Gluten Free Strawberry Shortcake

It’s the time of year when the cravings for fresh strawberries hits me. 😊 

I found some berries on sale on my last trip to the grocery store, and of course, the best way to eat them, other than fresh, is with shortcake and whipped cream. Or with milk or ice cream. 

  

  
 
 
 1 c. Sugar

1 Egg

1 tsp. Baking Powder 

1 tsp.  Vanilla Flavoring 

3/4 c. Milk

1 c. Gluten Free Flour

  
Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and pour into a greased pie pan. Bake in a preheated oven at 350* for 20-25 minutes. Or until toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean.   

So easy to make and even easier to eat! Enjoy!

  

Gluten Free Peanut Blossoms

I have an easy-peasy recipe for gf peanut butter cookies. Head over to A Ranch Mom’s blog to find it;

http://aranchmom.com/gluten-free-peanut-blossoms/

Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls

Here is an appealing food for these snowy cold winter days. Warm cinnamon rolls oozing with butter and brown sugar and sweet frosting.  You don’t need to be deprived if you can’t eat gluten. Here is your version!

 

 The ingredient list:

  
1/2 c. warm water

3/4 c. lukewarm milk

2 T. yeast

1/4 c. sugar 

1/3 c. shortening 

2 eggs

4-5 c. gluten free all purpose baking flour 

 In large bowl, pour in water and milk. Add yeast, sugar, shortening and eggs. Stir to combine. 

Then slowly start adding your gluten free flour as you mix it.  

 
You can use a mixer or just stir with a large spoon if you’d rather exercise your arm muscles. 😃 

 Add in four cups, then if the dough is still pretty sticky, gradually, 1/4 cup at a time, add more flour. You want it to sorta clump together in a ball, but still be a very soft dough. I ended up using the full 5 cups in this batch.  

 
Set aside to raise. 

 Melt a stick of butter in a small bowl.  

Mix together 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1 T. cinnamon in another small bowl. 

   
 
 Once the dough has raised to your satisfaction, (15 min or so) dump it on to a greased counter and knead for about one minute with your hands.  

 
Roll out dough in a rectangular shape to your desired thickness, approx 1/2 – 3/4 inch.  

 
Pour the melted butter on and spread around. Sprinkle lots of that yummy cinnamon sugar over top.  

 
Then, very carefully, starting on the long side, begin to roll it up. It can be hard to get started. If you get cracks in the dough, just pinch together with your fingers and keep rolling.  As you can see, mine has lots of cracks, but it doesn’t affect the taste. 😊

 
 With a sharp knife, cut into 1 1/2 inch (or thicker, if you prefer) slices.  Place slices on greased pan. Let raise again for about 10 min. At this point, if you like, pour on more melted butter. 

 
  
Bake at 350* for 20 minutes or until done. Don’t overbake! Remove from pan and frost with your favorite frosting when cool.  

I used a cream cheese frosting for this batch. I will be posting that recipe in a later post.   

 Sit down with me by the fire now and enjoy one with a cup of cocoa and watch the snow drifting down outside. Just lovely!

  

Gluten Free Monster Cookies

Today I am giving you my infamous cookie recipe that is a staple in our house. Mainly because my husband likes these to dunk in his milk and he would eat them daily without tiring of them. I, on the other hand, prefer some variety and so we do eat other types of gf cookies occasionally.  😊

So without further ado, gather up some ingredients.  

  6 beaten eggs1 cup softened butter

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown OR *raw sugar

1 tsp. vanilla 

2 cups peanut butter 

4 tsp baking soda

8 cups  certified gf oatmeal

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup m&ms Or Reese’s pieces, optional 

 Crack eggs into your mixing bowl and beat a minute. Add sugar and butter and stir till combined. Add in peanut butter and vanilla and mix. Then add the oatmeal and soda and mix well. Lastly, add your chocolate chips.  

 Scoop out large spoonfuls and put on greased cookie sheet.  I like to flatten my slightly with the back of a spoon. But you don’t have to. I like how they look and it’s easier to produce a moist, chewy cookie. A mound of dough will end up drier and crumblier. 

