Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Egg Muffins w/Swiss Chard

 


I promise this is one of the easiest recipes you'll ever make, and it's super forgiving.  I suspect you could do this with any number of veggies (peppers, spinach, broccoli...) and/or meats (sausage, bacon, ham...).  I opted for going simple the first time around with just some sauteed swiss chard.  This would make a great option for a brunch if you were looking for something gluten free to serve along side or instead of quiches.  Plus they're portable!!  Which as you know is always a selling point for me.

Ingredients
6 eggs
1 tablespoon of flour of choice (regular or gluten free)
4 spoonfuls of milk (any kind, including coconut)
dash of Cholula (or other hot sauce)
salt and pepper
sauteed swiss chard

Preparation

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Sautee veggies/meats of your choosing until they are aldente'ish.  
  • In a large bowl beat eggs, flour, and milk, hot sauce, salt, and pepper. Mix in other ingredients of your choosing.
  • Spoon egg mixture into cupcake wrappers in regular sized muffin tins.  
  • This recipe should make 6-8 egg muffins depending on the size of the eggs you use.  
  • Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes (mine were done in 35 min)

Let them cool for a few minutes before serving, otherwise it's too hot to get the wrappers off.

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

E's Famous Banana Chip Muffins


A friend of mine just asked if I had a banana muffin recipe I like, so I typed up my famous recipe an sent it her way.  I figured I'd post it here as well, for our records :-)

NOTE: B/S - These are the ones Mom made when she stayed with you a while back.  I think she said you like them and at one point I think B had asked me for the recipe, but I forgot to send it.  

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Combine thoroughly: 
1 and 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup wheat bran
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Stir in: 
2/3 cup dark chocolate chips and/or chopped nuts 

In a separate bowl, whisk together: 
2 cups mashed banana (about 3-4 bananas)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
4 Tablespoons canola oil (or other oil)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Gently fold the flour mixture into the wet ingredients until the dry ingredients are just moistening. You don't want it to be smooth, just barely combined (resist the temptation to stir with vigor!).  Divide batter into muffin tins, I find it usually makes 12 regular size muffins and 12 mini muffins.  

Bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean, about 11 minutes for mini muffins and 15-18 for full size muffins. Let cool for 2-3 minutes in the pan before removing. Let cool on rack.  

*If you're baking them to have leftovers, you might want to add an extra tablespoon of oil so they don't dry out. 

Monday, October 14, 2013

Oatmeal Pumpkin Scones


Oh. My. God. These are amazing!!!! I can't stop eating them... someone take the plate away from me.  Please.

Ingredients
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 Tablespoon canola oil
2 Tablespoons maple syrup
2 Tablespoons milk
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 2/3 cup King Arthur gluten free all purpose flour blend
3 Tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 Tablespoon baking powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cup rolled oats
11 Tablespoon cold, butter (cut into small pieces)

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. 
  • Whisk xanthan gum and canola oil in a small bowl. Whisk in syrup, milk, pumpkin puree, and egg. Set aside
  • Combine dry ingredients, including rolled oats, in a food processor. Pulse until oatmeal is partially broken down (maybe 10-15 pulses). 
  • Cut cold butter into small pieces and gently toss into dry ingredients. 
  • Then cut butter into dry ingredients until it resembles a chunky course meal, with pea sized pieces through out.  
  • Gently fold in wet ingredients until they're just loosely combined, use hands if you have to. 
  • Cover cookie sheet with parchment paper. Form into two large circles and flatten out until approximately 1.5 inches thick.  Slice each circle into 8 wedges and separate pieces slightly.
  • Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until golden brown.
  • Transfer scones to a wire rack, and cool completely before eating.

Buckwheat Pumpkin Pancakes


Yesterday morning I asked J if he wanted potatoes and eggs for breakfast. When the response I got was just a grunt I started suggesting alternatives.  It turns out that pumpkin pancakes got his attention, so I tracked down a few different gluten free recipes.  When none of them really hit the mark for me I cobbled together my own (below) instead.  We were both pleasantly surprised at how good these came out.  They fluffed up nice, which is often a problem with both pumpkin pancakes and gluten free stuff in general.  The flavor was just pumpkiny enough that you could taste it, but not overwhelming. Same with the buckwheat.  All-in-all I think we found ourselves a new fall favorite with these tasty buckwheat pumpkin pancakes.  Joel even enjoyed his with some dark chocolate chips tucked inside.

