Gluten Free Pull-Aparts: Garlic & Parmesan or Pizza Pull Aparts

I have a confession to make.  I’m addicted to Pinterest.  I haven’t started a Gluten Free Board – YET! – because I know once I do, it will just all be downhill until then.  I will never have to get off my duff to be creative again.  But you know what? … It is perfect reading and browsing for those of us with insomnia (or who can’t fall asleep at night because… well.. because our brains don’t shut off…).

(For those of you who are uninitiated, Pinterest is a visual version of adding bookmarks to your computer – but they remain online and accessible from wherever you have internet access.)

The truly addicting part for me, however, is NOT that I can bookmark my favorite things to do (a bucket list of crafts is what I’m accruing there) and/or teaching ideas (of which there is plethora of great ones, for those of you who teach) but several of my friends whose boards (bookmarks) I can “follow” (much like twitter or Facebook) are pinning some amazing looking food from bloggers.  And OH MY – the lemon bread?  Yes!  It was easy to convert to gluten free so it started the ball.

Lately, I’ve been seeing a lot of “pins” (as they are called) for pull-apart breads.  Exactly like a Monkey Bread (I have an early (2007) gluten free recipe for a monkey bread here).  The difference is mainly that pull-apart breads seem to be savory rather than sweet (although I recently made one to taste like lemonade for the girls – OH MY – do that again soon!).  I knew with my previous monkey bread experience that this was totally do-able, meaning: easy for me to convert to gluten free!

The recipe below we have used for the following flavors of Pull-Apart breads and is truly only limited by your own imagination and taste buds:

Garlic and Parmesan (was a great accompaniment to our pasta: recipe below)
Lemonade (fresh lemon, lemon juice and drizzled with grated candied lemon peel and icing)
Turkey & Cheese stuffed pull Aparts (topped with garlic and parmesan)
Pepperoni Pizza Pull Aparts (stuffed with pepperoni slices and cheese, topped with pizza sauce and more cheese)
Dill and Feta Pull Aparts (added tons of dill and a bit of feta to the dough, topped with garlic and drizzled with butter)
etc….

Pepperoni-Stuffed Pizza Pull Aparts (Kid-Created:  They made the dough, I stuffed, the topped)

You see the drift here:  Basically whatever you want.  I can’t wait to see what you guys will do with this.  Please be sure to come back and inspire me too!  Let me know what you make.  Everyone can use the kitchen-inspiration.  😀

Gluten Free Garlic & Parmesan Pull Apart Bread

Makes one standard pie-plate of pull apart bread (about 12 balls that are 2 inches in diameter or so).  Download/Print a PDF copy of this recipe here.

Basic Recipe Ingredients:

1 cup warm milk (or water or soy milk or rice milk), between 110*-115*F
1 Tablespoon yeast
1 Tablespoon honey
4 Tablespoons melted butter (for dough) + more (for rolling dough balls in)
1 egg
2 1/4 cups Gluten Free Flour Mix (70% whole grain/30% starch)
2 teaspoons xanthan gum
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

For Garlic-Parmesan Pull-Aparts Add:

1 1/2 teaspoons granulated garlic
1/2 cup shredded parmesan

Directions:

1. Flip your pie plate upside down onto a piece of parchment paper.  Trace the outer edge.  Cut the parchment to fit your tracing.  Flip your pie plate right side up.  Lightly butter the inside bottom of your pie plate (to help the parchment stay in place).  Press the now circle-shaped parchment into the pie plate.  The edges will wrinkle up a bit, but they will make it so much easier to get the pull apart out of the pan when you are done.
2. Preheat your oven to 375F.
3. Mix together your warm milk (110*-115*F), yeast and honey.  Set aside to proof.
4. In the bowl of your mix, blend your dry ingredients:  GF Flour mix, xanthan gum, baking powder and salt.  If you are making the garlic parmesan version, add the granulated garlic now.
5. Add your wet ingredients:  egg, melted butter and proofing mixture (it should have foamed up by now) of milk/honey/yeast.
6. Mix on low until blended.  Then turn mixer up a little faster (#4 on my KitchenAid is our standard with little people helping) and mix for an additional 2-4 minutes.  This is what your dough will look like.

