Crispy Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Jul 23, 2015 · 2 Comments

One of my readers sent me a chocolate chip cookie recipe to convert. After taking one look at the recipe, I realized it was the famous “Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie” recipe from Cook’s Illustrated magazine. However, Carol’s recipe was the original version. They’ve since updated it to use browned butter and her’s didn’t include it.

When made with wheat flour, this recipe makes chewy chocolate chip cookies. After converting the recipe, my cookies were not chewy or soft or tender. They were undoubtedly crispy. I was bummed. Then a funny thing happened. I brought a plate of them to my mom’s workplace and people gobbled them up. “But they are all wrong,” I kept thinking. Only they weren’t. They might not have the chewy texture I was looking for but, as is, they are delicious. And I couldn’t keep a delicious chocolate chip cookie recipe to myself, could I?

Since the recipe uses melted butter, I don’t use an electric mixer to make the dough. I stir it together with a wooden spoon. If you’d prefer an electric mixer, go ahead and use one!

I’m still working on a chewy chocolate chip recipe for Carol. Until then, enjoy these crispy chocolate chip cookies!

5 from 1 vote

Crispy Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 16 minutes

Total Time 36 minutes

Servings 3 dozen

Author GlutenFreeBaking.com

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups white rice flour (5 ounces; 142 grams)
1/2 cup sweet rice flour (2 ounces; 56 grams)
1/2 cup cornstarch (2 ounces; 56 grams)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks butter, melted (3/4 cup; 6 ounces; 170 grams)
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed (7.5 ounces; 212 grams)
1/2 cup granulated sugar (3 1/2 ounces; 100 grams)
1 large egg (1 3/4 ounces; 50 grams)
1 egg yolk (1/2 ounce; 14 grams)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 (12 ounce) bag chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
Whisk together white rice flour, sweet rice flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.
Combine melted butter, sugars, egg, egg yolk and vanilla extract in a large bowl. Stir until smooth. Add the flour. Using a wooden spoon, stir together until a dough forms. Add chocolate chips and stir until just combined.
Drop dough, about 2 teaspoons each, onto prepared cookie sheet.
Bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown. Cool cookies on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container for up to five days.

How to Make Salt Potatoes

Jul 23, 2015 · Leave a Comment

Years ago, I read Kim Severson’s piece in the New York Times about salt potatoes. I remember thinking, “Those sound interesting. I should try them.” Two years later, I finally did! (I’m never one to rush!)

To be honest, I was surprised to learn that salt potatoes are a central New York dish. I’d never heard of the practice of boiling “new” potatoes in copious amounts of salt. Somehow this dish didn’t make the 150 mile jump from Syracuse to Albany. I’m sorry it didn’t! These potatoes are fantastic!

What makes these potatoes unique? The texture! The interior was really smooth and tender–almost like boiled potatoes, baked potatoes and mashed potatoes got together and created a baby! A tender, delicious, salty potato baby.

If you’re worried, like I was, that these potatoes will taste too salty, fear not. The salt is just right. And they are nowhere as salty as potato chips. To finish, I tossed the potatoes in melted butter and herbs.

Salt, potatoes, butter and herbs? Doesn’t that sound great?

Here’s how to make ’em

Grab a large pot and bring 10 cups of water and 1 1/2 cups of Kosher salt to a boil. Then add the potatoes. There’s so much salt in the water that you’ll see it cling to the pot as the potatoes cook.

Drain. A lovely white coating of salt will cling to the potatoes.

Toss with butter and fresh herbs. Or just leave ’em alone. The salt potatoes are great on their own.

Steamed potatoes coated in butter and herbs.

New York Salt Potatoes

adapted from a recipe in the New York Times, August 22, 2008

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Servings 4

Author GlutenFreeBaking.com

Ingredients

10 cups of water
1 1/2 cups of kosher salt Note from the NYT: Add another cup if using the Diamond Crystal brand
3 pounds well-scrubbed small red or white potatoes I used new white potatoes
1/2 stick melted butter
Chopped fresh herbs about a 1/4 cup (I used parsley and basil because it was what I had on-hand at the time.)

Instructions

Bring the water and salt to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, add the potatoes.
Boil for 20 minutes or until for tender.
Drain and toss with butter and herbs. (If you don't want to toss with butter and herbs, you will be able to see the light salt crust on the potatoes.)

Gluten-Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Pinwheels

Jul 23, 2015 · Leave a Comment

A holiday classic goes gluten-free! These chocolate peanut butter pinwheels look stunning and are always a welcome addition to any holiday cookie platter. The dough needs a night to chill. So be sure to make it the day before you plan to bake.

Peanut butter and chocolate go together like cookies and Santa Claus! This cookie recipe was requested by Tina. She sent along the recipe after we chatted about the holiday cookies on Facebook. I’m so glad we had that conversation! Because these cookies are seriously good.

To make them, you need two pieces of parchment and a bit of patience. You spread warm chocolate onto cookie dough and roll it up, as Tina says, “jelly roll-style”. The resulting cookies are so tender that they melt on your tongue, leaving behind the earthy flavor of peanut butter with a hint of chocolate from the swirl.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pinwheel Cookies

Be sure you have parchment paper on hand before making these cookies. You use it to roll the dough up into a pinwheel.

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Servings 36 cookies

Author GlutenFreeBaking.com

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups white rice flour (6 ounces; 170 grams)
1/2 cup sweet rice flour (2 ounces; 56 grams)
1/2 cup cornstarch (2 ounces; 56 grams)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened (1 cup; 8 ounces; 226 grams)
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar (7 1/2 ounces; 212 grams)
1 cup smooth peanut butter (9 1/2 ounces; 270 grams)
1 large egg (about 1 3/4 ounces; 50 grams)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate pieces or chocolate chips (6 ounces; 170 grams)
1 teaspoon butter

Instructions

Make the Dough: Whisk together white rice flour, cornstarch, sweet rice flour, baking soda, salt, and xanthan gum in a small bowl.
In bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream together butter and dark brown sugar until thick paste forms. Add peanut butter, cream until smooth. Stop mixer. Scrape down bottom and sides of the bowl. Add egg and vanilla extract, cream until smooth, about 30 seconds.
Stop mixer. Add dry ingredients. Mix until dough forms. Generously white rice flour your countertop. Turn dough out onto counter and pat into a round. Use a knife and cut dough in half.
Place one half of the dough on a piece of parchment paper. Roll into a rectangle, about 8x10-inches. Set aside. Repeat with remaining dough. (Each piece of dough should be on its own piece of parchment.
Prepare the filling: Melt chocolate in microwave-safe bowl. Add butter and still until smooth. Allow to cool for two minutes. let cool completely. Spread each dough-rectangle with half of the chocolate mixture.
Starting with the long edge, roll dough tightly, using parchment to aid the rolling, if needed, into a log. Gently press edge to seal. Roll parchment around log and then wrap with plastic wrap to seal.
Refrigerate overnight.
Preheat oven to 375°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
With sharp knife, cut 1/4-inch slices. Place slices 1 1/2 inches apart on baking sheet.
Bake until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for five minutes before transferring to a wire rack and cool.

Easy Gluten-Free S’more Pie

Jul 23, 2015 · 2 Comments

This gluten-free s’more pie makes a fun and easy summer dessert. A simple gluten-free graham crust is filled with chocolate pudding and topped with marshmallows. You get all the yumminess of a s’more without the campfire!

One year I wanted a fun way to bring s’mores to a party. I doubted the hostess would be pleased if I showed up with a bag of marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolate bars and asked if she would, kindly, set up a fire. So, I brought a s’more pie instead. My friends, a mix of folks who love to camp and those who don’t, all agreed that the pie reminded them the classic campfire treat.

