Archive for the ‘Gluten Free’ Category

You know, a couple of months ago I stumbled upon something called the Paleo Diet and in looking closer at the different types of things that can be used to make common every day goodies…..such as brownies or cookies and yup – even some different kinds of breads. Seriously, some of those recipes that I ran across looked like they would be super yummy and that’s where I came to this one. One wouldn’t think that these brownies don’t have any flour in them because the texture, density and the taste as all consistent with a light, chocolate chip chocolate cake. And here’s the kicker……they’re actually healthy!!!! But don’t tell the kiddos, what they don’t know won’t hurt em!

These brownies are really easy to make but one word of advice, if you have picky kiddos, you’ll want to peel the zucchini before shredding it. You still have the same consistency and great nutrients but once again…..what the kiddos don’t know won’t hurt em. LOL

So I shredded the zucchini and added almond butter (if the almond butter has settled at the bottom of the jar throw it in the food processor to make it the nice, creamy consistency that you’ll need) then I added an egg, raw honey and some vanilla extract and combined well.

Once everything was stirred in nicely, in a small bowl I combined the cocoa powder and the baking soda then added it to the wet ingredients.

I used dark chocolate chips, which this just seems to make the recipe! Those nice little morsels just complete the flavors in these brownies.

I baked these babies for about 40 minutes and pulled them out of the oven – oh they just smelled wonderful!!!

Whalla – who says you can’t “have your cake and eat it too”??? So yummy!!!!! Enjoy folks!!!!

Healthy Flour less Zucchini Brownies
From Delighted Momma

Ingredients:
1 cup of almond butter. You can make your own if you want to save a few bucks.
1 cup of grated or chopped zucchini. I used a shredder and then chopped it up into really small pieces.
1/3 cup of raw honey
1 egg
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp of vanilla
1/2 tsp of baking soda
1/2 tsp of cinnamon
1 cup of dark chocolate chips. I used gluten free chocolate chips.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all the ingredients into a large bowl and mix everything together. Pour into a greased 9×9 baking pan. Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

A couple of days ago I received an email from America’s Test Kitchen offering cooking classes online. At first I was a bit skeptical because generally when you think about cooking classes, one has the tendency to picture that happening in a real life atmosphere in a cooking type class room. So I decided to go further and really check it out, after all we ARE talking about America’s Test Kitchen! Looking into it, I was pretty impressed and decided to sign up. I’m so glad I signed up, I’ve had more fun and learned so much just in the two days that I’ve been reading and cooking! The first thing that I wanted to try was roasted carrots and grilled salmon – I’ve never made roasted carrots and salmon has always been a bit of a mystery for me with lots of just OK or just plain and simple failed attempts. This was a shocker of an experience!!!! First, the salmon was perfect and not once did it stick to the grill (but this is for another post). The carrots were amazing and I could have seriously made a meal out of them alone!

I first peeled a pound of carrots……don’t they look like, well……like carrots? Ha

Then I cut each carrot into about the same size, so the tops I cut in half, the rest I just cut into 2 inch pieces. Then the fun part started…..I melted 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter (salted butter smokes a lot easier than unsalted butter) and poured it over the raw carrots and then I sprinkled some kosher salt and pepper over them and tossed them to make sure they were coated completely with butter and seasonings.

Once the carrots were coated, I lined a rimmed  baking sheet with foil and placed the carrots on the baking sheet.

Then I covered the carrots with more foil and baked them covered for 15 minutes.

Once the 15 minutes were up, I removed the foil and returned the carrots to the oven for another 15 minutes.

I turned them once and baked for yet another 15 minutes and then my salivary glands took over! Just look at those wonderful pieces of joy and wonder!!!! They are perfectly browned, they’re nice and plump, with a nice nutty flavor. These are simply fabulous guys, you really need to try this!!!!

I’ve decided that this is my new favorite roasted vegetable……what’s your favorite??? I’m interested to find out!

Roasted Carrots
From America’s Test Kitchen

Ingredients:
1 Lb raw carrots, peeled and cut into 2 inch pieces
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Instructions:
Pre-heat oven to 425, Peel carrots and cut into 2 inch pieces and place into a medium bowl. Add butter, salt and pepper and toss. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and place carrots onto the sheet, cover with more foil and bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil and bake 30 – 35 minutes, turning once. Serve immediately.

This seems to be the season where everyone is catching and flu and/or colds, so I thought it would be a good idea to help my family ramp up their immunities with some good old fashioned fruit and honey in a smoothie. So Londyn, my granddaughter made a face and said “I don’t like it”, but Mr. and I both thought it was quite good. (Back to the drawing board with Londyn). But in the mean time, this smoothie recipe turned out super good and it only took a couple of minutes to make.

Items in the agenda are orange juice, peach Greek yogurt, frozen peaches, honey, cinnamon and pecans.

I threw everything into the blender and blended until everything was nice and creamy…….very refreshing and tasty!!!!

Peach Smoothies

Ingredients:
2 C orange juice
2 5 oz containers peach Greek yogurt
2 Tbsp honey
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/3 C pecans

Directions:
Place all ingredients in the blender and pulse until creamy. Makes 4 Servings.

