Brookies

I hope you love chocolate chips

They're cookies.. they're brownies... they're brookies!

What ever you want to call them they are gorgeous! They are the taste of a chocolate chip cookie but the texture of a soft chewy brownie. What else could you wish for?

Now with this recipe you must combine everything by hand. It gives a totally different texture to if you mixed with a mixer.

The great thing about these bars is that you can mix in different additions. How about M&Ms? or toffee chips? Maybe caramel chews to give it a different texture?

Brookies

2 3/4 cup all purpose flour gluten free

2 1/2 teaspoons gluten free baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup butter, softened

1 lb. light brown sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

11.5 ounce package milk chocolate chips

Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Set aside.

Stir brown sugar into softened (not melted) butter in another large bowl until butter disappears. You can use the back of your spoon to help incorporate the two together.

Add eggs one at a time to butter mixture and stir well after each egg.

Add vanilla, chocolate chips. Mix well.

Add dry flour mixture and stir until well combined.

Coat a 13 X 9 pan with non-stick spray and spread batter evenly into dish.Bake at 210 degrees for 30 minutes or until top is golden brown. Make sure you don’t over bake.

14 Layer Cake

14 Layer Cake Special

Now this was a challenge. I has seen in a recipe about this cake and it looked fab so I had to give it a try. I mainly wanted to proove to people that it is possible to have things like this when your gluten free! Even better really as you count on each cake in the tin not to rise much! perfect!

This is a special cake for birthdays, get togethers, meals or simply to impress people. I hope you give it a try as its not as hard as it looks or sounds and its well worth it!

14 Layer Cake

4 1/2 cups gluten free flour , sifted
1 1/2 teaspoons gluten free baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter , at room temperature
2 1/2 cups sugar
6 large eggs , at room temperature
3 cups milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder ,
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter , cut up
1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Pecan halves, for garnish

Pillow Cookies

Pillow Cookies

Have you ever had pillow cookies? I believe them to be American so I dont think you can buy them over here. Basically they are a chocolate chip cookie with a chocolate brownie center. Wow! Its a bit messy but really easy to make and they taste amazingly delicious!

As a short cut you can use gluten free chocolate brownies instead of making them (I know they dont taste as nice as homemade ones, but Mrs Crimbles Chocolate brownies do!)

You will of course have to make the cookies from scratch so that you can substitute the flour for gluten free.

So here we go.

Pillow Cookies

1 cup butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs, plus 1 egg yolk

1 tablespoon vanilla

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

12 oz. bag miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

For the chocolate chip cookie dough, beat butter with a mixer until creamy.

Add brown sugar and beat until smooth.

Add eggs, yolk and vanilla. Beat until smooth.

Combine flour, baking powder, soda and salt in a medium bowl and stir together with a wire whisk.
Add flour to butter mixture and beat until combined. Stir in mini chips.

Let dough chill covered in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

Use a measuring cup to scoop batter by the 1/2 cup. Since it’s chilled, you may need to pack it with a spoon. Then use the spoon to remove the dough from the cup and place it on parchment paper. Work quickly so the dough remains chilled or either prepare one cookie at a time so the rest of the dough remains cold.

After the dough is on the parchment paper, make an indention and place a 1 inch square brownie in the center. Press the brownie down gently and work the remaining dough around the brownie. You can use your hands to shape the dough into a ball.

Prepare six cookies at a time using a large baking sheet (15 X 20) and bake at 350 degrees for about 18 minutes. Return the remaining dough to the refrigerator until time to bake the second batch.

Cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes and then cool completely on a wire rack

Sausage and Peppers

Sausage and Peppers

My Italian fix. That is what I call this. All full of good Italian treats. Italian sausage, Italian seasoning, cheese, basil, all mixed together to create gorgeous Italian smells and aromas to fill the house!

This I had with gluten free pasta, but you can have rice, polenta, chips or salad even. It is so delicious that even the die hard gluten people will not be able to resist.

So sit back with your glass of wine, gluten free garlic bread or garlic balls, corn bread, or what ever you fancy to go with it and have a taste of Italy in your own dining room!