Optional- sprinkle m&ms over top of each one. 

 
Pop them in the oven at 350* for 10-12 minutes. This is for a soft chewy cookie. My husband likes them baked longer till crispy so they absorb more milk when he dunks them. 

For the soft cookie, it’s important to get them out when they still look barely done, as in they have some ‘moisture bubbles’ on top. Sorry, I didn’t get a picture of this, but it’s  something you will get a feel for from just baking several sheets and seeing them.  

 Leave them on your baking sheet a minute or two to cool after removing from the oven. This is crucial or they will fall apart. Then carefully remove to paper towel or clean cloth.using a wire rack to cool is also a bad idea. They will sag between the wires while warm and then harden like that and break when you take them off. Speaking from experience here. 😀

 Or if you don’t have time to bake cookies, divide the dough into two cookie sheets and flatten into bars. This is a lot less work and much faster method. They make delicious bars! Just bake for 20 minutes or until done.  Leave in the pan a few minutes before removing. 

Then devour! 

  
This batch makes lots of cookies! You can easily halve the recipe.  But they freeze well too. So I make a batch and freeze them, hoping I won’t have to make more for  several weeks. But they never make it to the two week point. 

GF Chocolate Covered Rice Cakes

It’s the time of year for cookies galore and all manner of chocolate-covered goodies! Here is a great way to make a gluten free treat for that person in your life who normally has to stand by and watch as everyone else splurges on yummy holiday food. 

  Ingredients;

 1 *bag rice cakes

1 package chocolate melting wafers

Peanut butter 

  
 *I found this brand rice cakes at Aldi. They’re only about half as thick as the ones you find at Walmart or elsewhere. So they work the best for this  recipe, but really, you can use any kind. 

 Now, spread peanut butter on one side of each rice cake, however thick you like.  

 
Melt chocolate wafers in a double boiler on low heat until smooth and creamy. Keep it stirred so it doesn’t scorch!

 

 Then you can dunk your rice cakes completely into the chocolate or you can dunk the bottom side and just drizzle the top.  
   
 As you can see, my drizzling abilities are not the greatest, but my  husband and kids had them completely eaten in two days time, so it didn’t affect the taste anyway. 😊

Let the rice cakes harden. Then try not to eat them all in one sitting! They keep well in the freezer too.  

*Update; I made another batch and added some marshmallow cream on top of the peanut butter before dipping. Oh the yumminess! 

   
 

Easy Blender GF Pumpkin Pie

I am crazy over this recipe! So easy, so simple, and mostly, so scrumptious! Warm or cold, with cool whip, ice cream or just plain, you can’t beat this recipe! 

  
1 unbaked gf pie crust, Recipe here

1 (15oz) can pumpkin

1 (12oz) can evaporated milk

1 egg

3/4 cup brown sugar

3 Tablespoons cornstarch 

1 teaspoon cinnamon 

1/2 tsp. Nutmeg 

1/2 tsp. Ginger

1/2 tsp. Salt

1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice, optional 

  
 Dump all ingredients into blender. Blend until thoroughly mixed. Pour into unbaked gf pie crust.  

 Bake at 425* for 5 minutes. Then reduce heat to 350* and bake for 55 minutes or until center is set. Remove from oven. Cool and enjoy! 

 

Perfect Gluten Free Pie Crust

Do you like to make pie? I do! 

And here is a great gluten free pie crust for your holiday baking! 

  
Gather up your ingredients: 

5 c. Gluten free 1 to 1 baking flour

2 c. * butter OR lard

1 T. Vinegar

1 Egg

Water

 *butter makes your crust very tasty. Lard makes it flaky. I like to do half of each for the flavor and the tastiness. 

 Cut your butter into the flour.  You can do this by hand or I like to just use my kitchen aid. Mixing by hand probably results in flakier crust. 

 Next put your egg and tablespoon of vinegar into a 1 cup measure, fill up with cold water and mix up a little with a fork.  

   
Slowly add to your flour mixture. Combine until just barely mixed.  

