Pineapple Truffle Bread

Over the holidays, we somehow ended up with two containers of crushed pineapple in the fridge. I put it in my oatmeal nearly daily (with almond butter, coconut and craisins), but I still had a bit left. Decided that I would try and recreate one of my favorite See's candies, the pineapple truffle.

With the boy needing more snacks that are wheat and corn free, I knew what needed to be done first. I went back to my quick bread ratio for a starting place. Made sure I had lots of chocolate (he says there isn't enough). The only thing missing, in my opinion, is some coconut sugar, And maybe more pineapple.

Pineapple Truffle Bread

8 ounces crushed pineapple with juice

4 ounces melted coconut oil

2 eggs

4 ounces teff flour

2 ounces dark chocolate cocoa powder

2 ounces all purpose gluten free flour

4 ounces sugar

1 tsp baking soda

Handful dark chocolate chips

Handful chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium size bowl, combine pineapple, cooled coconut oil, and eggs. Set aside. In a smallish bowl, stir together flours, cocoa powder, baking soda and sugar. Pour slowly into egg mixture and stir until combined. Add chocolate chips (the boy says add more than called for) and pecans/almonds if you want. Grease four small loaf pans, and fill with batter. Bake for roughly 40 minutes or until a testing tool comes out clean. Cool and enjoy!

Note: I would add maybe another ounce of pineapple to the batter and/or make a glaze (powdered sugar and pineapple juice) to pour over the top to increase the pineapple flavor.

Half Birthday Dessert Pizza

The Monkey's birthday always falls around Thanksgiving. Last year with the move and  the craziness of December, we never got to the friend party. So we decided to host a half birthday party this past weekend. It was a beautiful day complete with a huge bounce house, pizza and eleven kids ranging in age from 4-10 plus one infant.

The Monkey had seen a dessert pizza in one of the cooking magazines that lay around our home. We ended up with something slightly different, but the results were phenomenal. I had kids asking for seconds and thirds. The base of it was Grandma Darling's Sugar Cookies pressed into three 9-inch pie plates. We were playing with it in this new form so really aren't sure how long to bake. Start with 10 minutes and add on until the edges start to turn golden. Cool and add white chocolate frosting, 2 tablespoons of corn free strawberry jam, and 4-5 strawberries cut like pepperoni. Coconut flakes are optional.

White Chocolate Frosting

1 stick butter, softened
4 oz. white chocolate baking bar, melted (I used Hershey's)
3 cups powdered sugar
2-3 tablespoons almond milk

Beat butter until creamy. Melt the chocolate in a glass bowl in the microwave. Two minutes was just about right for just getting to the liquid phase. Again by 15 second intervals to ensure that you don't burn it. Add the powdered sugar by 1/2 cup increments. Beat in white chocolate. Milk should be added a tablespoon at a time until the frosting is creamy, but not soupy.

That's my green, jumping Monkey!

Ratio Rally Cobbler

 

About a week ago, I had the rare opportunity to be off on a Sunday morning. I got to attend church for the first time since Easter, and then went with my family to a farmer's market at a local orchard. I was excited to see what fruits might be available since I knew I needed something for this challenge. The only fruit there though were these Baldwin apples. Picked them up even though I had wanted to do something a little more exotic than apple cobbler.

 

Then my brain started whirling, and I thought why not add cranberries to the mix? Yes, I know traditionally cobblers are a one fruit wonder, but I decided to live on the edge. :) Heck, we went all out and this is a chocolate cobbler. Oh, yeah! 

For those of you unfamiliar with the Gluten Free Ratio Rally, I invite you to the inaugural post of pancakes. It is a simple idea of baking using ratios. This month we are hosted by TR of No One Likes Crumbly Cookies. Go check out all the other fabulous recipes from this month!

 

Apple-Cranberry Cobbler

1 1/2 Cups apples, peeled, cored, sliced thinly

1/2 Cup cranberries

1 teaspoon cinnamon

100 grams sorghum

60 grams teff

40 grams dark chocolate cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking powder

120 grams coconut palm sugar
1/2 Cup butter, melted
8 ounces non-dairy milk

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place butter in a pie plate, and put in oven while putting together everything else. Combine apples, cranberries and cinnamon in a small bowl, and then set aside. In a larger bowl combine, sorghum, teff, cocoa, baking powder and sugar. Add milk slowly and stir until just combined.

