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Gluten-Free Recipes

Recipe: Gluten-Free & Dairy-Free Cranberry Orange Muffins

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

One of my favorite types of muffins when I ate gluten was cranberry orange. I don’t think I ever baked them at home, but I always bought them at bakeries and grocery stores or ordered them when having brunch out when available. For whatever reason, I don’t remember ever making a gluten-free version of cranberry orange muffins which is quite odd considering how much I enjoyed them before. I have made some really tasty gluten-free cranberry orange quick breads – just not any muffins.

Something about our unseasonably and lovely spring time weather inspired me to whip up a batch of muffins last weekend. I had dried cranberries from Trader Joe’s on hand (sweetened, but not with corn syrup) so I looked for a muffin recipe online. I found this highly rated recipe on Food.com and easily converted it to be gluten-free. This recipe is gluten-free, dairy-free and low in fat, but a bit high in sugar.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup gluten-free flour (I used Jules gluten-free)
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 t. baking powder
  • pinch of baking soda
  • 1/4 t. salt
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries
  • 1 egg
  • 5 T. orange juice
  • 1 T. plain olive oil (do not use EVOO)
  • 2 T. unsweetened applesauce

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Combine dry ingredients and stir with a whisk.
  3. Beat egg, orange juice, oil and applesauce together.
  4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and blend well.
  5. Fold in cranberries
  6. Spoon batter into greased mini muffin pan (I used greased paper liners).
  7. Fill liners 3/4 full.
  8. Bake for approximately 10 minutes until cake tester (or toothpick) inserted into the middle comes out clean.
  9. Serve warm with lemon curd or butter.

The recipe yields approximately 22 mini muffins. Variations: use canola oil instead of plain olive oil. Add orange zest or a small dash of orange extract to the batter for a stronger orange flavor.

The muffins not only rose incredibly well, they were light and fluffy and I was very impressed with the look of them to say the least. I just hoped they tasted as good as they looked right out of the oven. After letting the muffins cool a bit, I tried one with a little butter on it. It was simply scrumptious! Since I made them the day before we were having them with brunch, I had to stop at only one.

To reheat the muffins for brunch, I lightly wrapped them in foil and put them in  a 350 degree toaster oven for about five minutes. It seemed almost like the muffins were even lighter than they’d been the day before. Instead of butter, I used some lemon curd on the muffins and that was the perfect accompaniment for them. I could have eaten a dozen of the fluffy treats, but stopped at three. Three mini muffins equal about one regular size muffin. At least, that is what my husband said as he scarfed down six muffins (also with lemon curd on them) himself. Then he ate two more muffins unheated without anything on them. He had five more muffins the next day and skipped his weekday ritual of cereal for breakfast.

Even though I didn’t get around to freezing any of these wonderful breakfast treats, all the baked goods I’ve made with Jules gluten-free flour before have frozen beautifully so I’m sure these will do fine too. I’m planning to make up a batch of regular sized muffins to freeze and pull out as needed for weekend trips to the in-laws, etc. And apparently, I’ll have to take enough to share with my husband.

Recipe: Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwiches

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

Trader Joe’s Peanut Flour. I first saw this product on the shelves at my local Trader Joe’s a couple of months back.  I picked it up and there was a little note on the shelf suggesting to replace the flour in chocolate chip cookies with peanut flour. Easy enough!

What I found when I made cookies using peanut flour is that the cookies do not flatten out, so I ended up with a batch of cookies in the exact shape that I had formed them in.

No biggie, they tasted great, so I decided to make a “cookie cake” out of the cookie dough. My son took it a step further and cut 2 pie slice pieces of the cookie cake and placed some vanilla ice cream between them for an ice cream sandwich.

Great minds work great together!

Chocolate Chip Cookies with Peanut Flour Recipe

Ingredients:

  • ¾ cup granulated sugar
  • ¾ cup brown sugar, packed
  • 2 sticks of butter (1 cup), softened
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tsp. Vanilla
  • 2 ¼ cup Trader Joe’s Peanut Flour
  • 2 tsp. Xanthan gum
  • 1 tsp. Baking soda
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 package of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Method:

  1. Cream butter, sugar, vanilla & egg together until fluffy.
  2. Stir in dry ingredients until well combined & then add chocolate chips.
  3. Spray pans with Pam or another cooking spray. Press dough into 2 pie pans or pan of choice.
  4. Bake for 15- 20 minutes at 350 or until done. Stick a toothpick in the middle and it should come out mostly clean.
  5. Cool completely. Slice into pieces. Top with ice cream & another piece or enjoy a la mode.

If you choose to make cookies out of this, consider shaping the dough into the shape you would like it to be in before baking.  I found that this dough worked best as a cookie cake as opposed to a cookie itself.  The flavor is slightly different from the traditional chocolate chip cookies – it has a hint of peanut taste, making it like a peanut butter chocolate chip cookie.

Have you tried baking with peanut flour?  If so, what did you make and what were your thoughts?

Recipe: Gluten-Free Penne Alla Vodka

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

I am always on the lookout for new, healthy recipes, so when I saw a “tweet” last week from from Rocco DiSpirito about his low-fat version, I was all over it.

