Gluten Free Snickerdoodles

Ever since I became a vegan baker, meaning no eggs and no dairy, I have been longing to make a decent snickerdoodle. The classic version often calls for lots of butter and eggs that causes these cookies to puff up and spread out, which gives them their traditional cracks and cake like center. Until recently, I have not been brave enough to tackle this allergen ridden goodie and I had resigned myself to having children that would never know about this cinnamony treat. Until now.


After playing successfully with quinoa flour in my sugar cookie baking, I decided to play with my recipe to make a more cake like cookie vs. the shaped variety. (At least some good comes from pantry cleaning cookie batches, where all your grain bins are frightfully low and you need to use the remnants up in one way or another.) Quinoa always gives my pancakes a fluffier texture and I was hoping that my cookies would have the same feel to them. Thus the following cookie recipe was born. These cookies are quiet light and airy in the center and came out excellent even without the cinnamon sugar coating (made especially for those in my house who don't like cinnamon). So if you have been craving this childhood treat since going gluten free, at least take an afternoon to try these.

Kelly’s Snickerdoodles

Ingredients:

¾ cup/180ml* quinoa flour

¾ cup/180ml brown rice flour

1 cup/235ml arrowroot starch or potato starch

1 cup/235ml golden brown sugar

1 tsp/5ml gaur gum

1 tsp/5ml cream of tartar

½ tsp/2.5ml baking soda

1 tsp/5ml sea salt

1 tablespoon/15ml flax seed-milled

3 tablespoons/45ml hot water

½ cup/120ml applesauce

½ cup/120ml oil

2 tsp/10ml vanilla extract

Topping:

½ cup/120ml brown sugar

1 tsp/5ml arrowroot starch/potato starch

1 tablespoon/15ml cinnamon

In a food processor, blend together the topping ingredients. Remove from food processor and set aside.

Combine the milled flax seed and hot water in a small bowl, mix and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients including sugar and whisk or blend together using a hand mixer, making sure to break up any lumps in the brown sugar as you do so.

In the food processor, add in the applesauce, oil, and vanilla. Whip for a few minutes until it is white and well blended. Add this mixture to the dry ingredients. Add in flax seed and water and blend well for a couple of minutes or until well combined.

Place this in the refrigerator between 15 minutes to 4 hours. The longer it sets, the more the flours soak up the other flavors.

Preheat the oven to 375 Fahrenheit. If using a baking stone, preheat it with the oven. Take a teaspoon and scoop out a small amount of dough. Using damp, not dripping wet, hands, roll the dough into a ball. Place the ball into the topping mixture and cover completely with the cinnamon sugar. Place on the baking stone and pat down just a bit. Continue this process until the baking stone is full then place it in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Recipe makes about 3 dozen. Enjoy.

*All measurements are in volume, not by weight.

Grandma Trager's Gluten Free Oatmeal Cookies

Grandma Trager's cookies have been in my family for two generations now. I have no idea who this wonderful grandma is, but I got this out of an old cookbook that I inherited from my mom when I went off to college. Most of this cookbook is filled with recipes collected from the local women in South Bend, Indiana and it threw me for a loop when I first read recipes containing ingredients such as 'oleo' and 'lard'. Granted, we've learned a lot about trans fats in the last 20 years that would make us cringe when reading these older recipes, but Grandma Trager was a genius when it came to her recipe. Actually, it isn't much different than the famous Neiman-Marcus cookie recipe that has been floating through cyberspace as a forward in most everyone's inbox since the invention of said inbox.

It has taken me a while to learn the ins and outs of different flour blends to get around to working on converting this recipe. It has some things going for it that I just didn't want to mess with, such as the cinnamon and sugar soaked oats, so you are witnessing the perfected version my friend. In fact, it was her recipe that got me started on letting the cookie dough rest for several hours before baking.

Now, when it comes to measuring the brown sugar I don't pack my sugar because I am sensitive to sugar and too much just messes with my system. If you prefer a sweeter cookie, by all means pack away, but if this is still too sweet for your pallet, just reduce the sugar down to 1 cup. I actually forgot sugar in one of my batches and I was surprised that it still made for a good cookie (of course the kids didn't eat it, but it was their loss).

I make one half batch with just chocolate chips and for the second half I add raisins because of family preferences. I have made this recipe with both coconut and walnuts. Both variations are super yummy.



