Banana Bread

Ingredients:
2 cups Gluten Free Mix (2 cups rice flour, 2/3 cup potato starch, 1/3 cup tapioca starch)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon xantham gum
pinch of salt
1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3 ripe bananas, peeled and mashed (I put them in the blender because I'm not a fan of chunks)

Optional, but recommended:
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon cloves
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix dry ingredients in medium sized bowl.

Cream butter, add sugar and beat until fluffy.
Add the eggs, followed by bananas.
Add optional spices at this time (cinnamon, vanilla, cloves)
Add dry ingredients and stir until blended.
Spoon batter into 9 x 5 bread pan and optionally sprinkle brown sugar on top if you would like a crusty sweet top.

Bake for 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean.

This banana bread can also be frozen and saved for a later date. If you wrap it in foil and then put it in a freezer bag is tastes just as good a few months later. It's nice to have on hand during those unexpected busy times.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ingredients:

2 cups gluten free mix (2 cups rice flour, 2/3 cup potato starch, 1/3 cup tapioca starch)
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups milk
1 egg
2 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and Grease muffin cups or use paper muffin liners.

Make gluten free mix and then combine 2 cups gluten free mix with the dry products (cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt)

Mix wet ingredients (milk, egg, canola oil and vanilla).

Combine dry ingredients with wet ingredients and then add chocolate chips. Mix well.

Fill muffin cups to the top and then sprinkle sugar on top if desired.

Bake 20-25 minutes or until toothpick can be inserted and come out clean.

These were really yummy. They were gone in one day. Hope you like them.

Easy Cornbread

Cornbread is one of the easiest gluten free breads you can make. This recipe calls for no special flours and thus is really easy to make when you are out of the starches or xantham gum. Pictured I have made the cornbread in muffin pans, however I most often make it in a square baking dish. Either way turns out great.


Ingredients:

1 cup white rice flour
3/4 cup ground cornmeal
3 tablespoons of sugar
2 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon butter
2 beaten eggs
1 cup milk
1/4 cup melted butter

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix dry ingredients (flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt) together in a bowl.

Mix wet ingredients in a separate bowl (butter, eggs, milk)

Swirl 1 tablespoon of butter in baking dish or in muffin pan. I use spray butter in the muffin pan because it's easier.

Combine wet and dry ingredients and bake for 15-20 minutes. Insert wooden toothpick to test if the cornbread is done. When toothpick comes out clean cornbread is done.

Cheese Cake

(sorry there is part missing... my husband snuck some before I got a picture)

I made this cheesecake for our anniversary and it was a hit. It was 90% gone within 24 hours... I guess I need to make yummy things more often so they aren't such a novelty. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
* 1 1/4 cup gluten free cookie crumbs (I used half the recipe of the gf chocolate chip cookie recipe and baked the cookies without chocolate chips and then tossed them into the blender)
* 1/3 cup melted butter
* 2 (10 ounce) packages frozen fruit of choice (I used a berry blend), thawed
* 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
* 3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
* 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
* 1/4 cup lemon juice
* 3 eggs

1. combine cookie crumbs and butter. Press onto the bottom of a pie pan. Refrigerate for 30 minutes

2. In a blender combine fruit and cornstarch; cover and blend until smooth. Pour into a saucepan; bring to a boil. Boil and stir for 2 minutes. Set aside 1/3 cup strawberry sauce to cool. Cover and refrigerate remaining sauce for serving.

3. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in milk. Add lemon juice. Mix well. Add eggs, beat on low until just combined.

4. Pour half of the cream cheese mixture over crust. Drop half of the reserved fruit mixture by 1/2 teaspoonfuls onto cream cheese layer. Carefully spoon remaining cream cheese mixture over fruit. Drop remaining fruit mixture by 1/2 teaspoonfuls on top. With a knife cut through layers to swirl fruit.

5. Bake at 300 degrees F for 45-50 minutes or until center is almost set. Cook at room temperature for 1 hour (so it doesn't crack). Refrigerate overnight. Serve fruit over cheesecake if desired.

Homemade ranch dressing

There are very few salad dressings that are soy-free. Thus I began a quest to develop a few salad dressings that tasted like the real thing. This recipe is the closest I've achieved to store bought ranch in my experimentations.

Ingredients

3/4 cup soy-free mayonnaise (see below for a homemade version)

1 1/4 cup of sour cream

1 tsp freeze-dried chives

1 tsp dillweed

1 tsp parsley

1 tsp garlic powder

1 1/2 tsp onion powder

0.5 tsp salt

0.5 tsp ground black pepper

Directions

In a sealable container mix well all ingredients together. If using fresh spices/herbs use 3x the amount called for in place of the dried ingredients.

Homemade mayonnaise

The soy-free mayonnaise found in the store can be pretty expensive so I set out to make a homemade equivalent.

Ingredients

1 egg yolk (make sure to check date stamped on cartoon to make sure you are using the most fresh eggs available)

1 Tbs white distilled vinegar

0.5 tsp of salt

0.25 tsp of dried mustard powder

3/4 cup oil (preferably canola or safflower)

Directions

Mix the egg yolk, vinegar, salt and mustard powder together in a circular glass container. I've found that containers with steep sides (IE 90 degrees) work much better for the later stages of prep. then do those that have more slanting sides (IE bowls). In order to achieve the mayonnaise emulsion, the oil needs to be added very slowly in the beginning to the egg yolk mixture using a whisk. If the oil is added too quickly than the you will end up with a soupy mess instead of the desired emulsion. To do this you can use a tablespoon to add a couple of drops at a time. Once you have added about half the oil you can start adding oil more quickly. Since you are adding fresh egg yolk the mayonnaise should be used within 3-4 days.

* it should be noted that lemon juice can be added instead of vinegar for those who don't like vinegar. If you are using wet mustard, try using a scant teaspoon instead of the dry measurement.

Quick Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies are VERY rich, but the little one loves them and they are really quick and easy to make and requires no flour which is nice if you are running short on gluten free flours.

Ingredients:
* 1 egg
* 1 cup peanut butter
* 1 cup sugar
* 1 tsp vanilla
* 3/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Place egg, sugar, peanut butter and vanilla in a mixing blow and blend.

2. Add chocolate chips.

3. Drop teaspoonful onto cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees F for 8-10 minutes