The recipe below makes two meat pies, made in normal pie dishes. A meat pie like this is a traditional Acadian dish on Prince Edward Island, Canada. The Francophone community actually has a Meat Pie Baking Competition each year! I remember having meat pie served alongside steamed mussels back before I had to go GF. The lack of flavoring used in this recipe may seem surprising, but it turns out quite nice - the mixture of pork and chicken make for a lovely meat pie. This recipe is based on a recipe by Chef Robert Pendergast. My youngest got to make at her French school! So fun! Obviously, I've tweaked things a bit, as I usually do. I also needed to adjust things so it has a tasty gluten-free crust.  I have never before made a yeast crust pie, but the crust on this is lovely.  These pies take 2 days to make, because you'll want to make the meat one day, then let it chill. Enjoy! 

Delicious Gluten-Free Acadian Meat Pies, fresh from the oven!

A slice of pie, with bunny decoration on top. 

My youngest, rolling out the dough. She helped me make the pies. (Her arm bruise is from fencing! My girls do fencing twice a week.)

Acadian Meat Pie

Makes 2 pies (or several smaller pies)

*It is best to make the meat one day ahead, so it can be cooked and chilled prior to filling the pie and baking.* 

Preparing the Meat Filling: (best to do 1 day ahead)

In a large pot, add and cover with cold water:

750 g piece fresh boneless pork loin, cut into a few large chunks

1 large onion, diced

1 tsp salt

Bring to a boil, then lower heat to somewhere around medium-low to medium to keep it simmering nicely.  After the meat has been cooking for 1 hour, add to the pot: 

750 g chicken thigh and/or chicken leg (bone-in)

Let it return to a simmer and let simmer another 1 hour.  If the water level ever becomes too low, you can add a bit of water to your pot. You want to make sure the meat is covered.  After the 1 hour of simmering both pork and chicken, check the tenderness of your pork at this point. If it isn't shredding fairly easily, you can let it simmer another 30-45 minutes.  The chicken meat should be tender and looking like it is falling off the bones. 

Using a slotted spoon, remove the onion and meat. The onion can go directly into the storage container. Remove all bones and chicken skin (my preference is to remove the skin). Dice or shred the meat into small pieces. I like to aim for 1 cm square type size.  Save the onion and meat in a container in the refrigerator.  You can save the broth to use in another recipe, if desired.  

I found that I ended up with approx 48 oz of meat/onions to be chilled and divided between the two pies.  Let the meat chill until needed for making the pies.

Preparing the Pie Crust:

Preheat oven to 400 F. Have two pie dishes (or several smaller) out and ready to fill with the meat pies.

Mix together, then set aside to rest 5-10 minutes, until nice and bubbly: 

1/3 cup warm water

1 tsp sugar

1 1/2 tsp yeast

Chop together using a pastry cutter: 

3 cups Kristin's Gluten-Free Flour mix

3/4 cup chilled butter, salted

1 tsp salt

Add, and chop in

1 egg

Add and stir together: 

yeast mixture, from above

1/2 cup warm water (additional) 

Divide the dough in half. Divide each of those dough balls into approximately 2/3 and 1/3 amounts. Roll out the dough between plastic wrap a 2/3 amount of dough for the bottom of your pie crust.  Fill the crust with half the chilled meat filling. (I like to give it a nice stir to mix up the meat and onions before filling).  Roll out the 1/3 amount to top the pie.  Repeat with the remaining dough for the second pie. 

Trim off the excess crust around the top edges of the pies. Pinch the edges, if desired. I like to use a plastic bag over my hand so it doesn't stick to the dough.  

This girl declared herself an expert after learning to make these at school and rolled out all the bottoms and tops for our pies!

Popping a bottom crust into the pie. Using plastic wrap helps make it SO easy.

Filling the meat pies.

Bottom crusts in, meat filling added, and ready to top the pies!

Excess trimmed off the edges.

Pinched/crimped the first pie on the left. The pie on the right is filled and ready to top!

Adding on the top crust, ready to trim & crimp the edges on the second pie on the right.

