Gluten Free Recipes from Wordpress

Blueberry and Strawberry Thumbprint Cookies

Well, this is the official kick-off of the Christmas baking season.  I know it’s like… November 18th… but I’m having to remake the wheel, so I thought it would be good to do some testing before the big day.  Today’s project is thumbprint cookies… my absolute favorite thing in the world (until something better comes along)…

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tblsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tblsp. xanthan gum
1 cup almond meal
1/2 cup rice flour
3/4 cup potato starch
1/4 cup coconut flour
Assorted Jelly and Jam, to taste

Directions:
1.  Cream butter, cream cheese and sugar together until light and fluffy.  Add egg and vanilla.  Mix well.  Add gum, flours and starches, mix well.  If you were inclined to dye these, now would be the time.

2.  Put your concoction into the fridge for about an hour.  DO NOT FREEZE!  It will make your life difficult and your cookies deformed.

I stuffed my dough into a zip top bag and smashed flat to decrease chill time.

3.  Pull off pieces of dough and form into 1 inch balls.  Work it like a meatball and space out on an ungreased cookie sheet.  Form a depression in the middle with your fingers or some sort of kitchen implement like a spoon.  I use my fingers, they’re easier to clean.

Cookie balls!

Cookie depression…

4.  Fill said depression with jelly or jam of your choice, just enough that you make a jam puddle.  These won’t rise, but they will spread a little, so try to keep it all inside the pool.

Fill them like this

All filled!

5.  Insert filled cookies into a 350 F oven and bake for 18-20 minutes or until the bottom just starts to brown.  Let rest on cookie sheet 5-10 minutes or until form is set, then move to a cooling rack to finish.

Cool cookies…

That’s it, and they look like you spent all day working on them…

Christmas cake is a heavy indulgence, but once a year is OK for this fine treat which is gluten free and skips the added salt and sugar.

Ingredients:

• 170g Pitted Dried Dates
• 140ml Water
• 115ml Sunflower Oil
• 30g Ground Almonds
• 5ml Mixed Spice
• 3 organic eggs or Egg Replacer
• 55g Rice Flour
• 55g Soya Flour
• 55g Corn Flour
• 455g Mixed Dried Fruit - can be raisins, muscatel raisins, currant, sultanas, or why not try cranberries, Blueberries or cherries!

Method:

1. Dates should be chopped into small pieces and placed in a pan with the water.
2. Bring to the boil and simmer for until dates are soft. Allow to cool.
3. Mix together the dates, sunflower oil, ground almonds, spice, eggs (or replacer) and all the flours.
4. Stir in you selection of mixed dried fruit and mix well.
5. Place mixture into a lined, greased 18cm cake tin.
6. Bake for 30mins at 170c, then another 45mins at 145c.
7. Allow to cool for 10mins then turn out, removing lining paper.
8. Allow to fully cool and store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

I made MEATBALLS.

Let’s backtrack here for a minute. I was (once upon a time) a vegetarian. I HATE raw meat… it grosses me out.  And yet, I found myself in the kitchen with 2 lbs of raw ground turkey.  Better yet, my hands were all up in that raw turkey.  Gah.

Oh, and these are Gluten Free… though you’d never know by the taste.

For a super large batch (enough to eat tonight and freeze for later, it’s like the Costco of home cooking) you need…

2 lbs Ground Turkey

2 cups cabbage/carrot mix (I use a packaged coleslaw mix sans dressing)

2 cans mushrooms- drained

4 eggs

1 cup your choice- cooked rice, crumbled lays potato chips, GF bread crumbs (we used rice in these)

3/4 cup organic Italian dressing

3 Tb. Wheat Free Tamari (or soy sauce if you aren’t gluten free)

Fresh Ground Pepper, Garlic Powder, Dried Minced Onions and Kosher Salt  (I used about a tablespoon of each)

Mix everything up (with your hands…ew).  Form into smallish meatballs.  Place in a large frying pan with about 1/4 -1/2 inch HEATED canola oil (I used medium heat for nearly everything).  Fry, while rolling meatballs around until cooked through.  When I made larger meatballs, they tended to flatten in the pan as well as fall apart easier.

Serve.  We enjoyed ours with a mound of rice (in the rice cooker) and creamy mushroom sauce (oh you want that recipe too…)

The easy way to have a creamy mushroom sauce is to open up some cream of mushroom soup, we like Health Valley Organic.  Heat it up and pour it on top.

I have some homemade creamy mushroom and chicken soup recipes.  I’ll get them up soon.

A beloved friend of mine wondered if we could make yogurt from Powdered Milk… the answer is simply YES!!!
I thought it would be fun to post a few different ways to make it if you don’t happen to have one of these amazingly inexpensive do-dads.
The first try was to make it in the crockpot, yep, you heard me right, the CROCKPOT!!

Now if you have Regular Milk and not powdered, I would definitely recommend visiting Stephanie at Crockpot 365 and using her delicious yogurt recipe. She Rocks! She and I should be the bestest friends ever, just by default because we both LOVE our crockpots.

Anyway, Here are the ingredients, you can find the instructions and my timeline at Healthyfishies:

2 Qts Reconstituted Nonfat Dry Milk (7 2/3c water plus 2 2/3c Dry Milk)

1 additional Cup Dry Milk

4oz. Good Yogurt (just make sure it has the acidophilus and other good bacteria in it) I wanted one without any other added stuff.

optional: Organic Raspberry or other flavored jam

Big Warm Snuggly Bath Towel

1 6qt. Crockpot

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The second trial was to use the oven (if your oven has a 100 degree setting it is perfect! If using a gas oven, the pilot light alone might be at that magic yogurt making temp of 90-110 degrees, while some electic ovens have a light inside the oven….if you switch out the bulb for a 40watt bulb and leave the light on, it should be in that perfect temp range as well. Simply test your oven with a thermometer before making your yogurt.)

You can use the same ingredients as the crockpot recipe, minus the crockpot of course and substituting it for a 2-4qt saucepan or stockpot. Please do try to use a stainless or even cast iron pan and not an aluminum or “non-stick” brand of pan/pot. After the milk is heated, you could even use the crockpot insert as a container. *smile*

You can find the instructions for this method of yogurt making at Healthyfishies.

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This weekend, the kids had Friday, Monday and Tuesday off school. (Do they even go to school in November or December? Too bad all this free time isn’t convincing Oregon Dad that I should homeschool ALL of them.)

Early Friday we loaded up in the GIANT, GAS SUCKING, Dodge 2500 Pick Up and headed for Astoria/Seaside/Warrenton (the kamp ground was in between all locations). Yes, I am spelling kamp with a K and no its not because I can’t spell. We stayed in a KOA Kamping Kabin. Did I mention that filling up the truck only ran us $65???? A month ago we topped out at $130 when on empty. Woot for falling gas prices.

