Banana Bread ~ Gluten Free & Whole Grain

I made this right before my son got the flu and we left for Disney. This bread was fabulous; whole grain and easy. I used the flour combination I love, teff, sweet sorghum, and brown rice. Also, I forgot to put xanthan gum in this recipe, and it really didn't need it, so add some if you wish, but the bread stayed moist and together without it. I was thinking of giving the second loaf away to a friend, but my family demolished one loaf in less than 10 minutes. We had the next loaf for breakfast the next day. I served it with honey butter, yum.

I have made it again (I swear my husband let some bananas go brown on purpose!!), and cut some of the sugar out. Try it as written first; then cut out sugar to your taste. My children are used to not having much sugar, so they can tolerate a decent cut. When I make it, I use 3/4 cup sugar.




Banana Bread

4 bananas
5 Tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/2 container sour cream (8 ounces)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup brown rice flour
3/4 cup sweet sorghum flour
1/2 cup teff flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (optional)
1 cup walnuts/ chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven 325 degrees. Combine dry ingredients. In separate container mix wet (including sour cream). Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix until just combined, fold in nuts or chocolate chips if using. Divide into two 8.5 X 4.5 loaf pan. Bake 1 hour, or until knife inserted into center comes out clean. Cool and cut, if you can wait. (we didn't!!) Makes 2 loaves.

Cheers!!!!

Other banana bread recipes to check out:

Karina's (of Gluten Free Goddess fame) Egg Free & Dairy Free Banana Chocolate Chip Bread

Natalie's (of Gluten Free Mommy fame) Banana Bread

Carrie (of Ginger Lemon Girl fame) Whole Grain Banana Nut Muffins

Oatmeal Scones - adapted from Mom Fitz

When I first met my mother-in-law, I was welcomed into her home with a hug and a homemade meal. The second time I met her, she made these. She would make these for breakfast, but also for a heavier lunch with eggs and ham. I wanted the recipe right away, but waited until I got to know her better before I asked.

She made up this recipe on her own, after experience with other scone recipes. Once I tasted them, these became my favorite scones; the ones in the case seemed to pale in comparison. Especially since I got to eat these warm, fresh from the oven!

When I found out I had to be gluten free for the rest of my life, I assumed I would never have these hearty scones again. But as we are all finding out, we can re-create the foods that we love. Here is another meaningful recipe that I can have again.

Here's to you Mom Fitz, and your delicious scones!

Mom Fitz's Oatmeal Scones

8 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teff
1 cup sorghum
1 1/2 cup brown rice flour
1 teaspoon xantham
2 cups gluten free oatmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup raisins (or cranberries)
1/2 cup walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.Combine dry ingredients, teff through salt. Melt butter in medium sauce pan. Combine sugar, milk, vanilla and eggs. Take butter off heat. Add combined wet ingredients to the butter. Add combined dry ingredients, raisins, and walnuts until just moistened. You might need to add a little more milk if there is dry flour in the bowl. This is not a batter, but a stiff dough. On floured board, (and I oil my hands so the dough won't stick, plus the oil is a great moisturizer!!) form the dough in a 12 x 9 rectangle (or so). Cut into triangles. On ungreased cookie sheet bake at 425 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned.

Slather with butter and honey, or jam while warm. And you can even enjoy them later at room temperature.

Cheers!!

Other Blogger Recipes I want to try...

I am in an organizational mode, not much time to blog. We have been working on a small renovation since July, and it's (FINALLY) just about done. A little more tweaking to go, but I am able to move my kitchen around. The renovation was to turn my laundry room into a little butler's pantry, so my family could make gluten stuff in there (sandwiches, toast, etc), while the main kitchen remained gluten free.

I think it is going to great once I get everything organized.

We had been using the same kitchen, reserving a small counter for gluten foods, and it worked, I didn't get contaminated from it. But it was crowded (I do not have a huge kitchen), and the risk was always there. Not fair when Navy Boy gets home from his shift work, working through the night, exhausted in the morning, and having to think about which butter he can use.

