Chocolate Chip Bagel Sticks

We love bagels around here.  Usually I make savory bagels, but every so often we make a sweeter version.  These are fun and delicious for snacking.  My kids LOVE bagel sticks.  They like they better than round bagels!  However, you can also pipe these into mini bagels and they work perfectly well.  Leftovers freeze nicely, so they are a great snack in a school lunch.  Enjoy!

Fresh out of the oven - mini bagel sticks!  Perfect for snacking!

Chocolate Chip Bagel Sticks
Makes 3 trays of bagel sticks (about 36, depending on piping)


Preheat oven to 350 F.  Line 3 cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicon mats.

In a small bowl, combine and let rest 5 minutes, until nice and puffy:
1 1/4 cup warm water
6 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp rapid-rise yeast

Add to yeast mixture:
3 eggs
6 Tbsp oil

In a mixer, combine:
2 cups tapioca starch
1 1/2 cups brown rice flour (or sprouted brown rice flour or combination of sorghum & brown rice flour)
6 Tbsp potato starch
1 Tbsp xanthan gum
1 1/2 tsp salt

Beat dough for 2-3 minutes, until nice and smooth.   The dough should be thick, but still soft enough that you would be able to pipe in a ziploc bag - if necessary, add an extra tablespoon or two of water.  I find when I make larger batches of bagels, sometimes I end up with more flour when measuring a cup at a time than when I use a 1/3 or 1/2 cup measuring cup in smaller batch recipes.

Add and mix in:
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Put bagel dough in a large freezer ziploc and cut off about 1/2" from a corner.  Pipe sticks or mini bagels onto parchment paper lined pans.  I usually make the bagel sticks about 4-5" long and bagels of a similar size. I find I can sometimes fit all the bagel sticks onto two pans, but I definitely need 3 pans if making both bagels & bagel sticks.

Using your hands or pastry brush, gently brush/wipe tops of bagels/bagel sticks with warm water.  Let rise in a warm location ~30 minutes, until puffed up, but not quite doubled in size.

Bake at 350 F for ~20 minutes, until nicely browned.   Remove to a cooling rack.  Once cooled, you can slice and freeze any you won't eat right away.  They reheat perfectly in a toaster oven.  Enjoy!!!

Chocolate Chip Bagel Sticks, piped out to rise.

My daughter helped with the mixing (I did the piping).

Yum! 

Easy meal of Tuna fish salad and Naan Bread

One thing I love is having leftover gluten-free naan bread around the house.  It heats up perfectly in our toaster oven and is versatile for using for a quick lunch or dinner.   Here is one way I like it - served alongside a tuna fish salad that is packed with fresh veggies.  Enjoy!

Naan bread with homemade tuna salad, packed with veggies!

Make up a recipe of my all-time favorite naan bread recipe!

My favorite things to mix in with canned tuna are the following.

For each tin of tunafish, add and mix in:
one carrot, grated
one stalk celery, finely diced
1-2 Tbsp traditional relish or zucchini relish (dill style, sweet and sour, whatever you're in the mood for - or use 1-2 Tbsp finely diced pickle, if you don't have relish)
1-2 Tbsp minced fresh onion
1/4 cup mayonnaise (more/less, to taste)
1-2 tsp mustard
salt & pepper (to taste)

Other things that are nice to add, if desired:
fresh chives, finely diced
fresh dill, finely diced
1-2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
pinch cayenne pepper
dash paprika

A tasty, easy meal when you want something light. 

Serve a few pieces of delicious naan bread with a scoop of fresh tuna fish salad.  Enjoy! 

Family Favorite Cranberry-Pumpkin Bread

Cranberry-pumpkin bread is a fall favorite around here.  I've previously posted a pumpkin bread (with or without chocolate chip) recipe and my original cranberry-pumpkin bread recipe, both of which we love.  But both are far sweeter than this version, which I find has the same great taste, but less of a cake flavor and more of a bread taste.  It's perfect alongside a Thanksgiving Day meal.  I prefer making it in mini loaf size, but you can also make it in a regular loaf pan, too. Enjoy!

Delicious Homemade Cranberry-Pumpkin Bread

Family Favorite Cranberry-Pumpkin Bread 

Makes 4 mini loaf pans or 1 loaf pan

Preheat oven to 325F. Grease (butter) and flour (use GF flour mix) 4 mini loaf pans or 1 large loaf pan OR line pans with parchment paper.