To make it, start with a gluten-free graham cracker crust. I used homemade gluten-free graham crackers. However, you don’t need to make homemade crackers only to grind them up. There’s lots of gluten-free graham cracker options available. You could use store bought gluten-free grahams or pick up a premade gluten-free crumb crust.

Then fill the crust with chocolate pudding (homemade or boxed) and top with marshmallows. Since s’mores require toasted marshmallows, you put the pie under the broiler to toast them. This step only takes a minute or two. Seriously. You don’t want to walk away while browning the marshmallows.

Is this pie a replacement for classic s’mores? No! Of course not. But it’s fun—and tasty too. And, it doesn’t require a fire to make!

5 from 1 vote

Gluten-Free S'more Pie

You can use either homemade chocolate pudding or boxed chocolate pudding for this recipe.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 12 minutes

Total Time 27 minutes

Servings 8

Author GlutenFreeBaking.com

Ingredients

For the Crust

1 1/3 cups gluten-free graham cracker crumbs (5 ounces; 142 grams)
4 Tablespoons butter, melted (2 ounces; 56 grams)
2 Tablespoons granulated sugar (about 1 ounce; 24 grams)

For the Filling and Topping

2 boxes chocolate pudding, prepared according to directions for pie filling Cook and Serve or Instant
1 1/2 cups mini-marshmallows (about 2 1/4 ounces; 65 grams)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a small bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter and sugar. Stir until the crumbs are damp and hold together. Transfer the crumbs to a 9-inch pie pan. Using the back of a spoon, press the crumbs into the bottom of the pan and up the sides.
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven, place on a wire rack and allow to cool.
Spoon the chilled pudding into the baked pie crust. Cover with mini-marshmallows.
Preheat your broiler and toast the marshmallows under the broiler. Serve and enjoy. Store any leftover pie in the refrigerator.

Easy Whole-Grain Gluten-Free Pizza Crust

Jul 23, 2015 · Leave a Comment

I love pizza! And I’m always tinkering with new recipes, using different flours, adding dried herbs to the crust, you know, playing. But when I want to make a quick pizza, I grab a box of Chebe all-purpose bread mix. While I don’t like the tapioca-based mix “plain”, it’s great when you add some gluten-free flour to it. Lately, I add millet and sorghum. Thanks to the stretchy nature of modified tapioca starch, the recipe doesn’t require xanthan gum.

All you need to do is open the bag, add the flours, eggs, water and oil and stir. That’s it! The dough relies on baking powder not yeast for its rise, so I mix it up while the oven preheats. No waiting needed!

The one step that requires the most time is pressing the dough into the pan. The dough is sticky. So instead of rolling it out, I divide it into quarters and place one quarter into each corner of the pan. Then I press, press, press the dough into the pan. After a minute or so, the dough quarters come together and cover the entire pan.

After pressing out the dough, bake it (untopped!) until golden brown. Then remove the pizza from the oven, top as you wish, and return to the oven. That’s it! Pizza in about an hour!

Easy Whole Grain Gluten-Free Pizza Crust

The recipe uses millet flour and corn flour. Feel free to use whatever whole grain gluten-free flour you enjoy. Just don't skip the Chebe mix or the recipe won't work.

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Servings 1 large pizza

Author GlutenFreeBaking.com

Ingredients

1 (7.5 ounce) package Chebe Bread All-Purpose Mix
1/2 cup millet flour, plus extra for dusting (2 1/2 ounces; 128 grams)
1/2 cup sorghum flour (2 1/2 ounces; 128 grams)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup water (8 ounces; 226 grams)
2 large eggs (about 3 1/2 ounces; 100 grams, out of shell)
3 tablespoons olive oil (1 1/3 ounces; 37 grams)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425°F. Spray a rimmed baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray. Set pan aside.
In medium mixing bowl, whisk together Chebe mix, millet flour, sorghum flour, and baking powder. Add water, eggs, and olive oil. Stir together with a wooden spoon until a thick, sticky dough forms.
Loosely divide dough into quarters. Generously flour each dough quarter with millet flour. Do the same with your hands. This dough is sticky. Be sure to use enough flour. This prevents it from sticking.
Use your hands and press dough into the pan. The motion is something like "press and stretch." If your hands begin to stick to the dough, add more flour. Work the dough so all four quarters meet and cover the pan evenly.
Bake until lightly golden brown, about twenty minutes.
Remove pan from oven. Increase oven to 475°F. Top pizza as desired. Return to oven and bake until cheese bubbles and is golden brown.

Gluten-Free Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Jul 23, 2015 · 3 Comments

The addition of brown butter and golden syrup makes these gluten-free chocolate chip cookies rich and chewy.

The other day I tried to create chewy gluten-free chocolate chip cookies, and while this version missed the chewy mark, they was so flavorful that I didn’t mind. The flavor comes from golden syrup and browned butter, two ingredients you don’t usually find in chocolate chip cookies. They lend a nutty, caramel-like flavor to the already buttery cookies.

While these aren’t super-chewy cookies, they are softer than traditional gluten-free chocolate chip cookies because of the golden syrup, egg yolks, and a low baking temperature. If you prefer soft and chewy cookies, under-bake the cookies slightly. To do this, reduce baking time until the cookies are just set and faintly brown on the edges.

If you’re dairy-free or egg-free, this recipe can be adapted to fit your diet. For dairy-free cookies, replace the browned butter with melted shortening or vegetable oil. The finished cookies lack the caramelized flavor from the browned butter. To make up for this, add a splash (about two teaspoons) of vanilla. For egg-free cookies, replace the eggs with ground flaxseed.

Gluten-free brown butter chocolate chip cookies on a napkin. A glass of milk and a platter of cookies is in the background.

Gluten-Free Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Brown butter makes these gluten-free chocolate chip cookies rich and tender.

Prep Time 25 minutes

Cook Time 13 minutes

Total Time 38 minutes

Servings 24 cookies

Author GlutenFreeBaking.com

Ingredients

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter (3/4 cup; 6 ounces; 170 grams)
1 1/4 cups finely ground white rice flour (5 ounces; 142 grams)
1/2 cup sweet rice flour (2 ounces; 56 grams)
1/4 cup cornstarch (1 ounce; 28 grams)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed (5 1/4 ounces; 148 grams)
1/4 cup golden syrup (2 3/4 ounces; 78 grams)
2 large egg yolks (1 ounce; 28 grams)
2 cups gluten-free chocolate chips (12 ounces; 340 grams)

Instructions

Adjust oven rack to center position and preheat oven to 325°F. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
In small pot over medium-low heat, melt butter. Stir occasionally. After foam subsides, watch butter until milk solids turn golden brown, about five minutes. Remove pot from heat and allow butter to cool. While butter cools, whisk together white rice flour, sweet rice flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and baking powder in medium bowl.
In bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, combine brown sugar, golden syrup, and cooled brown butter. Mix on medium speed to combine. Stop mixer. Add dry ingredients. Turn mixer on to medium. Blend until a thick dough forms. Dough will be dry. Add egg yolks. Blend until smooth dough forms. Stop mixer. Add chocolate chips. Turn mixer to low. Mix until chocolate chips are incorporated.
Drop dough, about one tablespoon each, onto prepared baking sheet. Space dough about two inches apart. Bake until edges are just set and cookies are faintly golden brown, about 13 minutes. (For softer and chewier cookies, bake until cookies are just set.) Remove cookies and allow to cool on baking sheet for two minutes. Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.

Gluten-Free Chiffon Cake

Jul 23, 2015 · 31 Comments

This gluten-free chiffon cake is a showstopper. Light and airy, it’s angel food cake’s richer cousin.

