Brownies

There are few things more important to me then the perfect brownie.  Go ahead, call me shallow;  I already know this.  So the perfect way to start a brownie or a cake is with the pan.  Butter the pan and then put sugar on it, not flour.  I know... I know... you're thinking "Oh no she didn't"  but yes, yes I did.  It really is the most fabulous thing ever and if you don't believe me just try it.  There ain't no going back.

I have quiet a few variations (peanut butter, oatmeal, marshmallow) with this brownie, but this is the basic brownie.

2 cubes butter

1/3 cup cocoa

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

2 cup Gluten free flour

1-1/4 tsp xantham gum

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Melt butter, Stir in cocoa, sugar, eggs, & vanilla.  In a separate bowl mix gluten free flour and xantham gum.  Add flour mixture to the wet ingredients.  Mix well.  The batter will be a little thick so I usually try and plop it on in different areas and then smooth it as even as possible in the pan.  You want to be careful not to lift the sugar off the bottom of the pan.   Bake for 40-50 minutes.  Stick a toothpick in the center to make sure it is done.  My oven takes 42 minutes, but my mother-in-laws takes almost 50 minutes, so figure out your oven and then just make a note of it.  That is my tip for the day.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

One of the first desserts I tried to master was the perfect chocolate chip cookie.  Who doesn't want one of these when they walk thru the door?  This isn't a great picture, it was taken from my phone, but they are great cookies.

The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie

2 sticks soften salted butter

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 small eggs

1 ts. vanilla

3-3/4 cup Gluten free flour

3/4 ts. baking soda

1-1/4 ts. xantham gum

1 bag chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream the soften butter, sugar, & brown sugar.  Add eggs & vanilla.  In a separate bowl, mix gluten free flour, baking soda, xantham gum.  Add dry ingredients to the sugar mixture.  Once it is fully mixed then add a bag of chocolate chips and mix for a second.  Use a cookie scooper and go to town.

Bake for 8-10 minutes.  You want to pull them out when they look a little underdone.  Then let them cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes then on a wire rack.  SERIOUSLY SO GOOD!  You can thank me later;)

Gluten free oreo goodness

So have I mentioned my husband's family has a lot of people with celiac?  He is #3 out of 9 kids.  Four of the nine have it and a few refuse to be tested.  I have my opinions about that, but they have already heard them.  Anyhow, back to business of the ubber delicious oreos.  My brother-in-law (who refuses to get tested) is usually a wee bit annoyed by the gluten free food at family gatherings.  However, when I made these little suckers, he couldn't keep his hands off of them.

Oreo Goodness

1 cup butter softened 

2 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 ts vanilla

2-1/2 cup gluten free flour

3/4 cup coco

1 ts baking soda

1/2 ts salt

1-1/4 ts xanthum gum

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all of the dry ingredients together.  In a separate bowl cream butter and sugar together.  Add eggs and vanilla and mix.  Next, add the dry ingredients.  Once mixed, I usually use my 1 TBS cookie scooper and scoop 12 onto a cookie sheet, I cut them in half and roll them into balls with my hand.  Bake for 8-9 minutes.  When you take them out they will look a little underdone, but don't keep baking them.  They are much better when they are soft.  Let them cool on a cookie sheet for a few minutes and then place them on a cooling rack. 

Once they have cooled frost them with this fantastic frosting.

Frosting

4 ounces cream cheese

1 stick of butter

1-1/2 cups powder sugar

1/2 ts vanilla

1/8 ts salt

Cream butter then add cream cheese.  Add powder sugar, mix and then add vanilla and salt. If for some reason the mixture seems to runny then you can add a little more powder sugar.  Prepare yourself: you may just have to run on the treadmill an extra hour or two to burn off what you ate.  

Flour mixture

The gluten-free flour mixture that I always use is a mixture of rice flour, tapioca flour, & potato flour.

* 6 cups Brown Rice Flour (I have learned that fine rice flour doesn't work the same)
* 2 cups Potato Flour
* 1 cup Tapioca Flour

I mix them and put them large tupperware bin.  I usually, okay, okay my husband usually mixes a ton at a time for me.  I buy 50lb bags of each, it has been the cheapest way for me.  I buy it from Honeyville.

My husband and 7 year old son were diagnosed with celiac disease in 2012.  I'll admit that when my husband was diagnosed I thought "I can do this".  When my son was diagnosed, I cried for a week straight.  I hated that his diet needed to be so restricted and I felt so much pressure on me to make sure he didn't get any gluten.  I kept thinking what is going to happen when kids in his 2nd grade class bring in cupcakes or donuts for their birthdays.  I didn't want him to feel different or upset that he couldn't eat what the other kids were eating.  My son is a rock star and has been amazing with these changes but I have had to be the one to make these changes for my family.  Holy Cow!  I have been overwhelmed with recipes and they all seem to have about a billion ingredients and I don't even know what they are.  I have 4 kids the oldest is 7 so I don't have time to go though the rigamaroll of difficult recipes.  I've made it my mission to bake simple, but good gluten free meals and sweets (my favorite).