Cut Out Sugar Cookies

* Gluten Free & Vegan version *

  
My “go to” gluten free, egg free Cut Out Sugar Cookie recipe had a vegan makeover!
The Wedge Table and the Food Allergy Support Group of MN invited me to partner with them in presenting a cooking class/demo.  We wanted to offer a cooking class that would be a fun family event and since it was over Valentine’s weekend, heart shaped cookies seemed like the perfect fit.
I hope you have a sweet time making these little cut outs for your holiday!
Cookies:

1 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon Ener-G Egg Replacer + 4 tablespoons warm water (whisked together in small bowl)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups gluten free flour (that includes xanthan gum – I used Namaste Perfect Gluten Free Flour Blend)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2.  In a mixing bowl, cream together shortening and sugar.
3.  Add the egg replacement and vanilla.  Mix until incorporated.
4. Add the flour and baking powder and mix on slow to medium speed until a nice dough forms that holds together.  (It should take just a minute or so)
5.  Roll out the dough to roughly 1/4 inch thickness.  Cut out dough using your favorite cookie cutter shape and transfer to cookie sheet covered with parchment paper.  Do not refrigerate the uncooked cookie dough, it will make it hard to roll out.
6.  Bake 7-8 minutes at 400 degrees.  You will want to remove these cookies from the oven before they get golden colored.  Let cookies sit on cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.  They take roughly 20-30 minutes to cool enough to decorate…Just enough time to get the icing made and sprinkles ready.
Icing:

4 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup rice milk (or the milk of your choice)
8 teaspoons light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extra
* food coloring of your choice (my new favorite is Color Garden’s natural food colors)
1.  Place measured powdered sugar in a large mixing bowl.
2.  In a separate small bowl, whisk together rice milk, corn syrup and vanilla until the corn syrup thins out.  Then, add to the powdered sugar and stir until fully mixed.  
3.  Optional – stir in food coloring.
I love to use the disposable icing bags to decorate the cookies.  They allow much more control of the icing than spreading with a knife and are pretty easy for kids to use as well.  Sometimes, for my kids, I will put a chip clip at the twisted top of the bag to prevent the icing from spilling out the top.
Have fun and happy decorating!
I hope you enjoy these tasty treats!

Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies

* Gluten Free, Egg Free & Nut Free *

Make your Cookie Monster happy with these Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies!

1 tablespoon flax seed, ground
3 tablespoons hot water

1/2 cup butter, softened (1 stick)
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup Natalie’s Gluten Free Flour Mix
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups Gluten Free Old Fashioned Oats
1 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup white chocolate chips

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silpat.
2.  In a small bowl, make flax gel by whisking together ground flax and hot water until thickened and tacky like.  Set aside.
3.  In mixer, combine butter and sugars.  Mix together at medium high speed, until creamy and fluffy.
4.  Mix in vanilla and flax gel until well combined.
5.  Add flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.  Mix well.
6.  Gently stir in oats, cranberries and white chocolate chips.
7.  Spoon onto prepared cookie sheets and place 2 inches apart.
8.  Bake 10 minutes at 375 or until just golden.  Allow to cool about 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack.
9.  Enjoy!

*Recipe adapted from www.food.com

Cheesy Hashbrown Potato Casserole

#MadeWithChobani
* Gluten Free, Egg Free & Nut Free *

Cheesy Hashbrown Potatoes has always been a family favorite!  The old recipe we loved contained wheat in the Cream of Chicken soup.  That was not going to stop me from carrying on this delicious, comfort food for our family…it just needed to be gluten freed!

I was inspired by Chobani’s #MadeWithChobani Project to create a recipe. What better recipe to try out than one I have been working on for years, this gluten free Cheesy Hashbrown Potato Casserole?! “That’s it!” I thought.  I’ve heard of substituting plain greek yogurt for sour cream so I decided to give it a try in one of our family favorites.  Who wouldn’t want to add a little healthy to this great dish?

I love Chobani yogurt for it’s incredible taste and thick texture.  I also love that they do not use any GMO’s in their products, they use only natural ingredients and sweeteners and that they use milk from cows not treated with rBST.  They truly make a high quality greek yogurt!

My kids were a little nervous when they heard that yogurt had snuck itself into one of their favorite dishes.