Cut a few vent holes in each pie. Use the extra crust to decorate the top of the pie, as desired.  

Decorated with excess dough and some air vent holes poked in.

Preheat the over to 400 F.  Let the pies rise at room temperature for 15 minutes.  Bake pies at 400 F about 25-30 minutes, until a nice golden brown.  Remove from oven to a cooling rack.

Browned and fresh from the oven!

*Yes, you can certainly make different sizes of pies. My daughter made a smaller pie when they made it at school.  The bake time should be 20-25 minutes for a smaller pie, since you still want the crust to end up nicely browned. 

Enjoy! 

Ready to serve! Yum! We added veggies on the side. 

Gluten-Free Acadian Meat Pie Recipe by Successfully Gluten Free!

 This is a lovely and easy creamy dip that goes nicely with tortilla chips, tacos, chili, or similar dishes.   If you want more of a Tex-Mex style sauce, you can easily adjust the recipe by adding in a bit of milk - details below. Enjoy! 

A yummy, easy creamy Tex-Mex Style Dip

Easy Creamy Tex Mex Dip

Makes just under 2 cups of dip. You can make half a recipe if you'd like less dip overall.

Mix together: 

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp oregano (I really like the freeze-dried oregano)

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground pepper

2 Tbsp hot sauce (less, if you want less spice, more if you like it spicier)

2 Tbsp fresh lime juice

If you'd like it a bit more runny, like to drizzle over your food, you can mix in milk, to desired consistency. Add 1 Tbsp at a time. 

Cover and chill at least 2 - 3 hours, ideally overnight, so the flavors really blend together.  

Nice served with tortilla chips, chili, and salsa type dishes.  Enjoy! 

This is a thicker dip, great for serving with chips. If you want more of a drizzle, then add a it of milk until your desired consistency.

Ready to eat!

Easy Creamy Tex Mex Dip Recipe by Successfully Gluten Free!

 This yummy lemon cheesecake blueberry roll gives a Danish pastry-type vibe. The dough is mixed up in a mixer, making it light and fluffy but a little stickier to work with. It's the one from my cinnamon rolls in a mixer recipe. The end result will be delicious and worth it, though! Enjoy!

A yummy lemon cheesecake blueberry roll, ready to eat!

Fresh from the oven and drizzled with a light drizzle before serving.

Lemon Cheesecake Blueberry Rolls

Makes ~24 rolls

Makes 2 large trays of more spaced out rolls, as in the picture above. 

To make the dough: 

In a mixer, combine:
2 cups brown rice flour
1 cup sorghum flour (or additional brown or white rice flour)
3/4 cup arrowroot starch
1/4 cup potato starch
1/4 cup tapioca starch

(You could use 4 1/4 cup Kristin's Gluten-Free flour mix and use only 2 tsp xanthan gum, but I've played around with this dough quite a bit and I find the amounts listed here for the flours work most reliably for this recipe.)

1/2 cup white sugar
3 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1 1/2 tsp salt
4 tsp rapid/quick rise yeast

Then add the following:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup milk, warmed
1/2 cup water (plus an additional 1-2 T, only if needed after beating 1-2 minutes)
3 eggs

Begin to mix slowly, then increase the speed and beat at medium to medium-high speed for 4 minutes.

To roll out the dough, spread overlapping layers of plastic wrap on the counter.  Dust with cornstarch. (You can make this without cornstarch and just use wet hands to move around anything sticky, but I've found this to be an easier method to roll out and work with a stickier dough.)

In the past, I've often used wet hands to move the dough around, which works, but is stickier and a bit more difficult to work with. Either method works.

Flattened and sprinkled with cornstarch to help flatten and smooth.

Filling: 

Mix together: 

8 oz / 225g cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup white sugar

zest of 1 lemon

~1-2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

Spread the cream cheese filling over the rolled out dough. Sprinkle the top with: 

2 cups wild blueberries (thawed in refrigerator if using from frozen - this will keep them from getting too wet as they thaw)

Topped with the lemon cream cheese filling and blueberries.