Sausage and Peppers

4 gluten-free Italian sausage

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large yellow or white onion, cut in half and then thinly sliced

3 bell peppers – red, yellow green or a combination, seeded and cut into strips

2 cloves garlic, minced or grated

tablespoon dried Italian seasoning

½ cup gluten-free tomato sauce or dry white wine

Salt & Pepper to taste

Handful Italian parsley, chopped – for garnish

Parmesan Cheese, grated – optional

Directions

Remove the casings from the Italian sausages and cut or tear into 1 inch pieces.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Brown the sausage pieces until browned on all sides, stirring to ensure proper browning. This may take 5 or 6 minutes. Remove the sausage pieces and set aside.

Add the onions to the pan, stirring to coat with the oil. Season with a few pinches of salt and a little pepper. Cook until the onions have started caramelizing and softening, about 15 minutes. Add the sliced peppers, garlic and Italian seasoning and cook until the peppers soften, about 5 minutes or so.

Return the peppers to the pan add the chicken broth, tomato sauce or wine and cook until the peppers have heated through and the liquid has reduced, about 5 minutes or more. Adjust seasoning with some more salt and pepper if needed.

Enjoy!

Cream Puffs/Profiteroles

Cream Puffs/Profiteroles

Now, being gluten free I am finding out, slowly, alot of things that I can still have. Although I do have to make alot of them myself, it makes life fun and interesting. I certainly found this out this weekend after making my very first Choux pastry, never mind a gluten free choux pastry! I had a right laugh with Paul, my husband, as we both stood beating and whipping and making sure the eggs didn't curdle!

Now this recipe can be adapted easily. I filled mine with cream and topped with melted chocolate. However you can have a chocolate ganache topping or filled with Strawberry jam and cream. The list is endless. They taste amazing and although I have used coconut milk you CANNOT taste coconut in these at all!

Give them a try!

Pear Almond Cake

Pear Almond Cake

Wow. This is a find. Imagine the aromas of pears, almond and vanilla floating through your house. Now imagine a moist, vanilla, melt in your mouth cake. Thats what you get with this Pear and Almond cake.

It has no flour in it at all. It also has no butter or milk so not only is it gluten free but its also dairy free! Which is something I have been trying to eat as dairy also slightly effects me.

Tuck in and enjoy,

Pear and Almond Cake

4 ripe but firm Pears – use divided

1¾ cups plus 2 teaspoons granulated sugar – use divided

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

3¼ cups finely ground almonds

8 large eggs

1¼ teaspoons pure vanilla extract – use divided

1 tablespoon agave nectar or honey

1 tablespoon grapeseed (or other neutral tasting) oil

½ cup sliced almonds

Directions

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees.

Lightly spray a 9 or 10 inch springform pan with gluten-free non-stick cooking spray. Cut a circle of parchment to fit the bottom of the pan, place in the pan and spray it lightly with more cooking spray.

Peel and core the pears. Chop three of the pears roughly and slice the fourth into about ¼ inch slices. Take the chopped pears and put in a small, microwavable bowl with the lemon juice and 2 teaspoons of sugar. Cover and microwave on high power for 4 minutes. Mash the pears into a coarse puree with a fork or wooden spoon. Let cool.

Put the almond meal and 1¾ cups of sugar in a food processor and give it 4 or 5 long pulses. Add the eggs, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and the cooked pears and puree the mixture. Pour into the prepared pan.

In a small pan, heat the agave or honey with the oil, stirring to mix until the mixture starts to bubble. Take off the heat and stir in the remaining ¼ teaspoon of vanilla. Add the pear slices and toss gently to coat.Sprinkle the sliced almonds over the top of the cake. Add the pear slices in a spoke configuration and spoon the agave or honey/oil mixture over the top of the cake.

Bake for 45 – 55 minutes or until the cake is nicely browned and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Check the cake after about 35 minutes, if it browning too much, place a piece of foil over the top.Let the cake cool in the pan for about 30 minutes then remove the sides of the pan and transfer to a serving platter. The cake is best served slightly warm.

Takeaway Heaven

Well I thought it wasn't possible.... but I had a takeaway on Friday night!! Yay!! It was from a local Fish shop near me. The owner themselves are actually gluten intolerant! So I had my long missed Fish and Chips. No vinegar of course. They were delicious. They even sell the batter for you to make your own at home! Thank you Forest Hall Fisheries!

Aubergine Lasagne

Gluten Free Aubergine Lasagna Style
That's certainly a mouth full!

The way I see it is that great food is great food, regardless of its wheat content etc. There are no pasta sheets or noodles in this recipe but it is delicious!

I was tired of sitting watching my other half tuck into a gorgeous melt in your mouth lasagna every Monday night just to try and make my own gluten free version of pasta to wait anticipating to then try it and find it was nice but not the same!

