Brownie Mix Cookies

This Sunday was a little different.  My husband was out of town assisting with the clean-up efforts of the Joplin, Missouri tornado.  He was numbered among 500+ volunteers donating their time, efforts, and supplies through Mormon Helping Hands (not to be confused with the unrelated Helping Hands 2nd hand store) this weekend to help this devastated city get back on their feet.  Yesterday he was assigned to a team patching roofs of homes that were still standing and today he was assigned to clean up a farm of several acres with many trees down needing to be chopped & moved and clearing debris of the many buildings that were destroyed.  A demonstration that "service is every bit as much a part of their religious identity as sitting in a pew." (Washington Post)

As a result, I did not have the help I usually have Sunday morning in getting 4 boys and myself ready for church, nor behavior control during church.  SO I resorted to what I have learned is the best method for boys: bribing the belly.  Yes, I bribed them with brownies for cooperation in preparing for church and good behavior while at church!  It was much easier than I thought it would be, and we all came home in one piece, just like any other Sunday, with not a hair out of place. 

Instead of making regular brownies, I decided to see if I could use my Brownie recipe to make cookies, just like I used to with the store bought mixes.  AND I could, so I am sharing.

Brownie Mix Cookies 

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 cup ground wild rice (use coffee/spice grinder if you don't have a grain grinder) 
1/4 cup ground flax  (use spice/coffee grinder)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp guar gum (NOT xanthan gum)
1/2 tsp salt

6 oz semi-melted chocolate chips

3/4 cups chopped pecans or favorite nut (optional)

*  *  *  *

1/2 cup melted Butter or Crisco
2 eggs (can be replaced with 2 TBSP water)

1 1/2 tsp mint extract (optional)

        

Note: If at all possible grind your wild rice in a grain grinder.  It is possible to use a coffee/spice grinder, but there will be some pieces that are not fully ground.  I recommend sifting out those pieces if you must use a spice grinder.


1) Combine 1st list of ingredients except pecans, mix well and then create a well in the middle of the dry ingredients.
2) Melt butter.
3) Place eggs, extract, and melted butter to the well in the dry ingredients. 
4) Form 1 1/2 TBSP drops on cookie sheets and bake at 350 for 15-18 minutes. 

Xanthan Gum - What is it? Hesitant to use it?

When I first started on the Gluten and Dairy Free path, I avoided Xanthan Gum like the plague!!  No researching or anything, just avoided it. By that name it HAD to be a chemical or other additive that was going to do more damage to my kids' body's than any allergen would cause.  So it definitely should not be used. Besides, with that price tag on it, it could not possibly be worth it! Well now as I write up my recipes on this blog you probably have noticed that I am an avid user of it. AND it is well worth it! 

SOO you are probably asking what changed my mind.  Well, honestly, a few things. 

First, in our family we do lots of Naturopathic holistic medicinal approaches to many illnesses that most people would take an antibiotic for.  We don't give our kids antibiotics and rarely over the counter syrups for pink eye, cough, colds, flus, stomach bugs, ear infections, etc. We do our own remedies.  I don't remember the last time we gave one of our kids a prescription drug and our kids do not get sick near as often as others around us.  In Laredo, Texas, where we once lived, there is a Chiropractor/naturopath we attended church with.  He had a family of about 6 kids and they treated their illnesses naturally too. We bought supplements from him and sought his advice, and usually make a trip to see him each time we go down to Mexico.  The brand he labeled as top quality was Now Foods.  AND they had a supplement called XANTHAN GUM.  Double Take. Double Take!! . . But I thought it was a bad thing, what is a chemical doing in a NOW Foods bottle! What is its use in Naturopathic medicine??  SOO, I started the research.  Polysaccharide. . .Soluble Fiber. . . Complex Carbohydrate. . . Fermented Sugar. . . Since when have any of those been bad?? 