 A lot of recipes I looked at said to just pour this batter over the top of the melted butter in your pan. I decided to combine it in. You can do it either way. Spoon the fruit carefully on the top. Place in oven and bake at 350 for about 75 minutes. Remove and cool.

Ratio Rally Tea Breads

I do believe this is my first post of the year. I have written parts of posts, but due to illnesses, surgery and family emergencies I never quite got back to them. My four jobs haven't helped much either. That said, when the idea of tea breads was floated to the Ratio Rally I jumped on it. The Monkey and I are huge lovers of other quick breads, and this seemed the best way to get my feet wet again in the blogging sense.

Quick breads are used for breakfast or for late afternoon tea time or anytime. I have been known to serve them at lunch with a side for fresh fruit and yogurt. The ratio makes it a fairly simple item to put together. The ratio for quick breads is 2 flour: 2 liquid: 1 egg: 1 fat. With that in mind, let's visit the other blogger's take on tea breads.

Heather: Discovering the Extraordinary -- "Figgy" Tea Bread

Adina: Gluten Free Travellette -- Rhubarb Tea Bread

Morri: Meals with Morri -- Oatmeal Raisin Tea Bread

Brooke: B & the boy! -- Scottish Tea Bread

 

Scottish Tea Bread

8 ounces Scottish breakfast tea

4 ounces canola oil

2 large eggs

4 ounces oatmeal cookies, crushed

3 ounces sorghum

1 ounce potato starch

4 ounces dry oatmeal

4 ounces raw sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

Boil water for making the tea. Add to one tea bag in your glass measuring cup. Steep for 30 minutes, and remove bag. Set aside. In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients thoroughly. Add all wet ingredients, and stir until just combined. Bake at 350 degrees F for 60-75 minutes. Remove from oven and cool. Makes one large and one small loaf.

Ratio Rally Bundt Cake

Have you noticed that I have been gone for awhile? I have become a crazy person in the last month or so by deciding to take on a third part-time job in addition to helping my mom with home-schooling and running my home business. Yes, I am insane. What precious little time I have had has been spent with the Monkey or sleeping. However, this past Sunday I got off at noon and was actually able to bake! I nearly swooned I was so excited!

Then disaster struck. Okay, not disaster. Just normal life stuff, and really the Monkey and Boo were pretty well behaved. The prep of the sweet potato and the apple-cranberry sauce took more time than I would have liked, and then....it came out half raw. Sigh. I took pretty pictures of the cake though. It looked fabulous!

Decided I should try again, still using the ratio for a cake using puree from one of the other ralliers, and just cook it longer. More like my granny's carrot cake. The ratio incidentally is 1:2:2:2:3 (fat:sugar:puree:egg:flour). So here I sit waiting for the second cake to come out of the oven while I type and prep to send the Monkey off to Sturbridge Village tomorrow for home school day. The way it smells I am betting it turns out fine. If you are interested in how others cakes turned out, head on over to our host's,  Adina of Gluten Free Travelette, post for her take on bundt cakes and the full list of participants.

Spiced Sweet Potato Bundt Cake with Apple-Cranberry Sauce

100 grams sorghum
60 grams teff
20 grams potato starch
110 grams brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons all-spice
110 grams brown sugar
2 ounces melted coconut oil
4 ounces mashed sweet potato
2 flax eggs
6 ounces apple cider

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease your bundt pan with cooking spray and set aside. In a large bowl, combine sorghum, teff, potato starch, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and all-spice. Add melted coconut oil, mashed sweet potato, and flax eggs. Mix until combined. Add apple cider and ounce or two at a time mixing as you go. The batter will be fairly thick. Scoop out a 1/3 of the batter into your pan and spread evenly along the bottom. Spoon apple-cranberry sauce into the center of the batter all the way around. Reserve a little of the sauce for plate decoration. Scoop small amounts of the remaining batter on top and spread carefully. Don't want any sauce poking out. :) Smooth and pop into the oven for 1 hour 45 minutes. Let cool completely in pan before turning out onto plate. Drizzle glaze over the top and fill center with remaining sauce.

