I didn’t know until about 10 minutes ago what I was going to post today. I have been working on a post for a week about 2011. You know an annual review, so to speak. Weeeeell, that post is still in the works. And I didn’t get to biscuit making until today. That’s right, the night before I have to have a post all about how awesome it is to bake by ratio and not be tied to someone’s recipe. And I hadn’t even attempted to make a biscuit yet.
So, the good news is that the people at my new job haven’t fired me yet. And I haven’t quit. This is a fantastic job. Super fantastic. Although, (shameless personal plug here) I really need to sublet my apartment in Champaign. So, if you know someone who needs a place to live in Chambana, please send them my way so that I can move out. Read more
I found out that my new coworkers already read my blog. They asked me questions about my baking on my first day. And they have asked for something spectacular for the company Christmas party. Peppermint brownies? Eggnog blondies? Decisions, decisions.
But, let’s procrastinate those decisions and talk cookies.
These cookies are brought to you by the numbers 3, 2, 1.
The past month has flown by like whoa.
I quit my job. I got a new job. I moved.
Old faithful is staying with Blondie.
That is quite a lot of change. Oh, and I am allowed to move around and bend and twist, there are no staples or steri-strips left on my back. I would say this means we need to celebrate. And we should celebrate with cookies.
I was home, alone, for the first time since surgery and I was sore. I wanted some easy comfort. You see, when I bake, I don’t feel so alone. It gives me something to do. Read more
I am going to dedicate this post to my mom. She helped me pull together the recipes for this month’s rally while I am supposed to be on bed rest. And this month you will really see where I get my baking sense from.
Oh, you read that part where I am on bed rest? I had surgery last Thursday and it was a little rockier than we had anticipated. I am waiting for electric leads to scar into place in my spine and because they were placed with no wiggle room, I have to stay put so that everything stays where it was placed. The good news is that the surgery was successful, and when you are reading this, I will be at the doctor’s office for my post-op appointment. And hopefully talking my sister into some Pei Wei.
Now, back to the pie.
I have baked this crust before for Gluten-Free Girl’s summer Pie Party. And I love it. It is light, flaky and delicious.
You can bake pie crust from scratch. Really, you can. It is not scary, and you never need to buy frozen pie crust again. Just make a double recipe of crust and freeze the spare. If you have a food processor, this takes about 10 minutes and once you make it a couple of times, you will never need a pre-made crust again.
The entire rally this month is full of proof.
The crust is great. The ratio is so basic, I will never forget it. 3-2-1. Flour-fat-water. I should be telling you that the ratio reigns supreme. But as important as the ratio is, there is a secret. The secret to pie crust is not the ingredients, or their amounts, but how cold your ingredients are. I keep my vodka in the freezer at all times, if you don’t you’ll want to prepare ahead. I also tend to keep an extra pound or two of butter in the freezer (I buy it when it goes on sale). If you only keep enough butter on hand for your current baking (if such a person exists), then you need to freeze your butter (or vegan alternative). This recipe will also work with Crisco in pace of butter. But again, you want to make sure that it chills in the freezer over night.
There is no need to vary the ratio. You can add a teaspoon of sugar for a sweet pie, if you want. But you don’t need it.
Now, onto the pies. That’s right, pies plural. Mom and I made 2. I will link you to the Apple Maple Cream Cheese pie, but I want to talk to you about this pumpkin mousse pie. Yes, pumpkin mousse. I love traditional pumpkin pie. I really do, but I was certain that someone else was going to post about it (and they did, so go to the list of posts if you want a traditional pumpkin pie). I wanted to do something that put a new spin on a perennial favorite.
Mom and I made a pumpkin mousse pie to do just that. You simmer the pumpkin and cream with spices and then chill it and fold it to some cream that you have whipped and make an incredibly light and airy pie with just the right amount of spice for the season.
Before you bake my pie, make sure you take a moment to see all the other delicious pies from this month’s Ratio Rally hosted by Lisa from Gluten Free Canteen.
