Muffins - Gluten free & Vegan

Carrot-Apple-Raisin Muffins 

 

1/2 cup olive oil

1 cup honey

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

2  teaspoons cinnamon

2 cups grated carrots

1 large apple, peeled cored, and grated/shredded

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 cup raisins

1/2 cup oats or seeds

1 cup Sorghum flour

1 cup millet flour

1 cup tapioca starch

3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

 

 

 Preheat oven to 350. Line a muffin pan with 12 muffin liners.

 

 In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the oil and honey.

Add vanilla and cinnamon and mix for 20 seconds.

In a separate bowl, combine the carrots and apple, and then toss with the lemon juice. Add to the mixing bowl. Mix for about 20 seconds.

Mix in the raisins and oats/seeds

In a separate bowl, combine the flours , xanthan gum, baking soda and salt.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until just combined.

Fill the liners to the rim with batter.

Bake in the center of the oven for about 35 minutes (though mine were done around 25 this time) or until golden brown on top, rotating the pan halfway through. let cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling wrack.

Zucchini Muffins! 

 2 tbsp ground flaxseed + 6 tbsp water  (“eggs”)
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 c honey
1 cup shredded zucchini
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon and/or pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 cups sorghum/millet flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup loosely packed raisins
1/2 tsp sea salt

Preheat oven to 350F.  Mix the flax egg and set aside for about 5 minutes. Mix the olive oil, honey, zucchini and vanilla in a medium bowl.  Stir in flour, baking powder, baking soda and sea salt; mix until just wet and ingredients are combinned; fold in raisins. 

Pour patter into 12 lined muffin tins.  Bake about 18 minutes or until browned and a toothpick comes out clean.
 

All in the name of Chicken Pot Pie.

ok. suddenly my 'easy' recipe is seeming a bit complicated..

I'm making chicken pot pie, converting a dairy and gluten filled recipe everyone loved.. 

So, I needed a can of cream of mushroom soup.. I knew I'd also want this for thanksgiving (green bean casserole!) this really wasn't too complicated..

Dairy and Gluten free Condensed Cream of Mushroom soup
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/4 cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup stock, I used chicken
1/2 cup unsweetened rice milk **
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup of mushrooms, finely chopped (I used canned this time)

This recipe equals 1 can of Campbell’s Condensed Cream of mushroom Soup, leave out the mushrooms for cream of chicken.

If you use fresh mushrooms, cook them in the oil first - otherwise, combine mushrooms and oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat then add flour and whisk together. Slowly add stock while whisking. Bring to a simmer and cook a few minutes until thickened. Add rice milk and salt and pepper and stir until combined and thick.

**I made a batch of my rice milk recipe, but without the thickeners or sweetener, so basically boiled rice flour and water, i halved the recipe and then froze the concentrate in ice cube trays - once i remove the cubes, its 2 cubes to 3/4 cup water to make one cup of unsweetened rice milk..Though somehow it seems like cheating because really, its rice flour cooked in water... how is this "milk"? but it worked, and it was actually tasty (well, not alone, but in things..)

Next we have to have biscuits... 

1½ cups sorghum and millet flour (about half/half) plus more for 'rolling'
¾ cup tapioca starch
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold fat (such as bacon grease, coconut oil or shortening), cut into small pieces
¾ cup unsweetened rice milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat.
Whisk together the flour, starch, baking powder and salt. Cut the fat into the flour mixture.  Add the liquid, starting with ½ a cup and gradually adding a little more at a time, mixing until the dough comes together. Put a little flour on a work surface and dump out the dough. Knead 3 or 4 times then either roll or pat it out to about ½ inch thick.  I cut the biscuits into squares but you can do traditional circles and gently reform the dough to cut more biscuits. Place the biscuits on the prepared baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes. Serve warm.