The moment of truth from one of my toughest critics…

Well…

YES!!!  Success!!

And…

Everyone cleaned their plates and our little Josie even had 3 servings of our new Gluten Free Cheesy Hashbrown Potato Casserole!  Need I say more?!
Thanks Chobani for challenging me to re-create this dish, making it more healthy for my family…and yours!
Enjoy!!

Cheesy Hashbrown Potato Casserole

1/2 small onion, finely chopped
2 Tbsp butter
2 cups (8 oz) sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 1/2 cups gluten free chicken broth
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
30 oz package hashbrown potatoes, thawed
2 cups gluten free cornflakes, crushed
2 T butter, melted
1 tsp dried parsley flakes
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray and set aside.
2.  Saute chopped onions in butter.
3.  In a large bowl, combine sauteed onions & butter, yogurt, cheese, chicken broth, pepper and salt.  Mix together well then add the hashbrown potatoes and mix them thoroughly.  Pour into prepared 9 x 13 pan.
4.  In a small bowl, mix together cornflakes and butter then sprinkle over the pan of hashbrown potatoes.  Sprinkle with parsley.
5.  Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for one hour or until bubbly and golden brown on top.

This recipe has been shared on this blog’s collection of gluten free recipes:
*  Gluten Free Wednesdays

Pioneer Woman’s Cornbread Stuffing Made Gluten Free

Ree Drummond, the Pioneer Woman, makes amazing, delicious recipes.  I’m head over heels in love with her Perfect Pot Roast and Creamy Mashed Potatoes.  Both happen to be gluten free, egg free and nut free (just be sure to use a gluten free beef broth for the roast).

So when I was struggling to find a flavorful stuffing recipe for Thanksgiving, that worked well with gluten free breads, I went searching for a Pioneer Woman’s Thanksgiving Stuffing recipe.  This recipe knocked my socks off!  Stuffing is finally back on my list of what I look forward to for Thanksgiving dinner.

There are no eggs in the recipe…so that makes for a great start.  To make it gluten free, I just needed to use a gluten free chicken broth, a gluten free cornbread and a gluten free white bread.

To substitute the white french bread, I made my favorite white bread recipe,  The Best Gluten Free Vegan Bread Recipe.  When you make the flour mixture for this bread, it makes enough for 2 loaves.  Or… maybe you’ll want to use the flour to make one loaf and have enough leftover to make some delicious, warm Monkey Bread for Thanksgiving morning while you watch Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

The Gluten Free Cornbread recipe I use is found at the link or at the end of this post.  It is light, airy, easy and delicious.  You can make your bread recipes now and freeze them until you need to take them out to dry out.

I hope you all enjoy this delicious gluten free stuffing as much as my family does!  Thank you Ree Drummond for bringing delicious stuffing back to our gluten free Thanksgiving table!!
To you and yours, 
Happy Thanksgiving!

Gluten Free Cornbread 

1 c cornmeal
1/4 c sugar
1 T baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt

1 1/4 c milk 
1/2 c olive oil
2 T white vinegar
1 T corn syrup

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 
2.  Grease 8 or 9 inch square pan.
3.  Combine dry ingredients.  Stir in the wet ingredients, just til moistened.  Pour batter into pan.
4.  Bake 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Starbucks Pumpkin Scones Copycat Recipe Goes Gluten Free & Egg Free

* Gluten Free, Egg Free, Nut Free *
Dairy Free options


The Great Harvest Bread Company makes an amazing treat called a scruffin.  It is a “scone meets muffin” moist, deliciousness.  These pumpkin scones remind me of a scruffin in texture.  A wonderful fall or holiday treat!  Recipe was inspired by and adapted from the Damn Delicious blog.

Pumpkin Scones

2 c Paula’s Gluten Free Flour mixture (Recipe found below)
1 1/2 t xanthan gum
1/3 c brown sugar, packed
2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t ground cloves
1/2 t ground ginger
1/2 t nutmeg
1/4 t salt

1/2 c chilled butter (one stick), cut into pieces ( To make dairy free: you could try using Spectrum Shortening)

1/2 c pumpkin puree
3 T milk  (To make dairy free: substitute with a milk substitute, like Rice Milk
1 T ground flax, whisked with 3 T hot water to make flax gel
2 t vanilla

*  Extra gluten free flour for dusting while rolling out.

