Inspire. Create. Bake.: gluten-free

Showing posts with label gluten-free. Show all posts

Gluten-free marshmallow smothered brownies

Don't let the gluten-free part scare you. These are rich, creamy and delectable. I brought this to a friends house for an after dinner dessert and between the four of us, we almost finished the entire pan. It's reminiscent of smores with the toasted marshmallow fluff and the chocolate chip brownie. We used a hand-held butane torch to achieve this golden brown amazingness. This recipe made it into my top ten desserts (for the time being).

Gluten-free Marshmallow
Smothered Brownies
ADAPTED RECIPE FROM DOUGHMESSTIC

INGREDIENTS

1 package Bob's Red Mill GF Brownie Mix

3/4 c. browned butter

3/4 c. warm water

1 egg

1 tbsp. vanilla

1/3 c. milk chocolate chips

2 c. marshmallow fluff
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a 9x9 baking pan with non-stick spray. Set aside.
Place butter in a pan over medium heat, stirring often until butter changes to a darker golden color. (It took me about ten minutes).
Whisk the water, egg and vanilla together. Add it to the brownie mix with the browned butter and stir just until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 30-34 minutes or until center is almost set. (Brownies will continue to cook in the pan).
Top the hot brownies with the marshmallow fluff, and spread around for even distribution.
Place under a hot broiler, watching closely, or use a kitchen torch until top is browned.
Best served hot.

Read More 1 Comment | Posted by Anonymous |

Black Tea-Blackberry Sorbet

Check out the site where I found this recipe, honeyandjam. Her photos are incredibly gorgeous. (I need to step up my game). Honey and Jam also talks about the inspiration for this recipe. Sorbet is very easy to make. My first was cherry sorbet, and this recipe was next in line. The addition of black tea really enhances the flavor profile of the sorbet. The only boiling involved is for the tea. The blackberries are pureed, pushed through a sieve and added to the tea. The hardest part is waiting on the ice cream maker to freeze the sorbet. I was tempted to drink the mixture. If you're curious - vodka is added to the mixture to keep it from freezing too hard.

Black Tea-Blackberry Sorbet

RECIPE FROM HONEY AND JAM

INGREDIENTS
2 cups water
2 regular tea bags
1 cup sugar
3 cups fresh or frozen blackberries (if frozen, let thaw completely)
1 tbsp. vodka
2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice

DIRECTIONS
Bring water to a rolling boil. Remove from heat, add tea bags and allow to steep for five minutes.
Remove tea bags, add sugar and heat until the sugar dissolves. Allow to cool completely.
Puree blackberries in a food processor, then push through mesh sieve to remove seeds. Add vodka and lemon juice. Add to tea, then pour back through sieve.
Process the mixture in an ice cream maker, according to manufacturers instructions.

black tea + water

macro shot of blackberries

pureed blackberries

I linked up at:
sweet shot tuesdays - life with my 3 boybarians
tuesdays around the world - communal global

Read More 5 comments | Posted by Anonymous |

Cherry sorbet

I'm back from my South Carolina vacation to bring you some yummy sorbet. During my stay, I asked my niece Breyya what kind of sorbet she thought sounded best to make. Cherry was her answer, and that's what we made. It's rich, sweet and creamy and was very easy to make. The hardest part was waiting for it to set so we could devour it!

Cherry Sorbet
Adapted from Gina's Weight Watchers Recipes
INGREDIENTS
2 lbs cherries
1 cup water
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp. sugar or agave
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
DIRECTIONS
Stem the cherries and remove the pits. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the cherries with the water, sugar and lemon juice.
Cook until the cherries are very soft and cooked through, about 10-15 minutes.
Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.
Refrigerate to chill throughly.
Puree the cherries and their liquid and run the mixture through a fine sieve.
Once the cherry mixture is chilled, freeze according to your ice cream maker's instructions.

My beautiful helpers. Breyya (on the right) had her friend Alexis over. They helped pit the cherries.

Cherries after the cooking.

Ice cream maker awesomeness. I'm thinking my next flavor to make will be blackberry.

Read More 2 comments | Posted by Anonymous |

Stuffed strawberries

Over the fourth of July weekend I made a couple of dessert items to take to my friend's house. I've been wanting to make stuffed strawberries, and this seemed like the perfect time for them. The recipes I found weren't exactly what I was looking for. I decided to try it on my own and not follow a recipe which I need to do more often. It's really easy to rely on recipes, but it's time to get out of my comfort zone. I knew I wanted cream cheese in there so I started thinking about what would go well with it. (Cream cheese is one of my favorite things on this planet). Cinnamon and almonds sounded like great additions, and that's where I started. These turned out exactly the way I had hoped. Savory, sweet and nutty — I'm already craving more.

