Gluten Free Double Chocolate Muffins Recipe

Here's an easy gluten free "back to school" muffin recipe. Muffins surprise me. Sometimes I like them. Sometimes I don't. I've realized I'm not a fan of fruit muffins because they are often very moist and can go bad quickly (I've eaten one too many soggy fruit muffins). 

Chocolate muffins on the other hand? Well they might as well be cake! I can definitely do "cake" for breakfast or as a mid-morning snack. 

These muffins are super easy to whip together because I used the revised gluten free Master Baking Mix as the base.  Feel free to use any gluten free all purpose baking mix you have on hand! 

Karen M., a dear friend from the GLG Facebook page has become my unofficial recipe tester. She tested these muffins a few weeks ago with her family and here's what she said: "Muffins went over great this morning! We doubled the recipe, used rice milk and used sugar. Made super sized and baked for 23 min. My mom has been craving a double chocolate muffin so she joined us for breakfast and we ate them all! Thanks!"

My husband is not a huge fan of baked goods (unless you count these chocolate chip cookies -- those don't last 24 hours in our house)  but he really enjoyed these muffins and took a few with him to work. If you are a chocolate fan, I think you'll really enjoy these easy gluten free double chocolate muffins. 

Gluten Free Double Chocolate Master Mix Muffins
free of gluten, dairy/casein, and soy
created by carrie @ gingerlemongirl.com
print-friendly recipe. 

Makes 6 muffins

1 cup Revised Gluten Free Master Baking Mix
2 tablespoons baking cocoa
1/4 cup agave nectar or- sugar
1/3 cup almond milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup allergen-free chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with 6 paper liners. In a medium sized bowl add gluten free master baking mix and cocoa. Stir together and add milk, egg, agave, and vanilla. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Fold in chocolate chips. Fill muffin tins 3/4 full with batter. Bake for 17-20 minutes until muffins are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Carrie's Notes:

• Egg Free Option: To make this egg free, simply mix 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds with 3 tablespoons hot water. Mix together, allow it to gel and then add it to the wet ingredients in place of the egg. The muffins won't rise quite as high, but will still be quite good!
• Non-dairy milk: Any non-dairy milk substitute will work. Karen used rice milk, I generally prefer almond milk. So use what your family loves. 
• Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Mix: If you don't have any Master Mix -OR- any general gluten free all purpose baking mix simply use: 1/3 cup sorghum flour, 1/3 cup brown rice flour, and 1/3 cup arrowroot starch, 2 teaspoons baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum. Also add 1-2 tablespoons of vegetable oil to the wet ingredients. 

This recipe has been included in this week's Gluten Free Wednesdays food carnival hosted by Linda at The Gluten Free Homemaker. 

Gluten Free Vegan Crusty Bread Recipe

Gluten free vegan bread, a few slices from the first batch.

When I first went gluten free I had no idea that I would learn to make my own bread. To be honest, I didn't really eat a lot of bread before I went gluten free. It makes sense to me now -- that by default I instinctively often avoided foods that hurt my body.

Several weeks into being gluten free, I decided to give gluten free bread a try. I used a few recipes from Bette Hagman. I used a bread machine. I made okay bread.

Gradually over the past 4 years I've learned how to make really good bread. I love the techniques involved in baking. I'm always learning more.

Part of this journey has included learning about other foods that also hurt my tummy or cause allergic reactions. I never thought I'd be a person who people considered "picky" when it came to eating. I was the buffet girl. I'd eat anything you put in front of me.

Now that dairy/casein, soy, corn, and shrimp are also not a part of my diet it makes me have great empathy for people with restricted diets.

Many people who cannot tolerate gluten also cannot tolerate eggs, especially while they are still healing. One thing you'll learn about gluten free baking is that normally it uses a LOT of eggs. Thankfully my body can handle the eggs, but I know this is a huge struggle for some people. It can also be costly for everyone else.

Below is a tutorial on making this bread. It's a beautiful process. This "5 minutes a day" technique takes a bit longer time-wise than a loaf of sandwich bread, but I think it is more rewarding and has a much better flavor. Also since you're splitting the dough into two loaves the yeast doesn't have to work quite so hard to help the bread have a higher rise. While these loaves aren't quite as high as a wheat-based french bread, they have a fantastic texture, a beautiful appearance, and slice up well.

Time for bread.

The recipe is below the tutorial. Make this bread by hand at least once so you know what to expect with the texture of the dough. When you feel comfortable with the process, then try making the bread with your stand mixer if you'd like.