Inside view of the kabin taken from the doorway.
Upon arrival, I was SHOCKED (having never seen a kamping kabin before). I knew they were rustic, but it was a cabin about 10 ft x 10 ft that our entire family was suppose to fit in. Yep, all seven of us. In between bunks there was hardly walking space, let alone room for all our junk crap gear. Oh, and we took the moose dog with us.

We pawned TeenGirl off to another cabin (don’t worry, we had 5 cabins holding 18 people) and she borrowed a bunk in their TWO room cabin. Um, excuse me… how did I get a one room cabin and several others got two rooms? Oh, right, because I was the last to book this outing and the double rooms were already gone. Got it.

The weather was suppose to be RAINY/STORMY/ALL TOGETHER POOPY. It turned out ok… not swell, but decent. We had mostly no rain during the days and it poured all night long. Thus, we were able to have camp fires and the kiddos rode their bikes. Granted they were splattered front and back with mud from the fender less bikes (and who’s idea was it to remove the good old fenders that bikes used to be equipped with?)

God’s Promise, seen as we exited Battery Russell at Ft. Stevens, a sign?

We enjoyed s’mores before bed and swimming in the indoor (and super cold pool). During the summer months, this particular kamp sports a jumping pillow, outdoor mini-golf, volleyball & basketball courts, a pancake feed, public fire pits (year around) and outdoor cooking kitchens (covered). All in all, it was a pretty good set up for around $60 a night. Right now (through the end of 2008), this kampground is offering a discount equal to the oldest person in your party, so we received 35% off for a total of $90 for the weekend.

When we decided to visit Astoria my plan was to take the kids through Ft. Stevens, Ft. Clatsop and across the four mile bridge into Washington. The weekend wasn’t quite long enough and the weather was a little too wet for everything to be accomplished. We did however visit half of Ft. Stevens and ventured down the sand to the shipwreck (Peter Iredale at Clatsop Spit).

The kids at Shipwreck.

Defenders of the Columbia, on the lookout for invaders.

Kelsey, Kaylee, Kenzie and Kyler hanging in the window of a gunnery house at Battery Russell (part of Ft. Stevens).

This turned out to be a really fun weekend, despite the fact that I had NINE loads of laundry to wash when we arrived back home.

Oh, and I made my first ever meal in a DUTCH OVEN. Honestly, I didn’t even know what it was until Husband dug it out of the closet last week. We had chili (and it was good… a little spicy for me, but perfect for Hubs and TeenGirl). Our recipe: 6 cups of mixed beans (I used a can of kidney, black and pinto this time), a large can (32 ounce) of organic diced tomatoes (we used 365 brand), 1 l of ground turkey- browned and Simply Organics Chili Mix. It was REALLY simple, I cooked the turkey in the Dutch Oven on the propane stove, then added all ingredients, mixed well, placed lid on top and moved pan to our “Dutch Oven shed” which was a hastily constructed cover on four legs. We put about 18 hot briquet’s under and about 8 on top and left it to cook for about 2 hours. Let me tell you… this was easy and yummy. We added potato rolls with butter and some of the kids crushed up some Lay’s (gluten free) chips. Some of the more advanced Dutch Oven users in our group (pretty much every woman but me) made desserts, lasagna and chicken pot pie in theirs. For our other meals, I stuck to old standbys using the propane stove. We had pancakes, sausage, eggs, french toast, & burgers.

Our dog was gifted with a new name, Avalanche (because isn’t one natural disaster as good as another?). He was a big, muddy mess by the time we loaded up to head home.

Earthquake, er um, Avalanche is worn out.

We had a couple families of bandits visiting our kabins. This family of four was a constant at our kabin and the one across the way where TeenGirl was bunking.

Coon Family… that Mama had to weigh more than my 3 year old.

Deviled Eggs, all in nice rows

Last, but not least, are my favorite mid-week snack: Deviled Eggs.  Yum.  The first thing you’re going to want to do is to get a new carton of eggs and leave them out on the counter for a day or two (yes, I said to leave them on the counter and that part is really important).  The reason we leave them out is so that the membrane that attaches the white to the shell breaks down.  According to Alton Brown on the Food Network, eggs age a week for every day they are left out of the fridge… and you want to make your deviled eggs (or any hard boiled eggs, for that matter) with aged eggs.

Ingredients:
1 dozen week-old eggs, any size
1/3 cup artificial bacon bits
1/4-1/2 cup mayo
Salt and Pepper to taste
Paprika to garnish

Directions:

1.  Find a large enough pot that all your eggs will fit in a single layer.  Fill the vessel until the water is at least an inch above the eggs (use hot water, it’ll make the boil happen quicker).  Salt your water and wait for the bubbles.

2.  When you’ve achieved a boil, set your timer for 10 minutes and remove eggs as soon as time is up.  I usually pour the eggs and water through a colinder to make working with the hot eggs easier.  When the hot water has all drained away, sit your colinder into a larger bowl or your sink and fill with COLD water above the level of the eggs.  Let stand at least 10 minutes.  Drain water and if eggs are still warm to the touch, repeat.  What we’re doing here is trying to shrink the egg mass just enough that it pulls back a little from the shell (making it easier to de-shell).

3.  Once your eggs are cool, crack and peel them gently.  Rinse with water to remove all egg shell and deposit into a waiting bowl.  Once all are peeled, cut each egg in half the long way and drop the egg yolk into a medium sized bowl.  Put your two egg halves into a container (I have one specifically made for devil eggs) in a single layer.  Repeat until all eggs have been emptied.

4.  With a fork, mash your egg yolk.  Add just enough mayo to make the yolk into a paste, about 1/4-1/2 cup, depending on your eggs and yolks.  Add bacon bits (artificial are important, real bacon tends to get floppy and gross when it sits in the yolk paste a while), salt and pepper to taste.

5.  With the fatter part of the egg facing you, use a spoon to wipe the yolk mixture into the egg.  Get enough paste on the spoon that you have sort of a little ball and stick it into the empty yolk hole and drag toward you.  Fancy people sometimes pipe the egg yolk mixture into the egg… mine never last long enough to worry about being fancy (besides, piping bags are a pain in the butt to clean).  When all yolk holes are filled, you can add a little yolk mixture to any eggs that look a little puny or stuff it into your mouth.  It’s pretty good either way.  Sprinkle your eggs with paprika, don’t smother them…

6.  Refrigerate at least 2 hours or until the eggs are firm.  Believe me, the wait will be worth it.

Mmm.... beans and sausage, it's what's for dinner.

Recipe number two:  White beans and sausage.  This is one of my favorites and something we have with a fair regularity.  It keeps well, it’s cheap to make and well… it’s delicious.

