Gluten-Free Recipe: Baking Powder Applesauce Biscuits

Baked goods like breads, muffins, and biscuits may seem hard to give up on a gluten-free diet, but there are plenty of tasty gluten-free alternatives that you can make at home, such as these applesauce biscuits, which are simple and easy to make, and the applesauce makes them extra tender with a hint of sweetness. Give these a try, and Happy Halloween!

Baking Powder Applesauce Biscuits - Gluten Free

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups brown rice flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
3 Tbsp extra-virgin coconut oil, melted
1 cup unsweetened applesauce

Directions:

• Set oven to preheat to 425 degrees.
• Put the dry ingredients in a big bowl and stir to blend.
• Drizzle oil over the top and cut in with a pastry blender or a couple forks. The texture should be 'pebbly.' Then stir in the applesauce gently.
• Drop dough by tablespoon on an ungreased baking sheet, patting into biscuit shape gently.
• Bake in preheated oven for 15 to 17 minutes or until lightly golden brown.
• Remove and serve with butter and jam while still nice and warm.

Recipes: Gluten Free Flour Mixes

Obviously one of the hardest things for many people about going on a gluten-free diet is giving up breads and pastas. But there are lots of good substitutes available for wheat flour now, so you don't have to go without all your favorite breads and desserts - just be sure you are using gluten-free flours instead.

Here are several gluten-free flour mixes you can make at home, to make sure you  know what's in your baked goods. Each also contains suggestions for use for each mix.

Just make some of these up ahead of time, and store in air-tight containers to use when baking or cooking breakfast items like pancakes and waffles.

Rice Soy Flour Mix
(Makes 1 cup.)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup soy flour
1/4 cup tapioca flour

• Mix together and store in an airtight container until ready to use.
• Makes a good flour to use in pancake batter or for brownies.

Baking Flour Mix
(Makes 3 cups.)

Ingredients:
2 cups rice flour
2/3 cup potato starch
1/3 cup tapioca flour
1 teaspoon xanthan gum

• Mix together and store in an airtight container until ready to use.
• Makes a good flour to use in breads, rolls, and other baked goods.

Rice Potato Flour Mix
(Makes 12 cups.)

Ingredients:
8 cups rice flour
2 2/3 cups potato starch
1 1/3 cup tapioca flour

• Mix together and store in an airtight container until ready to use.

Lighten Up Rice Flour Mix
(Makes 12 1/4 cups.)

Ingredients:
4 cups rice flour
4 cups tapioca flour
4 cups cornstarch
1/4 cup potato flour

• Mix together and store in an airtight container until ready to use.
• Try this flour for foods where a lighter texture is called for.

Recipe: Leftover Sweet Potato Cake

If you're looking for a sweet way to use up some of those holiday leftovers, treat yourself to this wonderful and unique cake! Leftover sweet potatoes add fiber, flavor, and beautiful color, while the rich flavor is accented with vanilla, spices, and a tangy hint of beer - it may sound odd, but try it - you'll be glad you did! (Feel free to cut down on the sugar - with the sweetness of the potatoes you shouldn't need this much - I would probably only use about a cup or so.)

Leftover Sweet Potato Cake

Ingredients:

(Photo credit: SheGotTheBeat)

1 3/4 cups white sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil or coconut oil
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups leftover sweet potatoes, mashed
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 cup beer

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease and flour a 9x13 inch baking dish.
2. In a large bowl, add the sugar and vegetable oil and mix together until smooth.
3. Into the bowl with the sugar and oil, put one egg at a time, beating each one as you add them.
4. Into the same bowl, stir in the vanilla, then add the mashed sweet potatoes and blend well. 
5. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
6. Add small amounts of this dry mixture to the sweet potato mixture, alternating with small amounts of the beer until everything comes together; but do NOT over mix. 
7. Turn this batter out into the prepared baking dish.
8. Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
9. Remove and cool, then slice and serve as is or top with your favorite frosting - cream cheese frosting works great!

Recipe: Quinoa Cornbread

This tasty cornbread recipe combines the rich sweet taste of corn and cream with herbs and the crunchy texture of quinoa for a unique and delicious bread you'll want to make again and again. Cooking this in a cast iron skillet will give the outside that delicious golden-brown crust you love! It's also great left over for breakfast with butter and a bit of jam.

