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.