First measure out and whisk together the flours, xanthan gum, guar gum, sea salt, and baking powder. Whisking helps incorporate air into your dry ingredients along with making sure the ingredients are mixed evenly.

Next add the rapid rise yeast & honey (or maple syrup) to the warm water. Allow it to sit alone for about 5 minutes to proof. Once the mixture has a yeasty aroma, has turned cloudy, and has started bubbling at the top, it's time to proceed.

Next, you'll add the oil to your yeast mixture and then pour it into the dry ingredients.

Begin to stir. I really enjoy using a wooden spoon. Not sure if it's for nostalgia's sake or if it just seems to incorporate the ingredients well. At first it will look like a wet biscuit dough. Keep stirring.

After the dough looks like biscuit dough, it will slowly thicken up once the gums start working. Next it will look like a thick cake batter. Finally, you'll be able to stir the dough into a stiff batter that will form a loose shape. Gently shape the dough into a ball with the wooden spoon.

Once you have the dough in a ball, pour a few tablespoons of olive oil on it to coat the dough, so you can work it into a solid mass. With your hands, spread the oil over the dough and move the dough to an oiled bowl to rise.

I love using this salad bowl to let the dough rise. A wooden dough bowl works well too. I prefer not to rise dough in a metal bowl because when I used to make wheat-based sourdough, it was said that the metal could interfere with the action of the natural yeast. Now it's time to let the bread rise. Cover the bread with plastic wrap or a tea towel. Allow it to rise in a warm place in the kitchen. Go play. Wash the dishes. Read a good book. This will take 2-3 hours. Give the bread time.

Once the dough has doubled in size it's time to shape the bread into loaves. There is nothing in this world that will make you feel like a baker more than creating your own loaves of bread. Enjoy this.

To shape your dough, you first must move the dough to a floured surface, preferably parchment paper on a cookie sheet that you can slide onto a hot pizza/baking stone. Flour the parchment paper with millet flour or brown rice flour to help give it a crusty bottom. Gently pour the dough from the bowl onto the floured surface.

Using a very sharp knife cut the dough into two loaves or boules (rustic oval loaves of bread) Gently pat them into an oval, careful not to flatten the dough. It will sink slightly while you are shaping it. Don't be alarmed. Now it's time to preheat the oven. If you're using a pizza/baking stone, place the stone (not the bread) in the oven and preheat to 400 degrees. You want the stone to become very hot.

Next, with a sharp knife, add 3 small 1/4" slits on the top of each loaf. This is to decorate your bread and give it an artisan touch. Try not to make the cuts too deep.

While the oven is heating, it's time to allow the bread to rest and rise one more time.  If you want the bread to have a "floury" appearance, like "real" bakery bread, simply sprinkle and gently pat extra millet flour or brown rice flour over the two loaves. Then gently cover the two loaves with plastic wrap or a tea towel and leave them in a warm spot in your kitchen for about 30 minutes. They will rise slightly. After 30 minutes slide the parchment paper with your bread onto the hot pizza stone in the oven -OR- slide the cookie sheet  with your parchment paper and loaves on it into the oven. You'll bake the bread for about 35-40 minutes.

Your bread is finished when you can tap on it and it sounds a bit hollow. It should be golden brown and if you check the temperature with a food thermometer it should be around 180-190 degrees. Allow the bread to cool for at least an hour.

Ideally you can cool the bread on a wire rack, that works really well. It really is important to allow the bread to cool for at least an hour if not more. Because the bread is still warm after being pulled from the oven it's technically still "cooking" and if you slice into it too soon, it will be a bit gooey, especially since it doesn't have eggs.

In the very top picture of sliced bread, I allowed the loaf to cool over an hour which resulted in perfectly textured bread. With this loaf, I was in a hurry to get good pictures and I sliced it after about 30 minutes. I should have waited a bit longer. This loaf is just slightly more moist and doughy than the first loaf. Patience is important with good bread.

Now it's your turn. Time to make bread. Gluten free, egg free, soy free, dairy free yeast bread. Baking bread is a soothing, patient process. Give it time. If it doesn't work the first time, try it again. Good bread takes practice. Allow your hands to learn the movements of mixing the dough and shaping the loaves. Enjoy the process. Go. Make bread.

Gluten Free Vegan Crusty Bread Recipe
free of gluten, dairy/casein, soy, and eggs
created by carrie forbes of gingerlemongirl.com
print-friendly recipe. 

