Winter Delights

Hey everyone!
          It's been a while since my last posting so I thought that I'd make this posting a special one. This recipe is by no means sugar free. It is just simple, honest comfort food.
      Note: In this picture, everything you see is gluten free. In a future post I will most certainly expand on these recipes, but there is a pattern: I usually use 1-1 gluten free baking flour as a substitute for all purpose white and whole wheat flour. This has worked well for most of my recipes (although I do occasionally modify them) and in many cases I find the result to be a lighter, tastier version of my favourite foods. Feel free to try this with your favourite recipes- you may find it a welcome change!

Date Loaf, Banana Muffins and Em's Best Brownies 

Em's Best Brownies

Ingredients

1 cup plus 2 tbsp butter

1 ½ cups granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 ½ tsp vanilla

1 cup 1-1 Gluten Free Flour

2/3 cup cocoa

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Method

            Melt butter in medium saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat and stir in sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating with whisk until smooth. Stir in vanilla. Mix flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt Stir into butter mixture. Add chocolate chips.

            Pour into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350F for about 25 minutes or until cracked. 

*Really like icing? Want that extra little bit of sweetness? Try Fry's Chocolate Sauce! 

     This sauce keeps in the fridge for a few days and is easily reheated in the microwave (provided you don't first put it on the ice cream....). 

Ingredients

2/3 cup sugar

½ cup cocoa

½ cup water

½ cup butter

1 tsp vanilla

Method

Combine sugar and cocoa in a small saucepan. Stir in water. Stir over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil. Reduce heat and boil gently for 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat. Add in butter and vanilla.

Makes about 1 ½ cups. 

Chewy Goodness -Nut Free For School!

Peanut free? Challenge accepted!
     If you've read my first blog post on peanut butter cookies it is quite apparent that I have no aversion to peanuts, in fact, I love peanut butter so much I once went a whole month eating nothing but PB&J sandwiches for lunch.
     Unfortunately, peanut butter is not always an option. Anyone who has a peanut allergy, or knows someone with a peanut allergy, has to be exceedingly careful of what they make and eat. Since the recipe for Goody Two Chews is my favourite snack food recipe, I'm not about to give it up - but that doesn't mean I won't change it.
     I've removed the peanut butter, added more fruit, and a little extra honey and voilà- they're better than they were before! 

Goody Two Chews - Peanut Free!

Ingredients

1/2 cup honey or maple syrup*

2 egg whites

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

2 ½ cups granola

¾ cup dried cranberries

¼ cup raisins

¼ cup chopped dried apricots**

Method

            Preheat oven to 250F. Beat honey/maple syrup, egg whites and pumpkin pie spice until smooth. Stir in granola, cranberries, raisins and apricots. Divide into muffin tins and pack down softly. Bake for 45 minutes. Cool completely before removing from pan.

*I really like buckwheat honey in this recipe

**You can add any type of dried fruit you like, you just have to remember that adding too much fruit may make a super crumbly granola bar.

Side note: looking for more of a muffin than a granola bar? Try adding apple sauce! It tastes delicious and is less likely to crumble- but be careful, too much apple sauce will make the ‘muffin’ soggy. I recommend adding about ¼ - ½ cup of apple sauce. 

Chewy Goodness

I've made you wait, given you a granola recipe and by now you're going, huh??
But here it is: my favourite snack of all times!

Goody Two Chews

     These healthy, delicious tasting snacks are the perfect hold-me-over when driving home from work or finishing a hard day at school. You can even freeze them for a rainy day! Goody Two Chews are light but packed with protein and fruit- a delightful combination. 

     This snack beats granola bars by a mile because you know what you put in them. 

Enjoy! 

Ingredients

1/3 cup natural peanut butter

1/3 cup honey or maple syrup

2 egg whites

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

2 ½ cups granola

¾ cup dried cranberries

Method

            Preheat oven to 250F. Beat peanut butter and maple syrup. Add egg whites and pumpkin pie spice and beat until smooth. Stir in granola and cranberries. Divide into muffin tins. Bake for 45 minutes. Cool completely before removing from pan. 

The Beginning Of All Good Things

Hi everyone,

       I recently posted about muffins and cookies -great snack foods and if they're healthy, well that's even better! I had a request for sugar free snacks, and I do have a few of those up my sleeve but I thought I'd start with the base for some of those delicious snacks. Granola.
       There's so many granolas out there that I could live to be 1000 and probably wouldn't be able to try them all. So what makes this granola different?
Well, for starters -it's homemade. You know exactly what is in it; gluten free, peanut butter free, egg free, no hidden calories, fats or oils, only what you put in. Secondly, it makes a lot of granola and you can store it in the freeze both prior to cooking it and after you cook it. Finally, it tastes delicious.
       Why tell you this? It's great as a cereal or muesli in the morning, as a lunch-time snack with fruit or as a I'm-craving-need-munchies-NOW food and it makes great snacks when combined with other food stuffs (more on this in a later post).