Stuffed Strawberries
INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1 package cream cheese, softened
1/4 tsp. almond extract
1 tbsp. heavy cream
1 cup powdered sugar
2 lbs. strawberries
DIRECTIONS
Rinse strawberries and set aside on a paper towel to dry. In a food processor (I used my magic bullet) combine sliced almonds and cinnamon. Blend to a medium-fine consistency.
In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth with a mixer.
Add heavy cream and almond extract. Beat well.
On medium-low, gradually beat in the nut mixture, then the powdered sugar. You want the mixture to be creamy but thick enough to be piped and to hold its shape in the strawberries. More or less powdered sugar may need to be added.
Using a paring knife, hollow out the center of the strawberry going around the stem in a cone shape. Cut approximately 1/4 inch off the tip of the strawberry so it can stand up on its own.
Add the cream cheese mixture to a piping bag fitted with a wide star tip. Fill strawberries with the cream cheese mixture. Keep in fridge until serving.

I linked up at:

tasty tuesdays - for the love of blogs

sweet shot tuesdays - life with my 3 boybarians
tuesdays around the world - communal global

Read More 15 comments | Posted by Anonymous |

Very berry smoothie

I made this smoothie on Sunday to jump start the cookie making day with my friend Joyce. I purchased mostly frozen fruits because fresh fruit is quite expensive this time of year (where I live). You can add any kind of yogurt you want; greek, goat's, Activia, Weight Watchers — whatever you prefer. It's a tasty addition to add to your morning routine. This recipe makes 4 to 5 servings.

Very Berry Smoothie
INGREDIENTS
1 cup blackberries, raspberries and blueberries, frozen or fresh
11 medium strawberries, frozen or fresh
1/2 ripe banana
2 cups crushed ice
12 oz nonfat yogurt, vanilla or berry flavored
3/4 cup to 1 1/2 cups almond milk

DIRECTIONS
Add fruit, ice, yogurt and 3/4 cup almond milk into a blender and blend until smooth. Add more milk in intervals until you reach desired consistency.

I linked up for Tasty Thursday at For the Love of Blogs!

Read More 8 comments | Posted by Anonymous |

Baba ganoush

Super bowl snack number two! This was my favorite item I made, well, next to the dessert I'll be sharing a little later this week. This is my first time making baba ganoush. I've only had it at restaurants before. I love the creamy, slightly sharp flavor of the eggplant. Roasted, breaded, grilled — I like it in all forms. I can't wait for the farmer's market to open this season so I can buy massive quantities of eggplants for cheap and make baba ganoush for all. Yes, it's only February and snow is everywhere, but I am ready for walking in the warm sun and garden fresh vegetables in my tummy. Words of warning — tahini (ground sesame seeds) are not cheap. I need to do some price comparing next time. Some serving suggestions: on whole wheat crackers, pita bread, pita chips or vegetables.

Baba Ganoush
Source: Annie's Eats adapted from The New Best Recipe
INGREDIENTS
2 lbs. eggplant
1 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 garlic clove, minced

2 tbsp. tahini

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

olive oil for drizzling

fresh flat leaf parsley, minced

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 500˚. Poke surface of the eggplants with a fork to prevent bursting during roasting. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Set eggplants on the baking sheet and roast, turning every 15 minutes, until the eggplants are uniformly soft.

About 60 minutes for large eggplants, 50 minutes for medium, and 40 minutes for small.
Remove eggplants from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet for five minutes. Set a colander in the sink. Trim the top and bottom off of each eggplant. Slit the eggplants in half lengthwise.

Use a spoon to scoop the pulp from the skins, and place the pulp in the colander. You should have about two cups. Let the pulp drain for three minutes.
Transfer the pulp to a food processor.

Combine with lemon juice, garlic, tahini, salt and pepper. Process until the mixture has a coarse, choppy texture, about eight one-second pulses. Adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to a serving bowl. Cover with plastic wrap pressed onto the surface of the dip, and refrigerate until lightly chilled. To serve, drizzle lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with minced parsley leaves.

I linked up:

Thirsty Thursday at For the Love of Blogs

Hug & Love Thursday at Love is Everywhere

Read More 7 comments | Posted by Anonymous |

Hot pepper jelly

Being a little adventurous over the holidays, I tried to make something I haven't made before. My Uncle Tim makes several jams throughout the year; strawberry and a peach/plum. He inspired me to make some myself. I wanted to try a jalapeno jam, but wasn't really digging the recipes I'd found. I've had several versions of the jelly poured over cream cheese and eaten with crackers. Very tasty. As my Aunt Carol and I were looking through her recipes, we came across one from Tim's mom called hot pepper jelly. That's exactly what I was looking for.
I ran into a few issues during the cooking process, but I didn't realize it until the next day. I removed one from the fridge and the jam was still too runny and had a very strong acidic taste. The next day I went at it again, added more sugar, boiled the jam longer to remove the vinegar taste and added another box of Sure-jell. I re-poured the mixture into the mason jars, placed them back in the fridge and the next day they were perfect! I've adjusted the recipe so you won't have to go through it twice. I'm pretty sure I didn't boil the ingredients long enough the first time, but I like the way this turned out so I'll stick with it.