Roll up the log of dough. It'll be sticky to work with, so you can use cornstarch to help or use wet hands. Slice and place slices on a parchment lined cookie sheet.  Use wet hands to flatten the tops of the rolls.  Don't worry about them looking a little messy. Since you're working with a wetter dough, it's hard to get them looking really pretty, but they'll get drizzled over later, so it's all hidden anyways! 

Rolled and ready to slice!

Sliced and flattened gently on the pan. 

Let rise ~30 minutes uncovered (or with an inverted baking sheet over top if the air is too dry) in a warm location. 

After rising. They won't double in size, but will puff up nicely. 

Bake at 350 F for ~20-25 minutes, until nicely browned. 

Fresh from the oven!

Mix together and drizzle over warm or cooled rolls: 

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

milk OR fresh lemon juice, to desired consistency

Topped with the drizzle and serve!

Enjoy warm. Leftovers can be frozen or refrigerated and heated up later to enjoy! 

Lemon Cheesecake Blueberry Rolls Recipe by Successfully Gluten Free!

 These mini chocolate chip cookies have been so fun to play around with. My daughter loves making them - although the storms that kept hitting us meant she couldn't bring any to her teacher, as was her plan, but she plans to make them again soon.  The best thing about this recipe is that you pipe the dough out into strips, then let it chill, and it can easily be cut apart with a butter knife into little cookies! These are a crispy little biscuit-style chocolate chip cookie. And since they're a bit drier, they last perfectly out on the counter in a container for a week. (I really can't say how long they last beyond this, since we don't know).  You don't have to bake all the dough at once - you can keep the dough chilled and make some now and the rest in a few days. A nice perk about this easy mini cookie dough! Enjoy!

These adorable cookies only take up a quarter of the pan. And yes, there's probably some missing on the pan.  These cookies were rolled briefly into neat little balls before baking, so they end up so cute.

My youngest, piping out the dough to make mini cookies. 

Just take out a bit of chilled dough at a time and slice it SO easily into mini cookies of whatever size you prefer!

Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cream together until fluffy (about 3 minutes in the mixer): 

1/2 butter (softened AND a bit melted - otherwise they will be too stiff to pipe)

3/4 cup brown sugar

Add and mix together, scraping down a couple times: 

1 egg, at room temperature (make sure it's RT bc you don't want it to chill the dough or it'll make it harder to pipe)

1 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 tsp baking soda

Add and stir in, just until combined: 

1 3/4 cup Kristin's Gluten-Free Flour Mix

Stir in: 

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Place into a medium freezer ziploc. Snip the corner to ~1/2". Pipe in cylinders onto a parchment lined pan.  Place the pan in the refrigerator to chill at least 30 minutes. 

Pipes of dough, ready for chilling. Yes, we've made these several times now... just testing, you understand. ;) 

Preheat oven to 350 F.  I find the dough makes around 4-6 pans of mini cookies. You can prep and bake as many or few cookies as you'd like. The chilled dough can be stored in a tupperware in the refrigerator for up to a week. 

Slice tiny cookies with a butter knife and divide them around parchment-lined pans. You can roll them briefly for a neater look to your final cookie, leave them neatly sliced, or leave them haphazardly shaped. Either way will cook just fine and taste delicious. 

Dice up and bake. You can leave them haphazard looking, or give them a quick roll between your hands for a neater looking cookie.

Bake mini cookies at 350 F for 7-14 minutes. I know this is a wide range, but I find depending on the size you pipe and slice your cookies, they can be dramatically smaller or larger. I like to start checking them around 6-7 minutes, and then aim for a nice light golden brown color to the final bake. 

Fresh from the oven! These weren't rolled before baking, and personally, we enjoy them just as much.

These ones were a bit larger and so of a disc-like look after being cut before baking.

Personally, I love the look of the neatly rolled cookies after baking. 

After baking, let these cool fully on the pans. These will disappear off the pans while cooling, which is weird... 

You can move fully cooled cookies into an airtight container and store on the counter up to a week (or two? We'll never know in my house).  Enjoy!

Pans of mini cookies, cooling and disappearing into thin air before our eyes. 

Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe by Successfully Gluten Free!

