Brownies

Made these and they were heavenly. I like the idea of using almond flour but it's so damn expensive. Bought some online for less, so we'll try a few more recipes soon.

Churrrrrros!

Caila just graduated from college with two degrees and for her grad party she wanted something special and ambitious: churros. My initial response: hell, yes.

I set to work to figure out how the make churros in the first place, let alone make gluten-free churros. Turns out it was not too complicated. In the grand scheme of things, that is.

There were actually several recipes for gluten free churros online, but the ingredient lists didn't look too exciting. Once I realized it was just a fried pate choux, I headed straight to my fave sweets website by Karen Morgan. I used this recipe for the pate choux and just gleaned cooking instructions from other websites.

They were an enormous success. Not just to the GF folks. Everyone at the party stopped to thank me for the amazing churros, several said they were the best they'd ever had. The fact that they were gluten free was beside the point. This is the first time I've made a GF remake of a wheat treat that got this kind of response instead of "it's good for gluten free."

Churros (adapted from Karen Morgan)

For the Pate Choux:

2 large eggs + 1 egg white (enough for 2/3 c.)

¾ teaspoon baking powder

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 ½ tablespoons granulated sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

5 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons half n’ half

1 tablespoon sorghum flour

2 tablespoons tapioca flour

5 tablespoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon guar gum

Preheat oven to 425ºF and line a cookie sheet with a silpat or parchment paper and set aside.

In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, melt the butter, water, half n’ half, sugar and salt over a medium-low flame until the butter has melted completely and the mixture has just come to a gentle boil.

In a small bowl, combine all the remaining dry ingredients, except the baking powder and stir to combine.

Pour eggs and egg white into a measuring cup, whisk thoroughly, and set aside.

After your butter has come to a boil, add your dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon, using a scraping motion, for three minutes. Once the dough pulls easily from the sides of the pan, and there is a thin veil of butterfat residue on the bottom of the pan, your dough is ready.

Immediately transfer dough to a food processor with the blade attachment or mixer with paddle attachment and pulse for 20 seconds to cool slightly. Add baking powder to the eggs and whisk until smooth. Pour egg mixture in a slow steady stream into the food processor or mixer until you have a thick, smooth sticky paste, about 1 ½ minutes.

Heat 32 ounces of cooking oil in a heavy bottomed pan to 380 degrees.

Fill a pastry bag with the largest star tip available.

Pipe churros directly into the oil. This takes practice. Let the end of the pate choux hit the oil as though you are piping it onto a cookie sheet made of hot, scalding oil. Be careful!

Fry the churros, turning as they brown, and drain on paper towels.

I eyeballed the sugar/cinnamon mixture and used caster sugar (superfine cane sugar). Dredge the churros in the sugar/cinnamon mixture then attempt to not eat every churro immediately. I used a large pyrex dish with a lid and shook the churros and sugar mix in that instead of dredging individually.

Banana Muffins

Trying this tonight. Let you know how it turns out.

Sale

Hows about we alert each other whenever one of our favorite super-expensive GF items is on sale?

I'll go first:

Erewhon brand rice crispies are on sale at Sunflower for 2.99. Great for rice crispie treats! I bought four boxes.

Also, I hope you've all jumped on the strawberry band wagon. 97 cents a pound, are you kidding me?? I bought and froze 12 pounds already.

Pregnant Glairegg

Alrighty, you know I'm preggers...I have yet to have a pregnancy while following the no gluten, no dairy, no eggs rule. Any tips for getting enough protein besides gnawing on beef jerky all day. Dairy was my saving grace, now I don't have that. Also, anyone know if there is such a thing as a gluten free/soy free/dairy free protein powder?

Flour Power

I'm having flour issues. I hate brown rice flour and soy flour tastes like fresh cut grass. I like white rice flour, but it can be overpowering and I find sorghum works best with sweets. I was thinking about trying teff. Any thoughts? Your favorite flours?

Pizza! Pizza!

I've been experimenting with pizza lately. It's very important to our family. Thursday has been pizza night for... I don't even know how long and I vowed it would continue. I have been using Picazzo's, but it's kind of annoying to drive all the way down there, and it costs $5.50 a pop. I tried Bob's Red Mill mix but it. was. nasty. Even Declan refused to eat it. So I tried making my own... not bad!!! The flavor needs a little work but the texture was awesome! I'll keep you posted on the flavor thing (I have some ideas) but here's the recipe I used. Pretty easy (if you have a stand mixer). It's a french bread recipe, and the bread is not too bad, either. You just mold it into a pizza shape on an oiled nonstick pizza pan, cook for 15 minutes and then add toppings, cook for 5 minutes more, broil for a minute if you like.

Gluten Free French Bread (Pizza Dough)

Ingredients

1 cup brown rice flour (I like Bob's Red Mill)

1 cup sorghum flour

3/4 cup tapioca flour

1/4 cup corn starch

1/4 cup flax meal

3 teaspoons xanthan gum

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 cups lukewarm water

2 teaspoons yeast

2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

3 egg whites, beaten slightly

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

melted butter, for brushing (optional)

Directions

1.In the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer, place flours, xanthan gum, salt and flax meal. Whisk to blend.

2.In a small bowl dissolve the sugar in the water, and add yeast.

3.Wait until the mixture foams slightly, then blend into the dry ingredients.

4.Add the butter, egg whites, and vinegar.Beat on high for 3 minutes.

5.To form loaves, spoon dough onto greased and cornmeal-dusted cookie sheets in two long French-loaf shapes or spoon into special French-bread pans.

6.Slash diagonally every few inches.If desired, brush with melted butter.

7.Cover the dough and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 20 to 25 minutes.

8.Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes.

9.Remove from pan to cool.

If you're not in the mood to cook, the Barro's on Mill and Baseline has a decent GF pizza, too. You can check your local Barro's to see if they have GF.