Granola

So here's my recipe for granola:  

Ingredients

5 cups rolled oats (GF)

1 cup oat bran

1 cup Quinoa Flakes

1 cup raw sunflower seeds, hulled

1 cup unsweetened coconut

½ cup raw sesame seeds

¾ cup honey or maple syrup

¾ cup oil

Method

Mix all ingredients except honey and oil together*. Add honey/maple syrup to mixture and stir thoroughly. Spread across a large baking sheet. Bake at 325F for 10 minutes, remove from oven and stir. Return to oven for another 10 minutes. Repeat process about 4 times (about 40 minutes) or until granola is a light golden brown colour. Feel free to add nuts, dried fruit or anything else you love in granola!

*If waiting to cook: freeze all these ingredients in a container for later use.

Note: maple syrup seems to make the granola slightly less clumpy than the honey. 

Mix and Mash Cookies

Hi all!

I have a great recipe here that is healthy, delicious and takes all of 2 ingredients! Don't believe me? Take a look:

Mix and Mash Cookies

Ingredients: 

2 large bananas

1 cup oatmeal (GF if needed)

*coconut, raisins, walnuts, your favourite ingredients etc. 

*these are all optional ingredients. I like adding the coconut, it gives it a different texture. 

Method 

    Mash ripe bananas. Add oatmeal and stir until completely coated. Add favourite ingredient. Bake at 350F for 13-15 minutes, until starting to crisp on the bottom. 

Homemade Gluten Free Snacks

Hi everyone,

         It occurs to me that those of us lucky enough to get a bit of a longer holiday break are about to go back to our regular routines and some of us are already there. It often seems a bit depressing to go back to normalcy after a few days off so to get away from all the down feelings why not create something new? A just-for-you gluten free snack: muffins!
         One of my favourite muffins is the lemon poppy seed muffin. It comes in many forms and many different recipes but I love this recipe because it is quick, easy and healthier than some of the other recipes I've seen! Takes maybe half an hour, no more. 

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Ingredients

2 cups 1-1 gluten free flour mix 

½ cup granulated sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

¼ cup poppy seeds

1 egg lightly beaten

¾ cup milk

¼ cup vegetable oil

Grated rind of 1 or 2 lemons

¼ cup lemon juice

Method

In a large bowl combine flours, sugar, poppy seeds, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl mix eggs, milk, oil, lemon rind and lemon juice. Pour into flour mixture and stir until just moistened. Don’t over mix. Bake at 375F for 15-20 minutes. 

Makes a dozen muffins. 

Happy New Year

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Congratulations everyone, we've made it through another year! I wish you all a happy new year.

         I could ramble on for hours about goals, resolutions, traditions and everything in between but I think you've heard it all- and really, I'm only interested in sharing with you my love of baking: 

Ginger Cookies

        Ginger has long been regarded as a highly medicinal plant. One of it's common uses is to treat the upset stomach. Whether it be fresh ginger root, ginger tea or flat ginger ale (a frequently used remedy in my household) ginger is often seen as a cure-all. But in almost all societies ginger has also taken on another role -flavour. In cookies, cakes, curries and more ginger has become a wonderfully used spice. So in honor of the new year and a flavourful yet healthy start here is a ginger cookie recipe. These can be both snaps and soft ginger molasses cookies depending on how you roll them out. 

Ginger Cookies

Snappy or Soft

Ingredients

½ cup butter

1 cup molasses

1 tsp baking soda

3 tsp boiling water

2-3 cups 1-1 gluten free flour mix

1 tsp cinnamon

3 tsp ginger

¼ tsp cloves

Method

In a small sauce pan melt butter. Add molasses and bring to boil, stirring steadily. Remove from heat. In a small bowl dissolve baking soda in boiling water. Add to molasses mixture. Set aside to cool for 15 minutes.

        In a mixing bowl sift 2 cups of flour, ginger, cinnamon and clove. Stir in cooled molasses mixture. Add enough flour to make a soft dough. Chill in the fridge for 20 minutes. Take out of fridge and add enough flour to make a good rolling cookie dough.

Snaps: on a floured surface roll out dough and cut into desired shape. Fits about 12 to a tray. Bake at 375F for 5-8 minutes until set.

Soft molasses cookie: hand roll into small walnut sized balls and press down with a fork. Fits about 12 to a tray. Bake at 375F for 5-8 minutes until set.