Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

4 1/2 cups gluten free flour mix
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 (3/4-oz) packages instant vanilla pudding mix
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts, if desired

Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Sift together the flour, xanthan gum, and baking soda.  Set aside.

2.  In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar.  Beat in the instant pudding mix until blended.  Stir in the eggs and vanilla, Blend in the flour mixture.  Finally, stir in the chocolate chips and nuts (if desired).  Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

3.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.  Edges should be golden brown. 

These are sooo yummy.  People won't know they are gluten free unless you tell them. 

Chicken Enchiladas

This was one of our favorite recipes before our house became gluten free.  All I had to do is make my own cream of chicken soup and use corn tortillas to make this recipe gluten free so we could enjoy it again.

Chicken Enchiladas

4 whole chicken breasts, cooked, boned, cubed
2 10-3/4 oz cans worth of cream of chicken soup--(see the recipe for the cream soup substitute)
1 4-oz can diced green chilies, mild
1/2 cup chicken broth
12 oz grated cheddar cheese
12 oz grated monterey jack cheese
1 pint sour cream
3 green onions, chopped
corn tortillas

Cook chicken until tender.  Reserve broth.  Cool, and cut into cubes.

Set aside chicken and 1/3 of the cheese.  Mix together all other ingredients except tortillas, chicken and 1/3 of cheese.

Set aside 1/3 of the sauce mixture you just mixed.  Add the chicken to the 2/3 of sauce mixture you have left.

Spoon 2-3 tablespoons of the sauce mixture containing the chicken into a tortilla and roll it up.  Place in a rectangular Pyrex baking dish across the width.  Continue rolling and placing them close together until all are rolled.

Pour the other 1/3 of sauce mixture over the rolled tortillas and sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top.  Bake uncovered at 325-350 degrees for 45-60 minutes.



I previously posted a recipe for a gluten free cream of chicken soup substitute.  The address for the recipe is:

 http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1648,152182-252201,00.html

Kids favorite Gluten free bread

This is the best GF bread ever! 

Kids favorite Gluten Free Bread

Ingredients:

Dry Ingredients: 

3  cups brown rice flour, preferably super-fine 

1  cup gluten-free oat flour 


1/2 cup sweet rice flour 

2 cup potato starch


1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon xanthan gum 


1 tablespoon salt 

1 Tablespoon (Vegan Natural flavor protein powder, like natureaid), optional but makes the bread lighter and softer

Yeast Mixture:
3 cups original almond milk, warmed to 110 to 120 degrees
(microwave for about 2 ½ minutes in my microwave)
1/2 cup honey 

1 tablespoon molasses 

6  teaspoons active dry yeast

Wet Ingredients:

5  eggs, room temperature


½  cup Smart balance flaxseed 
butter, room temperature

1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon white vinegar
1/4 cup applesauce

Step 1: Prepare two 9-inch glass bread pans by greasing well with spray oil. Set aside.

Step 2:In separate bowl mix brown rice flour, oat flour, sweet rice flour, potato starch, xanthan gum and salt whisk together just until mixed. Set aside.

Step 3: Heat milk to 110 to 120 degrees.  Add honey, molasses and dry yeast to hot milk an stir just until combined.  Set aside to let yeast activate.

Step 4: In mixer, add eggs and whip real well.  Add butter, whip well.  Add lemon, vinegar and applesauce and whip well again. 

Step 5: Add the yeast mixture to wet egg mixture already in mixer.  Add half the flour and mix just until combined.  Add the rest of flour and mix all ingredients together until combined. Then mix for about 2 minutes on medium-high speed. Batter will resemble a very thick cake batter.

Step 6: Spoon batter into prepared pans. Brush each loaf with egg white to smooth out the top of bread loaf. This recipe makes two 9-inch loaves.  Let dough rise in a warm place for approximately 40 minutes or until nearly doubled in size. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake Bread for 40 minutes. Makes 2 loaves.

Step 7: Cool bread in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool on a rack. Wrap tight in large plastic bags to keep moist.

