Homemade Hippie Granola

This recipe was given to me from a dear friend at work who made it for Christmas. My parents ate it every single day they were visiting so I ran out of it quickly.  I had to make some adjustments from the original recipe as a lot of products "may contain nuts/wheat" but it turned out pretty fantastic! Give it a try on yogurt for breakfast.

2 cups of gluten-free oats (such as Bob's Red Mill GF rolled)
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup melted coconut oil (I used olive)
1 cup mixed dried fruit (cranberries, raisins, dates, blueberries)
1 cup seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, flax, sesame, hemp hearts) This proved quite difficult to find nut free. In the GF section at Superstore there is a bag of GF NF seeds by Enjoy Life. I used this and added a few tablespoons of flax, sesame and hemp hearts.
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup coconut flakes (I couldn't find these nut free anywhere. I left it out and put in the difference in oats)
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

In a large bowl mix the oats, seeds and cinnamon. In a separate bowl mix the honey, oil and vanilla together.  Combine the two mixtures together, stirring well. Leave out the dried fruit and coconut flakes, as these will take less time to cook and can burn.

Spread granola out onto a baking sheet. Bake until golden, about 20 minutes but stir at the 10 minute mark. After 20 minutes, add the coconut flakes, and dried fruit. Stir it in.

At 30 minutes, remove granola from oven and let cool.  Once it has cooled, add the chocolate chips.

This is money on top of vanilla yogurt!

Gluten-free Oatmeal Pancakes

Yurm. That pretty much says all you need to know about these pancakes. They are low-fat and high-protein. My friend Allison made them for me a few weeks ago when I went to visit her on vacation. The original recipe can be found here and you will see that theirs are more like berry crepes. I like making a thick pancake and throwing some berries on top. As someone who has high cholesterol the egg whites are a great idea.

1/2 cup egg whites (about 4 eggs will do the trick or buy the egg white in the cartons at the store)
1/2 cup gluten-free oats ( I use Bob's Red Mill Rolled GF Oats)
1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese
1/8 tsp baking powder

In a blender, put the wet ingredients in first, then add the oats and baking powder. Blend until smooth. (Blend, blend, blend. You don't want chunky oats.)

Pour about 1/4 cup of mix onto a heated skillet. I flip my pancakes when the bubbles stay open. I'd say this makes about 2-3 pancakes. I halved the recipe and I only got one out of it. Heartbreak. So make the whole thing.

Asparagus and Smoked Salmon Quiche

This has been a family favourite for years but until recently, I hadn't made a gluten-free version. I found a gf pie crust courtesy of the Lakeview Bakery. It definitely wasn't the same as homemade or my old standby, Tenderflake but it reminded me that quiches aren't out of my reach even while I'm Celiac.

I always found this meal quick and easy, provided I cheated and used a pre-made crust. If you have your own pastry recipe, go ahead and if you have a good gf one, forward it please!

Recipe came from my Dad but I think he must have got the original from Canadian Living. He never puts green onions in.

1 9-inch cooked pie crust (instructions on Tenderflake box for lazy people like me)
6-8 spears of asparagus
1 Tbsp of vegetable oil
3 oz of smoked salmon, chopped (uh I think that's about a cup)
2 green onions, chopped
3 Tbsp goat cheese
3 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 pinch salt
1 pinch pepper

While you cook your pie crust, snap off the woody ends of the asparagus. Trim them to about 4 inches in length. In a skillet, heat oil over medium heat and fry the asparagus for about 5 minutes.

Sprinkle the cooked pie crust with salmon and green onions. Crumble the goat cheese over top. Whisk the eggs together with milk, salt and pepper; pour over the salmon mixture in pie shell. Arrange the asparagus stalks over the quiche like the spokes of a wheel, or whatever floats your boat.

Bake in the centre of the oven for 35-40 minutes at 375 F. Check with a knife by inserting into middle and it should come out clean. Let cool for 5 minutes and enjoy!

Serves 4 and goes great with a spring green salad! I have also made a variation by leaving the asparagus out and adding some dill to the egg mixture.

"It's almost Superbowl season" Cornbread

I made chili this weekend (which with some adjustments might wind up here but I am still looking for a superb recipe) and realized that I haven't tried to make cornbread since I was diagnosed Celiac. Well problem solved! This is probably better than any "gluten-loaded" cornbread that I ever made.

1 1/2 cups stone-ground cornmeal
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/3 cup rice flour
2 teaspoons guar gum
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs beaten
1 1/2 cups buttermilk*
4 Tbsp butter, melted
1 14 oz can whole kernel corn, drained or 2 cups fresh or thawed frozen corn kernels

*To make buttermilk when you don't have any, you can make a substitution. In 1 cup of milk add a Tbsp of lemon juice and let it sit in the fridge for 10 minutes. Increase amounts but keep the ratio.