You can read more about it:

Healthy Beginnings

Wise Geek
Wikipedia

SO then I sought out how it was made.  I learned that it was truly a "Fermented Sugar" named for the bacteria used to ferment it Xanthomonas campestris.  Take some bacteria off of the cabbage leaves and add it to a  grain based sugar & water mixture and let it sit for a while. Then they dry it and make it in to powder.  That is just like how they make yeast, except that yeast uses the whole grain.  That is how starter is made too and starter is healthy for you, restoring healthy yeast, bacteria, probiotics, and enriching your body with enzymes too.  Sugar and bacteria are going to be in my baked goods anyway, so what is the difference if a teaspoon or two of this "sugar-complex carbohydrate-soluble fiber" that sat out and got some air for a while is in my bread with it??  If I was going to be opposed to the methods of making Xanthan Gum, or worried about an additional sensitivity to it, then I could not use yeast or starter in my baking either. . .

SO then I bought a sample.  I paid $2 dollars to try it out (about 10 tsp used in various  recipes of mine).  OOOOOOOH!!  Non-Crumblyish bread! AND I could make a loaf rather than the little bun style bread I was making!  AND there was no change in flavor!  Then I made the plunge and bought a bag. Originally I was set on buying NOW FOODS brand, because I knew that I would never have to worry about their product causing allergic reactions, because they make their products free of all the major grain allergens.  But then the penny pincher in me started coming out and dominating my desires and I ended up buying a cheaper Xanthan Gum which likely came from corn and now as we are allergic to corn, I will use up what we have of it and move on to the wonderful first choice Now Foods Xanthan Gum which has no dairy, soy, wheat, corn, oats, peanuts. . .or anything else that we are or can become allergic too.  The corn allergy, I am not surprised, what would I expect?  We use lots of corn based cereals, our noodles are corn based, corn tortillas, we LOVE popcorn. . .  After 6 years of living on allergy free diets I believe that anything 'over-used' or not used in moderation, can cause a big allergy problem.  Moderation is the key, but THAT is another post. . . 

If after all of this you are still not so comfortable using Xanthan Gum, you can use Guar Gum in your recipes by substituting 1 1/2 tsp Guar Gum for every 1 tsp of Xanthan Gum -- I use both with about the same frequency (you know, moderation :o).

Gnocchi

If there is one thing I swear by in order for any change in diet to be successful, you must have access to like replacements of the foods you once enjoyed with equivalent flavor and texture.  The sacrifice must be kept to a minimum for success.  That is my goal with everything I place on this blog.  This post is one of those rare ones.  One of those ones that not only meats my goal, but takes it to the next level and puts the traditional equivalent to shame.  Perhaps I am cocky, or perhaps my belief is stemmed in the fact that I have never tasted the Italian real deal.  There is only so much that a store bought prepackaged product can offer and had I made my own Gnocchi in the days of Gluten gluttony, I am sure the end result would also have superseded the prepackaged store bought version. What a pleasant surprise this was!!  Sure to attract the attention of ALL gnocchi lovers regardless of dietary displacement.

For those of you not familiar with Gnocchi, it is like a cross of a noodle and a dumpling and can replace noodles in many dishes.  We like eating our Gnocchi with giant meatballs and seasoned tomato sauce.  I think these would be great in a chicken soup or a hearty stew too.

Gnocchi

4 small - medium or 2 large potatoes

*  *  *  *

2/3 cup Tapioca Starch

1/3 cup Rice Flour

2 TBSP Fresh Ground Flax

1 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Xanthan Gum

1 tsp Salt, Scant

1/2 tsp Italian Seasonings (oregano, basil, thyme, sage)

1/2 tsp Garlic Powder, Scant

1/2 tsp Onion Powder, Scant

*  *  *  *

2 Eggs, lightly beaten

1) Bake the potatoes.  I do mine wrapped in foil in the crock pot on high for 2 1/2 - 3 hours. No liquid added.  (I recommend doing this the morning or night before.)

