Using sweetener choices other than the usual white sugar and also adding the chewy, naturally sweet element of coconut creates a divine alternative to common banana bread!
2 cups GF flour blend
1 t. baking soda
Pinch of salt
4 eggs
3-4 medium sized ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup brown sugar, packed
½ cup unsweetened applesauce, honey, or agave syrup
¼ cup natural, unsweetened coconut flakes
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 t. GF vanilla extract
½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans
Preheat oven to 350˚F.
In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt. In a larger bowl, whisk the eggs, bananas, sugar, applesauce, (honey, or agave syrup), coconut flakes, oil, vanilla and nuts. Stir in the dry ingredients just until moistened.
Transfer to an oiled 10 x 4 ½ inch loaf pan. Bake at 350 ˚F for approximately 50-60 minutes. Test by inserting a knife or toothpick in the center to see if batter is still doughy in center. Cool for ten minutes before removing from pan to wire rack.
All of my recipes and published materials (cookbook, ebook, website, blog) have a copyright and may not be reproduced and distributed elsewhere without contacting me first and getting my permission.
If you would like to reprint any information or a recipe that is from this my cookbook, ebook, website, or blog, please include a sentence or two stating what source that the information is taken from and adding a link to my web site or blog at www.celiacdiseaseinfo.org or glutenfreefoodieheaven@blogspot.com.
Fruit Pie Squares Buttery, flakey, tender, and melt-in-your-mouth good! Great for a tea party. The original recipe called for pie filling, which can certainly be used, but I prefer the simplicity and additional choices available in fruit jellies.
1½ cups sugar
1 cup butter, chilled
4 large eggs
1 T. GF vanilla
1¾ cups GF flour blend
Approximately ½ cup GF jelly or assorted jellies of choice
Powdered sugar for dusting
Preheat oven to 350˚F.
Beat together sugar and butter. Do not overbeat. Then add eggs, vanilla, and flour. Mixture will be fairly thick.
Spread batter evenly onto oiled or non-stick 9 x 13 inch cake pan. Roughly mark the batter into 2½ inch squares with a knife.
Insert a scant teaspoon of jelly deep into the center of each square, being careful not to go all the way to bottom of each square if possible. Gently pull some of the dough back over the top of each square to roughly conceal the jelly. This will seem quite messy, but it will work out in the end! You can vary the jellies or even use lemon curd for a colorful and interesting variety, all in one batch.
Bake at 350°F for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center of batter comes out clean. When partially cool, re-define the squares again by cutting out and placing on a rack to finish cooling. Dust with powdered sugar.
Makes: 9 x 13 inch pan of pie squares or approximately 18 squares.
This recipe is from my cookbook andmy cookbook is available at:
This creamy gluten free chicken tetrazzini is relatively low in fat and simple to assemble using leftover chicken. The rather large amount of mushrooms (you may reduce if you prefer) extends the recipe and makes it possible to use less chicken and pasta.
½ pound GF spaghetti 1 T. unsalted butter 1 pound mushrooms, trimmed and quartered 2 cloves garlic, minced 1½ T. GF flour blend ¾ cup skim milk ¾ cup low sodium chicken broth 4 T. Parmesan, divided 1 T. fresh thyme leaves, or 1 t. dried ½ t. salt ½ t. freshly ground pepper 1 cup frozen peas 2-3 cups cooked chicken, chopped ½ cup crushed potato chips, optional
Boil GF pasta according to manufacturer directions, minus a minute or two; just until chewy. Do not over cook. Drain and set aside.
Pour mixture into an oiled 9 x 13 inch casserole. Top with crushed chips and the remaining 2 T. Parmesan. Bake for approximately 20 minutes, or until brown and bubbly. Makes: 4-6 servings.
(Pictured: my flour blend storage container which holds a triple recipe of the blend.)
There are many GF flour blend recipes available. Currently, I am developing a wonderful new blend using Bob's Red Mill brand GF all-purpose flour blend and mixing it with other flours to create a lighter, tastier product. In the meantime, try this one:
Homemade gluten-free flour blend recipe
that includes xanthan gum
2¼ cups fine rice flour
¼ cup potato starch (not potato flour)
⅔ cup tapioca flour
¾ cup sweet rice flour (glutinous rice flour)
⅓ cup GF cornstarch or arrowroot powder
Add appropriate amounts of xanthan gum to what you are making...
(Blue) corn pancakes with prickly pear syrup or agave syrup, coupled with the rich, dense cornmeal setting off the fruity hints of the syrup deliver a perfect breakfast experience.
1 cup blue or yellow cornmeal
1 cup GF flour blend
2 t. baking powder
½ t. salt
1¾ cups milk
2 large eggs, beaten to blend
6 T. butter or margarine, melted
¼ cup pine nuts or pumpkin seeds, optional
Maple syrup, agave syrup or prickly pear cactus syrup
Vegetable oil
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In a bowl, mix cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk in milk and eggs, just until blended, then whisk in butter. Fold in pine nuts or pumpkin seeds, if using.
