Friday, May 30, 2008

Mi-Del Arrowroot Cookies














How about another product review?

I've seen these Mini-Del Arrowroot Animal Cookies on the shelf at a few grocery stores like Kroger and Whole Foods, but was hesitant to buy them because, *gasp* what if they were gross??

Well, I decided to try them for two reasons: 1. I was shopping hungry. 2. I have decided that in my quest for decent gluten-free food, I will try something even if I am unsure of the taste, because it's ridiculous to avoid them just because "what if."

These cookies are... not bad at all! Being a huge fan of animal crackers before the Celiac-ness, I will say that these are not like animal crackers... at all. They're cookies. Big difference.

These cookies have a taste that reminds me a little bit of coconut. They're sweet, have a crunchy texture and the aftertaste kind of lingers but it's not a bad taste.

They are good with coffee, too.

Here's a link:















Oh, and while I'm talking about it, the ginger snaps are really good too.

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Another Gluten Free Bagel Recipe















The other bagel recipe that I tried made okay bagels, but was SO labor intensive. This one is much quicker. I get bagels in about 30 minutes as opposed to a few hours. And the bagel is more bagel-like.

It came from a cookbook: The Gluten-Free Kitchen by Roben Ryberg. It's pretty basic, nothing fancy. But, seeing as how I'm a beginner it's perfect. I've gotten quite a few good recipes from it.

Bagels

1/3 c. warm milk
1 pkg yeast (I used quick rise)
1 t. sugar
1 egg
1/2 c. potato starch
3/4 c. cornstarch
[the recipe calls for this flour mix, but I used less corn and potato starch and added soy and tapioca flour.]
1 t. xanthan gum
1/4 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. cider vinegar

egg white, beaten

Put a pot of water on to boil for later. Add some salt.

Combine the sugar and milk, then add the yeast. Stir it all, then mix in the egg. Add everything else, and mix well to remove all of the lumps. It forms a pretty good ball, so it was hard to mix out all the lumps. I bet they'd be prettier if I had, but I don't know if it would affect the taste.

Roll into balls, then flatten out into disks. This is pretty easy because the dough is not overly sticky. Form a hole in the middle and plop them into boiling water for about 30 seconds each side.

Put them on a greased cookie sheet and brush the tops with egg white. Bake at 375 for 15-18 minutes.

So how are they? They taste more like "real" bagels. The texture is better and I'm pretty sure I'd make them again. Stay tuned for the "day-after" verdict...

*update*
pretty good the next day!

Friday, May 23, 2008

Gluten Free Snickerdoodles















Requested by the boyfriend: Snickerdoodles.

The little brother came in amongst the baking of these and chex mix and immediately went into scrounge mode. Thankfully there was some banana bread and popcorn left over to keep him off of (most of) the cookies. I tell you what, that's the best compliment there is.

Anyways, snickerdoodles.