1 1/4 cups almond flour (5 1/8 oz., 144 grams)
1/2 cup brown rice flour (2 1/2 oz., 71 grams)
1/2 cup sorghum flour (2 1/2 oz., 72 grams)
1/2 cup arrowroot starch (2 1/8 oz., 59 grams)
1/2 cup potato starch (2 7/8 oz., 81 grams)
1 teaspoon gluten free, corn free baking powder
2 teaspoons xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon guar gum
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 cups warm water ( heated to 110 degrees)
1 tablespoon rapid rise yeast
3 tablespoons honey, agave nectar, or maple syrup
1/4 cup olive oil

Directions:

• In a large bowl whisk together almond flour, brown rice flour, sorghum flour, arrowroot starch, potato starch, baking powder, xanthan gum, guar gum, and sea salt. 
• Heat 1 1/2 cups of water in your microwave for about 40 seconds or until it's 110 degrees, measured with a food thermometer.
• Add rapid rise yeast and honey to the warm water. Stir to combine and set aside for 5 minutes until it's bubbly and smells yeasty. 
• Add the oil to the yeast mixture and pour the yeast mixture into the dry ingredients. 
• Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon. Stir for several minutes until the dough is like a very thick cake batter and you can form it into a loose ball. Oil the inside of a large glass, ceramic, or plastic bowl and set aside.
• Pour about a tablespoon of olive oil over the bread dough. Using your hands, coat the dough with the oil. Place the ball of dough into the oiled bowl to rise. Cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap or a tea towel and set in a warm area of your kitchen.
• Allow the dough to rise for 2 hours, or until it's doubled in size. 
• Place a large piece of parchment paper or a silpat mat onto a cookie sheet. Dust it with millet flour or brown rice flour. Gently pour the risen dough onto the dusted surface. 
• Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into two pieces. Shape each piece into a "boule", or a rustic oval shape. Place each loaf several inches apart on the dusted surface. 
• Using a sharp knife, place three small 1/4" slits on the top of each loaf. 
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. If using a pizza stone, place it in the oven now to get very hot. 
• While the oven is heating cover the dough with plastic wrap or a tea towel and allow it to rest and rise for an additional 30 minutes. This is your 2nd rise. 
• After the dough has risen a bit (around 30 minutes) it's time to put it in the oven. If you're using a pizza stone, use the cookie sheet to slide the parchment paper with the bread loaves onto the hot stone. If you're just using the cookie sheet, place it carefully in the oven. 
• Bake the bread for 30-45 minutes. When finished the bread should be golden brown, should sound a bit hollow if tapped, and should reach an internal temperature of 180-190 degrees if tested with a thermometer. 
• Place the bread loaves on a wire rack and allow to cool for AT LEAST an hour if not longer. The longer you allow the bread the cool, the better the texture will be when you slice into it. 
• To store: Place in a ziplock bag. The bread will keep on the counter for about 3 days. After that slice it and freeze any remaining bread. 

Carrie's Notes: 

• Almond flour is fairly key for the bread to work well. Yet, if you cannot tolerate almonds, I would suggest trying a bean flour in it's place (for the protein and fat content.) I used Honeyville Almond Flour.
• If you cannot tolerate rice, use additional sorghum flour in place of the brown rice called for. 
• Olive Oil: This recipe calls for a large amount of oil compared to most gluten free bread recipes, that is to help replace the fat from the eggs. Oil also acts as a humectant and assists with the texture and moisture content of the bread. 
• Honey, Agave Nectar, or Maple Syrup: This bread also calls for a fairly large amount of "sugar" compared to other gluten free bread recipes. Obviously, if you are a strict vegan, do not use honey in this recipe, please use agave nectar or maple syrup in it's place. The sugar not only helps activate the yeast, but like the oil acts as a humectant to help the bread stay moist and retain it's texture. The sugar also helps to give this bread such a beautiful golden crust. Make the recipe first with the amount of sweetener called for. If you think it's too sweet, try it next time with a lesser amount.
• Many Thanks: I borrowed and combined several techniques, methods, and ingredient suggestions to create this gluten free vegan bread! Many thanks to Shauna & Danny Ahern of Gluten Free Girl and the Chef, Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois of Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes A Day, and Jennifer of The Cinnamon Quill. These incredible people have helped to pave the way for people who need to bake gluten free.

