Gluten Free Nutella Cookies

One day I was looking for something new to eat and came across this recipe.  I know Nutella has milk in it, so I'm sorry to those of you who can't do dairy, but for those of you who can, these are awesome.  I knew they would be good because I know that nut butters give gluten free cookies a great texture.  Plus, these are chocolate so I knew it would be easy to make them healthy.  Put the 2 together and you now have a whole grain, gluten free, yummy cookie.  I adapted the recipe from two peas and their pod.

Nutella Cookies
1/2 c. teff flour
1 T. coconut flour
2 T. potato starch
1/4 c. sorghum flour
1/4 c. millet flour
1/2 t. xanthan gum
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup cocoa
1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/3 cup Nutella
1/3 cup milk

Preheat oven to 325.   Whisk together dry ingredients, set aside. In a mixer, add the butter, sugars, and vanilla. Beat until smooth and creamy.  Add the Nutella and mix until batter is smooth.  Add the flour mixture in 2 batches, alternately with the milk in one batch, mixing well. Chill dough for at least 15 minutes before baking.  Drop dough onto cookie sheets(Silpat liners are the best) and bake for 10-11 minutes or until soft, but starting to set. Remove cookies from the oven and let cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely. 

*I'm posting these at Linda's gluten free Wednesdays, there are always lots of great recipes.

Homemade Green Enchilada Sauce

I don't know how the Fall gets so CRAZY! Maybe between making fruit leather, soccer, piano, book reports and 5 kids, the time just flies!  You might be wondering what this is or why I make it.  When we first went gluten free I couldn't find a gluten free green enchilada sauce and we love it.  I tried several recipes and we came up with this.  Recently, I bought a can of gr. enchilada sauce to use to make dinner for a neighbor(I'm not nice enough to use my good stuff).  When I opened the can I was disgusted by the canned "junk." and wondered how I ever liked that stuff. We have also tried green salsa but haven't found one we love.  Therefore, I make it because I need to, and also because I want to!  A couple years ago I started planting tomatillos just for making this sauce.  They are easy to grow and produce a lot!  Whenever I have a bunch I make a couple batches of this sauce, pour it into bags and throw them in the freezer for future consumption.  If I run out in the winter, I  buy tomatillos at the store, but home grown are my favorite - either will be just fine!  This really isn't hard, give it a shot!

Green Enchilada Sauce

1 ½ lb. tomatillos

3 small jalapeno chilies, seeded

1 c. chopped cilantro

2/3 c. chicken broth

1/3 c. chopped green onions

1 T. sugar

¼ tsp. salt

Remove the husk of the tomatillos, slice in 1/2 and boil for 4-5 min, until soft.  Throw everything in the blender and let it blend until smooth.  This recipe is very versatile, feel free to throw in some cayenne, or more cilantro, or sugar, or whatever you like!  I let it cool and then freeze in 1 1/2 c. portions, so it's just like a can.

Gluten Free Baked Oatmeal

I don't know why I have never had baked oatmeal because I grew up eating oatmeal almost every morning.  I have seen various recipes for this all over the internet, and I needed something new & easy to add to our breakfast menu, thus, it was time for "baked oatmeal."  So for those of you, like me, who have never had baked oatmeal, it is like eating a crumbly, less sweet, oatmeal cookie.  This is great with or without milk and of course can be made dairy/soy/nut free.  

Baked Oatmeal

adapted from Our Best Bites

3 c. oats(gluten free & not quick-cooking)

1/2 c. brown sugar

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 c. Craisins, raisins, dried cherries, or other dried fruit(optional, we did it without)

1 c. milk(I used rice milk)

1/4 c. butter, melted 

1/4 c.applesauce

2 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, combine the oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, and dried fruit. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the milk, butter, vanilla, and eggs. Add the liquid mixture to the dry mixture and stir to combine. Pour into a deep 9″ pie plate or an 8×8″ or 9×9″ baking dish. Bake for 40 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Serve immediately with a splash of warmed milk. Serves 8.

Gluten Free Lemon Bars

The other day as I sat thinking about food, it hit me that I needed to make lemon bars.  I haven't made these for years, but when I thought of the recipe I knew it would be an easy gluten free makeover.  I subbed out the flour, cut out some fat and that is about it!  I wanted them to taste like shortbread so I kept my flours pretty neutral, however, this recipe should be flexible to use whatever flours you like.

Lemon Bars

1/3 c. softened butter

¼ c. tapioca starch

¼ c. millet flour

¼ c. sorghum flour

¼ c. potato starch

½ t. xanthan gum

¼ c. powdered sugar

2 eggs

1 c. sugar

½ t. baking powder

¼ t. salt

2 T. lemon juice

Mix butter, flours & starches, xanthan gum & powdered sugar.  Press into greased 9x9 pan.  Bake at 350 for 20 min.  Meanwhile, in mixer, beat together remaining ingredients until fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Pour over crust and return to oven and bake for 25 min.  Let cool and sprinkle with additional powdered sugar.  Best if refrigerated.