Ingredients:
2 cups dried white beans
1 package Lil’ Smokies or other GF sausage
1 bunch cilantro
Salt and Pepper to taste
Dehydrated onions to taste
Water

Directions:

1.  The night before you’re ready to make beans, soak your white beans in at least 4 cups of hot water.  You’ll be draining off most of the water tomorrow, so measurement doesn’t have to be exact, so long as there’s plenty for the beans to absorb.

2.  When you’re ready to cook your beans, first take out your sausage and brown it in a 12″ skillet (if required).  Then dump in beans, and just enough water to cover the whole lot.  Add salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle on your dehydrated onions.  Cook over low or med-low for 4-6 hours, stirring regularly and adding water as they dry out.  Ideally, you want just a little water in the bottom of the pan when you’re done.

3.  When your beans are beginning to be crumbly, but aren’t done yet, chop and add the cilantro and stir it in well.  Cook another half hour to hour, or until beans are soft, but not mush.  Serve with cornbread or a side of fruit salad.

Fruit Salad with Pomegranite Seeds, Strawberries and Starfruit

I know I’ve been slacking lately in the postings, so I’m going to make it up to you by posting several tonight.  Here we have a simple fruit salad, and in case you don’t know, I’m going to tell you how to make it.  We’ve all got to start somewhere.

Ingredients:
1 pomegranite, washed and de-seeded
1 starfruit, washed and cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1 lb. strawberries, washed and coursely chopped
1/4-1/3 cup white sugar

Directions:

1.  Toss your cut strawberries into a bowl with a lid that is twice the size of the whole of your fruit.  Sprinkle the sugar over the fruit (I would start by scooping out 1/3 cup worth and sprinkling a third at a time), close the lid and give it a shake, up and down and back and forth.  Let strawberries sit a few minutes.  Check to see if syrup is forming, if not, use more sugar and repeat shaking process.

2.  When syrup starts to form (you’ll know because it’ll be thicker than just the juice and sweet), deposit the rest of the fruit into the bowl.  Give it a good shake and let stand 15 minutes before serving.  Serve chilled or at room temp.  It never lasts long here, so I don’t worry about refrigeration, but you can move it to a smaller bowl if you want once the syrup has formed (though the big bowl helps to re-coat with the syrup after it has sat a while).

Delicious Train Fruit Cakeage

As you all know by now, I’m incredibly antsy and sad for my missing pre-Celiac foods.  Today, for your pleasure, I have perfected fruitcake… or at least come darn close.  If you’re not cool enough to own a train set cake pan, feel free to use a loaf pan or whatever you’ve got.  Just stick a toothpick into the cake every 10 minutes after 45 and when it comes out clean, the cake is done.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 ounces sorghum flour
1 ounce almond meal
1 1/2 ounces potato starch
6 1/4 ounces raw sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
3 jumbo eggs
1/4 cup applesauce
1/4 cup molasses
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cardamom
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon fresh coarse ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon Mexican chili powder
8 ounces nuts, bits
2 cups dried fruit
2 cinnamon sticks, 5 inches and broken in two
1/4 cup dried lemon peel
1/4 cup dried orange peel
apple juice (to cover)

Directions:

1. The night before you want to bake, chop your dried fruit coursely and put into a dish. Add lemon and orange peel. Put enough apple juice in said dish to cover everything. Break your cinnamon stick in two and toss it in to the juice/fruit mix. Cover and let stand up to 24 hours.

2. In the bowl of your stand mixer, put all the dry ingredients and the sugar (except the spices). Turn mixer on low to fluff the flours. Add eggs, one at a time, and mix until fully integrated. Add applesauce and molasses. Mix. Add your spices and extracts. Mix. This would be where you should taste it for spice adjustment.

3. Preheat your oven to 300°F.  Using a tablespoon or other smallish scoop, fish out 12 ounces of rehydrated fruit (some juice is ok, too), stirring as you add it. Add nuts and stir. If you’ve added so much stuff you don’t think it will all mix, you’ve got it right! Make sure you stir this part by hand or you’ll break your fruits and nuts up and your fruitcake will be sorta — well, sorta pathetic.  You’ll probably have some leftover fruit… that’s no problem, just make another cake later.

4. Allow batter to stand 10-15 minutes to fully hydrate. Spoon into square molds that are approximately 2 1/2 x 1 1/2 x 1 and bake for 45 minutes. Allow a little room for rising. It should fill 9-10 square cakelet** molds (it’s about 5 cups).

5. Turn cakelets** out onto a cooling rack to cool. When cooled completely, wrap in cellophane and allow to mellow for at least 24 hours in a cool, dry and dark place. Enjoy! :).

** I stand corrected.  Julie says these are called mini loaf pans and she’s right.  I just thought that cakelets were more descriptive (and I couldn’t think of the proper name. )  You could also just buy a train cake mold like the one I bought from Amazon.com.

    You’ve just invited company and now you find out they have to have a gluten-free diet. Now you

are having second thoughts. What will you fix? Maybe you wish you hadn’t even invited them.

      But consider this. People who need a gluten-free diet (celiacs) are often very nice people who don’t get invited out much. They will especially appreciate the extra effort you take to prepare the meal. They didn’t ask to have this problem and they don’t have any choice about it. They can live absolutely normal lives when they figure out how to handle their diet. Their biggest problem is eating out or eating with people who aren’t used to cooking gluten-free.

            A gluten-free diet means no wheat, rice, barley. Usually no oats either. Check to see if there are other foods they need to avoid.

            You can always have plain meat and vegetables, rice and potatoes. It’s the seasonings and sauces that can get them into trouble. Vegetable salads are fine, but check the labels on the dressings. You can also use many other ingredients if you learn how to read labels. Here are some things to consider in label-reading:

–You can be sure it’s gluten-free if it says gluten-free. For a very sensitive celiac you are better to stick with labels that declare themselves gluten-free. Some labels will say, “manufactured on equipment that also processes gluten.” That disclaimer protects the company. Very sensitive celiacs will avoid anything with labels like these, but many celiacs can get by with them.

–In the US it has to declare wheat if it has wheat in it. The exception is meat with marinades or vitamins. Those items don’t have to declare wheat so watch out for them. In the US they do not have to declare barley or rye. Malt comes from barley. Malt vinegar is not OK. Other vinegars are. Isomalt, however, is OK.

–Most soy sauce, worchestershire sauce, and bouillon cubes have gluten. If wheat is not in the ingredients some celiacs can eat these. Very sensitive celiacs will only use them if they say gluten-free.

–Some baking powder and cornstarch has wheat added. If the ingredients don’t list wheat, it’s fine.

–Old El Paso taco seasoning is gluten-free and works to season many things. Old El Paso and Ortega will list gluten if it is included.