Apple-Cranberry Sauce

1 Cup fresh cranberries
1 small apple, cored, peeled & diced
1/4 Cup apple cider
1 teaspoon orange zest
1 cinnamon stick

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until a thick pie-filling like consistency is reached. Set aside.

Glaze

1/2 Cup powdered sugar
5 teaspoons apple cider

Mix together. Spoon or brush over the top of the cake.

Ratio Rally Tortillas

When the Monkey was first diagnosed with his allergies, I was all gung-ho to make everything from scratch, and tortillas were near the top of my list due to his excessive love of the bean burrito. Let me say that my one and only attempt was a failure. Not just any failure, but a huge flop. They couldn't even be cooked it was that bad. Sigh.

So we looked into alternatives and found the brown rice tortillas from Food for Life. These are good, but went bad before we could use them all. So, I just gave in and we dealt with the flour tortillas. His allergy causes behavioral issues, and since we didn't do it often I was okay with this level of exposure. You will find that we make decisions like this a lot around here.Since then those tortillas have become available in the frozen section giving them a longer shelf life, but again I just couldn't see the point given the frequency (say maybe one or two a month?) that we ate them.

Shredded chicken, peppers, adzuki beans, & a bit of mango sauce

Tortillas were on my mind again though when I decided to host the Gluten-Free Ratio Rally. After a little discussion, I was put on the calendar for this month, and I started doing my research. Know what my research shows? That there really isn't a standard ratio for this "baked" item. Rhulman doesn't have one, and every recipe that I have looked at is just enough different that you can't make a generalization. Or at least that is my interpretation of it.

You do need three things. Flour, water and fat. I think at the final hour I finally licked this ratio thing. At least in the sense that I found something that works even if it isn't pretty. The math? You have heard me mention that my math brain doesn't work real good, right? I ended up with roughly (verrrrry roughly) a 2:1:1 ratio of flour:water:fat. It really isn't that clean, but we will leave it at that and you can play with it, right?

Before I get to my recipe, I want to make sure you can go and visit all the amazing bloggers who have participated this month in the tortilla/wraps challenge. Please visit, comment, and re-create their creations. :)

Jenn | Jenn Cuisine	Corn Tortillas
Jonathan | The Canary Files	Vegan Curried Flour Tortillas
Meg | Gluten-Free Boulangerie	Lefse (Norwegian Potato Flatbread)
Pete and Kelli | No Gluten, No Problem	Flour Tortillas
TR | No One Likes Crumbley Cookies	Gluten Free Flour Tortillas - Quesadilla
Heather | Discovering the Extraordinary	Sundried Tomato & Basil Tortillas
Charissa | Zest Bakery	Paleo Grain-Free and Gluten-Free Tortillas
Karen | Cooking Gluten Free!	Gluten Free Healthy Flours Tortillas

Buckwheat Tortillas

100 grams buckwheat flour
60 grams brown rice flour
40 grams potato starch
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 Cup + 2 Tablespoons hot water
1/4 Cup + 2 Tablespoons melted coconut oil

This recipe from Jazibe's Recipes was the one that got this off the ground.

So measure it out and mix it up. Add water and oil to a well in the middle of your flour. Mix it with your extremely clean hands until it comes into a nice ball. If it is still crumbly feel free to add another tablespoon or two of hot water. This is what did the trick for mine.  Roll into 6 fairly equal balls and let rest for 10-20 minutes under a damp cloth. Roll them out one at a time to about a 6 inch diameter. Cook in a warm skillet (Or griddle. oh, how I wish I had one of those) for about 90 seconds on each side. Cool and fill with whatever you like.

Black beans & rice with a bit of guacamole? yes please!

Ratio Rally Bagels

This post nearly didn't happen, and I am not sure that it really is happening. My idea was a long time in coming, and motivation was waylaid by the allergy monster. Incidentally, the allergy monster did a number on my workouts as well. It's been a rough month.

