Seedy Sandwich Bread

It's that time again! The Gluten Free Ratio Rally is back and this time we're bringing you bread! Karen of Cooking Gluten Free is hosting this month, so please check back on her site for a full list of all the delicious creations! I've also included a list of the other wonderful looking recipes at the end of this post.

To find a ratio that worked for me, I started with measuring the ingredients in my successful sandwich bread recipe. From there I rounded numbers and played with the amount of water, varying from 300 grams to 400 grams. A 1 part gluten free flour mix to 1 part water ratio ended up working out the best for me.

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Chewy Blueberry Muffins

What do I do when I'm home alone, feeling low, with no clear idea of what I want for dinner?

I look for something to bake.

On this particular night, I came up with a number of ideas which were then thwarted by my realization that I was out of both butter and eggs. So that lead me to experiment with one of my favorite muffin recipes. Gluten Free Girl & The Chef's Whole Grain Muffin recipe is a fantastic template to experiment with, I've made everything from chocolate zucchini muffins to lemon poppy-seed. This time, I deviated a bit more and come up with something I think I'll make again and again. 

These muffins are vegan and frankly, I think they taste better than any other muffin I've ever made. They've got a chewy crust and they're soft and moist on the inside. Since we're trying to adjust our household's relationship with sugar, I used coconut palm sugar and halved the amount from the original recipe. The combination of the oats, teff, and sugar make a full yummy flavor that I just love.

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Rhubarb & Meyer Lemon Jam

After yesterday's very serious post, I thought I might sweeten things up a bit.

Rhubarb and Meyer Lemons are two of my favorite foods in the world and I simply love that short time of year when their seasons overlap. We're at the tail end of seeing Meyer Lemons in stores here in Seattle - so I'm buying them up like they won't be back for another year. Rhubarb is everywhere right now, including in our edible garden.

After scoring some great Weck Jars at this great shop in the University District I thought about combining the two into some jam and it turned out fantastic. For this recipe I let it simmer and reduce down almost in half to really get some deep and delicious flavors in there. We've been eating this jam on toast, bagels, ice cream, and on the occasional spoon. I've also been planning to make some frozen yogurt with my favorite sheep milk yogurt and add a swirl of this jam.

Now, if you can't find Meyer Lemons anymore - I suppose it's worth a try with regular lemon zest or maybe combining half orange zest and half lemon zest. I'm sure that would still be tasty, but it won't have just the same POW of flavors of this specific combination. 

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Garlic Egg Bagels

It's that time again! The Gluten Free Ratio Rally is back and this time we're making bagels! Morri of Meals with Morri is hosting this month - so be sure to check over there for a full list of the bagel creations. I've tried to include a list at the end of this post as well.

When I think bagels, two primary types come to mind; the fluffy Noah's Bagels and the denser sprouted multigrain variety that I grew to love before realizing they were actually terrible for me.

My trials with developing a ratio for gluten free bagels began with a recipe posted on Michael Ruhlman's site and created by Bruce Ezzell. I knew from the start that I wanted to make egg bagels - so adding egg yolks was the first adjustment I made. I gave this newly egg-tastic recipe a try with the regular multigrain flour mix  I use around the house and that turned out to be strike one. Multigrain just does not make the egg bagels I was going for. Next, I moved on to crafting a more mild flour blend that would let the eggs shine.

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Chocolate Brownie Pie with Orange Zest

Mary Fran from Franny Cakes is hosting this month's rally for brownies, so check back there for a full listing of all the brownie posts - I've also tried to include a complete list at the bottom of this post.

I'll admit, I really struggled with this month's rally. My initial goal was to create a chewy but not too fudgy dairy free brownie with macadamia nuts, coconut flakes, and orange zest. I tried and tried and ended up throwing out batch after batch. Perhaps my expectations were set too high with all the delicious boxed gluten free brownie mixes out there like King Arthur. So eventually I threw in the towel and went about recreating a family favorite recipe; Chocolate Brownie Pie. I would describe it as somewhere in between a brownie and a chocolate cake, but not at all like a cakey brownie - does that make sense? Anyway, I had much more success with chocolate brownie pie and the dairy free version actually tasted even better!

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