This recipe is so delicious. It's easy to whip together, too! I took my easy French baguettes recipe and tweaked them a bit. A bit of cocoa and honey and GF oats sprinkled on top turns them into these delicious, soft brown bread loaves. They remind me of the Cheesecake Factory-style Brown Bread they serve that I haven't tasted in many many years.  Helpful tip: they sell egg whites in a carton near the eggs at the grocery store, which makes baking these even easier. Enjoy!

Fresh from the oven Cheesecake Factory-style Brown Bread Loaves - gluten free!

I've sliced them, like so, but you can slice them in little coins to serve with butter.

Yummy sandwich, ready to eat!

Cheesecake Factory-style Brown Bread Loaves

Makes ~8-9 loaves

Preheat oven to 375 F or convection 350 F. Line two pans with parchment paper.  

Mix together in a large mixer: 

2 cups tapioca starch

1 1/2 cups brown rice flour

6 Tbsp potato starch

3 Tbsp cocoa powder

1 Tbsp xanthan gum

1 Tbsp quick-rise/rapid-rise yeast

1 1/2 tsp salt

(optional) 1/2 cup GF steel cut oats (add 1/2 cup warm water if using the steel cut oats)

Add and beat 3-4 minutes: 

1 1/4 cup warm water (or 1 3/4 cup warm water if using GF steel cut oats)

1 cup egg whites

6 Tbsp honey

1/4 cup oil (avocado or olive are nice)

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

Place batter into a freezer ziploc. Snip 1 - 1 1/2" from the corner.  Pipe loaves onto the parchment-lined pans. You want to have a bit of space between loaves to leave room for rising and puffing a bit during baking.  

Piped onto parchment paper-lined pans. 

Sprinkle the top of the loaves with: 

GF rolled oats

Topped with GF oats, ready to cover and rise!

Cover the loaves with upside down cookie sheets. Rise in a warm location ~40 minutes.  I find they puff, but don't fully double in size.  

After removing the upside down cookie sheets, ready for baking!

Bake at 375 F (350 convection) for 40-45 minutes.  Place baked loaves on a cooling rack. Slice once fully cooled. Slice and freeze these for perfect easy loaves to use later.  Delicious for sandwiches, toasted with butter and garlic as a garlic bread, with homemade egg salad or tuna salad and lettuce. Enjoy!  

Fresh from the oven! 

Nice and airy, with a delicious rich taste.

Cheesecake Factory-style Brown Bread Loaves Recipe by Successfully Gluten Free!

 A delicious variation on the plain English Muffins I'd posted. I grew up getting cinnamon raisin English muffins every so often, and I loved toasting them and eating them for breakfast with a bit of butter. However, since going gluten-free, I hadn't been able to enjoy a yummy English muffin, with that delicious crunchy edge. That's been remedied now. Hooray for homemade GF English muffins! Enjoy!

Fresh from the oven - GF cinnamon raisin English muffins!

Cinnamon Raisin English Muffins!

Preheat oven to 375 F. Line a pan with parchment paper.

Mix together in a mixer: 

3 cups Kristin's Gluten-Free Flour Mix 

1 tsp xanthan gum (in addition to the 1 tsp in the mix)

2 tsp rapid rise/quick yeast

1 Tbsp sugar

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp salt

Add and let beat 3 minutes, until nice and smooth: 

2 cups milk, warmed (I usually heat 1 min in the microwave)

2 eggs

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Fold in: 

1/2 cup raisins

On a small plate, place: 

1/2 cup cornmeal

Heat a nonstick pan over medium to medium-high heat.  Use a large scoop, grab a scoop of batter. Dip the scoop in cornmeal, then put cornmeal side down on pan.  Sprinkle additional cornmeal on top and gently flatten with fingertips.  Cook on each side until nicely browned.  Remove from pan to a parchment-lined pan.  Continue until all batter has been cooked on both sides.  

After pan frying on both sides, ready to pop into the oven for the bake which will finish the cooking.

Bake in the oven at 375 F for 27-30 minutes, until nicely browned.  I find if I cook less time than this they will collapse/loose air, which I don't want to happen. I want them to stay nice and puffy.  