Cranberry-Orange Muffins

Cranberry-Orange Muffins 

Step 1: 

1 cup dried (sweetened) cranberries

1/2 cup fresh orange juice

1 tbspn brown sugar

Step 2:

1 cup brown rice flour

1 cup tapioca flour

1 tbspn xantam gum

1 Tablespoon and 1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 tsp nutmeg

¼ tsp allspice

¼ tsp cloves

Step 3:

1/2 cup Smart balance flax seed or unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 Tablespoon fresh orange zest (the zest of one whole orange)

2/3 cup sugar

Step 4: 

2 eggs or flax substitute (see substitutes)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 Tablespoons Olive or Canola oil

1 Tablespoon orange juice or orange extract

Step 5: 

1/2 cup vanilla almond milk

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 F.  Line a muffin/cupcake pan with paper liners or grease 18 muffins tins.

Zest one whole orange (making about 1 Tablespoon of zest) and set aside. Squeeze the juice from that one orange and set aside (approx 1/3 cup).

Step 1: Put the orange juice (if needed, add some prepared orange juice to the fresh juice to make 1/3 cup), brown sugar and the cranberries in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer stirring so they don't burn.  Simmer about 5 minutes, stirring as needed.  Turn off heat and set aside.

Step 2: In a large bowl add the brown rice flour, tapioca flour, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, salt and spices, and set aside.

Step 3:  In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter, orange zest and sugar until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes).

Step 4: Scrape down the side of the bowl, then add in the eggs (one at a time), vanilla, 1 Tablespoon orange juice and oil.  Blend until well combined.

Step 5: Add the flour mixture, alternating with the milk (add about half of the flour mixture, then some milk,then the rest of the flour, and the rest of the milk). Fold in the cranberries.  Do not over mix. Fold in a little more orange juice if batter if to thick.  Batter should be consistency of really thick brownie batter.

Step 6: Scoop batter into prepared muffin/cupcake pan.

Bake muffins about 20 minutes 

Cool muffins on a wire cooling rack.

Enjoy the muffins while still warm, or when cool.  They are best the day they are made, but are still very good the next day.

Yields about 18 standard muffins.

Modified to make it gluten free from Glorioustreats.com

Waffles

I altered a waffle recipe from the Betty Crocker Cookbook and came up with this:

2 eggs
3 Tablespoons butter, melted
1 3/4 cups milk
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups gluten free flour mix
1 tsp xanthan gum

Heat waffle iron.  Beat eggs until fluffy.  Add the milk and melted butter.  Combine all the dry ingredients in a separate bowl.  Beat the wet and dry mixtures together until smooth.  Pour batter into the center of the hot waffle iron.  (It depends on the size of your waffle iron how much batter to pour in at a time.)  Bake until they are done.

Can be served with maple syrup, powdered sugar, strawberries or other fresh fruit, fruit syrups, etc.

Chicken Enchilladas

Chicken Enchilladas

4 chicken breast halves, cooked and diced
8 oz cream cheese
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup pepper jack cheese
1 packet taco seasoning mix
1- 4 oz can diced greed chilies
1 can Enchillada Sauce (I use La Victoria)
Corn Tortillas

Combine cream cheese, cheddar and jack cheeses, green chilies, and taco seasoning.  (I like cheese, but you can add more or less according to your likes.)  Add chicken and stir it all in really well.   Spoon the filling into the corn tortillas.  Roll them up and place them in a 9X13" pan.

HINT:  The corn tortillas roll better if you warm them up in the microwave before rolling them.  I usually warm 3 for 20-25 seconds.  Then roll those while the next 3 warm in the microwave.  They may still split anyway, but they will still taste good even if they split. 

Spoon the enchillada sauce over the enchilladas.  Sprinkle an additional 1 cup grated cheddar cheese over the top.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.

Serve with sour cream, lettuce, guacamole, whatever you like. 

