Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Gluten Free Biscotti

A perfect treat to dip in milk, hot chocolate, or just eat plain!

Ingredients:
1/8 cup oil
3/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 egg
1 cup GF flour blend (see below)
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup slivered almonds
chocolate for dipping (opt)

Directions:
  1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
  2. In a large bowl, mix together oil and sugar until well blended. Mix in the vanilla and almond extract, then beat in the egg. Combine flour, salt, baking powder, and xanthan gum; gradually stir into egg mixture. Mix in chocolate chips and almonds by hand.
  3. Form a 12x2 inch log on a cookie sheet that has been lined with parchment paper. Dough may be sticky; wet hands with cool water to handle dough more easily.
  4. Bake for 35 minutes in the preheated oven, or until logs are light brown. Remove from oven and set aside to cool for 10 minutes. Reduce oven heat to 275 degrees F.
  5. Carefully cut log on diagonal into 3/4 inch thick slices. Lay on sides on parchment covered cookie sheet. Bake approximately 8-10 minutes. Flip slices and bake additional 8-10 minutes, or until dry; cool.
  6. Once cooled, melt dipping chocolate and pour on a plate. Dip bottoms only of biscotti in melted chocolate. Place on a cookie sheet and allow chocolate to set.

GF Flour Blend

Mix 2 cups rice flour, 2/3 cup potato starch, and 1/3 cup tapioca flour. Store extra mix in an airtight container.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Gluten Free Blonde Brownie Chocolate Chip Surprise

This recipe came from a friend, who found it and made her own modifications. I adapted it slightly so I could use my favorite GF flour blend. It's very yummy, and pretty easy.

Cream together:
1/2 cup melted butter or margarine
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups brown sugar

Add:
1 1/2 cups GF flour blend (see recipe below)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp xanthan gum
3/4 cup coconut (opt)
3/4 cup nuts (opt)

Mix well and spread in greased 9 x 13 baking dish. Sprinkle with 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (or mini chocolate chips). Next time I will try using butterscotch chips instead (some butterscotch chips have gluten, so check the label).
Bake for 25 minutes in 350 oven. Cool and cut into squares (can be frozen).

GF Flour Blend:
2 cups rice flour
2/3 cup potato starch
1/3 cup tapioca flour

GF Fruit Cocktail and Dumplings

If you're NOT cooking Gluten Free, just substitute regular flour for the GF flour blend. These are wonderful either way.

Ingredients:
1 can fruit cocktail (add sugar, butter, and lemon juice to taste)
1/2 cup GF flour blend (see recipe below)
2 TBSP sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp oil
Sugar
Cinnamon

Directions:
Pour fruit cocktail, undrained, into saucepan. Add sugar, butter, and lemon juice to taste. Place pan on stove bring to a boil. While warming the fruit, mix dry ingredients in a bowl. Add milk and oil. Drop into pan of boiling fruit cocktail. Sprinkle with additional sugar and cinnamon. cover lightly with lid, reduce heat to low, and simmer gently until done. Dumplings may seem wet on top, but when touched, you'll be able to tell that they are done all the way through.

GF flour blend:
2 cups rice flour
2/3 cup potato starch
1/3 cup tapioca flour

Monday, May 4, 2009

Gluten Free Flour Blend

I use this a TON. All my recipes that call for this also have this recipe at the bottom, but here it is on it's own. I make up a huge batch of this and store it in my cupboard, because it saves a lot of time when I'm making things if I don't have to do it every time I cook. I use this recipe as a substitute for other flour blends in recipes I find. Just be sure to add xanthan gum if necessary. I have a couple other flour blends posted, but I don't use them anymore. I love this one!

To make 3 cups:
2 cups rice flour
2/3 cup potato starch
1/3 cup tapioca flour

Mix together and store in airtight container in a cool place.

To make 18 cups:
12 cups rice flour
4 cups potato starch
2 cups tapioca flour

XANTHAN GUM:
Don't forget to add xanthan gum when using this flour as a substitute in other recipes. Here are some basic guidelines for amounts to add. They're really just suggestions, so experiment with them, and add more or less as necessary.

Xanthan Gum per cup of flour:
cookies: 1/4 tsp
cakes: 1/2 tsp
muffins and quick breads: 3/4 tsp
bread: 1 to 1 1/2 tsp
pizza: 2 tsp

These are per Bob's Red Mill's suggestions. Personally, I have found my recipes often need MORE zanthan gum than suggested above.

Gluten Free Crescent Rolls

What a great find! We love this one, it's the closest thing to rolls we've had in a while. I have used this recipe for cinnamon rolls, too. Just roll all the dough out into a rectangle, cover with butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and raisins. Roll up carefully and cut into 1 1/2 inch slices with floss. After you've let them rise, cook, etc, spread a glaze or frosting on them. DO NOT OVER-BAKE! They are heavier in consistency than normal cinnamon rolls, but we really like them!