–The best flour is often a mix of several flours. The mix I use in New Zealand is rice and soy, but many gluten-free flours are now available in the US.

–If your other ingredients are gluten-free, a Celiac can have gravy if you thicken it with cornstarch or arrowroot.

–Many flour sort of recipes list xanthan gum or guar gum as an ingredient. This gives a bit more body to the dish, but if you’re not using it regularly, don’t go out and buy a bottle. Just leave it out.

 

 

This is one daughter’s favourite link for making a meal for a Celiac: http://celiacdisease.about.com/od/socializingwithoutgluten/a/GuestPrep.htm

 

This link gives guidelines on companies that go above and beyond regulations to make their labels easy for Celiacs to read. My daughter carries a company-name list in her purse to help with shopping:

http://forums.glutenfree.com/topic6889.html

 

 

For more on meat labels see:

http://www.fns.usda.gov/fdd/facts/nutrition/foodallergenfactsheet.pdf

 

Now that Halloween is over, we can all start thinking about Christmas!  (GAG).  Seriously, I love Christmas, but I need one Holiday at a time people!  At least Thanksgiving doesn’t require too much thought other than making some festively decorated (recycled) cardboard boxes and donating them and a turkey or two to the church for Thanksgiving Dinner Baskets. 

 

I had 38 children in my house (plus a handfull of Moms, a Dad, a Teacher and several babies) on Halloween afternoon.  The kids had a school inservice day and were bummed at not having their normal Halloween huba-loo at school.  So sucker crazy wonderful Mom planned a party.  I over invited, because that’s what is to be done if you want a good turn out.  We had only ONE child not come to the party.  Our house was brimming, but everyone had a great time. (Other than the few who ran around the back of the house and encountered some GIANT Earthquake Poo). 

 

We served Jack O Lantern Pizzas (I cheated and bought take and bake, and only made ONE GFCF pizza from scratch), popcorn balls, chocolate crispy bar treats, sugar cookies, and not jello jigglers.

Popcorn balls… I got the idea from Mindful Momma. We used my homemade agave marshmallow recipe, air popped popcorn, and regular candy corn.

Chocolate Crispy Treats… we used EnviroKidz Organic Koala Crisp cereal, Earth Balance Margarine and homemade marshmallows.

These yummy GFCF Ghost Sugar Cookies were made using a recipe from Karen over at Only Sometimes Clever (who just welcomed baby Fiala to the world, so be sure to congratulate her while you’re over there). They turned out FABULOUS. I cut the batch in half and still had about five dozen cookies. We used Earth Balance Shortening and sprinkled them with Sprinkelz Chocolate GF Sprinkles and Wholesome Sweetners Evaporated Cane Sugar.

 

I’m not posting party pictures because they include children which are not my own.  However, here are a couple of my cuties (wouldn’t you know, in the craziness that was my day, I missed my annual picture of my four little ones together!).

The shirt was a gift from a well meaning Grandparent that just can’t grasp the silliness in purchasing a seasonal item of clothing (which will be outgrown well before next Halloween) for a 3 year old. It’s cute… hopefully we will find a smaller child to pass it on to!  The sucker is a Yummy Earth Organic All Natural sucker, found in a 70 count bag at Whole Foods.

How’s that for a free costume? K-Man wore his football gear (as did at least 15 kids we encountered on Halloween).

K3 was a kitty. We used a long sleeved body suit and skirt from Ballet, with a pair of black leggings underneath. I did have to purchase a new set of ears and tail because my set from high school finally broke last year. This set ran $4.00 on a 40% off sale.

I have no pictures of K2 to post… they all have her girlfriends in them and I can’t put up their sweet faces without asking parents first. She was a cowgirl. Red second hand boots for $8 and a red hat for $1 added to jeans, shirt and vest we already had.

Mommy ended up being a bat of sorts. The kids liked it… but I’m not so sure. I wore ears and attached silver sheer fabric to a black shirt in an attempt to make wings.

And here is TeenGirl… this costume idea is in my FamilyFun magazine. That’s probably were I got the idea, or maybe it hit me before the magazine arrived.

She had issues with her recycling falling off the costume… I had her sew everything on because it is easy to clip the threads and remove later. And yes, everything was recycled once the costume was disassembled.

 

And that’s our Halloween Wrap.  Hope yours was fabulous as well. 

 

Today’s Green Tip:  Reuse is a grand thing.  Borrow, purchase second hand, pass on when you are done.  What you can’t reuse, please recycle.

©2005 GranolaChic™, All Rights Reserved

 

I am excited to offer a recipe I have heard moms all over the country asking me to give them.  It is homemade, Preservative-Free, Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Wheat-Free, Egg-Free, Rice-Free, and so on and so on…… The great part is they are allergy friendly, organic, and really Quick and Easy. You would not think something so allergy friendly would be so DELICIOUS but they beat Grandma’s fried chicken and they are healthy too!!! See tips for the spicy adult versions. This is something I have made quite often by grinding my own flours, but I only just decided to use Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Flour and it worked great (just a new twist on an older recipe of mine). Not many people want to mess around with grinding their own flour so this makes the recipe very easy as well as healthy for moms and dads on the go.

 

Ingredients:

BATTER:

4 Tablespoons ENERG Egg Replacement (Parve)

4 Tablespoons purified water or distilled water

½ tsp Celtic Salt or Fleur de Sel

1/8- 1/2 tsp Organic Onion Granulated Spice Hunter is delicious brand

1/8 tsp Organic Garlic Granulated Spice Hunter is delicious brand

In a glass pie plate or on a small salad plate put the Egg Replacement, blend in the spices, and then incorporate the water to make a frothy batter. You want this to be thick enough to stick to the chicken, beef, lamb, or veggies but not so soupy so that it will not stick nor gummy so that it mounds in  globs. Place this mixture on the left side and make certain the breading mixture is on the right side. This will help the breading and batter process run efficiently, smooth, and with much less mess.

 

BREADING:

2 cups Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour

1/2- 1 tsp Organic Garlic Powder granulated (not salt)

1 tsp Organic Onion Powder granulated

1 tsp Celtic Sea Salt

1/8-1/2 tsp Organic Paprika

1-2 tsp Organic Basil Minced Dry Herb for those children that don’t like to see green, give one or two a try and the flavor will usually sell them. If it’s an issue, just leave out the basil. It gives a really nice flavor to the tenders though. When you serve them with Organic Ketchup they seem to overlook the green specks….and they are usually browned enough it doesn’t stand out too much.

In a glass pie plate or on a small salad plate blend all of the ingredients and place on the right with the batter on the left side. See diagram in TIPS.

