English Toffee

My husband loves his toffee. Yes, I could just keep him at bay by getting another heath bar. But this is the holidays! Besides, heath bars don't even come close to how good this toffee is. I like to make it and freeze it, then use it whenever a recipe calls for toffee bits. It is great. It is naturally gluten-free, so no difference there.  Super easy. I hope you try it!

2 sticks butter
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips

In a heavy saucepan mix butter, sugar, water and salt. Stir constantly with a high temperature spatula until it reaches 290 degrees... a tan color... don't let it get too dark. You know what toffee looks like.
pour onto a buttered sheet pan with edges.

 Don't let it touch you at all, obviously it is dangerous. Let it cool only slightly then sprinkle on the chocolate chips. Let the chips melt and then spread them evenly across to make the chocolate topping.
Chill for 2 hours then crack and serve.

Gluten-free Cornbread

Life is funny. It is all about change. Nothing ever stays the same. I guess you can say the only thing that stays the same is that you can guarantee change. The last 3 years my life has taken drastic changes. Moving from Oregon, the only place I can remember calling home, to Southern California. I have found a new home. While I miss my friends and family back home, I do not miss living there. Summers in Oregon are beautiful, but the rest of the time... not beautiful (for me). If you love rain, then it is the place for you. I get that some people love it. I can't stand it. Moving here gave me a whole new perspective on life. I am able to be active year round. If I need some peace, I drive 5 minutes to the beach. The other plus is the cuisine. Serious food here. Not only that, pretty much every place has gluten-free options on the menu. A lot of our grocery stores have everything labeled that is gluten-free. Thank the Lord for that! I have been learning more and more how to make regular food into gluten-free food. One thing I love about Gluten-Free is that I can still have cornbread. Cornbread and hunny butter  a comfort food for me. It is one of those dishes I can remember from my childhood. For some reason we ate out at a local pie house a lot. I used to get a side of corn bread all the time. I have always loved corn bread. It is a comfort for me.

Gluten-free Cornbread Recipe

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees. Grease a 9x9x2-inch pan.
Mix together in a large bowl:
1 cup stone ground corn meal
1/4 cup corn flour
3/4 cup gluten-free self rising flour blend (link is for my recipe)
4 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
In another bowl, whisk together:
2 large eggs 1 1/3 cups milk
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until blended. Fold in:
3 Tbsp melted butter or vegetable oil.

Pour the batter into the greased pan

 and cook for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick stuck in it comes out clean.

My Creamy Cheesey Potatoes Au Gratin

I usually have to double this. If not, it is devoured too fast. It is even better reheated the next day. One of my best signature dishes. Here is the non-doubled version. Gluten free... naturally. If you don't have gluten free flour (as long as you are not gluten intollerant), then just use regular flour. It is easy and you can't taste the difference either way.

4 russet potatoes, sliced into 1/4 inch slices

1 onion, sliced into rings
salt and pepper to taste
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose gluten free flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (I like to use a sharp cheese)

Directions


1.Preheat oven to 400 degrees Prepare a 1 quart casserole dish with cooking spray.

2.Layer 1/4 of the potatoes into bottom of the prepared casserole dish. Top with the onion slices, and repeat 4 times with the remaining potatoes and onions. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

3.In a medium-size saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Mix in the flour and salt, and pepper, and stir constantly with a whisk for one minute. Stir in milk. Cook until mixture has thickened. Stir in cheese all at once, and continue stirring until melted, about 30 to 60 seconds.

 Pour cheese over the potatoes, and cover the dish. If you do not have a covered dish, you can use aluminum foil.

4.Bake 1 1/2 hours in the preheated oven. The last 30 minutes, remove the lid.

Yummy Gluten-Free Cinnamon Rolls

Every year for Christmas I have made Cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning. This is my first year with having a gluten intollerant daughter (that I knew of). Let me tell you, I can't tell the difference. If a yummy gooey cinnabon style cinnamon roll is what you are after... look no further. I have to say it is almost better than the "gluten" ones I have tried. My friend is moving. She has done nothing but help me the last 2 months with my injury. Driving me all over the place, helping me with my work etc... I want to make something comforting for her. She is gluten intollerant as well as her little boy. these Gluten-free Cinnamon Rolls are perfect.

INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup of milk, room temperature
1 tablespoon yeast
1 egg
1/4 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

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

Plastic wrap sprinkled with 2 tablespoons sugar

FILLING
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
GLAZE
¾ cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
milk
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In medium bowl, combine butter and sugar. Mix well. I put in my kitchen aid mixer.

Measure warm milk and add yeast to milk. Whisk well to fully dissolve.

Add milk/yeast to sugar mixture.
Add Egg, oil and vanilla to mixture and mix.