1. Melt a couple of Tablespoons of butter into a cereal bowl.
2. Divide your dough into 12 balls (about 2-2 1/2 inches in diameter).  Roll each in the melted butter than place into your parchment lined pie dish.  Continue until all the balls are coated and placed into the pan.  Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
3. Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes until the crust of the balls are golden brown and the internal temperature registers between 195-204*F.   (See the picture above)
4. Serve warm with an appropriate dipping sauce (if you’d like).  We ate these like garlic bread (the garlic-parmesan, obviously) while our kids liked dipping them into pizza sauce and/or their favorite dipping sauce.

Enjoy!
Kate

Gluten Free Chinese Scallion Pancakes

Oh my.

I warn you.  This recipe is dangerous.  As in – definitely need oil/fats and holy cow…you will NOT be able to eat just one.  At least not if you are like me.

Traditional scallion pancakes are layered with scallions and sesame oil.  This layered makes for a flakier pancake and delicious seasoning throughout.  The layering happens because the dough is rolled out like a pie crust (about that thick) which is then painted/drizzled with sesame oil and green onions sprinkled on top.  Then you roll it up into a tube and flatten again.  Do this a couple of times and you have scallions and seasoning throughout.

Since I’m not interested in standing at the counter for that long between toddlers and pancakes, I add my green onions into the dough.  We do, however, roll it out as well and fold/flatten a few times in order to get the layers and sesame oil throughout.  (Really, the only thing I skipping is the green onion part and the rolling into a tube.)

Honestly this works for me, so I am just going to keep this pattern.  Here’s what it looks like:

1.  Make the dough (recipe below).

2.  Divide it into the number of pancakes you wish to make.  (We usually make between 8 – 12 with this recipe.)

3.  Take one piece and flatten it into a disc.  Put it between two pieces of parchment (or I cut two sides on a gallon-sized baggie for this).  Roll it out into a rounded, pie crust shape that is about 1/4 inch thick (or a little less, once you have practice).

4.  Paint it with a thin layer of sesame oil with a pastry brush (or drizzle and use the back of a spoon to smooth it out evenly).  Sprinkle with salt.

5.  Fold it in half.  Brush with another thin layer of sesame oil (you can sprinkle with salt IF you find after frying/testing the first one, it isn’t salty enough for you with just one layer of sprinkled salt).

6.  Repeat:  fold/paint with a thin layer of sesame oil.

7.  That was the last fold.  This time, don’t brush it with sesame oil but gently flatten it/roll it out into your pancake shape.  The fry it in a little bit of olive oil (about 1 teaspoon or less per side) until golden brown.  Serve right away with the dipping sauce (recipe below) or keep it warm in a warm oven until all of your pancakes have been fried up to their golden goodness.

Are you hungry yet?

Okay, I’ll quit teasing.  Here’s the recipe.

Gluten Free Chinese Scallion Pancakes

Recipe makes 8 large or up to 12 medium/small pancakes (or a combination of both!)

Ingredients:
2 cups GF Flour Mix (I used GF Mama’s Almond Flour Blend)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons xanthan gum
1 teaspoons salt
1 cup boiling water
2 Tablespoons olive oil (plus more for frying)
1/2-2/3 cup of finely chopped green onion
sesame oil (up to 1/4 cup – depending on quantity of pancakes/desired flavor)
salt or sea salt for seasoning

Directions:

1. Mix together GF flour mix, baking soda, xanthan gum and salt.
2. Add one cup of boiling water.  Mix again.
3. Add olive oil and chopped green onion.  Your dough should look like this after mixing again:

4.  Shape it into a ball.  Divide into the number of pancakes you wish and follow the directions above for rolling out and painting with sesame oil.

5.  Fry in a small bit of oil (a teaspoon or less) in a non-stick pan until golden brown.  Flip and fry the other side until golden as well.  (You may need to add a drizzle of oil for it to crisp up golden perfection.  Serve warm with dipping sauce (recipe to follow) or keep warm in the oven until ready to serve.

(Non-traditionally – you can always use these are the basis for some AMAZING turkey sandwiches too!)

Quick and Easy Dipping Sauce

There are traditional sauces you can simmer or rest with ginger, scallions, etc.  But I used this quick one.  Truly, it works in a pinch.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup gluten free soy sauce
2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
1 1/2 Tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon minced/chopped (left over!) scallions
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger  (if using fresh, you will need to slice it thin and let soak in sauce to infuse flavor)

1. Mix together and serve with fresh, warm scallion pancakes.

I hope you enjoy these as much as we do!
~Kate

GF Flatbread and Cracker Recipe and a GIVE-AWAY!

