GRAHAM CRACKERS! (minus the graham flour, of course)

I found this recipe a few days ago and hunted down "sweet rice flour" so I could try it, pronto! They are truly scrumptious! I miss graham crackers dearly, but I'm afraid I've lost my memory of exactly what they taste like. I feel like these are as close as a GF eater can hope to get and they are mighty good in their close-ness! Here's the link:
http://www.livingwithout.com/recipes/gluten_free_graham_crackers-1793-1.html

I followed the recipe to the T for the ingredients, but I used my Bosch mixer instead of my hands to mix the dough. I whisked all the dry ingredients together with a regular beating whisk and then used the dough hook once the butter was added. If formed in to a wonderful dough when given 2 or 3 minutes to paddle at medium speed. I didn't have parchment paper, so I just sprayed (rather liberally) the cookie sheets I used and their method of rolling it out works wonderfully!

Sopapillas! Thats right, SO PA PILL AS!!!!

(Note about the picture - these look small because they are small. I cut them way too small - that may have played a part in the problem forming pockets)
I've decided that I'm just not going to put up with missing out on some of life's truly delicious treats JUST because I can't have "normal" flour. I hunted high and low online for a GF sopapillas recipe to no avail. I decided, no matter how many tries, I WILL have sopapillas! It may not be tonight, it may not be tomorrow, but I WILL eat a sopapilla! I started with a recipe that my husband and I have made multiple times in the past and really loved. I substituted the flours and kept the other ingredients the same and then added in an arbitrary measurement of 2 tsp of xanthum gum. I fried 3 sops out of the first batch of dough and was not surprised to find that I'd failed. They squares I cut friend in to crispy little grease wads. The flavor was delicious, but the texture was all wrong. The second batch is what we actually ate with dinner (tacos) and was a huge improvement from the first batch, but I feel still has some room to grow. Here's that recipe along with my ideas for further improvement.
Heat Oil: 375 degrees
1 C white rice flour
1 C tapioca flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp xanthum gum (my husband's theory: if less xanthum gum is added the dough will have the freedom to expand a bit more. These ended up being very delicious as they were, but they didn't form pockets like I'd hoped. We think adding less gum will give the dough the room to expand. However, it may just make them fall apart. Try it out if you like - I will most certainly be trying it as soon as I replenish my stock of tapioca flour)

2 tbls shortening
3/4 C warm/hot-ish water

sift the dry ingredients together
cut in the shortening with pastry cutter or two knives until it's well blended in

mix in water - I just used a rubber spatula for this and it worked great - no kneading required and the dough can be left in the bowl
Work dough in to ball and cover in the bowl for 20-30 minutes
Roll the dough out on a tapioca starchy surface until it's 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick - cut in to desired size
fry flipping from time to time until both sides are golden-brownish (GF dough doesn't brown so well, and these seemed to take a bit longer to cook through than regular sops. Try a couple out until you figure out how long they are going to take.

Multi-grain Pumpkin Muffins (with heaps of protein!)

This recipe is NOT mine, but I'm posting it because I found it in a really round a bout way, so just "googling" it wouldn't work. It's delicious! I made these today for the second time and they were just as delicious and fail-proof as the first batch from a few months ago! They are moist and packed full of protein. The teff and almond flour stand alone as protein, but then adding in the "all-purpose" flour (I use Bob's Red Mill) flour adds whatever protein that flour mix contains. They are easy to make, despite the plethora of ingredients they call for. They freeze PERFECTLY! The last batch I made kept in the freezer for nearly a month and I just took out one or two muffins and nuked them for 30 seconds or so. They don't get tough once thawed and micro'ed and are fantastic with honey on them! They are best hot out of the oven, but I've eaten my fair share of them at room temperature and been pleased enough! :)
Sift together:
1 1/2 cups gluten-free flour blend (*see ingredient note at bottom)
1/2 cup almond flour or amaranth flour
1/2 cup teff flour
1/2 cup white rice flour
1 & 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 c brown sugar
Add in:
2 eggs
1 c milk
1/4 c butter-melted
1 c canned pumpkin purée or cooked puréed pumpkin
Blend it all well and fill greased muffin cups about 2/3 full. They don't raise a whole lot, so I usually just about fill the muffin cup up.
Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes until golden brown and toothpick comes out clean.

*if using an all-purpose flour that already contains Xanthum gum, cut out 1 tsp of the xanthum gum the recipe calls for.

Multigrain Waffles

I knew I'd miss waffles and have been through various waffle recipes/mixes that were all good, but expensive. I figured I'd try my own concoction and it worked! These were truly delicious!

2 large eggs

1 3/4 C milk (I added probably another 1/3 c or so after mixing everything together just to get it to the consistency I wanted - experiment a little to see how runny you want your batter)

1/2 C vegetable oil

vanilla (how much ever you want)

1 C White rice flour

1/2 C Teff flour (a wonderfully delicious whole grain flour)

1/2 C sorghum flour (quickly become one of my favorites!)