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Prepare work surface to roll dough on, with wax paper and extra gluten free flour for dusting.  Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
2.  In a large bowl, combine flour through salt, whisk together well.  Cut in butter (or shortening) using a pastry blender or two forks until it resembles a coarse meal.
3.  In a medium bowl, combine pumpkin through vanilla and mix well.
4.  Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, stir well with rubber spatula until a soft dough forms.
5.  Place dough on lightly floured work surface.  Roll into a rectangle shape about an inch thick.  Cut into 8 triangles or 16 if you’d like smaller portions.
6.  Transfer cut dough onto baking sheet, 1-2 inches apart.  Bake 12-14 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool on wire rack.  Top with icing.

Icing 

1 c powdered sugar
1 1/2 T milk (To make dairy free: substitute with a milk substitute, like Rice Milk)

Add 1 T milk to powdered sugar and stir together.  If it is too dry then add more milk in small increments, until your desired consistency.  Drizzle on cooled scones.
Enjoy!

Paula’s Gluten Free Flour Mix 
1 1/2 c. millet flour
1 1/2 c. sorghum flour
1 c. tapioca flour
1 c. potato starch
1 c. arrowroot powder


Are you looking for more pumpkin recipes?  Try out one of these…






This recipe has been shared at the following blog parties which a great resources for recipes from other bloggers:

Lemon Blueberry Zucchini Cake with Lemon Buttercream Frosting

* Gluten Free, Egg Free, Nut Free * 


* Dairy Free (This recipe could be made dairy free if you use a different frosting recipe, like Enjoy Life’s Lemon Icing, p 199 in their “Cupcakes and Sweet Treats for Everyone Cookbook“)

Our gardens in Minnesota are just finishing up for the season.  Harvest time brings us plenty of tomatoes, squash and zucchini.  Do you still have a few zucchini around?  Are you looking for a fresh way to use them?

There is a beautiful looking Blueberry Zucchini Cake recipe on the I am baker blog.  To make the cake, she adapted a Blueberry Zucchini Bread recipe from allrecipes.com and just poured the bread batter into a round cake pan.

It sounded like an interesting idea so I thought I’d give it a whirl, using my Gluten Free Zucchini Bread recipe.  It turned out rather dense, so I adapted the recipe slightly to make the cake a little lighter.  The combination of flavors is refreshing and delightful!

I hope you enjoy it!

Lemon Blueberry Zucchini Cake

3 c Gluten Free flour mixture with Xanthan Gum (I use this recipe to make my own flour combination)
1 t baking soda
1 T baking powder
1 t salt

1/2 c coconut oil or oil of your choice (melt before measuring)
1/2 c applesauce
1 T vanilla
2 c sugar

1 T lemon zest
2 c peeled and shredded zucchini

1/2 c hot water

1 c frozen blueberries (or fresh)

*  Optional: reserve a few blueberries and some lemon zest to top frosted cakes.

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  To prepare round cake pans, cut two circles of parchment paper to line the pans, then lightly spray with cooking oil.
2.  In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  Whisk together.  Set aside.
3.  In a medium bowl, combine oil, applesauce, vanilla and sugar.  Whisk together.
4.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir together.  Stir in zucchini and lemon zest.  Then, add hot water and gently stir in.  Finally, fold in the blueberries and pour into prepared pans.
5.  Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until golden and toothpick comes out clean.
6.  Cool on wire racks.

*  To make in advance:  After completely cooled, wrap each layer in saran wrap and freeze for up to a week or until you are ready to frost and serve the cake.  I would remove the cakes from the freezer and frost the night before serving or at least several hours before serving in order to give it time to defrost.  Store covered.

Lemon Buttercream Frosting

1 c butter (two sticks) at room temperature.
3 1/2 c powdered sugar
1/8 t salt
1 medium lemon, juice and zest (should be about 2 T)
1 t vanilla

1.  Mix butter for a few minutes on high speed.  Add powdered sugar and salt.  Mix together.
2.  Add lemon juice and vanilla.  Mix on high for about 5 minutes, scraping the bowl occasionally.
3.  Fold in the lemon zest and frost cake.

