Easy Gluten-Free Red Velvet Cookies

You really can't get enough Red Velvet at Valentine's Day, can you? These cookies are so easy and SO good. I have gotten nothing but dramatic moans from everyone who has eaten these. So if you want to score major points from your gluten-free Valentine, surprise them with these. As an added bonus, they are perfectly portable, so you can surprise the little ones with some GF love in their lunchboxes.

Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies

1 pkg. Gluten-Free Heaven Red Velvet Cake Mix
3 large eggs

10 Tbs butter, very soft
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
red food coloring (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. Mix everything together to form a smooth cookie dough. Scoop a small amount of dough onto a cookie sheet (about 2 tsp per dough ball) and bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool completely, then fill with cream cheese frosting and sandwich two cookies together.

Happy Valentine's Day!

S'mores Bar Cookies

This is one of my favorite summer recipes. It is easy to make, and much less messy than regular s'mores.

Gluten-Free S'mores Bar Cookies

1/2 c. butter or margarine
3/4 c. sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/3 c. GF flour blend
3/4 c. GF graham cracker crumbs 
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips (or to taste)
3 c. mini marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350. Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and vanilla. Add flour, graham crackers, baking powder, and salt. Press half of the dough into the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan. Bake 15 minutes. Sprinkle the chocolate chips on the bottom crust and top with marshmallows. Scatter bits of remaining graham cracker dough over marshmallows. Bake at 350 for 10-15 more minutes until lightly browned.
 

Gluten Free Carmelitas

While browsing Pinterest, I came across a recipe for Carmelitas that I had to try. So as soon as I had the opportunity, I modified the recipe to be gluten-free, and the results were as gooey and rich and wonderful as I had hoped! These are very addicting, so you may want to save the diet for another day.

GF Carmelitas

32 caramel squares, unwrapped
1/2 c. evaporated milk
3/4 c. butter, melted
3/4 c. packed brown sugar
1 c. GF All Purpose flour
1 c. GF rolled oats
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp xanthan gum
6 oz. semisweet chocolate chips

Combine the caramels and evaporated milk in a saucepan over low heat. Stir until completely smooth. Do not leave unattended! Set caramel mixture aside.

In a separate bowl, combine melted butter, brown sugar, flour, oats, baking soda, baking powder, and xanthan gum. Press half of the mixture into the bottom of an 8x8 pan. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

Remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle the chocolate chips evenly over the cookie crust. Pour the caramel mixture over the chocolate chips.

Add the top layer of cookie crust by either 1) crumbling the remaining mixture evenly over the top, or 2) rolling out the remaining mixture between two pieces of waxed/parchment paper, peeling off the top piece, inverting the waxed paper so that the rolled out mixture is laying on top of the caramel filling and carefullly pulling back the remaining waxed paper.

Return the pan to the oven and bake for an additional 18-20 minutes, until the edges are lightly browned.  

Cool completely before cutting. This may take several hours because of the caramel, so if you are pressed for time you can stick it in the fridge for an hour or two to cool more quickly.

To make a 9x13-sized pan, simply double the recipe.

Gluten Free No-Bake Cheesecake with Graham Cracker Crust

This was marbled blue for a baby boy

My family has loved this cheesecake recipe since I was a kid, so once I figured out how to make Gluten Free Graham Crackers, this was the very first thing I wanted to make (after I got done eating some graham crackers and frosting!). It is a really easy, really fast dessert to make and I hope you love it too!

GF Graham Cracker Crust

1 1/4 c. GF Graham Cracker Crumbs
1/3 c. butter or margarine, melted
1/3 c. sugar

Melt butter. Add sugar and graham cracker crumbs. Press mixture into a pie plate to form the crust.


GF No-Bake Cheesecake

1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese or neufchatel (also called 1/3 less fat) cheese*
 1/4 c. lemon juice
1 can sweetened condensed milk*
1 tsp. vanilla

*do not use fat free cream cheese or the cheesecake will not set up. You can use fat free sweetened condensed milk, though.

Beat the cream cheese or neufchatel cheese until it is soft and smooth. Add lemon juice and beat until smooth again. Then add the vanilla and sweetened condensed milk and beat again. Pour the mixture into the graham cracker crust and refrigerate for approx. 1 hour until set.

Gluten-Free Graham Crackers

I love graham crackers, so this is one of the first things I made after realizing that I could make my favorite foods gluten-free. They are really easy to make, so don't be intimidated!