 

CHICKEN:

1.25 lb (20oz) Raw Organic Boneless Chicken Breast cut into strips or Raw Organic Boneless Chicken Tenderloins  You may use lamb, veggies, beef etc.

Smidge of Celtic Sea Salt for a fine sprinkle

1-2 cups Organic Coconut Oil for pan frying

Organic Ketchup for side condiment

Serves 4

 

In a cast iron or stainless steel skillet heat the Coconut Oil over medium heat until hot, not boiling or popping. You may test a piece of batter and if it fries immediately when you place it in the pan you know that your oil is ready.

You are going to want to have four plates ready to go, with the chicken plate on the far left, next the batter plate, followed by the breading plate on the right, and to the far right the platter where all of your pre-battered chicken will be ready for the frying process. If you use your left hand for the meat and the batter and you only use your right hand to bread the chicken you can keep yourself from having really caked up hands and avoid a huge mess in the kitchen. In keeping with your right hand being the “dry” hand without touching the chicken, take a small smidge of Celtic Sea Salt and sprinkle on the chicken. With your left hand take the chicken tenders or nuggets 1-2 at a time and dip them in the batter. Then place those two on the breading plate and with your right hand cover the chicken with the flour. Then with your right hand lift the chicken and give it a gentle tap on the plate or a little shake over the plate to remove any excess flour and then move those two pieces onto your prep plate. Continue the process until all of your chicken, beef, or veggies are battered. After all of your food has been battered you are now ready to fry or bake those beauties. Move them two or three at a time into your hot oil and start frying ( if using a small pan, do not fry more than 3 at a time or it will bring the temp down on your oil and you will have greasy chicken not really fried crunchy chicken) (When using a regular frying pan I do not fry more than 4-5  chicken strips at one time for the same reason) (Chicken nuggets would be about 8-10 at a time max for perfect crunchy nuggets). Fry them until golden brown on one side and with your tongs flip them over and on the opposite side frying them until golden brown. If you are using a meat thermometer make certain the internal temperature reaches 165°.  With your tongs remove them from the oil and set them on brown paper grocery bags to allow any excess oil to drain. These are tender, juicy, crispy on the outside, and full of flavor!! Continue frying the additional pre-battered chicken pieces and serve with Traditional Gravy, GranolaChic Gluten Free Gravy, or Ketchup. The adult versions are spicier and have delicious dips that may be served with them. I love the Bobby Flay inspired Pasilla and Ancho Honey dip for both chicken and beef tenders. Look for that in future blogs.

 

TIPS:

 Use the same batter for CHICKEN FRIED CHICKEN, CHICKEN FRIED STEAK….oh my goodness and now that you have gluten free gravy to go with this you may now eat old fashioned favorites with a healthy, allergy friendly twist.

For Chicken Nuggets simply cut chicken into 2 inch squares (to make the chore of cutting meat a little bit more easy put the meat in the freezer and allow to freeze only until firm not until thoroughly frozen. Remove from the freezer and they cut really nice and stay in a uniform shape.

Serve the Fried Chicken, Chicken Fried Chicken, or Chicken Fried Steak with Traditional or GranolaChic Gluten-Free pan gravy.

Make ahead: It is possible to pre-batter all of your chicken, lamb, beef, or veggies and then wrap them with unbleached parchment paper and plastic wrap, and then secure in a glass Pyrex dish with a secure lid and then place them in the freezer for frying later so that all of the messy work has been done and all you have to do is pull out a few pieces at a time and fry them.

Pan Gravy Recipe to follow.

Adult version Chicken Tenders, Chicken Fried Chicken, Chicken Fried Steak to follow.  The difference is adding spices you like. To taste I add pasilla, ancho, cayenne, paprika, to the breading. Then offering a spicy dip usually with a honey or sweet sauce as well as a spicy dipping sauce really makes this a fun treat to serve to those who like a little zip to their zing.

Prep Plate set up:

Raw meat or veggies

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plate or Platter 1

Egg Replacement Batter

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plate or Platter 2

Gluten Free Flour Breading

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plate or Platter 3

Plate for all of the Battered meat or veggies…now ready to fry or bake.

 

 

 

Plate or Platter 4

 

Frying Pan

Brown

Grocery Bag for Draining

 

 

 

 If you do not have time to make these at home or if you have no desire to make these at home and you want a Wonderful alternative to fast food chicken tenders or chicken nuggets make sure to check out Allergy Free Foods ™ Company as they have really good chicken tenders and nuggets and they strive to offer allergy free preservative free foods which is what we love. Here’s a link to their site http://www.allergyfreefoods.com/  . If you like their products write them. It is important to support those that are offering products that benefit you and are in line with your beliefs. That will only encourage more companies to follow the cruelty free, organic, allergy friendly way of life.

 

See our recipe for Store Purchased Chicken Nuggets that features Allergy Free Foods™ Brand Frozen Chicken Tenders and Nuggets.

 

 

 

© 2008, GranolaChic®, All Rights Reserved

 

We start with Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix for our easy version. You do not need a mixer for this recipe just a medium size bowl, a great mixing spoon, a cookie sheet and you are ready to go. Your house is going to smell SOOOOO yummy. Your kids will think you slaved away making them naughty cookies.

 

Ingredients:

22oz package Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Wheat Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix

2 Tablespoons ENERG Egg Replacer (Parve)

2 Tablespoons purified or distilled  water

1 Tablespoon vanilla extract (alcohol free if available) or one vanilla bean…. scrape the seeds and save the skins for your sugar canister….you’ll be glad that you did!! See tips.

1-2 Tablespoons Unsulphured Blackstrap Molasses or use Organic Yacon syrup for almost the same flavor

2 Tablespoons maple syrup or agave nectar (you may prefer honey but it will change the flavor)

Preheat your oven to 350. In a medium stainless steel or glass bowl add 2 Tablespoons of your Egg Replacer, then add 1 Tablespoon at a time of your water…it’s better to add it slowly to make certain you are happy with the consistency. What you want is a frothy almost creamy mixture. It will look something like that of Marshmallow cream, not a thick paste. Next, add 1 Tablespoon of pure vanilla extract (if adding vanilla beans just add them to your egg replacer mixture) give a gentle turn or two to fold in the vanilla, add your Maple Syrup and again just lightly fold to combine, then add 1-2 Tablespoons of Molasses or Organic Yacon syrup it will give your cookies that extra depth of flavor…believe me it will make a wonderful difference you don’t want to skip this step. Just give a few turns of your spoon to combine all of your liquids. Next, add ½ cup of Coconut Oil (see tips for options). Slowly ( 1/2 cup at a time) add the entire package of cookie mix to your wet mixture using your spoon to combine the wet and dry ingredients. If you have chosen to use Coconut oil in a soft but not melted stage your cookies will be more crumbly in texture in the batter stage…don’t worry just mix the batter with your spoon until the ingredients come together and then shape cookie dough into balls 1 ½ in diameter (Bob’s Red Mills says not quite Two Tablespoons). If you use the coconut oil in the soft but not melted (liquid) stage your finished product will be a more fluffy cookie with a soft center and crunchy on the outside. Place cookies directly onto a prepared cast iron cookie sheet OR directly onto parchment paper. Place in the pre-heated oven and bake until golden brown. Usually 10-12 minutes but watch them and pull them when they are turning golden brown. If you decide to use coconut oil that is room temp (liquid not but not heated) your batter will be a little looser but the cookies will still turn out nice. They will be more flat after baking but still very yummy and they will have a nice crunch on the outside while remaining soft on the inside. If the batter is really loose they will be flat and crunchy. (Again, see tips for options).