*This recipe has been shared on the following blog parties.  Blog Parties are a collection of recipes by numerous bloggers.
1.  Gluten Free Wednesdays
2.  Gluten Free Fridays

Super Simple & Sweet Fruit Dip

As I was getting ready to throw a party this spring, I wanted to make a fruit dip for the beautiful strawberries I had ready to serve.  Every where I looked, each recipe called for marshmallow cream or another ingredient we couldn’t use.

So as I stood with my refrigerator door wide open, staring at what I had on hand, I wonder how it would taste to just mix a strawberry yogurt with some Cool Whip.  It was all I could come up with.  It hardly sounds like a recipe but man it turned out to receive high praise from my guests.  So due to their incredible response, I have to share this super simple little idea with you.

Super Simple & Sweet Fruit Dip

~ Gluten free, Egg free, Nut free

1 (6 oz) Yoplait Strawberry Yogurt (or if your feeling adventurous try another flavor)
1 c regular Cool Whip

Gently stir together and serve.  Super simple and delicious!  Enjoy!

This recipe has been shared on:
Gluten Free Wednesdays 
Allergy Free Wednesdays
Gluten Free Fridays

Monkey Bread

This has been a LONG time coming!  Gluten free, egg free, nut free Monkey Bread, dripping with warm, gooey caramel and I’m not monkeying around.  I’ve been wanting to tackle this for a couple of years, and now it’s here.  Finally, I can sign up to bring Monkey Bread for brunches with friends.  That is if my kids let me out the door with these!  I may need to make a separate batch just for them.

Who will you share these with?  Invite over your neighbor you’ve been meaning to spend time with, invite your family over, or invite that friend you need to catch up with.

Monkey Bread

~ Gluten Free, Egg Free & Nut Free

2 c Paula’s Gluten Free Flour Mix   (recipe at bottom of bread post, I make a big batch and store in my cupboard for easy and quick baking because I use this in so many recipes)
1 t xanthan gum
1 1/2 T sugar
2 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1/2 t ground cinnamon
4 T butter, chilled and cut into small chunks
3/4 c buttermilk
* extra GF flour for dusting work surface
1/2 c white sugar
1/2 t cinnamon

1/2 c brown sugar, packed

6 T butter
* Can be made in a loaf pan or in a 8″ square pan (if doubling the recipe, use a bundt pan).

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter loaf pan well (or spray with cooking spray).  To prepare work surface, wash counter top, place about 18″ saran wrap on slightly wet counter top, sprinkle GF flour on top of saran wrap. 
2.  In a large bowl, combine flour, xanthan gum, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.  Whisk together well.  Cut chilled butter into flour mixture and mix with a pastry blender until it resembles a coarse meal, with pea size pieces.  Add buttermilk and stir gently just until entirely moistened.
3.  Place dough on prepared work surface, gently knead a couple of times.  Roll out to about 1/2″-3/4″ thick.  Cut dough into roughly 1 inch square pieces.
4.  In a small bowl, combine white sugar and cinnamon and stir together well.  Gently toss dough pieces in cinnamon sugar mixture to coat each piece, then place pieces of dough into prepared pan.
5.  In a small saucepan, combine brown sugar, and butter.  Melt over medium heat, do not boil.  Pour over dough.
6.  Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.  Let rest for 5 minutes then invert pan onto serving tray.  Use a spatula to get all the extra caramel out, you won’t want to waste one single drop.

Serve warm.  Makes about 6 servings.

This recipe has been shared on:

~ Gluten-Free Wednesdays
~  Allergy Free Wednesdays
~  Gluten Free Fridays

Blueberry Lemon Dream Cake

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Get ready for a light and fluffy dessert that is softly sweet.  It is a great choice for when you want to make your dessert the night before.

Blueberry Lemon Dream Cake

1 c Natalie’s Gluten Free Flour Mix
3/4 c ground flax seeds
6 T butter, melted

1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1/2 c cold water
1 lemon, zested

2 pkg low fat cream cheese
2 c powdered sugar

1 (8 oz) container Cool Whip or similar whipped topping

1 can blueberry pie filling

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare 9 x 13 pan by coating with cooking spray.
2.  In a small bowl, combine the gluten free flour and ground flax.  Whisk together.  Pour in melted butter and stir to combine.  Press into prepared 9 x 13 pan using the back of a fork.  If you have trouble with the flour mixture sticking to the fork, try spraying the fork with cooking spray.  Bake for 12 -15 minutes, or until lightly golden.  Allow to cool.
3.  While the crust is baking, in a small sauce pan, add the cold water then sprinkle in the gelatin.  Let stand for a minute.  Heat over low heat until gelatin is dissolved, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat.  Allow to cool slightly.  You will want to add it to the cream cheese before it cools and sets.
4.  In mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth and fluffy.  Add warm gelatin and lemon zest and mix until smooth.  Fold in cool whip.
5.  Spoon over completely cooled crust.  Cover and refrigerate for at least four hours or overnight.