Gluten free Feta & Dill crackers (with homemade hummus)Photo by Kate Chan

My girls have been asking for “pies” in their lunch boxes lately.  I couldn’t figure out what they wanted.  (Yes, I am the only one who packs their lunches…so yes, I’m … slow.  LOL!)  They assured me that they had eaten peanut butter and jelly pies with lunch.  I was convinced they got snacks at day care.

Turns out they were right.

I have been buying some of the thin, round sandwich thingies at the grocer every once in a blue moon (and especially when I didn’t have time to make bread for everyone).  They are not big bread eaters actually, so it’s been easy to maintain a gluten free house for the most part.  (Save for the ubiquitous box of Goldfish crackers.  I just can’t make enough gluten free mock goldfish crackers to keep up with their demand.  But as an FYI, the gluten free ones are preferred.)

Schools doesn’t break for summer vacation here until June 23.

And THAT seems very far away at the moment.  And thankfully so, I have a ton left to do at work.  But I can’t wait for some time with my girlies too.  I hope we have a warm (not hot) summer and they sun comes to visit.  (It goes missing for several MONTHS of the year here in the PNW.  If you ever hear me moaning about the lack of sunshine, really… I have reason.  I’m totally solar-powered.  This no-sun thing KILLS me.)

Recently, I also applied for a freebie sample of coconut oil from Tropical Traditions.  I did not receive payment for any review, but was provided with a sample.  They also offered a “give away” of one of their jars of coconut oil.  I think I actually like this stuff!  It is more expensive than buying traditional oils  Since so many people have been talking about using coconut oil in lieu of butters, etc, I thought I would give it a try.  We’ve made some fabulously light waffles with it (and the added benefit of coconut smell while oiling the waffle pan was great!  It was alike an invasion of summer.)  If you would like to try it too, please follow these guidelines:

Congratulations to Stephanie C – Winner!

 

Win A Quart of Gold Label Coconut Oil from Tropical Traditions!

 

INFORMATION FROM TROPICAL TRADITIONS:

“Tropical Traditions is America’s source for coconut oil.  Our Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil is hand crafted in small batches by family producers, and it is the highest quality coconut oil they offer. You can read more about how virgin coconut oil is different from other coconut oils on our website:  What is Virgin Coconut Oil? Tropical Traditions also carries other varieties of affordable high quality coconut oil. Visit our website to check on current sales, to learn about the many uses of coconut oil, and to read about all the  advantages of buying coconut oil online.  Since the FDA does not want us to discuss the health benefits of coconut oil on a page where it is being sold or given away, here is the best website to read about the health benefits of coconut oil.”

ABOUT TROPICAL TRADITIONS COCONUT OIL:

HOW TO ENTER:  For each ENTRY, post ONE comment below.  You may receive an “ENTRY” by doing any/all of the following.

Just remember to post a new comment for each – sorry, but it’s the easiest way to track entries!

• COMMENT BELOW and tell me your fave idea or current use for coconut oil.
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GIVE AWAY ENDS Friday, June 23, 2012 at midnight.  What a way to kick off summer for me!

A winner will be chosen using RANDOM.ORG.  The winner will be contacted via email to obtain a mailing address for Tropical Traditions.  Tropical Traditions will be mailing/supplying the quart of coconut oil.  Good luck!

So……

Now that you are jazzed to try coconut oil…. here’s a recipe you can start with.  (If you don’t have coconut oil on hand, you can use olive oil or butter.)

I’ve been making quick breads (like the lavash recipe) and others trying to get a speedy answer to lunch for me.  This one, Feta and Dill, is our current favorite.  I began making naan and other flatbread recipes several years ago.  Just as I perfected my recipe, our pizza stone broke.  Why does that matter?  Because all of the recipes that were the most successful had beautiful bread  that would puff up nicely on a pizza stone in the oven.  Without a stone, I rather went back to the drawing board.

Oh, the recipe still works beautifully, but I had to adapt it a little bit to adjust for the different baking/cooking techniques.  This dough can be flattened thinly used to make crackers (picture above) or formed into pita/naan/flatbread (into which I slide a thin sharp knife for sandwiches), etc.  Adjusting the baking times can be adjusted to add more flexibility (more moisture) or a light crisp airy crust (like the pita below).    I’ve even pan-fried them in a little olive oil with a generous sprinkling of sea-salt to make a nice crisp crust.