This post is linked to Amy Green's Slightly Indulgent Tuesday's at Simply Sugar and Gluten Free. Make sure to visit her blog today for another wonderful weekly roundup of delicious and healthy gluten free treats!


This post is also linked to this month's "Go Ahead Honey, It's Gluten Free" recipe roundup. There are two themes this month, one being gluten free breads. The bread roundup is being hosted by Choupichen at It's Gluten Free.  

Gluten Free Fall Specials: Rice Pudding for Iris

Today I shared a guest post on Iris' blog, "The Daily Dietribe." Iris has a beautiful website filled with stunning photography, life stories, and gluten free food & recipes.

Iris recently moved and has had guest bloggers help her out for the entire month of September. To see her entire series of guest posts, visit here.

My guest post for Iris today has one of my favorite recipes for rice pudding. Pumpkin, walnut, and cranberries make this the perfect fall breakfast, snack, or lunch. Rice pudding is also naturally gluten free, and I've made a dairy & casein free version as well.

Tomorrow I will announce the winner of Shauna and Danny Ahern's new cookbook: "Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef: a love story with 100 tempting recipes" on the Gingerlemongirl.com facebook page. Please make sure to stop by to see if you'll be receiving a beautiful new gluten free cookbook in the mail!

On Monday I'll also be sharing my newest recipe for a gluten free, vegan crusty bread! I am so very excited about this recipe! I'm looking forward to helping people who can't eat eggs (along with gluten) to finally have a GOOD gluten free yeast bread!

Here's a preview:

Gluten Free Black Bean and Butternut Squash Chili Recipe

Gluten free black bean and butternut squash chili is a welcome change for fall. I've been ready to cook fall squashes for several weeks now and I'm finally getting the chance. It's still hot here in Eastern NC, but I've already transitioned to fall foods. Apples, pumpkin, fall greens like kale, and squash are abundant right now and they are the foods I really want. The great thing about seasonal eating is that our bodies become accustomed to the foods that are (or should be) available locally. Right now I want apples. I want the taste of squash. I want filling soups and stews. By early March I'll be more than tired of them and ready for spring foods... but right now... it's time for hearty beans, lentils, and squashes.

We're still receiving incredibly fresh produce from our CSA. Last week I received a butternut squash and an acorn squash in the box (along with many other things). This week I received the first pumpkin of the year. I was almost teary-eyed at seeing the bright orange peeking through the box. Right now I'm enjoying the mere site of that perfect pumpkin... but in a few weeks it will become our first pie for the season!

I wasn't feeling well last week so I decided to make a hearty, healthy stew. I found a recipe for a vegetarian black bean and butternut squash stew and made a few changes to make the stew with what I had on hand.

Hearty butternut squash, healthy black beans and tomatoes, spicy cumin and chili powder, with the soft crunch of kale at the end of each bite. We ate this stew for two meals and then had it for lunch 3 days last week. Honestly I don't often repeat recipes (it can be hard to do that when you're constantly trying to create new recipes) but this is a fall stew we'll be making often. It's vegetarian but you will never miss the meat. Try this for a filling lunch or a hearty dinner.

This recipe is being featured on the gluten free recipe carnival: "Go Ahead Honey, It's Gluten Free." This month is being hosted by Ali of Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen and the theme is: Packing a Healthy Lunch.

Gluten Free Black Bean and Butternut Squash Chili
free of gluten, dairy/casein, soy, and corn
adapted from this recipe by carrie forbes of gingerlemongirl.com
printer-friendly recipe

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium sweet onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons gluten free chili powder
2 teaspoons cumin
2 1/2 cups butternut squash, cooked & cubed
2 (15 oz.) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
2-4 cups vegetable broth (depending on how thick or thin you like your stew/soup)
1 (14 oz.) can petit diced tomatoes in juice
2-3 cups fresh kale, washed, patted dry, and cut or torn into bite size pieces
1 teaspoon sea salt (optional)
Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Directions
In a large dutch oven heat olive oil. Saute onions and garlic until soft. Add chili powder and cumin and cook for 1-2 minutes to release the aroma of the spices. Add butternut squash, black beans, and can of tomatoes. Add 2 cups of vegetable broth. If you want the chili a bit more thin, add additional vegetable broth. Cook on low heat for 30-40 minutes. About 10 minutes before serving add the fresh kale. After simmering for 6-8 minutes the kale will be a beautiful bright green. Taste the chili. Add salt if needed, along with freshly ground pepper.