Quinoa Cornbread

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Ingredients:

1 tbsp butter, to grease pan
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp dried mixed herbs (your choice)
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa, cooled
3 tbsp unsalted butter, just melted and cooled
3 tbsp brown sugar
3/4 tsp sea salt (fine)
2 cups milk
1 1/2 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 cup heavy cream

Directions:

• Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F.
• Butter a 10-inch cast-iron skillet or baking dish. 
• Preheat skillet in oven for about 10 minutes before baking cornbread. 
• Stir together cornmeal, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and dried herbs in a large bowl.
• Blend beaten eggs, melted butter, and quinoa in a separate bowl until well-blended. 
• Stir in salt, vinegar, sugar, and milk. 
• Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until batter just comes together. Batter will be thin. 
• Pour batter into heated skillet, then pour heavy cream into the center of the batter. 
• Do not stir the mixture, it will form as it bakes. 
• Place in the oven and check after 45 minutes. 
• Cornbread is done when the top is light brown and the center just sets. If necessary, cook an additional 10 to 15 minutes.
• If desired, place under broiler for a minute to brown the top of the bread.

Recipe - Low-Carb Snack: Baked Parmesan Cracker Crisps

This delicious low-carb snack idea is both easy and tasty - kids will love this one too! Instead of flour, almond meal provides the structure for these home-made cheese crackers. Simple and flavorful, this one is sure to satisfy your cravings.

Baked Parmesan Cracker Crisps

Parmesan Crisps (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Ingredients: 

1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese*
1/4 tsp almond flour or meal
seasonings or herbs as desired (optional)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In a bowl, toss together the ingredients until well blended.
• Place even sized piles of mixture (size depends on how big you want the crackers) two or more inches apart on the baking sheet, flattening each pile slightly.
• Put in preheated oven for 4 to 6 minutes or until melted and starting to get golden brown.
• Remove and let cool undisturbed to keep their shape. (If you want to turn them into little bowls, you can place them, while still warm, over an inverted muffin tin or cups.)
• When cooled completely, these crackers can be used to serve dips, spreads, or as a cheesy cracker snack.

* Note: Any hard cheese will work, like Romano or Asagio. You can even use softer cheeses, like cheddar, but the result will be softer as well. Almond flour or meal helps the cheese smooth out while baking, but you can actually make these with just the cheese.

Cooking With Honey – The Healthy All-Natural Sweetener

If you want to be able to cook sweets without the negative health effects of refined sugar, honey is an excellent option. Among other reasons, honey is metabolized more slowly by your body, meaning that you are less likely to get a sugar “high” after eating something made with honey.

Image via WikipediaHoney can be challenging to cook with, though, for several reasons. So many people don't cook with it because they don't know how. But once you know how to use honey in your favorite kitchen creations, it's not hard at all to use.

The first challenge that honey presents is that it burns more easily that normal sugar. This problem is usually solved by doing your cooking or baking at a slightly lower heat.

The main hurdle to cooking with honey is that it is a liquid. Replacing sugar with honey will ruin some recipes if you don't make an allowance for the extra liquid that the honey adds.

For most muffins, simple quick breads, yeast breads, etc., you can make the substitution without any adjustment. But for cakes, cookies and some other recipes you should decrease the amount of liquid in the recipe to account for the honey.

Honey is also very easy to use in pies. Since they are already somewhat liquid, you can replace the sugar with honey. If the pie filling seems too runny, just add a little extra thickener before you pour it in your pie shell.

The flavor of honey can sometimes be an issue, but not usually. If you are making a recipe that you don't want the flavor to be noticeable, there are several things you can try. First of all, get the mildest flavored honey you can. Usually that will be a very pale clover honey. (The paler the honey, the sweeter and milder the flavor, in general.)

Image via WikipediaIf necessary, you can use part honey, and part some other sweetener, such as apple juice concentrate, agave nectar, stevia, or even sugar if you have to. Or, if you want to be adventurous, you can also try using different flavors of honey to add different subtle and unique flavors to your cooking. There are dozens of different kinds of honey - honey from each type of flower will taste different, and add a different aroma to your food.

Honey can add a delicious and subtle flavor to your cooking, while adding some of its healthy benefits as well. Because honey is sweeter than sugar, you can also get away with adding less of it. Honey is a great option to try in your holiday baked goods this season!