Amaretti (GF)

Amaretti - also known as macaroons - are naturally gluten and dairy-free cookies. This recipe is really easy too. So I had to try it out. Normally these cookies are small and domed-shaped, but mine came out rather thin. But they did taste really great - sweet, crispy and yet a bit chewy.


This is my entry for this month's "Go Ahead Honey, It's Gluten-free!" - Cream of the Crop: Dairy-Free Delights.

It is also my father's-day-gift to my father-in-law. Well, technically he's not my father-in-law just yet, but he will be in 20 days, so I think I can call him that ;-)

(YES ! Can you believe that, the wedding is only 20 days away. I mean, what happened to 100 days ?! I'm not freaking out yet, but it is quite a shock to realise how fast the last months went by. You know what? Monday June the 14th, we've been engaged for a year already...)


Amaretti Cookies

Ingredients:
• 100g ground almonds (I used 100g sliced almonds, grounded in the blender.)
• 100g white sugar
• a pinch of salt
• 1 egg white
• 4 drops almond extract
• 3 tablespoons Amaretto liquor

Ground your almonds in a food processor or blender. Add the sugar and the pinch of salt, pulse again until you get a well blended ground mixture. Stir in the egg white, almond extract and Amaretto liquor. Let it rest in the fridge for half an hour.
Form small heaps of the dough on a baking plate (lined with parchement paper). I used two teaspoons, that worked well for me.
Bake for about 15min in a preheated oven an 150°C (300°F)

Muffin Bread (GF)

These soft, moist, small breads are really tasty, and something I would recommend to everyone ! They are based on the recipe for English Muffins from Hey, That Tastes Good! I've made something like these before, but this batch turned out even better ! A real hit. I'm going to bake these for New Year's Eve, to go with the soup, for the whole family. Perhaps some sunflower seeds would be tasty too... Yes, I think that would be nice :-) I hope they will turn out as fine as these did. Always hard to predict, gluten-free bread-baking ;-)

Furthermore, I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year ! I hope 2009 was a fine year for everyone, and 2010 will be even better...

Now on to the recipe.


English Muffins

Ingredients:
• 1/2 cup buckweat flour
• 1/4 cup brown gluten-free bread mix (I used "Finax")
• 1/2 cup tapioca starch
• 1/4 cup corn starch
• 1/2 t salt
• 1 T sugar
• 2 t instant yeast
• 1 t olive oil
• 3/4 cup hot water

Blend the dry ingredients, then add the oil and water. Stir until blended, then beat about 2 minutes. Lightly oil your English muffin tins, sprinkle coarse cornmeal in the bottoms. Divide the batter between the tins. Let rise for about 20 minutes and preheat the oven to 190°C. Bake the muffins for 15 minutes.

Coconut Rocks (GF)

I've got a strange feeling about these. They taste great, that's true. But when I baked them for the first time, last Sunday, I got a phone call from my father to tell me my Grandfather had just died...

I'm still quite shaken.
And it feels strange to bake these again... But I still had some coconut left, and my boyfriend really liked them. (So did I, truth to be told.) There's nothing wrong with these cookies, but I know that every time I bake or eat one, I will think of last Sunday. Of November 8th, 2009. Of my Grandfather.

That's not a bad thing, I guess...


Coconut Rocks (Coco Rochers)

Ingredients:

• 2 egg whites
• 140g shredded, unsweetened coconut
• 130g white sugar (or powdered sugar)

Preheat the oven at 180°C.
Beat the egg whites until stiff. Add the sugar and beat again. Add the coconut and mix well.
Put small piles of dough on a baking plate. Bake them till golden brown, about 15min.

Pumpkin Pie (GF)

It's October, and the weather is horrible. Yes, it is autumn ! I saw pumpkins in the grocery store, and I remembered I have never baked a pumpkin pie. Actually, I have never eaten a pumpkin pie. You see, it's not that well-known or popular around here. So I decided to just go for it, and bake a pie. And make soup, perhaps. And maybe even bake pumpkin bread, if I can find a decent gluten-free recipe. Oh yeah, I'm full of pumpkin now !

This will also be my entry to this months "Go Ahead Honey, it 's Gluten Free!" (a monthly blog event, originated by Naomi Devlin.) Our host for October is Heather of Life Gluten Free, and she chose "Pumpkin Treats!" as a theme.

So, my Pumpkin Pie. This is a crustless pie, based on this recipe from Karine, the Gluten-free Goddess.

Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients:

• About 400g pumpkin puree
• 350ml milk
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 eggs
• 3/4c brown sugar
• 1/2c buckwheat flour
• 2 tablespoons tapioca starch
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• some vanilla
• a pinch of salt
• spices according to taste. I used cinnamon, ginger and some cayenne. I would have added ground cloves as well, but I didn't have any, so I left it out. You can, of course, just use pumpkin pie spices.