 

Now we're ready for "Chicken Pot Pie"

1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
3 tbsp. oil
1 recipe of the above cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup dairy free sour cream 

about 2 cups chopped, cooked chicken (I'm using canned, so 1 13oz can, gotta cut corners somewhere!)
1-1/2+ c. frozen mixed veggies
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Saute onion and celery in oil in a sauce pan (i'll admit, i've left this part out completely in the past); stir in soup and sour cream. Blend in chicken, veggies, and seasonings. Pour into 8 x 8 greased casserole dish.  Cover and bake at 375 until bubbly, approximately 20 minutes.  Serve with biscuits! 

I also made mashed potatoes with a touch of butter flavored shortening unsweetened rice milk, chicken broth, garlic salt and kosher salt to taste. :) 

Gluten Free Dairy Free Egg Free! Chocolate Chip cookies!!

Gluten-Free, Dairy Free, and Egg Free - Really normal tasting and yummy - 
Chocolate Chip Cookies

COOKIE

1 cup Millet Flour
1/2 cup Tapioca Starch 
3/4 cup Sorghum Flour
2 tsp. Xanthan Gum
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Salt
1 cup butter substitute**
3/4 cup raw sugar
3/4 cup coconut sugar 
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
Egg Replacer for 2 eggs (4 tablespoons water + 2 tablespoon oil + 1 teaspoon baking powder, beaten together until smooth.)
1 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips 

** I normally would use coconut oil or earths balance or a combination of those, but this time I was naughty and used butter flavored shortening .. wow. yummy! 

Directions:


Preheat oven to 375° F.

In medium bowl, combine flours, baking soda, xanthan gum and salt, whisk to combine and set aside.
 
In a separate bowl, cream together the softened butter substitute, sugars and vanilla.  

Add the egg replacer and mix until combined.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until combined.

Add the chocolate chips & stir  
Roll cookie dough into balls and place on parchment paper covered cookie sheet
Bake in preheated oven for 10-12 minutes.
Remove cookies from the oven and allow them to cool slightly on the cookie sheet before transferring to a cooling rack. Its easiest to pull the entire sheet of parchment paper onto the cooling racks and then move the cookies a few mins later - they are very fragile and  will seem underdone until they cool.

Turning my GF/DF baking vegan - bye bye eggs!

So now that we are giving eggs the boot, in addition to dairy and gluten.. i'm having to find new recipes..

Vanilla Cupcakes (Vegan, Gluten Free)
1 cup rice milk
1/3 cup grapeseed oil
3/4 cup coconut sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 cup tapioca starch
2 Tbsp ground flax seed
1/3 cup corn flour OR 1/3 cup almond flour
1/2 cup rice flour
1/2 cup quinoa flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

frosting!

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F and line muffin tray with cupcake liners or grease muffin tin really well
2. In the mixer (i used my kitchen aid for this) combine rice milk,  oil, sugar and extracts, mix until just combined.  Add tapioca flour and flax seed and mix for about a minute until the tapioca flour is dissolved and the mixture is well emulsified.
3. Add the corn flour, rice flour, quinoa flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix on Medium for about 2 minutes.
4. Fill cupcake liners a little over 3/4 full.
5. Bake for 20-23 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

We made this yummy but not terribly healthy frosting.

bread!

and this wonderful bread! I broke the 'rules' and made some changes to the recipe, but i don't have it perfected yet..  i'll let you all know, so far, i think this will be our new bread of choice. 

Annie's Birthday Cupcakes

Chocolate Cupcakes (gluten free and dairy free)
Makes about 12 cupcakes

• 1/2 cup brown rice flour
• 1/4 cup millet flour
• 2 tablespoons tapioca starch
• 6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk substitute (I used rice milk)
• 2/3 cup sugar (I used half/half coconut sugar and raw sugar)
• 1/4 cup coconut oil (melted)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

 Preheat oven to 350

 prepare muffin pan with paper liners, or grease well.

Combine dry ingredients in a mixing bowl, then combine wet ingredients in a 2nd bowl - combine.

Fill cupcake liners 2/3s full, bake for 20-25 mins, check with a toothpick and cool before frosting ..

Speaking of frosting..

I frosted these cupcakes with coconut oil frosting - i combined about 2 cups powdered sugar and 3/4 cup coconut oil to make a coconuty frosting. It was super easy to make, but not very easy to spread, it has to be hot to be workable at all but once you've got it on the cupcakes it tastes great and its nice to know its not just shortening ..

