Sugar Cookies

So tonight I got brave and made sugar cookies. Now I have tried 15 billion sugar cookie recipes and only one has come out. Give me a recipe I can roll out and play with. Now this recipe isn't perfect no, and you can't do a major roll out, but it works. You need to take it one handful of dough at a time, roll out enough for about two cookies. But it works. I made up two batches.

Gluten Free Sugar Cookies
by Baking Beauties adapted by Marcie Dingerson

2/3 cups shortening
3/4 cups sugar
4 ounces pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon milk
1 cup brown rice flour
1 cup tapioca flour
1 teaspoon unflavoured gelatin
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon guar gum

**Note, I made these well I was making dinner and put the dough in the fridge until after dinner, it worked well. Also 7-8 minutes of baking time was not enough, maybe because my cookies were bigger, they took more like 10-12 minutes. I didn't use parchment paper, I had rice flour down and I worked in small batches, it worked great, for rolling out.

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees

2. In a large bowl, beat shortening, and sugar until creamy. Add in pumpkin, vanilla, and milk. Mix until combined.

3. Add in dry ingredients and stir until combined.

4. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2-3 hours.

5. Roll out dough and cut out shapes.

6. Bake in preheated oven for 7-8 minutes or until edges are brown. Cool on a wire rack.

Raw Chocolate Chip Cookies

So since I made raw chocolate I thought I would go ahead and make the raw chocolate cookies, since the boys were drooling over the page. These were very easy I think 10 minutes tops and they were in the dehydrator. I can't wait for the boys to try them. Ethan cleaned the bowl for me and said they were the best cookie I ever made?

raw chocolate chip cookies
by Matthew Kenney his book here

2 1/2 cups fine cashew flour (I used almond flour)
1 3/4 cups oat flour (I used bob's red mill)
1/2 cup raw cocao powder
1/4 cup water
3/4 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup raw chocolate chips (I skipped this)

Mix all ingredients except chocolate chips in a medium sized bowl by hand. Stir in 1 cup chocolate chips. Form into 3-inch cookies and press a few extra chocolate chips into the top of each cookie. Dehydrate on screens overnight at 118 degrees. Yield 22-24.

Raw Chocolate

So I made this recipe awhile back and I had a 3 year old eat every bite of it. He would NOT share one bite. I have to say I have been loving this book by Matthew Kenney I have to get my hands on the rest of his books they are amazing. But this recipe came from everyday raw.

Now I do not have a vitamix, although I dream nightly about having a vitamix. I was able to mix this by hand.

Well this is why you need a vitamix.

This is after lots of mixing.

Now I roll into a ball and squish to make flat disks. If you want to go to the trouble of making chocolate chips, well more power to you. I like to crumble it up through for cookies.

Raw Chocolate Chips
By Mattew Kenney

1 3/4 cups cashews soaked for 1-2 hours (honestly I use sun butter)
1 cup maple syrup
1 cup raw cacao powder
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt.

Place all ingredients in a Vita-Mix until smooth. Place in piping bag and pipe chocolate chips onto Teflex sheet. Dehydrate overnight at 118 degrees. Keep in the refrigerator in a sealed container until ready to use. (did I mention I have three kids? These don't make it to the fridge)

Apple Cobbler Cupcake

So December's Cupcake of the month is Apple Cobbler Cupcake. I got the recipe from here and I changed nearly all the ingredients. They turned out good, good enough to be eaten before I got to frost them. So no frosting this month.

Apple Cobbler Cupcakes

About 12 Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups gf flour mix
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon guar gum
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup canola oil
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
8 ounces of pumpkin puree
1/2 cup mayo (or yogurt)
1/4 teaspoon lemon extract
1 diced apple

1. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, guar gum, and ginger. Set Aside.
2. Beat in oil and sugars in a large bowl until light and fluffly.
3. Beat in pumpkin, mayo, and lemon until blended.
4. Mix in flour mixture.
5. Fold in apples.
6. Divide evenly among 12 cupcakes.
7. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

Everyone loved the cupcakes here. I need to tweak the recipe a wee bit. It's still not 100% but that will come with time.

The Happiest Kid

Is this not the happiest child in the world at this moment? Santa came to preschool tonight to say hi to the kids. All the kids got to hop on his lap to say hi and to tell him what they wanted for Christmas.

What a smile.

Do You Prep?

Are you a prep-per?

So a few months ago, I was thinking, well wondering if there could be a better way at making dinner and baking. And thought about how easy it is to line up your ingredients, and then just be able to dump and dump and dump. Trying to cook dinner with three kids running around is HARD. I am always called away for this or that, and it puts me behind on dinner. Now I prep, and then I start cooking. It seems to be going a lot faster, which is good news here. Because you don't want hungry kids. They turn on your, and not in a good way.

I got these prep bowls and I went to town.