Ingredients:
1 1/3 cup + 2 Tbsp GF Flour Blend (see below)
1 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp. salt
1 package yeast (2 1/4 tsp.)
1 tsp. sugar
1/3 cup warm water (110 F)
2 Tbsp honey
1 egg
melted butter to brush onto rolls before baking

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 F (static) 350 F (convection). In a large bowl, mix warm water, sugar and yeast and let stand for 5 minutes. Whisk together the dry ingredients and set aside. Add half of the dry mixture to the wet mixture bowl, together with the egg and honey. Beat on low speed of an electric mixer for one minute, or until well-blended. Add in the remaining dry ingredients and blend until well-mixed. If the dough is dry, add an additional 1/2 to 1 teaspoon warm water.
Pull apart the dough into approximately 6 equal sized dough balls. Roll each dough ball into an elongated triangle shape between two pieces of plastic wrap. Remove top piece of wrap. Cut the edges to form the shape of an elongated triangle and gather the trimmings to make one more roll at the end. (If you are making "Pigs in a Blanket," place the hotdog on the wide end of the triangle at this point and follow the directions from here). Brush melted butter or buttery spread onto the dough at this point, then, from the wide end of the dough triangle, begin gently rolling the dough into a log, until the narrow tip of the triangle wraps around the roll on top. Place each roll onto a greased or parchment-lined cookie sheet, and pull the ends of each roll in toward the center to form the crescent shape. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise for 30 minutes in a warm place. Brush the rolls with more melted butter. Bake for 10 minutes, or until light golden brown. Do not over-bake.

GF Flour Blend
2 cups rice flour
2/3 cup potato starch
1/3 cup tapioca flour

Gluten Free Hamburger or Hot Dog Buns

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

3/4 cup rice flour
1/4 cup potato starch
1/2 cup tapioca flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar

Mix above ingredients. In a separate bowl mix the following:

2 eggs
1/3 cup oil
1/2 cup milk

For hamburgers: Mix wet ingredients with dry ingredients. Spray cookie sheet with Pam and then spray inside of muffin rings. Put 2 very large spoonfuls of batter in each, make sure the rings aren't too close to each other. Use wet hands to smooth the tops. Sprinkle with sesame seeds (opt) and bake immediately for approx. 13-15 minutes. They should get nice and golden brown on top. Don't undercook them or they will fall when cooling. Take out of muffin rings and let cool completely. Makes around 5 buns.

For hot dogs: Add 1/4-12 tsp more xanthan gum to batter. On a greased cookie sheet, spoon batter into an oblong shape, as long as the hot dogs you will be using. Use wet hands to smooth the tops. Sprinkle with sesame seeds (opt) and bake immediately following above instructions.

Once the buns are cooled enough, slice them as desired and use immediately, or freeze immediately. Work well also for breakfast sandwiches, biscuits and gravy, etc.

Modified Gluten Free Bread

This is a take-off of my other gluten-free one, but I've downsized it to fit my mixer, and I've also made a few important changes that make the bread taste better and have a much better consistency. If you still want to make 3 loaves, you can use the other recipe and just apply the changes I've made in ingredients. I've been trying to add more nutrients to our diet, so I use brown rice flour, and if you want you can also use about 1/4 cup ground flax seed to enhance flavor and add more nutrition.

Mix together, THEN LET SIT FOR 10 MINUTES:
1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 1/4 cups water (small-I use a little less)
2/3 cup powdered milk (if you'd rather substitute buttermilk for powdered milk and water, see bottom of recipe)
1 1/2 tsp vinegar
4 eggs
2/3 cup instant potatoes
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp yeast
1 1/3 cups brown or white rice flour

Sift together, then add to above:
1 cup brown or white rice flour
1/3 cup soy flour
2/3 cup potato starch
2/3 cup tapioca starch
4 tsp xanthan gum
1 1/2 tsp salt

Mix in a mixer until smooth. Grease two loaf pans. Now there are two options. The first option is much easier, but the loaves don't usually have as smooth as a top. The second option takes more time and is more of a challenge to do, but the loaf shape is much better. So decide which one you want to do.
Option One: Spoon batter evenly into greased pans and smooth top with wet hands.
Option Two: Grease or flour some plastic wrap on a counter. Place half the dough on wrap and cover with another piece of greased plastic wrap and then use a rolling pin to roll out. Once dough is width of your pan, carefully roll it into a loaf shape by lifting one end of plastic wrap, and place loaf in greased pan. Do the same with the other half of the dough.
Cover pans and let rise in warm place, or warm oven, for one hour (slightly less if in warm oven). Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Once loaves are cooled, you can slice the bread and place most of it in the freezer. Bread only lasts a few days otherwise. Makes 2 loaves.

As a side note, I have recently been trying to substitute BUTTERMILK for the water and powdered milk. I like that recipe as well. I warm up the buttermilk, and I use 2 cups of pretty warm buttermilk, and 1/4 cup of hot water. It helps a little with the consistency, and gives it a different flavor. If using buttermilk, I place bowl in warm water at the very beginning for those 10 minutes of sitting, and later when it rises, I would definitely use a warm oven. Using buttermilk seems to take slightly longer in the rising parts.