GLUTEN FREE SOUR CREAM SUGAR COOKIES

Tis the season for holiday treats!  Every year, I make the family Christmas cookie recipe.  This year is no different, however I tested it out with gluten free flour.  Success!!The finished product tastes best with cream cheese frosting.  Just beat an 8oz package of cream cheese and 1/2 cup butter with 4 cups powdered sugar and a splash of anise extract.

Frost in the brightest colors possible and share with family and friends!  This recipe makes a whopping 60 cookies, depending on what size cookie cutters you use.  I like to do some small shapes so I can justify more than 1 cookie in a sitting.


GLUTEN FREE SOUR CREAM SUGAR COOKIES
 
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family Christmas cookie recipe adapted to be gluten free
Author:
Recipe type: dessert
Cuisine: gluten free
Serves: 60
Ingredients
  • 1 cup butter
  • 1½ cups sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1½ cups all purpose gluten free flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1½ tsp anise extract
Instructions
  1. Cream butter with sugar until fluffy.
  2. Add eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition.
  3. Add sifted dry ingredients, alternate with sour cream, mixing after each addition.
  4. Blend in anise.
  5. Chill 3-4 hours, or overnight.
  6. Roll out on a floured board, and cut with cookie cutters.
  7. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 12 minutes, or until browned.

 

 

GLUTEN FREE APPLE PIE BARS

I love dessert.  Like really LOVE dessert.  After going gluten free, the biggest challenge has been recreating recipes that actually taste like the real deal.  I was introduced to these apple pie bars drizzled with salted caramel sauce over Thanksgiving, and knew I needed to attempt it with gluten free flour.Start by slicing up apples,and then tossing with cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, and all purpose gluten free flour from Trader Joe’s.  Make the crust with butter, flour, sugar, vanilla, and salt.  After baking the crust, spread the apple mixture on top. Time to make the crumble topping!  In goes gluten free oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, flour, and even more butter.  No one said this was a health food! Add the topping and pop in the oven.  Wait patiently while it bakes.  In the meantime, make the salted caramel sauce.  I like desserts with texture, so I also broiled the fully baked dessert until the top was browned. 


GLUTEN FREE APPLE PIE BARS
 
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Gluten free apple pie bars with a drizzle of salted caramel sauce on top, adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction
Author:
Recipe type: dessert
Cuisine: gluten free
Serves: 12 bars
Ingredients
  • CRUST
  • ½ cup melted butter
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup gluten free flour
  • APPLE FILLING
  • 2 large apples, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 2 tbsp gluten free flour
  • 2 tbsp granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • ⅛ tsp ground nutmeg
  • CRUMBLE
  • ½ cup gluten free rolled oats
  • ⅓ cup packed light brown sugar
  • ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
  • ¼ cup gluten free flour
  • ¼ cup cold, cubed butter
  • salted caramel sauce
Instructions
  1. Head on over to Sally's Baking Addiction for the full list of instructions and how to make the salted caramel sauce.

THE BEST GLUTEN FREE BREAD IN THE WORLD

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After going through an elimination diet and receiving a diagnosis of SIBO, my doctor recommended a low grain, gluten-free diet.  There are a bunch of other foods I now limit, like nightshades (tomatoes, so sad!), soy, yeast, and dairy.  Maybe someday I can fully incorporate those foods back into my life, but in the meantime, I’ll continue to experiment in the kitchen for alternatives that still taste good.

Enter The Best Gluten Free Bread Ever.  That may be a bold statement, but once you try this gluten free bread, your mind will be blown.  Dare I say it’s BETTER than ‘real’ bread??  When searching for recipes, all I could find were sweet breads like pumpkin, banana, etc.  Don’t get me wrong- I love me some pumpkin loaf, but I wanted a more savory option.

I adapted a recipe I found at Fork & Beans, testing it with a number of different gluten free flours.  In this version I added coconut flour mainly because I ran out of garbanzo bean flour, and it still turned out tasty!

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all the flours

Start by grinding up the cashews.  They are pretty soft, but if your food processor or blender isn’t very strong, you can always soak nuts in water for a few hours before grinding.  You could also buy cashew meal if you don’t want the extra work!  Next, grind up the chia seeds.  I used my coffee bean grinder and they were powder in about 5 seconds flat.

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Add all dry ingredients to the mixer, and slowly add in the almond milk, water, and then finally the vinegar.

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Grease your baking pan.  I prefer Trader Joe’s coconut oil spray- keeps it from sticking, and it’s reasonably priced.

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The dough should look thick like this.

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Make sure you let the dough rest before it goes in the oven.  This allows the vinegar to do its job!  Now is a good time to pre heat your oven.  By the time it’s ready, your bread should be, too.

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Pop in the oven for about an hour.  Test with a toothpick in the center.  If it comes out clean, it’s done.  Make sure you let the loaf cool before slicing, or else it will look like this.

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Enjoy with a slice of butter, or maybe make some avocado toast!

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Coconut flour leads to a nice, smooth texture, but the bread gets gooey if you let it sit on the counter for too many days.  If you miraculously have leftovers, slice it up and put in the freezer so it doesn’t get that weird gummy consistency.

THE BEST GLUTEN FREE BREAD IN THE WORLD
 
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gluten free, dairy free, yeast free
Author:
Recipe type: Bread
Cuisine: Gluten Free
Serves: 12
Ingredients
  • ¾ cup cashews*
  • ¾ cup almond meal
  • ¾ cup garbanzo bean flour
  • ¾ cup coconut flour**
  • ¼ cup chia seeds
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 1 cup almond milk***
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
Instructions
  1. Grind up whole cashews until it becomes powder, then do the same with the chia seeds.
  2. Add all dry ingredients to mixer; stir to combine.
  3. Pour wet ingredients on top; stir to combine.
  4. Pour batter into greased loaf pan.
  5. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
  6. Let sit 10 minutes. This allows the vinegar to interact with the baking soda and create carbon dioxide, which allows the bread to rise.
  7. Bake bread for about an hour.
  8. Once cooled, slice up and serve! Goes great with mashed avocado on top.
  9. Store leftovers in the freezer.
Notes
*Cashews can be mixed with other nuts. I tried adding hazelnuts, and it turned out great.
**Coconut flour can be removed if you double the garbanzo bean flour.
***Use any dairy free milk you like. I also had success with almond coconut milk.