gluten free whole grain biscuits

It has been on of those afternoons and evenings.  Puttering.  To the library I go for dvds and books.  At home it is tea and weaving and stitching.  Projects that are so big that they do not finish quickly.  I am working on the baby quilt and the rug.  A little every day settles me well.  Chop wood, carry water type of prayer and meditation.  

I did make a lovely breakfast the other day.  My Beloved is trying to be gluten free again but also prefers whole grains.  These biscuits remind me of whole wheat biscuits.

gluten free whole grain biscuits

1/4 cup teff flour

1/4 cup arrowroot flour

1/4 cup almond flour

1/4 cup millet flour

1 tablespoon ground flax

1 tablespoon boiling water

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/2 to 3/4 cup heavy cream

This will make four biscuits.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.  Line  a baking sheet with a silpat or parchment paper.  In a bowl mix the teff, arrowroot, almond, millet, baking soda, cream of tartar, and sugar.   Whisk well.  

Put the 1 tablespoon of ground flax and 1 tablespoon boiling water in a small bowl.  Mix together.  

To the flour mixture add the flax mixture and cream.  Less liquid makes a biscuit to cut, more liquid makes very good drop biscuits.  

Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until there are golden edges.

I served these for breakfast with scrambled eggs from the farmer's market and white bean gravy.  

Pretty fantabulous.  Probably should have made it for dinner instead of tea and toast with cheese!

gluten free ultra thin chocolate chip cookies

To say I have been under the weather for the last two days would be an understatement.  I was really happy when I was able to drink sweet hot tea.

Before I got to feeling so bad, I was able to mix up some cookie dough and put it in the refrigerator for later baking.  My Beloved felt very special.  I modified a recipe from Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-your-Mouth Cookies, by Alice Medrich to make them gluten free and use what I had at home.

Ultra Thin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/3 cup millet flour

1/3 cup amaranth flour

1/3 cup almond flour

1/3 cup arrowroot flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

10 tablespoons butter, melted

½ cup quick rolled oats (guaranteed gluten free if a concern)

½ cup sugar

¼ cup packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon light corn syrup

2 tablespoons whole milk, nonfat milk, or hempmilk

½ teaspoon salt

1/2 cup Enjoy Life chocolate chips

In a large pyrex with cover or a medium bowl you do not mind sitting in the refrigerator, put the melted butter, oats, sugars, milk, salt, and corn syrup.  Mix well.

Add the flours and baking soda.

Mix in the chocolate chips.  Enjoy Life chocolate chips are allergen free and mini.  I find the mini size works really well.  Cover and put in the refrigerator over night or longer.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.  Cover baking sheets with aluminum foil.  Drop the dough onto the baking sheets in small teaspoons.  Bake 20 to 25 minutes.  You want them a bit darker then golden so they will become crispy when they cool.  But do not let them burn.  The turn very quickly.

This is the best picture of the cookies I got because they disappeared so quickly.  I know they brown quickly because we had some of those as well.  They disappeared quickly as well.  

My Beloved said these are the best gluten free cookies he has ever had.  Whether gluten free or not, these are fabulous cookies!

brownie torte with gluten free variation

I have been making a brownie torte recipe from the old Gourmet recipe for years.  I have always left the batter the same but topped it with other things then just plain chocolate chips.  I have now made it gluten free.

Brownie Torte with Gluten free variation

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips or 3/4 cup chocolate chips and 1/4 cup peanut butter chips

2 1/2 tablespoons butter

1 large egg

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

A pinch of salt

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour or almond flour

Preheat 350 degrees Fahrenheit

Butter and "flour" an 8 inch pan.

Melt 3/4 cup chocolate and butter in a saucepan until chocolate is melted.  Mix in the sugar, vanilla, egg, salt, and flour.

Pour into pan.  Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of chocolate or 1/4 cup peanut butter chips.

Bake for 17 to 20 minutes or until tester comes out clean.

 It is a very yummy brownie.  Especially warm with vanilla ice cream (evil grin).  The peanut butter chips are there own decadence instead of the chocolate chips.  The chocolate chips are really rich.

The gluten free version with the almond flour I think is even more decadent!

gluten free waffles

I was craving waffles.  But my Beloved has been limiting gluten in his life again.  He is not gluten free currently but that could happen soon.  I figured that I really needed to come up with a gluten free waffle recipe so that we could eat together.  Us eating together is a good thing.  We enjoy each others company, talk up a storm, and I actually eat.  It is too easy for me to forget to eat unless I am with someone (or threatened that I cannot have my cookies unless I eat real food first!  Happened today!)

Molly over at Orangette asked for all the best waffle recipes awhile back.  She came up with two.  One was yeasted and one was not.  I was thinking about trying the yeasted one but ran out of steam so I tried the non-yeasted waffle recipe and made it gluten free.  

I think this gluten free waffle is the best waffle I had ever made.  It was light and crispy.  We did not think it needed syrup.  And it was whole grain which is something my Beloved is always pleased to have.  The grain flavors really come through so if you wish a different flavor, change the flours you use from what I used.

Gluten Free Waffles

adapted from Molly at Orangette A Great Make-the-morning-of waffle.

1/4 cup teff flour

1/4 cup almond flour

1/4 cup sorghum flour

1/4 cup arrowroot starch

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar

1 cup soured hempmilk (2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar and 14 tablespoons hempmilk)

1/3 cup olive oil

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

Heat your waffle iron.  Mine is a cast iron waffle iron that sits on the stove.  I spray it with PAM so that the waffles do not stick.

In a mixing bowl, put in all the dry ingredients.  Whisk well (make them fluffy!)

Add the oil, milk, egg, and vanilla to the dry ingredients.  Mix well.

Pour into the heated waffle iron and bake until done.  It should take about five minutes.  I noticed a definite scent change when the waffle was done.

Serve.  You can add syrups or fruit or yogurt or.....  We ate ours plain.

This is what remained of our breakfast!  Even if you were not gluten free, I would go out and get these flours and give this a whirl.  They were the best waffles we have ever had.

ancho cherry venison with gluten free flat bread

Having my Beloved go hunting means we actually eat more meat.  Yes, it is venison and pig but more.  I have been trying to find a recipe that I had in the past and cannot find it so I made something up.

Ancho Cherry Venison

1 pound venison for fajitas (in another words, the left over bits from butchering) or other fajita type meat

1/2 cup dried cherries

4 dates

1 dried ancho chili

Boiling water

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 large onion or 1 small, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

In a bowl, put the cherries.

Pit the dates and them to the cherries.  Take the stem of the ancho chili and tear up and add to the bowl.  Cover with boiling water.  Let sit for a half hour or more.  

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a dutch oven, over medium high heat, put olive oil in the pan and heat.  Add the chopped onion.  Cook until starting to brown.

Add the venison and garlic.  Let brown but not cook through.  

Pour the chili mixture into a blender container and blend until smooth.  Add the tomato paste and blend ten seconds more.  Pour into the dutch oven until the meat is covered (I had leftovers).

Take the meat off the heat and cover.  Put in the oven for about 1 hour.

It will be nice and bubbly.  Serve on rice or flat bread or tortillas.

I had made some gluten free flat bread because that is what I was asked to do.  It was my first attempt at a gluten free flour tortilla in ages.  They did not turn out badly at all!

My Beloved thought this was very decadent after a very long day at work!  Very yummy!