So, finalizing this project has taken up a fair bit of my time lately, so I decided to pull a few of my links to other wonderful bloggers and post them here. I haven't tried these yet, but they are on my list. I have more, but this is all the time I had this morning to post, so I will throw more out there another time!!

Lighter than Air Chocolate Cake
Chocolate Crinkles (cookies)
Rosemary's Christmas cookies

Almond Orange Marmalade Muffins
Sweet Potato Ginger Muffins
Pumpkin Corn Muffins

Artisanal Sorghum Bread
Pizza Crust (Actually, I tried the pizza crust this week, it is very good, and easy.)
Homemade Ravioli

HoneyComb Candy
Pumpkin Custard Pie
Rice pudding (looks VERY easy!)



And, if you are wondering about the photo on top, it is off a baked polenta I made. It was pretty good, not a favorite, but good. I took leftover polenta, mixed a few things in there like eggs, cheese, spices, and baked until firm and crisp.

Cheers!!

Gluten Free Recipes That I Want to Try, That Aren't Mine

I know that this is a long title for this post. But it is exactly what this post is about. I have links upon links of recipes I want to try, but no where to reference them. So, I thought I would start doing that here. I might be doing this again, as I find out where all those links went.

And, if you try anything, or have tried any of these, let me know how they turned out!!!


Lemon Blueberry Coffee Cake - Gluten Free

Gluten Free Cottage Bread

Curried Pumpkin Soup

Dark Chocolate Lime Souffle

Apple Snow


I also wanted to give a heads up for anyone planning a vacation. I found this website called Gilli's Holiday, and it has hotels that cater to gluten free diets. It seems to focus on Italy, but there are a few other destinations as well.

Cheers!

Absolutely Amazing Upside-down Apple Cake

This is now one of my most favorite gluten free sweet treats. It is so good. I have been experimenting with different flours, and there is one of those in here. Teff. It is a whole grain with dietary fiber, iron, protein, and calcium. Click on the above link to find out more. I had to buy mine online, stores here don't carry it, but it is worth it. Here is a link to Bob's Red Mill Teff page. I don't know the best place to purchase it yet, but I will be researching when I need to buy more.

I also used sweet sorghum flour in this recipe, as well as brown rice. Substitute whatever you have on hand. Make this recipe even if you don't have teff, or sorghum. It is so good, I am sure it will come out fine with whatever mix of flours you use.

Also, I found a great page that explains all the nutritional benefits of different flours. It also seems like a great website to explore. Recipetips.com, and when I get a chance I will be browsing around to see what else they have on there.

When my friend came over and we had this cake with and afternoon cup of tea, we fell over with how good it was. This will be a frequent recipe made in my home, especially for company. I got the original recipe from Better Homes and Gardens October issue.

Apple Upside-down Cake, Gluten Free Version

5 tablespoons butter, cut up
another 5 tablespoons softened
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
4 apples, cored and sliced in wedges, skin on
1 large apple, peeled and chopped
1/4 cup teff flour
1/2 cup sweet sorghum flour
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/4 teaspoon xantham gum
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2/3 cup milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
3.9 oz applesauce, unsweetened (I used Mott's little packaged one)
1/2 cup walnut, pecan, or other nut (optional)
1/4 cup rolled oats (also optional, I did not do this this time, I am going to next time)

Preheat oven to 350. Put the chopped butter in the pan, a 9X9, and put in the oven until melted, don't brown the butter. Sprinkle brown sugar over butter, mix together. Put in the apple wedges and the nuts if using (as well as oatmeal if using), and put back in the oven for 15 minutes.

In a bowl, combine flours and dry ingredients and whisk. Add wet ingredients, including milk, egg, vanilla and applesauce. Use a mixer if you have one, otherwise stir until combined. Fold chopped apples into the batter.