I love the fact that recipes are so versatile.  Makes for easier on-the-spot adjustment!

As I finish writing this post (which has taken forever this morning to get started!), I realize that we’ve now eaten the 8th or 9th batch with this recipe.  And today, I used my piece (thicker/pita-like) to have a turkey, avocado and sprout sandwich.  My Love used his for a pizza base and the girls ate the chips (above) with hummus.  Sweet deal.

You can also adjust the cheese (use parmesan or asadero or a gluten free bleu).  I suggest sticking to the dry/crumbly cheeses for this so you don’t have to mess with the liquid/dry ratio.

Gluten Free Feta and Dill Flatbread

Recipe makes 8-9 pita shapes or more if flattened thinly for flatbread/chips)

Ingredients:

PROOF:

1/3 cup warm milk

1 teaspoon sugar or honey

2 teaspoons yeast

DRY:

2 cups GF blend (rice, millet or sorghum based – or use GF Mama’s Almond Blend)

         (OR:  1 1/2 cup millet or sorghum or rice + 1/2 tapioca or potato starch)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon xanthan gum

1/2 cup feta

1 1/2 Tablespoons dried dill

WET:

1/2 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt

1 Tablespoon coconut oil (or butter or olive oil)

1 egg

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat your oven to 400F.
2. Mix together your proofing ingredients:  warm milk, sugar and yeast.  Set aside.
3. Into the bowl of your mixer, add your dry ingredients.  Mix.
4. Add the wet ingredients.  Mix again.
5. Add the proofing mixture (which should have puffed up by now).
6. Mix together on medium for 2-3 minutes.  The mixture will still be wet and sticky but you should be able to scrap it into a large mass within the bowl.
7. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silpat.  Grease your hands (I coated mine with the coconut oil).  Take the dough in small balls/chunks a tiny bit larger than a golf ball and press them flat onto the parchment paper.  Try to do this evenly.  (You will have uneven browning spots if you are not careful… or if you are me.  😀 )
8. Bake – under a watchful eye as all ovens vary! – for 8 – 13 minutes.  (8 minutes for the thin cracker-bread and 10-13 minutes for the pita).
9. Remove an allow to cool (if you can) before storing (if you have any left over).

I have successfully doubled this recipe – but I did NOT add another egg.  Rather I adjust the moisture by adding more sour cream or Greek yogurt.  (Just an FYI if you find that it disappears quickly in your house as well.)

Happy GF Eats, Everyone!
And good luck with your Give-Away Entries!
~Kate

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Gluten Free Oat & Honey Bread

So if you’ve been reading along, you are no doubt in awe (like me) that I am able to sit and actually write a blog post!  The girls are busy (one is next to me “studying” a map and the other is currently occupied by a toy cash register) and life is good.  My Love is even able to catch his breath for a moment.  (I’m sure swearing off all household repairs has something to do with it… LOL)

In the last several weeks, I’ve been working on a bread recipe.  One that would allow me to use the relatively cheaper gluten free flours (saving money), still use whole grains with limited starch, and not have so many esoteric ingredients that reading it would feel like a study in chemistry.  Well, okay, I did use xanthan gum.  (No, I’m not giving up gums.)  I find it really helps the texture and holds the bread together.  In fact, once I left it out by mistake.  Oy vey, what a crumbly mess I had on the counter.

I think gluten free bread baking can FEEL intimidating to people.  But really?  I don’t think it is that bad.  Yes, you will have breads that fail.  Breads can come out crumbly or dry or dense  – or, well, let’s be honest – any litany of maladies can plague your baking.  However, gluten free breads are rather forgiving in my mind.  Once I figure out a ratio of total flours:fats:liquids, I’ve been fairly happy.  My stand-by loaf of bread used to be my Pepita-Powered Bread (made with green pumpkin seeds – aka Pepitas).  But I don’t always have the pepitas on hand (and I have to go to the Food Co-op to buy them) and when I do have them on hand, I like to use them in granola as well.  In a recipe-battle for the pepitas, the granola usually wins.  I just don’t eat that much bread anymore but granola?  YUM!