2) After baking them, let cool 'til you can touch them comfortably; peel and grate them using a small sized cheese grater.  Grate them into a medium sized bowl.

3) Mix 2nd group of ingredients in a small bowl.

4) Spread the shredded potato out (still in its bowl) and put half of the flour mixture on it.  Cut the flour into the potatoes til the grated potato appears to be coated in the flour. 

5) Add the eggs.  Use a rubber scraper to combine into the potato and flour mixture.

6) Add and incorporate enough flour to just dull the stickiness, but not completely take it away.  You should have about 1/3 cup left.

7) Leaving the dough in the bowl sprinkle some of the remaining flour over the dough and cut dough into handfuls.
8) Using the same flour, dust a cutting board and your hands generously.  Grab a handful of dough and roll into ropes of about 3/4 inch diameter. you should have enough flour on your hands and the dough that the dough does not stick to hands or cutting board.

9) Cut the rope into 3/4 inch pieces and roll/press down the tines of a fork.  Set aside as you finish each. (Since Gnocchi floats when it is cooked through, uniformity is not really important except for attention to detail.)

10) When the Gnocchi is formed place a handful in boiling water until the Gnocchi floats.  I keep it in the boiling water til it has been floating about 15 seconds.  Remove with a slotted spoon and place in a greased colander. Toss with oil in a bowl after they have drained in the colander sufficiently, to prevent sticking.

11) Use as desired; you can freeze leftover Gnocchi.  I don't recommend freezing it with any sauce.

You may be tempted to skip pressing the Gnocchi down the tines of a fork, but don't skip it.  The ridges that the fork forms holds the sauce on the Gnocchi thus adding to the flavor.

French Toast Strata

 

One of my favorite breakfast foods is French Toast.  Life without??  NOT an option!!  I would have French Toast all day long everyday if I could!  I love them that much! Gluten free living has some elevated challenges for the avid french toast lover as a result of less than light bread, not to mention how easily Gluten Free bread would fall apart while being coated in the eggs and milk.  To avoid both of these issues, I have modified the way I made the bread. This dish has been a great alternative to enjoying the traditional French Toast as the world knows them.  In the end you are even able to smother your dish in whatever toppings you enjoy on your French Toast allowing you to feel like you are not missing out on anything!


As a note, I make this recipe in two shifts.  Making and preparing the bread the night before, and the rest, the day we eat it.  The bread recipe makes twice as much bread as you need for the recipe, so I cube all of it and save the second half for next time.

Bread

3/4 cup Rice Flour

1/2 cup Sorghum Flour

1/2 cup Tapioca Flour

1/2 cup Amaranth Flour

1/4 cup Vanilla Pudding (I use Jell-O brand Sugar and Fat free; it is Gluten and Dairy Free)

3 TBSP Freshly Ground Flax

3 tsp Gelatin

3 tsp Baking Powder

1 1/2 tsp Xanthan Gum

1/2 tsp Cream of Tartar

3/4 tsp Baking Soda

3/4 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Ascorbic Acid

2 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Ground Cloves

1/4 tsp Ground Ginger

1/8 - 1/4 tsp Ground Nutmeg

* * * *

2 TBSP Coconut Oil (or butter)

2 Eggs

2 cups Water

1 tsp Orange Extract

1) Mix all of list one in a Medium to large mixing bowl.

2) Form a well in the dry ingredients and put eggs in and lightly beat them before adding the remaining ingredients and mixing til just moistened.

3) Spread dough out on a large greased cookie sheet or other sheet, so that dough is about 1/2 to 3/4 inches thick. I usually place a baggy over my hand or cover dough with saran wrap and push the dough around on the tray til it is evenly distributed.

4) Bake 350 for 20-23 minutes.

5) Let cool fully and then, using a pizza cutter, cut into 1 inch cubes.  At this point you can separate the bread into two equal parts (about 4 cups each) , put half in a freezer bag for next time, OR double the recipe.