So take tonight's dinner. This is called Beef Bop. Got this recipe from a friend. We make this at least once a week here, if not more. I use 1 pound of organic hamburger, I get that started on low heat. I get about 2 cups of rice going as well and set that aside. Then I start prepping.

You get a three year old actually to do the prepping, but since I can't let him use a knife yet, I have to help him prep. But he can ground a mean ginger.

You can add almost anything to this dish and make it work. Tonight we used garlic, fresh ginger, leeks, green peppers.

Once the ground beef is brown, turn off the heat and start the wok. Let the oil warm up, add in garlic, ginger, leeks, and green peppers. After a few minutes, you add in the ground beef, and fish sauce, salt and a sprinkle of sugar. Let it cook down.

Serve over rice.

This is a type of recipe you don't need measurements. Honestly just dump what you want in it. You can do any sorts of veggies. I just had green peppers and leeks tonight. I love fresh ginger in a recipe. Depending on kids I can usually have this on the table in about 30 minutes.

Gluten Free Girl

If you ever get a chance to meet or hear Shauna talk, then GO. It was great meeting here, it was great hearing her talk, and wish it lasted longer.

A photo of me and Shauna.

Ethan snuck in and wanted a photo.

Check out her blog here.

Gluten Free Mobile Two

Well sadly Gluten Free Mobile retired about 3 weeks ago. It was very sad and very sudden, but not totally unexpected. So here enters Gluten Free Mobile Two. I can't tell you how many times I have lost this van all ready. It was time to decorate it.

Here is the back of the van, very settle. I have more to add so give me time. I have just started.

Isn't this pretty? I'm so in love with my circut. It's amazing how much joy that machine has brought me.

Here is a close up. I have this on both sides.

More to come....

November Cupcake Of The Month

I FOUGHT THE CUPCAKE AND THE CUPCAKE WON!

Well I came to tell you, I totally bombed cupcake of the month, this month. I have attempted this recipe three different times. Three totally different recipes, for the same cupcake, and all three failed. So I am setting this idea aside and will try it again down the road.

Ok I should mention how much I LOVE both of my mixers. One to mix the crust and one to mix the batter.

These were suppose to be pumpkin pie cupcakes.In the midst of this I have found a pie crust recipe that I utterly love. If you don't have this book, you really need this book. I am using Cybel's Pumpkin Pie Crust. It is beyond dreamy.

So I rolled out twelve mini crusts and put them into a cupcake tin. I filled with batter.

And baked, and baked, and baked, and baked, and brunt. And they still didn't turn out.

And because I have been working so hard on this idea, I have not gotten to the potm, (pie of the month). So hoping tomorrow with my awesome new crust to make a cranberry apple pie....Stay tuned.

OMG To Die For Fries

Kind of an oops tonight in making dinner and I honestly thought I had died and gone to heaven. So I got a new Jamie Oliver cookbook and he had a recipe in there, where you cut up potatoes really finely and fry them up. I was suppose to add like lemon peel or something but I didn't have it so skipped it, and really looking at things I did not cut up the potatoes so finely.

But any who. I cut them up as finely as I would say McDonald's fries. As I cut I put them into a bowl of ice cold water well the oil was warming up. I cooked these in my cast iron dutch oven. Man I love that pan, how did I ever live without it?

So once the temp hit 350 I started frying, I took a handful of potatoes out of the ice water and dried them the best I could and put them in the oil. It was Canola Oil tonight. I let them fry until they were golden brown. The first batch took forever, but every batch after that took 8-10 minutes.

I have never been able to make fries like this. Honestly they tasted like McDonald's french fries. Do you know how long it has been since I have had McDonald's fries?

Enjoy....

Apple and Sasuage Stuffing

So the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, I realized there is really nothing at the dinner table that my hubby could eat. He had just given up potatoes, on top of being gluten, dairy, soy free. So me starting to freak out, he said a good stuffing would work.

So I went on the hunt for a good stuffing. And found one in the Joy of Cooking Cookbook.

It came out Amazing. It smelled awesome, and hubby loved it.

1 pound sausage
4 cups apples peeled and diced

I browned the sausage, once browned I mixed in the apples and let it sit on low and soak.

4 to 8 tablespoons Earth Balance Butter
2 cups chopped onions
1 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup parsley
1 teaspoon thyme
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/3 to 1 cup chicken stock
1 pound or about 10 cups of gf bread crumbs

In a pan melt the butter, add in onions, celery. Once cooked and tender add in the rest of the ingredients, except chicken stock, and bread crumbs. Let cook up for a few minutes. Once done, in a big bowl combine sausage, apples, cooked up stuffing mixture and bread crumbs. Add in chicken stock until happy, mix well. I did use 1 cup. Once fully mixed put into a baking pan and bake at 350 for 25-40 minutes.

This will now be something I do at every big get together meal. It was amazing.

