GF Chocolate Oat Biscuits - perfect for s'mores!

These are a yummy oat biscuit-style cookie.  Crispy, crunchy, with a touch of cocoa powder in the cookie as well as mini chocolate chips make it perfect to eat alone or with a toasted marshmallow.   These have become a regular to have in our freezer for trips, lunches, or snacks.  They'd be great to take along for outings like skiing.  I took some on a plane trip recently, and it was a perfect little snack.  Yum! 

Freshly baked Chocolate Oat Biscuits - fresh from the oven! 

Gluten Free Chocolate Oat Biscuits

Makes about 45 cookies

Preheat oven to 325 F.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a food processor, pulse or mix about 1-2 minutes, until nicely blended and oats are a little finer (but still have larger pieces throughout:
3 cups quick cook oats (Make sure these are gluten-free if Celiac or sensitive)
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tsp cocoa powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Add and mix, just until blended:
1/3 cup oil
3 Tbsp maple syrup
3-4 Tbsp water

Add, mixing just until thoroughly combined:
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Mixed chocolate oat biscuit dough

Scoop 1 Tbsp scoops onto the parchment paper.  Cover the bottom of a flat glass with plastic wrap.  Dip briefly in water between pressing every 1-2 cookies (to help avoid sticking).   Press cookies until they're as flat as the mini chocolate chips will allow.  This will help them be thin and crispy!  I typically find I end up making 3-4 trays of cookies.

1 Tbsp scoops of cookies.

Flattened cookies - Yum!

Bake cookies at 325 F for ~20 minutes.   Let them rest for 5-10 minutes before removing cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely. 

Fresh cookies, ready to eat!

Once cooled, these last well in a closed container for several days, or you can freeze.  These are SO yummy with a hot marshmallow on top - like a s'more but with the chocolate and graham cracker combined.  These have also been the perfect cookie to bring along on trips.  Yum!  Enjoy!!!

Ready to eat with a hot marshmallow! Yum! 

Gluten Free Chocolate Oat Biscuit Recipe by Successfully Gluten Free!

Spiced Falafel-Style Hamburgers

I'm always looking for variations on favorite flavors and these burgers are just the thing!  They have a falafel-type taste, but are great if you can't eat falafel, or don't feel like making fried falafel.  You can serve them in homemade gluten-free pita breads or on your favorite gluten-free hamburger bun.  They're also perfect for my mom, who is allergic to nuts and legumes, like chickpeas.  You can fry these up on the BBQ, but I like to just bake them up in the oven when it's cold and snowy outside.  Enjoy!

Homemade pita bread with tzaziki sauce and a spiced falafel-style hamburger inside. Yum! 

Spiced Falafel-Style Hamburgers -  oven baked!

In a large bowl, mix together thoroughly:
1 lb. ground beef
2 Tbsp freeze-dried cilantro OR 1/4 - 1/3 cup fresh cilantro, finely diced
1 tsp freeze-dried chives OR 1/4 cup fresh chives, finely diced
1/2 large onion, minced
3 tsp crushed garlic
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/3 - 1/2 cup gluten-free rice breadcrumbs
1 egg

Form into hamburger patties.  Flatten with hands and oil each side with olive oil or avocado oil.  Place on a cookie sheet.

Bake hamburgers at 375 F for 15-20 minutes, until cooked through. (Cook time varies depending on size and thickness of your burgers.)  

These are SO great to have in place of falafel in a homemade pita with cucumber tzaziki sauce.  You can add lettuce and tomatoes, too. Enjoy!

These are tasty on homemade gluten-free hamburger buns, too!  

Spiced Falafel-Style Hamburgers by Successfully Gluten Free!

Gluten Free Pita Bread!

These gluten free pita breads are quick and easy to whip together.  In fact, it made me wonder why I've never bothered making them before, particularly when I make homemade naan bread all the time.   I've also made a spiced falafel-style hamburger that's perfect in place of gluten-free falafel inside the pita.  I'll be posting it shortly and will add the link here.  I added a note below, but if you're worried about whether or not your pitas will puff up properly, you can let them rise 15-20 minutes and then bake as directed.  They'll be cooked through and puffed enough that you can easily slice and use them as pitas.  Enjoy! 

Homemade pitas with GF falafel and tzaziki sauce filling. Yum!

Look at those nice pitas.  Yum!

Gluten Free Pita Bread!

Makes 6-10 pitas, depending on the size you make them

Place a cookie sheet in the oven.  Preheat oven to 475 F.   You want your cookie sheet to remain in the oven and stay nice and hot for baking your pita breads.