1/2 c. butter
3/4 c. sugar
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
1 1/4 c. plus 2 T flour mix (this one was a hodgepodge)
1/4 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
1 t. xanthan gum
1/2 t. salt
2 T water
~~~~
2 T sugar
1/2 t. cinnamon

Cream butter & sugar. Add egg and vanilla. Mix. Add dry ingredients and mix. The dough is very sticky so work with wet hands. Roll into small teaspoon-ish sized balls, then roll that in the cinnamon/sugar mixture. Put them on a greased cookie sheet and flatten them out a bit. Bake at 350 for just about 10 minutes, until they're set in the middle and cookie-like. They are delicious.

Monday, May 19, 2008

surprise cookies















This recipe came from It's Just Not Dinner Without Cat Hair. I saw it and said, "Ooh, let's try that." Hers look a lot prettier than mine, haha.

The main point I'd like to make about this recipe: I like the basic cookie. It's got a good texture and a good taste that's not tootoo sweet but still good. I wasn't crazy about the mint/chocolate candy combo, but I'd LOVE to try these with the bite-sized Snickers, or even make them alone, maybe adding a lemon icing or something.

Here's what you do to make these surprise cookies:

1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 t. vanilla
1 t. baking powder
1/3 t. salt
2/3 c. rice flour
1/3 c. tapioca starch
1/4 c. cornstarch
2 T. sweet rice flour
1 1/4 t. xanthan gum
Andes chocolate mint candy

Cream the butter and sugars. Beat in the egg, then add the vanilla.
Mix the dry ingredients together and add to the butter mixture. Refrigerate for 3 hours. I only refrigerated for about 30 minutes because I was impatient, but the dough was hard to work with. I'd say do it for the whole time.

Shape enough dough to wrap around the candies, and bake at 375 for about 10-12 minutes. When they've cooled, drizzle some melted candies on top.

I halved the recipe and it made about 7 cookies, and it took about 3 melted to drizzle on top.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

'Sorbet'















I had some extra-ripe bananas and I had already made banana bread, so I tried something.

I sliced and froze some bananas, then popped them in a food processer with some frozen strawberry pieces and the juice from a slice of lemon. After a whirl I had this delicious, healthy sorbet-looking thing. Yumm.

I bet you could do it with all kinds of different fruits, so long as the banana is thrown in to add the creaminess.

crackers again















Glutino crackers. These, I didn't make. They were on the shelf at Whole Foods and I said, "why not?"

And I'm glad I did. These are yummy! They are by far the best gluten free cracker I've had. I only wish they weren't so expensive-- close to $5 a pop. You can buy them online at glutenfree.com but the shipping is about $10.

With this expensive motivation, I'm going to try and tweak the other cracker recipe I had. The problem was that they were pretty good right out of the oven, but got a funky texture the next day. Sounds all too familiar with gluten free baked goods...

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Chex Mix!















If you haven't heard that Rice Chex is now gluten free, here's your news flash. As cereals go I am more fond of the Corn Chex because I think it has a better flavor, but it's not GF. Hopefully that's next! But. Rice Chex is good for the muddie buddies and chex mixes. Also very portable for those emergency snack attacks!

Rice Chex

3 T. butter
1 T. wors. sauce (YOU try spelling it correctly)
1 T. honey
1/4 t. onion powder
1/4 t. garlic powder
(the original recipe calls for seasoned salt but I think it's so salty on it's own I don't add it.)
4 1/2 cups rice chex
1/2 c. mixed nuts
1/2 c. pretzels (I added popcorn)
1/2 c. bagel chips (didn't have any so I omitted)

Melt the butter in a 13x9 pan in a 250 oven. Stir in the seasonings, then add the other stuff and coat it all. Bake it for 45 minuts, stirring every 15. Let it cool on paper towels.

Yum!

Saturday, May 3, 2008

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies















I made these for a friend's birthday because I don't have any money, but I do have a kitchen!

I'm the only person I know who doesn't really care for chocolate chip cookies, but they taste to me like they always have, which is good I guess! I hope she likes them!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 c. softened butter
1 egg, beaten slightly
1 T. vanilla
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. sugar
half a bag of chocolate chips
1/4 c. rice flour
1/4 c. tapioca starch
1/4 c. sorghum flour
1/4 c. soy flour
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. cream of tartar
1/2 t. xanthan gum
1/4 t. salt

Cream the butter and sugars. Add the egg and vanilla. Stir in the chocolate chips. In a seperate bowl, mix everything else. Add the dry to the wet ingredients and stir. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes or so, until they're browned slightly. As with most chocolate chip cookie recipes, they spread out, so leave some room between spoonfuls. Makes about 1 1/2 dozen cookies.

Friday, May 2, 2008

G is for gravy

if you got any... and we do!

Just after I finished the last post about how it's been hard to make a flavorful gravy that didn't have a strange jelly-like consistency from the cornstarch, madre found a jar of this:












It's basically a bullion cube, but in a jar. AND it's gluten free! She found it in Kroger in the "gravy section," but they also have a website.

It's high in sodium and not the most healthy thing for you, but gravy usually isn't. It's not like we eat gravy every day...

I made it using the recipe on the back of the jar, and it was good. I like the flavor. It tastes just like what I'm used to, so this is a happy girl.