeway Bakery and once a year the company shut down the bread making process for a day and invited all the worker's families in to bake cookies.  They sold dough (glutinous of course) in 10 lb lumps of either sugar or gingerbread, and gave you HUGE cookie sheets to run them through their ovens.  It was fantastic, even if there was gluten, I just loved being around everyone and the smell of delicious cookies and holiday music filling the air of this enormous factory.

Now that I'm grown and have my own family, and live far away from my parents, I work very hard to build traditions for us.  We are so lucky to have wonderful friends who love to be a part of our traditions.  I have been doing a gingerbread decorating party for a few years now, and really enjoy it.  Last year I made the houses out of Gluten Free Gingerbread and was sorely disappointed!  So this year I went back to making the houses out of cardboard, it's so much easier!  I figure that no one actually eats the house in the end because it's so stale and awful, so why not start with a sturdier easier method.  I felt guilty for making the houses cardboard, and then made a two batches of Gluten Free Gingerbread cookies to send home with our guests.  Plus it gives something else to decorate at the party besides the houses.

I couldn't be happier with the way the cookies came out, I prefer soft, thick cookies, and these are perfectly spiced with a touch of sweetness, and are even more delicious when you add powdered sugar icing on top.  I make my icing with orange juice so it adds a citrus flavor to complement the perfect spiciness of the cookies.  I also crumbled the cookies over my bowl of egg nog ice cream last night and was very happy.  I think I would eat them for breakfast too, if I didn't have a 3 year old watching my every move, being responsible doesn't always taste good.  Ceci loves the cookies too, sneaking nibbles of the dough while we are cutting the cookies.  She really enjoys the decorating part too, I love that she just wants to sit and decorate for so long, it's wonderful, I think she has more patience for it than I do some times.

I do have to warn that I wouldn't use this recipe to make a gingerbread house, it's too soft of a dough to hold up to the structural demands of decorating.  Plus it tastes delicious and who wants to waste that on a house that no one eats.

Can you guess which one Ceci decorated?  

Gluten Free Gingerbread Cookies

1/3   Cup Soy Flour
2/3   Cup Brown Rice Flour
1      Cup Sweet Rice Flour
1      Cup Tapioca Starch
1 1/2 tsp Xanthan Gum
1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
3/4    tsp Baking Soda
1/4    tsp Salt
1       Tbs Ground Ginger
1 3/4 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/4    tsp Ground Cloves

6      Tbs Unsalted Butter (softened)
3/4   Cup Brown Sugar (packed)
1      Egg
1/2   Cup Dark Molasses
2      tsp Vanilla

Preheat oven to 375 degrees (F), and prepare 2 baking sheets lined with silpat or parchment paper and set aside.  Pick out cookie cutter shapes to use.

Wisk together dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and set aside.  Cream Butter and Brown sugar on medium speed in a stand mixer until combined.  Add egg molasses and vanilla and beat until incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl if needed.
Gradually add in dry ingredients until well blended and smooth.  Divide dough in half, wrap in plastic and allow to rest at room temp for 2-8 hours.  Dough will be incredibly soft at first and will firm up when left out.
Working on a lightly floured surface roll out one ball of dough to 1/4 inch thick and cut out cookies, place the cookies on the prepared baking sheets and bake in oven for 5-7 minutes, depending on the size of the cookies, and preferred doneness of cookies.  Gather the dough scraps and re-roll and cut until all the dough is used, or dough is to tough to roll out.  Repeat rolling, cutting and baking for the second ball of dough.
Allow cookies to cool completely and then frost and decorate with Powdered Sugar Icing Recipe.  After the Icing hardens you can pack these cookies up into pretty boxes and give to friends, just remember to separate layers of cookies with wax paper so they don't stick to one another.

Powdered Sugar Icing

2   Cups Powdered Sugar
1 1/2 Tbs liquid (milk or orange juice, I like the flavor of orange juice with the cookies)

Mix in a bowl until smooth.  Adjust consistency as needed by adding more powdered sugar or liquid.  Add food coloring and place into a piping bag, or a zip top bag with a bottom corner cut off.  Decorate cookies as desired, and ENJOY!