Canned Chocolate Syrup

Well Blogger won't let me up load photos tonight, I even restarted the computer. So for now you get a recipe and I will try to update tomorrow. Now please keep in mind this is NOT a USDA approved canning recipe.

It was so pretty when making it, and it was something quick to make, it just didn't make a whole lot. I want to say 3 half pints per recipe? I did the recipe three times. I would have kept going but ran out of cocoa. I think it would be a great Christmas gift to give.

Chocolate Syrup

1 cup cocoa
2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
1 tablespoon vanilla

Combine cocoa, sugar: blend until all lumps are gone. Add water and salt. Mix well. Cook over medium heat, bringing to a boil. Keep boiling until thick, stirring to keep from overflowing. Remove from heat. Let cool. Add vanilla. This can be waterbath canned for 10 minutes.

When Life Throws You Snow...You Make Snow People

So we got hit with some snow yesterday, and more overnight and even more today. Roughly 3 inches or so. So we kept the kids home. They went out front and built snow people. Mom sewed up some scarfs from scraps, but only had pink. Explain to mom why she has pink fabric and three boys? Any who here are photos from two of the three boys out playing and building.

Caramel Apple Butter Canning Recipe

Yes, you can have Caramel Apple Butter and have it dairy free. HOW? You say Marcie? Well it ain't easy I will tell ya that. First you need to make your own Caramel. I found a recipe to try, I will post below. I am not to happy with it. For canning apple butter it was fine, but to have it stand up as a candy it really would not work well. My hunt will continue!

Anywho, I made the caramel a few days before I was to make apple butter and just kept it in the fridge. So when I was ready I just pulled it out and dumped it into the crockpot. I used This Crockpot Apple Butter Recipe although I used 6 pounds of apples and 2 cups of sugar. I'm not a big fan of sugar around here.

After letting the apple butter sit in the crockpot for awhile, I added the caramel and just left it on low for a few hours. Until it looked way too good to be possible, I then jarred it up and canned it up. I did 10 minutes bwb. Enjoy.

Caramel

1 Cup Coconut Milk
1 Tablespoon Vanilla
5 Tablespoons Earth Balance Butter
2 Teaspoons Sea Salt
1 1/2 Cup Sugar
1/4 Cup Honey
1/4 Cup Water

Line bottom and sides of an 8 inch square baking pan with parchment paper, then brush parchment lightly with oil.

In a small saucepan, combine coconut milk, butter, and sea salt. Bring the mixture to a boil stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and set aside.

In a large, heavy sauce pan set over medium to medium-high heat, combine sugar, honey, vanilla, and water. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring. Once the sugar is dissolved, cook the mixture until the temperature reaches 248 degrees F, gently swirling the saucepan (do not stir). Carefully stir in the coconut milk mixture. It will bubble up, so take care not to burn yourself. Continue to simmer, swirling the mixture frequently, for 15-20 minutes, or until the mixture thickens and turns golden brown. While simmering, do not allow the temperature go higher then 250 degrees F.

To determine if the caramel with your fingers to determine if the consistency you like, drop a small amount of caramel into a bowl of cold water. Test the ball of caramel with your fingers to determine if the consistency is right.

Pour the cooked caramel into into the prepared pan. Let the caramel cool for 2 hours. Let cool for about 2 hours and cut and wrap each square. ( I did not cut and wrap, knowing I would just dump into the crock pot)

POTM: Blackberry And Apple Pie

So POTM stands for Pie Of The Month...Yes, I will be attempting a cupcake and a pie every month. Oh wish me luck. The choice was easy this month. Hubby and I watched Jamie Oliver last night and hubby was drooling over this pie. It's funny how watching the cooking channel, makes you want to get into the kitchen and work. But it was 10pm last night and pie was not happening last night. But we got up and cleaned the kitchen.

So after dinner tonight I got started on the pie. I used Cybele's Pie Crust this time around. It is in her book so I won't post the recipe here. I have to say I wasn't too thrilled with it. Great pastry. Can't complain, I think the issue was our kitchen was really warm. So I will try her crust again down the road. I have another crust in mind for next months pie.

This is the filling, doesn't it look nummy?

Look I covered the pie in one piece!

This is what happens when hubby thinks he can bake? It's covered in coconut oil, sugar and cinnamon.

One baked Blackberry and Apple Pie. Are you drooling yet?

Blackberry and Apple Pie

From Jamie Oliver

1/4 cup butter (coconut oil)

1/3 cup sugar

6 apples, peeled and sliced

1 heaping tablespoon chopped ginger

5 ounces blackberries

Put the butter and sugar into a saucepan and, when the butter has melted, add the apples, ginger and a tablespoon of the ginger syrup (OK cheated here, I for the life of me can not find ginger without corn syrup. I bought ginger and sliced it up myself and when I saw syrup I just put in a spoonful of coconut oil). Slowly cook for 15 minutes with a lid on, then add the blackberries, stir and cook for 5 more minutes with the lid off.