Ingredients
1 cup buckwheat flour
1/4 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup all purpose gluten free flour blend (I prefer King Arthur)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoon cinnamon
some allspice, ginger, nutmeg (to taste)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup plain yogurt (fat free, low far, or whole are all fine)
1 cup milk (whatever kind you have, I used coconut milk this time)
2/3 cup pumpkin puree
2 large eggs
~2 Tablespoons maple syrup (I just kind of add these last three to taste)
~2 teaspoons vanilla extract
~2-4 Tablespoons melted butter or canola oil (on the higher end if you plan to have leftovers)

Stuff you could add: Dark chocolate chips, dried cranberries, apple slices, pecans....

Directions
  1. Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl.  
  2. In a separate bowl whisk together the wet ingredients.
  3. Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined.  Let sit for five minutes. If they batter looks too thick, fold in a bit more milk (something like the consistency of a thick milkshake, maybe).  
  4. Heat skillet to medium-high and butter the pan.
  5. Pour 1/4 cup size scoops onto a hot, buttered skillet. Let pancakes cook until bubbles start to come through.  Then flip just for 30 seconds and remove from skillet.  
*If you're going to add nuts/cranberries/chocolate chips, I recommend adding them to the pancake directly right before you flip them. 

Saturday, September 7, 2013

Brace yourself! Baked Oatmeal Muffins (the perfect ride grub)

See those tasty little morsels to the left? I'll give you one guess what they are....
Nope, not bran muffins.
It's Marie's baked oatmeal gone portable!!!!  It's ok to admit it, I know I just blew your mind.
It just so happens to turn out that baked oatmeal makes the perfect portable for bike rides (and I'm thinking camping too!!!!!!) Don't even try to contain your excitment. It's just too much to hold in. Go on and dance. You know you want to :-)

For those of you that don't have it already, here's the baked oatmeal recipe.  We usually double it and bake it in a 9x13 pan.  

Ingredients: 
1/2 cup canola (or vegetable) oil
2 eggs (beaten)
1 cup sugar (I usually use 1/2 cup brown sugar or maple syrup instead)
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup quick oats
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk

Directions:
  • Preheat oven to 350 degress
  • Combine oil, eggs, sugar, and vanilla
  • Add oatmeals, baking powder, vanilla, salt, and milk
  • Bake in 8x8 (or 9x9) glass pan for 30-35 minutes (or until the top is nicely browned). Longer if you like lots of crunchies.  

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Flourless Chocolate Ricotta Cheesecake Brownies

Gluten-Free Ricotta Brownies with Cherries 

A few weeks ago I bought I big thing of cherries from the farmer's market, but they weren't quite sweet enough to eat on their own.  I also managed to snag a free thing of homemade ricotta while I was there.  So I started poking around the interwebs for recipes I could make using the two.  I stumbled on this recipe from Edible Seattle for gluten free ricotta brownies with a fun cherry compote on top.  I've already made them twice, so I figure this is likely to become a staple around here.  

The brownies are dense and have a flourless torte-like consistency.  The ricotta layer is not too sweet and makes a nice complement to the chocolate.  They're definitely the best when they're right out of the refrigerator cold.  

Ingredients: 
  • Chocolate Layer: 
    • 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing the pan
    • 4 ounces Ghiradelli's bittersweet chocolate chips (~1/2 cup)
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla
    • 1/4 teaspoon salt
    • 3/4 cup sugar
    • 3 large eggs
    • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • Ricotta Layer: (Optional)
    • 1 large egg
    • 1/4 cup sugar
    • 1 cup part skim ricotta
  • Cherry Compote: (optional)
    • 1 pound cherries, pitted and halved
    • 3 tablespoons maple syrup
    • Some cornstarch
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and center a rack in the middle of the oven. Butter an 8” square pan. Line the entire pan with wax paper, and butter the paper. (Next time I might try spraying the wax paper with canola oil, since it still seems to stick a bit more than I'd like with the butter.)

