Sweet Potato Biscuits {Gluten Free}

I know many of you are ready for fall to arrive. I, on the other hand, am not. Summer is never long enough for me.  I'd love for it to be summer all year long. But that's just not gonna happen, now is it? I do love the seasonal foods though and this recipe can be considered a fall food. But, really, you can buy sweet potatoes at the grocery store year round, so anytime of year is good to make these biscuits.

 Have you ever had sweet potato biscuits? Maybe it is a southern thing. I don't know, but they sure are good.  This is an old recipe that has been around for a while. I just adapted it to be gluten free. Gluten free Bisquick comes in handy for recipes like this, and the original "wheat" recipe is even made with regular Bisquick..or any other baking mix.

Start with two medium-large sized sweet potatoes boiled and peeled.

With a potato masher, mash up those sweet taters.

Add in the gluten free Bisquick, along with brown sugar and water.

This is what the mixture will look like once combined.  It will be moister than regular biscuits.

Roll out that dough onto a (gluten free) floured surface.  Using your grandma's old biscuit cutter helps make yummy biscuits. :-)

All cut out and ready for the oven.

Slap some ham in that biscuit.

Save some for the next morning. Toast the biscuits and add bacon. YUM!

Sweet Potato Biscuits {Gluten Free}

2 medium-large sweet potatoes (or 1 lb)

3/4-1 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup water

2 1/4 cups Gluten Free Bisquick (or any biscuit mix) (this will use almost an entire box of GF Bisquick)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Boil or microwave the sweet potatoes. Let them cool, then peel them.  In a large bowl, mash the potatoes.  Add brown sugar, biscuit mix, and water. Start with 3/4 cup of brown sugar. Give it a little taste..add more if you prefer a sweeter biscuit.  Combine the mixture thoroughly.  It will be a lot moister than regular biscuit dough.  Flour table or counter top.  Roll biscuit dough out to 1/2" thickness.  Cut with a biscuit (cookie) cutter. Place on a greased cookie sheet or an ungreased baking stone.  These will not rise much because it is such a wet dough.  Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes.  Keep an eye on them so they don't overcook.  I let them cook until the bottoms just begin to brown.

Enjoy with butter or even homemade jam. And don't forget the bacon. :)

The Versatile Bagel (Gluten Free)

Who doesn't love a soft and chewy bagel?  Or a warm toasted one slathered with butter?  It is hard to resist, isn't it?  What if you just realized you couldn't have that anymore because of Celiac Disease or a gluten intolerance?  Hmmm.....that would make for a serious let down, huh? Well, that is where Udi's Gluten Free bagels come to the rescue!

Not only are Udi's gluten free bagels gluten free, they are also dairy, soy, and nut free as well. That is a blessing for so many people out there with food allergies.  And the best part is that Udi's offers a pretty tasty selection of bagels. There are plain, whole grain, cinnamon raisin, everything inside, and the mighty bagel.  With so many choices, it makes their bagels very versatile. 

The Everything Inside bagel is made with onion and garlic. This would be a great bagel toasted, buttered, or topped with cheese and served along side a big dish of spaghetti, gluten free of course.  The Mighty bagel is filled with dried cranberries, pumpkin seeds, quinoa, and other delicious ingredients. This is the ultimate breakfast bagel!

We love the whole grain bagels at our house.  Toasted in the morning (or even for an afternoon snack), slathered with Greek yogurt cream cheese and topped with homemade blueberry jam is a favorite.

Want something different for your cheeseburger?  Try a bagel!  While Udi's offers gluten free hamburger buns, I prefer to use a whole grain bagel.  It is just the right amount of bread for me.  Even for my burgers, I'll toast the bagel in a bit of butter so it is nice and crispy. YUM!  How is that for versatile?! 

Oh, and it doesn't hurt to "put an egg on it" ;-). 

So go out this week and grab some Udi's gluten free bagels and experiment for yourself. You won't be disappointed!

*I am not affiliated with Udi's gluten free. I just love their products.*

Fresh Blueberry Pie {Gluten Free}

My family and I picked 14 pints of blueberries the other day. That was a lot of berries! Muffins, pies, smoothies, and jam were spinning around in my head as we picked.  I made 15 jars of jam, froze several cups of berries, we ate on them, and then for the finale I made a fresh blueberry pie. My husband and I are the only ones that will eat the pie. We may or may not have eaten the entire pie in less than 24 hours.

I've tried a few different gluten free pie crusts. Some have been premade and some I made from scratch. Let me tell you.... Gluten free pie crusts are HARD to work with. I've had them crumble, fall completely apart, slide right out of my hands from too much fat. We all want a flakey, buttery crust, right?  And really....when eating a homemade pie, isn't it all about the crust anyway?   For this pie I tried a recipe from America's Test Kitchen.  If you don't have their gluten free cookbook then I recommend you get it as soon as you can.  (I am not affiliated with America's Test Kitchen in any way, but I do think highly of them) We have tried many recipes in the book and so far none have disappointed us.  While they do have a blueberry pie recipe in their cookbook, I only used their crust recipe. 

Fresh Blueberry Pie --- Gluten Free

One Double Crust pie crust recipe

4 full cups of fresh blueberries, rinsed and stems removed

1/2 cup of sugar

2 Tbsp corn starch

1 Tbsp lemon juice

Place oven rack on lowest position. Preheat oven to 375°.  Line a cookie sheet with foil and place on lowest rack. 

Fill a deep dish pie plate with one crust.

Pour blueberries into a medium saucepan.  Add the sugar and gently toss the berries with the sugar.  In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and lemon juice.  On medium heat, add the cornstarch mixture to berries and gently stir until combined and the sugar has begun to dissolve.  The berries shouldn't really lose their shape. Once heated through (2-3 minutes), pour filling into pie crust.  Top filling with second crust. You may want to make it a lattice top or keep it plain. Either way is OK. I do recommend, if you keep it plain, to cut a few tiny slices throughout the top of crust though. 

Brush pie crust with an egg white, if desired.

Place pie plate onto the foil lined cookie sheet and bake for 45 minutes to one hour...until crust is golden and filling is bubbling.

The most difficult part is waiting for the pie to cool enough to slice. We didn't as you can tell in the following picture. That vanilla ice cream just couldn't wait any longer ;).

Happy Baking!