Ladle the soup into bowl into bowls and let cool for 5 minutes before serving. Serve with fresh gluten free bread.

Carrie's Notes: 

• This chili would work really well in a slow cooker. Simply saute the garlic and onions, and then add all ingredients (except kale) to your slow cooker and cook on low for 4-6 hours and high for 2-3 hours. Add the kale, salt, and pepper to the slow cooker about 10 minutes before serving. 
• We don't use a lot of salt in our cooking for health reasons. If you need more, feel free to add it! I've learned that if you add salt at the end of the cooking process you'll be less likely to oversalt your food. 
• Any type of cooked, cubed squash would work well in this chili.
• I actually used a beef broth in this chili because it's what I had on hand at the time. It made a delicious stew. 
• After reviewing this post for me, my husband said, "You used butternut squash in the chili? I thought it was cubed sweet potatoes!"  So feel free to substitute cooked, cubed sweet potatoes in place of the squash.

This post is part of a monthly roundup of gluten free recipes called "Go Ahead Honey, It's Gluten Free." The theme for this month is healthy lunches. Ali of Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen is the host for September 2010. Make sure to stop by her blog this month to see the awesome roundup of healthy gluten free lunches, especially for kids!

Gluten Free Amish Shoofly Pie Recipe

Today's recipe is from the archives. A few years ago Michael and I visited Lancaster Co. Pennsylvania for our anniversary. It was a trip I'll never forget. We stayed on a small farm and just enjoyed watching the life around us. Girls in bonnets with bare feet running down the dirt road from our B&B. Visiting a Mennonite church with our host family. Riding hours on back roads to find covered bridges. It was such a peaceful and beautiful trip. 

I had just barely started the gluten free diet when we took that trip. I'm sure I ate many things I shouldn't have. I wasn't as knowledgeable as I am now about eating in restaurants safely. I was still eating dairy and soy. So many things have changed in four years!  

When we came back home from PA, Ginger asked me about making a Shoofly Pie. I had bought a locally written cookbook on my trip. I read them like novels, gluten free or not. Don't stop buying gluten-filled cookbooks -- you can learn so much about cooking and baking techniques with well written cookbooks of any type. I remember being really excited thumbing through the handwritten book and finding a simple recipe for Shoofly Pie. Looking at this recipe again today, I was thrilled that it naturally contains no dairy and no soy! This is one of the first baked goods I shared on GingerLemonGirl and I'd be proud to serve it just as much today as I did in October 2007. 

Shoofly Pie doesn’t even need the traditional pie shell. So if want to cut back on carbs, or just don’t want to go to the trouble of making a gluten-free crust: just pour the pie filling into a 8x8 glass baking dish, or pie tin and bake as directed for shoofly pie brownies!

Amish Shoofly Pie

• 1 ¼ cup brown rice flour -or- sorghum flour

• 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum -or- guar gum (optional -- just a bit more crumbly without it!) 

• ½ cup brown sugar

• 1 Tbsp. Spectrum Palm Shortening

• 1 cup molasses

• 1 tsp. baking soda

• ¾ cup boiling water

• 1 egg, slightly beaten

• 1 prepared gluten-free pie shell (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together flour and sugar. Cut in shortening to make crumbs. Save ½ cup of crumbs for top of pie. In large metal bowl, mix together molasses, baking soda, and boiling water. (This will foam and bubble, it’s fun to watch!) Let molasses mixture cool. Add flour mixture to the molasses mixture and whisk until combined. Add beaten egg. Pour into prepared pie shell or 8x8 glass baking dish and sprinkle reserved crumbs on top. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes. Slice into 8 pieces, serve, and smile!

A few more of my favorite memories from Lancaster, Co. PA:

Gluten Free German Apple Pancakes

Gluten Free Baked Oatmeal

Dancing in the Kitchen with Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef

Shauna James Ahern at the Flying Apron Cafe in Seattle, holding a copy of her brand new cookbook: Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef: A Love Story with 100 Tempting Recipes."

Lessons in Cooking with Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef

Several months ago I met Jaime though my blog. Jaime lives close to me and her daughter had recently been diagnosed with celiac disease. Jaime desperately wanted help making foods her daughter could enjoy. Mostly... bread. Good gluten free bread.

You see, Madelyn loves mustard sandwiches. Yep. Just plain 'ol mustard slapped between two slices of bread. And the poor girl had missed her sandwich for nearly 6 weeks after being diagnosed. No bread. No sandwiches.

