Gluten Free Maple Bars

YES!

Gluten Free Maple Bars!

I was craving a maple bar, really the 

only type of donuts I like and which

I have not had in 6 years.

This recipe is interesting as it has no yeast

but the dough ends up frying up like a yeast donut

not a cake one.

It was suggested on the site to eat while warm

but I actually enjoyed them even more 

when they had sat an hour 

and even the next morning.

Disclaimer:

I have not had a donut in 6 years!! 

I may not be the best judge of 

the texture and taste but my son

who has only been GF for a month 

said they were excellent.

Donuts

1 egg beaten

1 c. buttermilk

1/8 c. butter melted

 mix together

2 1/2 c.GF flour

(I used Mamas almond blend)

1/2 c. sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

t tsp. xantham gum

mix together

Add wet ingredients to dry mix gently

then knead a few times.

Let sit for 15 minutes.

Roll out on rice flour dusted surface, 

to about 1/2 inch deep.

Cut into squares about 2x2.

Fry in very hot oil until brown on both sides.

Drain on paper towel.

Frost when mostly cool.

Maple Frosting

1/4 c. melted butter

1 tsp maple flavoring

1 T. milk

1 1/2 c. powdered sugar

Beat until smooth

Sweet and Salty Fritos Snack Mix

This recipe is gluten free

and was a big hit with everyone who 

tried it, especially my little niece 

who enjoyed the peanut M&Ms 

with out the rest:)

2 c.Corn Chex

10.5 oz bag Fritos

2 c. GF Pretzels

1 1/2 c. Peanuts

Mix in large bowl

1 c. Brown sugar

1/2 c. butter

1/2 c. corn syrup

Melt over medium heat. let mixture come to a boil

and then boil for 4 minutes without stirring.

Pour over Frito mixture, stir to coat evenly.

Transfer mix to a large roasting pan

and bake at 350* for 8 minutes.

Remove from oven, stir and bake for 

8 minutes more.

Transfer mixture to a wax paper lined

counter and let cool completely.

When cooled sprinkle with 

1-2 c. Peanut M&Ms.

Store in airtight container.

Modified from recipe

at

Recipe Girl

What's For Dinner?

It's all Gluten Free these days as my son 

is eating that way too now...makes it a lot

more simple for me!

Gluten Free Tea Experience

This week I had an enjoyable experience

going with a group of ladies for tea

at Myrtles Tea Shop in Ridgefield.

The best part was that with 48 hour notice

they can accomodate special

dietary needs so I was able,

for the first time in 5 years, go for

tea and have it be gluten free!

They did a marvelous presentation

of the food and all the GF items were

very good.

 I would highly recommend the shop!

 Regular vs Gluten Free

Regular vs GF

Tea shop gift area



Gluten Free Fall Baking

 Spice cookies w/ Pumpkin Kisses
Spice Blossom Cookies

 

 

 Cinnamon Rolls
 

Caramel Apple Cake
chunky caramel apple cake

 

 

All 3 were good in their own way

and as with most things GF they are

best when fresh.

I modified regular recipes

for the cake and cookies
(see links)

and tried a recipe from a friend for the

cinnamon rolls.

Coffee Toffee Bars

These bars are a treat I've always

enjoyed at Christmas time

when my sis in law Amy makes them.

However being GF has taken that

pleasure away.

The other night I was craving something

different for a snack and suddenly

remembered these and decided to try

them GF and they are just as

good!

Coffee Toffee Bars

 

1 c. butter

1 c. brown sugar

1 tsp almond extract

1 T. instant coffee powder

2 1/4 c. flour (I used Mamas Almond mix)

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 c. chocolate chips

 

Combine butter, sugar, almond extract &

coffee powder. Cream together. Combine

dry ingredients & add to creamed mixture.

Stir in Chocolate chips.

Press into 9x13 pan. Bake at 350*

for 20 minutes. Cool. Frost with

almond buttercream frosting if desired.

 

Frosting

1/2 c. butter

3 c. powdered sugar

3 T. milk

1 tsp almond extract

Combine all and beat until light & fluffy.

 

They are actually very good without the

frosting also, but I'm a frosting lover so

I did them like Amy does!



Oregon Beach 2012

We could not have asked for better

weather in our time at the beach.

Each day was warm enough to be

out in the sand all afternoon,

the house we rented was just

beautiful in a lovely

cottage neighborhood

just a short walk and

(109 steps down to the beach:)

and lots of good food!

 As always the little kids are the ones

who make it so fun with their

true excitement over every

butterfly ,crab, wave and grain of sand.

But a good time was had by all...

 I even got to enjoy GF chowder at

 Bay Walk Cafe in Depoe Bay

 and GF pancakes at Pig'n Pancake!



Sometimes I Really ...

don't like having to live Gluten Free!

Let me explain...

I carefully read ingredients, ask questions at 

restaurants, make separate suppers for 

myself, never cheat on my lifetime "diet",

and lo and behold, somehow

a sneaky molecule or two of gluten gets in my food

and I am SICK...for 4-5 days or sometimes a week.