Ingredients:

2 cups Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Oats (1 cup ground fine and 1 cup coarsely ground)
1 cups Lundberg brown rice-milled in coffee grinder
1 cup sweet sorghum flour
1 1/2 cups golden brown sugar
2 tablespoons potato starch
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp guar gum (or xanthen)

Set aside for 10 minutes in a small bowl:
2 tablespoons flax seed-milled in a coffee grinder
6 tablespoons very hot water

1 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup oil
2 tsp vanilla
1 tablespoon of maple syrup/honey/brown rice syrup
1/4 tsp brown rice vinegar

Stir in options:
1 cup Enjoy Life chocolate chips
1 cup raisins
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup chopped walnuts

In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients and blend with a blender. This helps to blend the flours as well as break up any lumps that are in the brown sugar.

To the dry ingredients, add the premixed flax seed and water, applesauce, oil, maple syrup, vinegar, and vanilla. Blend well using a mixer for about a minute, making sure to scrape down the sides to make sure that there is no dry flour stuck to the sides of the bowl. Using a heavy duty spoon, stir in the chocolate chips and other add in ingredients.

Cover the dough with wax paper sitting directly on top and place it in the refrigerator for at least two hours (overnight would be even better). This helps the oats and the other flours to soak up the liquid. Do not skip this step. There is something about letting gluten free cookie dough rest in the fridge that helps the flour to soak up all the flavors of the other ingredients and it helps it to bake that much better.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. If using a baking stone like I do, preheat the stone with your oven. Spoon out the dough onto either a prepared baking stone or a cookie sheet with a little non-stick spray applied. Bake for 20 minutes or until the cookies are golden brown. Store the dough in the refrigerator in between batches. Makes about 4 dozen cookies. These store well in the freezer or an air tight container in the refrigerator.

This batch has raisins.

Chocolate Dipped Sugar Cookies

This is the time of year where many of us blog about Valentine's day treats. I work at a flower shop during the holidays, so I had not intended to post a blog this year. However, I realized that I needed to whip something up for the kids to take to school for their Valentine's parties. I make these sugar cookies all the time for snacking on and the fact that they freeze so well makes it easy to have a batch in the freezer for those after school munchies. I normally don't top them with anything due to the fact that I've not found the perfect corn free frosting. However, my kids don't seem to mind and my oldest will request that I top them with peanut butter on the rare occasion that he wants something different.

I had seen a recipe on the Enjoy Life web sight that had just melted chocolate as a frosting recipe and since chocolate goes hand-in-hand with Valentine's, I decided to top my cookies and take this simple snack to the next decadent level. I apparently lost my heart shaped cookie cutter at some point, but these would be super cute cut into hear shapes instead of the simple circles pictured here. I admit, I've had a hard time keeping out of this batch of cookies and they will disappear quickly once the kids get their hands on them. May you have a hard time not eating them in one sitting like I have.


Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup Brown Rice-milled into flour using a coffee grinder
1 cup Potato Starch (not potato flour)
½ tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Cream of Tartar
3 teaspoons Gaur Gum
1 teaspoon Fine Sea Salt
1 cup Golden Brown Cane Sugar
½ cup Unsweetened Apple Sauce
½ cup Kroger Vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon Flax Seed –milled in a coffee grinder and 3 Tablespoons hot water-set aside for 10 minutes
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
Extra Potato Starch, for kneading

Mix dry ingredients first, including brown sugar. Pulse in the food processor then move to a large mixing bowl. Mix oil and water and whip for 1-3 minutes in the food processor until it is well blended and has a creamy appearance. Add flour mixture back into the food processor, as well as flax mixture and vanilla. Blend until too thick for beaters then knead with hands.

Move to the table dusted with potato starch. Knead about 2 T to 1/2 cup of potato starch (depending on the moisture of the dough) into the ball of dough until it is workable and doesn’t stick. The texture should be similar to wheat flour based sugar cookies by the time you are finished kneading. With some potato starch on your hands, make the dough into a ball and roll out onto a potato starched surface. Roll to 1/4″ thickness. Cut into shapes using your favorite cookie cutters. Place on greased cookie sheet at bake at 350F for 15-20 minutes at high altitude (12-15 for lower altitude). Cool on rack. Decorate and enjoy! These freeze very nicely.

For the Dipping:

1/2 cup Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or a ceramic mixing bowl placed over top a sauce pan filled with water. Heat the water until hot enough to produce steam, but not boiling. Place your chocolate chips in the top bowl and stir slowly until they are all melted. Remove the bowl from the saucepan (or top portion of the double boiler). The bowl should remain warm enough for you to finish dipping all the cookies, but you can put it back on the saucepan if it gets too cool.

Hold the cookies so that you can dip the top portion of the cookie in the chocolate. Be careful, the chocolate is very hot. Make sure the entire top is coated then place it right side up on a cookie sheet lined with parchment or wax paper. Once all the cookies are coated, place them in the freezer to set the chocolate. You're done. The chocolate melts easily, so it is recommended that you store them in either the freezer or the refrigerator. I store these in a tin in the freezer and it only takes a few minutes sitting out before they are thawed enough to eat.

