Gluten Free Biscuits

My first attempt at gluten free biscuits was a disaster. They resembled salty, putty colored hockey pucks. Out of desperation for something bread like the kids ate them covered with maple syrup. Take two was much, much better.

Gluten Free Biscuits

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 12-15 minutes
Cost: Approx. $2.50
Yields: 12 biscuits

2 1/2 cups all purpose gluten free baking flour ($1.50)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
5 tsp sugar
1 cup milk
2 Tbsp vinegar
4 tbsp butter, cold and cut into cubes
1 egg and 1 egg yolk

Combine all dry ingredients. Mix milk, vinegar and eggs together well. Fold dry ingredients into wet. Add butter and mix by hand. Form into disks. Bake on greased baking sheet for 12-15 minutes at 350.

Gluten Free Pizza Crust

In a moment of weakness I bought a package of gluten free pizza crust mix to the tune of $6.99. Ugh. It was good, but I just kept thinking, "I could have made this myself." So after several attempts, I've come up with a winning combination. I plan to make the prebaked crusts in bulk for the freezer so that pizza can be at our fingertips.
(As you can see we are still dairy free at this point. But, believe it or not, we're enjoying pizza just the same.)


Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Yields: 3 large round crusts
Costs: Approx. $3.00

3 Tbsp dry yeast
2 cups brown rice flour ($.75)
1 1/2 cups tapioca flour ($.75)
3 tsp xantham gum
2 tsp salt
3 tsp unflavored gelatin ($.25)
3 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp garlic powder
2 cups warm water (approx. 11o degrees)
2 tsp agave nectar
3 tsp olive oil
3 tsp vinegar

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Blend all ingredients in an electric mixer for 3 minutes with regular beater attachments. Dough should be soft and sticky.


Divide dough into three parts. Place dough in the middle of a pizza stone. (I found that the stone worked best in cooking the dough all the way through and alleviating some of the heaviness that comes with gluten free grains.) Using parchment paper sprayed with cooking oil roll dough to fit the stone. (This will save you a lot of frustration and time in trying to get this sticky dough to conform.)

Bake crust for 10 minutes. Remove and top as desired. Return to oven and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes.

Gluten Free Muffin Mix

Entering the world of gluten free baking is honestly quite frustrating. The grains are expensive and the results unpredictable. There's nothing worse than spending a half and hour and $5 to make a loaf of bread that comes out of the oven like a door stop. Through trial and error and the adaptations of several recipes I've come up with an allergy free muffin recipe that works every time. The best part is that you can store it as a dry mix and make as many or as few as you wish at a time. Enjoy!!

Gluten Free Muffin Mix

1 1/4 cup oat flour
1 cup rice flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp xantham gum

Mix well and store in an air tight container.

To make muffins 12 muffins:

To 2 cups of mix add 1/2 cup applesauce or pumpkin puree, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 cup rice milk, 4 Tbps oil, 1/4-1/2 cup agave nectar, 1 tsp cinnamon. Mix well until all ingredients are well incorporated. Add additional milk as needed (the flour will soak up moisture quickly) and more agave nectar to taste.

Place in greased muffin tins. Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes.


Tips:

-I trippled the mix recipe and was able to make over 5 dozen muffins.
-If adding fruit, place on top of muffin before baking instead of mixing it in. Mixing it in seems to affect how well the muffins rise.
-Brush the tops of muffin with maple syrup after baking for added flavor and sweetness.

Banana French Toast

Last weekend I was needing to use up some bananas and decided to incorporate them into our Sunday brunch. I didn't measure ingredients, so these are approximations.

Prep Time: less than 5 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Serves: 8-10
Cost: approx. $2.00

1 loaf of bread ($1.00)
6 eggs ($.50)
2 cups milk
1 Tbsp vanilla
2 ripe bananas

Place eggs, milk, vanilla and bananas in a blender and blend until smooth. Dip bread into mixture, cook on non stick griddle. Top with syrup or warm vanilla cream sauce.

Find the recipe and many others at The Grocery Cart Challenge's Recipe Swap.

Pumpkin Spice Muffins

Yum!! This is a lower fat muffin with applesauce instead of oil or butter. They bake up extra moist. It's really hard to have just one.

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Bake Time: 20-25 minutes
Yield: 30 muffins
Cost: approx. $2.00


1 small can pumpkin ($.87)
2 cups sugar ($.25)
1 cup applesauce ($.25)
1 cup water
4 eggs ($.25)
3 1/2 cups flour ($.25)
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2 tsp cinnamon

Mix together pumpkin, sugar, applesauce, water and egg. Add in dry ingredients and stir. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

Easiest Ever Banana Bread

Okay, so maybe this isn't technically a bread, but it tastes like it. It's much healthier than cake, takes no time to prepare and it's yet another way to get rid of those brown bananas. Enjoy!

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Serves: 16-20
Cost: Approx. $1.50

1 box yellow cake mix ($.90)
4 bananas smashed ($.50)
1 egg
1/4-1/2 cup water

Mix all ingredients well. The batter should be thick. Place in 2 greased bread pans. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until cooked through.

Banana Bran Muffins

I'm trying to come up with a morning snack to keep the kid's brains functioning before lunch. Somehow productivity slows at about 10:30. It needs to be filling, healthy and of little cost. I bought 48 granola bars for about $9.00. I thought that was a good deal, but I've think I've found something better. Here's what we are trying this week.

Prep time: 15 minutes
Bake time: 15 minutes
Yield: 54 muffins
Cost: Approx. $4.00


1 16 oz box bran flakes ($2.00)
2 cups sugar ($.50)
5 cups flour ($.50)
2 tsp salt
5 tsp baking soda
5 tsp cinnamon
4 cups skim milk
4 eggs ($.50)
1/4 cup butter melted ($.25)
2 ripe bananas ($.25)

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add in wet ingredients. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

Valentine's Bread

Sean (the bread maker in this house) made me this bread for our first year of marriage. It's become a valentine's tradition.

1/4 cup warm water
1 package Active Dry yeast
1/4 coup warm milk
1/2 cup butter softened
2 Tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3-31/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 eggs

Filling:

4 Tablespoons of melted butter
1/4 teaspoon of almond extract
1/2-1 cup of powdered sugar
1/2 cup candied cherries chopped
1 cup slivered almonds

Place warm water in bowl. Sprinkle in yeast and stir until dissolved. Add milk, butter, sugar, salt and 1 cup flour. Mix well. Sit in eggs and enough flour to make soft dough. Knead until elastic- 4-6 minutes. Cover; let rise until doubled- about one hour.

Prepare filling. Mix melted butter, extract and enough powdered sugar to form a paste.

Punch dough down. Roll to 30x9 intch rectangle. Spread paste to the edges of dough. Sprinkle on almonds and cherries.
Roll dough into a jelly roll. Cut lengthwise. Turn the dough so that the cut sides are face up. Join the two pieces into a heart shape, pinch seams to seal.

Place on greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise 20-40 minutes until doubled in size.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes being sure not to overbake.