   
Now I like to set it in the frig for about an hour to make it more workable. But it is totally optional and you can use it right away. It will be slightly sticky, even when chilled.  Sprinkle your counter with gluten free flour into about 5 balls and roll out.  

    
 
Keep dusting your crust with gf flour as you roll it out or it will stick to the counter. Fold it gently in half and carefully transfer to pie pan. Patch up the cracks. Trim the edges.  

    
 
This recipe makes about 5-6 single crust pies or 2-3 double crust. It depends also on the size of your pie pan. 

There you have it- perfect gluten free pie crust for all your holiday pies! 

Gluten free  Pumpkin pie recipe coming up next! Or go Here to find a delicious and gluten free apple pie filling! 

Which GF Flour to use?

There are a lot of gluten free flours out there to choose from and if you’re just starting, it can be confusing indeed!

 First of all, here is a list of grains that are or are not GF:

  
** The oats are gluten free but most oatmeal is processed on the machines that process wheat, so they are contaminated. However, you can find certified gluten free oatmeal that has been processed in a separate facility. 

 Now for some tips about the different flours. Gluten is sticky and what holds wheat products together so well. So any gluten free flour tends to make baked goods crumbly. This is where the secret weapon comes in- Xanthan Gum. I was thrilled when I dicovered this stuff. It replaces the sticky element of gluten and really helps keep baked goods from being so crumbly. Word of caution- it only requires a small amount, so don’t overdo it. 

 One thing to be aware of when using any flour other than wheat is the texture of each flour is different and as well as taste and liquid to solid ratio.  Starting to sound complicated? 😊 Well, yes and no. Yes, it can be, but no, it’s not because I’ll tell you what I’ve learned  from experience, so you won’t need to experiment. 

 Some gf flours are heavy and soak up lots of moisture. Others are light a fluffy and extra fine. So most experienced gluten free cooks combine a 3- part ratio of light to heavy flours. They also add in lots of starch, like potato or tapioca starch to make it act more like wheat flour. I used to do this myself

 However, there are now so many premixed gf flours out there that it’s hardly worth the bother of keeping all the different kinds on hand if you can just use one premixed flour. Especially if you’re not on a dedicated gf diet.  In fact, if you have certified gf oatmeal in your cupboard, there are lots of yummy dessert recipes I can give you. Actually, I will give you some that don’t even require oatmeal. But I digress… Back to the flour.. First of all, you will notice I recommend mostly Bobs Red Mill brands. This is because my closest grocery store sticks this brand so I am very familiar with it. I’ve tried a few others. Some work great too, like Pamela’s. But I hesitate to recommend something I’ve never personally tried first. Disclaimer- BRM is not paying me. These are my own opinions. The links are my Amazon affiliate links though. 

  My personal favorite is this rBobs Red Mill 1 to 1 Baking Flour. This is my top pick. I use this for any and all kinds of baked goods. I use it just like white flour, cup for cup. This flour has eliminated all the twenty-odd kinds of gf flours in my cupboard that I could never remember which one was for what. If you only buy one gf product, make it this one. I’m sure there are other brands that work as well, but like I said, this one is what I know. 

   Bobs Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Flour.  Now this one I keep one hand for one thing- pizza crust. For some reason, if I use any other kind of gf flour, my husband says it’s not as good. But it has bean flour in it, so if I use it in desserts, you very quickly taste it. And let me tell you, garbanzo bean flour has a very strong smell and taste. The kind of taste you don’t want in your cookies! 

   I know, this is a mix, not a flour, but  this is a staple in my cupboard. Bobs Red Mill Gluten Free Pancake Mix is about the only kind of gf pancakes my husband likes to eat. And we eat a lot of pancakes in our house. 
   And last but definitely not the least, Bobs Red Mill Gluten Free Oatmeal. You can make such a variety of foods with oatmeal. For awhile, when I was burnt out on so many gf flours flopping my recipes so badly, I only used oatmeal. And you can even throw it in the blender and make your own gf flour. 

 So there you have it! Those are just about the only ‘special’ ingredients I buy to bake with outside of ‘regular’ baking ingredients. And I can’t wait to show you some of my delectable desserts!