In a mixer, combine:  (It's important to mix the flours first in gluten-free baking to avoid lumps)
(You can use 2 1/2 cups Kristin's Gluten-Free Flour Mix in place of the flours and xanthan gum listed here - but I like the flavor of this particular blend in the pitas)
1 1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1/4 cup tapioca starch
1/4 cup potato starch
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp salt
2 tsp rapid-rise/instant yeast

Add, and beat 4-5 minutes:
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp butter, softened (not melted)
1 1/2 cup milk, warmed

Place a piece of parchment paper on the counter.  Add 2-4 large spoonfuls of dough (with your spatula).  Place a piece of plastic wrap over your dough.  Flatten with your hands.  Then use a rolling pin to make a little more even, between 1/4" - 1/2" thick.  Aim for a bit thicker than you'd be rolling for something like pie dough or pizza crust.   Remove plastic wrap.

Make sure to use plastic wrap to flatten first with your hand, and then a quick roll with the rolling pin.  Remove the plastic wrap and pop right into the oven!

Quickly, place your piece of parchment with the flattened dough on the hot pan in your 475 F oven.  Bake 4-5 minutes.  Flip the pitas IN the OVEN with tongs or spatula, quickly close the oven door and cook another 3-4 minutes.   ***Every oven is a little different - they may need a little less or little more time.  Too little baking time, and you'll end up with them feeling too mushy in the center of the pita, too much and they'll be a little crispy on the outsides.  I prefer to err on the side of crispy.  The main thing is you want your oven and pan piping hot and staying that way as much as possible.   Remove pitas from oven and place on a cooling rack.***

Fresh from the oven.  You can see that sometimes they pull fully, sometimes bits and pieces of them puff up.  No problem!  Just slice apart and you're good to go!

Roll out your next pitas on fresh parchment paper, the same as before, and bake.  Continue until you've used all your dough.

I've made them smaller, larger, nicely shaped, slapped together quickly.  They're quite versatile! 

***If you're worried about whether or not your pitas will puff up during baking, just let the rolled out pita dough rise 15 - 20 minutes and then bake them, flipping as instructed earlier.  They will not "puff up" during baking, but can be easily sliced in half and then sliced open like a pita.  Still tastes great and takes away a bit of the stress of whether or not they puff up enough.***

I like to slice the pitas in half and use a knife to help slice apart any section of the pita that isn't fully opened.  (There's always some little part that doesn't puff up in every pita I make)  Fill your pitas with GF falafel, or falafel-spiced hamburgers and a cucumber yogurt sauce.  You can add tomatoes, lettuce, extra cucumbers.  You can serve these alongside other meals, too, or use for sandwiches or as an alternative to hamburger buns! Yum!

A bit of an overcooked pita here, but tasted great with spiced falafel-style burgers. 

Gluten Free Pita Bread Recipe by Successfully Gluten Free!

Chocolate Covered Homemade Marshmallows

Well, these may be bunny molds here, but you better believe these yummy chocolate covered homemade marshmallows will be getting made again for Christmas!  The homemade melt-in-your-mouth marshmallow is perfect coated in a crisp chocolate shell.  Special occasions only, in my opinion. ;) Perfect for gifts or a party!  Enjoy!

A bite out of a delicious, fresh, homemade marshmallow-filled chocolate bunny.  Yum! 

Chocolate Covered Homemade Marshmallows

Temper your chocolate, as instructed here, and fill 2-3 silicon or plastic chocolate molds with tempered chocolate.  I used a 54% bittersweet chocolate for these chocolates here. 

Chocolate-filled molds

While chocolate sets, prepare your marshmallow (this is 1/2 a batch of my regular homemade marshmallow recipe):

Combine in a mixer with whisk attachment:

1/4 cup cool water

1 pkg. + 1/2 pkg. (1/4 oz each) unflavored gelatin

In a small, deep saucepan, combine the following over medium heat. Cook, stirring, until syrup reaches 238 F - 240 F on a candy thermometer:

1/4 cup cool water

3/4 cups sugar

1/2 cup light corn syrup

pinch salt

*Note: I find heating to 240 F takes ~20-30 minutes, and will go in phases of seeming not to increase in temperature to suddenly jump up 5-10 degrees.  So, make sure you’re paying attention, particularly towards the end.

Remove from heat.  With mixer on low speed, slowly pour the sugar syrup into the softened gelatin.  Increase speed to high and whip until closer to room temperature, about 8-10 minutes. 

This is how the gelatin and boil-sugar mixture will look initially.