Sift together remaining ingredients. Add to mixture Mix very well, being sure to remove all lumps. Dough will be very soft... its ok... it is supposed to be
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.Roll out dough into about a 13 1/2" x 13 1/2" square of dough.

Remove top piece of wrap. Combine filling ingredients. Spread evenly across dough's surface.

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.

Lebkuchen Cookies Gluten-Free or regular

If you don't know me, you might not know that I am very very very interested in other cultures food. Usually if there is a holiday, even if it is not a holiday I celebrate, I cook. I like to look up what other Countries and Religions make to celebrate different events. I found this recipe for Lebkuchen. It is a traditional German cookie that is usually baked for Christmas. The recipe intrigued me because it contained all the flavors that I think of, when I think of the holidays. So many Christmas cookie recipes require you to refridgerate for a minimum of 2 hours. This is one of those. So how I do it, is I do these recipes first. Then let them chill while I am cooking/ baking other recipes. You won't be sad you tried these for your holiday cooking. Remember, you don't have to be gluten-free to use my recipes, simply use regular flour instead of the gluten-free flour. Here is what I did.

For the Cookies:
3 cups all-purpose flour, (I use my gluten Free flour recipe)
1 tsp xanthan gum (omit if you are not doing gluten-free)
1¼ teaspoons ground nutmeg
1¼ teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon ground allspice
1 egg
¾ cup light brown sugar
½ cup honey
½ cup molasses

The Glaze:
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
2 Tablespoons water
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1. Once you pull them out of refridgeration: Preheat the oven to 350°F. and line two baking sheets parchment paper. I use my baking stone.
2. Sift together the flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and allspice and set aside.
3. Beat the egg and sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy, Scrape down the bowl.
4. Beat in the honey and molasses until thoroughly combined.
5. slow down mixer and stir in the flour mixture until just combined.

6. Turn the dough out from the bowl onto a well-floured surface. Knead the dough, adding more flour as kneaded, until a stiff dough is formed.
7. Pour the dough into a parchment lined 9x13 pan and chill until firm, about 2 hours or overnight.

8. On a well-floured surface, roll out the dough and Cut the dough into rectangles. Bake for 12-15 minutes.
9. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack and let cool. Whisk together the confectioner’s sugar, water and lemon juice and brush or spread on top of the cookies.
10. Allow the glaze to firm, and then store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature.

Chocolate Shortbread Tea Cookies - Gluten-Free or regular

It is time for me to roll out more holiday baking. Cookies Cookies Cookies! These yummy bites are fun to have around. They go away fast, so you might want to double the recipe! As always, If you are looking for the regular recipe, just use regular flour and omit the xanthan gum. We are a gluten-free house so I just use my blend for a gluten-free all purpose flour.


Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour (I use my gluten-free flour recipe)
1 tsp xanthan gum (omit if not doing gluten-free method)
1 lb. (2 sticks) butter
½ cup powdered sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups miniature chocolate chips, divided

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.
Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add vanilla and mix well. Gradually add flour. Stir in 1 cup miniature chocolate chips.

Shape into 1” balls and place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 15 minutes.

Remove to wire rack to cool.

Place ½ cup miniature chocolate chips in a sealed plastic bag and microwave until melted; about 30 seconds. Snip off a small corner of the bag and drizzle chocolate on top of cold cookies. Chill for 5 minutes or until chocolate is set. Store at room temperature.

Prize Giveaway!!! 2 Contests! Enter for FREE baked goods! and Product Review!

We are so excited to be telling you about. Katz Gluten Free! Katz is a Gluten-free, Nut free, Dairy free bakery. They guarantee there is no cross contamination because they don't have the ingredients in their bakery. For any of you food allergy people out there, you know how hard it is to find! We are so happy with their products, through them we are offering a Giveaway. See below for 2 different giveaways and also the review on 2 of their wonderful products!

PLEASE READ ENTIRE BLOG POST TODAY TO HAVE A CHANCE TO WIN 2 DIFFERENT GIVEAWAYS!

Giveaway #1:  To our readers Katz Gluten Free is giving away a sample pack of products for free.
Rules to win:
1.Put a comment on our blog stating what your favorite holiday treat is. Can be a cookie, a meal... whatever  you like the best about the season. It does not have to be a gluten-free treat. I may just make it into a gluten-free one =)
2. Follow www.Facebook.com/katzglutenfreebakery on facebook
or
3. Follow  www.Twitter.com/katzglutenfree on twitter.
We will pick our favorite and the winner will get a sample pack of baked goods supplied by Katz Gluten Free. Check out all of their yummy food: http://www.katzglutenfree.com/  Not only do they offer food that is safe to eat and yummy, but they also offer free shipping on all orders over $30!