The worst part is that I didn't even cheat and have

something I really wanted to eat

like a warm piece of sourdough bread,

or a cake pop, or a croissant, or a a cinnamon roll-

That's what I'm dealing with today and have been

since Friday night...

The only cure...time...

so I exist on a plain rice diet until 

further notice!

My Favorite Local Coffee Shop

 Reason #1

It's locally owned and run by great people

 Reason #2

It has great architecture because it used to be

a church, and they've enhanced it with 

some great items like old doors

for chalkboards.

Reason #3

They make the best pumpkin pie latte ever

Reason #4

 They have gluten free scones every day

and GF bread to make deli sandwiches:)

Be sure to stop by if you haven't already!

Main Street, Old Town,  Battleground, WA

Tahiti Bars-YummO!

Be sure to check out the recipe for "Tahiti Sweeties"

@Recipeaholic!

They are absolutely delish...

 I made mine with Gluten free flour,

and they are still yummy!

Be sure to bake them just long enough

so they are still a little jiggly when you take them

  out of the oven, that way they are moist

and gooey.

Gingerbread Granola

(Gluten Free)

 Gingerbread Granola

3 c. old fashioned oats

1 c. chopped pecans

1 c. chopped walnuts

1/2 c. flax seed

1/2 c. dark brown sugar

1/3 c. molasses

1/3 c. vegetable oil

1 T. vanilla

3/4 tsp. salt

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger

3/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1 c. golden raisins

1.Preheat oven to 300*.

Line jellyroll size pan with foil.

2. In a large bowl, mix oats, nuts and seeds.

In another bowl whisk rest of ingredients.

Stir molasses mixture into oat mixture.

Spread evenly in pan.

3. Bake granola until browned, 45-50 minutes

stirring every 10-15 minutes.

Let cool, stirring occasionally

Toss in raisins and mix.

modified from recipe in "All You" magazine

Tea for One

This may be a concept that some of you will

find strange, but if I want to have a

tea party, I can't walk into a cute tea shop

with friends and settle in for a lovely time.

That's because there are no tea shops that

are gluten-free!

So If I want to have an elegant and tasty

tea party I have to do it myself...

While I was at the beach alone

I enjoyed a very nice tea for one,

the conversation was somewhat one-sided:)

but there was no arguing at least!

I had scones, sandwiches, and "sweeties"

as the English say and many cups of

hot tea...

I felt very vintage in my dress, pearls, and shoes.
(Oh, and by the way, all the lovely dishes
I have are Goodwill finds:)

Gluten Free Puff Pastry Experience

For any of you who don't know this,

making things that are gluten free is a

whole new experience.

I have been doing this for 3 1/2 years

and I still struggle. But hope springs eternal

and when I found a recipe for GF puff pastry

I was so excited to try it!

Above you can see some of the steps

it took to get to the blueberry turnovers on the bottom.

But the process was so time consuming

(all day) and difficult that I had to include the pic below...

Here I am standing on a footstool (because I'm too short)

trying (with no bicep muscles)

to roll frozen butter chunks into very cold dough!

It made me so mad and then I started laughing

at how ridiculous it was so I thought I'd include this shot.

By the way...was it worth it? NO! They tasted like
very tough piecrust with grease bubbling out the sides.
I think it's time to go back to eating healthy
and therefore avoiding anything involving cold butter!

Pink Challenge #4

Pink Island Bread (gluten free)

2 T. butter
2 T. cream cheese
1 C. sugar
2 eggs
2 C. GF all purpose Flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
2 mashed ripe bananas
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1/2 c. cherry juice
1 tsp. almond extract
1/2c. toasted pecans, chopped
1/4 c. shredded, sweetened coconut
1 can tart cherries, drained well
1-2 drops red food coloring (optional)

Topping
1/4 c. sugar
2 tsp butter melted
2 tsp cherry juice
2 tsp water
1/4 tsp almond extract
1 T. toasted, chopped pecans
1/4 c. coconut

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and butter until combined. Add 1 c. sugar, beat well. Add eggs and oil, beat until mixed thoroughly.
In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir well.
In another bowl mix bananas, cherry juice, almond extract and food coloring.
Add flour mixture to egg mixture alternating with banana mixture. Mix well. Stir in pecans, coconut and cherries. Spoon into a greased loaf pan. Bake at 375 for 1 hr and 15 minutes. Cool in pan for 5 minutes. Remove from pan and allow to cool on wire rack.

For the topping, combine sugar, 2 tsp butter, 2 tsp cherry juice and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in coconut, pecans and almond flavoring. Spoon over top of bread.

I'll Have One of Everything

For those of you who live on bread, muffins, croissants etc. you have no idea how hard it is to follow a gluten free diet for the rest of your life! So whenever I'm in Sisters, Ore. I always stop in at Angeline's Bakery. There I can step up to the counter and order just like a "normal" person..."I'll have a muffin, scone, brownie, one of each kind of cookie and a toffee bar!" because they bake lots of different things that are gluten free and I can actually have a choice! You have no idea how happy that makes me....yummmmmm