Keep whisking and it will fluff up and look like delicious marshmallow fluff.

When there's about 2-3 minutes left for the mixing, add:

1/2 tsp vanilla

The mixing will have cooled the marshmallow down quite a bit.  You do not want this to be really hot while you are piping into your chocolate molds, or you'll melt the chocolate and ruin the temper.  However, I found that by the time it beat for 10 minutes and I placed it into a bag for piping, it had cooled down sufficiently.  

Using a couple small piping bags, fill with marshmallow and cut a small corner off the bag.  Pipe carefully into the molds, filling edges and corners first before filling the rest of the mold.  You can dip your finger in some water to flatten/fix the marshmallow before it cools too much to adjust.  However, you want to use VERY little water, because you are working with chocolate.  You want to avoid the water touching the chocolate.  

Marshmallow carefully piped into the chocolate molds.

Let the marshmallows rest at room temperature 30-60 minutes, to dry out a bit before melting and topping with chocolate.  (You can temper this chocolate, if desired, or just melt and pipe.  I usually do this and don't worry about the bottoms looking as nice as the tops or being as nice and crisp.)  

Once the chocolate has set (you can place it in the refrigerator to help it set), tap out or un-mold the marshmallow-filled chocolates.  These stay nice and fresh tasting for a couple weeks, if they can last that long. (I wouldn't know if they are fresh beyond that point since we've never managed to have any survive past two weeks).  Enjoy! 

Freshly tapped out marshmallow-filled bunnies. Yummmm... 

For a laugh - I tried to pipe homemade peeps, rolling them in colored sugar.  Unfortunately, I didn't actually look at a picture of a peep before piping these, so I ended up with mutant ghost peeps.

They actually tasted A-MAZING - despite looking absolutely horrible.  I don't normally like the sugar covered marshmallows.

Chocolate Covered Homemade Marshmallows Recipe by Successfully Gluten Free!

Light & Fluffy Orange Muffins

Light & Fluffy Orange Muffins Recipe! I have an amazing friend Christina, who I hadn't seen in years and was lucky enough to visit recently.  She's the speediest and most efficient cook ever - and really has to be since she has 8 kids to feed!  Seriously, she's awesome!  Her husband was diagnosed with celiac disease, and so this powerhouse has been whipping together yummy gluten-free recipes ever since!  She's the talent behind the chocolate sheet cake recipe I posted awhile back.  She came up with a lemon-y version of this recipe, which I've turned into delicious fluffy orange muffins - I'll post the lemon poppy seed version soon, no worries.  Meanwhile, enjoy!

These are made using muffin cup liners a little larger than average.  Glaze before eating. 

Light & Fluffy Orange Muffins

Inspired by my amazing friend, Christina Hansen's lemon poppy seed muffin recipe. Thanks Christina! 
Makes 24 muffins

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Line tins with paper liners or spray with GF nonstick cooking spray.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together:
1 cup brown rice flour
3/4 cup white rice flour
1/4 c + 2 Tbsp arrowroot starch OR cornstarch
1/4 cup potato starch
1/4 cup tapioca starch
1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
2 Tbsp poppy seeds (optional - use if you want to make orange-poppy seed muffins)

Add and beat 2-3 minutes until nice and smooth, using whisk attachments:
4 eggs
2/3 cup sour cream
2/3 cup milk
1 - 1 1/2 cup sugar (They're more of a dessert if you add the extra sugar, but we like it with less)
1 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup orange juice
zest of 1 orange
15 drops wild orange essential oil (OR zest of 1-2 more oranges)

Divide into prepared muffin cups.  If you have concerns about your muffins sinking in the middle, you can let the batter rest in the muffin tins for 20 minutes before baking.  I've tried it both ways and never had issues, but I do find they rise a little extra if you've let them rest before baking.   Bake muffins at 350 F for 15-20 minutes until golden brown on top.

These are made using average-sized muffin cup liners. 

While muffins are still warm/hot, whisk together and glaze over the top of the muffins:
3/4 cup powdered sugar
3 Tbsp orange juice

Fresh Orange Muffins with Orange Glaze on Top.

Move to cooling rack and eat warm or cooled! Enjoy!

Gluten Free Light & Fluffy Orange Muffins Recipe by Successfully Gluten Free!

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins

Basically a dessert, but I'm still going to call it a muffin.  It's a fine line sometimes between cupcake and muffin, especially since these are pretty decadent.  Filled with a variety of chocolate chips and made with a dark cocoa powder, they're delicious!  Enjoy!

Chocolate Chocolate Muffins made with an extra brute dark amber cocoa powder

Chocolate Chocolate Muffins made with a lighter cocoa powder.  