This recipe tends to make a lot.  I am feeding a family of 7, but I don't have a lot of time.  I like filling a couple of pans with the enchilladas.  I bake one and put the other in the refrigerator.  I can then bake the second pan in the next couple of days.  It makes life easier when it is busy. 

Cream Soup Substitute

Many people think making that decision to eat gluten free means they have to give up all the foods they love for alternative foods.  However, I have made it a point to alter many of my existing recipes to make them gluten free.  That means we can enjoys many of the same foods, but still feel good.  For example, many recipes have the Cream of Mushroom or Cream of Chicken soups in them.  Since they are not gluten free, for a time, I had to give them up.  I went on a search to see if I could find an alternative so that I could still eat some of those same recipes.  There are many recipes out there to make your own Cream Soups.  This is the one that I like.

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1648,152182-252201,00.html

I found this mix at Cooks.com.  What I have done, is mixed up a lot of this mix ahead of time.  I keep the dry mix in a storage container in my pantry.  When I need soup, I measure it out, add water, and cook it up right there.  Recipes taste just as awesome as they did when just using the canned soup.  Maybe more awesome!!

Triple Chocolate Vanilla Carmel Pecan Ice Cream Cake

I made this cake for my birthday last year because I was determined I was going to have a yummy birthday cake for my birthday. It is a little time consuming but sooooooooo worth it!

Triple Chocolate Vanilla Carmel Pecan Ice Cream Cake

Cake Recipe Ingredients:

2 gluten free Betty Crocker chocolate cake mixes, or one regular chocolate cake mix. (Ingredients to make up cake mixes. What ever the cake mix box calls for on box)

1 Jar Hot Fudge topping

1 Jar Carmel topping

1 cup chopped pecans

2 favorite candy bars crushed (I did plain chocolate hersheys and health bar)

1 container vanilla ice cream (I used Breyers natural half the fat)

1 container Dark chocolate ice cream (I used Breyers natural half the fat)  

Make up cake mixes and put in 2, 8 or 9 inch cake pans lined with wax paper. If using a regular cake mix split cake mix evenly into both pans.  If using Gluten free cake mix, use one cake mix for each pan. 

Cook according to box directions and let cool on cooling racks.

While cake is cooling and pans are cooling off, pull vanilla and chocolate ice cream out of freezer and let sit on counter.  After pans have cooled off for 5 to 10 minutes  line them with wax paper.  Split vanilla ice cream evenly into both pans (the same ones you cooked the cakes in so that the ice cream piece will be the same size as the cake).  Then put in freezer and let freeze for at least an hour.

Take a third round pan that is the same size as the pans for the cake and use half of the chocolate ice cream to fill the third pan lined with wax paper.  Freeze with the vanilla ice cream.

Put it all together:

1-Take a large plate or a cake serving dish and place one cake layer on the bottom. 

2-Place one layer of vanilla ice cream.

3-Take the next cake layer and spread some hot fudge on cake, place the fudge side down on top on vanilla ice cream. 

4-Next spread hot fudge on the top of that cake layer.  Put the chocolate ice cream layer on next. 

5-Repeat step 3 and 4 with next cake layer and remaining ice cream layer. 

6- End with the last cake layer on top and pot cake in freezer while you make frosting.

Frosting:

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1 cup chocolate chips

½ to ¾ cup powered sugar (depends on how sweet you want it)

 2 tsp vanilla flavoring

2 tsp butter

1-Melt butter in saucepan, add 1 cup chocolate chips.  Stir constantly until totally melted.  Set aside to cool a little.

2-Whip the whipped topping until creamy.  Add the melted chocolate and whip until stiff and creamy. 

3-Add vanilla and cream 30 seconds until mixed.

Decorating cake:

1-Frost cake with frosting.  I did a border decoration along top edge and bottom edge. 

2-Put pecans on top of cake.  Drizzle top of cake with carmel and hot fudge.  (I took a little hot fudge from jar and added 1 tsp melted butter so that is was the right consistency to drizzle on top of cake.  I pushed some of the crushed candy bars on sides of cake and the rest on top.  SOOOOOO yummy!