Gluten Free Red Velvet Cupcakes

Gluten Free Red Velvet Cupcake with Cream Cheese Frosting

At some point in the last year I attempted to make Red Velvet Cupcakes, well Green Velvet anyway (I'll explain in a second), and did not like them.  Recently I was inspired to try them again, and looked up a new recipe, I am currently obsessed with them, and so is Ceci!  She can't get enough of them, when we had them she asked to eat one constantly, I had to bargain with her so she wouldn't try to eat all of them at once.  I was really pleased with the taste and tenderness of the cake, and who doesn't love cream cheese frosting to top off everything??

It turns out that there were a lot of problems with my first attempt at Velvet Cupcakes and subbing green food dye for the red was the least of the issues.  My husband thought for years that he was allergic to red dye, from some incident back in his college years, and until he saw the allergist this year we just avoided all forms of red dye.  The Dr told him that it was a made up allergy and he had never heard of it in all his years of practice.  So now I can use all the red dye I want in cupcakes.  The other major issue with the first batch of cupcakes was the recipe used oil instead of butter, so they came out greasy and unappealing, even the cream cheese frosting couldn't save them.

You can understand why I was hesitant after that disaster to try Red Velvet again.  Like I said previously I was inspired, I had purchased buttermilk to use for Pumpkin Whoopie Pies and had left over so I thought hard about other recipes that use buttermilk and came up with Red Velvet Cupcakes.  After some research I found what looked like a good recipe and worked to convert it over to Gluten Free.

We took them to a 2nd Birthday/House Warming Party for some family friends, one of the other guests had brought lots of fancy mini cupcakes from the famous bakery in NYC, Crumbs.  He told me he preferred my cupcakes to the fancy store bought ones!!!  That makes my day!  Having people who can eat gluten tell me that my gluten free versions taste better than the regular ones, especially when they are saying it's better than expensive boutique cupcakes!

I hope you enjoy them as much as Ceci does!

Red Velvet Cupcakes:

1 1/4 Cup Sweet Rice Flour
1   Cup Tapioca Starch
1/4 Cup Soy Flour
1  tsp Xanthan Gum
1/2  tsp Salt
2  Tbs Coco Powder (Dutch Processed)
1/2  Cup Unsalted Butter at Room Temperature
1 1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar
2   Eggs
1  tsp Vanilla Extract
1  Cup Buttermilk
2  Tbs Red Food Coloring
1  tsp White Distilled Vinegar
1  tsp Baking Soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F).  Line about 20-24 cupcake tins with paper liners and set aside

Mix flours, xanthan gum, salt, and coco powder in a mixing bowl and set aside.  Cream butter and sugar in stand mixer, add eggs and vanilla, and beat well to combine, scrape down the sides of the mixer after ingredients are well combined.  Measure buttermilk, and wisk red food dye directly into buttermilk.

With the mixer on low speed, alternately pour the flour mix and the buttermilk mix into the mixer, beginning and ending with the flour.
In a small cup, combine the vinegar and baking soda, allow it to foam, and then quickly mix it into the cake batter.
Quickly portion the cake batter into the prepared pans and move to the preheated oven.  Bake cupcakes for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cupcake comes out clean.
Let the cupcakes cool for several hours before frosting them.  Use Cream Cheese Frosting to top them with.  You can cut the frosting recipe in 1/2 so you don't end up with a TON of frosting.

Gluten Free Apple Turnovers

First Attempt:
I've had a box of Orgran gluten free puff pastry mix sitting in the cabinet for months now, waiting to be used.  While the weather was so hot, I didn't even want to think about playing with a temperamental dough that MUST be cold to function.  Just the last few days have been beautiful early fall days here in New York, which inspired me, I bought a small bag of apples at the store the other day and it all came together for me, apple turnovers.  We had a family dinner date tonight, and I almost always bring dessert, so it was perfect, Tim was home all day to take care of Ceci while I devoted my time to handling the puff pastry.  It took me about 4 hours total to make 8 turnovers, but they were worth it, and it was the first time I have ever made turnovers so I think there is a huge learning curve there.

Second Attempt:
The box comes with good instructions on it, I was able to follow them very easily, and come out with a beautiful dough.  I must admit that the first time I used the mix, I was pretty tired and used poor math to calculate the amount of butter needed for the mix.  Only half the butter made it into the dough and resulted in a rather tough end product.  The second time I made it I used the full correct amount of butter and they were much better tasting, crispy, crunchy on the outside and nice on the inside.  Both times I made them it looked like Frankenstein had tried to make the turnovers, but it didn't hurt the taste at all.  I would advise you eat them as soon as possible, as the dough does get tougher over time, but 30 seconds in the microwave and a little ice cream never hurt anything either right??