This is a gorgeous recipe and certainly melts in your mouth!

Eggplant Lasagna Style
2 medium or large eggplants
¾ cups olive oil
5 teaspoons dried oregano – use divided
3 teaspoons kosher or sea salt – use divided
2 teaspoons ground black pepper – use divided
5 cups Tomato Sauce
1 large white or yellow onion - chopped3 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup red wine – optional
1 large container Ricotta Cheese
1 cup Parmesan cheese – grated or shredded
2 large eggs – beaten
2 teaspoons dried parsley
3 cups mozzarella cheese - grated


1. Preheat oven to 190 degrees.

2. Mix olive oil with 2 teaspoons dried oregano, 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Cut the ends off the eggplant and slice into ¼ inch slices. Brush eggplant slices with olive oil mixture. Grill on a hot, dry grill pan or broil under Pre-heated broiler for about 4 - 5 minutes (until browned) and flip, cook on other side until browned and slightly soft about another 3 -4 minutes. It will cook more in the oven so slightly under cooked is OK. Set aside until layering the lasagna.

3. Remove the casing from the Italian sausage and crumble into a large stockpot or skillet that has been heated over medium high heat. (If your pan is not non-stick, add just a touch of olive oil to the pan first. Cook until browned and no longer pink inside, breaking up the sausage as it cooks. Add chopped onion and cook until onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook another 30 seconds. Add tomato sauce, wine if using and 1 teaspoon dried oregano. Let cook for about 15 minutes until heated through. Check the consistency, you want it a little saucy so if too thick add some water. I usually have to add about 1/4 - 1/3 cups.

4. In a large mixing bowl mix the ricotta cheese with 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, 2 teaspoons dried oregano, the parsley, Parmesan cheese and eggs.

5. Brush a large lasagna dish with some olive oil. Ladle in a little bit of the tomato sauce and spread over bottom of dish. Try to just add the sauce, no sausage chunks.

6. Layer half the eggplant slices in the bottom. Add half the ricotta mixture then top with half the sauce. Repeat layering.

7. Top with mozzarella cheese and spread evenly over the top.

8. Bake about 1 hour until hot and bubbling and cheese is browned.


Delicious!

Bread and Butter Pudding

Gluten Free Bread and Butter Pudding

Well I know it sounds like you cant have this if your gluten free. Or at least it wont taste the same? However it was delicious, even a hater of Bread and butter pudding actually said how nice it smelt and looked. The recipe that I followed was from the genius website. The makers of that amazing genius bread.

So heres to that old classic!

While I was at it I also made some gluten free vanilla cupcakes with chocolate frosting!

Shepherds Pie and Chocolate chip muffins

Gluten Free Shepherds Pie and chocolate chip muffins

Well This weekend I decided to make a shepherds pie for my tea as I fancied something different!

I used gluten free gravy to make the main filling and added some organic carrots to it as well. Plenty of cheese on the top and there we have it!!

As well as this I made my first gluten free chocolate chip muffins! I didnt think they would rise much but they turned out great and were very moist!

Plain Sponge

Fancy A Treat

There comes a time when I dont want to spend awhile making something that looks nice and just want something that tastes nice! The reason for my vanila sponge with vanilla butter cream and strawberry jam filling!

I did put a little decoration on the top in the form of some pastel flowers.

Being gluten free means that I cant readily buy nice deserts, at least not of the muffin/cake style so I have to resort to making them. Which is why I dont always go for decorations!

It was delicious and fluffy and light. Very very nice. So I thought I would post a little picture of it here!

Here is my Saturday/Sunday desert:-

Chocolate Marshmallow Melts

Chocolate Marshmallow melts

Today I fancied something ooey and goey and sticky and wanted to incorporate it all into a cupcake.

I went through a phase of eating something from America called Marshmallow fluff. If you have never tried it then please do. Its simply divine and gluten free! I remember it being goey and amazing. Since the chocoholic in me was crying out to make something chocolaty I decided to take these two star players and bake them into a treat.

Marshmallow stuffed vanilla and chocolate cupcakes with a chocolate ganache topping. I didn't know if this would work and if the marshmallow in the middle would stay in tact or melt!

First I added a little vanilla cupcake batter/mix to the bottom of a cupcake case.

I then cut some marshmallows in half and placed them right on top of that.

