Basic Gluten Free Pancakes for National Pancake Day

One of my fondest memories growing up was eating my Dad's pancakes on Saturday mornings. He learned how to make pancakes when he was 8 years old. My grandmother taught him so he could make his own breakfast because he enjoyed sleeping late. (So that's where I get that from!) Dad's still making these pancakes and they have always been my favorite.

I've made a lot of gluten free pancakes since August 2007. I've enjoyed nearly every recipe I've made. But it's been a long time since I had my Dad's pancakes.

Most of the gluten free pancakes I've made have been from a mix. My favorites have been from this homemade gluten free master baking mix, and from Bob's Red Mill.

But I wanted to make my Dad's pancakes. His pancakes were slightly thin, but fluffy, soft, and completely mouth watering!

Somehow in the past three years I never thought to simply take my Dad's recipe and adapt it to be gluten free. This week I decided to do just that.

Michael's first comments after biting into my Dad's recipe for (now gluten free) pancakes: "Honey, these are the best pancakes you've made yet. Who's recipe is this? This is EXACTLY what pancakes are supposed to taste like. These are fluffy, buttery, moist, and they make me smile."

Not sure where the buttery part came in since we don't use butter... but I really love my husband!



If you want a very simple and basic gluten free pancake recipe, this is it. It uses 2 gluten free flours that are most likely in your pantry right now. No xanthan gum. No mix needed. Make these for your family this saturday morning and start a delicious tradition... or have them for dinner like we did tonight! :-)


Dad's Best Pancakes (Made Gluten Free)
-Or- Basic Gluten Free Pancakes
Adapted by Carrie Forbes @ Gingerlemongirl.com
(Free of gluten, casien, and soy)

Dry Ingredients
3/4 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup tapioca starch
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 cup non-dairy milk (I used almond milk)
1 tablespoon canola or grapeseed oil

Directions:
In a medium sized bowl add all dry ingredients and whisk together thoroughly. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the vanilla, an egg, 1 cup of non-dairy milk, and the oil. Whisk wet ingredients together with dry ingredients until thoroughly mixed. You will have a very wet, but slightly thick batter that will cling to the whisk. Brush skillet or non-stick pan with olive oil or non-stick spray. Heat pan on medium high heat until it's hot enough to make a drop of water sizzle. Pour a few tablespoons - 1/4 cup of batter per pancake. Cook until bubbles form on the top and pop and the edges are slightly dry. Flip and cook the opposite side for 1-2 minutes. Serve piping hot with casein free margarine or ghee and real maple syrup!

Enjoy!

(Printer-friendly recipe)

Gluten Free Valentine's Day Recipes

Here are a few gluten free recipes I rounded up this week for Valentine's Day! Find something easy to whip up for your sweetie and get baking!

If you have any gluten free, casein free, soy free appetizer recipes for Valentine's Day, please share them in the comments! I'd love to try a few new appetizers for Valentine's Day!

• My favorite Gluten Free Raw Chocolate Brownies!
  

• Gluten Free, Casein Free, Egg Free (vegan) sugar cookies

• Gluten Free Valentine's Day Brownie Hearts

• Gluten Free Mini-Red Velvet Heart Cupcakes

• Gluten Free One Layer Red Velvet Cake (NO food coloring)

• Gluten Free Valentine's Coconut Shortcake Recipe

• Valentine's Day Gluten Free Sugar Cookie Recipe

• Vegan Dark Chocolate Almond Cranberry Torte

• Karina's Mexican Chocolate Cake (Vegan, Gluten Free, Soy Free)

• A Thrifty Gluten Free Valentine's Day Dinner

• Gluten Free Valentine's Day Chocolate Mousse

• Gluten Free Valentine's Day Heart Pizza

• Gluten Free Chocolate Heart Candy

• Elana's Gluten Free Chocolate Covered Cherries for Valentine's Day

• Gluten Free Mom's Chocolate Fondue and Gluten Free Poundcake

• Heidi's Chocolate Puddle Cookies (Naturally gluten free)

Have some gluten free fun this Valentine's Day!

Perfect Gluten Free Popovers Recipe

I remember the first time I had popovers as a little girl. I was reading the Winnie the Pooh cookbook and I begged my mom to make them. I don't remember how they turned out, but I definitely remember reading the book and being in awe over Piglet's popovers.

I made popovers several times before I went gluten free and I remember them being "okay", but nothing spectacular.

But these gluten free popovers? Oh my goodness they are SO delicious. Light, airy, and crispy to the touch on the outside with a lucious warm custard on the inside. They are similar in taste to pancakes, but have such a wonderful crisp texture and flavor. We like them best right out of the oven hot and steaming... but they are also delicious with casein free margarine and jam.