Mix dry ingredients in your mixer or a large bowl: (it’s important to mix gluten-free flours on their own before adding to wet ingredients)

1 1/3 cups Kristin’s Gluten-Free Flour Mix

1/3 - 1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp xanthan gum

1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice + pinch of cloves (OR ½ tsp cinnamon, ¼ tsp ginger, 1/8 tsp allspice, 1/8 tsp nutmeg, pinch of cloves)

Add and mix together (in mixer or by hand) until mostly smooth (a few lumps are normal, especially if using homemade pumpkin puree):

3/4 cup pumpkin puree (canned 100% pumpkin OR make your own pumpkin puree)

1/4 cup oil
1/3 cup milk
2 eggs

Mix wet and dry ingredients together.

Fold carefully into batter:
1 1/2 cup fresh cranberries (about 1/2 bag or 6 oz), rinsed and dried off (you can freeze fresh cranberries to use later - baking time will need to be increased to compensate)

The batter should something like this - a bit smoother if you're using canned pumpkin rather than homemade pumpkin puree. 

Pour batter into prepared pans, filling each pan halfway.

Bake at 325 F for 40-45 minutes for mini-pans and 70-75 minutes for large pans.

Let cool in pans on cooling rack 5-10 minutes before unmolding.  Cool & slice.

Enjoy!

 

Fresh from the oven! 

 

Let bread cool 5-10 min. in pans, as on left, before carefully removing to wire rack to cool completely. 

Beautiful Blackberry Vanilla Cake

This is a perfect cake when you want something smaller and lighter for dessert.  Just 6" wide, it's a delicate looking little cake.  We've been trying to use and eat less sugar, so this was a perfect dessert for us.  Little thin slices drizzled in blackberry sauce, with a touch of ice cream on the side.  No one was left feeling like they hadn't had a special treat.  And it looks so lovely, too!  Enjoy!

Beautiful Blackberry Vanilla Cake, ready to serve! 

Slice of blackberry vanilla cake, drizzled with extra blackberry sauce and served with a side of homemade vanilla ice cream.

Beautiful Blackberry & Vanilla Cake

Blackberry Coulis Sauce

In a medium-sized pot, bring to a boil over medium heat:
8-12 oz blackberries (about 1 1/2 - 2 cups, before removing ends)
4-6 Tbsp powdered sugar
1-2 tsp orange zest, optional
4-6 Tbsp fresh orange juice

Cook 5-10 minutes, boiling gently.  If you'd like a thicker sauce, you can let it simmer a bit longer.

Adjust taste, if desired, by adding a bit of extra powdered sugar. (I like to keep this coulis more bitter since it's going to be combined with cake).  

Press the blackberry sauce through a sieve to strain out the seeds. (I like to rub the spoon back and forth in the sieve to help strain it).  Set aside until cake is ready to assemble.  Refrigerate extras until ready to use. 

*Extra blackberry coulis sauce not eaten with the cake is perfect on top of pancakes, waffles, etc.

Two 6" Vanilla Cakes

Butter and line two 6" cake tins with parchment paper.  Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a bowl, whisk dry ingredients (it's important to mix dry ingredients first in gluten-free baking to avoid clumping):
1/4 cup white rice flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Add and whisk until smooth:
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup oil 
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs

Divide between two pans and bake at 350 F for ~18 minutes.  Let rest a few minutes, then remove to wire rack to fully cool.

Vanilla cakes cooling before assembly.

Marshmallow Fluff Frosting

I would recommend only frosting the top of this cake, but you can do the sides if you like.  I made 1/2 batch of my favorite marshmallow fluff frosting.  I've written it again here for convenience:

Beat until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes in a mixer:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup marshmallow fluff

To assemble the cake:

Spread blackberry coulis on top of each cake layer.  Do this slowly and repeat to allow the sauce a little time to seep into the cake layer.

You can add a little extra if you want it to drizzle down the sides, but I stopped just shy of the edges for a cleaner look when stacked.

Place one cake layer on serving platter.  Gently spread or pipe marshmallow frosting on top of the first layer.  Place the second cake on top.

My cake decorator! She helped with the blackberry sauce and piping the frosting on top!  See those little rhubarb muffins in the background, too! We were cooking up a storm. 

Pipe additional frosting on the top of the cake.  My little helper helped with all the piping, so if you wonder why I cannot pipe a clean swirl - that's why.  If desired, you can smooth/pipe down the top and sides of the cake, but I prefer this cake without frosting on the sides.

Freshly piped top of cake!

Serve slices of cake drizzled with additional blackberry coulis sauce.
Enjoy!