Gingersnaps-- Gluten Free

Ginger, molasses, cinnamon.... those are the tastes and smells of fall, right? Well not necessarily. Many people associate those with fall, yes. In my house, we love them all year round. So I'll be happy to make ginger cookies or molasses cookies or gingerbread muffins (you get the picture) any time! A couple months ago my online friend, Kate posted these spicy gingersnaps recipe.  They looked so good! And they were gluten free. Score! And in that same weekend, my husband and I found a very similar prepackaged gluten free gingersnap with candied ginger in them. Oh those were so good too. I knew I wanted to make a gingersnap...with the candied ginger.  It just took me two months to get around to it.

A peek at the ingredients. That's almond flour back there.

Candied ginger or Crystallized ginger---your choice

G

I used a small scoop because these cookies do spread quite a bit.

I basically used Kate's recipe as a foundation and then tweaked it to suit our taste buds.  I used one teaspoon of sea salt, but I've written the recipe for a half of teaspoon because I thought one was a little too much after tasting.  I use a little fresh grated ginger and I really believe that makes a difference too. 

Gingersnaps-- Gluten Free

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened (I use Kerrygold)

1 cup coconut sugar

1 egg

1/3 cup molasses

2 cups almond flour (I prefer Honeyville)

1/4 cup arrowroot powder (Bob's Red Mill)

1 tsp baking soda (Bob's Red Mill)

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 Tablespoon ground ginger

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1-2 tsp fresh grated ginger

1 Tablespoon chopped candied ginger

In a stand mixer, mix the butter and sugar until creamy.   Add the egg and molasses and mix until combined well.   

In a separate bowl, whisk together the almond flour, arrowroot powder, baking soda, salt, ground ginger, and cinnamon.  

Add the flour mixture to the mixer and mix well. Once combined, stir in (by hand) the fresh grated ginger and the candied ginger.  

Chill the dough for an hour or up to two days.  

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Using a small scoop, or a teaspoon, drop small balls onto cookie sheet....a couple inches apart.  These spread quite a bit.  Bake for 12-14 minutes.  Cool on pan for 10 minutes or so then transfer to a cooling rack. These cookies will get crispier as they cool. 

Enjoy!

Coconut Layer Cake

Do you like coconut? I've learned that people are either a fan of it or they really just don't care for it much at all. I love it! My husband had a not-so-pretty episode with coconut as a child, so he's pretty much turned off by the tropical fruit.

And coconut is so popular now--- with coconut milk, coconut water, coconut cream, and let's not forget the powerful coconut oil! Man, I LOVE that stuff.

But let's talk about shredded coconut. You can buy it either sweetened or not. You can toast it and sprinkle it on ice cream..or garnish a cake with it. How about coconut shrimp? Yum!

But now it's time for cake!  As a child, I always requested an ice cream cake for my birthday. Those are just so fun and yummy and hey...it was like a two for one!  As I got older and my palate matured a bit, I began asking for my Mama's Coconut cake.  My birthday is in early April, so many years Easter falls on or around my birthday. Coconut cake is also a great dessert for Easter.
I made it this year for Thanksgiving. It is also perfect for Christmas. Bottom line---- coconut cake is wonderful all year long. But in moderation of course. I'm struggling with that.

You know what's even better? You can use a cake mix! Now of course for those of you that cringe at the thought of a boxed mix, a scratch cake would be awesome too. I've done it both ways. And I honestly do prefer the scratch cake myself. That's because it is better than a boxed gluten free cake mix. And really, the icing is what makes this cake. That's where all the coconut is.  This is also one of those cakes that gets better as the days go on.  Which is probably another reason a scratch gluten free cake worked better.

OK, ready? Here we go.

Coconut Layer Cake

Icing

1 pint sour cream (light is fine to use)

2 cups sugar (I know, I know..but I said light sour cream is OK)

3 packages frozen sweetened coconut. (See picture for what I use) 

I let the coconut thaw slightly, then...mix all the ingredients together and refrigerate for 24 hours. 

Cake time

Next make your cake. You can wait and bake your cake the next day when the icing is ready. Whatever floats your boat. 

So.... Bake a yellow cake in two round cake pans. Cake mix or scratch...whichever you prefer. Let the cake cool completely! Once cooled, slice each layer in half with a serrated knife so that you'll have four layers of cake. 

Grab a cake plate. Place one layer down and slap some of that delicious coconut icing on top. Spread and repeat with the remaining layers. Once you get to the last layer, pour the rest of the icing on top and spread it around. You do not need to ice the sides. Because this icing is a little runny, it will run down the sides, icing itself. Store the cake in the refrigerator. That's it! Sooo good!

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!

Chewy Jumbo Chocolate Chip Cookies....Gluten Free Style :)

Before I made the gluten free change, this cookie was a wonderful treat! Soft and chewy, melt in your mouth gooey goodness! This recipe was found on a Land O Lakes butter carton. I recently made some (with wheat flour) for two special sisters going off to college this week and just had to try to make them gluten free. Oh my! They were just as good. I just substituted my Bob's Red Mill gluten free All Purpose Flour for the wheat flour (1:1) and added one teaspoon of xanthan gum.