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins - Gluten Free

Makes 12-18

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Line 12-18 muffin tins with muffin liners.  This recipe makes 12 larger muffins or 18 regular-sized muffins.

Mix together, then set aside:
1/4 cup boiling water
1/4 cup dark cocoa powder

Mix together:
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp white rice flour
3 Tbsp arrowroot starch OR cornstarch
2 Tbsp potato starch
2 Tbsp tapioca starch
3/4 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda

Mix in briefly:
2 eggs
1/3 cup sour cream (I love the lactose-free sour cream - can't use sour cream - an unsweetened, dairy-free yogurt will work, too!)
1/3 cup milk (any variety will work)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened

Add and beat 2 minutes, scraping occasionally, until smooth:
Cocoa/water mixture from above

Stir in chocolate chips:
1 - 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (any combination of dark, semi, milk, white, or some of each!)

Scoop into 12 - 18 lined muffin tins.  These are fine resting on the counter 20-30 minutes before baking.  (It's not necessary, but sometimes it can help avoid any sinking in the center of your muffins, although I've tried these both ways (waiting before baking and baking right away) and both ways have worked out nicely).

These muffin liners are a bit larger than the normal ones, so these would look more like 2/3 full with a regular muffin liner.  

Bake at 350 F for 15-17 minutes for smaller muffins and 19-20 minutes for larger muffins.  Remove from pan and cool on cooling racks.  These are delicious still warm.  Leftovers can be frozen and warmed when you want to serve/eat.  Enjoy!!!

Fresh from the oven, before removing to the cooling rack. 

Very happy with her after school snack.

Eating with a fork to avoid spilling on her favorite Calvin & Hobbes comics.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins Recipe by Successfully Gluten Free!

Banana Sunshine Upside Down Cake!

Obviously, you have to like banana to enjoy this cake.  More importantly, you have to like cooked banana - like banana bread.  This Banana Sunshine Upside Down Cake is a fun treat when you want something a little fancier than ordinary banana bread.  Although, I have to say we do love the coconut banana bread with a lemon glaze around here - this is right up the alley with that one as far as how much we enjoy it.  This cake was dreamed up after realizing I could combine two favorite ideas into one new recipe, the Pear Ginger Upside Down Cake (which we love) and my Sunshine Muffins, which we also love.  The result: Banana Sunshine Upside Down Cake!  Enjoy!

Banana Sunshine Upside Down Cake, just after being flipped onto the serving tray. Yum!

Banana Sunshine Upside Down Cake

In a large oven-proof frying pan, melt:
1/4 cup butter

Remove from heat and mix in:
3/4 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp corn syrup (optional, but can help avoid any crystallization)

Arrange 2-3 fresh, sliced bananas on top of the sugar/butter mixture.  I like to use bananas that are yellow, but not covered in brown spots, for the top bananas.  They will hold their shape better, and don't add more sweetness to the top.

In a large bowl, mix together:
2 overripe bananas, mashed
3 oz canned crushed pineapple (with juice) (canned in pineapple juice, not syrup)
1 egg
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup plain yogurt
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup sweetened or unsweetened coconut  
1 cup Kristin's Gluten-Free Flour Mix
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 - 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Spread the batter gently over the bananas.

Bake at 350 F for ~35 minutes, until nicely browned.  Let pan rest 5 minutes on a wire rack.  Carefully flip the cake onto the serving tray.

Letting rest 5 minutes before flipping onto serving platter.

This is on a plate - it's just a clear, glass platter.  

Once flipped, it's ready to eat!  You can serve this hot, warm, or cooled.  We love it warmed best!  Enjoy!

Because we love fruit-filled cakes, I may have made two at once.  A Banana Sunshine Upside Down Cake and a Pear Ginger Upside Down Cake.  Mmm...

Banana Sunshine Upside Down Cake Recipe by Successfully Gluten Free!

Jewish Apple Cake 8" x 8" pan

Jewish apple cake, baked in an hour! Here's the recipe, Dad!  Jewish apple cake is one of our favorite desserts, but also tends to take a long to cook, meaning we don't make it very often.  The version I've posted previously, our family favorite Jewish Apple cake is what I've made for years, but this new, updated recipe is great because it bakes in only 1 hour (and has a bit less sugar and ends up being a little lighter and fluffier overall)!  This weekend when we made it, we doubled the recipe so we could bring one cake to a family dinner and have the other as leftovers for home eating! Yum! Enjoy!

A slice of Jewish Apple Cake served with vanilla ice cream. Yum!