Position oven rack in center of the oven. Preheat oven to 425F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.

In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients and stir with a whisk. Stir in the eggs, buttermilk and the butter. Mix until smooth. Fold in the corn kernels. Pour into the pan. The original recipe says that here you should loosely over the pan with aluminum foil and bake for 25 to 30 minutes which I tried but then the middle of the bread didn't cook as quickly. Next time, I'd leave the foil off but I'd check it at 15-20 minutes.

It is cooked when a wooden skewer that is inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Remove from oven, let cool, and cut into squares.

Yurm!

Recipe courtesy of Blackbird Bakery.

Chocolate Mint Squares

This recipe comes from my mother, Margie Heard, and her copy of it was 30 years old and pretty much illegible (which she said, "makes the challenge all the more fun!") It's a family favourite  and today we experimented with a gluten-free option.

1 cup chocolate mint chocolate chips
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup icing sugar
1 egg, beaten
2 cups of graham cracker crumbs (gluten-free optional)
2 cups icing sugar
2 Tbsp milk

In a small saucepan, melt the chocolate chips, and 1/4 cup of the butter. Once melted, remove 1/4 cup of this mixture and set aside. To the remainder in the saucepan, add 1/4 cup of icing sugar and the egg. Stir this together and once combined, add the graham cracker crumbs. Mix thoroughly. This should be thick enough that it makes almost a ball of dough. Put this into an 8inch pan and spread flat. Place pan in fridge to chill.

In another bowl, add the remaining 1/4 cup softened butter to 2 cups of icing sugar and the milk. Using an electric beater, mix this until it is smooth. Spread over the chocolate and graham crust. On top of this you add the reserved chocolate mix from earlier and refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.

Optional: You can add green food colouring to the icing sugar but we opted out.

Lemon Poppyseed Blueberry Muffins (gluten free)

If you are cooking gluten-free, then you need to familiarize yourself with Karen Morgan of the Blackbird Bakery. Her baking book was recommended to me when I was diagnosed Celiac and everything I've made from it (scones, crepes, muffins) has been delicious. The texture of things is obviously different from your non-gluten free baked goods but she has got the flavour down. Today, there is a snowstorm in Nova Scotia so Mom and I tried her blueberry muffin recipe and I learned how to brown butter.

This recipe makes 12 small muffins

4 1/2 Tbsp browned butter (instructions to follow)
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp rice flour
1/4 cup tapioca flour
3 Tbsp cornstarch
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp guar gum
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
2 whole eggs
1/3 cup sour cream
1 cup blueberries
1 Tbsp lemon zest
1 Tbsp poppyseeds

Preheat oven to 350F (recipe called for 375 but we found that was too hot and was burning the tops). Line a cupcake pan with muffin liners.

To brown the butter, melt it in a saucepan over medium heat. Once the butter has melted, swirl the pan around, slightly lifted off of the element. Do this very gently and continue until the butter pops and takes on a darker colour. This took me quite some time so I don't think I have it down yet. I'd say a good 5 minutes.  Remove from the heat once you see grainy brown specks appear and put it in a bowl to stop the browning the process and cool down.

Combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl with a whisk. Pour the browned butter into the dry ingredients and stir five times. Add the eggs and sour cream to the bowl and stir to combine until you no longer see any dry bits. The batter should be thick. Add the lemon zest and poppyseeds, stir these in and then finally fold the blueberries in gently. Don't overmix as the colour will bleed into the batter.

Using a spoon, divide the mixture into the muffin pan. Fill each liner about 2/3 full. This should make about 12 muffins.

Bake for 20-25 minutes (ours took 22 minutes exactly!)

Mayo Family Rumballs!

If there is one thing my East Coast family likes to bake with, it's rum. My grandmother, Joan Mayo, is famous for her Danish Rum Souffle,  and every Christmas I beg for these rumballs. They are nut-free and this is my first attempt to make them gluten-free. I regularly double the recipe to have enough to give away to friends and keep some for myself.

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup icing sugar
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 eggs
1 pinch of salt
2 Tbsp of dark rum
1 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (I used gluten-free ones this year)
Chocolate sprinkles (I usually hoard a few jars from the cake decoration aisle)

Combine butter, icing sugar, chocolate chips in a double boiler. I don't own one so I put a stainless steel bowl over a pot that's half-filled with water. Beat and add the eggs. Add the pinch of salt. Stir the ingredients over boiling water until it melts and is smooth. Remove from heat and add the rum and graham crumbs. Mix well and chill in the fridge until the mixture is quite stiff.