I’m a complete sucker for chocolate just about anything – with the exception of chocolate candy bars, they need to have some sort of nuts in them, or they’re just not worthy. That said……I was looking for a good chocolate cake recipe that didn’t require any flour – just something to change up the same, same. Then it happened, I stumbled upon this recipe and decided right then and there that this is the cake recipe that eats more like a seriously divine brownie, I didn’t even make the glaze for the topping, this just simply didn’t need it. Each bite was so smooth, creamy and decadent I couldn’t stop at just one piece, it’s just that good!

And did I mention that this is one of the easiest recipes I’ve made – who knew that it would turn out soooo good. I started by melting a couple of chocolate bars and butter in a good sized sauce pan.

Once everything was melted I added the sugar and salt and cooked the mixture for about a minute. Then I whisked in the eggs, one at a time into the mixture. Then the cocoa powder through a stainer which prevents lumps of chocolate from showing up.

Once it was all mixed up, it looked silky smooth and creamy…..kind of like this…..and it smelled like a little bit of heaven!

Then I baked that luscious mixture in a spring form pan until it looked like this…….

Then I poured myself a cup a coffee, because coffee and chocolate just were meant for one another, then I simply enjoyed each and every bite. Even if you don’t have a sensitivity to wheat or gluten, one hasn’t lived until one has tried this stuff!!!!

Flourless Chocolate Cake

From About.com

Ingredients:
6 1-ounce squares coarsely chopped semisweet chocolate
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 cup cocoa
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

For Glaze (Optional)

2 1-ounce squares coarsely chopped semisweet chocolate squares
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 teaspoon milk OR light coconut milk
1 1/2 teaspoons Agave syrup OR honey
1/8 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F Spray a 7-inch tart pan with removable bottom with cooking spray. If you don’t have a tart pan, use a 6 to 7-inch spring form pan. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and spray the paper.

Melt 6 ounces of chopped chocolate and butter in a heavy saucepan over medium low heat. Stir until chocolate and butter are melted and smooth.

Add sugar and salt and reduce heat to low. Cook while stirring for about one minute, until sugar starts to dissolve.

Remove pan from heat. Whisk in eggs, one at a time. The mixture will look smooth and glossy.

Use a mesh hand sieve to sift cocoa into mixture. This prevents lumps. Whisk until the cake batter is smooth.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake in preheated oven for about 25 minutes. The center of the cake should be just firm to the touch, but be careful to not over bake the cake or it will be dry.

Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Invert the cake on a plate.

To prepare the glaze, melt 2 ounces of chopped chocolate and 1 1/2 tablespoons of unsalted butter in the same saucepan you used to make the cake. When melted and smooth, remove the pan from heat. Add milk and Agave syrup OR honey and vanilla and stir until smooth and glossy. Let the glaze cool for about 3 minutes before pouring it on the cake.

Pour all of the glaze in the middle of the cake. Use a silicone or rubber spatula to spread the glaze evenly over the cake, allowing the glaze to evenly run down the sides of the cake.

Serves 6

I keep telling myself that I need to post some Gluten Free recipes on here, and up until now I have things that are just naturally gluten free, but nothing that really is called out to be specifically just that.

This is a recipe that I actually tried a few months ago and decided that it was keeper. The first time I followed it exactly then this time I made a few changes of my own. It turned out really good, and Mr. decided that it was something that even he could eat.

Gluten free recipes are a little bit different that most as they call for different types of flours and also include xanthan gum which is a substance that acts as a thickener and actually pulls and binds everything together, so in other words it basically takes the place of gluten.

I started with 2 ripe bananas and cut them up.

Then brown sugar was added

And then eggs, applesauce and canola oil. And this was all combined together using a hand mixer.

I grated some carrots, added pecans and golden raisins and stirred that all in together…….it looks so happy in there together.

I then combined the brown rice flour, sorghum flour and xanthan gum, then some baking powder, cinnamon, ground cloves and salt together, then added it to the banana mixture.

I sprayed a 9 x 13 baking pan with Baker’s Joy and poured the entire contents into the pan. I then made a gluten free streusel topping.

The topping consisted of cinnamon, gluten free all purpose flour, and butter. I placed everything in a small food processor and pulsed it until well combined. Then tossed it over the top of the batter.

I baked the entire contents for 30 minutes and served them up for breakfast. Yup, even Mr. had seconds.

Gluten Free Autumn Bars
Adapted from Taste of Home

Ingredients
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2 to 3 medium)
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup canola oil
2 eggs (egg replacer can be used)
1 cup sorghum flour
1 cup brown rice flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/3 cup chopped pecans

Streusel Topping

Ingredients:
½ cup all-purpose gluten free flour
¼ cup brown sugar, packed
½ stick unsalted butter
½ tsp ground cinnamon

Directions
In a large bowl, beat the bananas, brown sugar, applesauce, oil and eggs until well blended. Combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, salt and cinnamon and cloves; gradually beat into banana mixture until blended. Stir in the carrots, raisins and walnuts.

Transfer to a 9-in. x 13-in. cake pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before serving. (16 servings).