Make the chocolate layer first by melting the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Remove the pan from the heat, let any bubbles subside, then add the bittersweet chocolate, stirring constantly until completely smooth. Stir in the vanilla and salt, and set aside. Whip the sugar and eggs together in the bowl of a mixture on high until light, about 3 minutes. With the machine on low, add the chocolate and butter mixture in a slow, steady stream, mixing until uniform in color. Sift the cocoa over the batter and fold it in until no dry spots remain. Scoop the batter into the prepared pan and smooth flat with a spatula.

Next, make the ricotta mixture by whisking one egg and 1/4 cup sugar until light. Add the ricotta, and whisk until smooth. Pour the ricotta mixture over the chocolate layer and tip the pan to distribute the filling evenly.

Bake brownies for 35 to 40 minutes, until firm in the center. (They may puff and/or crack, but will settle again when cooling.) While the brownies are baking, make the cherry compote by cooking down the pitted cherries and maple syrup over medium heat until it gets good and mushy, then add some corn starch to thicken things up a bit.  I have no idea how much I added, maybe 1 tablespoon.

Cool completely in the pan, at least 1 hour (we found they were easier to cut and best tasting after refrigerating overnight). To cut, loosen the edges of the brownies with a spatula. Then use the wax paper to pull the cold brownies out of the pan. Place brownies on a cutting board, leaving wax paper on. Slice into 16 squares, and remove paper.


Saturday, June 15, 2013

Second Try Cookies: a cashew oatmeal chip masterpiece

Ingredients:
1/2 cup cashew butter
2 T butter, softened
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 egg
some vanilla
some cinnamon
3/4 t baking soda
1 T flaxseed meal
2 T almond meal
1/3 cup oat flour (just toss some rolled oats in the cuisinart until it looks like flour)
3/4 cup quick oats
3/4 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup dark chocolate chips (optional, but highly recommended)
1/4 chopped cashews (optional)

Instructions: 

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees 
  • Combine wet ingredients in a bowl until smooth
  • Sprinkle some cinnamon on top of wet ingredients, then sprinkle the baking soda on tops, followed by the flaxseed and almond meal. Stir to combine.
  • Stir in oat flour and quick oats. Stir in the rolled oats last.  
  • Add chocolate chips and/or cashews if you want. (I tend to scoop a few plain, then add stuff in to the rest of the batter.)
  • Scoop generous tablespoon size balls onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Keep cookies about two inches apart. Squish down and form into pretty looking cookie shapes. 
  • Bake for 10-12 minutes, until edges start to brown
  • Best consumed with coffee or before/during/after long bike rides :-)


Monday, May 27, 2013

Lemon Cornmeal Pancakes

Ingredients:
- 1 cup Bob's Redmill Cornbread Mix
- 1 egg
- 1 1/2 T sugar
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/3 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
- butter for skillet

Directions:
Mix together all the ingredients in a bowl.  Add a little more water if needed to get a pancake consistency.  Pancake temperature, pancake time.  Serve with homemade lemon curd and blueberries.

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Lemon Ricotta Buckwheat Pancakes

Sometimes you just need a pancake.  These tasty little buggers completely hit the spot.  The ricotta gave them a nice fluffy texture, that combined nicely with the hearty flavor of the buckwheat.  I liked that this used a combination of flours, since sometimes the straight buckwheat can be a little too much.  The slight taste of nutmeg and lemon was just enough flavor without being overpowering.  In my opinion, these were the best pancakes I've had in ages.  Joel liked them too, but didn't swoon over them with quite the same intensity as me ;-)

Dry Ingredients
1/2 cup flour (or a gluten free all-purpose flour mix)
1/4 cup buckwheat flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
freshly grated nutmeg (to taste)
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar

Wet Ingredients
1 cup ricotta (I used part-skim)
2 eggs
2/3 cup milk (I used 2%)
1 lemon zested and juiced (or 3 tablespoons ReaLemon)

Top with...
1 cup fresh blueberries
Maple Syrup
Butter

Directions
Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. In a separate bowl combine wet ingredients. Mix wet and dry ingredients together. Let sit for about 10 minutes. Cook at pancake temperature, for pancake time on stovetop or griddle.  Cover with blueberries, syrup, and butter. Eat. Savor. Eat some more.