COOKIES!!

 

I have hardly done any baking this summer, between the morning sickness and the heat - i just couldn't do it... but now my cravings are overtaking my practical side and I had to turn on the oven to bake some cookies on a 95 degree day..  





First up...
Cashew Maple Chocolate Chip cookies (Vegan!) 

• 1/2 cup cashews
• 1 cup brown rice flour
• 1/4 cup tapioca flour
• 1 Tsp baking powder
• 1 Tsp xanthan gum
• 1/4 Tsp salt
• 1/3 Cup coconut oil
• 6 Tbs maple syrup
• 3 Tbs coconut sugar
• 2 tsp water
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 350ºF.
Place the nuts in the food processor and pulse until you get a powdery /coarse flour-like consistency - Mine was more coarse than floury but it worked.
In a medium bowl, combine the processed cashews, brown rice flour, tapioca, baking powder, xanthan gum, and salt, set aside.
In another mixing bowl, blend the oil, maple syrup, sugar, and water. 
Mix in the flour mixture until you get a nice dough. Stir in the chocolate chips.
The dough may seem oily/messy - if it won't shape into balls, you can put it in the fridge for 10 mins and it will firm up.  
Dough will not flatten much at all, so shape into cookies, not just balls..
Bake the cookies for 12 minutes at 350. Remove them to a wire rack to cool for at least 15 minutes.

Oatmeal Fudge Cookies 

• 2/3 cup dark chocolate chips (or about 4oz dark chocolate) 
• 1 Tbs coconut oil
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1-1/2 Tbs brown rice flour
• 1/2 tsp tapioca flour
• 1/8 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• additional 1/2 cup chocolate chips/chocolate chunks
• 1/2 - 3/4 cup rolled oats
• 1/8 cup millet 

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350ºF and line baking sheet with parchment paper
2. Melt 2/3 cup chocolate chips and oil and stir to combine
3. Let the chocolate cool a bit and then stir in the egg, sugar, flour, starch, baking powder, and vanilla until smooth.
4. Add the chips or chunks, oats and millet.
5. Scoop the dough by the tablespoonful into mounds on your prepared baking sheet.
6. Bake the cookies for 10 to 14 minutes, or until the edges are firm and the tops lose most of their shine and look a bit cracked.
7. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet, or pull the parchment paper off the pan directly to a wire rack - don't try to remove cookies from paper while they are hot, they will crumble.  

Rice milk!

I found a great new Rice milk recipe! I modified it slightly to work with what was in my pantry, for the original recipe click here...  This milk is GREAT for baked goods - our pancakes browned so much better with this milk than with store bought rice milk or almond milk. 

Rice Milk
7 1/2 c. water (distilled is best)
1 c. brown rice flour or white rice flour
1 tsp. guar gum
1 tsp. xanthan gum
1/2 cup oil, I used grapeseed
1 c. honey

1. Over high heat, bring six cups of water to boil in a large saucepan.
2. In a small bowl, combine rice flour and 1 1/2 cups water, mixing thoroughly.
3. While you are waiting for the water to boil, in a large, heat-safe mixing bowl, whisk to combine guar gum and xanthan gum.  Add the oil, and stir thoroughly.  Add honey, and mix with an electric mixer or immersion blender until well-combined.
4. Once the water in the saucepan boils, stir in the rice flour mixture, stirring constantly with a whisk.  Turn down heat to medium-low and boil at least five minutes, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick and no longer gritty.
5. Then, pour the brown rice mixture to the mixing bowl, using a silicone spatula to scrape the sides of the saucepan.  (Be careful, as the brown rice mixture is very hot.  Alternately, cover the rice mixture and cool it until it is easier/safer to handle.)  With an electric mixer, beat on high until ingredients are thoroughly combined. 

This recipe makes a concentrate - to serve, mix 1/4 cup concentrate to 3/4 cups water and stir or shake to combine.  (I make this 2 quarts at a time, with 2 cups of concentrate) - Store mix and milk in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or freeze if you prefer.