Charissa from Zest Bakery made Apple Galette with Pisco Soaked Golden Raisins
Claire from Gluten Freedom made Autumn Pumpkin Spice Pie
Meredith from Gluten Free Betty made Blueberry Pie
Jean Layton made Cheese Crusted Apple Pie
Erin from The Sensitive Epicure made Chess Pie
Silvana Nardone from Silvana’s Kitchen made Chicken Potpie
TR from No One Likes Crumbley Cookies made Chocolate Mousse Pie
gretchen from kumquat made deep dish chocolate bourbon pecan pie
Lisa from Gluten Free Canteen made Frangipane Apple Pie & Tart
Shanua from Gluten Free Girl & The Chef Fresh made Pumpkin Pie
Caneel from Mama Me Gluten Free made Green Tomato Pie
Kate from katealicecookbook made Kale & zucchini tart
Caleigh from Gluten Free[k] made Leek and Potato Pie
Rachel from The Crispy Cook made Maple Walnut Pie
Morri from Meals With Morri made Spinach – Prosciutto Ricotta Quiche & Muffin Tin Pie Variations
Brooke from B & the boy! made Pot Pie
Mary Fran | frannycakes made Pumpkin Mousse Pie and Apple Maple Cream Cheese Pie
Jenn from Jenn Cuisine made Sweet Potato and Duck Pot Pie
Meaghan from The Wicked Good Vegan made Vegan Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pie with Pumpkin Seed and Ginger Topping
~Mrs. R from Honey From Flinty Rocks made Mock Apple Pie
Irvin from Eat the Love made Double Butterscotch Apple Pie
| Pumpkin Mousse Pie |
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Don’t have a scale? Use 1 1/4 cups of a commercial all purpose blend.
You might not need all the water, be careful or your dough will bake up hard on the edges and be hard to cut.
I have been having an incredibly busy couple of weeks. Have you missed me? Life has been topsy turvy, I launched 2 website redesigns at my day job, have a third one launching this week. I am probably going to be having surgery on Thursday (if everything goes according to plan). Needless to say, October has been one heck of a crazy month.
I also realized that the month is mostly over, and I haven’t baked much at all this month. There has been so much going on that I hadn’t been able to just stop and take a few hours to create a recipe and bake something. And I really needed to bake something. And I had no idea what to bake. So I did what any baking-obsessed girl would do. I pulled out 2 things from my cabinet and hoped that I could make a dessert that would be delicious. Thank goodness it worked.
Lately, I have been obsessed with ginger. There were brown butter ginger doughnuts, bourbon ginger peach pie, ginger pumpkin doughnuts. I had been buying these awesome ginger chips (chocolate chip sized bits of candied ginger) until they stopped carrying them at Williams-Sonoma. I had to settle for regular crystallized ginger & chopped it myself. and I finally got my hands on some of those new Enjoy Life Mega Chocolate Chunks. So clearly I had to make ginger & chocolate cookies. I am in love with the texture of these. They are soft but not crumbly. They are wonderfully delicate with just a touch of chew. I want to start a campaign to get Enjoy Life to add these cookies to the package. They are that good.
| Iced Double Chocolate Chunk Cookies with Ginger Chips |
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*I used Williams-Sonoma Cup for Cup flour blend, but I also highly recommend the Jules Nearly Normal flour for people who can’t have dairy (I also use this blend fairly regularly). You can also use this all-purpose blend from No Gluten, No Problem.
**If your blend already has xantham gum (or Expandex, guar gum, etc,) you can omit this.
*** If you can’t have eggs, dissolve 1 tablespoon ground flax with 3 tablespoons warm water.
****Feel free to use any kind of “milk”. I use the So Delicious unsweetened coconut milk, but you can substitute with what you prefer (Soy, almond, hemp, dairy, etc.)