Hot Pepper Jelly
Adjusted family recipe
INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cup chopped hot peppers, seeds in
1 1/2 cup chopped bell pepper, seeds out
3 cups apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup hot peppers, finely minced
14 1/2 cups sugar
3 boxes Sure-jell
green food coloring

DIRECTIONS
Place vinegar and 1 1/2 cup each of chopped hot peppers and bell peppers and in a blender and chop fine approx. five minutes. Pour into saucepan with remaining 1/4 cup minced hot peppers, bring to a rolling boil. Stir in sugar until dissolved. Cook for 5-7 minutes, tasting for sweetness and the acidity mostly removed (from the vinegar). Remove from heat. Wait five minutes, add Sure-jell and about 7 drops of food coloring, depending on how green you want it; stir well. Pour into hot sterilized jars and seal.
Fills a total of 13 mini mason jars.

Don't forget to sign up for the $55 giveaway. Entries will close December 31st at midnight!

Read More 5 comments | Posted by Anonymous |

Roasted almond coconut bites

While I'm over my Aunt Carol's house, we go through her recipe collection often to see what new recipes I'd like to try. She suggested this recipe because "they taste like little Almond Joy bars". Seems like a popular candy bar and I do like coconut, so I gave it a try. I've made them twice in the past three days for different parties. Simple to make and requires little baking. Plus they're fun little finger foods which I'm all for. It makes approximately four dozen.

Roasted Almond Coconut Bites
Adapted from my Aunt Carol from Jane Hodge
INGREDIENTS
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
3 tbsp. water
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 cup dry powdered milk
3 cups shredded coconut, sweetened
6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
1/2 cup whole almonds

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place almonds on a cookie sheet and bake for 7 minutes or until almonds become fragrant. Remove from oven and cool.
Melt butter in a 2 qt. saucepan or microwave, remove from heat; add water and vanilla.
Mix sifted powdered sugar and dry powdered milk in a separate bowl. Add powdered sugar mixture to butter mixture, approx. 1/2 cup at a time. Mix well between each addition.
Stir in coconut. Drop a teaspoon of coconut mixture onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. An alternate method — roll into a ball with hands and flatten. Dampen hands with water occasionally to prevent sticking. Chill for approx. 20 minutes until firm.
Melt chocolate pieces in microwave at 30 second intervals, stirring each time until chocolate melts, but is not too hot. If chocolate is too runny, firm up in the freezer for a few minutes.
Spoon melted chocolate into a piping bag with a large circular tip and pipe on top of the coconut disks about 1 tsp. Press a toasted almond into the chocolate.
Chill. Store in fridge until served.

I linked up at:
tasty tuesdays - for the love of blogs
sweet shot tuesdays - life with my 3 boybarians
tuesdays around the world - communal global

Read More 11 comments | Posted by Anonymous |

Salted cocoa-roasted nuts

I'm taking a small break from posting family photoshoots this week for a little snack. We all need to take a break for food, right? I made these Tuesday for a coworker's birthday. He generally eats pretty healthy, and I wanted to make something light. I've had this recipe in the "to make" list for quite some time. These were fairly simple to make and taste heavenly. The coating is crunchy and not overly sweet. The salt and cocoa helps to balance the sweetness as well as enhance the pecan flavor. These would make a perfect Christmas treat to take to a party or to give away as a gift.

Salted Cocoa-roasted Nuts

from Pink Parsley, adapted from Joy the Baker, adapted from Essence of Chocolate

INGREDIENTS
3 cups mixed nuts, unsalted (I used pecans & almonds)
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into chunks
2 large egg whites
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. kosher salt

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 325. Spread nuts in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 min. until slightly browned and fragrant. Transfer to a large bowl to cool.
Scatter the chunks of butter on the baking sheet. Return to oven to melt the butter. This will only take a few minutes so watch closely. Remove from oven and tilt the pan to spread butter all over.
Beat the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer over med-low/med speed. When the egg whites are starting to hold their shape, add the sugar and increase speed to med-high for two min. They will be shiny and sticky — a little thinner than meringues.
Sift the cocoa over the egg whites, and fold in. Mix the egg white mixture into the nuts, and spread onto the baking sheet.
Bake for 10 min. Gently stir. Return nuts to oven and bake 10 min more. Stir again, and sprinkle salt over nuts. Return for another 10 min., then remove. Give the nuts one final stir, breaking up chunks as you go. When done, the coating should be crisp, and the butter absorbed by the nuts.
Allow to cool completely. They can be stored in an airtight container up to one week.