Soon after meeting Jaime, I taught a small gluten free baking class and showed her how to bake good gluten free bread.  That small class and one little girl's desire to have a mustard sandwich began an immediate and lasting friendship. I now talk to Jaime several times a week. We often connect on Facebook and through email. She makes me laugh, she's learning how to bake, and she's hungry for more knowledge about anything and everything gluten free. This made us fast friends.

When Shauna (Gluten-Free Girl) sent a request out on her blog a few weeks ago asking for people to try several of her recipes from the new cookbook, I gladly volunteered! After meeting Shauna in Seattle it was evident to me how much she wanted to share her passion for good food! I emailed Jaime soon afterwards and asked her if she wanted to help me make Shauna's recipes. I said, "Let's have a cooking party!" Thankfully, Jaime jumped at the chance! She couldn't wait to get a sneak preview of Shauna' new cookbook: "Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef: A love story with 100 tempting recipes."

Sometimes stories are best told through pictures (even when you're a lousy photographer... Ahem...) Saturday evening our families gathered together for a gluten free cooking party. Here is our story of Dancing in the Kitchen with Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef.

The first thing we did was make Shauna's Crusty Bread from the cookbook. While I made the bread dough, Jaime made the chocolate peanut butter brownies for our dessert. I love Shauna's method of making crusty french bread. We allowed the dough to rise free form in a greased bowl while we started the homemade gluten free pasta.

We used fresh eggs from a local farm to make Shauna's gluten free pasta dough. We made the dough by hand because I wanted Jaime to know what the dough should feel like. Not too wet, not too dry. Just slightly tacky.

Meet Madelyn. The mustard-sandwich loving celiac daughter of Jaime. She was eager to help us roll out and cut the pasta dough.

The best part of the whole evening for me was having everybody pitch in to make pasta. Families often love each other through cooking. Shauna & Danny's cookbook is one such story of loving each other through food.  Making Shauna's pasta was a great way to bring everybody together to learn a new skill.  Thoughts of future "gluten free pasta making parties" warms my heart!

Sarah from Celiac in the City shared a tip with me for hand-rolling out the pasta. Use a straight-edge like this ruler to get straight lines and evenly wide strands of pasta. We cut the noodles using a pizza cutter.

It took us over an hour to roll out all of the pasta (we made a double batch!) By that point everybody was hungry so we decided to make Shauna & Danny's Garlic-Almond Sauce with seared scallops. This sauce was really delicious.  Bold flavors of garlic intertwined with the smoothness of extra virgin olive oil.  This recipe calls for marcona almonds which I had never used before. A lovely thing about Shauna and Danny is that they encourage you to try new ingredients and techniques in the kitchen.

Once our hunger was appeased with scallops and garlic almond sauce, we started prepping the ingredients for the main dish. Fresh pasta with Anchovies, Lemon, and Olives.

The first instruction was to cook the pasta. It was beautiful. Jaime and I had to make ourselves stop eating the freshly cooked pasta right out of the colander. Homemade gluten free pasta a bit heavier than boxed pasta (especially when you make it by hand) so expect to have a filling meal!

Madelyn helped Jaime zest the lemons. They also squeezed  & strained fresh lemon juice for the pasta sauce.

The girls decided they just wanted fresh pasta with butter. Can't really blame them there. The pasta was absolutely delicious by itself! As you can see, Madelyn was a fan!

Next we made Shauna and Danny's beautiful sauce with olives, anchovies, capers,  lemon juice, and white wine. The pasta's texture worked so well with the rich sauce.  Personally I found the dish to be a bit salty with a lot of bold but competing flavors. The best part was learning the techniques to make the pasta and use it in a main dish like this with a basic sauce. I've truly been inspired!

Who's hungry?

We served Shauna's fresh crusty gluten free bread with our pasta. The bread was incredible. Plain and simple it's just great bread, gluten free or not! Personally, I think the cookbook is worth the cost for the bread recipe alone. The bread was my favorite part of the whole meal.

Finally, for dessert... Shauna's Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies. Jaime made these to perfection. The entire crowd loved them. And to tell you the truth ...every one of those brownies was eaten! Every. Single. One.

And Madelyn was one happy gluten free girl!

Thank you so much Shauna & Danny for inspiring us to learn more, to use bold ingredients, and to get in our kitchens more often. We loved being a part of your story!

Many thanks to Jaime, Jeremy, Madelyn, and Kendall for joining us at our cooking party! I hope this is the start of a brand-new tradition for our families! We loved cooking and sharing these recipes with you!

