Sunday, August 28, 2011

Bread pudding

To be honest, the first time I'd heard of bread pudding wasn't until after I was diagnosed with Celiac, so I've never tried it. I've also never been a huge fan of bread, so the idea of bread pudding never really struck me as something delicious. But, everyone I know raves about it.

Well, today I had stale bread. I bought some Udi's hamburger buns on clearance and haven't been able to use them for actual hamburgers yet. They were getting pretty old, so I wanted to use them up quickly. I get the idea- kind of like a custard but with bread in it.

So I tried it out.



Bread Pudding

1 1/2 c. milk
1 T. butter
1/2 c. brown sugar
3 eggs
2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg
1 t. vanilla
3 1/2 c. stale gluten free bread, torn up into pieces
1/2 c. pecans

Preheat oven to 350. Place the bread and pecans into a 1 qt casserole dish, mixing them up. (I placed them in the dish, put the lid on, and shake it around.) Beat the eggs in a bowl.

Heat the other ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat,stirring frequently until the butter has melted. Turn off the heat. Mix a spoonful of the warm mixture into the eggs- mixing quickly and using a spoonful at a time so that the eggs don't scramble.

When half of the warm mixture has been added to the eggs, stir the warmed egg mixture back into the saucepan. Pour the entire mixture over the bread, soaking each piece, and bake covered for 40-45 minutes. I removed the lid for the last 10 minutes of baking to get kind of a crusty top.

Rather than fiddling with a sauce, I poured a smidgen of straight brandy over the warm bread pudding.

It tasted kinda like a glorified alcoholic french toast. Definitely not bad.

Now, I can't compare it to normal bread puddings, but I wont have a problem finishing the rest of the batch. Second breakfasts are going to be good this week!

**I suppose that heating up the milk and tempering the eggs wasn't necessary; you could probably just mix it all up cold and pour it over the bread with the same results.

*** Update: Maybe not. Check out the comment regarding cooking time/ texture changes.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

GF Bisquick SnickerDOODLES

Old box of gluten free bisquick in the pantry. Decided that today was the day it was going to be used up.

After a quick google search, I suddenly HAD to have snickerdoodles.

photo snagged here

Oh yes.

I halved the recipe, used less sugar, added some vanilla, and used brown sugar for the cinnamon/sugar mixture.

GF Bisquick Snickerdoodles

3/4 c. GF bisquick
1/4 c. rice flour ( I ran out of Bisquick)
1 egg
2 T each softened butter & shortening
1/2 t. vanilla
1/4 c. sugar

Cinnamon/sugar mixture:
3 T. brown sugar
2 t. cinnamon


Cream the butter, shortening, and sugar. Mix in the egg and vanilla. Add the flour and bisquick and mix up into a dough. Roll the dough into balls and coat in the cinnamon/sugar mixture. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. (I used my Xpress Redi Set Go again, baking them in the mini muffin insert for 5 minutes. That thing is AMAZING in this summer heat)

Made about 12 little cookies.

They come out like a cross between a muffin, coffee cake, and a cookie; definitely a cake-like cookie rather than a crispy cokie. I can't wait to eat them with coffee during my break tomorrow.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

cherry coconut muffins


Perfect for an afternoon off work when there's no food in the cupboards.

Found cherries and coconut in the freezer, and it seemed too easy.

And in case you're wondering, heck no my oven did not turn on. I used the Xpress Redi Set Go I got last Christmas, and I wanted it for this very reason.

Cherry Coconut Muffins (mini!)

1/3 c. each sorghum, brown rice flour, and corn starch
1 t. baking powder
1/8 t. baking soda
1/4 c. brown sugar
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/3 c. milk
1 T. light olive oil
1 t. vanilla
1/4 c. each chopped cherries and shredded coconut

Mix it all in a bowl.
I spooned the batter into the mini muffin insert, topped with some more coconut, and cooked for 5 minutes.

For conventional ovens, preheat to 350 and bake for 5-7 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. For regular muffins, 10-15 minutes.

The cherries give the batter a funny color, but they taste great, with a hint of every flavor.