Quinoa and Oat Chocolate Chip Pancakes

While hunting through my recipe collection in search of the next one to publish, I realized how many of my recipes are done in a grandmother/Rachel Ray fashion. I start out with what I have on hand and build from there, taking a pinch of this and a little of that until I'm satisfied with the outcome. Now don't get me wrong, I have my favorite cookbooks that lie open while I'm cooking. These are used as my base reference, but let's be realistic, sometimes the flavor of the carrots might be a little off that day or spicier just sounds better.

This has spilled over into my baking. Unless it is a cake, I don't follow recipes to the letter like we were always told to do as children in 4-H cooking class. I love to experiment with ingredients now. When I first started baking gluten free, I was scared to death of trying new flours. Now I'm starting to see what kinds of flavors work well together. It also doesn't hurt to throw a little bit of cocoa powder into the mix once in a while, as long as you adjust your sugar amount appropriately. Actually, tasting batter isn't a bad thing. There are advantages to cooking egg free. For one, you can eat cookie dough without worrying about raw egg.

So today's recipe is a little something I whipped up one morning when making pancakes. I usually try to make pancakes for the kids on Sundays, but sometimes the same old thing gets a little boring. So this is where this recipe came from. These quinoa oat pancakes are the fluffiest I've made since going wheat free and the kids just loved them. They also freeze well, so if there are any leftovers you can just stick these in a freezer bag with some wax paper in between each pancake to make it easier to separate later. Pop them in the microwave for a minute or two, depending on your microwave, to reheat.


Note: I make my own flour using my coffee grinder, grinding 1/4 cup at a time. You can also find these flours in your baking section at either the grocery or local health food store.

1/2 cup quinoa flour made by grinding pre-rinsed quinoa

1/2 cup GF oat flour made from GF oats ground fine

2-Tablespoons potato starch (not potato flour)

1-Tablespoon brown cane sugar

1-tsp cream of tartar

½-tsp baking soda

2-tsp guar gum

1 pinch of salt (1/4 tsp)

1-Tablespoon flax seed meal plus 3 Tablespoons hot water (or one egg)

1 ½-cups non-dairy milk of choice

2-Tablespoons Vegetable oil

1- cup of applesauce or well mashed banana

Optional: Enjoy Life chocolate chips-could also mix in blueberries into this batter.

1. In a small bowl, combine the flax seed and hot water. Set aside for 10 minutes.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, potato starch, baking soda, cream of tartar, guar gum and salt. Combine and set aside.
3. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and blend batter until it is smooth. (should not be lumpy like traditional batters)
4. On a well-oiled, hot griddle or pan, pour about ¼ cup of batter and top with chocolate chips. Cook over medium heat, making sure that on the first side the pancake is almost completely set as the rice flour tends to be a little stickier and will not flip easily if the batter has not set up. Flip over to second side and cook until golden brown. Serve warm.

Welcome and Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Egg Free Rice Bread

My name is Kelly and this is my blog, Gluten Free, It's a Lifestyle. Writing has always been something that I enjoy and it just seemed natural that I start my own blog. I started out by sharing my gluten free baking tips on Facebook and my friends like my recipes so much that I wanted to share them with the rest of you out there.

Now being gluten free is not just a way of loosing weight or eating healthier, even though I have, but it is a true lifestyle change. This journey started when I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism and around that same time my oldest son was diagnosed Autistic. These two journeys may seem entirely separate from each other, but through much research I realized that they have somethings in common. For one, food intolerance. I'm not talking about allergies, that is something different. Allergies are when the body can not tolerate even the smallest particle of that substance and has a violent reaction. Food intolerance is often linked with autoimmune response where the body creates antibodies to battle the substance, resulting in a reaction that can range from violent to mild.

In my case, I would get eczema really bad and it became worse after my second son was born. I also have a hard time with my digestive system. Heartburn was common for me and I lived off Tums some days. In a quest for a cure for my thyroid problems, I read several sources that linked gluten and dairy to Hypothyroid. I decided to give it a shot and took myself through an elimination diet. I had removed eggs, milk and processed foods when I was pregnant due to morning sickness and so I started there, one food at a time. I found that I felt so much better once I switched to soy milk that I removed cheese and the rest of the dairy from my diet. I kept a diary and after about two years of playing with recipes I am now gluten, dairy, and egg free.

I also found that the American diet is full of refined white sugar and that I didn't feel so bloated when I removed it from my diet and that my headaches went away. I also know that I'm sensitive to canola oil as it makes my skin itch and the tomato/pepper family is something to eat every now and then. My biggest lesson learned was that I need to listen to my body. It knows what it needs and doesn't like and I just adjust my menu as needed. If I had too much sugar one day, I back off for a week or so until my body feels more in balance. It's all about paying attention.

