Allergen friendly Gluten Free Apple Cider Cake Doughnuts

For the past 5 years, I have been without the most basic fall treat......an apple cider doughnut!  I drool each year as I watch my family consume these yummy treats from the apple orchard.  So I decided to try hard to create one this year.  And it worked!!!

These turned out so much better than I expected.  They are gluten-free and dairy-free, and best of all....no fancy ingredients!!

Gluten-free, Dairy-free Apple Cider Muffins

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Ingredients:
2 cups rice flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup cane sugar - plus 1/2 cup for cinnamon sugar topping
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon - plus about 1 tsp to make cinnamon sugar topping
1/2 tsp nutmeg
3/4 cup palm shortening (I use Spectrum Naturals Organic Shortening) - plus a little extra to grease your pan with
1 1/2 c apple cider
3 medium eggs

Mix together all dry ingredients well.  Add cider, eggs and softened shortening.  Mix together.  Dough will be slightly thick, not runny.

I use a Wilton Doughnut Pan (not an affiliate link).  I purchased this from Amazon.  Grease the sections using a pastry brush.  Trust me, you want to do this because this batter will stick to the pan.

Using a spoon, fill each doughnut well with roughly 3 spoonfuls of batter.  Do not overfill the sections.  The dough will rise.

Bake for 9 - 10 minutes until the edges are golden brown.  The cake will spring up when you press on it lightly.  Prepare you cinnamon & sugar mixture while the first batch is in the oven.

Carefully remove each doughnut and gently coat with the cinnamon sugar mixture by rolling the doughnut around in it.

These are the finished product.

Gluten/Wheat Free Chicken and Dressing

I love chicken and stuffing bake.  But here's my problem....I'm allergic to wheat/gluten.  So thought I would have to give up this yummy treat.  Well, as always, my brain started working in overdrive to rewrite this classic and make it gluten free.  So here is my version of Gluten Free Stove Top stuffing....oh yeah and it's healthy!!!

Ingredients:

About a pound of chicken tenderloins.  (I think I almost used 2 pounds)...extra is not a big deal.
4 whole organic carrots (more if you like carrots like I do)
1/2 pound of fresh beans (pre-strung)
8 slices of Ener-G brown rice or white rice bread
olive oil or coconut oil
2 tsp ground thyme
sea salt and pepper to taste

First I put my chicken tenderloins in a skillet and added water to cover.  Add a swirl around the pan of olive oil to this water.  1 tsp of ground thyme and a few pinches of sea salt.  Allow the chicken to simmer in the soon to be broth until it is cooked.

While this is cooking, chop up your carrots, green beans and cube your slices of Ener-G bread.  In a separate skillet start sauteeing these in 3 TBS of olive oil.  Remember this bread soaks up oil.  But it will crisp like a crouton and be super yummy.  Seems like a lot of oil, but you also need it there for the veggies.

 When the chicken is done, cut it into small pieces.  Strain the broth in the skillet of any "protein".    Add the chicken back to the broth.

Transfer the veggie/bread mix into the pan with the chicken.  Allow the bread to soak up all the broth.  Cover and cook for about 5 more minutes until all the broth has been absorbed and your bread is moist like "cooked" all day stuffing.  If it isn't, add just a touch of water and cover again.

My hubby is NOT a huge fan of gluten free bread, but he really enjoyed this.  Super simple and the flavors were awesome.

Warning though, be careful while sauteeing the bread.  I walked away and a few of my cubes got a little more toasty than I wanted.  It was still yummy, but not as pretty.

Coconut Flour Gingerbread Cookie Recipe

Coconut Flour Gingerbread Cookies

I love...love molasses and gingerbread cookies.  But baking with Coconut flour is very difficult.  With all my allergies though, it is the one flour I can work with.  Coconut flour can make your baked goods extremely dry and you feel like you are trying to eat a piece of foam.  So it took several batches to get these soft and not dry .... yummy cookies.

