Wednesday, July 18, 2007

No more gluten?!

It's true. I've entered the world of gluten-free baked goods. The boys have been gluten-free for almost two months, now... and, after sampling the horrific options available to us in stores, I decided it was only right that I dive into gluten-free baking. I haven't been quite diligent about photographing my GF masterpieces, but I did get a photo of my first endeavor. These were GF zucchini muffins and they were really quite delicious. With four of us in the house, they were gone in less than 24 hours... always a good sign! I've had a few bad trials with GF baking... but it's so exciting to try manipulating plain old baking recipes to make them work as GF recipes. I love the process. For that reason (and for my own sake), I'm going to be posting recipes I've adapted. Jenn There are two below:

GF Zuccini Muffins

360 g GF baking flour (I used Bob's Red Mill)
1 T + 1/4 t baking powder
1 t salt
3/4 t baking soda
1 1/2 t cinnamon
3 t xantham powder
2 egg + 1 egg white
1/2 c soy milk
1/2 c canola oil
1 c sugar
2 c shredded zucchini
Raw sugar for sprinkling

1. Preheat oven to 375 and place paper liners in muffin tins.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and xantham powder.
3. In stand mixer, beat eggs for 1 minute. Beat in soy milk, oil and sugar. Stir in zucchini until well blended. Add flour mixture to batter a little at a time and stir to mix-- it should be a little lumpy. Spoon batter into muffin tins. Sprinkle muffins with raw sugar.
4. Bake 20 minutes, or until muffin tops are golden brown. Cool muffins on rack.

Yield: 18 muffins.


GF Chocolate-Banana Cake (This is so unbelievably moist and delicious! No one will believe it's gluten-free, dairy-free)

1 3/4 c GF flour
1 c granulated sugar
3/4 c cocoa powder
1 3/4 t baking powder
1 3/4 t baking soda
1 t salt
1 3/4 t xanthan gum
1 c soy milk
1 t. lemon juice
1 1/2 c mashed very ripe bananas (about 3 medium)
3/4 c packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1/4 c vegetable oil
1/4 c light corn syrup
1 T vanilla extract

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees and grease two loaf pans.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, cocoa powder, baking soad, salt and xanthan gum.
3. In a large bowl, blend soy milk, lemon juice, bananas and brown sugar. Beat in eggs. Stir in oil, corn syrup and vanilla.
4. Gradually fold in flour misture until just combined (small lumps are okay) and pour into prepared pans.
5. Bake 45 minutes-55 minutes, or until a wooded skewer comes out clean. Let cool in pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. You might also glaze with a powdered sugar/milk glaze.

Yield 2 loaves

Monday, July 16, 2007

Stocking Stitch Sweaters


They took me four months to complete and another couple of months to photograph and post!! Lazy, lazy, lazy! No, things have been a bit more busy than usual these past few months... though, that's no excuse for not posting! I'm really happy with how these sweaters turned out. They were fun and easy to knit and put together... and they look like they'll be the perfect comfy play sweaters for the boys. They looked a little big, so I'm hoping they're able to wear them this year. Of course, I'll post photos of the sweaters in action, when that happens!

When I completed the sweaters (having followed the pattern EXACTLY, of course!!!), I realized the neck opening was way too small for my big-noggin'd little twosome... so I undid one shoulder seem and added a few button loops. I was really nervous about how that would look, but I'm pretty pleased with the adaptation.