I am sitting in the Westin where the Gluten & Allergen Free Expo is in Dallas and all I can think about is the bag of these cookies that I left on my kitchen table when I left. (I know, cookie abuse).
I would love to paint you a picture of the comedy of errors that was our 8 hour adventure to Dallas. There were cancelled flights, gate changes and airline rebookings galore. There was one little box of dried fruit and gluten-free airline snacks were few and far between. I am about to melt into bed from exauhstion.
But, I digress, this isn’t a post about air travel woes.
I love chocolate chip cookies. In college, I had the recipe for toll house cookies memorized. I could whip up a batch half asleep when I wanted to do something nice for my roommates before I left for the day or at 3 in the morning as sustenance to get a study group through a marathon final exam study session. I am not even sure if I measured most of the time because I knew the recipe so well.
I have made so many failed batches of gluten free chocolate chip cookies that I was certain that I was never going to eat a good one again.
But man, I had a craving for some cookies. As much as I love pumpkin, I needed a break from pumpkin-themed baked goods. I wanted a good, old-fashioned chocolate chip cookie. And, since I know a thing or two about chocolate chip cookies, I wanted to elevate these beyond the ones that you learned to make in junior high. They have a soft, chewy center with crispy golden edges where the sugars caramelized. The secret to the dynamite flavor? Semi-sweet chocolate chips (I beg you not to use milk chocolate! They will be too sweet) and toffee bits. The toffee bits melt slightly into the cookies and add a surprise layer of caramel goodness.
Oh, and there is no creaming til light and fluffy, no letting your butter soften and no pre-heating the oven. Just go with me here. And don’t deviate from the recipe. At least the first time. You will be happy you listened to me.
| Cookies! |
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I am back with more doughnuts. And more pumpkin. Two things that I kind of love right now.
After a weekend filled with football in South Bend with Blondie’s family I declare that fall has actually begun. There was a crispness in the air before the tailgate that was decidedly fall. The Illini are ranked and Champaign is filled with a buzz about football that I haven’t seen before. It is time to over-indulge on football watching. Fall is decidedly here.
And since I had some leftover pumpkin, I decided that I could make some doughnuts. And make them taste like fall.
There might also be a video for this recipe. Maybe it will turn out. (Aren’t you glad that I am taking a video class and can make the food come alive on video now too?). And I will probably post it to share with you when it is finished, but I thought that it would be unfair to make you wait any extra time for this delicacy.
| Gluten Free Ginger Pumpkin Doughnuts |
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You really want to use good maple syrup (grade B has the most maple-y flavor).
If you are going to use pre-blended flour, please use a good one. I like Jules’ Nearly Normal Flour and Cup4Cup from Williams-Sonoma. Bean based flours will not do well here.
Today felt like fall. There was a chill in the air. It rained a gloomy rain. I was wishing I had worn a sweater. This week is framed by college football. An Illini game last Saturday and a Notre Dame game this weekend. Fall has arrived.
And so has the insane amount of weekends filled with obligations. Blondie and I have one weekend “off” between now and November. There is a football game (our second in a row), a trip to Dallas, Blondie is running the Chicago marathon, reservations at Girl & the Goat, my aunt’s 60th birthday and a wedding.
But all that happening is ok because that means it is fall, and fall means pumpkin everything. Pumpkin lattes. Pumpkin soup. Pumpkin pancakes. Pumpkin pasta sauce. Carved pumpkins. And pupkin cupcakes.
That’s right. Pumpkin cupcakes. Gluten-free pumpkin cupcakes.
Here is the recipe in stop motion. It might make you a little hungry, so grab a snack before you watch it, and don’t say I didn’t warn you.
(I made this video for a class I am taking at U of I to get my portfolio beefed up for grad school)
| Gluten-Free Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting |
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I have had great success with both Jules Nearly Normal flour and Cup4Cup All Purpose flour. If you are making your own blend use 80 grams sorghum flour, 8- grams brown rice flour, 80 grams sweet white rice flour and 80 grams tapioca starch.