Ingredients:

1 cup coconut flour
1 TBS baking powder
1/2 cup organic cane sugar
4TBS potato starch (or tapioca starch)
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp clove
1/2 tsp cinnamon


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  I use the Reynolds non-stick pan lining to line my cookie sheets.

Mix all the dry ingredients well.  Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the molasses and coconut oil.  Gently fold.  I then leave the batter sitting on the counter covered for about 5 minutes to make sure to allow the coconut flour to absorb the moisture.  It will still be thick, but not too thick.  Coconut flour is very hard to work with and sucks all the moisture out of your batter.  If it is too dry, add a touch more molasses.  The batter will be thick though.

I use a small cookie scoop and scoop the batter on the sheets then.  Then gently press them a little flat with the back of the scoop to help with even cooking.

Bake for about 6 - 8 minutes.  Watch them closely, coconut flour also burns easily.  And overbaking these means very dry.

Let them cool for about 5 minutes before removing them from the sheet.  This recipe will make about 15 - 18 cookies depending on the size of your scoop.

Enjoy!!!

GF/DF/Soy/Egg/Corn-Free Chicken Enchiladas

I have been dying for enchiladas for months now, but had no idea how to take this task on.  I cannot use corn shells because I cannot eat corn.  Rice flour is not always the easiest to work with, especially when you are talking about making tortillas.

But my brain got thinking, I have been using the Bob Mills Gluten Free Pizza crust for quite a few new things.  Why not try and figure out a way to make enchilada casserole.  This turned out to be so much easier than I expected.

Chicken Enchiladas

Shell Ingredients:
1 package Bob Red Mills GF Pizza crust (the link if for a case, not 1 regular package)
2 tsp of Milled Flax seed
1/2 cup coconut oil
1 tsp salt
Extra rice flour for dusting
1 3/4 cup warm water

Prepare pizza crust according to directions using flax seed in place of eggs.  I added a touch extra coconut oil to allow the crust to be moist.  Set aside in a warm area and allow to rest for 20 minutes.

While the "shell" mixture is resting, prepare your filling.

Filling ingredients:
1 pound cooked shredded chicken (I used boneless chicken thighs)
1 can 14 oz black beans
1 can 14 oz diced tomatoes (half the liquid drained)
1 yellow pepper - diced (or use whatever color you want)
2 tsp cumin
a couple dashes of cayenne pepper
2 tsp salt

If your chicken is not cooked, dice and start cooking the chicken.  Add cumin, salt and cayenne pepper.  Add diced pepper.  Sautee together until almost done, add black beans and diced tomatoes.  Stir and simmer for about 10 minutes.

Enchilada Sauce
**We do not use canned because of allergies, so I discovered this sauce and it's a very close red enchilada sauce taste.
1/2 cup tomato juice
a couple dashes of cayenne pepper
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp salt

Put all ingredients in a sauce pan and allow to simmer for about 15 minutes.

Once your filling is cooked, you can begin assembling.  I use a 8 x 12 inch casserole dish for this.  I line with parchment foil to keep from a massive mess.

 I used my little Pampered Chef roller to roll out sheets of the dough very thinly.

I repeated layers of dough, filling and Diya cheese until I was out of filling.  It was 4 layers.  I put a dough layer on top, and then poured my enchilada sauce on top.  ****I did not put any enchilada sauce in the layers....only on top.****

So my enchilada casserole looked like this when ready to go into the oven.

 I covered with aluminum foil and baked for 35 minutes at 400 degrees.

I sprinkled some cilantro on the enchilada casserole.  Served it with sour cream (for those in the family that can eat dairy) and avocado slices.  My hubby who isn't a fan of the vegan Diya cheese, enjoyed this casserole also.

Enjoy....hope someone can use this!

GF/DF/Soy/Egg-free Shrimp Toast

Joey loves Shrimp Toast....he LOVES it.  Problem is we do not eat out much because of all the food allergies.  So I have been searching for a way to make this treat.  I really thought it would be much harder than it actually was.  