Straight out of the oven, ready to transfer to a wire rack to cool. Usually one doesn't make it and ends up popped straight on a plate to eat.

Hot or cooled English muffins can just be pulled apart by hand! No knife needed!  Once cooled, I like to pull apart the English muffins, then freeze the leftovers. They reheat perfectly in a toaster oven or regular oven.  

A pulled apart English muffin. Pulling apart an English muffin, rather than slicing it cleanly, lends to the charm of this type of bread.

Cinnamon Raisin English Muffins Recipe by Successfully Gluten Free!

 No mixer needed, easy biscuit-style cinnamon rolls!  When we first moved to eastern Canada, I was so confused by the cinnamon rolls I saw for sale in bakeries. They weren't the gooey, squishy rolls I was used to - they sold the flaky, biscuit-style roll. Over time, I learned some people called them baking powder cinnamon rolls - made with no yeast. I feel like the name biscuit-style cinnamon rolls fits them nicely.  I do find the addition of a touch of baking soda helps with the rise, as does the addition of apple cider vinegar. (That's me basically turning the milk into buttermilk without actually mixing them together first. I don't find it's needed).  My family really loves these cinnamon rolls. In fact, one of my kids prefers these rolls to my regular cinnamon rolls or made in a mixer cinnamon rolls.  I'm quite happy to eat any and all versions cinnamon rolls. Enjoy!

Some disappeared - before they even had a chance to cool! Shocker. ;) 

Biscuit-Style Cinnamon Rolls

Makes 12 rolls

Preheat oven to 375 F.  Line a 9 x 13 with parchment paper. 

In a large bowl, whisk together: 

2 cups Kristin's Gluten Free Flour Mix (exact flour measurements for convenience, see below**)

1/4 cup sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Add and stir in with a big spoon, just until well combined:

2/3 - 3/4 cup milk (I find just under 3/4 cups works nicely. Less milk = less sticky dough, but I like the fluff you get with a bit more milk. - it's just a bit stickier to work with while rolling up)

5 Tbsp butter, melted

1 egg

1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

Roll out gently between plastic wrap to a rectangle approximately 10" x 15". It's never exact, so don't stress on having it be perfect.  I use two pieces of plastic wrap side by side on the bottom and top to roll out. 

Mix together, then spread on top of the flattened dough: 

3 Tbsp butter, melted

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 - 1 1/2 Tbsp cinnamon

Flattened and spread with the cinnamon, butter and brown sugar mixture.

Slice the dough into 12 equal strips using a pizza cutter.  

Sliced into mostly equal parts.

Roll up each piece and gently place in your parchment lined pan.  If you find the dough is a bit sticky, you can use a bit of extra GF flour on your fingers to help it along.  It'll all end up covered with a cream cheese frosting, so if they don't look as neat as you like, that's okay!  I did flatten a couple rolls a bit so they're all approximately the same height in the pan. 

Ready to bake!

Bake at 375 F for 22-25 minutes, until a nice light brown.  Remove from oven and place the pan on a cooling rack.  

Fresh from the oven and nicely light brown.

Mix together, and spread over hot cinnamon rolls: 

3 oz cream cheese, softened

2 Tbsp butter, softened

1 cup powdered sugar

1 - 3 tsp milk, to desired consistency

I suppose one could properly mix or beat the frosting to get out any lumps from the cream cheese, but I couldn't be bothered. 

We love eating these freshly made - warm or cooled.  I actually prefer the taste and texture once they've fully cooled on the counter.  Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator. Eat cool or warm them before serving. Enjoy! 

** for 2 cups Kristin's Gluten-Free Flour Mix, combine: 

3/4 cup brown rice flour

1/2 cup sorghum flour (or extra brown rice flour or white rice flour or GF oat flour)

1/4 cup arrowroot starch/flour OR cornstarch

1/4 cup potato starch

1/4 cup tapioca starch/flour

3/4 tsp xanthan gum

Biscuit-style Cinnamon Rolls Recipe by Successfully Gluten Free!