The recipe as DiSpirito had written it was not gluten-free, but it was simple enough to modify.  Additionally, I didn’t have any fresh basil, so I improvised a little more with kale.  My version turned out really good and I can’t wait to have leftovers tonight!

Penne Alla Vodka

(original recipe by Rocco DiSpirito, modified by me)

  • 8 oz Gluten-free Pasta – I used Jovial
  • 2 cups marinara sauce – I used Prego Three Cheese
  • Pinch of crushed red pepper
  • 1 container (7 oz) Greek yogurt – I used Dannon Plain (it is the only Dannon variety that is gluten-free)
  • 1 cup chopped steamed or sauteed kale (I used 365 Value Brand frozen chopped)
  • sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
  • Freshly grated parmesan cheese

Directions

  1. Cook pasta according to the directions on the package.
  2. While pasta is cooking, heat the pasta sauce & crushed red pepper.  Simmer for 5 minutes or so.
  3. Stir about 1/2 cup of marinara into the yogurt until smooth.  Stir this mixture back into the sauce.  Tempering the mixture helps prevent the yogurt from curdling.
  4. In a large bowl, toss drained pasta with kale & sauce.  Season with salt & pepper and top with fresh grated parmesan cheese.
  5. Enjoy!

I love how this turned out!  I am sure that it would be awesome with the fresh basil, but I love kale, so it worked.  You may notice that there is no vodka in this recipe.  As DiSpirito mentions at the beginning of his recipe, vodka is colorless and doesn’t give the traditional dish it’s color or flavor, the heavy cream does.  Swapping the heavy cream for Greek yogurt makes this dish much healthier.

Do you have any tricks for modifying traditional dishes to make them healthier?  I know most times I am focused on making a dish gluten-free, so I always try to make it healthier at the same time.

Gluten-Free Super Bowl Snacks

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

Super Bowl Sunday is quickly approaching. Some of my favorite appetizers include Buffalo Chicken Dip with Celery Sticks or Tortilla Chips, Chicken Wings, Appetizer Veggie Pizza, Veggie Tray with Dill Dip, Shrimp Cocktail, Fruit Skewers, Cheese & Crackers (Crunchmaster or Blue Diamond Nut Thins). Something we don’t have often, but my husband made the other day is Deviled Eggs.  Deviled Eggs are perfect to add to the repertoire for Super Bowl Sunday.

Deviled Eggs are naturally gluten-free as long as the ingredients you use are gluten-free. My husband is the pro at making the eggs, so I leave it up to him. I went to him this morning to get his recipe only to find that he doesn’t use one!  I will share his method and ingredients.

Aaron’s Deviled Egg ingredients:

  • 12 hard-boiled eggs (this last time he ended up with only 10 after losing 2 in a boiling accident)
  • Approximately 1/4 cup Hellman’s Canola Mayo (says gluten-free on the jar)
  • 1-2 tsp Spicy Brown Mustard (Trader Joe’s)
  • 1-2 tsp Yellow Mustard  (French’s)
  • Salt & pepper to taste
  • Paprika

Directions:

  1. Cut eggs in half & remove yolks.
  2. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl & mix until creamy.  Adjust seasoning & ingredients to taste.
  3. Pipe mixture back into eggs and sprinkle with paprika.  Other topping ideas- scallions, chives, pickle relish, carrots, diced red or green peppers.

They turn out fantastic every time!  I wish I could cook as he does. Who would you like to see win the Super Bowl?

Recipe: Baked Macaroni & Cheese

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

With the cold days not going away anytime soon, I have been putting comfort foods on our menu. One of our favorites is Baked Macaroni & Cheese.

The kids love this meal and it is relatively easy to prepare and then reheat. It can even be frozen in individual portions to heat up on those crazy busy nights. I know we seem to be having a lot of those around here lately.  Maybe I’ll dedicate some time in the next week to stock up on some freezer meals.

Baked Macaroni & Cheese

  • 2.5 – 3 cups uncooked pasta (I used Goldbaum’s)
  • ¼ cup butter
  • ¼ cup gluten-free flour (Jules gluten-free Flour)
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp pepper
  • ¼ tsp ground mustard
  • ¼ tsp Worcestershire sauce (Lea & Perrin’s is GF)
  • 2 cups milk
  • 2 – 4 cups shredded cheddar cheese (8 – 16 ounces, depending on how cheesy you want your macaroni & cheese; I use
  • 2% milk fat cheese from Kraft)
  • Bread Crumbs

Directions:

  1. Heat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Cook macaroni as directed on package.  You many want to undercook slightly as baking the macaroni will cook it more.
  3. While macaroni is cooking, melt butter in 3-quart saucepan over low heat. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, mustard and Worcestershire sauce. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and bubbly. Remove from heat; Stir in Milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Stir in cheese. Cook, stirring occasionally, until cheese is melted.
  4. Drain Macaroni. Gently stir macaroni into cheese sauce. Pour into greased (I use Pam) 2-quart casserole. Top with gluten-free breadcrumbs and spray top with Pam. Bake uncovered for 20 – 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Serves 5 (1 cup servings).

Goldbaum’s gluten-free pasta is new to me, so I was excited to sample it.  It ranks right up there with some of the other great gluten-free pastas on the market and is very reasonably priced. Goldbaum’s pasta can be purchased on Amazon.com.