Friday, October 30, 2009

Halloween sugar cookies

gluten free sugar cookies
It's been a long, tiring... month. I needed to bake something, STAT. I thought sugar cookies would be a great thing to make for the pumpkin carving party I'm throwing tomorrow.

I borrowed this recipe from my man Alton Brown, sort of.

These cookies are not too sweet. They're made to be paired with icing to get that right amount of sweetness. Everyone said these tasted like the soft iced sugar cookies you get at Walmart, if that means anything to you. Bottom line, they're pretty good.

Sugar Cookies

1 c. white rice flour
1 c. millet flour (or more white rice flour, sorghum, etc.)
1/2 c. corn starch
3/4 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. xanthan gum
1/2 c. butter, softened (I used Smart Balance 50/50)
1/3 c. shortening
1 c. sugar
1 egg
1 t. vanilla

Mix the flours, baking powder, salt, and xanthan gum in a bowl. In a separate bowl cream the butter, shortening, and sugar. It should be creamy and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Add in the dry ingredients until it forms a soft dough. If you want to roll these out, you will need to refrigerate the dough for a few hours. It rolls out well on a powdered sugar surface to keep it from sticking.

I didn't have cookie cutters and it got really old trying to carve pumpkins freehand with a knife, so I rolled them into balls and made them old school. If they're chilled, they won't spread much at all, and if they're room temp they only spread a little.

Bake them at 375 for about 5 minutes, or until the middles look set.

I'm thinking the rest of the snack-y menu will include spiced (and spiked!) apple cider, a ham & cheese tray with crackers (and bread for everyone else), and chex mix. And as soon as we have carved pumpkins, I'm thinking toasted pumpkin seeds. Mmm.

Happy Halloween!

Saturday, October 17, 2009

"puppy chow"


Everyone loves puppy chow, aka: the Chex Muddy Buddies. Seriously, I've never had anyone turn it down.

It's fast and easy. The hard part is not eating the entire batch all at once. Around the holidays, package some up real cute and it makes a great little gift or party favor.

The link above is to the recipe, and you can find it on the box of Rice Chex, but I'll re-post it here:

Chex Muddy Buddies

9 c. rice chex
1 c. semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 c. peanut butter
1/4 c. butter
1 t. vanilla
1 1/2 c. powdered sugar


Into large bowl, measure cereal; set aside.


In 1-quart microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter uncovered on High 1 minute; stir. Microwave about 30 seconds longer or until mixture can be stirred smooth. Stir in vanilla.

Pour mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated. Pour into 2-gallon resealable food-storage plastic bag.


Add powdered sugar. Seal bag; shake until well coated. Spread on waxed paper to cool. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

That's all it takes!

Monday, October 12, 2009

Fruit snacks winner

This is a little late, but we have a winner! Cindy from Gluten Free in Montana, your name was picked out of the coffee cup. I loved hearing what makes ya'll happy.

Thanks to my "little" brother Luke for picking the name. I say "little" because even though he's 8 years younger than me, he's much, much taller than me. And you can see he's eating some gluten free Fritos as a snack. :o)


I had hoped to include a new recipe with this post, but I am feeling a tad under the weather today. Gluten? Probably, but I'm not 100% sure.

All I know is, I'm glad white rice, applesauce, and rice cakes are GF.
What else do ya'll eat when you're feeling icky?

Monday, October 5, 2009

Simple Joys: Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks Giveaway!


I was kinda tired and grouchy this morning, but then I was pretty darn excited to receive this Simple Joys prizepack from MyBlogSpark. (Seriously, go join!)

The first thing I noticed was the packages of fruit snacks had 'Gluten Free' right on the package. Horray for no guesswork! The treats included Gushers, Fruit by the Foot, Fruit Roll Ups, and these neat "Build a Bug" fruit snacks. TOO cute.

I loved the gushers. They remind me of when I was a kid and mom would bring them home as a special treat. Of course we'd gobble them up in 5 minutes.

I remember everyone would also have a fruit roll up packed in their lunches at the lunch table, and we'd always wrap them around our fingers and suck on them until they were just slobbery disgusting messes. But when you're a kid, that doesn't matter.
So yeah, these packages totally brought me back.

It also came with some toys: a yo yo, a pickup stick game, and a frisbee. I immediately tried the yo yo, and to my surprise I didn't suck too bad- I could actually bring it all the way back up!
I've never tried pick up stick; thank goodness that comes with instructions. And right now I'm wishing I had someone around to play frisbee with.
This package was too much fun.

Also, one person will get a prize pack!! Yay!
It includes 2 packages of Betty Crocker fruit-flavored snacks, a retro Pick 'em up Sticks game, a light up yo yo, and a classic frisbee. This fall weather is perfect for tossing a frisbee around. When's the last time you played with a yo-yo? I'm telling you, it just takes a few minutes and you're instantly in a better mood.

To enter to win, just leave a comment with your favorite Simple Joys. I really want to hear them! You have until Friday to enter. Good luck!