Again I will warn you they are A LOT of work, for only a few turnovers.  I did make mine pretty big, maybe next time I will chop my apples smaller so I can make smaller turnovers.

Box of mix, with instructions on the back

This is the box I purchased at the store.  The instructions on the back are good, but you should read them a few times to get a good understanding of what they are saying before you dive into the project.  It also offers a Vegan Option for making the dough on the box.


Gluten Free Apple Turnovers

1 Box of Orgran All Purpose Pastry Mix
2+1/4 Sticks of Unsalted Butter
8.2 oz Soda Water

2 Medium Apples diced small
1/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
1/2 tsp Cinnamon, ground
1/8 tsp Cloves, ground
dash of salt

Mix Diced Apples, sugar, cinnamon, cloves and salt in a bowl and allow to rest while working the dough.

(Directions from back of Orgran Box)

1.  Cut 1 oz of butter into Pastry mix with pastry cutter

2.  Make a well and pour in the 8.2 oz of soda water

3.  Mix until well developed dough is formed.

4.  Cover dough and allow to rest for 10 min

5.  Roll out the dough to a rectangle shape so that it is 3 times as long as it is wide and approximately 1/4 inch thick.

6.  Thaw the 2 sticks of butter so it can be easily smeared over the dough, do not melt it, just soften it slightly.  (The instructions say to roll out the butter between two sheets of wax paper, I found this step really difficult and decided the second time around to soften the butter instead.)

7.  Smear the butter on 2/3 of the dough.

8.  Fold the remaining 1/3 of the dough over the butter and then fold again to completely cover the butter.  This is #1 half turn.

9.  Rotate the dough so the seam is on your right.  Repeat the folding process by rolling out the dough into a rectangle again.  This is now #2 half turn.

10.  Give the dough a total of 6 half turns.  cove and rest the pastry in the freezer for 15 minutes after every 2nd turn.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (F).

After you have rolled out the dough for the last time, cut it into 8 equal squares (I still can't master this step, that's why mine are not pretty.)  Place a small amount of the apple mix in the middle of the square and fold one corner over to the opposite, on the diagonal.

Pinch the seam closed with fingers or a fork if you like, just make sure it is tightly sealed so the juices won't leak out.  Repeat until all 8 are made, placing them on a silpat or parchment lined baking sheet after they are sealed.

Cut a few tiny slits in the top of each turn over to let steam out so they don't explode in the oven.  Place baking sheets into the preheated oven and bake for 20 min.


Allow to sit on baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.  You can eat them when they are still warm, just be careful not to burn your mouth.  Enjoy!

Gluten Free Chocolate Honey Cake

Dusted with powdered sugar and coco powder

We were invited to a Rosh Hashana celebration for dinner tonight, and I asked if I could bring a dessert.  This will be our family's first Rosh Hashana dinner so I did a little research about traditional desserts and quickly found that Honey Cake is the most obvious choice.  After looking over so many recipes this morning I finally found one that I liked and had most of the ingredients for.  I made my exchanges for gluten free flours, and adjusted for the one or two items I didn't have in the house and away we went.  It was really easy to make, and baked up nicely too.  I did sneak a crumb off the bottom of the cake before I turned it out on to the drying rack, and it tasted pretty delicious, hopefully our hosts will think so tonight.  Below you will find the recipe I adapted from the original Chocolate Velvet Honey Cake by Marcy Goldman

After dinner we cut into the cake, and it was amazing!  Ceci had been waiting ALL day to have a few bites of that delicious, moist, chocolate, sweet, treat.  Everyone enjoyed it and was raving about it, in fact I was told that this could be my new passover assignment next year.  I was so pleased that it came out so sweet and moist, and everyone truly liked it.  Hope your family and friends enjoy it too!

