Wednesday, 17 December 2025

Homemade Toffee

One of my favorite desserts was an oatmeal butter brittle with toffee bits on top, but since most toffee bits sold may contain nuts, they weren't safe for family members with nut allergies. So, I finally decided to break out the candy thermometer and whip up the easiest and fastest candy - homemade toffee. You can leave it plain or pop some chocolate chips on top for a thin layer of chocolate on top of your toffee. Yum! Delicious broken into chunks to snack on, or add to chocolate chip cookies or on top of oatmeal butter brittle. Yum!

Toffee bits spread on top of melted chocolate on an oatmeal butter brittle. Yum!

Homemade Toffee

Makes about 1 1/2 - 2 cups toffee bits

Please read this whole recipe before you start. It cooks quickly and hardens quickly, so you want to make sure you're prepared!

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan with a thick metal bottom, stir together constantly over medium heat until sugar is dissolved:

165 g (~3/4 cup packed) dark brown sugar

85 g (~6 T) salted butter

2 Tbsp water

Add in the candy thermometer and lower the heat to medium-low heat to boil. Swirl the pan every 30-60 seconds. This is VERY important, because while you don't need to stir it with a spoon, if you don't give the pan a bit of a swirl, you could end up with burned sugar on the bottom of the pan. Heat until you just reach hard crack, approx 295 - 300 F on your candy thermometer. (there's a range, but I prefer it on the lower end of this range so it's not quite as hard).

Immediately pour the toffee mixture onto a parchment lined baking pan. If you want it to be a bit thinner, you can spread it with a spatula as fast as possible immediately after you pour it. It's helpful to have a second person to help with this, as the toffee starts to harden very quickly.

Optional chocolate layer:

If desired, right after pouring the toffee out, you can sprinkle the top with:

~1/4 - 1/2 cup milk, semi or dark chocolate chips

Spread out the chocolate into a smooth layer once the chips have melted. This will not affect the hard toffee in terms of texture, but it uses the heat from your toffee to melt the chocolate perfectly.

Let the toffee cool completely, including the chocolate hardening on top, if used. You can break or chop into smaller chunks. Or, if you'd like toffee bits, then put larger chunks into a food processor and pulse until your toffee bits are the desired size.

Store the toffee in a well sealed container at room temperature up to a week. Technically, it can keep longer than this, but depending on the humidity, etc., you can lose the dry, crunchy texture of your toffee.

Enjoy!

Chocolate topped toffee, ready to break and enjoy!

Homemade Toffee with optional Chocolate Topping Recipe by Successfully Gluten Free!

Thursday, 11 December 2025

Easy Thin Flat Breads on a Pan

Not quite a crepe, not quite a tortilla, these yummy, soft flatbreads work perfectly to fill as sandwiches, or even fill with cheese to make a quick quesadilla. No rolling out needed!!! They literally whisk together in a bowl, spread on the pan with the back of your ladle, and then cook up so quickly. Enjoy!

Freshly made easy flat breads, ready to fill!

Easy Thin Flat Breads On a Pan

Makes ~6-8 depending on size. Yes, you can easily double this recipe.

In a bowl, whisk together until smooth:

1 cup Kristin's Gluten-Free Flour Mix

4 oz liquid egg whites (~4 egg whites)

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup milk (or dairy substitute)

1 tsp oil

1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar (optional, but I find it just adds a little depth to the flavor of my breads)

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

Optional herbs you can add, ~1/2 tsp each: (yes, of course, you can use any other herbs! These are just the ones I've tried and enjoy in the flatbreads)

chives

cilantro

garlic powder

To Cook:

Preheat nonstick frying pan over medium heat. (No butter or oil needed) Ladle a scoop of batter onto the pan. Working quickly, spread outward with the back of the ladle in spiral movements. You're aiming to thin out the flatbread quickly and as much as possible. I lift the ladle and spiral outward several times to get it thin and wide. Cook at medium heat until browned and batter is dry in appearance (like the image below). Flip and cook until browned on the other side. I find these cook up quickly, a minute or two per side. Remove to a plate - I just stack them up as I'm cooking them until ready to eat.

After swirling outward with the back of the ladle to flatten, ready to flip.

Showing the swirled side after browning it.

You can cook them to a lighter color like this picture, if you plan to do more heating them again, like a quesadilla. Usually I cook the main side to a rich brown like the picture up top.

You can fill the flat breads as desired. They can be rolled or folded. You can fold and pan fry like a quesadilla. It works great! Delicious alongside homemade chili. One of our favorites is to have it with homemade tuna salad. Leftover flatbreads can be covered and stored in the refrigerator. You might have to pop them in the microwave 20-30 seconds to warm them up a little so they'll easily pull apart after chilling. Enjoy!

Filled tuna sandwich, with a bit of cheese melted onto one side, ready to roll up!

A rolled up tuna sandwich. Yum!

Folded over ham and cheese sandwich.

Easy Thin Flat Breads on a Pan Recipe by Successfully Gluten Free!

Tuesday, 2 December 2025

Christmas Holiday Recipes

I have previously put together all my favorite recipes for Thanksgiving, and it seemed like one was needed to consolidate a lot of our favorite Christmas baking recipes. I'll include some savory and sweet (okay, mostly sweet) recipe links below! Looking for a recipe that isn't listed below? My recipe blog includes a comprehensive "index" down the left side if you're on a larger device (i.e. not a phone). It's just like the back of a cookbook. And there's a helpful search bar, where you can enter a keyword to find recipes! Hope that helps! Enjoy!