Preheat the oven at 175°C.
Mix all the ingredients. Make sure everything is well blended. I used a regular mixer, but a blender or food processor would be handy, I guess.
Pour the batter in a buttered pie plate of about 22-26cm. Put it in a preheated oven and bake for about an hour until ready. The pie should be firm but soft (not wet).

Let it cool on a pie rack and enjoy !

Mine is nicely soft and spicy, with a slight bite. And boy, does it taste good on a rainy monday afternoon !

French Bread (GF)

Goodness ! This bread is unbelievable ! Omygodomygodomygod ! I truly hope the next batch of these will turn out as well as these, they were yummy ! Soft, not dry, not sticky, very tasty, ... Succes !

French Bread

Ingredients
• 1 cup quinoa flour
• 1 1/2 cup potato starch
• 1/2 cup tapioca starch
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoon instant yeast
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 large egg whites
• 1 teaspoon cider vinegar
• 1 cup warm water

Combine the dry ingredients. Add the olive oil and egg whites and mix. Add the vinegar and the water. Mix for 2 minutes, adding some water if needed to make a soft dough.

Spoon the dough onto a baking form. You can brush the top with some beaten egg white. Place the baking forms in a cold oven on a middle rack. Turn the oven on to 220°C and bake for 30 – 35 minutes. Cool the loaves on a wire wrack before slicing.

GF Chocolate Muffins

I had a pack gluten-free flour that was reaching it's expiry date - a perfect excuse to bake ;-) My boyfriend wasn't really in the mood for waffles, so I had to think of something else. I decided to try a recipe for chocolate muffins.

These are quite good. Not as good as regular chocolate muffins, I have to admit. But, well, I can't eat the regular ones, and I can eat these. My boyfriend thinks they're yummy, so I guess they're quite alright :-)

Gluten-free Chocolate Muffins

Ingredients:
• 210g gluten-free flour mix
• some baking powder
• 40g cocoa powder
• a pinch of salt
• 150g brown sugar
• 2,5dl milk
• 60g butter (good quality)
• 120g coarsly chopped chocolate

Preheat the oven at 180°C.
Mix the flour with the baking powder, cocoa, sugar and salt. Make a hole in the middle. Melt the butter (I add the butter to the milk, and heat the milk). Pour the milk and butter in the hole. Stir the mixture. Add the chopped chocolate and mix it through the dough. Fill your muffin-forms with the dough and bake in a preheated oven for about 20 minutes.

Chocolate Fudge Brownies - GF

Last weekend I wanted to make fudge, as a present. Unfortunatly, the fudge turned out a bit too sticky. It was firm, but I couldn't cut it in pieces and take them of the baking sheet.

So I had to make something else with it.... After some pondering, it came to me: Fudge Brownies ! These turned out great. And they taste even better after a day (or two).

Fudge

Ingredients:
• 125g sugar
• 50ml coffee milk
• 75g firm butter
• 175ml cream
• 225g sugar
• a pinch of salt
• some vanilla

Heat the first batch of sugar until it melts. Don't forget to stir ! Heat it a little more, it needs to get a nice lightbrown color. Then add the coffee milk and the cream. Keep stirring. Finally add the butter, the rest of the sugar, the vanilla and the salt. Stir frequently and heat the mixture to aprox. 120°C, when it's thick and liquid. Cool down the mixture, whilst stirring - that way you create the fudge-structure. Pour out the mix on a plate (lined with baking paper). Put some baking paper on top of it too, to prevent the fudge from drying out. Let it cool completely.

Now, that didn't really work out for me. I scooped out the fudge I needed for the brownies, and warmed it up a little to make it liquid.

Chocolade Fudge Brownies

Ingredients:
• Fudge (I didn't measure it. I think it was about one cup)
• 115g firm butter
• 180g chocolate (I used dark)
• 3 eggs
• 120g sugar
• 40g tapioca starch
• 50g glutinous rice flour (= Sweet rice flour)
• 50g rice flour

Melt the butter. Add the chocolate pieces and stir constantly over low heat until the chocolate is melted. Remove from heat and whisk until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, stir in the sugar, then the flours.

Scrape half of the batter into a prepared pan. Drop half of the fudge over the brownie batter, and drag a knife through to swirl it slightly. Spread the remaining brownie batter over, then drop the remaining fudge over the top of the brownie batter. Use a knife to swirl it slightly.

Bake in a preheated over (175°C) for 35 to 45 minutes. The brownies are done when the center feels slightly firm. Remove from the oven and cool completely before cutting.