Crispy Cinnamon Granola

Okay this is the best granola I've eaten for a long time. It came from a sister who got it from a friend who got it somewhere off the internet... who knows, but thanks whomever. 

 3/4 cup brown sugar

 1/3 cup water 

1/3 cup oil 

1/2 tsp salt 

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon 

1 tsp. vanilla 

 Boil these ingredients two minutes pour over dry ingredients and bake one hour at 300 degrees. 

 1/4 cup brown rice flour 

1/4 cup millet flour 

1 cup GF corn flake cereal 

1 1/2 cup GF rice crispy cereal 

1 cup sliced almonds 

1/2 cup pecans, chopped

 3/4 cup coconut 

1/4 cup sunflower seeds 

1/4 cup flax seed cracked

Sometimes I substitute pumpkins seeds (pepitos) or add hemp seeds and chia.  It's easy to make it everything I want to eat for breakfast.  

Carrot Cake Balls -- GF, CF, sugar-free, faux-cream cheese

IT's NATIONAL DIET MONTH!!!     Today I'm looking for something that will be delicious and yet not bust apart my 21 day diet. (because I'm not up to starting over.)  

This might work!  







Cream cheese cake balls that are dairy-free, sugarless, gluten-free, grain-free, healthy, raw and delicious?

And about which the 14 year old says,  "Okay Mom, they are not terrible."  Woot!  High praise indeed.

The impossible dream?  
Well, maybe. 
It's all true, except for the cream cheese.  

There is none of that in the recipe, but I made these and asked the guys what they  reminded them of and they came up with the name.  

Actually they said they tasted pumpkin too, but I thought that was really stretching it.  

Who knew dates are the secret ingredient? 

None of the guys and they will not!  

3/4 cup carrots, peeled, diced (2 or 3 full sized)
4 dates (pitted and diced)
1 teaspoon minced ginger root (I use the stuff from the jar in the fridge)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon orange extract
1/2 cup pecans

I have a good food processor, so I did it all together using my processor blade, but try chopping the carrots first then remove and do the rest and add the carrots to thoroughly combine into a dough.  I used my handy-dandy melon baller and then rolled them in coconut.  

This is the birthday cake ball recipe that my dear friend Pam researched and fed to me for my September birthday.  It's taken a month to get it replicated.  I hope you love it as much as I do.    

Reality Bite:  And for the record, I still do not like dates... alone. (hee,hee.)

Last posted 10-29-13

Flourless Triple Chocolate Cookies

Ate G-F Chocolate, chocolate-chip, peanut butter cookies last night at the daughters and she said, "This is your recipe!"  She made it much better, so I've got to get her recipe modifications and start testing the changes!  YUM!    


12-16-2013  First Posted  

Flourless dense, dark, chocolate chewy cookies, perfect for the holidays. 

WARNING:  Bake these on parchment or on a silpat.  Or use the resulting crumbled mess for pie crusts.  


1/2 cup softened butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 cup dutched cocoa powder
1/2 cup white chocolate chips and more for topping
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips and more for topping
1/4 cup almond meal (may be omitted, but they spread pretty far without it)


Preheat oven to 350ºF. Mix together the butter and sugars. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until combined. Mix together the soda, salt, and cocoa and add to the wet ingredients, mixing until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips and nuts. 

These spread a lot so drop onto sheet in small balls.
Bake for about 10-15 minutes or until they look done.  I added more chips while still hot as accents.  These are delicious warm and chewy.  

Remove from oven and leave to cool for three minutes.  Use a flat metal scraper to remove from cookie sheet--unless you used parcement or silpat.  That is just a wonderful invention.  

GF Pumpkin Pecan layered dessert

This GF Pumpkin Pecan layered dessert was delicious at the block party last weekend! In honor of the season, I also took a batch of baked beans the second time I've made it this week.

Serve it cold or warm with icecream or whipping cream.

I used three cups of cake mix for an 8x11 pan, but half this much would work nicely in an 8x8 size or a standard 8x8 sized GF Betty Crocker cake mix should work nicely on top.

Bottom layer: In a mixing bowl combine:

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin

1 can (12 oz.) of evaporated milk

4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (make your own GF recipe here)

Topping:

2 cups GF dry cake mix

1 1/2 cups pecans chopped finely

1 square (1/2 cup) butter melted

Pour into an greased 8 1/2 x 11 pan and gently sift a dry cake mix over the top. (I love Blue Chip group's gf yellow cake mix (http://www. glutenfreebcg.com) because it is only ten bucks and makes four full-size delicious cakes.)