Early in my own food intolerance journey, my oldest boy had a bad reaction to a popular tubed yogurt that he had at preschool. I had a friend with a boy about my son's age that had bad food allergies and I remembered her saying something about the ability for her boy to concentrate was a symptom of his allergies. We had yet to have him diagnosed, but I went ahead and started a food diary for him and realized that everything he had a hard time with had corn. I took him off any foods containing corn, which is a lot in our American diet, and he began to calm down and his ability to concentrate was greatly improved. I did take him to an allergist and he encouraged me that even though the test were negative that if I noticed a difference that I should do what I thought was best for my son.

Once he was diagnosed, I found many a resource that listed Autistic children as having problems with gluten and dairy, as early research had indicated that the bodies of these children reacted to gluten and dairy as if it were an opiate; messing with their concentration and increasing hyperactivity. Since I was already on my own food intolerance journey, it didn't take long to decide to remove dairy and gluten from his diet as well. He has shown great improvement and he is able to keep up with his classmates and make friends. He has also had a great set of therapists, so I'm thankful for all the hard work, food, and training that has brought him as far as he is.

Not only is eating a part of this lifestyle, but exercise as well. Just as my oldest son needs body movement to regulate his mind, so does my body. My husband got me hooked on P90X and after 6 months of this at home program, I'm hooked. I love that I have more energy and that I have rid myself of my baby chub. This isn't an easy task as those of you who have a thyroid problem know that the thyroid is in charge of the metabolism. It took having my medication balanced and a little help from the Thyroid Diet to get my body to the point that I could lose weight. Healthy eating, portion control, and getting my intolerances under control made going through this exercise program successful. This is now part of the lifestyle and I intend to keep up with staying fit through running, rollerblading, chasing my kids, workout videos, or whatever means of fitness are available to me at the time. A healthy body is an efficient body and I plan to keep it that way.

Through this journey I have found many helpful blogs and recipes online that I tweeked to my own tastes once I learned what replacement foods I could use and where. Now I am more comfortable in my skills and through the encouragement of my friends I am going to share some of these lessons with you. I am by no means a professional chef or a lifestyle coach, in fact I'm a Horticulturalist by trade, but I have learned a lot in helping my family to eat better and I hope I help at least a few of you as you continue on your own journey.

Join me on my journey in this gluten free lifestyle.

Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Egg Free Rice Bread



Note: I live at high altitude, so the cooking times may be shorter at lower altitude.

Quick and easy; makes a wonderful breakfast toast.

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 cup brown sugar
1 Tbs ground flax seed (or pre-ground flax seed meal) plus 3 Tb hot water mixed and set aside for 10 minutes. (can use one egg if not vegan)
1-1/2 cups Brown Rice
2 Tbs Potato Starch
1 Tbs ground flax seed or flax seed meal plus 3 Tbs of hot water
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Cream of Tartar
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp yeast
2 Tbs vegetable oil
2 tsp gaur gum
1 1/2 cups Rice Milk

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a 4" x 6" bread pan, set aside.

For those that are new to the whole gluten free or vegan diet:
To replace 1 egg: I use one Tablespoon of flax seed that I grind in my coffee grinder. I put this in a small bowl and add 3 Tablespoons of hot water-can be from the tap- and add it to the flax seed. You can also use flax seed meal, but I prefer to mill my own seed since the meal can go bad if not used within a month.

I also use the coffee grinder to make my own rice flour. It takes a few times to figure out how fine a flour you can make, but even my finicky child has no problem with the courser grind that I get from the coffee grinder. Plus, this saves a little money, especially if you get rice from Costco or Sam's. You can either use brown or white rice, but I find that the brown rice requires additional rice milk for this recipe to work. Needless to say, I don't grind much coffee anymore ;D

Directions:
Sift dry ingredients and add to wet ingredients. Mix well. Beat with a blender for at least three minutes.

Scrape the dough into a 1.5 pound loaf pan (or 7 to 8-inch round cake pan for ciabatta style) and smooth evenly (I use wet fingers). Loosely cover the pan (I use wax paper so that I can see how high it is just in case it gets too high and might stick to the cover) and allow the dough to rise for 20 minutes in a warm spot.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. When the oven comes to temperature bake the bread until it sounds hollow when thumped. 60 minutes for people at higher altitude.(this might be anywhere from 35 to 45 minutes for lower alt) Lower style round pan loaves will bake at 30 to 40 minutes, usually.

If you like a crusty loaf, remove the bread from the pan and return it naked to the oven for an additional 10 minutes- keep an eye on it and don't let it get too brown. It should be a light golden color.

Cool on a wire rack.