Fresh from the oven - made with the help of my 8 year old and 13 year old!  Bakers in the making. 

Jewish Apple Cake - Gluten Free

Makes 8 x 8 pan

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Line an 8" x 8" pan with parchment paper.

Ideally, make this with a friend -- one can prepare the apples while the other prepares the batter, so they're all ready to assemble at approximately the same time.  If you're cooking on your own, I usually prepare the apples first and then whip up the batter.  

Prepare apples:
In a large bowl, mix together:
1 1/2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
3 apples, peeled, cored & thinly sliced (I like using Honeycrisp or Cortland apples best.  You can also use Bosc pears - making it into a pear-apple cake.)

Prepare batter:
In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients:
3/4 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup cornstarch OR arrowroot starch
1/4 cup potato starch
1/4 cup tapioca starch
1/4 tsp xanthan gum
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup white sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground ginger

Add and mix with a spoon or spatula until smooth:
2 eggs
1/4 - 1/3 cup orange juice OR 1/4 - 1/3 cup milk (plus 2-3 drops wild orange essential oil, optional)
1/2 cup oil (I like using either avocado oil or olive oil, or a mix of both)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

The batter should be fairly thick, but you adding a little more orange juice or milk will make your cake a little fluffier overall.  Add an extra tablespoon or two of liquid if you're worried it might be too thick.  *If your batter is too thin, the fruit will sink during baking.

Layer batter and fruit together, making as many thin layers of batter as you can.  I like to scoop a few spoonfuls of batter into the pan, then use an apple slice to spread around, before adding more apples to make a thin layer.  Add a few more spoonfuls of batter, then use an apple slice to spread around, repeating until you end with a nice layering of apples on the top of your cake.

We made a double batch this time around.

My fabulously dressed helper - she spread out batter and then the thin layer of apples, and repeated until we finished both cakes! 

Bake at 350 F for one hour.  Remove from oven and put pan on cooling rack.  You can let it cool and serve from the pan, or remove after it's cooled 20-30 minutes.  Best served warm.  We love it served warm with vanilla ice cream.  Enjoy!

Not too shabby for a cake made by an 8 and 13 year old!

This is actually a picture from another baking day, made almost completely by my 13 year old.  He used a mix of Bosc pears and Honeycrisp apples.

Jewish Apple Cake 8 x 8 pan Gluten Free Recipe by Successfully Gluten Free!

Gluten Free Onion & Chive Dinner Rolls

Yummy gluten free dinner rolls!  Perfect with butter as a side to any meal.  I'm always playing around with roll and bread recipes.   The bit of dried onion & chive add some extra punch to the flavor of these rolls.  You could use regular dried, freeze-dried, or fresh (if you use fresh, mince well and use some extra - they aren't as flavor-packed as the dried herbs).  These rolls will work perfectly for sandwiches for lunches, too.  Enjoy!

Fresh Gluten Free Onion & Chive Dinner Rolls - Ready for buttering! 

Freshly baked Onion & Chive Dinner Rolls

Onion & Chive Dinner Rolls

Makes 18 rolls

Preheat oven to 375 F (350 F Convection)
In a large measuring cup (leave room for the yeast to rise) mix:
1 1/2 cup warm water
6 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp rapid-rise yeast (also called quick-rise yeast or bread-machine yeast will work well, too)

In a mixer, combine (it's important to mix dry ingredients separately in gluten-free baking to avoid clumping):
1 1/2 cup brown rice flour
1 cup white rice flour
1 cup tapioca starch
6 Tbsp potato starch
1 Tbsp xanthan gum
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp dried onion flakes
1 Tbsp freeze-dried chives OR 2 Tbsp fresh chives, minced

Once the yeast mixture has puffed up nicely, add to the flours:
Yeast mixture from above
1 egg + 4 egg whites (OR 3 eggs, but you'll get fluffier rolls w/ egg whites)
6 Tbsp oil (olive oil works nicely)

Beat dough 3-4 minutes until nice and smooth, scraping down occasionally.   Scoop dough into a freezer ziploc.  Snip the corner off.  Pipe rolls onto parchment paper-lined pans.  Spritz dough with some water (can use your fingers).   Let rise 25-30 minutes in a warm location.

Rolls rising - you can spritz dough another time or two, if you like. 

Bake at 375 F (350 F convection) for ~23-25 minutes, until nicely browned.  Cool on wire rack.

Just finished baking! Ready to transfer to a wire rack. Yum! 

Gluten Free Onion & Chive Dinner Rolls by Successfully Gluten Free!