GLUTEN FREE CHOCOLATE  HONEY CAKE 1/4 cup Soy flour 1/2 cup Brown Rice flour 1 cup Tapioca Starch 1 cup Sweet Rice flour 1 1/2 teaspoons Xanthan Gum 1/2 cup cocoa 1 tablespoon baking powder 3/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1-2 teaspoons cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon cloves 1 cup vegetable oil 1 cup honey 1 cup white sugar 1/2 cup brown sugar 3 eggs 2 teaspoons pure vanilla 1 cup Strong Coffee 1/2 cup coarsely chopped semi-sweet chocolate Garnish: confectioner's sugar, cocoa, drizzled melted semi-sweet chocolate,  Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Generously spray a nine- or 10-inch tube pan or angel food cake pan with cooking spray. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together flours, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and cloves. In a stand mixer, add in the oil, honey, white sugar, brown sugar. Blend well about 1 minute. Add in the eggs, vanilla, and Coffee. Blend well for another minute. Fold in the dry ingredients and blend for about two minutes, until smooth, stopping the machine once or twice to ensure that ingredients are all blended and not stuck at the bottom. Fold in chocolate chips. Spoon or pour batter into prepared pan. Place cake on baking sheet and bake until done, about 60-75 minutes, until cake springs back when gently pressed with fingertips. Cool 10 minutes before unmolding from pan. Dust cake with confectioner's sugar, or cocoa. Or, drizzle on melted, semi-sweet chocolate.

Gluten Free Oatmeal Cookies with golden raisins

Soft and Chewy Gluten Free Oatmeal Golden Raisin Cookies (extra large size cookies)

A few months ago I had a serious craving for oatmeal raisin cookies, just had to have them kind of craving!  Unfortunately the only recipe I had was one from my mom's childhood that she loves.  Only problem with that is that Mom and I have serious fundamental disagreements on the type of cookies that qualify as perfect.  Mom loves thin, crispy, and crunchy, I prefer soft, chewy, and thick cookies, in fact borderline undercooked is my real preference.  I had to dig through a few cook books to find something I could work with, but I found one and started manipulating away.

I was heading over to Sheri's house for dinner, which usually means I bring dessert, so it was a perfect fit.  I was craving the oatmeal cookies and needed to bring something sweet to eat.  I knew I hit a home run with them when I had just arrived around 3pm and Sheri was already digging into the zip lock bag I had brought.  I was certain I had done really well when she didn't send the left overs home with me.

inside of extra large oatmeal raisin cookies

I couldn't have been happier with the result of the cookies, chewy, soft, sweet, fluffy, down right perfect!!  I would make these everyday if I could I love them!  Ceci loves them now too, the last time I made them she was right there next to me digging into the raw dough.  Maybe she is my daughter after all, sometimes I question, like when she eats ketchup on carrots and quesadillas, then she redeems herself by eating pinches of brown sugar out of the jar, or licking the rubber spatula clean of the brownie batter.

My new secret was to use my Cuisinart stick blender with the food processor attachment to pulverize the golden raisins.  I really enjoyed having the raisins chopped into tiny bits, it gave a beautiful texture to the cookie, and spread that sweetness more evenly throughout the cookie than the traditional whole raisins.  Ceci loved to push the button on the stick blender too, I love hearing that squeal and laugh as she sort of freaks out every time she pulses the button.

I hope you enjoy making and eating these deliciously spicy and sweet cookies as I do.  Unless you think cookies should be thin and crispy in that case I will have to work on converting the recipe from my mom's childhood.

Gluten Free Oatmeal Cookies with Golden Raisins

1    Cup Unsalted Butter
1    Cup Brown Sugar, packed
2    Eggs
2 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/4 Cup Soy Flour
1/2 Cup Brown Rice Flour
1/2 Cup Sweet Rice Flour
1/2 Cup Tapioca Starch
1/2 tsp Xanthan Gum
3/4 tsp Baking Soda
3/4 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1    tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
1    Cup Golden Raisins (finely chopped)
3 1/2 Cups Rolled Oats

In a stand mixer cream butter and brown sugar, add eggs and vanilla, mix until well blended.

In a separate mixing bowl combine all dry ingredients together.  Add dry ingredients into mixer with wet ingredients and slowly mix together, batter will be really wet looking at this point.

Using a food processor or finely chop golden raisins until nearly pulverized.  Fold chopped Raisins and Oats to cookie batter in the mixer and blend together until well combined.

Line a cookie sheet with silpat sheet or parchment paper, scoop cookies onto sheet by the tablespoon full for "normal" size cookies.  Or use a large cookie/cupcake scooper to make extra large cookies.

"normal" size gluten free oatmeal raisin cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet

Bake in a 350 degree (F) oven, 10-12 minutes for "normal" size cookies, or 18 minutes for extra large size cookies.

Place on a wire rack to cool.