Well this was cooking I got the crust all ready. I then dumped the mixture into the pie crust and topped with second pie crust. Make sure you have holes, or sliced in your top crust to let steam out. Hubby topped with coconut oil, sugar and cinnamon. When I bake my pies, I bake them either on a cookie sheet or a cookie sheet next shelf down to catch drops.

Bake at 350 degrees for 55-60 minutes. Enjoy!

Joke For You

What do you get when you cross this?

And This?

You get this....

And my kids ate them! And they came back for more! Joke is on them...Well it's in them!

Beany Tomato Cupcakes

1/8 cup coconut oil
1 cup sugar
1 flax egg set aside
1-15 oz can pinto beans
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cup gf flour mix
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup diced tomatoes

1. Cream coconut oil and sugar.
2. Add flax egg and mix well.
3. Mix in mashed beans and vanilla
4. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and cinnamon.
5. Add dry mixture to wet mixture. Do not over mix.
6. Stir in diced tomatoes.
7. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full.
8. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.

Recipe thanks to Cupcake Project love that site! Subs are mine through.

Gluten Free Mama Is In Town!

We were just at GF Joe's getting our books signed. Ethan LOVED the bread. So now I have to make it and serve it with our butter he says. If you have not gotten your hands on her new cookbook, then you should. It's a great book. Check it out here

Well off to the kitchen I go.....

Cupcake of the Month

I'm starting something new on my blog, and in life. I'm forcing myself to get into the kitchen and find my love of baking again. Before Ethan got so sick, I use to love to bake. And the the Celiac and allergies hit and you have to throw everything you know about baking out the window and start all over again. Well it has been three years. And I bake here and there, not as much as I use to.

But starting today that is changing. I have googled and found some very nice looking recipes, the issue is these are filled with yucky stuff. So I will be converting them. Some will be winners, and some will flop I'm sure.

I want to show those on this "diet" and in life not to be afraid of food. It's just food. I want to explore, pumpkin, cranberry's, cocoa. I want to explore new to me flours. I want to get into my kitchen and have fun again.

My Grandmother use to be a baker, and oh boy how I use to love to bake a cake and decorate it. I could do a mean fondant. I could butter cream like no ones business. But since Ethan I have only decorated one or two cakes since. That will be changing also. So look forward to those creations.

So starting tonight I did just that. I found a recipe for Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes. Well after changing nearly every ingredient I think what I have is a pretty good cupcake. The big problem here is I don't eat my baking. I have never liked cake, cupcakes, bread, tons of sugar, for-get-about-it.

So I have to rely on my kids and husband to let me know how they taste. These got a thumbs up.

First up, have your music up loud, this really helps. Make sure you sing loudly and dance around the kitchen. Have fun well you are baking.


The first Mixing.
Added the flour...Looks so good.

Fresh out of the oven. Hey, I heard that, Squares? Where do you get squares? Um, Target. I LOVE them.

Waiting for them to cool.

Frosted and they have cocoa powdered sugar on it. This is where you need to explore, just a scoop of powdered sugar, I add in a few small spoonfuls of cocoa and mix up. No measuring. Often I don't measure. I am a dump and pour kind of baker.

Looks good enough to eat, doesn't it?

Heavenly Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups flour mix (below)

1 teaspoon cinnamon (Instead of using these four, I used 2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice)

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup pumpkin puree

1 flax egg (pre-mix and set aside)

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 cup orange juice

1/2 cup melted enjoy life chips

Please read all the instructions first.

1. Whisk together flour, spices, baking soda, and salt. Very important to do this step first.

2. In the mixer combine the sugar, pumpkin, and flax egg. Beat until smooth.

3. Mix in the oil, orange juice, and melted chocolate.

4. Add in the flour mix, and you move fast before the chocolate hardens.

5. Once mixed, pour into a cupcake pan and fill about 3/4 full.

6. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Pumpkin Pie Spice Frosting

1/2 cup melted coconut oil

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar (Trader Joe's carries a corn free version)

4 teaspoon vanilla paste (I used 2t regular vanilla, I didn't have paste on hand)

2 teaspoon rice milk

I used 2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice mix or you can use

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1. Beat coconut oil, and sugar until light and fluffy.

2. Mix in vanilla, and milk.

3. Mix in spices.

I have a new flour mix (I know, I know!)

I usually use Cybele's

4 Cups Brown Rice Flour

1 1/3 Cups Potato Starch

2/3 Cups Tapioca Starch

I am now doing;

3 1/2 cups Brown Rice Flour

1 1/3 Cups Potato Starch

2/3 Cups Tapioca Starch

1/2 Cups Sweet Rice Flour

Enjoy...