This bread is super moist.  It holds up well.  In fact, I’ve made it on the weekend and STILL have been able to eat a sandwich with it on Wednesday WITHOUT toasting it.  I actually just polished off the last loaf I made (last Saturday afternoon while the girls napped) this morning for breakfast.  I *love* being able to eat peanut butter toast for breakfast.  And my girls had the last slice for a PB&J sammie at lunch (not toasted!).

If you are not gluten free and are making this bread for someone who is, please be sure to use CERTIFIED gluten free oats.  Other than that, the other ingredients should be easy to find.  (There is even a spice house in my town that will sell xanthan gum by the teaspoon/measurement – hopefully this trend will catch on.  Otherwise, borrow a couple teaspoons from someone if you don’t plan to bake GF because of all the ingredients – that price tag will kill you.  My only consolation is that one bag of xanthan gum lasts FOREVER – and stores easily in an air-tight container in the cupboard.  Really.  It takes a LONG time to use up a whole bag  – even in this house where I like to bake!)

Just an FYI – I’m a whisk-it-up and scoop girl for my measuring.  Meaning, I whisk through my tub of flour (especially potato starch which seems to become QUITE heavy/compacted over time) and then I scoop and measure out my flour.  Yes, weighing flours is more accurate and I gladly weigh when making things from European cookbooks or from other sources, but I guess you just can’t kick the old-school scoop measuring out of me.  I don’t know my equivalents to convert my recipes easily from the top of my head and scooping is easier for the kids to help me bake the bread as well.  I love having kitchen helpers. 😀  Now if only their clean-up didn’t mean a bigger mess.

I used brown rice flour (superfine or regular), certified gluten free oats, and a small amount of starch.  There are several substitutions that you can easily make without sacrificing the texture of the bread.  Here are the ones I have done:

• FOR Brown Rice Flour replace with equal amounts of:

• regular brown rice flour
• superfine brown rice flour
• white rice flour (NOT sweet rice flour)
• sorghum flour
• millet flour
• a combination of these to make the same total
• FOR Certified Oats (not quick cook):  replace with equal amount of

• quinoa flakes (this will alter the flavor)
• FOR the starch use:

• potato starch (makes a slightly more dense bread but very moist)
• tapioca starch (makes a moist bread with a bit more springy quality)
• cornstarch (useable but not recommended – adds a bit of a filmy aftertaste to me)

Oat & Honey Gluten Free Bread

Gluten Free Oat & Honey Bread

A printable copy of this recipe can be found here.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/4 cup warm water
• 3 Tablespoons honey
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons yeast
• 2 eggs
• 3 Tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 1/4 cup certified gluten free oats
• 1 1/4 cup brown rice flour
• 1/2 cup potato starch
• 2 teaspoons xanthan gum
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.  (I do leave my oven on preheat when allowing the bread to rise because our kitchen can be cold.  If your kitchen is not, leave the preheating until after your bread is nearly risen.)
2. Heat your water to 105-110F.  Mix in your honey and yeast.  Set aside to proof. (About 1o minutes)
3. Mix together the dry ingredients in the bowl of your mixer:  certified oats, brown rice flour, potato starch, xanthan gum, sugar and salt.
4. Add eggs, melted butter and yeast-proof mixture.  Mix together on slow until well blended.
5. Mix on medium-high for 3-5 minutes.
6. Oil the bottom and sides of your bread (standard size) pan (I use olive oil and a basting brush).  Pour bread mixture into oiled pan and smooth out the top with a wet 7.  spatula.  Set aside to allow the bread to rise.  It will rise over the top edges of the pan.
7. Once risen, pop the bread into the oven.  Bake to an internal temperature of 205F – about 25-35 minutes, depending on your oven.
8. Once your temperature is right, use a spatula to slide along the sides of the bread pan to loosen the bread.  Remove the bread from the pan by inverting.  Allow the bread to cool on its side on a cooling rack for 20 minutes + before slicing.
9. Store in wrapped in foil and in an airtight container after cooling completely on the counter or in your refrigerator.

I hope this bread recipe is as delightfully easy for you as it has been for me.  Seven loaves later and it is now our preferred bread.  Even our little ones (who are not bread eaters by choice completely) enjoy this one for the tiny bites that they will take.

Well, I hear the girls gearing up for some interactive time.. the wind is blowing and the rain is coming down.  Winter is here early.  At least we have bread to keep the house toasty and smelling good now!

~Happy Gluten Free Eats!

Kate