Monday, April 8, 2013

Ginger Ricotta Cookies (w/corn meal)

Last week, while laying on the beach, we had a long discussion about family favorites. Lemon ricotta cookies came up. And I've been dreaming of them ever since.  After pining over them for a few days, I decided to try my hand at making a gluten free version. What I ended up with were some VERY delicious ginger ricotta cookies, with nearly the same texture as their lemony counterparts and no gluten!  Here's the recipe if you want to try them out... (You could definitely do this with just regular flour instead of gluten free, since I based it off the recipe I got from mom. In fact, all I really did was half the recipe, since I didn't have an entire pound of ricotta, and  change up the flour types and amount of sugar.)



Ingredients:
1/2 stick margarine, softened
1/2 stick butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cup King Arthur gluten free all purpose flour
1/2 cup fine grind cornmeal
1.5 heaping teaspoons baking powder
dash salt
3/4 cup ricotta
1 heaping tablespoon ginger preserves (probably closer to 2T in reality, maybe even more)

Directions:

  • Cream butter, margarine, and sugar. 
  • In a separate bowl combine flour, cornmeal, and baking powder. 
  • Add dry mixture to creamed sugar/butter mixture. 
  • In a third bowl (I'm messy, what can I say) combine ricotta with the ginger preserve (to ensure it gets mixed throughout the cookies). 
  • Add ricotta mixture to the other ingredients and mix well. 
  • Refrigerate for 2 hours (or overnight).  (I didn't do this and they were fine, but if you don't like the "gritty" texture of cornmeal I'd recommend you refrigerate the dough for a couple hours.  That's really the only way to rehydrate and soften the cornmeal.  
  • Using a tablespoon, scoop out enough dough to make a small meatball. Roll it between your hands and place on an ungreased (or parchment lined) cookie sheet. 
  • Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes (until the tops start to get little brown specks). Be sure to rotate the pans if you have two in the oven at the same time. 
  • If you like icing on top, I would recommend combining confectionary sugar  with orange juice to make a thin icing. 
  • Consume heavily (but maybe not as many as I ate... just sayin'). 


Sunday, March 31, 2013

DIY Hydration

Over the weekend I finally sat down and finished up this little project from last year: the DIY Hydration calculator. Here's the deal and then the back story...

The deal: The calculator gives you recipes for a homemade electrolyte drink (a la Gatorade or Pedialyte) based on any starting juice (grape, orange, etc.). Making a drink with a balance of electrolytes and calories is as simple as mixing juice, water, sugar, and salt, but you have to figure out the right ratios, which depend on the juice you start with. This calculator computes the recipe for you for any juice (or beverage for that matter) that you want to start with as a base. Enter the nutrition info for the base juice and your 2 quart recipe is calculated.

The back story: Sports drinks have seemingly endless packaging, marketing, and wild lists of ingredients for a drink that's so simple. A little googling revealed some great recipes for homemade versions:

BRT's Insights blog
Kitchen Table Medicine
Instructables
Chicago Tribune

After playing around, BRT's recipes were the most consistently good. But to try a new flavor or use whichever juice is on sale, the ratios of ingredients have to be calculated each time. Now we have the DIY Hydration calculator to do the work for us! The calculations are based on the recipes cited above, particularly BRT's.

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Ricotta Lime Pistachio Tart

As you may recall, a few summers ago I was a bit obsessed with lemon curd. I spent the summer making tarts and then basically forgot about it... until now.  Joel and I went to a party a couple of weeks ago and I wanted to bring something, and being the resourceful gal that I am I took stock of the pantry and googled the ingredients. What turned up was a "Pistachio-crusted Lime Ricotta Tart with Lime Curd", which of course I immediately knew would be a future favorite. And being me, I also immediately changed the recipe.  I made a gluten free crust I've been wanting to try, and I substituted in lime using the old lemon curd recipe I new I already liked. I did follow the little directions about the ricotta, sort of.

Of course changing the recipe meant that I didn't end up having all the things I needed, which meant sending Joel to the store the next morning to get the missing items, which meant scrambling at the last minute after work to put it all together before rushing over to the party. Thankfully, it was freezing outside, which meant the tart had plenty of time to cool on the walk over.