Either way, I think if you make these once... you'll be hooked.

You can certainly buy a popover pan which would yield much higher rising popovers... but it isn't necessary. They are just as delicious short in a muffin pan! There are several things you can do to make your popovers rise higher:

• Get your muffin or popover pan HOT before you add the batter. I actually just add my muffin pan to the oven as it's heating, so it gets REALLY hot before I add the batter.
• Use eggs that are at room temperature. The colder the eggs the less rise you'll have on the popovers. I'll pull my eggs out of the fridge about an hour before I plan on making them.
• If possible use a blender to mix your batter. Blend it by pulsing it just for about 30 seconds. Do not overbeat your batter. You don't want the structure of the eggs to break down. If you use a blender for about 20-30 seconds, you'll get just enough air added into the eggs to create a great rise on your popovers!
• Do not open the oven for a full 25 minutes while baking!
  
• Pierce your popovers with a knife as soon as they come out of the oven to release the steam. This will help the popovers to keep their height.
  

But no matter how your popovers come out, whether they are short and stocky or highly risen... they are incredibly tasty either way. These have become our favorite breakfast bread. Enjoy these easy popovers for breakfast, with your dinner, or just because!




Perfect Gluten Free Popovers
By: Carrie Forbes @ Gingerlemongirl.com
Gluten Free, Casein Free, Soy Free

4 eggs at room temperature
1 cup casein free milk (I use vanilla hemp milk)
1 tablespoon honey
1 cup all purpose gluten free flour mix (see below)
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Place your muffin tin or popover pan in the oven to get very hot. In your blender add eggs, milk, and honey. Blend for about 10 seconds just to break the eggs and mix together. Add the flour and salt and blend another 20-30 seconds just until batter is incorporated and bubbly. When oven has preheated, remove hot pan with oven mitt. Spritz muffin cups or popover cups with non-stick cooking spray or brush with olive oil. Pour batter in hot muffin cups 2/3 full. Place pan immediately in hot oven and cook for 25 minutes and DO NOT OPEN the oven during that time. You want a completely draft free baking period! Remove the popovers from the oven after 25 minutes. Prick them with a fork or a knife to release the steam. Eat immediately plain or with casein free margarine and fruit jam!


All purpose gluten free flour mix:
2 cups white rice flour
2/3 cup potato starch
1/3 cup arrowroot starch (or cornstarch)

Mix together and store in an airtight container. Makes 3 cups of all purpose gluten free flour. This is a very starchy, low fiber gluten free flour mix, that is not necessarily healthy. But it does work well in recipes like this that need less dense flours for a light and airy end product!


Printer-friendly recipe.

Smile!
This was the bottom of one of Michael's popovers this morning.
He said he felt guilty eating it because it had personality! :-P

Hearty Cabbage and Beef Casserole Recipe (Gluten Free, Casein Free)

There's just something wonderful about comfort foods this time of year. One of my favorite comfort foods is macaroni. Although cheese is rarely on the menu these days, I still love a good creamy sauce for my pasta.

A week or two ago (during another dairy free "cheesy" sauce experiment) I decided instead of using another casein free "milk" substitute to create a creamy base, I would simply use chicken broth. Wow... it was another one of those "duh" moments when I realized after tasting the thickened chicken broth it was exactly the type of sauce I was looking for. It's a flavor I love and it can replicate "cheesiness" really well in a casserole. Perfect! And so incredibly easy.

I decided to create this casserole because I had a lot of vegetables on hand and we're eating from the pantry this week. It's one of those things about frugality I love. Creativity thrives when you have to use what you already have available!!

This one pot dish is FULL of hearty vegetables, a little ground beef for flavor (& to keep the husband happy), a gorgeous, flavorful, creamy sauce, and a kiss of greek seasoning. With all the vegetables in this meal, you don't even need a side dish!

While it takes a little time to prepare, it's a really easy dish to throw together once all the ingredients are prepped. And the best compliment? It's only about 340 calories per serving and while it doesn't actually have cheese in it... it tastes "cheesy." Upon his second serving, Michael asked me if I was SURE it didn't have cheese. I'll take that as high praise!