For a cake with such whisper-soft texture, chiffon cake certainly made some noise when it entered the food scene. The recipe was created–and kept top secret for around two decades–by a salesman-turned-caterer named Harry Baker. Before Baker sold the recipe to General MIlls in 1948, he made chiffon cakes for the Hollywood Brown Derby and the light cake quickly gained a following.

Capitalizing on its popularity, General Mills released the recipe along with the claim that it was, “The first new cake recipe in 100 years.” (Sounds like something Don Draper would write, doesn’t it?)

Leavened mostly with whipped egg whites, chiffon cake bakes up light and airy, similar in texture to angel food cake. Unlike angel food cake, which only uses egg whites, chiffon cake uses the entire egg. The yolks are mixed into the batter before being folded into the whipped egg whites. They bring richness and a subtle yellow hue to the cake.

The original recipe for this cake relied on pastry flour; this low gluten flour gave the cake a soft, tender crumb. So converting it to gluten-free was relatively easy because the cake never fully relied on gluten structure to give it structure. White rice flour, potato starch and tapioca starch replaced the pastry flour nicely; heavier flours, like brown rice flour and sorghum proved too heavy for the cake, leaving it with a dense crumb and unpleasant, gritty texture. Made with white rice flour, it baked into the lightest, softest cake I’ve ever had (!). In this case, the lack of gluten seems to have benefited the cake.

To achieve that light, soft texture, it takes a bit of care to put the cake together. No one would call this a quick recipe! Keep these tips in mind when putting the cake together.

How to Make Gluten-Free Chiffon Cake

Degrease your mixing bowl and whip. Egg whites and fat are enemies. If any fat is present, the egg whites won’t whip to full volume. Before you crack your first egg, check your mixing bowl and whip. If any grease is present, get rid of it by washing the bowl with soap and water. (Some bakers swear by using lemon juice or white vinegar to wash the bowl.)

Start with cold eggs. While egg whites are best whipped at room temperature, they’re harder to separate when warm. To get around this, separate the eggs when they’re cold and then allow them to come to room temperature before whipping.

Keep egg yolks out the egg whites. Be sure no egg yolk finds its way into the bowl of whites. It’s a good idea to separate your egg over two bowls, a small one for the whites, and a large one for the yolks. After separating the egg, inspect the white. If no yolk is present, transfer the white to a large grease-free mixing bowl. This way, you’re sure that each egg white that goes into the bowl is yolk free.

Use a large bowl for the batter. You’ll be folding the whipped egg whites into the cake batter. Therefore, it’s essential to select a bowl that can hold a lot of batter. I used my 5 quart bowl for the recipe.

Add the whipped egg whites in stages. For the first addition, you want to lighten the batter by gently folding in about a quarter of the whipped egg whites. After that, fold in each addition of egg white until no lumps remain. (More about lumps in a second.)

Keep the spatula under the batter. Here’s a little egg white folding trick: As you fold the egg whites into the batter, keep your spatula submerged in the batter at all times. Don’t lift it out of the batter after each “fold” Rather, slide the spatula into the center of the bowl, then “fold” the batter by pulling the spatula toward the edge of bowl, lifting batter over the egg whites. Then bring the spatula back toward the center of the bowl to incorporate the whites into the batter. As you fold, it helps to slowly spin the bowl.

Check for lumps in the batter. Before you stop folding the egg whites into the batter, check for unincorporated egg whites. None should remain. If they do, the finished cake will bake unevenly with large air holes throughout. If you see any lumps of egg whites, fold a little longer. Don’t “whack” the spatula on the side of the bowl. It’s tempting to clear the egg whites that cling to the spatula by whacking the spatula on the side of the bowl. This deflates the batter. Same thing goes for when you add the batter to the pan. Don’t whack the spatula on the side of the cake pan to get rid of excess batter.

Don’t grease the pan. During baking, the batter clings to the side of the ungreased pan, helping the cake stay nice and high. This is one time where a cake sticking to a pan is a good thing!

Cool the cake upside down. Even after baking, chiffon cakes require a little extra TLC. To prevent the cake from collapsing, cool it upside down. Today, many tube pans include little legs that you can invert the pan onto. However, if your pan doesn’t have legs or if your cake rises higher than the legs, carefully slide the center of the cake pan onto a glass bottle–like a wine bottle or gluten-free beer bottle.

And while this cake requires almost-scientific precision, it still welcomes creativity. As written, the recipe makes a vanilla-scented chiffon cake. But flavor it as you wish–orange and lemon are always popular variations.

*Low-gluten pastry flour contains gluten and is not suitable for those on a gluten-free diet.

4.8 from 10 votes

Gluten-Free Chiffon Cake

Light and airy gluten-free chiffon cake.

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Author GlutenFreeBaking.com

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar (10 1/4 ounces; 290 grams_
1 1/4 cups finely ground white rice flour (5 ounces; 142 grams)
1/2 cup potato starch (2 ounces; 56 grams)
1/4 cup tapioca starch (1 ounce; 28 grams)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
7 large eggs, separated (For the whites, about 8 3/4 ounces; 248 grams. For the yolks: 3 1/2 ounces; 100 grams)
3/4 cup water (6 ounces; 170 grams)
1/2 cup vegetable oil (3 1/2 ounces; 100 grams)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Instructions

Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 325°F. Whisk together granulated sugar, white rice flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, baking powder, salt, and xanthan gum in medium bowl. Set aside. In large mixing bowl, whisk together egg yolks, water, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract. Add whisked dry ingredients. Mix until thick batter is thick and smooth.
In bowl of stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, combine egg whites and cream of tartar. Whip on high speed until medium peaks form. Add whipped egg whites, one quarter at a time, to batter. Fold, taking care not to deflate the batter, until no large lumps of egg whites remain.
Spoon batter into ungreased 10-inch tube (angel food) pan. Bake until cake is golden brown and springs back to the touch, about one hour. Remove from oven and immediately invert pan either onto legs that are on the pan or onto the neck of a beer or wine bottle. Allow cake to cool in the pan upside down.
To remove cake from pan, run a knife around the outside of the cake and around the tube. Turn cake onto a serving plate. Store cake, covered, on the counter for up to four days.

Crunchy Gluten-Free Granola

Jul 23, 2015 · Leave a Comment

Crunchy gluten-free granola clusters are so fun to make–and fun to eat! Made with almond flour, instead of chopped almonds, there’s great flavor in every bite.

Kitchen flops are usually only good for one thing: stories. “Hey, remember the time I forgot to put sugar in that cake and served it to your mother? Was that a nightmare or what?”

When I set out to create a gluten-free version of crunchy granola bars, à la Nature Valley’s, it never occurred to me that I might have a potential flop on my hands. I mean, it’s granola. You toss some oats, sugar, and nuts into a bowl and bake. What could go wrong?

Turns out that baking isn’t the problem with crunchy granola bars; it’s the cutting! Pan after pan of crunchy, brittle granola proved hard to cut. No, scratch that. Impossible to cut.

I tried cutting the bars while warm. I tried cutting them while cold. No matter what I did, they still broke into little granola clusters. Never did I spend so much time thinking about how to cut a baked good. A few times the granola did cut into bars. Then you’d bite into the bar and it broke into jagged shards in your hands. What a mess.

Thankfully the flavor was spot-on. So much so that every time I complained about my “flop” of a recipe, I ran into trouble: everyone loved the sweet-nutty granola clusters.

Early in the process, I used almond flour instead of almond pieces to ensure a little almond flavor in every bite. Paired with maple syrup and a generous amount of kosher salt, the granola was simple but really flavorful. “Who cares?” said my friends. It was time to let go of the bar-shaped expectations.