"normal" size cookies fresh out of the oven

Gluten Free Italian Cheesecake

Baked Italian Cheesecake

The other night we were invited to friends for dinner and told it was an Italian theme, and since most of the other courses of food were covered I sat and thought for days about what kind of dessert was "Italian".  I could only come up with Tiramisu for a long time, and then Gelato, but wasn't inspired to make either one, finally I came up with Italian Cheesecake!  It's been a million years since I've eaten an Italian cheesecake, and I have NEVER made one, let alone a NY style cheesecake.  I contemplated for a while about whether or not I wanted to really take on this challenge and how crazy I was willing to make myself.  I also received a request to bring GF Italian Bread, so now my work load was up, but I was feeling like a challenge.  The bread did not turn out well so I won't be posting that debacle anytime soon.  But the Cheesecake was a fabulous success!  I nearly had to abandon the idea midway after realizing one friend seriously dislikes ricotta cheese, the main ingredient in Italian cheesecake, after a quick strategy session with his wife I decided to go ahead with the plan.

I did some research on the internet about Italian cheesecakes and found that the recipes are not at all consistent with one another, some had crusts, most didn't, some used whole eggs, some only yolks, and on and on.  With that in mind I figured I would just go ahead and make my own recipe, and cross all my fingers that it would come out okay.  

I got tons of approval from everyone, even the ricotta hater!  He said it was the best cheesecake he had ever had because it was so light and fluffy, not like those other ones that are so heavy and dense.  Don't worry, no one let on that it was full of ricotta, it was pretty funny though.    I loved it too, soft, tender, light, fluffy, not overly sweet, and just a touch of lemon to balance out the flavor.  Hopefully I'll have another reason to make it again soon because it was fantastic.

Now to add to the vast array of Italian cheesecake recipes on the internet, here is mine.

Gluten Free Italian Cheesecake

1/2  Cup GF Graham Crackers, ground up
2 lbs of Ricotta
1   Cup Sugar (granulated)
2   Tbs  Tapioca Starch
4   Whole Eggs
1    tsp Vanilla Extract
Zest of a whole lemon
Juice of half a lemon

Drain Ricotta by placing layers of cheesecloth into a colander, and pouring ricotta into the cheesecloth.  Let the ricotta sit for a while, be sure to place the colander in a larger bowl to catch the drippings so that you don't end up with a sloppy mess on the counter.  (If you don't have cheesecloth, I used paper towels and a mesh sieve pretty successfully.)

While Ricotta drains, smash up GF Graham crackers and spread in bottom of 9 inch cake pan, or spring form pan.  Set aside.

Once the Ricotta is drained, place it in a stand mixer, and blend in sugar, and Tapioca starch.  Add eggs one at a time, mixing each one into batter.  Finally add extract, lemon zest, and lemon juice, mix until everything is fully incorporated.

Pour the batter into a 9 inch cake pan (I don't own a spring form, if you do, you can use that instead.)  Bake at 350 degrees (F) for 50-60 min, until a knife inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean.

Gluten Free Carrot Oatmeal Muffins

Now that I've been blogging a few months, and following other blogs, I have started to feel the peer pressure of getting away from processed sugar.  It can only be a good thing to have less sugar in our diets while increasing the fiber and fruit and vegetable intake.  I'm still really unsure of how to accomplish this, but reading some other investigating blogger's works it's getting easier.  As always I'm constantly looking for ways to get more veggies into Ceci, when I stumbled across a recipe in the back of a random parent magazine I found at the library on the free shelf.  It had an article on feeding picky eaters, from infants just starting on solids, to small children.  The recipe recommended for toddlers was "Gluten Free Carrot Zucchini Muffins" I was so excited to find a recipe that suited all my needs and I didn't have to mastermind flour substitutions for once.

I made these on a snow day last week so I had to use what ever I had in the house because I couldn't go out and buy the extra ingredients.  We didn't have zucchini so I just used all carrots instead, and I didn't have pure maple syrup, or coconut oil and substituted accordingly.  It also called for "quick cooking oats" which I haven't found in the stores here yet, so I subbed Rolled Oats and let them sit in the wet ingredients for a bit to soften.  The first one I tasted, I thought, "what have I done, why am I trying to go without sugar?  This is silly, I love sugar, why!?!"  Now after having a few more of them they are growing on me and I find they taste pretty good.  I should mention they present more like a power bar than a muffin, they are very dense and did not rise very much.  Still they are hearty and filling for a quick snack, and with the addition of some cinnamon very tasty.  It is really nice to know that when I eat them I haven't consumed a ton of sugar hidden behind all the carrots, raisins, and oats.