Hearty Cabbage and Beef Casserole
Created by Carrie @ Gingerlemongirl.com
Gluten Free, Casein Free, Soy Free

8 ounces dry gluten free pasta, cooked according to package directions
3 cups cabbage, sliced and cooked
1/2 medium onion, chopped
5 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 cup grape tomatoes, quartered
1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced
3 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 pound ground beef, browned and drained
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup brown rice flour
4 cups chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons greek seasoning
3 egg whites

Optional Topping:
1/4 cup gluten free cornflake crumbles (an awesome substitute for parmesan cheese!), you could also use crushed tortilla chips if desired

Directions:
Brown ground beef. Drain fat, and set aside. In the same pan saute onions, garlic, celery, mushrooms, and tomatoes. Cook until onions are translucent and golden brown about 5 minutes. Set aside. In a large dutch oven heat olive oil. Whisk in brown rice flour. Cook for 2 minutes and slowly pour in chicken broth. Whisk well and cook for 5-10 minutes to create a thickened sauce. Add cooked pasta, cooked cabbage, cooked onion mixture, and 1/2 pound of browned ground beef. Add salt, pepper, and greek seasoning. Stir to coat and add in 3 egg whites. Mix together thoroughly and pour into a greased 9x13 casserole dish. Sprinkle gluten free corn flake crumbles or crushed tortilla chips evenly over casserole if desired. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes until hot and bubbly. Let cool for 5 minutes and serve. Makes 6-8 large servings.


** Just in case anyone else is counting: I have calculated that the total recipe is 2058 calories including 1/4 cup of the gluten free corn flake crumbles. For 6 large servings, it's 343 calories per serving. This is a nicely portioned meal with a healthy calorie count!


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Easy Banana Pudding Recipe (Gluten Free, Casein Free)

To my knowledge, I'm not sure that I ever had banana pudding growing up. My dad will probably read this and call me immediately and remind me of all the times that I had banana pudding, but I honestly don't remember it!

I do know that when I moved to Eastern NC, suddenly banana pudding was everywhere. At every special meal with my husband's family, at Thanksgiving, Christmas, summer picnics, barbecues, and every restaurant around... seriously. Everywhere. Because of this my husband is something of a banana pudding connoisseur.

3 years ago I had to give up banana pudding. It's made with "real" (read that: gluteny name brand "Nabisco") vanilla wafers (don't you dare make it with the cheapie store brand cookies... Michael knows...), real homemade vanilla pudding (although Jello-brand instant will suffice when Michael's mom is short on time), bananas, and topped with cool whip or a beautifully baked egg white meringue topping.

So between the gluten-filled cookies and the milk-based pudding: traditional, eastern NC banana pudding would just be a recipe for disaster for this sensitive gluten free, casein free tummy.

Over the holidays I really wanted to make gluten free, casein free banana pudding. Not just for me, but for Michael.




Since I've never been able to make pudding successfully from scratch, I decided to use 2 packages of Dr. Oetker's Organic Vanilla Pudding mix. This made 4 cups of pudding, enough for a small assembled banana pudding. The dry mix is gluten free and casein free. In place of the milk called for to create the pudding, I used a mixture of half vanilla hemp milk and half lite coconut milk. (This is a cooked filling and it will need to be chilled at least 8 hours before using in the assembled pudding.) I made the vanilla pudding at night, chilled it, and then assembled it with the cookies and bananas the following day.




For the vanilla wafers, I decided to use Mi Del Arrowroot Animal Cookies. Do be aware that while these are gluten free cookies, they are made with soy flour. (One more reason to double check that food label when you are at the store! *sigh*) However, there are several other brands of vanilla gluten free cookies that would work perfectly for banana pudding!

I skipped the traditional topping of cool whip or meringue on this easy pudding. I realized it didn't really need it, and honestly we enjoyed this banana pudding just as much without it. Sometimes keeping it simple is the best thing to do! Enjoy!


Easy Gluten Free, Casein Free Banana Pudding

3-4 slightly ripe bananas, sliced
2 packages gluten free vanilla pudding mix
2 cups vanilla hemp milk (for pudding)
2 cups lite coconut milk
1 (8 oz.) package gluten free, casein free arrowroot cookies -or- other gluten free vanilla cookies of your choice, reserve 1/4-1/2 cup cookies for crumbling on top of casserole.

Cook the vanilla pudding using the vanilla hemp milk and lite coconut milk according to package directions. Chill the pudding overnight or for at least 8 hours.

To assemble the pudding: In a small 1-2 qt. casserole dish layer cookies, then banana slices, and then pudding. Repeat.

Crush 1/4 -1/2 cup of the arrowroot cookies and sprinkle on top of the last layer of pudding. Feel free to add a final layer of cool whip, whipped cream, or you can even bake a simple meringue topping on top of the banana pudding (and chill afterwards).




** If you want to make homemade gluten free casein free vanilla pudding try this recipe from The GF/CF Experience.


**If you are up for making homemade gluten free vanilla wafers, you may want to try this recipe.