So, here's the bits and pieces in the order I prepped them. I made crust first and let it cool while I prepped the curt and ricotta filling. Then I layered 'em up and let the whole thing cool together on the walk over and then in the fridge for about an hour when we got there.  I'm thinking next time I'll skip the 30 degree walk and just go with the fridge straight up ;-)


Almond/Oatmeal Pie/Tart Crust
Many thanks to The Suburban Girl Gone Country for introducing me to this amazing gluten-free pie crust. It tastes a bit like shortbread, but is hands down the easiest and best pie crust substitute I've found to date.


Ingredients:
* 1 cup of oat flour (I just ground old fashioned rolled oats in cuisinart)
* 1 cup of almond meal
* 4 tbsp butter (softened or melted)
* 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
* 1/8 tsp salt

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350. (The Suburban Girl recommends lining a pie plate with parchment paper, but I used a springform pan and found I didn't need it for that kind of pan.)
  • Mix the butter, maple syrup, and salt  in a large bowl with a fork.  Add 1/4 of the oat flour and stir and mash, continue to add a bit at a time while stirring and mashing (this will help the butter even out easily).
  • Next add the almond meal and stir and mash. Use your hands to insure that butter is worked evenly.
  • Press the dough into springform pan (or prepared pie dish). 
  • Bake at 350 for 10 minutes if you are going to bake a pie or 15 minutes if you are going to fill the crust with a no-bake filling.




Ingredients: Lime Curd

* 3 large eggs
* 3/4 cup granulated sugar
* 1/3 cup fresh squeezed lime juice (2-3 lemons) (do not use the bottled lemon juice)
* 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (room temperature is best)
* 1 tablespoon lime zest

Bring water to boil in a saucepan. While waiting for water to boil, whisk together eggs, sugar, and lime juice in a stainless steel bowl until blended. Place stainless steel bowl with egg mixture over saucepan and cook, stirring constantly (to prevent it from curdling), for approximately 8-10 minutes, until the mixture becomes thick (like sour cream or a hollandaise sauce). Remove from heat and immediately pour through a fine strainer to remove any lumps. Cut the butter into small pieces and whisk into the mixture until the butter has melted. Add the lime zest and cover immediately (to prevent a skim from forming). Let cool in refrigerator. The curd will continue to thicken as it cools. Refrigerate for up to a week.


Ricotta Filling

Ingredients:
* 1 small contains of ricotta cheese (475 grams)
* 1/3 cup icing sugar
* juice and zest of 1 lime

Prep: In a large bowl, use a wooden spoon to combine ingredients.




Saturday, February 9, 2013

Cinnamon Buttermilk Pancakes w/Apples (gluten-free)

This morning I woke up craving pancakes. The only pancakes I've made since going GF were hoecakes, which are naturally gluten-free. But I figured it was about time to venture into proper pancake territory. Since I only had buttermilk and one egg, it took a little creativity and recipe searching online, but we ended up with some pretty spectacular cinnamon buttermilk pancakes with thinly sliced apples baked in.  This is the trick I've discovered with gluten-free baking.  Plain baked stuff (in this case, just a simple buttermilk pancake) tastes pretty blah.  But if you add cinnamon to it, Kapow! you've upped the tasty factor a hundred fold.

I think I'm finally starting to get into the hang of things with this gluten-free baking business!!

Sidenote: What really made this morning's breakfast, however, was Joel singing about pancakes to the tune of Don't Cry for me Argentina.

"Don't cry me little apples
the truth is I'll always eat you
in gluten pancakes
in gluten free pancakes
there both just pancakes
and taste like pancakes...."

Oh yeah, it was good stuff.


Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups gluten-free flour blend (I'm partial to King Arthur's blend)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons canola (or vegetable) oil
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large apple, thinly sliced

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Combine wet ingredients in a separate bowl (they fit pretty well in a 2 cup glass measuring cup thingy).  Combine wet and dry ingredients. Heat and butter skillet. Scoop batter onto skillet using a 1/4 cup measuring cup. Place 3-4 apple slices on each pancake.  When bubbles start to come through to the top, flip pancake. Eat. Savor. Repeat.