This isn’t bread or cake—foods that if they crumbled when cut signaled a serious flaw. This was granola. Really tasty granola. Unlike most granola that’s crumbled up into little pieces, this recipe turns out big crunchy clusters perfect for eating right out of the hand.

While my quest for crunchy granola bars isn’t over, I won’t be tinkering with this recipe any more.

Gluten-Free Granola Clusters

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 55 minutes

Servings 2 cups

Author GlutenFreeBaking.com

Ingredients

6 cups gluten-free old-fashioned oats (18 ounces; 510 grams)
1 cup finely ground almond flour (4 ounces; 113 grams)
1/2 cup brown rice flour (2 1/2 ounces; 70 grams)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup canola oil or olive oil (3 1/2 ounces; 100 grams)
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed (7 1/2 ounces; 212 grams)
1/2 cup maple syrup (5 1/2 ounces; 156 grams)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat oven to 300 °F;. Line an 18 by 13-inch rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Set pan aside. In large bowl, toss together oats, almond flour, brown rice flour, and salt. Pour canola oil evenly over the mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon to coat mixture evenly with oil.
Combine maple syrup and dark brown sugar in a medium pot. Warm mixture over medium heat until the sugar dissolves, about six minutes. Gently stir the mixture frequently. Remove pot from the heat. Add vanilla extract. Stir to combine.
Pour sugar-mixture over oat-mixture. Stir with a wood spoon to combine. At first, the granola will be thick and sticky. Continue stirring, breaking up an lumps of sugar/oats with the back of the wooden spoon, until the sugar-maple is evenly distributed.
Press mixture very firmly into prepared pan. Bake until golden brown and aromatic, about 45 minutes. Remove pan from oven. Immediately score granola into bars. (The granola might break into smaller pieces when scored. This is fine.) Allow granola to cool. "Snap" bars into bite-size nuggets. Store granola in a covered container for up to two weeks.

Gluten-Free Whole Grain Crackers

Jul 23, 2015 · 2 Comments

Have you ever made crackers? Even though my love of crackers began at an early age, I’d never made a batch until I started baking gluten-free. I don’t know why, but making crackers seemed mysterious to me. Turns out, it isn’t mysterious at all!

Making the dough is easy, especially if you have a food processor. You just need to cut the fat (butter or shortening) into the dry ingredients. Like making a pie crust, this creates little layers of fat that leave the crackers flaky when baked. But crackers need a little more than just cutting the fat into the flour to achieve the correct texture.

After a few batches, I realized the key to making crackers is rolling the dough thin. Really thin. If you don’t get the dough thin enough, the crackers resemble a savory shortbread more than a true cracker.

Enter parchment paper! When you roll the dough between two pieces of parchment, you can roll it super-thin without any hassle. After rolling, slide the parchment, dough and all, onto a baking sheet. Then just pull the top piece of parchment away and score the dough. Since the crackers are baked on the parchment, they break apart easily once baked. (And if this technique seems familiar, it’s because we used it to make graham crackers this summer.)

Made with a combination of brown rice flour and sorghum flour, these crackers remind me a little of Wheat Thins, only better. They’d be perfect with any cheese you might be serving on New Year’s.

Want flavored crackers? Add about one tablespoon of chopped fresh herbs (rosemary is nice), a teaspoon of freshly cracked black pepper or even a little chili powder—I’d start with one teaspoon and then adjust to suit your taste.

Whole grain gluten-free crackers with salt on top.

Gluten-Free Whole Grain Crackers

Prep Time 25 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Servings 75 crackers

Author GlutenFreeBaking.com

Ingredients

3/4 cup sorghum flour (3 3/4 ounces; 106 grams)
3/4 cup brown rice flour (3 3/4 ounces; 106 grams)
1 tablespoon granulated sugar (about 1/2 ounce; 12 grams)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
4 tablespoons butter or shortening, cold and cut into four pieces
6 tablespoons cold water (3 ounces; 85 grams)
Kosher salt for sprinkling

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 ° F. In bowl of food processor combine sorghum flour, brown rice flour, granulated sugar, salt, and baking powder. Pulse to combine. Add butter. Pulse until no large pieces of butter remain. Mixture should resemble a coarse meal.
Add water. Run food processor until dough comes together, about 15-20 seconds.
Turn dough out onto a 12x16 parchment piece of parchment paper. Press dough into a rectangle. Lightly dust dough with brown rice flour. Cover dough with a second piece of parchment paper.
Roll dough until it almost covers the entire piece of parchment. It should be about 1/16” thick. Peel top piece of parchment away. Using a pizza wheel or knife, trim uneven sides of the dough. Slide parchment and dough onto a 12 x 18 baking sheet
Score dough into rectangles. A pizza wheel works best for this task. (I cut my crackers into 1 x1/2-inch pieces.). Prick dough all over with a fork. Sprinkle dough lightly with Kosher salt.
Bake until crackers are golden brown, about 15 minutes. Some of the crackers on the edge might over-bake.
Remove pan from oven. Allow crackers to cool. Store in an airtight container for up to one week.

Gluten-Free Maple Blondies

Jul 23, 2015 · 1 Comment

I live in upstate New York, near the Vermont border, where people take maple season seriously. How seriously? The other day my husband’s co-worker took two days off to boil down 300 gallons of maple sap to get about six gallons of maple syrup.

While I’ve never made my own maple syrup, I’ve eaten plenty of it. Not only have I poured it on pancakes and waffles, I’ve eaten it in baked beans, pulled pork, desserts of all kinds, and, of course, sugar on snow with a pickle*.”

Maple blondies, however, might be my favorite way to enjoy maple. These cakey bars, which combine maple syrup, dark brown sugar, and vanilla, are sweet but not cloying. Plus they’re easy to make.

I used “Grade B” maple syrup in the blondies. This dark grade of maple syrup has a more robust flavor than the more common Grade A. If you can’t find Grade B in your area, don’t fret. Grade A works well, lending the bars a more delicate maple flavor. Just don’t use imitation maple syrup. For these bars, you want the real thing.

As for the flour, it’s a blend of white rice flour, sweet rice flour and cornstarch. This bland flour blend allows the maple flavor to shine. If you want a nutty/earthy flavor, use brown rice flour in place of white rice flour.

You might be wondering why I haven’t included walnuts in the bars. Maple and walnuts are a classic combination, but I’m allergic to tree nuts. If you aren’t, add up to 3/4 cup toasted chopped walnuts to the bars. Just remember to alert anyone you serve that the bars contain nuts.

*Sugar on Snow is made by boiling maple syrup and pouring the hot syrup over, you guessed it, snow. It’s often served with a dill pickle, doughnuts and coffee.

Gluten-Free Maple Blondies

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Servings 9 or 12 bars

Author GlutenFreeBaking.com

Ingredients

1 cup finely ground white rice flour (4 ounces; 113 grams)
1/3 cup cornstarch (1 1/3 ounces; 38 grams)
1/3 cup sweet rice flour (1 1/3 ounces; 38 grams)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 stick butter, softened (1/2 cup; 2 ounces; 56 grams)
3/4 cup brown sugar (5 1/2 ounces; 155 grams)
1 large egg (1 3/4 ounces; 50 grams)
1/2 cup pure maple syrup (5 1/2 ounces; 156 grams)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
gluten-free cooking spray

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray 9-inch baking pan with gluten-free cooking spray.
In small mixing bowl, whisk together white rice flour, cornstarch, sweet rice flour, salt, baking powder, and xanthan gum. Set aside.
In medium mixing bowl, cream together butter, and dark brown sugar until thick paste forms, about 30 seconds. (Use high speed on handheld mixer or medium-high speed on stand mixer.) Add egg and mix until thoroughly combined.
Add whisked dry ingredients. Blend until smooth, about 30 seconds. (Use medium-high speed with a handheld mixer or medium speed with a stand mixer.) Batter will be dry. Add maple syrup and vanilla. Mix until batter is light and fluffy.
Spread batter evenly into prepared pan. Bake until golden brown, about 25-30 minutes. Remove pan from oven and place on wire rack to cool completely. When cool, Cut into nine or 12 pieces.

