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Desserts

Recipe: Crustless Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pie

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff Leave a Comment

Happy Thanksgiving!  Nothing says Thanksgiving better than a pumpkin pie, right?  Pie crusts can be intimidating to make gluten-free.  There are plenty of gluten-free pre-made pie crusts on the market, but if you are looking to simplify things even more and make your dessert a little healthier, consider making a crustless pumpkin pie.

When I went to make my pies this year waited until the last minute to find and purchase my pie crusts.  I did find them, but they were a different brand and smaller than the brand I normally buy.  This resulted in extra pumpkin pie filling, so I made that extra filling into a crustless pumpkin pie.

The only difference between the crustless pumpkin pie and my traditional pie is the crust.  My favorite part is the filling, so this is just perfect in my book!  Bonus – omitting the crust slashes calories and leaves more room for the delicious pumpkin filling!

IMG_3651Crustless Pumpkin Pie

4 eggs, separated
1 lg. can of pumpkin
1 1/3 cups sugar
2 tbsp. gluten-free flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. allspice
1 can evaporated milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Eggs: Separate eggs. Beat egg whites until firm – set aside. In large mixing bowl, beat egg yolks to break up.
3. Pie Filling: Add all ingredients to egg yolks, except egg whites. Mix well. Fold in egg whites with spatula. Pour filling into pie pans or baking dishes.
4. Bake: Bake pies in 350 degree oven. Check after 45 minutes to 1 hour. Toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean.
5. Cool completely and serve with lots of Cool Whip!

This recipe will make 3 smaller pies or 2 larger pies.  Another option would be to make 2 smaller pies and then some individual servings in fancy glass ramekins.

Whichever way you choose to make your pumpkin pie, make sure to enjoy a piece for breakfast the day or two after Thanksgiving.

Recipe: Chocolate Chip Sandwich Cookies

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My kids love to make sandwich cookies out of the cookies that I bake. It doesn’t matter what type of cookie it is, they want to spread frosting on the bottom and sandwich another cookie onto it. Ideally, I would love to see an Oatmeal Cream Pie version of this, but since my kids aren’t fans of oatmeal cookies, I doubt this will happen anytime soon.  In the meantime, they experiment with the ones they love.

Jon’s latest creation was a Chocolate Chip Cookie Sandwich with Cream Cheese Frosting in the middle.

Hannah chose to use Milk Chocolate Frosting for her filling.  Would it kill them to use the same frosting to avoid having two different frostings opened at once?
IMG_2436

This recipe is simple as I used a box of the Betty Crocker gluten-free Chocolate Chip cookie mix.  The mix calls for softened butter, vanilla and an egg and can be mixed and baked in approximately 30 minutes (once the oven is pre-heated).  Both the mix and the frostings can be purchased in most grocery stores across the US.

Some of our other sandwich cookie creations include:

Have you made any gluten-free sandwich cookies?  If so, please share the details!  If not, what kind would you make?  I will be making some Oatmeal Raisin Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting in the very near future.  At least I can be sure that I will be the only one in my house to eat these!

Recipe: Chocolate Mint Sandwich Cookies

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Sometimes when I can’t fall asleep at night, I brainstorm about baking. What fun new treat can I bake? The other night I thought about making chocolate mint cookies and then as I was preparing to bake them, it dawned on me to make them into sandwich cookies!

When I was trying to figure out an easy base cookie, I wanted something that would be soft & chewy, so I settled on using a recipe for cake mix cookies and modifying it.

Chocolate Mint Sandwich Cookies

IMG_00631 Betty Croker gluten-free Devil’s Food Cake Mix

1/2 (8 ounces) container Cool Whip Lite, thawed

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1/2 tsp peppermint flavor/mint extract (I used Simply Organic)

1/2 cup powdered sugar (sifted)

Betty Crocker Triple Chocolate Fudge Chip Frosting

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Mix 1st 4 ingredients, mixing well (dough will be sticky).

3. Dust hands with powdered sugar and shape dough into 3/4 inch balls.

4. Coat balls with powdered sugar and place 2 inches apart on parchment lined baking sheets

5. Bake for 10 – 12 minutes or until done.  I found that they needed a little longer than 12 minutes the bigger they are.

