Gluten Free Friday: Chocolate cookies

Today I decided to try out a mix from XO baking co. They tend to be really good with their mixes. And I was so in the mood for chocolate. So double chocolate chip cookie mix here I come.

The directions are easy to follow. It comes with its own chocolate chips. Easy bake and it was accurate. I wish I didn't wait to bake this mix, it has been sitting in my pantry for a few months, because these cookies were SOOOOOO good!

I highly recommend. :) Will do again!

Cheers,
Lauren

Gluten Free Friday: Bacon-Egg Breakfast muffins

I wanted to try something different for breakfast. I thought I would try these "quichettes" from the gluten free bible.

Cook bacon to your liking (I like mine crispy) and then break into smaller pieces. Cover the bottom of the baking cups with that- divide between 6 cups.

Beat 6 eggs with 1/4 milk (I used 2%). Then add 1.5 cups thawed frozen shredded hash browns (squeezed dry), 1/4 c fresh parsley chopped up, 1/2 tsp salt. Mix well. Spread into all 6 cups as well. Bake for 15 minutes. Add cheese on top, let it melt. Serve!

These were a big hit with my boyfriend, he inhaled them. He says any time I want to make again, he would be cool with that. Seriously, so these were a big hit. I may mess with different additions to this mix, the sky is the limit.

Cheers,
Lauren

Gluten Free Friday: Cornbread

The cold weather just calls for chilli. Chilli calls for cornbread. I tried out this mix from bloomfield farms

The recipe was easy to follow and quick. Bake. Done. The  bread was yummy and perfect for chilli!

Recommend and will do again! Nom nom!!!

Cheers,
Lauren

Gluten Free Friday! Homemade mac and cheese

I miss a good home made mac-n-cheese. I have been looking for a good recipe when I came across this one in the Deliciously G-Free cookbook.

So I cooked the pasta elbow macaroni but 3 minutes less than the box says. I used an entire box.

Now let's make the sauce- it will all be from scratch.
3 c milk
1 tsp potato starch
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbp butter
2 tbp cream cheese
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp black pepper
3 cups cheddar cheese

Whisk milk, potato starch, and salt in bowl. In a stock pot melt butter and cream cheese. Slowly whisk in the milk mixture. Add spices. Reduce to low heat and add cheese. Cook for about 3 minutes. Add cooked pasta to sauce and transfer to a baking dish. Cook for 10 minutes at 400 degrees. Serve!

Love!!! Just love!!! The spices really add some dimension to the mix, much more grownup than something out a box. It makes a lot so it took me some time to eat up, but I was happy to eat it. :)

Cheers,
Lauren

Gltuen Free Friday: coconut lemon bars

This recipe again was from the Gluten Free Bible. I really like this cookbook.

The recipe was pretty easy

Crust
1 c gluten free shortbread cookies crushed
1 stick of butter- melted

Spray pan with nonstick cooking spray
Combine cookies and butter- mix well. Press into pan.

Filling
1 package of cream cheese- softened/room temp
grated peel and juice of 1 lemon
1 egg
2 tbp of sugar
1 c white chocolate chips
1 c flaked coconut
1/2 c chopped macadamia nuts

Beat cream cheese, lemon peel, juice, egg, and sugar on low speed until smooth Spread on crumbs crust.
Add white chocolate chips to next layer. Then coconut, then nuts.
Bake 30 minutes and cool. Cover and refridgerate.

These were delicious. It is important to push each layer down with a fork. We highly enjoyed this cookies over Christmas. Creamy with lemon but not lemony enough it was too tart. Will definitely do again!

Cheers,
Lauren

Gluten Free Friday: White Chocolate Pudding with Toffee

Alright, so I have been a bit late in a lot of these gluten free posts. But better late than never. I got ambitious over thanksgiving and I wanted to make my own home made pudding I found this recipe in the

The recipe is as follows:
Pudding:
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups milk (I used 2%)
3/4 whipping cream
7 squares white chocolate- chopped
2 tsp vanilla

I combined the sugar, cornstarch, salt in a pan and mixed well. I then slowly whisked in the milk and cream and brought it to a boil and then reduced to medium heat. I did not walk away because very quickly it can get lumpy. Once you get lumpy it is over. I removed from heat and added chocolate and vanilla until everything melted. Transfer into dishes, cover, and refrigerate.

Toffee
1/2 c sugar
1/4 karo syrup
1 c sliced almonds
2 tsp butter
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vanilla

Microwave 4 minutes mixed sugar and corn syrup add almonds and butter Microwave again for 2 minutes. Add baking soda and vanilla and then spread on foil that is coated with nonstick cooking spray. Let cool and then break up into smaller pieces. Add to pudding

Everything was super yummy. Just have to watch the pudding I got a few lumps. It was difficult to not walk away

Cheers,
Lauren

GF brownie mix try

Another mix I decided to try out. Bob's Red Mill again. You can find a lot of these mixes at  Big Lots for a good buy. Let's try the brownies.

Easy mix and a bake. Here are my done brownies (and they went fast). They were good but not a repeat good. They had a fruit taste to them. That was my only beef. I don't think brownies should taste like fruit.

I'll try another mix. But least I have it on record.

Cheers,
Lauren

Bob's GF Bread Try

I decided to try my hand at bread. I have never made bread before so this will be a first. And it is gluten free. So this might not end well but at least I will try. Trying Bob's Red Mill

Again it was one of those prep the yeast, combine, let it rise and then bake. It was an easy bake. I sliced the bread after it was cooled down (horribly might I add). The taste was ok, I would say it was a bit bland and it quickly went bad. Like it didn't last for 2-3 days, so I should have frozen it.

It wasn't bad but there are so many bread mixes out there and recipes that I can probably find something with a bit more flavor. But it isn't bad. And not bad for first bread!

Cheers,
Lauren

GF chocolate pie

Trying out the new Pillsbury pie and pastry crust, I finally found it at my grocery store. I have heard decent things about the dough. Let's give it a go! I wanted chocolate pie. Badly.

I followed the recipe on the box. Cut it in half and begin to roll it out. I had also realized this was my first time making a pie. I had no idea what I was doing. But I made it work. I then followed the instructions on how to cook.

Next I made my filling. I used this recipe, which I made my own whipped cream. Yeah! Go me. After that, add and refrigerate!

So the taste was pretty good, I just needed to melt the chocolate a little better. The crust was soggy at first but the next day it was great. I enjoyed being a normal eater again. I would totally use this crust again!

Cheers,
Lauren

Gluten free vanilla cupcakes

Found this at Target which surprised me, Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Vanilla Cake mix. Thought I would try it out for the boyfriend's bday! Pretty easy to follow...

Yeah my cupcakes were overfilled. Which surprised me b/c gluten free baking doesn't tend to expand much. The taste was really yummy! I added vanilla icing and done!

I also dipped strawberries in chocolate and I mixed up the topping for the cupcakes. Nom Nom. 

Would definitely recommend and do again. They were tasty and were not hockey pucks. :) Yeah!

Cheers,
Lauren