How to Make a Gluten-Free Tart Shell

Jul 23, 2015 · Leave a Comment

It’s time for dessert!

Before we begin, here are few notes:

There are no eggs in the recipe. Thanks to the generous amount of butter, this egg-free tart dough is wonderfully tender.

Instead of making the dough in a food processor, use a stand mixer. The dough is put together the same way you’d make sugar cookies. And, in fact, the finished texture is very similar to buttery shortbread cookies.

If you are making a fruit tart, the crust, after a few hours, can get soggy. To avoid this, spread the baked tart shell with melted chocolate. After the chocolate hardens, fill the crust with fresh fruit. The chocolate prevents the crust from getting soggy and adds a nice flavor surprise. If you don’t want chocolate in your tart, make the fruit tart right before serving. Here’s how to make a sweet tart:

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter, sugar, and vanilla. The mixture won’t get light and fluffy. Rather, it turns into a nice thick paste.

Add the dry ingredients. At first the dough will be very dry. This is normal. You want to stop the mixer and scrape down the side and bottom of the bowl. Some butter will cling to the bowl. We want that butter in the dough!

After about two minutes of mixing, a dough will form.

Transfer the dough to the pan. No rolling required!

Press dough into pan, prick bottom of tart with a fork and chill.

Bake tart until golden brown. (It will smell nicely of butter and sugar.) Cool and fill as desired.

Creaming butter for gluten-free tart dough.

How to Make a Gluten-Free Tart Shell

Prep Time 25 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Author GlutenFreeBaking.com

Ingredients

1 cup finely ground white rice flour (4 ounces; 113 grams)
1/4 cup sweet rice flour (2 ounces; 56 grams)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick butter, softened (1/2 cup; 4 ounces; 113 grams)
1/3 cup granulated sugar (1 3/4 ounces; 50 grams)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions

In a small bowl, whisk together white rice flour, sweet rice flour, and salt.
Fit stand mixer with flat paddle attachment. In bowl of stand mixer, cream together butter, sugar, and vanilla on medium speed until a thick paste forms and mixture lightens slightly, about 90 seconds. Add dry ingredients and mix for 30 seconds. Mixture will be dry and crumbly.
Stop mixer and scrape down bowl. Turn mixer back on to medium speed. Mix until a dough forms, about two minutes.
Lightly spray 11-inch tart pan with non-stick cooking spray. Turn dough into prepared pan. Using your hands, press dough evenly into bottom and sides of pan. Prick dough all over with a fork.
Cover pan with plastic wrap and chill for two hours.
Preheat oven to 375°F. When oven is preheated, remove tart pan from refrigerator. Pierce bottom and sides with a fork. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Remove pan from oven and place on wire rack to cool.

Gluten-Free Shortcakes

Jul 23, 2015 · Leave a Comment

If I close my eyes, I can hear it: the call of summer berries. OK, maybe that’s just my stomach talking but nonetheless it’s berry season. And you know what that means—it’s shortcake season!

Shortcakes are really just sweetened biscuits. A few weeks ago we made cheddar biscuits. The technique for this recipe is the same: cut cold fat into flour, add liquid (in this case heavy cream) and drop the finished dough onto a baking sheet.

Most traditional (read: wheat-filled) shortcakes, use white flour. I wondered how shortcakes made with a blend of whole-grain flours might taste. Would the mild, nutty flavor of the brown rice and sorghum enhance or overpower the delicate berries?

Turns out, the flours nicely enhanced the flavor of the finished shortcake. A few of my tasters thought the whole-grain version contained more vanilla than the shortcakes baked with white rice flour. The recipe didn’t contain any vanilla extract! I think the combination of whole-grain flours added a fragrant, earthy tone that they mistook for vanilla. This was a happy surprise.

If you prefer a traditional shortcake, replace the brown rice and sorghum flour with white rice flour. I’ve made the recipe both ways and love both versions.

Allergen Notes:

Dairy is the only “top eight” allergen this recipe contains. To make the shortcakes dairy-free, replace the butter with a solid dairy-free shortening and the half and half with a dairy-free replacement. Full-fat coconut milk works well. Be sure to whisk the coconut milk into smooth. You want the fat from the top of the can fully incorporated into the milk before you measure.

Gluten-Free Shortcakes

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Servings 14 biscuits

Author GlutenFreeBaking.com

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups sorghum flour (6 ounces; 170 grams)
1 cup brown rice flour (5 ounces; 142 grams)
1 cup potato starch (4 ounces; 113 grams)
3/4 cup tapioca starch (3 ounces; 85 grams)
6 tablespoons granulated sugar (2 2/3 ounces; 73 grams)
2 tablespoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 1/2 cups cold half and half (or 3/4 cup whole milk, 3/4 cup heavy cream) (12 ounces; 340 grams)
Coarse sugar for sprinkling on top of shortcakes optional

Easy Strawberry Shortcake

Strawberries hulled and sliced
Confectioners' sugar
Heavy cream or whipped heavy cream

Instructions

Make the Shortcakes: Adjust oven rack to middle position. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
In bowl of food processor, pulse together sorghum flour, brown rice, flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, and xanthan gum. (Don't have a food processor? Use a medium bowl and whisk ingredients together.)
Add butter. Cut butter into dry ingredients by pulsing food processor a few times. Butter pieces should be about the size of a small peas. (If doing this by hand, cut shortening and butter into the dry ingredients with either a pastry cutter or by rubbing the fat into the dry ingredients with your hands.)
Add half and half. Pulse food processor until dough forms. (Stir to combine if doing this by hand.) As soon as dough comes together, stop food processor.
Drop dough, about 1/4 cup each, onto prepared baking sheet. If desired, sprinkle tops of shortcakes with coarse sugar. Bake until shortcakes are golden brown, about 20 minutes.
Remove shortcakes from pan and place on wire rack to cool.
Make Easy Strawberry Shortcake: Toss sliced strawberries with confectioners' sugar. Allow berries to stand for about five minutes. Split shortcake in half. Top shortcake with berries and drizzle with cream or spoon whipped cream on top of berries.

White Chocolate Blueberry Oatmeal Cookies

Jul 23, 2015 · Leave a Comment

Oh, raisins. I’ve tried and tried to like them. At this point, I can tolerate a few especially if they are dipped in chocolate but in general I avoid them. This means I’ve turned down more than one oatmeal cookie because of the raisin element—and don’t get me started on the times I mistook raisins for chocolate chips. Let me tell you, sorely disappointed doesn’t even begin to describe how I felt.

Since I like other dried fruit, I wasn’t ready to let the oatmeal cookie-dried fruit combo go. One day I threw a handful of dried blueberries into a batch of oatmeal cookies. Oh my. I finally got it. There’s something wonderful about the chew and sweetness of dried fruit paired with the nutty-grain flavor of oatmeal.

And because a little chocolate is never a bad thing, I started adding chocolate chips to the cookies. For these cookies, I like white chocolate chips but any chocolate will do.

Of course, if you don’t like dried blueberries, you could always use raisins…

A word about oats. Some gluten-free eaters avoid oats. If you include oats in your gluten-free diet, be sure to use oats that are specifically marked gluten-free.

Gluten-free white chocolate oatmeal cookies.