Spread batter evenly over the apple/nut mixture in the pan. Bake about 35 minutes, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

This is awesome as is as a coffee cake, or afternoon tea. As a dessert, serve warm with vanilla ice cream. Yum!

Cheers!

Apple Quinoa Muffins - Quick and Easy

I made Banana-Quinoa Muffins awhile back, and I thought that this version might be good. And it is! Now that there is gluten free oatmeal available, you can put that in instead of the quinoa if you like. When I get my order in, I think I might put a bit of both in there!

Next version I will try will be pumpkin, with oatmeal and pecans. Yum! I think this recipe is very flexible, so experiment with what you have on hand.

Apple-Quinoa Muffin

1/2 cup applesauce - unsweetened
1 apple - chopped
2 tablespoons grapeseed or canola oil
1 egg
1/2 cup fat free milk
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup quinoa flakes
1/3 cup sugar
1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
dash nutmeg (optional)
1/2 cup chopped pecans/walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 375. Combine applesauce with wet ingredients, mix well, I add the apples in here. Mix dry ingredients in another bowl, I put the nuts in here. Put dry ingredients into the wet, and mix until combined, don't stir too much! Grease or put muffin liners in pan, spoon batter evenly into 12 cups. Bake about 16 minutes, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.


Cheers!!

Banana-Quinoa Muffins - Quick and Easy

I saw a recipe in Health Magazine for Banana Oat muffins, and decided to alter it to make it gluten free. These are yummy and easy to make, and a pretty good breakfast on the go too.

We had them this morning warm with cappuccino...yum!

(I am also thinking these would be great with applesauce and chopped apple substituted for the banana...)


Banana-Quinoa Muffin

2 mashed ripe bananas
2 tablespoons grapeseed or canola oil
1 egg
1/2 cup fat free milk
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup quinoa flakes
1/3 cup sugar
1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
dash nutmeg (optional)
1/2 cup chopped pecans/walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 375. Combine bananas with wet ingredients, mix well. Mix dry ingredients in another bowl. Combine mixtures until combined, don't stir too much! Grease or put muffin liners in pan, spoon batter evenly into 12 cups. Bake about 16 minutes, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Enjoy.

Corn Muffin

I just wanted something simple and yummy, so I decided to try and make my own corn muffins. Next time I am going to try it with brown rice flour and see how it works, this time I didn't want to try, I just wanted to eat. :) They were delicious. Wonderful with butter and honey. And, a nice cappuccino.

Corn muffins

1 1/2 cups corn meal
3/4 cups Pamela's all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
small handful flax seed (optional)
1 cup milk
2 eggs
3 tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat oven to 400. Line muffin tins with paper liners, or grease well. Mix dry ingredients in bowl. Whisk together wet ingredients. Add wet to dry, mixing until just combined. Don't over mix. Divide batter evenly in muffin tins (makes twelve regular). Bake 18-22 minutes, until lightly browned and toothpick comes out clean.

Donut Muffins

I saw this recipe for donut muffins on GF-Zing! and I had to try it. It is yummy, and reminscent of the cake donuts I used to crave when I was pregnant. Only a couple of changes...I didn't sprinkle a cinnamon and sugar mixture on top, and I did a honey glaze instead. I also don't think I would dirty my blender to mix the ingredients, I would just whisk them next time.

Bev Lieven of Milwaukee Celiac-Sprue Crew sends in the following recipe for the ever elusive gluten-free replacement for America’s favorite deep-fried temptation - the donut. She notes: “Cake donuts were my favorite prior to my diagnosis in 1981…This recreates the taste and texture without the mess of frying.”

Donut Muffins

Combine:

2/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups gluten free flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 tsp. xanthan gum (opt.)

Mix in blender: 1 egg
1/2 c. milk
1/3 c. melted margarine
1 tsp. vanilla

Add to dry ingredients. Mix to moisten. Fill lightly greased muffin tins half full. Bake at 375º for 15-20 min. Makes about 1 dozen.