Spoon batter in ⅓cup portions onto oiled griddle and cook until pancakes are browned on the bottom and edges begin to look dry; about 2 minutes. Turn with a wide spatula and brown other sides, 1½ to 2 minutes longer. Coat pan with more oil as necessary to cook remaining pancakes.
Serve pancakes as cooked or keep warm in a single layer on baking sheets in a 200°F oven for up to 15 minutes.
Makes: Approximately 12 medium-sized pancakes.
This recipe is from my cookbook: "Delicious! The Very Best of Gluten Free and Wheat Free Cooking" which is available at AMAZON.com and also at my website: celiacdiseaseinfo.org/
Yesterday I posted a great new recipe and photos on my blog for oatmeal cookies. If you came to my blog today looking for it, it has been deleted because I have clearly been glutenized after ingesting the cookies. :-( I DO apologize. There seems to be some misconception today in the gluten free world that there is minimal contamination obtained in oats (they contain no gluten unless they become contaminated with wheat), due to their processing in many USA processing plants that also process wheat products on the same equipment. There is also fairly recent information from Dr. Peter Greene (esteemed celiac researcher and specialist...via Elisabeth Haselback as seen on the Dr. Oz TV program) that a small amount of gluten (now the allowable amount is 1/8 of a teaspoon!) is safe for celiacs. Well, it's your body, but if you are a diagnosed celiac, my vote would be don't fool around with oats AT ALL, unless they are guaranteed gluten free. In this blogger's opinion, no gluten (not even a microbe) is the only safe choice...
Babka (Mother’s Polish Bread) is a yeasted sweet cake, popular in Eastern Europe and commonly baked at Easter. While the chocolate filling is not traditional, the result is incredibly tender, buttery, and succulent. Great for dessert, breakfast, or as a coffee cake. I adapted from Epicurious to make the recipe gluten free.
Dough ¾ cup warm milk (105 -115 ˚F)
½ cup plus 2 t. sugar 3 t. active dry yeast (or 2 ¼ ounce pkgs.)
3 cups GF flour blend*
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1 t. GF vanilla extract
¾ t. salt
1¼ sticks unsalted butter (10 T.), softened
Egg Wash
1 large egg yolk
1 T. heavy cream or whole milk (I use fat free half ‘n half
Chocolate Filling
5 T. unsalted butter, softened
8 ounces of chocolate chips (bittersweet if possible)
¼ cup sugar
Stir together warm milk and 2 t. sugar in bowl of mixer. Sprinkle yeast over mixture and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Make sure yeast foams; if it does not, discard and start over with new yeast.
Add ½ cup flour to yeast mixture and beast until combined. Add whole eggs, yolk, vanilla, salt and remaining ½ cup sugar and beat until combined. Reduce speed to low, then mix in remaining flour ½ cup at a time. Increase speed to medium, then beat in butter, a few pieces at a time, and continue to beat until dough is shiny, about 4 minutes. (I mixed this with a hand mixer, but it was a challenge!) Dough will be very soft and sticky.
Scrape dough into lightly oiled bowl and cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let rise in a slightly warm and draft free location (top of stove) until doubled, about 1½ - 2 hours.
Assembly
Punch down dough with lightly oiled rubber spatula, then halve dough. Place 20 inch long sheet of saran wrap on work surface. Place the dough half on the saran and top with another same size piece of saran wrap. Roll dough out with a rolling pin, between the two slices of saran wrap to an 18 x 10 inch rectangle, as if making cinnamon rolls. Do not roll too thin. Arrange the long side of the rolled out dough nearest you.
Beat together yolk and cream. Spread 2½ T. softened butter on dough, leaving about ½ inch border all around. Brush some of the egg wash on the long border nearest you. Sprinkle half of chocolate evenly over buttered dough, then sprinkle with half the sugar (2 T.) Lifting the saran wrap, leverage the dough by rolling, starting with long side farthest from you, roll dough (still using the saran wrap, so there is no need to touch the dough with your fingers) into a snug log, pinching firmly along egg-washed seam to seal. Pinch ends of log to seal and tuck ends under log. Pick up log using saran wrap and gently roll the log into the oiled loaf pan. Put remaining egg wash in refrigerator. Repeat process for a second loaf.
Cover loaves with oiled saran wrap and allow loaves to rise in a warm room temperature draft-free location until dough reaches top of pans, 1-2 hours. (Or, you may let dough rise in pans in refrigerator 8-12 hours; bring to room temperature 3-4 hours before baking.)
Bake
Place oven rack in middle position and preheat to 350 ˚F. Brush tops of dough with remaining egg wash. Bake until tops are deep golden brown and bottoms sound hollow when tapped (when loaves are removed from pans), about 40 minutes. Transfer loaves to a rack and cool to room temperature. Makes: 2 loaves. *My GF flour blend includes appropriate amounts of xanthan gum, though another 1/4 t. per cup of flour may be added if desired. Using a lighter GF (pastry) flour would be recommended for this recipe.