White Chocolate Blueberry Oatmeal Cookies

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 18 minutes

Total Time 38 minutes

Servings 24 cookies

Author GlutenFreeBaking.com

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups brown or white rice flour (6 ounces; 170 grams)
3/4 cup sorghum flour (3 3/4 ounces; 106 grams)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened (6 ounces; 170 grams)
1 1/4 cups brown sugar, packed (9 1/3 ounces; 263 grams)
2 large eggs (3 1/2 ounces; 100 grams)
3 cups gluten-free oats (12 ounces; 340 grams)
1 cup dried blueberries (5 1/2 ounces; 155 grams)
1 cup white chocolate chips (6 ounces; 170 grams)

Instructions

Adjust oven rack to the middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together rice flour, sorghum flour, baking soda, salt, and xanthan gum. Set aside. In bowl of stand mixer, cream together butter and brown sugar on medium-high speed until light, about 45 seconds. Add eggs, one at a time. Mix until well combined and sugar-egg mixture lightens slightly, about 25 seconds.
Turn off mixer and add whisked dry ingredients. Turn mixer back on to medium-low. Mix until a dough forms. The dough will be soft. Turn off mixer. Add oats, blueberries, and white chocolate chips. Turn mixer back on to medium-low. Blend until ingredients are thoroughly mixed throughout the dough.
Chill dough for five minutes. Scoop dough, about one tablespoon each, onto prepared baking sheet. Bake until cookies are golden brown and set, about 18 minutes. Remove pan from oven. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for three minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool. Allow pan to cool between batches. Repeat with remaining dough.

Gluten-Free Corn Chowder

Jul 23, 2015 · Leave a Comment

Easy gluten-free corn chowder made with corn, potatoes, chicken stock, and a little kick of hot pepper. It’s simple and delicious.

Thick but not too rich: a gluten-free corn chowder conundrum.

You know those foods that you just prefer a certain way? I’m like that with chowder. I like my chowder thick but not ultra-rich. Sounds like an oxymoron, right? Let me explain.

Often chowder’s thickness and richness comes from heavy cream. A chowder made with lots of cream, to me, blunts the delicate flavor of the corn. But I still want my soup thick! To work around this problem—and still enjoy a thick consistency—I up the amount of sweet rice flour I use to thicken the soup. Instead of a 1:1 ratio of fat to flour, you use a 1:2 ratio. I decided to omit the cream altogether. However, if you prefer a thick and rich soup, go ahead and add cream.

By the way, this chowder has a little spicy kick under the sweetness of the corn. If you prefer chowder without the kick, just leave out the hot sauce.

Gluten-Free Corn Chowder

Prep Time 25 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes

Servings 4

Author GlutenFreeBaking.com

Ingredients

2 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 ounce; 28 grams)
1 small onion, finely diced
1/4 cup sweet rice flour (1 ounce; 28 grams)
3 cups milk, warmed (24 ounces; 680 grams)
2-3 cups homemade chicken stock or store-bought reduced-sodium broth
2 cups corn, either fresh cut from the cob or frozen
2 medium russet potatoes, peeled and diced (about two cups)
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce

Instructions

Melt butter in large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until tender but not brown, about three minutes.
Switch to a whisk and stir in sweet rice flour. The flour will coat the onions and be very dry. Whisking constantly, cook for three minutes. In a slow and steady steam, add milk. Allow the paste to absorb the milk as you add it. This will prevent clumping. At first, add the milk slowly; as you add more milk, you can slightly increase the pouring speed until it’s all in. Stir in the chicken stock, corn, potatoes, thyme, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.
Bring the soup to a gentle boil. Lower the heat to medium-low and simmer (look for occasional gentle bubbles) for 45 minutes.
Ladle about two cups of the soup into a blender and blend until smooth. The soup shouldn’t fill the blender more than halfway. If you have a small blender, do this in batches.
Return the puréed soup to the pot and stir to combine. Add the hot pepper sauce. If you prefer your chowder thin, add the additional cup of stock. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper as needed. Simmer over medium heat for five minutes, or until the soup is hot. Serve.

How to Make the Best Paleo Pot Roast

Jul 22, 2015 · 4 Comments

Don’t you hate it when friends move away? It’s a natural part of life, sure, but it still stinks. A few months ago, two of our dear friends moved away from the area. The good news? They are only four hours “down the road.” The bad news? They’re four hours down the road!

So the other day when Rachel emailed me a cooking question, I couldn’t tell her to just drop by the house for a chat. Instead I pulled out my camera and created this post. Yay technology!

Her question: Could the “Easy Beef Roast” from my second cookbook, “How to Cook Gluten-Free” be prepared in the slow cooker.

Answer:…yes?

I was 99.9% sure it would work but I wanted to test it myself. (And G was thrilled that Rachel asked this question. Any excuse to eat Pot Roast is a good one, right?)

Here’s what I did and the tweaks I made.

I started with a four pound boneless chuck roast. Before searing, pat the roast dry. Really dry. Then generously salt and pepper the meat on both sides. Heat olive oil in a heavy skillet until it just begins to smoke. Sear the meat for about seven minutes.

Carefully turn the meat and cook for another seven minutes.

Then, using a pair of tongs, sear each side of the meat. You don’t need to do this for seven minutes. A minute or two does the job nicely.

Ohh….nice. Now transfer the meat to your slow cooker. Just plunk it in there. We’ll get to it in a second. First! Onions!

Throw two quartered onions into the hot pan. (Okay, don’t throw. Place gently.)

Cook until the onions just begin to turn golden brown. Stir them occasionally. You can do this with your metal tongs. No need to dirty a wooden spoon. Less dishes= more joy. The onions get a little shiny too. And they smell amazing. WOOT! Plunk those onions into the slow cooker along with the pot roast.

Repeat with carrots. You want to cook them for about three minutes. They won’t soften but they will turn a little brighter.

Add six cloves of garlic to the slow cooker. Don’t worry. The roast won’t taste garlicky. It’ll taste amazing. Better than amazing, really. Heavenly.

Top with one large can of diced tomatoes.

Add two cups of paleo/ beef broth. Be careful with beef broth. Lots of brands contain gluten. I used Kitchen Basics. If you have bone broth on hand, use it.

Cook for eight hours on low. I don’t like this roast cooked on high.

Culinary confession: I had trouble getting the roast out of the slow cooker. It wanted to fall apart under my tongs; it was *that* tender. But it wasn’t overcooked or dry. WIN!

And that’s it! Serve with strained pan juices and enjoy.

“But Elizabeth! What about those carrots and onions? Can I serve those?”

Good question. Since the carrots cooked for eight hours, they aren’t very flavorful. At all. What I like to do is roast some carrots in the oven to serve along with the roast. This way, you get tasty carrots instead of mushy, flavorless carrots.

I’m so glad Rachel asked about this recipe for a slow cooker! With the simple addition of beef stock and a time adjustment, the roast worked perfectly.

Pouring broth into slow cooker filled with crushed tomatoes.