When you order from Katz it comes in a nicely packaged box:

Put everything in the freezer until you are going to eat it that day. It is nice because you can meal plan and order all you need at one time.
Below I want to tell you about 2 of their new products:
Vanilla Rugelach
It comes packaged nicely in a plastic container, however I do not think you will need the recloseable lid that comes with it. Keep frozen until the day you want to eat them. We took them out Saturday morning and ate them all by Saturday night. These are rich and wonderfully textured. It was all we could do not to eat all of them in one sitting. It tasted like a yummy flakey vanilla cookie/cake. It would be the perfect thing to serve with tea. My mind was swirling with all the things I can use these Rugelach in. I highly recommend them. You can buy the Gluten-Free Vanilla Rugelach on their site for $5.14.

Chocolate Frosted Cupcakes
My Daughter keeps eyeing the cupcakes. I put them in the freezer until we burnt off some calaories from our Rugelach over indulgence. Monday morning they came out. Who would not be tempted by their chocolate and sprinkle goodness. Who doesn't like sprinkles? The cupcakes are light and fluffy and everything you would want a cupcake to be. If you did not tell someone they were gluten-free, they would not notice. You can buy 6 of the Gluten-Free Chocolate Frosted Cupcakes on their site for $5.49.

I couldn't resist...

Giveaway #2:
In addition, they are having a Grand Raffle where the winner gets box packed full of all their yummy food! The Grand Raffle is open to all. The drawing takes place january 3rd, so hurry and enter!

The link for the giveaway is at http://www.katzglutenfree.com/Articles.asp?ID=163

Don't hesitate, go there today and enter! While you are there, pick up some yummy baked goods! Don't forget they offer free shipping on all orders over $30! You won't be disappointed!

Gluten Free Smore bars

I found these knnikinnick gluten free graham crumbs at sprouts the other day. So I figured, what the heck. I will give them a try. My daughter loves smore's. So does my son. So I threw this quick recipe together. Super easy, gluten free and yummy.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
I put one stick of butter in an 11x13 inch pan and melted it by putting it in the oven for 3 minutes.

Poor 2 cups graham crumbs in pan and hand press it down to make a crust.
Top with 2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips.

Top that with 1 1/2 cups mini marshmellows

Bake for 15 minutes.

Wait to cool and then cut into bars.

Gluten-Free Frosted Pumpkin Bars with frosting

Keeping with the holiday baking theme today. I am making Gluten-Free Frosted Pumpkin Bars. I adapted this recipe from Paula Dean. If you don't want it Gluten-Free, then omit the xanthan gum and use regular flour.


Ingredients:
4 eggs
1 2/3 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin
2 cups gluten free  all-purpose flour blend, sifted
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda

Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting:
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 Tbsp butter, softened
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
Directions:

1.Preheat the oven to 350F.
2.Using an electric mixer at medium speed, combine the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin until light and fluffy.

3.Stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda.
4.Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and mix at low speed until thoroughly combined and the batter is smooth.

5.Spread the batter into a greased 13 x 10-inch baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes.

6.Make the frosting by placing the cream cheese and butter in a bowl and with an electric mixer, cream together until smooth. Add both sugars and mix at low speed until combined. Add the vanilla and mix again. Place frosting the fridge and allow to chill while making the bars.

7. Let cool completely before frosting. Cut into bars.

Gluten Free Oatmeal Protein Bars

School snacks are hard for me. I fall into a rut. I am looking for a new one to pack. I always make powerballs because they are easy for Taylor to grab and go for basketball. I read through magazines and blogs for a new one. Here is one I came up with. I had to adapt it for ingredients I had.
Oatmeal Protein Bars:
• 3 cups oatmeal
• 140 grams chocolate protein powder
• 3/4 cup peanut butter
• 1 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup apple sauce
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
Preparation:
1. Combine the above ingredients and put in a greased baking pan.

2. Bake @ 350 for 35 min.
3. Cool completely, then cut into 8 bars. Store in the fridge until they are ready to be eaten.

Avocado Cream Cheese Cookies - Gluten free

•1/3 cup Butter

•1/2 Avocado, mashed
•1/2 cup Cream cheese
•1/2 cup Sugar
•2 tbsp Lemon juice
•1 tbsp Poppy seeds
•1 cup of my gluten-free all purpose flour
•1/2 tsp Baking soda
•1/2 tsp xanthan gum

1.Line your cookie sheet or baking stone with parchment paper. Cream butter, mashed avocado, cream cheese, and sugar together. Add lemon juice and beat until light and fluffy.

2.Add in flour, baking soda and mix until incorporated. Fill your piping bag fitted with a star tip half full with cookie batter and pipe out cookies onto the prepared trays. Alternatively you can use a cookie gun to press any desired patterned cookies.

3.Preheat oven to 375F. Bake for 15 minutes until the cookies are lightly golden. Transfer them on the wire rack to cool.