For information on how to win a copy of Shauna & Danny's cookbook, please visit the Gingerlemongirl facebook page. Details will be posted soon!

For more information about Shauna & Danny's cookbook, please visit them at Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef.

Gluten Free Cinnamon Bun Muffins Recipe with Jennifer of Adventures in McQuill-Land

photo courtesy of  Jennifer of Adventures in McQuill-Land

Today's guest post is shared by the lovely Jennifer of Adventures In McQuill-Land.

Gluten Free, Casein Free: A Taste of Cinnabon

Since going gf/cf several months back, I have been on a quest to find snacks for the boys that don’t break our food budget.  While I did find a wide variety of gf/cf snacks in the aisles of our local grocery stores, $5.00 for a small box of crackers or cookies that would not last more than a day or two in my house was not a price I was willing to pay.  Not to mention, one glance at the ingredients confirmed that these gf/cf treats were no better than their gluten-filled counterparts in terms of wholesome, natural ingredients… but what to give two growing boys instead?

Ryan commented early on in his gf/cf eating, after devouring 2 McDoubles (served with lettuce, minus the bun, the cheese, and the condiments):  “Mommy, I think it’s the bun and the french fries that really fill you up.”  And he was right.  What I found early on in our gf/cf switch was that my growing 9-year-old was always hungry.  He devoured fruits and vegetables and lean meats, but he was still starving!  And then I found a blog that has, to us, been a life saver:  Ginger Lemon Girl.  Carrie, the blog owner, regularly shares wonderfully tasty gluten-free and casein-free recipes.  And, she’s always willing to help out with recipe suggestions, recipe corrections, and even recipe conversions.

I contacted Carrie recently via e-mail to ask how to convert a recipe for cinnamon muffins I had found on another site that used almond flour. I wanted to create cinnamon muffins that used some of the flours I had in my pantry (brown rice flour, sorghum flour, and arrowroot flour) instead of the almond flour. She very kindly e-mailed me back the same day to tell me that while I could not convert the original recipe, I could adapt her blueberry muffin recipe, which called for the flours I had on had to create the cinnamon muffins.  And so, that’s what I did!

And the result was fabulous!  These muffins taste like Cinnabon, a gluten-free, casein-free Cinnabon!  The boys quickly declared them, DE-LIC-I-OUS!  Grandma also dubbed them wonderful.  And well, we’ve already polished off two batches, so if our words don’t speak loudly enough, perhaps our actions do!  Carrie has graciously agreed to allow me to share her recipe, with a couple small modifications, so here it is:

Gluten Free Cinnamon Bun Muffins
free of gluten, dairy/casein, and soy
created by carrie of gingerlemongirl.com 
originally shared on Jennifer's blog, "Adventures in McQuill-Land"
print-friendly recipe

Dry Ingredients:
2/3 cup tapioca flour
2/3 cup brown rice flour
2/3 cup sorghum flour
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients:
2 egg yolks
2 egg whites
scant 1/2 cup granulated sugar
      (There's a lot of sugar in the swirl, so I cut back just a bit here)
1/2 cup applesauce
3/4 cup rice, soy, or coconut milk (I use coconut milk)
1/4 cup heart healthy oil, coconut oil, butter, or vegan margarine (I use coconut oil)

Cinnamon Swirl:
1-2 tablespoons cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar
3-4 tablespoons melted margarine (I use Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Spread)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk flours, baking powder, xanthan gum, cinnamon and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk egg yolks, applesauce, milk, coconut oil, and sugar. Add the flour mixture to  the egg yolk mixture and fold just until combined. In another bowl whip egg whites until stiff. SLOWLY fold the whipped egg whites into the muffin batter. (If you still see streaks or clumps of egg white that is OKAY, it does NOT have to be completely incorporated!) In a small bowl, mix together cinnamon swirl ingredients. Spoon muffin batter into greased or paper-lined muffin tins.  To be sure your muffins have cinnamon swirls throughout, fill the muffin tin half-full, spoon on some of the cinnamon swirl and use a small knife to swirl, fill the tin with more batter, and then spoon a bit more cinnamon swirl over the top. Bake for 18-25 minutes. They are done when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool muffins on a wire rack.  Makes 12 muffins.