Glaze (like Dunkin Donuts) from here

• 5 1/3 tablespoons (1/3 cup) margarine or butter

• 2 cups powdered sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1/3 cup hot water

Cinnamon Rolls

Alright, Ellen from I Am Gluten Free posted this cinnamon roll recipe, and I was having a friend over for coffee this morning and I had to try it. Make it. It is yummy and worth the effort. And the effort wasn't even that much, it seems like it would be much more complicated that it is. Next time I would throw in a handful of ground flax seed for some nutritional value, and the only other thing I changed was adding softened smeared butter to the dough before putting the sugar mixture on. I also wonder if you sneak in a bit of brown rice flour, I wonder if that would ruin it or not? I may try that next time. Before gluten free I always upped the nutrition in my baked goods, I don't think it works the same with GF recipes. When I try it that way, I will let you know how it works.
Oh, and the original poster of this recipe says you can make them the night before, put in the fridge and bake the next morning. Perfect for holidays or company!!

Make, bake, and enjoy!

Cinammon Rolls
Serves 8 or 9

INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons melted or softened butter
2 tablespoons softened butter
1/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup of milk, room temperature
1 packet yeast (about 1 tablespoon)
1 egg
1/4 cup grapeseed oil (or canola)
1/2 cup potato starch
1 cup corn starch
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/2 teaspoons xantham gum
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

TO SPRINKLE ON BOARD COVERED WITH PLASTIC WRAP
1 - 2 tablespoons sugar

FILLING
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon
1/3 cup chopped nuts - optional

GLAZE
¾ cup powdered or confectionary sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
milk to thicken

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In medium bowl, combine shortening and sugar. Mix well. Measure warm milk and add yeast to milk. Whisk well to fully dissolve .

Add milk/yeast to sugar mixture. Add remaining ingredients. Mix very well, being sure to remove all lumps. Dough will be quite soft.

Take a piece of plastic wrap and lay it out so it covers a 13 1/2" x 13 1/2" square. Sprinkle sugar on the wrap. Lay ball of dough on top of that. Then pull out another sheet of wrap and gently lay over the dough. Pat the dough down into a roughly squarish pancake. Lift the top wrap up and then reposition it. Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough in between the two layers of wrap. Occasionally you'll have to lift and reposition the wrap because it gets "stuck" under the edges. You might have to occasionally flip the whole thing over. Make sure that when you're done you've got ABOUT a 13 1/2" x 13 1/2" square of dough.

Remove top piece of wrap. Smear the 2 T. softened butter on the dough. Combine filling ingredients. Spread evenly across dough's surface. (Original recipe poster suggested leaving about a 1 1/2" sugar free edge because when you roll the dough all the sugar shifts and fills this in; otherwise all the sugar spills out).Use the bottom piece of wrap to lift the edge of the dough and start to roll it up forming a long cylinder. Start with the sugary edge, which will be the center of your roll and roll toward the sugarless edge. Cut off or trim up the irregular ends of your "log". Then cut into 8 or 9 slices of similar size, about 1 1/2" wide. Place rolls into a greased round glass pie pan.

Bake approximately 20 minutes, until tops are lightly browned.

Combine powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk to make glaze. The amount of milk you use will depend on how thick you want the glaze to be. Stir until all lumps are dissolved. Drizzle over warm rolls if desired.

(Person who wrote about this recipe included this note: These are lovely with coffee in the morning. They're very light and fluffy - not too heavy or dense. I've also discovered that you can make these the night before and stop short of baking them. Wrap them up in their pan or glass dish and leave them in the fridge for the night. The next morning you can take them out and bake them and they come out just the same! I've found that this is a great thing to bring to a friends house for brunch. I just pop them in their oven - and you've got a great GF contribution and you know there's no cross contamination!)

Banana Bread Muffins

I got the original from www.celiac.com from user katrinamaria. I liked it because it looked easy. I always add some ground flax seed to things I bake to add more nutrition. I never measure, I just add a bit.