The cookies will barely have time to cool before eaten and they will probably NEVER see the inside of a cookie jar!!!  Makes 24 cookies.

 

 

 

 

Tips:

Adding your water one Tablespoon at a time allows you to add more liquid if it is too thick but if it is too loose that is a little more of a issue to fix. It allows you more control over your batter consistency.

To save time use ONE medium size bowl. Start with your egg replacer and just flow the rest of the directions. It turns out just as good as if you had used a small bowl for wet ingredients and a medium bowl for dry and then combined the two. You will have less clean up and save time…who doesn’t want that!

Yes, we realize that we are not following the directions of the Egg Replacer but this is what works for us because we are adding so many other liquids. Don’t be afraid to play with your food, on a humid day you may need to add less water. As long as you do not have a past but rather a bit of a frothy mixture you know you have it right even if you add just a dab more or a smidge less water.

If you want the old fashioned version we will include that one in our first GranolaChic Desserts cookbook. However, this is just hassle free, fast, and easy. This recipe will be released in ‘GranolaChic’ Fast, Fun, & Fabulous Cookbook.

Coconut Oil is so delicious with which to cook. We use the Organic 76 Degree Coconut Oil that does not have the flavor of coconut but the healthy properties are there. There are recipes where we use the full flavored Coconut Oil depending on the recipe. Try both ways and see if you want this cookie to have that additional flavor. We have tried both and depending on the mood and meal we choose our oil accordingly. You cannot ever go wrong with Chocolate and Coconut!!

Those vanilla beans: Oh yes….add those little lovelies to your organic sugar canister. The perfume and flavor will make everything you bake taste better, make your coffee taste better, and if you just need a vanilla fix it’s nice to just steal a nice whiff of the perfume from time to time.

This recipe takes 5 minutes to throw together, 12 mintues to bake, and you have cookies in hand and smiles on little faces VERY FAST. Even big kids like this.

Super naughty version is to take two cookies while still warm and place chocolate chips (or CAROB chips) between the two for a chocolate chip cookie sandwich. Another option is to add delicious ganache between two cooled cookies for a fall down on the ground, very naughty cookie sandwich.

This is my all-time-favorite fall treat. Pumpkin bread. I remember my Mom making it when I was younger and I would eat it for breakfast or for snack when I got home from school. I would spread a little Country Crock (b/c that is what my Mom bought) on it and chow down. YUM! I have now modified the recipe that my Mom used to be gluten-free. I am in heaven! I even "gifted" some to a neighbor today for helping me out and she loved it! :) BTW, she isn't GF and didn't realize the bread was GF until I told her. I froze the remaining 1.5 loaves so that I wouldn't eat them in one sitting, b/c I could easily do so. I plan on sharing with my Mom when she is here this coming weekend to visit. I am thinking about topping it with Edy's Slow-Churned Pumpkin Ice Cream and maybe some Hershey's Chocolate Syrup. Oooooooh!

Pumpkin Bread

2/3 cup shortening
2 2/3 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 can (1 lb pumpkin)
2/3 cup water
3 1/3 cup flour (I used a rice flour, potato starch, tapioca flour mix)
3 tsp xanthan gum
2 tsps baking soda
1 ½ tsps salt
½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cloves
2/3 cup coarsely chopped nuts
2/3 cup raisin

Heat oven to 350. Grease 2 9x5x3 inch loaf pans or 3 8.5x4.5x2.5 inch loaf pans. In large bowl, cream shortening & sugar until fluffy. Stir in eggs, pumpkin & water. Blend in flour, soda, salt, baking powder, cinnamon & cloves. Stir in nuts & raisins. Pour into pans. Bake about 70 minutes or until wooden pick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Another busy week ahead. Hockey practice, ice skating, hockey games and I am having surgery on Friday, hopefully in the AM. It is an outpatient procedure, so I hope to be home before the kids get home from school. I have to have my left sub-mandibular salivary gland removed b/c I have a small cyst on it. Apparently the only way to tell if the cyst is malignant or not is to remove it. Nice. Anyway, enough about that. My focus this week is just on getting through the week. Tonight, Sunday, we had leftovers. :) There is no "main" ingredient this week. I am planning on 2 desserts/baked goods to have made before Friday. That way I have treats, along with candy from Halloween, to snack on while recovering. ;)

Sunday ~Leftovers (pork loin roast, creamy pumpkin brown rice & veggies)

Monday ~ Salmon (most likely grilled), sweet potatoes (probably baked), steamed green beans & salad

Tuesday ~ Filet Mignon on the grill, baked potatoes, sauteed zucchini & salad

Wednesday ~ Eating out after skating & hockey

Thursday ~ Roast chicken, garlic mashed potatoes, veggies & salad

Friday ~ Whatever my Mom makes or gets take out, maybe Pei Wei.

Saturday ~ My Mom is making her homemade beef pot pie, gluten-free. I can't wait!!! :)

Baked goods for the week:

Pumpkin Raisin Bread
Homemade Chocolate Pudding (recipe by GingerLemonGirl)
Pumpkin Pudidng (this is a Jell-O mix that I came across.....you all know I am a sucker for pumpkin!)

Today is 6 days before Halloween. I figured that now was a good of a time as any to work on carving our pumpkins. Oh, I had to go get the pumpkins too! LOL! I had wanted to take Jon & Hannah to the small pumpkin patch up the street, but it was rainy & wet this morning, of course. Wal-Mart and their pumpkins would have to do. Hey, they were under $4 a piece and they were a pretty good size! We headed out to mother-in-law's house for the carving festivities. Jon informed me on the way over that he wasn't really all that interested in carving a pumpkin. He didn't want to get his hands dirty. Oh, that and his hand/wrist was sore and still healing from his recent injury. Okay, fine. I told him that he could take pictures and I would help Hannah. Once Hannah found out how messy (the insides) it was and how hard they pumpkins were to carve (very tough for some reason), she was all about swinging outside on the swing and abandoning the whole project. Glad we made plans to carve pumpkins today, huh? Well, the kids disinterest didn't discourage MIL, FIL and I from carving up the 2 pumpkins that we had. The first one was much easier to carve than the 2nd one. The second one was very tough and hard to get a knife through. Thank goodness for FIL being there as I don't think that MIL or I were strong enough to finish them up.