Gluten Free Carrot Oatmeal Muffins

1   very ripe Banana, mashed
1   Cup unsweetened Applesauce
1/4  Cup Vegetable oil
1   Egg, slightly beaten
1/4  Cup Honey  (should sub pure maple syrup for children under 2)
2   tsp Vanilla
3   Cups grated Carrots

2   Cups Gluten Free Rolled Oats

1   Cup Rice Flour
2   tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 Cup Golden Raisins

Preheat oven to 375 degrees (F).  Fill muffin tins with liners.
In a large mixing bowl combine banana applesauce and oil.  Blend in egg, honey, and vanilla.  Stir in carrots, and oats (this will help soften oats for cooking process).
In another bowl mix flour, baking powder, salt.  Stir into wet ingredients until combined.  Fold in raisins and let batter sit for 5 minutes.
Fill liners with batter, Bake for 25-30 min.  Cool on wire rack for 5 minutes.

Gluten Free Pie Crust

Pumpkin pie with Gluten Free Pie Crust

This is not my most timely post, which sadly seems to be an emerging theme around here.  I'll have to work on that.  Meanwhile, I'm still in time for Christmas pies.  For now I will post the version I used for Thanksgiving which involves Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour, hopefully for Christmas I'll be able to reinvent the recipe with my own mix of flours.  I'll post that one when I get it worked out.  I do have to say this one was pretty easy, it doesn't hurt that we were at my parent's house who live about 30 miles from Bob's Red Mill and have a huge tub of the GF AP Flour in the house at all times.  I went a little nuts while we were there trying to bake all sorts of things and take advantage of the flour on hand.

The pie crust was one of my trials during our Thanksgiving visit, the big step forward for me came from blind baking the crust.  Something I've heard a lot about but had not yet tried.  It seemed like something to try since every other time I had baked a pumpkin pie in a raw crust the crust was all gummy and under baked.  Blind baking means pre-cooking the pie shell by it self in the oven, but in order to prevent it from puffing into a giant cloud you have to weigh it down with something.  We used some dried beans that mom had found in the pantry from goodness knows how long ago, and would not be using for anything in the future.  You can buy fancy beads and stuff for blind baking, but I figured we would use what was on hand, I've even heard of people using pennies.  I suppose any item would work.

One thing about this recipe that makes me very happy is that the original comes from a cookbook that has been in the family for 3 generations.  It's just an old Betty Crocker Cookbook, but it's a recipe I used to make for my family when I was in High School  and College, but haven't really used since.  I really loved being able to go back and convert this recipe over, it felt like I had come full circle with the process.  Another important point was that it came out delicious!  Flaky, dry, and not at all sweet, the way a perfect pie crust should be.

Gluten Free Pie Crust

1   Cup Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Xanthan Gum
1/3 Cup Butter
2   Tbs Water

Mix Flour, Salt, and Xanthan Gum in a medium mixing bowl.  Cut Butter into small pieces, and using a pastry cutter or fork, blend into dry ingredients until mixture resembles pea gravel.  Add in Water, and begin to blend by hand until a ball of dough forms.  Wrap dough in plastic wrap and place in fridge for 1 hour.
Prep rolling mat, rolling pin, extra flour, pie pan, piece of foil for blind baking, and beans (or other item to weight down crust during blind bake).
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees (F).  Remove dough from wrap onto a lightly floured surface, and begin to roll out.  Work quickly to prevent butter from warming causing the dough to tear.  After a few rolls, flip the dough and re-flour the surface, and repeat until the dough is large enough to fill a 9 inch pie pan.  Now comes the tricky part, transferring the crust to the pan (I still struggle with this), I usually manage to turn the whole rolling mat over the pie pan sometimes I use a spatula to loosen the crust and let it drop onto the pan.  From there gently move it into the pan and trim the crust.  Place a sheet of foil or parchment paper (trimmed to fit) over the crust in the pan, and gently place a single layer of beans, pie weights, or pennies.  Bake for 12 minutes and remove from oven and set aside.
Make desired filling.  Carefully remove the foil and weighted item from pie crust and place on an insulated surface (so as not to melt your counter).   Pour filling into the crust, and bake according to the filling's instructions.