So why did it almost not happen? Ummm, the first batch came out like hockey pucks. Seriously. The batter was gorgeous, and tasted good. Then we got to the rising (not really), shaping (ha!), boiling (they were boiled), and then baking. It just wasn't pretty. Given the way the second batch has turned out my money is on the yeast being out of date. Even though I kept it in the fridge I just think it wasn't meant to be. So new yeast yields a new result. Crossing my fingers. Did you cross yours?

....and they aren't what I wanted. Sigh. Now I think I don't have enough flour. The idea behind these came from my sister who remembers having peanut butter bagels when we were younger. I did a little searching, and found this recipe at Have Cake, Will Travel that I based mine off of. I played with the ratio, and think I came close to the 1.9 flour:1 liquid. However, I can't honestly say what's a liquid or a flour or a bagel at this point. For a more coherent explanation of this month's rally, you should check out our host Morri at Meals with Morri where the complete list of yummy, gluten free bagels is ready for you to enjoy.

Peanut Butter & Jelly Bagels

150 grams oat flour
100 grams brown rice flour
50 grams arrowroot starch
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 Cup water (heated to 100 degrees F)
1 package active dry yeast
2 Tablespoons agave nectar
4 ounces peanut butter (or whatever you can use)
2-4 heaping Tablespoons jam (in this case Blueberry Butter made by Hundred Acre Farm)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a large cookie sheet and set aside. In large mixing bowl, combine flours and salt. Set aside. (I like that phrase!) In a 2 cup glass measuring cup, warm your water. I microwaved for about 2 minutes, and then had to let it cool back down to 100-ish degrees.  Pour in agave and yeast. Stir to combine, and....set aside to do its frothy thing. Add peanut butter to flour, and mix well. Once the yeast mixture is ready pour into mixer, and beat well.

The next instructions were for kneading, and maybe I should have done it. I prefer to let the mixer do it for me. Either way the dough should be worked in some way for about 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl coated with oil/spray that will allow the dough to double in size. Cover with plastic wrap, and set your timer for about an hour. Go do the dishes or exercise while waiting. Punch down the dough, divide into 4 pieces, and shape into balls. Let rest for about 10 minutes. While you are waiting this time you will want to bring your sauce pot of water to a boil. Divide the dough again and roll into balls that are fairly smooth in texture. Flatten and then make a hole in the middle. These babies should rest again. It is really tiring being a bagel.

Put each bagel in gently for 30 seconds before turning for another 30 seconds. Remove from boiling water to the prepared pan with a slotted spoon. When all have been boiled, place the baking sheet(s) in the oven for 30 minute or until golden brown and they sound hollow on the bottom when tapped.

Maybe they need to rise a second time?

Blonde Bean Bunny Brownies

So, the idea popped into my head to do a more grown up non-chocolatey brownie, because I am not overly fond of the brownie. Sue me! I do the chocolate for my boy. With some research on black bean brownies, I decided to do a pseudo-blondie. They were kind of thrown together last minute as my plans for baking last week kept getting thwarted by work. I will say that I am pleased with them, and would only add some white chips and/or dried cranberries to them. Hmmm. I still have a can of beans in the pantry........

Blonde Bean Brownies

70 grams coconut flour

4 ounces melted coconut oil

4 ounces agave nectar

4 ounces white chocolate

2 flax "eggs"

1 can cannellini (white kidney) beans, drained and rinsed

splash of vanilla

1/8 chopped pistachios

Melt coconut oil in a glass measuring cup in the microwave. Add white chocolate and microwave for an additional 90 seconds. Remove and stir until chocolate and oil are mostly combined. Add agave to this mix and then pour into the bowl with the beans. Using a hand held blender, puree the beans and liquid until smooth. Add flax eggs and vanilla, and blend some more. Stir in by hand the flour (my alternate to cocoa) and chopped pistachios. Bake in a greased whoopie pie pan at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes or in a 9 x 11 greased pan for about 35 minutes. Cool completely.

Ratio Rally Brownies

This is the first of two posts. Yes, two! I had three great ideas, but only two fully worked out. :) This is the first as it established my ratio, and it was kid tested and approved. Not just by my Monkey, but by several kids at Awanas as we were in charge of snack that week.

So my ratio turned out pretty simple, which is something I like. 1 flour:2 fat:2 eggs (2 oz:4 oz:4 oz). For more fabulous recipes go and check out our host for this month, Mary Fran from FrannyCakes!