A couple quick pictures:

In honor of the pumpkin carving, MIL is going to roast the seeds and bring them by tomorrow morning. I can't wait to snack on those! A great gluten-free snack! I also centered tonight's dinner around pumpkins by making a Creamy Pumpkin Brown Rice recipe that is from Whole Food's website. I did make some changes. Here is the recipe I used:

1 cup brown basmati rice
1.5 TBSP EVOO
Saute rice & EVOO until rice is toasted, about 3-5 minutes
Combine 3 cups chicken broth and 7 -8 oz. canned pumpkin puree in a bowl and whisk together
Add 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, salt & pepper to the chicken & pumpkin
Pour mixture into rice and bring to a boil. Stir and turn down to simmer for 40 - 45 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes. Add more salt/pepper, if needed. **I left out the onion (can't eat them) and bay leaves (didn't have any) and added the cinnamon & nutmeg.

Now, for the yummy part. I had an acorn squash laying around so I decided to cook it up in the micro (sliced, removed seeds and seasoned with cinnamon & brown sugar; place face up in micro safe dish, added 1/2 cup of water to dish & covered with saran wrap; micro for 10 min or until tender). Once the squash was done, I filled my half with the rice and topped with chopped walnuts! YUM!!! I served that along with Perfect Pork Tenderloin (recipe to follow) and a mixed greens salad. Dessert was pumpkin ice cream topped with chocolate chips. Perfect end to a perfect pumpkin filled day!

Perfect Pork Tenderloin

Ingredients
· bonelesspork tenderloins or pork loin roast (my pork loin was 2 lbs 12 oz and I cooked it for 16 minutes and let sit in the oven for an hour after that)
· salt and pepper
· dryseasoning, of your choice( I used thyme, rosemary, garlic powder, basil, oregano, S & P)

Directions
1. NOTE: The success of this cooking method will depend upon how accurate the temperature of your oven is and how well your oven retains heat. Adjust cooking time +/- according your individual oven.
2. Get the EXACT weight of roast from the meat wrapper.
3. Weight will determine how long to cook the roast.
4. Preheat oven to 550 degrees.
5. Remove roast from refrigerator. Season roast as desired. Place seasoned roast in an uncovered roasting pan.
6. Bake EXACTLY 5 1/2 minutes PER POUND. Adjust +/- according to your oven's accuracy and heat retention.
7. Turn oven OFF and DO NOT open oven door for 1 hour.
8. Remove from oven and let rest 5 minutes to redistribute internal juices.
9. Roast will be done, very slightly pink in the center, and very moist.
10. NOTE:******* For anyone questioning this method of cooking, it really does reach the proper internal temperature on a thermometer.
11. If you have a thermometer that has a wire that goes through the side of the oven door, by all means use it and set alarm for 140-145 degrees.
12. It should go off before the hour is up.
13. After resting 5-10 minutes, the roast should reach 145-150 degrees.
14. According to Sara Moulton on FoodTV, salmonella is killed at 138 degrees, and 145 is a safe temperature for pork, although the USDA recommends 160 degrees (meat will be drier).

This is one of our favorite pork tenderloin/pork loin recipes. :)

Fried Chicken Strips, Onion Rings and French Fries...

I promised it a while ago and have just now gotten around to doing some more pan frying (it’s not something you do every day… you know, it’s a Sunday thing).  I live in a funny place, that has a strangely fused food heritage.  See, where I am is kind of where the South meets the West… so we do things like pan frying, we love our macaroni and tomatoes and our fried okra, but we also love our enchiladas, our chili con carne, our beans and ham.  This is a great place to be if you like food!  Since I do, well, I’m glad I’m here.

So, to the business of pan frying.  The very, very, very first thing that you should know is that you should only pan fry in a heavy frying pan (preferably cast iron), you should **NEVER** use expeller pressed oils due to their low smoke points and your should **NEVER** fry anything that’s in a frozen state!  Always thaw first or you will seriously regret it.  Ice crystals turn into water pockets that will react with the oil to burn your flesh off… and believe me when I say it’s no fun.

The Hardware:
1 10″ cast iron fry pan
Enough oil to fill it about 1/2″ deep (or deep enough to submerge your food half way)
Thermometer that will read up to 400 degrees F
Splatter screen
Cookie sheet with a cooling rack that fits inside
Tongs that can resist high heat
2nd cookie sheet for warming
3 bowls of similar size

The Software:
2 eggs
1/4 c. milk (your choice, I used almond milk)
Gluten Free Fry Mix (described below)
Chicken strips, pieces, etc, thawed
Onion
French Fries (or use the french fry method from before but stop after the first frying and freeze them for later!)

The Method:

1.)  Be sure that your target foods are thaw!!!  Ice crystals are not your friends, nor are pockets of water.  Hot oil will cause water pockets to vaporize and you will get a very bad burn.  I’ve been frying for many years, please trust me when I say this.  I have battle scars to prove it.

I used a cooling rack suspended over the sink to thaw my chicken, this way all the excess water would come away from the chicken and not form pockets.

2.)  Your Gluten Free Fry mix will consist of 1:1:1 of rice flour, tapioca starch and corn starch.  This means that if you have 1 cup of rice flour, you have one cup of everything else, see?  I also like to add spices to my mix to make it a little more interesting.  I always add paprika for color, salt, pepper and garlic to taste.  You might have to fiddle with it a bit to get the ratios the way you want them.  I always build my mix in a large ziptop bag for easy mixing and storage (I never use it all at one sitting).  Zip bag tightly and turn and knead until mixed well.

3.)  Sit out your three similar bowls.  Crack your two eggs into the middle bowl and beat until they well mixed (like you’d beat scrambled eggs), then beat in about 1/4 c. of milk.  Moo milk, almond milk, whatever kind of milk you like.  This makes it a little creamier and easier to use.  In the two bowls on the end, scoop out some of your fry mix.  One scoop for the first bowl and 2 scoops for the last bowl (believe me, you will need more in the last bowl than the first).

Three bowls: fry mix, egg dredge, fry mix.

4.)  If you’re ultra paranoid about contamination, do the onions first.  Personally, I figure that any sort of germ that can tolerate 300 plus degree oil deserves a chance to make me sick.  Oh yeah, and heat your oil on your range top to about 350 degrees or so.  This part kind of takes practice to get right.  Always start your oil out low and add heat, it’s much easier than subtracting.  Besides, if you get your oil above 400 F degrees, you’ll ruin it.  No one wants that.