1 tbls brown sugar

4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp xanthum gum (just a hair less than a level teaspoon)

whisk it all together until smooth

I have a standard size waffle maker and this batter made about 12 waffles

President worthy banana bread

I baked the recipe to take to a ladies Bible Study I do at our church here in town.  At this Bible study is a woman who is a chef, a caterer and catered for the White House regularly when she lived out East.  She pulled me aside after trying a slice of this bread and told me very genuinely, "this honestly is the best banana bread I've ever tasted."  WHAA?!?!  Needless to say, I felt quite proud (though I'm not quite sure I agree with her that it's THAT good, though it is delicious!... :)  So, there you have it.  I could bake banana bread for the president if I wanted.....and if I was asked.  :)

Here's the mix:

Whisk together:
1/2 C each of White and Brown rice flour
1 C sorghum flour
1/2 C tapioca flour
1ish tsp xanthum gum
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt (I had forgotten to add salt to the loaf that Mrs. bake for the president tried and told her this but                      she said she didn't think it needed it- but I think it's better WITH salt - so, do whatever.)
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp of any other spice you think would be delish.  I've used cloves and nutmeg alongside the cinnamon                    with great results!

cream together:
1 1/4 C sugar
1/2 C butter

add in:
2 eggs
1/2 C buttermilk (I used just a hair more to ensure complete lack of dryness in the loaf - it worked wonders!
1 tsp vanilla
3 very ripe mashed bananas (I throw regular ripened bananas in the freezer and then pull them out, microwave them for 1 minute on a plate, cut the stem top off and squeeze the ooz into the batter)

Blend together wet and dry ingredients until smooth
Divide between 2 greased 8in loaf pans
350 degrees
55 minutes

My mama's buttermilk biscuits - made so I can eat them!

The original recipe for these biscuits has been in my family for years - I don't know how many, but many none-the-less. The taste of them brings back distinct childhood memories of my mom's baking. These go on that list of things I knew I would miss greatly when I had to give up gluten. But, alas, I have come up with a completely successful and delicious altered recipe that allows me to, once again, enjoy the taste of my mom's baking.

Whisk together:

1 C White rice flour

3/4 C Millet flour

1/4 C Sorghum flour

3/4 tsp Xanthum gum (just a titch less)

1 tbls baking powder

1 tbls sugar

1/3 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

1/2 tsp soda

Cut in to dry ingredients with pastry knife:

1/2 C shortening

1 C buttermilk (just a tad less, again, and I always just use regular milk with a touch of vinegar to curdle)

mix until well moistened and then kneed on lightly floured surface (I used white rice flour but it gave the outside too grainy of a texture - I think sorghum would work better). Roll out to be 1/2 inch thick and cut with biscuit cutters. I'm not how many this makes because I've used different size biscuit cutters each time.

Bake at 450 degrees for 10-12 minutes - watch them close that they don't get overdone or they will be too crispy on the bottom.

Pancakes- MY first SUCCESSFUL recipe!

I've tried recipe after recipe of baked goods, mixing flours, trying this and that and NONE of them worked. In my frustration I gave up and started using mixes. You know, the kinds like the GF Bisquick, Hodgson Mills, Bob's Red Mill etc that all cost a pretty penny. They are good, but they only make about a batch and a half of whatever recipe you are using them for, and when paying $3.50-$5.00 a box it gets to be a little much. I woke up this morning with unexpected motivation to MAKE pancakes WORK!
The main of this recipe comes from a recipe that my mom gave me a couple years back. It's purely delicious in it's whole wheat/whole grain form. When I went GF this was one thing I knew I was going to miss greatly! No more, I tell you! I've FINALLY figured out a successful, delicious, non grainy, non crumbly GF flour substitution for this recipe while keeping it's whole grain taste! Here it is:

Multi-grain Buttermilk Pancakes
Whisk together:
1 C White rice flour
1/3 C each of: Millet flour, milled flax seed, oat flour (I just blended GF oats in the blender until they looked ground enough to my liking)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp xanthum gum (these held together really well but would do even better with maybe just a 1/4 tsp more of xanthum gum)
cinnamon (how much ever looks sufficient - I use quite a bit!)


Add in:
2 C buttermilk (easy and cheap and for sure GF: add about 2 tbls white vinegar to 2 c 1or2% or whole milk - let curdle for a minute or so)
2 large eggs
2 tbls vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla

Mix it all up until it looks ready and make your flap jacks! As any pancake recipe calls for, cook on first side until little bubbles rise to the surface of the pancake (this takes quite a while with these and may not actually happen, so be sure to check them now and then and just flip them when they are nicely browned and look ready to flip). Flip and cook until golden brown.
Makes about 1 dozen pancakes