Here is what you need:

1 loaf Gluten free White Rice Bread

1 package precooked shrimp (We used an 8 oz package)

salt to taste

cilantro

lime juice

Coconut oil for shallow frying

Equipment needed:

small food processor

First I cut each slice of bread into 4 slices.

In my food processor I put in the shrimp (I used already cooked and thawed shrimp), some salt, a couple dashes of lime juice and dried cilantro (about 2 tsps.)....Process until it is smooth.  Then spread it on the small strips of bread.

I then laid them in the hot oil, shrimp mixture side down first.  Fry for about 2-3 minutes or until it is brown and then flip.  Cook about the same amount of time.

When look crispy, pull from the pan and keep going until you are done.

We had a ton.  Did not use the whole loaf of bread though.  They were a huge hit with Joey.  And I really enjoyed them too.  This is definitely going to be something we serve on Chinese take-out nights..lol.  Warning though...these do not reheat well.

Now to work on the GF/DF/Soy/Egg-free Egg Roll....

Gluten Free Biscuits and Gravy (Dairy Free too)

My kiddos love sausage gravy and biscuits.  But sausage is a no-no in our house due to MSG and I am allergic to pork.  So I have been trying to come up with a solution.  

First step....

Gluten/Dairy Free biscuits

1½ cups white rice flour 
¾ cup potato starch 
3 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold coconut oil and in pieces
¾ cup coconut milk....but you can use any kind of non-dairy you prefer. If you aren't dairy free..use regular milk.

Mix all the ingredients together.  I heat the oven to 350 degrees.  I found the easiest way to make these is to use a large muffin tin and a large cookie scoop.  The dough will have the consistency of cookie dough.  I scoop each cup about half full.  There is enough dough to do about 18 biscuits.

Bake at 350 degrees until dough slightly browns.  Takes about 15 - 20 minutes.

Turkey Bacon Gravy
1 package Applegate Turkey Bacon
3TBS coconut oil
1 qt Coconut Milk (plain flavor)....I buy the tetra packs for this...not canned.
4 TBS white rice flour.
Salt/pepper to taste.

While the biscuits are baking, I start the gravy.  I dice up Applegate Turkey Bacon.  Add 3 TBS of coconut oil.  And a couple dashes of salt (omit if you want).

When the bacon starts browning, stir in about 4 TBS white rice flour.  Allow the flour to soak up what little fat there will be and stir for about 1 minute to "cook" the flour a bit.

Slowly add about 3 cups of coconut milk.  I usually add 1 cup at a time and allow the gravy to begin thickening.  Stir while adding the milk definitely.  Eventually the gravy will begin looking like this.  I allow to simmer..not boil for about 10 minutes.  Stir frequently!!!

 And then tear up your biscuits, spoon on your gravy and ENJOY!!!

**********This is Kuehner Kid approved!!!!
Also this is enough for 4 kiddos, with extras for at least 2.  If Joe and I are both eating...I would double this recipe.

Hot Cocoa Mug Cake---Gluten/Egg/Soy/Dairy Free

Hot Cocoa Mug Cake

***This makes 6 large mugs of hot cocoa mug cake.

2 cups white rice flour

1 cup cocoa powder

1 cup sugar

1 cup coconut oil

4 TBS GF baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup coconut milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix all the above ingredients and add them to the mugs leaving about 1/2 - 3/4 inch at the top of the mugs for the cake to rise.  <<<You may need a bit more coconut milk than I listed.  I did not measure it.  The batter will be thick (not runny like a pancake batter). You do not want it thin.>>>

Bake for about 20-25 minutes until the tops spring back.  

I added Enjoy Life chocolate chips when they came out of the oven, and let them melt on top.  (I was running low on choco chips and didn't have enough to mix in the batter, otherwise I would have added to the batter)  Serve warm or cool.  And you can serve with ice cream.  

The kids really liked this.  Joe ate his cake with ice cream, the kids ate theirs with chocolate syrup.