In another bowl, Small to Medium sized, whisk together the following:

6 eggs

3/4 cup Coconut Milk or Cream

1/2 cup Rice Milk

3/8 cup (or 6 TBSP) Agave Nectar or other mildly flavored syrup

1 1/2 tsp Orange Extract

1 tsp Cinnamon

1/8 tsp Salt

6) Pour egg mixture over the top of the bread (4 generous cups cubed) still in its bowl attempting to get all the bread coated by egg mixture.  DO NOT MIX.  Then turn right around and pour everything into a greased 9 x 13 baking dish.  This will aid in making sure all cubes are coated in the mixture without the need of moving the bread, thus preventing the bread from breaking and forming a dish of mush.
7) Sprinkle sugar over the top. 

8) Bake 350 for 40 minutes or until knife comes out clean.
9) Serve and drizzle with real Maple syrup or your favorite berry compote.

Feeling "crumby"??

Well, there is no point in falling apart when YOU CAN fix it!! 

A lack of eggs or gluten in baking causes two primary problems.  Airiness (leavening) and Crumbiness (binding).  As a leavener there is one solution and an easy fix. That is Baking Powder 1 tsp per egg called for and removed in recipe OR 1 tsp per cup of gluten free flour used.  If you are using gluten free flours & removing eggs from your recipe, DON'T compensate for both, but only for the one that requires the greater amount of Baking Powder (for example you are using 3 cups of GF flours and removing 4 eggs, since the GF flours would require the 3 tsp Baking Powder and removing the eggs would require 4 tsp of baking powder, use the 4 tsp baking powder since it is the greater amount. NOT 7 to compensate for both). As far as binding, there are many solutions with varying applications that work for both issues.  The ones I am aware of are the following:

• The best Egg substitute (healthiest combined with effectiveness) is fresh ground flax. They say 1 TBSP flax and 3 TBSP water per egg, but I have never followed this, there were no rules like this when we started gluten free. I have always just added about 1/4 cup to a loaf of bread or 12 muffins as a part of my flour mixture. I have heard that this rule is actually printed on the side of the now new Betty Crocker gluten free boxed mixes to help those who may be experiencing the egg allergy too.

• Xanthan Gum does a VERY good job of compensating for the 'glue' that gluten/ egg whites would usually provide too and is perhaps the easiest to use; its expensive, but you only need about 3/4 tsp per 1-2 cups of flour so it goes a long way. If you are not a gluten free person, then I am making the assumption that you would likely need a little less, because of the glue that the gluten provides. A good starting point for those who are not gluten free is 1/2 tsp plus 2 TBSP water per egg.  AND FOR THOSE OF YOU WONDERING WHAT IT IS it is not a chemical, just fermented sugars that come from grain (usually corn sugars) with a funny name (learn here).  If you want to make sure that you are not allergic to the grain used, I recommend using Now Foods brand.

• Gelatin or Pectin  can also replace eggs or compensate for gluten (1/2 tsp + 3 TBSP hot water per egg removed is the rule for eggs).  I am not sure there is a rule for gluten free, but for me it varies by recipe depending on the end result you are seeking. Breads I tend to use about 1/2 tsp per cup but, for example, my Cinnamon Rolls recipe (link) and Breakfast Casse-ROLLS (link) recipes use roughly 4 tsp for 1 1/4 cups of flour.  SO you really have to feel it for your recipe. 

• Many fruits and vegetables can also replace eggs. Tomato, potato, yams, applesauce (1/4 cup per egg), Banana (1/2 banana per egg), pumpkin (1/4 cup), carrot, zucchini, always something that will fit the item being made. It is actually the pectin (fruit based gelatin) in the fruits and vegetables that responsible for the binding, so the higher the pectin content, the greater the effect. The closer the fruit or vegetable is to being ripe without being ripe, the more pectin that will be present.  I think this is why Pumpkin, Potatoes, and Sweet Potatoes work so well.  They are also flexible for both sweet or savory.  For sweet banana is definitely a winner, but obviously cannot be used in a meatloaf or a pizza crust.  For meatloaf tomato puree and/or mashed potato would be great choices and they work quite efficiently. While for the pizza crust definitely just turn to xanthan gum.  You can also use canned versions of the fruit and put them in the food processor for a few seconds to mash them.