Chewy Jumbo Chocolate Chip Cookies...Gluten Free

4 1/4 cups gluten free All purpose flour
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1 (12 ounce) package chocolate chunks

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Combine flour, xanthan gum, baking powder and baking soda in a bowl. Set aside.

Combine butter and sugars in a large bowl and beat at medium speed until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla..continue beating until well mixed. Reduce speed to low and gradually add flour mixture, until well mixed. Stir in chocolate chunks.

Drop dough by 1/4 cupfuls, 2 inches apart, onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10-14 minutes or until light golden brown. Do not overbake. Let stand a couple minutes and then move to cooling rack.

This will make about 26 jumbo cookies.

You can make smaller cookies but I love the jumbo size!

Apple Cranberry Crumb Pie

This is another recipe from recipegirl.com. This pie was oh so good. It will make a great gift or serving for company.

TOPPING:
1 cup flour
½ cup packed golden brown sugar
1/3 cup old-fashioned oats
¾ tsp ground cinnamon
1 stick chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

PIE:
4 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into ¾” pieces (should be approximately 5 cups)
16 oz can whole-berry cranberry sauce
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 tsp cornstarch
One 9 inch deep-dish frozen pie shell
vanilla ice cream

1. To prepare topping: Mix flour, brown sugar, oats and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Add butter; cut in with pastry blender or use your fingertips. Keep cutting until mixture resembles coarse meal. Set aside.

2. To prepare filling: Place baking sheet in oven and preheat to 350° F. Toss apples, cranberry sauce, sugar and cornstarch in large bowl until well blended.




3. Transfer apple-cranberry filling to frozen pie shell, mounding in the center. Sprinkle topping over pie. Set pie on baking sheet in oven. Bake until apples are tender, juices bubble thickly and crust is golden, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Transfer to rack. Cool 15 minutes. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.







Servings: 8
Recipe Source: Adapted from Bon Appetit

Peach Cobbler

I had wanted to post this before we entered the Fall season, but it just didn't happen. I used fresh peaches,but it will be OK to use frozen or canned. This recipe is also good as a blueberry or an apple cobbler too! Make sure you have some vanilla ice cream on hand!! Enjoy :-)

Filling
1 stick butter (1/2 stick may be enough too!)
1 tsp. lemon juice
3 cups or so of fresh, sliced peaches
1 Cup sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
dash nutmeg

Topping
1 Cup self-rising flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Melt butter in an 8x8 square baking dish.

For filling: In a mixing bowl, combine peaches and lemon juice. Add sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg, mix well. Add the mixture to the baking dish, but do not stir.


For Topping: Combine all topping ingredients. Pour over peaches and bake about 45 minutes or until brown.

OREO Ice Cream Cake

Want a yummy, nice treat for these hot, sunny days? This is it. When I was little, I always wanted an ice cream cake for my birthday...and that is usually what I got. Back then it was actually CAKE in it. As I grew older, there was less and less cake in the ice cream cakes. Why is that?? The other day I really wanted an ice cream cake, with CAKE, so I created this one. I used only one container of ice cream and one jar of hot fudge, but I think next time, I'll double that. I like it oozing w/ all that sugary goodness :)

Oreo Ice Cream Cake

1 package Oreos
1 stick butter, melted
1 box chocolate cake mix (fudge, devil's food, any will do), baked as directed, in 2 square cake pans, let cool
1 jar hot fudge sauce (or 2)
1 container cookies and cream ice cream (or 2)softened in order to spread
2 cans of RediWhip or just use cool whip

Ok, so crush 2-3 cups of oreos, mix w/ the melted butter. Pat that into a large rectangle cake pan (I used an 11x15x2) and bake for 8 minutes at 350 degrees. My crust was kinda hard, but we all liked it. I don't know if skipping the baking step would keep it from being so hard.


Let that cool a bit, then spread most of the hot fudge (not heated) on the crust.


Take your cooled cakes and layer over hot fudge. My cakes didn't fit perfectly, so I sliced them in half and placed cake in pan to cover all of the crust and fudge layer.


Now spread the ice cream over the cake carefully. Cover with the RediWhip or Cool Whip. I used Redi Whip on the edges to pretty it up and spread some on the rest of the cake.


With the remainder of the oreos that were not crushed, break those up over the cake, then take the remainder of the hot fudge sauce and drizzle over top. I did this step after I had froze the cake for a few hours, this time I did heat the fudge sauce. Cover and freeze overnight. Yummo!

German Chocolate Gooey Butter Cake

Alright..time for a recipe, huh? This one has been requested. I am glad that I made it for our church supper this week..that way it isn't in my house where I will eat it all! I did sneak a piece to try though ;-)

German Chocolate Gooey Butter Cake

1 box German Chocolate cake mix
2 sticks butter, divided & melted
3 large eggs, divided
1 (8oz) block of cream cheese, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 (16oz) box confectioners' sugar
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13x9 baking dish w/ cooking spray.

In mixer bowl, combine cake mix, 1 stick melted butter, and 1 egg. Beat at low speed until combined. Press evenly into bottom of baking dish; set aside.