Lastly cover the marshmallow and vanilla mix with a chocolate cake mix to about 3/4 of the case. Then pop them in the overn for about 10 - 15 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

They would be delicious on their own however I needed something else to add that wow factor and made up a little chocolate ganache to top the cakes with. You can either spoon and drizzle it on top to get a very nice messy look or you can dunk them all in to get a very nice coat of chocolate ganache on the top.

I prefer the messy, shove it in your mouth, look! Enjoy!

Chocolate Marshmallow Melts

• 1 1/2 cups Doves Gluten free flour


• 1 1/2 cups sugar


• 1 1/2 teaspoon Gluten Free baking powder


• 3/4 cup cocoa


• 1 cup milk




• 2 eggs




• 2 teaspoons vanilla




• 1 cup butter




• 6 jumbo marshmallows cut in half, plus more for decorating
  

Chocolate Ganache

• 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
  
  
• 1/2 cup heavy cream


• 1/2 cup butter

In a bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder together with a whisk. Add eggs and butter and whisk again until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla essence and the milk. Seperate the mix into 2 bowls. To one of the bowls add gluten free cocoa powder.

Assemble the mix as above.

For the ganache:-

Heat the butter and cream on the stove. Heat until just before it boils. Remove and pour over chocolate. Stir until completely melted and smooth.Pour over cupcakes and add more marshmallows.

Upcakes

Upcakes!

No mistake, I did not mean cupcakes! These cupcakes are based on the film UP and are just as light and floaty and fun as the film.

They will hopefully bring a smile to everyones face!

Basically you can use any cupcake recipe and frosting you like. They use miniature multicolored sprinkles to represent balloons and buttercream frosting for clouds.

The main thing to remember is to make the frosting look sort of messy like fluffy clouds, so no piping nessercery.

For the balloons you can use either miniture donuts if you are not gluten intolerant or you can make your own. For easyness I chose to use white chocolate ganache truffles which you then dip into a bowl of sprinkles or sprinkle confetti.

For the balloon strings I used dried gluten free spagetti which is fairly ok to work with but do break easy so you could also use cocktail sticks.

Basically, take your cake already frosted. Dip your miniture balloons into the sprinkles and attach the spagetti strands to the bottom. Place them into the cupcake and smile!

The only thing I found difficult about this was the fact that the white chocolate ganache was slightly too soft. Also if you are having gluten free like me you can't actually have rainbow sprinkles which is why I chose the pink glitter ones as they don't contain gluten. Makes them look all light and airey though

Enjoy!

Simply Gluten Free

Cupcakes.....Whoever invented the cupcake was a culinary genius. A cupcake is so much more than just a smaller version of the full thing.

A cupcake is...

Portion controlled pleasure.
- Something you don’t have to share.
- A license to be naughty because there's no commitment.
- But mostly a cupcake is a whole celebration that fits in your hand!

Is there anything better than a cupcake?

Yes! A gluten free cupcake. And yes the above cupcakes are gluten free!

What I love about cupcakes is that you can make any kind you want unlike larger cakes which would take alot more to top with your chosen toppings. Your imagination is your only limit really. You can make coconut cupcakes, peanut butter and jelly cupcakes, strawberry and cream, Banoffee, lemon and lime, the list is endless! As for the toppings... well I thought I had tried them all until I discovered whipped cream frosting! Wow! It looks great and I will be topping my next lot of cupcakes with those!

On par with this is the fact I have found out how to make gluten free cream puffs! Just like the profiteroles you can get. These you can have filled with cream and jam or cream and chocolate ganache. I am going to try them dairy free as well by substituting Butter for oil and Milk for coconut cream. Which apparently tastes better! I will let you know once I have tried it!

Lets celebrate everything sweet and a gluten free diet in abundance!

My first certified cooking blog!
Well,I finally did it! After months of pouring over the vast amount of baking blogs on the Internet I finally decided to create one of my own. Not just any baking blog but a Gluten Free baking blog.

I have only been gluten free for coming up to a month however I have a passion for food and was not about to let this stop that so after tralling through loads of gluten free cooking sites I decided to start my own after all I love cooking!

When I first found out I was gluten intolerant I was taken aback. How could I live without the gluten filled pastas and cereals and bread. I decided to look at the world of food in terms of what I CAN eat not what I CAN'T eat.

Find and enjoy foods that are naturally gluten free! I love the challenge of recreating my much loved foods and making them gluten free.

So please follow my gluten free cooking blog where I will try to post as many pictures as possible!