• Pudding is a great bakers 'glue'.  I recommend using the Sugar and Fat free puddings, they seem to have a greater concentration of glue power in them than the other ones, not to mention they have more allergy friendly flavors too. I also only use Jell-O brand; can't vouch for any other brand.  I use 1/4 cup per a 4.5 x 9 inch bread loaf as in my White Bread recipe or 12 muffins.  I use a full 1 oz box for my Double Chocolate Coconut Muffins  but they make 19. 

• Then there is also EnerG Egg Replacer instead of eggs; essentially overpriced tapioca and potato starches, which really are not that great compared to Xanthan Gum or flax.  I am not sure if these can be used as scrambled eggs, but if they could be used as such, it would definitely give it a few points.

For breads, most definitely include Xanthan Gum and Flax along with either pudding or fruit/vegetable puree. I used to use Guar Gum rather than Xanthan Gum, but it really cannot match the result of Xanthan Gum in breads, though it is my choice for other baked items like my Brownies (link).  I use all of these methods in my baking a few in each recipe to make up the difference of the lacking gluten. Try my  Coconut Macaroon (link) recipe originally I created it using 2 eggs. One time I used 2 small bananas in place of the eggs for an Egg free Dairy free child and they were soo good and soo successful, that this is how we make them now. Bananas work so well in sweet items! 

For those of you who are new to the allergy world, the adjustment period is a horrible time, but will not last forever.  As you find your replacement ingredients, the burden will lighten, the stress will lessen, and it will become second nature for you!!  I hope this post is able to help you move in this direction.

Chocolate Cake

I wish I had a picture of this one! It is perfect; just like the regular store bought wheat based mixes.  Both by taste and by looks.  I imagine it is because between the chocolate, sugar,  and the wet ingredients, there is a very small amount of ingredients that strays from the real thing.  I marbled this with my yellow cake recipe at the request of this week's Birthday Boy, so I have not gotten a pic of the chocolate alone. I will update with a picture in the coming weeks as we have another birthday coming up!

If you would like to make a 13 x 9 inch rectangle or 2 - 8 or 9 inch rounds, double it. OR try marbling it with the yellow cake recipe like we did this week!

Chocolate Cake

1/2 cup Tapioca Starch

1/4 cup Chocolate Pudding Mix* (I use Jello Brand Sugar and Fat Free

                                                                   because it is Gluten and Dairy Free)

1/4 cup Unsweetened Coco powder

1/4 cup Rice Flour

2/3 cup White Sugar

1 1/4 tsp Xanthan Gum

1 tsp Baking Soda

2 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Salt

* * * *

2 eggs

1/4 cup  (1/2 stick) Butter

1 cup Rice Milk

*If you don't want to use the pudding (and I do not recommend not using it) use 2 TBSP more unsweetened coco powder and 2 TBSP starch.

1) Mix all the dry ingredients(1st list) together in a mixing bowl.  

2) Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients.  

3) If you have a electric hand mixer or a stand mixer, turn it on med-hi and mix just until all is moist; about 30-60 seconds. If mixing by hand do the same, but it is better to use electric options as it makes the mix more airy.

4) Pour into a 7 x 9 inch pan and bake 350 for 35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Cupcakes take 20 minutes. (If you do not have this size pan, you can use a square or round pan, but keep close eye on the cake for done-ness.  9 x 9 inch square pans would take a little less time, while 8", 9" round and 8" square pans will take the same or a little more time. Check with a toothpick to be sure.) If you double it to make a 13 x 9 inch rectangle, it took about 40-50 minutes to bake.