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I can not say enough wonderful things about these muffins… or about Carrie and the Ginger Lemon Girl blog.  You just have to try these muffins for yourself… and then visit Carrie’s blog to browse her recipes!  Everything we’ve tried has been fantastic:  peanut butter cookies, blueberry muffins, cinnamon muffins, chocolate chip cookies… I did say at the beginning of this post, I was looking for yummy gluten-free/casein-free snacks, didn't I?  Ginger Lemon Girl has a host of wonderful main dishes, side dishes, and other healthy, non-snack foods, too!

About Jennifer:

Jennifer is a devoted wife, mother, and family blogger. Her beautiful blog, Adventures in McQuill-Land, chronicles her life as a homeschooling mom, her favorite books & family stories, her faith, and her food discoveries after finding out her son needed to follow a gluten free and casein free several months ago. Many, many thanks to Jennifer for sharing her post & pictures with us today! Your kind & gracious compliments about my blog and recipes mean so very much! Thank you!


This post is also linked to Amy's Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays. A weekly blogging event hosted by Amy Green featuring delicious and healthy gluten free recipes! 

Gluten Free Breads Taste Test and Comparison - Rudi's, Udi's, and Nature's Own

At our recent gluten free support group meeting the main event was a "Gluten Free Bread Smackdown!" A taste test comparison between 3 major brands of gluten free store-bought bread, along with a homemade gluten free loaf.

Rudi's Gluten Free Bakery, Udi's Gluten Free Bakery, and Nature's Own Gluten Free were all kind enough to send our support group samples of each bread.

I have to say as far as customer service, Rudi's & Udi's went absolutely above and beyond sharing their full range of products. They also sent coupons and lots of great literature about their breads. Nature's Own was reluctant to send the bread simply due to the fact that the product is not available in our area yet.

We tried both the "white" and "whole grain" versions of each bread, along with a loaf of homemade gluten free whole grain bread for comparison.

Each person tasted 1/4 of slice of gluten free bread straight from the package. No toasting, no sandwich fillings. Each person was asked to rate the appearance, taste, texture, and overall quality of each type of gluten free bread. The system used for rating was 1-5. "1" being worst and "5" being best.

• The first brand to go around the table was Nature's Own. Many of our members were excited about trying Nature's Own because of the future possibility of the bread being available nationwide in grocery stores. Nature's Own bread is shelf stable and doesn't have to be refrigerated or frozen. It also has the longest ingredient list, many of which were not easily recognizable. Both loaves of bread rated high in appearance. The whole grain bread yielded the preferred texture and was rated higher overall.

• Udi's white & whole grain breads went around the table next. Udi's bread also has several hard-to-pronounce ingredients. The bread can be stored on the counter, but for best flavor & texture Udi's recommends keeping it in the freezer. Udi's bread was the lowest in calories and was by far the overall favorite of the group. Everyone loved the appearance and taste. Udi's white bread also had the highest texture rating of all the store-bought gluten free breads. The Udi's products were also the first to get snapped up by members to take home for further "testing." Overall, Udi's was the store-bought favorite of the entire group.



Here are the tallied results of the group taste testing!
Udi's came out #1 overall, while the gluten free homemade loaf came in 2nd!



• Rudi's was the 3rd bread to go around the table. The best feature of Rudi's gluten free bread is that all of the ingredients for the products could be found in your own kitchen. Rudi's bread, like Udi's, also needs to be stored in the freezer for best results. Unfortunately, Rudi's was the lowest scoring bread in our taste tests. The whole grain was preferred over the white, but many found it to be dry and crumbly. This bread would probably be best toasted.

• Lastly I brought a loaf of homemade gluten free whole grain bread as a final taste comparison. I was thrilled that the homemade bread came in 2nd overall, right behind Udi's "white" bread. It also tied 2nd place in taste with Udi's "whole grain" bread. And it came in 1st with the best texture, as it was slightly moist in comparison to the other breads and very pliable! It also had the fewest ingredients. The only downfall to the homemade bread was that it was the highest in calories and has a shorter shelf-life.

Katz Gluten Free Bakery was also kind enough to send samples of their products for our members to try. The cookies and muffins were a huge hit with the group! I had a hard time sharing the Chocolate Dipped Cookies as they were my favorite! Katz is a kosher, gluten free bakery located in Monroe, New York. They are a certified gluten free, dairy free, and nut free facility.

Many thanks to my local gluten free support group for being the guinea pigs behind the Gluten Free Bread Smackdown! You guys and gals are wonderful and make living life gluten free so much easier! Thank you so much for participating!