In mixer bowl, beat cream cheese at med. speed until creamy. Beat in remaining 2 eggs and the vanilla. Gradually beat in the confectioners' sugar until smooth. Add the last stick of melted butter, beat at low speed until combined well. Stir in coconut and pecans. Pour evenly over cake mix layer. Bake for 45minutes-1 hour..until center is slightly set. Let cool completely before cutting into squares (this is the hardest step of all).

Nutter Butter Banana Pudding

Doesn't that sound gooooood?!?!? Well...it is! I saw a similar recipe in Southern Living and since I love the recipe I already use for banana pudding, I didn't change a thing..except the cookies.
So..if you'd like to try this out, follow my recipe for Banana Pudding and substitute nutter butters for the vanilla wafers. It took almost 2 whole packages of Nutter Butters.

German Chocolate Pecan Pie

It appears I've got pie on my mind again! This recipe is just sinfully rich..but ohhh so good! I took this recipe from this month's issue of Southern Lady, well just the filling part. My pictures aren't that great this time...you'll just have to make your own to get a better look!

German Chocolate Pecan Pie

Use a crust for a 9 inch deep dish. You can use a store bought crust or use the recipe here.

Filling:
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup dark corn syrup
1/4 cup butter, melted
3 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups pecan halves
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Put crust in deep dish pie plate, trim edges, fold under and crimp. Bake for 8 minutes and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the sugar and corn syrups. Add melted butter, eggs, vanilla and salt. Whisk until well combined. Stir in pecans. Sprinkle chocolate chips on the bottom of crust, evenly. Then sprinkle coconut on top of chocolate chips. Pour pecan mixture on top of coconut. Bake for 1 hour or until center is set. Cover w/ foil last 10 minutes if needed to prevent excess browning. Cool completely before serving (this is the hardest part!).

Apple Pie

We have apple trees in our back yard. This year we had the most apples we've ever had. Each fall I make apple pies. I've had to freeze apples too because we've had so many. To me, the best part of an apple pie is the homemade flaky crust! I like to use Granny Smith apples, but any apple will work fine..you just might need to adjust the amount of sugar used.

So, are ya ready? Here it is...

APPLE PIE

Pie Crust
2 cups flour
1/2 Tbsp. sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup vegetable shortening
1 small egg, beaten
1/2 Tbsp. vinegar
5 Tbsp. cold water

In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar and salt. With a pastry blender (or two knives), cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Mix together egg, vinegar and water, then add to flour mixture. Mix until dough is moist enough to form a ball. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 30 minutes. Divide dough in half. On a lightly floured surface, roll one half into a 12 inch circle. Press dough into pie plate (I like to use deep dish). Crimp edges or use a fork to make a decorative border, then prick bottom with a fork. Put the plate in the freezer while preparing the pie filling. The other half of crust will be used on top.

Apple Pie Filling:

5 cups peeled, cored and sliced apples
4 Tbsp. flour
1 1/3 cup sugar (remember I use granny smith apples, you may want to decrease the amount of sugar if using a sweeter apple)
1 tsp. cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
3 Tbsp. butter
3 Tbsp. milk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix apples, flour, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir gently. Pour into unbaked pie shell. Dab with butter and pour milk over filling. Roll top crust same as bottom and lift onto filled pie. Crimp edges again and cut an X in the center of pie w/ sharp knife..pull the edges at the center of the X back some to open the center of the pie a little. You can also make a woven lattice top with the top pie crust. Bake for 40-45 minutes.

Fresh Peach Pie

This is a Southern Living recipe and it's delicious. Hope you enjoy!


5 1/2 cups peeled, sliced fresh peaches (3 1/2 lbs)
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pastry for double crust 9 inch pie (refrigerated pie crust works fine too)

Combine first 4 ingredients in a saucepan; set aside until syrup forms. Bring mixture to a boil; reduce heat to low, and cook 10 minutes or until peaches are tender, stirring often. Remove from heat; add butter and vanilla, blending well.

Place one pastry in pie plate; trim off excess pastry along edges of pieplate. Spoon filling into pastry shell. Cut remaining pastry into 1/2 inch strips. Arrange strips in lattice design over peaches. Trim strips even with edges; fold edges under, and crimp.

Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes; reduce heat to 350 degrees, and bake 25 to 30 more minutes or until crust is browned. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream!

A Sweet Treat on a Hot Summer Day..

This is such a yummy recipe. Its very refreshing on a warm day. I hope you will enjoy it too!

Banana Pudding


1 Large box instant vanilla pudding
2 (12 oz) cans evaporated skimmed milk
8 ozs. sour cream (you can use Light)
8 ozs. Cool Whip (you can use Light)
Vanilla Wafers as needed
4 good sized bananas

Mix vanilla pudding with milk. Blend in sour cream until smooth. Then blend in the Cool Whip until the mixture is soft and creamy. In a dish, I prefer a trifle, put a layer of vanilla wafers, bananas and pudding mixture. Layer until all is used. Crush more wafers on top of pudding. Refrigerate overnight.