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.

Gluten-Free Chocolate Decadence Pecan Cookies

Amazingly good!

I saw this post Cookies Everyone will Love, the other day on my facebook news feed, when I opened it up and saw the first cookie picture I was so excited.  I used to get a similar cookie from Whole Foods bakery that was so delicious, but I don't go to Whole Foods very often these days.  The biggest problem with the whole foods cookies is that it is not a dedicated GF bakery so even with my lack of sensitivity to gluten right now I still worry that some uneducated person knocked some wheat flour into the mixer.  Plus why spend money when you can make it even more delicious at home.

One great thing about making these cookies was, I had all the ingredients in the cabinet, a few months ago I had made a Flourless Chocolate Cake from Food Network that called for bittersweet chocolate (I'll discuss that in another post, suffice to say it was incredibly delicious).  I did have to buy the pecans, but with the holidays coming they will be in good use around this house.

I'm pretty spastic when it comes to reading recipes off the computer but I really wanted these cookies, so I started making them.  Thank Goodness my husband and in-laws were home because I had to send Ceci away while I was making them.  The steps got a bit convoluted and I was really stressed out while making them, and having a toddler eating raw flour sitting on the counter does not lower my stress level. One thing I will change in the future is to toast the nuts prior to making the cookies, instead of trying to manage them while working the cookie batter.

 I have simply tidied up the formatting of the previous post so it is a bit more fluid to read, I also looked at the original recipe from LemonPi and gained a little inspiration.  I tried to simplify the mixing process to exclude the double boiler, but was unsuccessful, the double boiler stays, sorry.  I was really hopeful to be able to a few less dishes.

To give you an idea of what you are headed for when you finish making these cookies, they can only be described as the brownie of the cookie world, and the perfect brownie at that!  There is a light crispy outside crust, protecting an amazing chewy tender inside, and filled with toasted pecans,  they are perfectly delicious!

I can just finished a second batch today and it was much easier to make the second time around, I also used coffee instead of vanilla.  I can't say that I taste coffee, but I think the chocolate flavor is enhanced, I think it might be a keeper of a tweak on the old recipe.

Gluten-Free Chocolate Decadence Pecan Cookies

Adapted from Alice Currah's  Adapted from LemonPi and based on Alice Medrich’s recipe from Bittersweet

INGREDIENTS:

1/4  Cup sweet rice flour
1/4  tsp baking powder
1/4  tsp salt

8    ounces bittersweet chocolate chips (about 1 1/2 Cups)
2    Tbs unsalted butter

2    large eggs
1/2 Cup sugar
2     tsp pure vanilla extract (or coffee, or OJ (no pulp), or flavored liquor)

1 1/2 Cups toasted pecans, coarsely chopped
6     ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips (about 1 Cup)

2 sheets parchment paper


DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and salt together, set aside.

Place bittersweet chocolate chips and butter in a medium to large microwave-safe bowl and heat for 1 minute. Stir the chocolate butter mixture and microwave again for 30 seconds. Repeat this until all the chocolate chips have melted and the mixture is smooth, set aside.

Using a double boiler or make your own double boiler whisk the eggs, sugar, and vanilla thoroughly in the top bowl/pan over simmering water in the bottom pan.  Whisk egg mixture until it is lukewarm and then add it to the chocolate mixture, stirring until everything is well combined.  If eggs are not warm when you add them to the warm chocolate, the chocolate will cook the eggs and be a horrible mess of chocolate scrambled eggs.

Add the flour mixture, semi-sweet chocolate chips, and pecans to the chocolate mixture. Your batter will look like thick cake batter. Do not fear, after they bake they will look like and taste like cookies!

Scoop dough (it will look very wet and sloppy) into rounded tablespoons (I used a small cookie scooper) on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper 2 inches apart from each other. Bake for 12 minutes until the surface of the cookies look dry and set.

Remove the cookies from the oven, with the cookies still on the parchment paper, slide the paper onto racks to cool. If you leave the cookies and the paper on the cookie sheets the cookies will continue to bake, and be dried out.  Gently peel the parchment paper back after cookies have cooled for at least 30 minutes. If you can wait that long to start eating them, I certainly can't.

Some serving suggestions for you to consider Peppermint ice cream and chocolate sauce.

Or, as we discovered tonight they make FABULOUS ice cream sandwich cookies!  with Pumpkin Ice cream, Yummmm...... 

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.