Makes 12, medium size pancakes

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Happy National Pie Day!!! (gluten-free pie crust)

In celebration of National Pie Day, los Coronas had an all pie dinner. First up, gluten free pot pie!  I have to say, I was not at all expecting to find a gluten free pie crust recipe worthy of Doug's pot pie recipe. But much to my surprise, this recipe from King Arthur flour (minus the gel) far surpassed my expectations!  Put that together with a version of Doug's Pot Pie filling and dinner was a hit!!!  Next time I think I'd like to try an all veggie version of this. Oh, and Joel finished it off with some cherry pie for dessert. Pies for everyone!!!
Pot Pie Filling
2 cups pulled rotisserie chicken (because I'm too lazy to cook a turkey)
1 tablespoon King Arthur gluten free flour mix
1 cup petite peas
1 cup chopped onions
1 cup celery chopped
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 teapoon thyme
1 cup chicken stock
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Toss pulled chicken with flour.
Saute celery and onions in some olive oil. Add salt, pepper, and thyme. Add mushrooms. Saute until browned. Add peas, continue to saute. Add chicken broth.
Pour into 8x8 glass pan. Cover with pie crust. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Hoecakes (cornmeal pancakes) gluten-free

Alternatively see Lemon Cornmeal Pancakes for what I think is a better option, but requires corn muffin mix.

=====================
ORIGINAL POST BELOW
=====================

It's been six days now since I last had gluten and in all honesty I haven't really missed it much (except when I had to freeze mom's homemade raviolis to eat at a later time).  I also haven't really felt better, so I'm not really sold it's the gluten that's the problem.  Anyhow, I've been trying to find naturally gluten free recipes to use, rather than jumping straight into too much of the rice flour and xanthan gum stuff.

So, this morning for breakfast I tossed together these tasty cornmeal pancakes from
http://glutenfreeonashoestring.com/cornmeal-pancakes/

Essentially they're a more pancakey version of a hoecake.  I think next time I would make a few minor modifications, like using lemon juice instead of white wine vinegar (which you could taste a hint of).  But even as is they were delish, especially with blueberries and covered in maple syrup!


Gluten-free cornmeal pancakes

Ingredients
1 cup + 2 tablespoons gluten-free coarsely ground yellow cornmeal
3 tablespoons high-quality all-purpose gluten-free flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 extra-large egg at room temperature, beaten
2 tablespoons honey
1 cup milk (anything but nonfat), at room temperature
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar (or lemon juice)
Blueberries or chocolate chips (optional)

Instructions
In a large bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, combine the melted butter, honey, egg, milk and vinegar (or lemon juice), and mix until combined. The batter should be smooth and relatively thin.

Ladle the pancake batter on the hot skillet surface, and allow to sit until bubbles begin to appear and the surface appears dry (1 to 2 minutes). Flip and continue cooking for another minute, or until the underside is lightly browned.


* If your all-purpose gluten-free flour already contains xanthan gum, it’s fine. If it does not, there is no need to add any for this recipe.


Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Gluten-Free Ginger Bread (no really, it's bread)

In an attempt to stop making my stomach angry, I thought I might try baking some gluten free bread to kick the year off.  Joel's been bugging me to make gingerbread (cakelike, not cookie style), so I found this almond flour based recipe online and tweaked it a bit.  It ended up more like a gingery bread, than gingerbread cake.  But it was tasty as toast this morning with some honey on top.  Perhaps if I had followed the recipe straight it would have been sweeter, but I wanted the molasses taste.  Maybe next time I'll try it with some honey butter on top or add some dark chocolate chips.


Spiced Ginger Bread (makes 2 mini loafs or 1 regular loaf)

2 1/2 cups almond flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp ground allspice
4 tsp ground ginger
3 eggs
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup molasses
1/2 cup melted butter (or oil of choice, I used 6 T butter and 2 T canola oil)

Preheat oven to 350F. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Combine wet ingredients in a seperate bowl. Using a whisk or spatula mix wet and dry ingredients until combined. Pour into greased pan(s). Bake about 45 minutes for a regular loaf pan, shorter if using mini ones.  I put aluminum foil on top after about 30 minutes. Remove from oven when a knife inserted comes out dry. Allow to cool a bit before.