5.)  I like to start with the chicken, so I will.  While your oil is heating (and it will take a while, so don’t rush it), drop your singular chicken piece into the first bowl, cover well with flour and then dust as much off as will come.  Next, drop in the egg mixture and leave for about 30 seconds.  Last, move to the 3rd bowl and coat throughly with the flour mixture again.  Lay out on cooling rack for a few minutes to allow crust to set.  Oh yeah, and be sure to choose a wet hand and a dry hand.  The wet hand only goes into the wet bowl and the dry hand only goes into the dry bowl.  Otherwise, you get club hand and that’s not pretty.

Chicken strip emerging from bowl 1

Chicken emerging from bowl 2

Chicken lounging in bowl 3

All the chicken strips waiting patiently to be fried

6.)  Once your oil has reached something in the neighborhood of 350 degrees, gently insert your chicken.  DO NOT DROP THE CHICKEN IN OR YOU WILL GET BURNED!!!  The oil should start to sizzle immediately, if it doesn’t, it’s not hot enough and you’ve just ruined your chicken… it will be a nasty, greasy mess.  Cook your chicken for about 5 minutes and then flip and cook another 3 minutes.  Since we’re using gluten free flours, you will not be able to tell by the color if the chicken is done!!!  It will be pale in the pan and lightly golden as it sets.  Put it back on the rack so it can shed some grease and cool.  Set your oven to 200 degrees F and stick your extra cookie sheet in.

Side one of the chicken, ready to be flipped.

Flipped chicken ready to be pulled out.

This is a splatter screen. This is your best friend if you don't want to get burned while you're frying!

7.)  Once your chicken has cooled, put it on the pan in your oven to keep it warm.

8.)  For the onion rings, slice your onions into 1/2″ slices and seperate the rings.  Do the onions the same way you did the chicken, going through all three bowls of stuff and resting on the rack.  Bring your oil back up to 350 or so, but don’t allow it to overheat, so work fast!

Onion rings resting and waiting to be fried.

9.)  Gently place onions in oil with tongs, and don’t crowd the pan.  You won’t be able to get many in at once, but that’s why we have a warm oven.  Fry for one and a half minutes, then flip and cook for another one and a half minutes.  Pull them quickly and place back on the rack to cool.  Stick them in the oven with the chicken.

Onion rings in the fry pan... DON'T CROWD THE PAN!!!

10.)  To fry your previously frozen french fries, allow them to thaw and then fry in the same oil for 3-4 minutes.  They shouldn’t be so thick that they need to be flipped.  Pull and drain, then stick in the oven with the rest of the party.  Serve and eat… don’t expect this stuff to keep, though.  The breading tends to pull water out of the air and gets really icky after a while.

11.)  To clean up (allow everything to cool), first drain your oil into a funnel with a coffee filter, to catch any of the nasty bits.  Oil is made to be reused several times.  Funnel into a clean container with a lid.  Rinse your pan and scour with course kosher salt and a sponge (don’t use soap or else you’ll ruin the season).

What could be better than a cookie that combines the 2 things that I love the most? Not much! LOL! By now, most of you know that peanut butter and chocolate are near and dear to my heart. They rank right up there with my husband, kids and my wine. ;) So, it was a no brainer that I had to try a recipe for a cookie that combined PB and chocolate. These cookies were so unbelieveably easy to make and so worth it. They are the perfect ratio of peanut butter to chocolate. This recipe is supposed to make 48, mine made 37 and I can't guarantee how long they will be around for. The kids both loved them. I am going to freeze some, but I don't know how long they will last there, either, unless I forget about them.

Hershey’s Peanut Butter Blossoms **Modified from a recipe on the Hershey's Kisses Bag to be Gluten-Free

48 Hershey’s Kisses
½ cup shortening
¾ cup Peanut Butter (I used Peter Pan)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
2 TBSP milk (I used 1%)
1 tsp. Vanilla extract
1 ½ cups GF Flour Mix (I used rice, potato starch & tapioca)
1 tsp Xanthan Gum
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
Granulated Sugar

1. Heat oven to 375. Remove wrappers from chocolate (you may want to not unwrap all 48, as this recipe didn’t make that many cookies for me ~ I got about 37).
2. Beat shortening & peanut butter until well blended. Add sugars and beat until fluffy. Add egg, milk & vanilla; beat well.
3. Mix together flour, xanthan gum, baking soda, salt and then mix into wet into peanut butter mixture. Refrigerate dough for 30 – 60 minutes.
4. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar; place on ungreased cookie sheet.
5. Bake 8 – 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Immediately press a Hershey’s Kiss into the center of each cookie; cookie will crack around the edges. Remove cookie to wire rack. Cool Completely. Makes about 4 dozen according to the recipe, I got 37.

When I was growing up my Mom used to make these cookies all the time. They ranked up there with some of my favorites. My favorites as a little girl were thumbprint cookies, spritz cookies, snowballs (Russian Teacakes), chocolate chip cookies, gingersnaps and snickerdoodles. I love to say "Snickerdoodle". Believe it or not, in my almost 3 years of being on the gluten-free diet, I have never made Snickerdoodles. If nothing else, I would have thought I would have made them just so I could say the word. ;) I have been pleasantly surprised at how good the cookies have turned out when converted to be gluten-free. I can't really think of one time that I was disappointed. Oh, wait, only once. I used a flour mix that I was not happy with. I now stick with my GF Mix of rice flour, potato starch and tapioca flour and add xanthan gum, usually close to a teaspoon per cup of flour. I don't usually add partial teaspoons though, so if a recipe calls for 2 3/4 cups flour, I will use 2 tsp xanthan gum. Hope that makes sense.

Onto the good stuff! Here is my recipe and some pictures of the yummy goodness:

Snickerdoodles**Modified from a recipe in Betty Crocker's Cookbook

½ cup butter, softened
½ cup shortening
1 ½ cups sugar
2 eggs
2 ¾ cups GF Flour Mix (I used rice, potato starch & tapioca)
2 tsps. Xanthan Gum
2 tsps. Cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt

2 TBSP Sugar
2 tsps. Cinnamon

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Mix thoroughly butter, shortening, sugar & eggs. Blend in the flour, cream of tartar, salt & baking soda. Refrigerate for 30 – 60 minutes. Mix 2 TBSP sugar & 2 tsps. Cinnamon in a small bowl. Shape dough by rounded teaspoonfuls into balls. Roll balls in mixture.
2. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet. Bake 8 – 10 minutes until set. Immediately remove from baking sheet.

Makes about 6 dozen.

Jon gave the thumbs up on these. I am going to freeze about half of them for treats in the upcoming weeks.