*Easily adaptable to dairy & soy free, just sub out the butter!

Chicken & Vegetable Summer Medley

This is a light, healthy and delicious dinner.  Sometimes we serve this over rice, or with our indian bread, but tonight we just had it alone.  It is a great way to use up your summer vegetables.  You don't need to measure, just add as many as you want of the vegetables and chicken.  I usually always cook in portions - that way if I eat half the pan I don't feel guilty!

Chicken & Vegetable Summer Medley

1 t. chili powder

1 t. cumin

1 t. garlic salt

2 T. lime juice

2 chicken breast, chunked, or cut into strips

2 T. olive oil

1-2 zucchini, thinly sliced

1-2 yellow squash, thinly sliced

1 red pepper, sliced

1 red onion, chopped

½ c. salsa

¼ c. fresh cilantro

Combine chili powder, cumin, garlic salt and lime juice in medium bowl.  Add chicken and stir.  Heat olive oil in a large skillet, add chicken and marinade to pan and stir-fry 5-6 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink.  Remove chicken from pan and set aside.  Leave juices in pan and add vegetables.  Stir–fry about 4 min. or until veggies are crisp tender.  Add back in chicken, salsa and cilantro and cook 1 more minute. 

*This is linked to Linda's Gluten Free Wednesdays.  Check out all the amazing recipes! 

Gluten Free Graham Crackers

 I usually buy the Kinnickinnick Smoreables at the store because they are convenient and edible.  I have made homemade graham crackers before but they took a lot of  time.  My friend needed some graham cracker that needed to be gluten, dairy and soy free, so I offered to make some.  I pulled out my recipe, made a few adjustments, and we are now hooked. Now that we have been spoiled by these yummy ones, it will be hard to use the ones from the store.  I have figured out some tricks that make them much easier.  #1- you need a Silpat liner when rolling out gluten free doughs.  The doughs are so fragile that it is  hard to transfer them. When using a Silpat liner-  just roll it out on the liner, then slide it onto the pan.  They work great for these, as well as sugar cookies, or any dough that needs to be rolled.

#2- refrigerate the dough, and #3- use a cut Ziploc bag on top, this keeps the dough from sticking to the rolling pin.  This might sound intense, but doing these 3 things you will have your homemade graham crackers in no time.  I usually throw together the dough the night before and then it is ready for me the next day whenever I have time.  Now, with all that said, here is the recipe!

Graham Crackers

½ c. brown sugar

½ c. millet flour

¾ c. sorghum flour

1/3 c. tapioca flour

1/3 c. potato starch

1/3 c. oat flour(if you can't do oats, just use one of your favorite flours instead)

1 t. baking powder

½ t. xanthan gum

½ t. baking soda

½ t. salt

6 T. butter(Earthbalance dairy/soy free works great)

1 T. molasses

2 T. honey/agave(honey makes it tastes the most authentic, but agave is great too)

1 t. vanilla

3 T. cold water

Mix together dry ingredients.  Work in butter until crumbly.  Stir in remaining ingredients.  Refrigerate dough for 1 hour.  Place ½ of dough on a Silpat liner(this makes it so easy because you don’t have to transfer the dough).  Take a gallon Ziploc bag and cut the sides and place on top of the dough and then roll until about 1/8-1/4” thick.  Use pizza cutter to cut into desired size, prick with fork and bake at 325 for 12-15 min.  As soon as you take them out of the oven, use the pizza cutter to go back over the lines and cut again.  Repeat with remaining dough. 

*This is linked to Linda's gluten free wednesdays, check it out!

Homemade Freezer Jam

I am a jam snob; I cannot eat store bought jam!  I was raised on homemade wheat bread with homemade jam and I continued this tradition with my own family(until I realized the pain I was causing with the bread!)  Once you have homemade jam you can't go back.  For those of you who already make your own jam, this can be your reminder.  For everyone else, I want you to know how easy freezer jam is to make.  I can make a batch of raspberry jam in 5 minutes, no joke.  There are a lot of pectin's out there and basically the box will give you the recipe.  I have tried several brands and now only use Ball, instant pectin.  The main reason is for the sugar content, Ball uses much less sugar than any other brand.  I know there are low sugar pectins out there but when I tried them my jam didn't always set up.  Use whatever you can find, or the brand you prefer and get to work.  There are only 3 steps and here they are(amounts based on Ball Instant Pectin):

Homemade Freezer Jam

1- wash and mash fruit(3 1/3 c.mashed fruit)

2- mix sugar and pectin in a bowl(1 1/3 c. sugar + 1/4 c. pectin)

3-add fruit to sugar mixture and stir for 3 minutes

Pour into containers, let sit out for 30 minutes, then freeze or refrigerate.