I made this as muffins and bread. The bread was a little crumbly, I think I would add an egg next time. They came out great as muffins. I am thinking this is a "tried and true"muffin, but not yet in a loaf form.

Make sure you take the butter out early, it has to soften.

1 stick butter softened
3 large, very ripe bananas (mashed)
2 C rice flour
1 C sugar
2 eggs
2 Tbs baking powder
1 T vanilla
small bit of ground flax seed
1/2 chopped nuts (optional)

Cream butter with sugar in large bowl. Beat in eggs, vanilla and bananas. Mix in flour & baking powder. Turn into 9 x 5 loaf pan, sprayed. Bake at 325 for one hour and 20 minutes until brown on top.

Ginger Cake

This recipe is from The Something in Season blog done by Brendon. Check out his blog for some great recipes and cooking tips.

This cake was fabulous, I didn't use the frosting...I didn't think it needed it. It would be a great coffee cake or cake with tea, family dessert. It was quick to make, and the only "work" involved was chopping the ginger...but totally worth the effort.

Tip: This is the original recipe, stands wonderfully on it's own, I like to add chopped pecans and a touch of vanilla.

Something in Season: Dark Chocolate-Frosted Ginger Cake - New & Improved!

DARK CHOCOLATE-FROSTED GINGER CAKE

Cake
• 1 ½ cups brown rice flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon xanthan gum
• ½ cup turbinado or brown sugar
• ½ cup maple syrup
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup fresh ginger root, peeled and finely minced (not grated)
• ¼ cup applesauce
• ¼ cup grapeseed oil (if you must, you can use canola oil instead)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Begin by using a paring knife to peel the ginger. Then, using a large knife, mince the ginger until it is fine. Note that if you grate the ginger, the texture and taste will be different. You’ll also want to reduce the amount of ginger to 1/3 cup.
In a bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. In a separate large bowl, whisk the wet ingredients together. Add to the dry ingredients and stir to combine. Once uniform, stir in the ginger. Pour into a well-oiled, 8-inch round pan. Bake for 34 minutes. While cooling, make the frosting.


Chocolate Frosting:
• 3 ounces dark (70%+) chocolate
• ½ cup coconut milk (regular, not light)
• 2 tablespoons turbinado or brown sugar
Chop the chocolate into small pieces. Combine the ingredients in a heat-proof bowl (like Pyrex glass) and set on a pot filled with an inch or two of water. Bring that water to a boil, and whisk the chocolate / coconut milk mixture until it melts together. Remove from the heat, and allow to sit for 15 minutes. Frost the cake while still warm.
Noted: while warm, this frosting has the consistency of syrup. It will form a lovely, rich, drippy chocolate covering for the cake. If you prefer your frosting stiffer, reduce the amount of coconut milk by half.

Easy Basic Muffin recipe

Got this from www.celiac.com from user run_4_jesus

2 tbsp. shortening
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup white or brown rice flour
2 tsps. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup milk
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

Mix the shortening and sugar. Then mix the eggs. Then throw in the flour, baking powder, and salt and mix. Then mix in the milk. Then mix in the vanilla extract.
Bake for about 20 minutes in a 350 degree oven.
ENJOY!

Coconut muffins/cupcakes

This recipe is also on www.recipezaar.com Recipe #205618. They are fluffy, moist and don't taste gluten free. Takes 2 minutes to mix them up. Coconut flour is high fiber, and expensive, but you use very little. Play with it, it's great. Trust me.

Oh, one more tip, they can stick. I use the natural paper liners, and they work great with these. If you don't use liners, grease VERY well.

3 tablespoons butter, melted (or coconut oil)
3 eggs
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 mashed banana
chopped nuts (optional)
toasted coconut for tops (optional)

1. Just mix up the ingredients.
2. Scoop batter in a muffin tin with liners.
3. Bake 15 min at 400 degrees.
4. Enjoy!