6. Let cool/set up and then remove to wire racks to cool

7. Once cool, spread with frosting & make into sandwich cookies

*Amount of cookies depends on how big you make the cookies.  Jon prefers larger cookies, so we got about 10-12 sandwiches

**Dough will be sticky – just work quickly with it.  Chill for a short period of time if it gets too sticky.

These cookies were phenomenal!  They were well worth the sticky dough!!  They brought back memories of the Girl Scouts Thin Mints!  They didn’t have the same texture, but the flavor was spot on!

Recipe: Gluten-Free Gingersnap Cookies

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff 4 Comments

When I was just a teenager, a long, long time ago, I fell in love with baking. I would start to bake when I got home from school and by the time my mom came home, a treat would be fresh out of the oven, just waiting to be served for dessert.  I often depended on her Betty Crocker cookbook for my creations. The book was falling apart at the time, as it had obviously been put to good use.  My favorite section of that cook book was the cookie section.  Many of my favorite childhood cookie recipes originated from this book, so it only made sense that I would try to create a gluten-free version after I started the diet.

Gingersnaps are a unique cookie. They have a crisp outer shell and tender, chewy center.  The aroma & flavor are reminiscent of the season, quickly transporting me back to my childhood.

Gingersnaps
**Originally from The Betty Crocker Cookbook, modified to be GF by me

  • 3/4 cup shortening*
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup molasses
  • 2 1/4 cups GF flour mix
  • 2 tsps. xanthan gum
  • 2 tsps. soda
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1 tsp. ginger
  • 1/2 tsp. cloves
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • Granulated Sugar (for rolling cookies in before baking)

Directions:

  1. Mix thoroughly shortening, brown sugar, egg and molasses. Blend in remaining ingredients except granulated sugar. Cover; chill at least 1 hour.
  2. Heat oven to 375. Shape dough by rounded teaspoonfuls into balls. Dip tops in granulated sugar. Place balls, sugar side up on lightly greased baking sheet (I covered mine with parchment paper, but you don’t have to). Bake 10 – 12 minutes (I baked 10) or just until set. Immediately remove from baking sheet. Makes approx. 4 dozen. Mine made less, but I think they were a little bigger.

*It is very important to use shortening here – it plays an important part in the form & texture of the cookie.  Butter or margarine will not produce the same results.  I have not tried this recipe with Earth Balance shortening, but would be interested from hearing from anyone who does.

Recipe: Gluten-Free Pumpkin Brownies

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff 2 Comments

‘Tis the season for pumpkin baked goods. Pumpkin is one of my favorite ingredients to bake with, so it would only make sense that I make pumpkin brownies, right?  I couldn’t believe that I had never thought about making pumpkin brownies before.  I have made chocolate pumpkin loaf and pumpkin blondies, but never pumpkin brownies.  Once I discovered that I had neglected a very important part of the dessert spectrum, I began to brainstorm how to bring my plan to fruition.

As I was browsing through my pantry to take inventory of the ingredients I had on hand, I found that this recipe, if you want to call it that, was going to be much simpler than I thought.  I found a box of Betty Crocker’s gluten-free brownie mix, which I figured I could just add some canned pumpkin to.  The next question was how much pumpkin to add.  I remember subbing applesauce for the fat (butter or oil) in recipes previously, so why not sub pumpkin for the butter in the brownies?   That is just what I did.004

I followed the directions on the box, but instead of adding 1 stick of butter, I added 1/2 cup of 100% pure pumpkin.  I still added the 2 eggs.  The mix was a little thicker than normal, but was relatively easy to spread into an 8 x 8 pan.  I did end up baking these a little longer than the box said to for an 8 x 8 pan.  I began checking the brownies with a toothpick about 20 minutes into baking.  The toothpick wasn’t completely clean, but it  only had minimal crumbs on it.

These brownies turned out fantastic!  They were moist & fudgy, just the way I like them!  They didn’t have an overwhelming pumpkin flavor, it was very subtle.  If we could have waited a bit longer to eat them, I might have added a cinnamon icing to compliment the subtle pumpkin flavor.  Here is a recipe for the icing:

007Cinnamon Icing

  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 tbsp milk (may need more)
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp vanilla

Mix all ingredients together and drizzle or spread over the brownies.  This icing can be made to your desired consistency by adjusting the amount of milk added.