I linked up at Thirsty Thursday Blog Hop!

Read More 2 comments | Posted by Anonymous |

Charred corn salad

For our July 4th get together, I brought two sides, one being this corn salad, served with corn chips. I've posted another corn salsa recipe before, but this one is very different. The corn salad has a nice smoky flavor from the chipotles in abodo sauce (can be found in the Hispanic section at the market). The sweetness of the honey and orange juice balance out the spice and grilled vegetables. It also contains jicama which really adds depth of flavor. If you're not familiar with a jicama, it's a root vegetable that is crispy and slightly sweet. It's sometimes mistaken for a potato and really easy to prepare. I've had this recipe for several years, and I'm not completely sure where it came from, possibly a Williams-Sonoma catalog but I'm not positive. It makes 8-10 servings.

Charred Corn Salad

adapted from Williams-Sonoma catalog (possibly)

INGREDIENTS

2 tbsp. lime juice

1 tbsp. fresh orange juice

1 tsp. diced chipotle chili plus 1 tbsp. adobo sauce

2 tsp. salt

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp. honey

1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp. olive oil

6 ears of corn

3/4 cup jicama

1/3 cup red onion

2 cups cherry or grape tomatoes

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

DIRECTIONS
Whisk together lime juice, orange juice, chili and abodo sauce, 1 tsp. salt, garlic, honey and 1/4 cup olive oil until smooth. Set aside.
Prepare hot fire in grill or preheat grill pan.

Peel the brown outer layer skin of the jicama and cut into 1/2 inch slices for grilling. Slice red onion for grilling.

Rub corn, jicama and onion with 2 tbsp. oil and 1 tsp. salt. Grill for 10-15 minutes.

Turn oven broiler on, cut cherry tomatoes in half and place on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and fresh black pepper. Cook cherry tomatoes for approx. 10 minutes under broiler, checking often. Remove from oven.
When corn is cooled, remove kernels. Dice jicama and red onion. In large bowl add kernels, beans, cilantro, tomatoes, jicama, onion and vinaigrette. Stir until well combined. Serve at room temperature with chips or by itself.

I linked up:
Tempt us Tuesdays at Inside BruCrew Life

Read More 1 Comment | Posted by Anonymous |

Restaurant style salsa

I love chips and salsa. Who doesn't really? Apparently, The Pioneer Woman and I share the same passion in salsa. I found her recipe and knew I wanted to make it immediately. Restaurant style — it just sounds good. It was everything I hoped for in a salsa. It has nice heat and very flavorful. If you don't want the heat, just omit the jalapeno.

This recipe made two large mason jars full, so it will last awhile. We've went through a bag of chips and have one mason jar left. It's really hard to stop eating - just the same as being at a Mexican restaurant. If you want step by step picture instructions visit The Pioneer Woman's recipe. I'm not even trying to compete with those gorgeous photos.

Restaurant Style Salsa

from The Pioneer Woman

INGREDIENTS
1 - 28 oz. can whole tomatoes with juice
2 - 10 oz. cans Rotel (diced tomatoes with green chilies)
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 whole jalapeno, seeded, quartered and sliced thin
1/4 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground cumin (or more to taste)
1/2 cup cilantro (or more to taste)

1/2 whole fresh lime juice

DIRECTIONS
Combine whole tomatoes, Rotel, onion, jalapeno, garlic, sugar, salt, cumin, lime juice, and cilantro in a blender or food processor. Pulse until you get the salsa to the consistency you’d like—I do about 10 to 15 pulses. Test seasonings with a tortilla chip and adjust as needed.
Refrigerate salsa for at least an hour. Serve with tortilla chips or cheese nachos.

Read More 2 comments | Posted by Anonymous |

Graphic designer, baker and a photo taker. Inspired by Jesus, photography, stellar design, all things creative, cooking, the arts and funny stuff. I prefer to visually tell stories through photographs; whether a trip I was on, a dessert I made or a recent vintage find. Art is all around me, and I capture it whenever I can.

Gluten-free marshmallow smothered brownies

Black Tea-Blackberry Sorbet

Cherry sorbet

Stuffed strawberries

Very berry smoothie

Baba ganoush

Hot pepper jelly

Roasted almond coconut bites

Salted cocoa-roasted nuts

Charred corn salad

Restaurant style salsa

labels

sharing is caring

..............................................

inspire & create

those who bake

older posts

Search