Using a solid spoon (cheap ones will bend), cut out about a tablespoon of the batter. Roll in your hands until it forms a small ball. Roll this in a bowl of chocolate sprinkles to cover.

Keep in fridge. Happy Holidays!

Chocolate Chocolate Cake

This recipe comes from the infamous Margie Heard but I think she got it from my aunt, Catherine. (Waiting on confirmation.) It's chocolate cake that is mix-easy but has some improvements that make it awesomesauce.

Chocolate Cake Mix (2 Layers) To make this gluten-free, get 2 boxes of Betty Crocker's gf devil's food cake mix.
Instant chocolate pudding mix (4 portion)
4 eggs large
1/2 cup cooking oil
1/2 cup warm water
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Another 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips :)
2-3 Tbsp butter
1 cup berries of your choice, I like blackberries and raspberries but Mom says blueberries and strawberries.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Combine cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, oil, water, oil and sour cream in large bowl. Beat on low to moisten then increase to medium speed for 2-3 minutes. Stir in chocolate chips. Turn into a greased bundt pan.

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes. Use a pick to check and it is done when it comes clean. Immediately turn upside down on a wire rack. Let stand. Move to rack and it should fall out onto a plate.

Glaze when cool. To make the glaze melt 1/2 cup of chocolate chips with the butter. Mix and drizzle over the cake; it should be thick. Decorate with berries.

Enjoy with  friends! My family has a great tradition where when we cut a cake for birthdays, everyone gets to make a wish. This comes from the South African side of the family but we are not sure when/who started it. After you blow out the candles the birthday person holds the knife over the cake and everyone puts their hand over it. As a group you lower the knife, cut the cake and everyone makes a wish. Like this!

Butterlicious Gluten-free Cupcakes

Ok so this is mostly based on a mix recipe. But I made a wonderous discovery that is true to this blog's name. I accidentally doubled the butter in the recipe tonight but decided to cook them anyway because I have two beliefs in food: 1. bacon makes everything better and  2. butter is basically liquid bacon.

So with no further ado, here is my new and improved gluten-free cupcake recipe courtesy of Betty Crocker's box.

1 Betty Crocker gluten-free Devil's Food Cake mix. (425g)
1 cup of water
3 eggs
1 cup of softened butter (recipe calls for a half but...)


Preheat oven to 350F.

Combine the mix, water, eggs and butter. Beat on low speed for one minute and then increase to medium speed for 2 minutes.

Pour into cupcake liners. Bake for 18-24 minutes. Stick with a toothpick and they are ready when the pick comes out clean.

My friend, Jessie, came over tonight to help me ice them and we taste tested the regular butter and extra butter batches. She's a non-celiac and affirmed that the extra butter made them taste close to normal. And yes, I am well aware of the fact that a cup of butter is the opposite of healthy but considering how little baking I now eat being celiac, I figure one batch of cupcakes that actually taste good won't kill me.

Buttermilk gluten-free biscuits (that don't taste like cardboard)

This recipe was shared to me via Sherry who has been a wealth of information since I found out I was celiac. She put me onto the Blackbird Bakery which is full of delicious recipes. I used to bake scones every weekend and thanks to this book, I still can!

Makes 8 biscuits

1/2 cup sorghum flour
1 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup tapioca flour (plus 1/4 cup for dusting)
1 tsp guar gum
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 Tbsp baking powder
3 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, diced
3 Tbsp cold vegetable shortening, diced
1 cup buttermilk (you can make buttermilk by adding 1 Tbsp of lemon juice to regular milk and letting it stand in the fridge for 10 minutes. It gets chunky, that's ok)
2 to 3 Tbsp water, if needed.

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees F. Position rack in middle of the oven.

In a large bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients. Stir with a whisk to blend. Add the butter and vegetable shortening. Using a pastry cutter (or your hands), cut the fats into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles small peas.

Stir the buttermilk until the dough forms a ball. It's usually pretty gungy at this point and looks like a right disaster. Just trust it. If the mixture is too dry, add water 1 Tbsp at a time. I usually don't.

Turn the dough onto a counter that has been dusted with tapioca flour. Knead until very smooth, 3 to 4 turns. Biscuits are better the less you knead them, that's a tip from Omy Mayo.

Form the dough into a disk 1 inch thick. Using a 3-inch biscuit cutter (or scotch glass), cut out biscuits. I dust the glass with flour to prevent sticking.

Put the biscuits on an unbuttered cookie sheet. I usually do 2 batches of 4 biscuits at a time because unlike most gluten-free cooking, these actually rise!

Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Remove from oven and transfer to wire rack to cool.

I recommend you serve these with Allison Inkpen's cherry jam or anything from Island Preserves.