How to Make the Best Paleo Pot Roast

Course Slow Cooker (Paleo)

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 8 hours

Total Time 8 hours 30 minutes

Servings 6

Author GlutenFreeBaking.com

Ingredients

Kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 (3 to 4 pound) chuck roast, patted dry
4 medium carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks
2 medium onions, quartered
6 cloves garlic, peeled
1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes, with juices
2 cups gluten-free beef stock (be sure to read labels or homemade bone broth) (16 ounces; 453 grams)

Instructions

Season chuck roast generously on both sides with Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. In a large (10-inch) heavy bottomed skillet, heat olive oil over high heat until it's hot, shimmers and just begins to smoke. Add chuck roast. Brown the roast, undisturbed, for about seven minutes. Use a pair of tongs and flip. Cook for an additional seven minutes. Using your tongs, brown the sides of the roast for about two minutes per side. You need to hold the roast as you do this. Transfer roast to the slow cooker.
Reduce heat to medium-low. Add the onions to the hot pan. Cook until they just start to turn brown, about four minutes. Stir the onions occasionally. Transfer onions to the slow cooker. Repeat with carrots. Cook for four minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer carrots to the slow cooker.
Add garlic cloves to the slow cooker. Evenly spread the tomatoes over the top of the slow cooker. Add beef stock. Cover and cook on low for eight hours.
After eight hours, remove chuck roast from the slow cooker. Cut into thick pieces. Place on a platter and cover with aluminum foil. Strain out the onions, carrots, and tomatoes. Ladle the cooking liquid into a two-cup measuring cup. Skim the fat off the top. Pour cooking liquid over the slices of roast. Serve.

How to Make Gluten-Free Gnocchi

Jul 18, 2015 · 27 Comments

How to Make Gluten-Free Gnocchi or Turning Potatoes Into Pasta is Easy!

Turning on the oven to roast potatoes during the summer seems silly. But summer foods, including pesto, caponata, and fresh tomato sauce, pair so well with potato gnocchi that it’s worth the hour or so of extra kitchen heat.

The Potatoes

Without wheat flour to bring stretchy gluten to hold the gnocchi together, starchy potatoes provide the structure that we need. Use russetts or Idaho potatoes for this recipe.

To further ensure the gluten-free gnocchi hold together during cooking, you need to bake, not boil, the potatoes. Baked potatoes not only reward you with a stronger potato flavor, they don’t absorb water during the cooking process. During testing, batch after batch of gnocchi made with baked potatoes used approximately one to one and a half cups of gluten-free flour. The same recipe made with boiled potatoes sometimes required up to two and half cups of flour, leaving the gnocchi heavy and unpleasantly gummy.

The Flour

Thanks to the starchy, roasted potatoes, we don’t need to use a complex gluten-free flour blend or xanthan gum for this recipe. A simple mix of white rice flour and sweet rice flour does the trick. And the sweet rice flour is important. Made with only white rice flour, the gnocchi were too soft. A half cup of sweet rice flour, which is ground from glutinous, short-grain rice, added a nice bite without making the gnocchi gritty.

The Shaping

After selecting the potatoes and the flour, it’s time to make your gluten-free gnocchi. Are you excited? I’m excited! Let’s get going!

Rice or Grate Cooled Potatoes

Once the potatoes are cooked, allow them to cool. Then go ahead and peel them. I know that some cooks make gnocchi with hot potatoes. However, in my non-scientific tests, I found that the negatives (handling hot potatoes and the possibility of the eggs cooking when they hit the hot potatoes) outweighed any benefits. Once you peel the potatoes, pass them through a potato ricer or food mill. If you don’t have a potato ricer handy, you can grate the potatoes or mash them. (In fact, you can make small batches of gnocchi with cold, leftover mashed potatoes!)

Add Beaten Eggs

Whisk together your eggs. Pour over your shredded potatoes.

Mix Until a Dough Forms

Work the eggs into the shredded potatoes with a bench scrapper or fork. As soon as the eggs are incorporated into the dough, the potato-egg mixture should resemble a very soft dough. Stop mixing at this point.

Add the Gluten-Free Flour

For two pounds of gnocchi, you need about 1 1/2 cups of gluten-free flour. (recipe below.) The few times I used less flour, the gnocchi fell apart while they boiled. Begin by adding 1 cup of flour. Work it into the dough and then go from there.

Knead the Dough

You want the dough firm, not soft and sticky. If the dough seems too soft, add the remaining flour mixture, 1/4 cup at a time. If you’ve never made gnocchi before and aren’t sure if you’ve added enough flour, you can pinch off a little piece of dough and test it in a small pot of boiling water. The dough should not fall apart, if it does, add more flour.

Divide It Up!

Cut the dough into eighths. Place a damp paper towel over the dough you aren’t working with. This prevents a skin from forming.

Roll Into a Log

Knead the dough a few times before rolling out into a long log. Don’t place too much flour on your counter of the dough will be hard to roll out.

Cut into Pieces

Cut each log into bite-size pieces. Since my dough wasn’t on a cutting board, I used a small icing spatula to cut the dough into pieces. This prevents my knife, and countertop, from damage.

Dent it!

The easiest way to shape gnocchi is to simply press a small indentation into each piece. Place the cut gnocchi onto a lightly floured baking sheet.

or Roll It On a Fork!

Or you can roll the gnocchi over a fork or gnocchi board. This creates ridges which hold onto sauce for serving. Place the cut gnocchi onto a lightly floured baking sheet.

Boil It!

Once all the gnocchi are shaped, boil them, top with your favorite sauce, and enjoy!

Grated potatoes for gluten-free gnocchi.

4.88 from 8 votes

How to Make Gluten-Free Gnocchi

Note: Do NOT freeze these gnocchi. They fall apart in the water if they are frozen. They must be cooked the day they are made.

Prep Time 1 hour

Cook Time 5 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes

Servings 6

Author GlutenFreeBaking.com

Ingredients

2 pounds russet potatoes, washed (about 4 medium)
1 cup white rice flour (4 ounces; 113 grams)
1/2 cup sweet rice flour (2 ounces; 56 grams)
2 large eggs
Kosher salt

Instructions

Adjust oven rack to center middle position and preheat oven to 400°F. Pierce potatoes a few times with a knife and place on a baking sheet. Roast until tender, about one hour. Remove potatoes from oven and allow to cool.
Whisk together white rice flour and sweet rice flour. Using the flour mixture, flour your counter. Peel the potatoes and pass through a potato ricer onto the counter. Whisk together eggs and 1 teaspoon salt. Pour over the potatoes. Work the egg mixture into the potatoes with a bench scrapper or fork until potatoes begin to hold together. Mixture will be sticky.
Work one cup of the flour mixture into the potato mixture. Start by working the flour into the potato mixture with a bench scrapper or fork. As soon as a dough begins to form, begin kneading the dough by hand until all the flour is incorporated. The dough should be firm and not sticky. If it is, add the remaining flour mixture, about 1/4 cup at a time. (You can test the gnocchi by boiling a small pot of water and cooking a small piece of dough. The gnocchi should hold together.)
Divide the dough into quarters. Then, as you work with it, cut each quarter in half. Cover remaining dough with a damp paper towel. Roll out each dough eighth into a log. Cut into bite-size pieces. Shape by either pressing a small indentation into each gnocchi or rolling the gnocchi over a fork or gnocchi board.
Transfer shaped gnocchi to a lightly white rice-floured baking sheet. Shaped gnocchi can either be frozen or cooked right away.
To Cook: Boil a large pot of salted water. Cook half the fresh or frozen gnocchi in the boiling water until they float, about four minutes. (Taste one gnocchi to ensure it is cooked through). Remove the gnocchi from the water with a skimmer and transfer to a bowl or pot of sauce. Repeat with remaining gnocchi. If gnocchi must be held for more than a moment, drizzle with oil and toss to prevent sticking.

Gluten-Free Rhubarb Tart

Jul 12, 2015 · Leave a Comment

Easy gluten-free rhubarb tart made with a sorghum crust and a simple filling that celebrates the sweet-tart flavor of rhubarb.

Gluten-Free Rhubarb Tart OR Sometimes Life is Sour, Then Sweet

Rhubarb and I got off to a rocky start. One day, as my mother began to make a strawberry rhubarb pie, I snuck a slice of rhubarb from her prep bowl. My ten-year-old self expected fruity sweetness, not the puckery sourness that greeted me. Until then, the only other culinary betrayal of this magnitude I’d experienced was the time I grabbed a piece of unsweetened chocolate from the cabinet. In both cases, I could not understand why in the world someone would bake with such awful-tasting ingredients.