This recipe has been shared on:
~ Gluten Free Easily’s Gluten Free Wednesdays 
~ Vegetarian Mamma’s Gluten Free Fridays

100 Easter Basket Ideas For Food Allergies

Do you want to make adorable Easter baskets for your kids but struggle with what to fill them with? In this post, I want to share with you some of my ideas but I would love for this post to be interactive, a community where we can all share our ideas.  So if you read through these and have ideas that you are willing to share, please do so.  We would all love more ideas!

These cover many ages and interests.  Mostly non food ideas but also some treats, free of top 8 allergens.  (As always read the labels to make sure they are safe for your unique situation)

Non-Food Ideas:

Flower seeds (planting them, makes for a fun activity that afternoon)
Gardening gloves/tools
Kites
Giggles Fun Dough. http://www.gigglesfundough.com
Small stuffed animals
Matchbox cars
Army men
Small plastic animals/ dinosaurs
Sand toys (you could even do a whole theme using the sand pail as the Easter basket)
Diving sticks
Swimsuit
Flip flops
Goggles
Golf balls
Tennis balls
Super bouncie balls
Journal – Create a Thankfulness Journal for each family member and start recording all the things you are thankful for.  And wouldn’t it be fun to have each family member pick a few to share on Thanksgiving?!

Coloring crayons
Colored pencils
Markers ( Mr Sketch smelly markers are the latest hit around our house)
Construction paper
Stickers
Pencils
Pens
Mini clipboards (often in Target’s dollar section- work great for drawing in the car)
Erasers
Craft books
Maze books
Dot-to-dots books (I love the extreme dot-to-dots for older kids)
Sudoku book
Word find book
Cross word puzzles
Rainbow loom bands
Small craft kits (Michaels often carry fun ones)
Cross-stitch kits
Little sewing kits
Story book
Bookmarks 
Side walk chalk
Bubbles (or Mega bubbles for older kids)
Cards or small travel games
Rubiks cube
Small jigsaw puzzles
Scratch Art books
Glow sticks
Hats

Cute socks
Sunglasses
Headbands/ hair accessories / hair brush
Nail polish
Water bottle
Lotion (allergy safe)
Fun toothbrush
Bath bubbles/ fizzes (make sure they are safe)
Bath toys
Paints
Paint by numbers
Small Lego sets
Trading cards
Little toys/ transformers, dolls….
Doll accessories
Umbrella
Fairy gardens
Jump rope
Earrings
Watch
Small speakers
Mini tapes
Duct tape fun
Kids magazine subscription
Beach towel
Parachute army guys
Pinwheels
CD
Movie – anyone see the movie Frozen?  ðŸ˜‰
Flashlight / lantern
Mini kids binoculars
Firefly catching net and container
Punch balloons
Small Nerf guns
Small water guns
Water balloons

Treats:

Gum
Surf Sweets Jelly Beans & candies http://www.surfsweets.com
Enjoy Life Chocolate bars http://www.enjoylifefoods.com
Enjoy Life Plentils (come in single serving as well) http://www.enjoylifefoods.com
Little bags of potato chips
Mini bags of microwave popcorn
Suckers (like Trader Joes Organic Pops- no artificial coloring)
Fruit Jellies (like Trader Joes- no artificial coloring)
Fruit strips ( like Trader joes natural fruit wraps – no artificial coloring)
Beef Jerky (like Trader Joes Natural Beef Jerky)
Annie’s Organic Fruit Snacks ( these are my favorite for Easter because they are cute little bunnies!) http://www.annies.com/products/fruit-snacks/
Freeze pops (organic-no artificial colors) http://internaturalfoods.com/brands/cool-fruits-freezer-pops.html
Juice boxes
Raisin boxes