The crackers that end up a little thicker or thinner than the rest, or ones that are slightly too brown, get chopped into crumbs and put in the freezer, and the nice ones are kept for crackers. They keep about as long as regular graham crackers, which means for a very long time! I hope you enjoy these as much as my family does.

GF Graham Crackers

2 1/2 c. Gluten-Free Heaven All-Purpose Flour
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp salt
6 Tbsp butter (or dairy-free), softened
3 Tbsp honey
1/4 c. water
1 tsp vanilla

In a large bowl, mix all ingredients until smooth. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour. Preheat oven to 350F. Place dough between two sheets of greased plastic wrap. Roll out dough to 1/8" thick. Cut into squares. Place squares on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes, or until crackers turn golden brown. Allow to cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 months, or in the freezer for at least a year.


TIPS:

*The crackers shouldn't be hard when you first pull them out of the oven. They should just be browned.
*If your crackers are still soft after they cool, just throw them back in the oven for a while longer.
*Make sure your dough is chilled when you roll it out. It will be much easier to work with.
*If you want, you can even roll the dough straight in the cookie sheet so you don't have to transfer it. Just use a small hand-held rolling pin. Another option is to roll it onto parchment paper and then just set the whole paper on the cookie sheet.
*I wouldn't recommend just pressing the dough out with your hand. It creates too many variations in thickness to cook correctly.


As always, feel free to let me know if you have any questions or comments!

Gluten Free Nutri-Grain Bars (fruit and grain bars)

As a Celiac Mom with non-Celiac children, there have always been certain foods that I just can't bring myself to buy because there is an excellent chance that I would break down and "cheat." One of those items has always been Nutri-Grain bars. I love them! Of course I have tried every commercial GF version under the sun, but let's face it, they are kind of gross. So riding my current wave of converting my favorite gluten-filled foods to ones that don't make me sick for a week, I decided to try my hand at making GF Nutri-Grain copycat bars. (Incidentally, the other item is Pop-Tarts, which I took care of here).

They were actually pretty easy to make, and let me just say that they tasted fantastic! They are even better than the ones I used to love from the grocery store. The other great thing about these is that you can make them in any flavor your heart desires. So grab your favorite jam, or jelly and enjoy!

Gluten Free Nutri-Grain Bars (Cereal bars, fruit and grain bars)

1 1/2 c. Gluten-Free Heaven Whole-Grain Flour*
1 1/2 c. gluten-free quick oats
3/4 c. brown sugar
3/4 tsp xanthan gum
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg (or flaxseed substitute)
3/4 c. butter (or dairy-free), softened
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1-2 c. jam or jelly of your choice

*This recipe was formulated with the flour specified. Use of a different flour blend is not recommended.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients until a soft dough forms. Press half of the dough into the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Spread jam over the bottom crust. Press the remaining half of the dough between two sheets of greased plastic wrap or parchment paper. Peel off the top layer of parchment or plastic wrap and carefully transfer the dough to the pan to make the top crust. Bake for 20-30 minutes, until lightly browned. Allow the bars to cool completely before cutting. Store in an airtight container for up to a week.

Tip:
If you are short on time and aren't too concerned about evenness with the top crust, you can just crumble the second half the dough on top of the jam and bake as directed.


I used tin foil on this one so it would show up better in the picture.

Brazilian Cheese Bread (Pao de Queijo)

After dining at Rodizio Grill, a local Brazilian steak house, I decided that I had to try to replicate their amazing cheese bread, which is naturally gluten-free. Several delicious attempts later, here is the final product:

Gluten Free Brazilian Cheese Bread (Pao de Queijo)

1/2 c. oil
1/3 c. water
1/3 c. milk
1 tsp salt
dash of onion powder
2 1/3 c. tapioca flour (aka tapioca starch, aka yucca flour, aka cassava flour, aka manioc starch)
1 c. fresh grated parmesan cheese (NOT the stuff in the green can, this is in the cheese aisle)
2 eggs, beaten

Bring water, oil, milk, salt and onion powder to a boil in a small saucepan. Remove from heat immediately and stir in tapioca flour until smooth. Set aside to cool (about 10 minutes). When tapioca mixture is mostly cooled, add cheese and egg. Stir until well combined. Mixture will now be slightly lumpy due to the cheese. Spoon into a lightly greased mini muffin tin and bake at 375 for 15-18 minutes. Rolls will be soft and chewy on the inside - not raw but also not the same texture as you would expect a regular dinner roll to be. Makes approximately 36 small rolls.

Xanthan Gum Ratios

I found this great reference on the Bob's Red Mill site and am posting it here for any of you who like to convert your favorite gluten-filled recipes to gluten-free ones, like myself.