Mix wet ingredients well and pour into pan. Gently sift the dry cake mix onto the top. Sprinkle a layer of pecans and then drizzle butter over the top.

Bake at 350 about an hour until knife comes out clean.

Trail Mix

I was at Sams Club, (my store for discretionary spending) and I spotted a new and exciting snack mix that was gluten-free. It was also over-the-top expensive. (I mean more than GF usual.) I read the ingredients and there were only four. So I went home with the supersized containers of each of the ingredients, determined to make my own.

Then I realized that the first ingredient (sugar) was superfluous and only served to make the snack unhealthy, so I flung the sugar (not literally) and here it is.

1 cup almonds

1 cup dried cranberries

1 cup cashews

The flavors are delicious and when eaten, one of each together, are a delectable and unique taste sensation.

Have a handful and Enjoy! YUM!

A Plethora of Almond Puff Pastry

I love to go to a celiac's house for a party! It's always so delicious and safe!!! Tonight I went to an open house and sampled a "newbie's" gf offerings and I am so impressed.

She served peanut butter bars, and lemon squares, and a most delectable dessert. This delicious almond puff is one of the most fabulous desserts I've tasted. It was textured like baklava in layers, yet chewy and so, so delicious.

I had to clamor for the recipe, but here it is.

Ok it at least makes me feel good that people are clamoring… even if it is only one person ~ my gluten free wonder women.

Almond Puff

½ cup butter

1 cup gf flour I used a mix of {Bette Hagman's} feather light and 1/2 c. quinoa flour

dash of Xanthan gum

2 tbsp water (I only needed one tbsp.)

Heat oven to 350 degrees

Cut ½ c butter into the flour and xanthan gum. Add water over mixture and fold and pound into ball. Divide dough in half. Pat into 2 strips on a jelly roll pan about 12” x 3” about 3” apart.

In a medium sauce pan bring

½ butter

1 c water to a rolling boil

Remove from heat and quickly add 1 tsp almond extract

1 c flour -- again 1/2c feather light, ¼ cup quinoa, ¼ cup almond meal-flour and a

dash of baking powder

Stir vigorously over low heat until mixture forms a ball about 1 minute. Remove from heat.

Beat in 3 eggs until smooth.

Divide dough in half, spreading half evenly over strips covering completely.

Bake 60 minutes. I baked it less, I think about 45 minutes. Until top is crisp and brown,

Cool then glaze and sprinkle with almonds.

Glaze: 1 ½ c powdered sugar

1 – 2 Tbsp warm water. Mix until smooth, add 1 to 1 ½ tsp. almond extract.

Ok here ya go enjoy making them and of course eating them.. ~~Lori

I should have known the openhouse would be delightful and delicious because even before she was ever diagnosed, my friend showed great potential as a GF baker. She was the inventor of last year's Christmas Pineapple Stuffed-French Toast! Delicious!

Thanks Lori, you were always awesome, but even more so gluten-free.

Almond Meal Recipes

I love almond flour!

I first used almond meal in a recipe I was trying for a flourless crust. It was a cookie crust to be covered with pudding and cream cheese and whipping cream. When my first crust made of plain rice flour (grainy and crunchy) failed, I dragged out the almond meal that was languishing in the freezer and threw it in with butter and sugar and it was delicious.

Almond Crust

1 cup almond meal, 3 TBS butter, 1/3 cup sugar. Blend together and pat into a pie pan. Bake 10 minutes and then cool and then fill crust with your favorite delicious filling.

GF Almond Cookies I have a delicious one of these and I will find it I promise--soon.

But how could any crust go wrong under all that?

Truly, almond flour (meal) really makes a light flaky delicious crust. It's a great flour for cookie crusts in pies, cheese cakes, and I really thinkg that it would be a great addition to a graham-like cracker.

I use almond meal daily as part of my 8 flour mix.

Here are some websites to view: http://almondflour.homestead.com/
Gluten free heaven has a wonderful almond muffin GF/CF http://glutenfreeheaven.blogspot.com/2008/11/gfcf-banana-almond-butter-muffins.html

You can grind your own almond meal/flour. I tried to use my blender. It's a K-Tec-"Will-it-Blend" (see You-Tube) and baby, will it blend. It blends almonds into butter before I know it, so I tried to grind almonds with rice in my spice grinder and that didn't work and then someone recommended that I use a food processor, and that works great. It grinds to just the right consistency.

Almond Poppy Seed Muffin Mix
See my recipe for these.  They are delicious.