Triple Chocolate Brownies

4 ounces butter

4 ounces chocolate (chips, baking chocolate)

140 grams granulated sugar

70 grams teff

30 grams cocoa powder

2 eggs

50 grams chocolate chips

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt the chocolate, butter and sugar together in a microwave safe bowl for about 90 seconds. Stir to determine meltiness. Return to microwave for another 30-60 seconds as necessary. Add whisked eggs, and stir. Add teff and cocoa until completely combined. Stir in chocolate chips, and pour into a greased 9 x 11 pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes. Cool before cutting.

Savory Bread Pudding

Here we go. It has taken me nearly two weeks to get this post from recipe made to up on the blog. All I can say is that life happened. Sinus infection, never ending work schedule, and then the damned (sorry) time change. Can I say how much I do not like the time change? Yeah, yeah we get a whole 'nother hour of sunlight. Nobody ever talks about the month it takes for your body to adjust to the change. Nor do they talk about the craziness that ensues with children let alone ones with sensory issues. Do I need to say anything more about this?

Anyway. The idea for these muffins was born back in the fall when I made sun-dried tomato and basil muffins that only I liked. I put half of them in the freezer intending to make bread pudding. Looky! Here is the bread pudding. I kept it simple with just vegetables and put my meat (an apple-chicken sausage) on the side. Made about 5 very yummy servings, and was a great way to use up my savory bread/muffin. Enjoy!

Savory Bread Pudding

2 dozen savory mini muffins

6 eggs

1 1/2 cups almond milk

1 teaspoon dried minced onion

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon basil

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1/2-1 cup diced vegetables

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, spices, cheese and vegetables. In this case, I defrosted some crinkle cut zucchini and tri-colored peppers, and then diced them up. Set aside. Cube up bread/muffins, and add to egg mixture coating thoroughly. Dump either into a 9 x 9 greased pan or 5 (or 6) individual ramekins. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes or until the egg mixture is firm and your pudding is slightly pouffy. Serve hot.

Ratio Rally Popovers

So, I had a brilliant idea for something I had never made before let alone eaten. Never had popovers you say? Don't really know what they are?!

Yeah, I was clueless. Does this make me a bad, Anglophile? I don't know. I know that waiting until the weekend before the rally was probably not the wisest move on my part. In my defense the first two weeks were spent in Florida with the family, and I have been working like a fiend or having migraines/vertigo since getting back. I don't think my motivation was helped by the reported results of other ralliers who were having issues with this month's ratio.

So despite my best plans. I didn't start until Saturday. And no I didn't start with plain ones. I went all out with my wild idea, which didn't really work out flavor wise. I did find a great starting place for my recipe though at Spectacularly Delicious. It wasn't to far off Rhulman's ratio either of 1:1:2 (egg:flour:liquid). With my puree, the ratio came out to 1:1:1.5 with a smidge of fat.

I don't know if these are "proper" popovers, but I know one little Monkey who will love them as much as I do. So without further ado, I give you the Ratio Rally's take on Popover's.

Chocolate-Sweet Potato Popovers

4 eggs

8 ounces chocolate almond milk

4 ounces sweet potato puree*

130 grams teff flour

80 grams brown rice flour

50 grams arrowroot starch

3 Tablespoons butter, melted

*Sweet potato puree:
1/2 boiled, peeled sweet potato

1/4 Cup Enjoy Life chocolate chips

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon brown sugar

8 drops vanilla stevia

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place eggs, milk and butter into the blender. Blend. :) In your now empty glass measuring cup, place the ingredients for the puree. Microwave on high for one minute. Remove and mash with a fork until well combined. Add to blender. Mix. Add the flours, and blend until smooth. Place your muffin tin/popover pan/whatever you are using in the preheated oven for about 5 minutes. Remove and liberally coat with cooking spray. Fill cups about 2/3 full and bake for 40 minutes. Poke small holes in the tops, and bake another five minutes. Remove to a plate and consume immediately. I mean it! Do it before anybody notices there are chocolatey goodies in the house!

P.S. There is enough batter left over that you could might make 4 more popovers to share bringing the total to 16 servings.

from the original batch. just love this photo.