Now, of course, I know better. And each spring I look forward to the arrival of rhubarb at the market.

This year, instead of a double-crust pie, I made a rhubarb galette. My first few attempts had one serious problem: they leaked. A lot. Gluten-free crust is delicate and rhubarb lets go of a lot of water as it bakes. Try as I might, I could not prevent my galette from leaving juice all over the baking pan. While the galette itself tasted fine, the juice that leaked out onto the pan burnt during baking.

How can you hold onto all that juicy filling? Bake the galette in a pie pan instead! Moving the galette to a pan transformed it into a rustic, open-faced pie, but that was fine with me. The juices from the filling no longer leaked out of the pie. Here are some tips to make this preparation even easier:

Lightly grease your pie pan. While the crust won’t stick, some juices from the pie seep out during baking. Those sugary juices are sticky. A little mist of cooking spray prevents the pie from sticking to the pan.
Roll out the crust on a large piece of parchment paper. Then transfer the crust to the pan by inverting the pie pan and placing it over the center of the rolled-out dough. Slide your hand under the parchment (between your counter and the parchment) and flip the dough and pan in one quick motion. Gently peel the parchment away from the crust.
Bake until the juices boil. Corn starch thickens this filling. It needs to reach a boil to achieve its thickening properties. If the juices don’t boil, the filling won’t thicken.

Easy Gluten-Free Rhubarb Galette in pan.

Gluten-Free Rhubarb Tart

Tart rhubarb filling pairs nicely with the grainy-sweetness of the crust. <strong>Note:</strong> This recipe adapts well to dairy-free and egg-free. For an egg-free crust, replace the egg with an additional three tablespoons butter and increase water from two tablespoons to 1/4 cup. At first, add two tablespoons water. If dough seems dry, add remaining two tablespoons water. For a Dairy-free crust, replace the butter with solid shortening.

Course Dessert

Author GlutenFreeBaking.com

Ingredients

For the Crust

1 cup sorghum flour (4 ounces; 113 grams)
1/2 cup sweet rice flour (2 ounces; 56 grams)
1/4 cup tapioca starch (1 ounce; 28 grams)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar (1 ounce; 28 grams)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter, chilled and cut into six pieces (4 ounces; 113 grams)
1 large egg (about 1 3/4 ounces; 50 grams)
2 tablespoons cold water, divided (1 ounce; 28 grams)

For the Filling

1/2 cup granulated sugar (3 1/2 ounces; 100 grams)
2 tablespoons cornstarch (1/2 ounce; 14 grams)
3 cup sliced rhubarb (about 14 ounces; 396 grams)
1 tablespoon lemon juice (1/2 ounce; 14 grams)

Instructions

Prepare the Crust: In bowl of food processor, combine sorghum flour, sweet rice flour, tapioca starch, granulated sugar and salt. Pulse to combine. Add butter. Pulse to combine until no large pieces of butter remain and mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs, about 8 to 10 one-second pulses. Add egg. Pulse to combine. Add one tablespoon water. Pulse until dough forms. If dough is dry, add remaining tablespoon water.
Turn dough out onto lightly white rice floured counter. Pat into a 4-inch round and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Chill at least two hours or up to overnight.
Prepare the Filling: Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 425°F. Lightly grease 10-inch pie plate and set aside. Remove dough from refrigerator. Allow it to sit on the counter for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in large bowl, rub together the cornstarch and granulated sugar. Add rhubarb and lemon juice. Stir to combine.
Put It All Together: Place dough onto an 16 1/2- by 12 1/2-inch piece of parchment. Generously white rice flour top of dough. Roll dough into an approximate 14-inch circle. Invert 10-inch pie plate onto center of dough. Slide your hand (between counter and parchment paper) under the parchment paper. In one swift motion, flip dough into pan. Dough will overhang pan. Carefully peel parchment away from dough.
Pile filling into the center of the pan. Fold dough edges onto filling. Bake until crust is golden brown and filling bubbles, about 30 minutes. Remove and allow pie to cool in pan.

Gluten-Free Texas Cobbler (Cake-style)

Jul 8, 2015 · Leave a Comment

Gluten-Free Texas Cobbler OR Sometimes Ugly Dessert are the Tastiest

When a reader asked for a gluten-free version of “Texas cobbler,” I have to admit, I’d never heard of it. So I e-mailed them for clarification. The reply made me chuckle:

“Honestly, I don’t know specifics. I’m from Iowa but I read about Texas cobbler in a magazine while waiting at the salon. It looked really good, that much I can tell you.”

After some digging, I found a recipe for a blueberry Texas-style cobbler in Cook’s Country magazine. The recipe promised “a cobbler made with a thick, pancake-like batter.”

It surprised me that the recipe didn’t contain eggs. While it isn’t unusual for a biscuit topped cobbler to contain no eggs, it’s unusual to see an egg-free pancake-like batter. Since gluten-free pancake and cake batters benefit from the addition of eggs, I wondered how this batter would stand up to the gluten-free conversion. Would it fall apart? Or be terribly dense?

Surprisingly, the cobbler topping, made with a simple gluten-free flour blend, butter, and milk, baked up light and airy atop the blueberries.

The biggest difference from the wheat-version was the thickness of the batter. The wheat version promised a thick batter while the gluten-free variation was thin. This meant that the berries dipped below the batter during baking and the crust baked without any hints of the fruit filling lurking below. Once scooped into serving bowls, however, you wouldn’t know that the cobbler’s crust lacked the craggy fruit appearance of its wheat-filled counterpart. In fact, when scooped into bowls, the cobbler looked a little…ugly. After I took a bite, the cobbler no longer looked ugly. It looked liked the tasty dessert that it was!

Gluten-Free Texas Cobbler in small white bowl.

Gluten-Free Texas Cobbler (Cake-style Cobbler)

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes

Author GlutenFreeBaking.com

Ingredients

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, divided (6 ounces; 170 grams)
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, divided (10 1/2 ounces; 297 grams)
lemon zest (about 2 teaspoons)
3 cups blueberries, washed and patted dry (about 18 ounces; 510 grams)
2/3 cup finely ground white rice flour (2 2/3 ounces; 75 grams)
1/3 cup potato starch (1 1/4 ounces; 35 grams)
1/2 cup sweet rice flour (2 ounces; 56 grams)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 1/4 cups milk (10 ounces; 283 grams)

Instructions

Adjust oven rack to middle position. Preheat oven to 350°F. Cut 4 tablespoons of butter into pieces and place into a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Melt butter in oven, about 8 minutes.
In small bowl, combine 1/4 cup granulated sugar and lemon zest. Rub together. In large bowl, combine blueberries and 1 tablespoon lemon-sugar. Using potato masher or large fork, gently mash the blueberries until most of the berries are broken. It's fine if a few of the berries remain whole. Set aside.
In medium bowl, whisk together white rice flour, potato starch, sweet rice flour, baking powder, salt, and xanthan gum. Melt remaining butter and allow to cool slightly.
Remove baking dish from oven and place on wire rack. Carefully rotate the pan so the melted butter evenly covers the bottom of the pan. Add the 8 tablespoons melted butter and milk to the dry ingredients. Whisk until the batter is smooth. Pour batter into the baking pan. (The melted butter in the pan might run to the edges of the pan and up the sides of the batter. This is fine.) Dollop the mashed blueberries over the batter. The berries might sink below the batter. Sprinkle the top of the cobbler with remaining lemon-sugar.
Bake until golden brown and set, about 50 minutes. Remove cobbler from oven and place on wire rack. Cool at least 30 minutes before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature.