My Favorite Gluten-Free Recipes of 2010

My Top Ten Eleven Recipes of 2010

Why eleven? Because I couldn't decide between the apple cider mini-muffins and the sweet sesame noodles. And because it's almost 2011, so eleven recipes seemed apropos.

How did I decide? These are the recipes I make over and over again, the ones I crave, the ones I think are good enough for company, and not just for my strange tastebuds.

I hope you enjoy, and I wish you all a very Happy New Year!

p.s. I'll be back on New Year's Day with a giveaway...

Apple Cider Mini-Muffins

 

Savory Potato Waffles

Creamy Tomato Basil Shrimp Pasta

Sweet Sesame Noodles

Ramen Noodles

Vegetarian Soup for the Soul

Pizza Crust

Sesame Studded Onion Bread

Blueberry Cornbread

Vegan Cinnamon Snickerdoodles

 

Molasses Spice Cookies

2010 Link Love: 

Enjoy More Top 2010 Lists at:

Gluten-Free Goddess

Kalyn's Kitchen

Sugar Plum Blog

Two Peas and their Pod
Farty Girl
Jenn Cuisine
Simply Sugar and Gluten-Free
Gluten Free in Salt Lake City  

Tasty Eats at Home
Real Sustenance
Gluten Free Fitness 
Z's Cup of Tea
Hope for Healing

Molasses Spice Cookies (Gluten-Free, Vegan, Refined Sugar-Free)

These cookies are pretty awesome. They taste like old-school gingerbread cookies. They're rich and chewy and "melt in your mouth."Because they only have one tablespoon of agave nectar added to the blackstrap molasses, there's a muted sweetness compared to most molasses cookies.

But this is a good thing.

This is a no-fail recipe since my bff, Cecilia, made them. Apparently, I told her years ago that no matter how strictly she followed a recipe, her food always came out a little bit different. Well, she followed my recipe and these came out perfect.

Yes, I said bff. And yes, I said these cookies are awesome. I meant it. There's only one problem.

When I asked my housemate what I should call them, she suggested "Reindeer Drops." I thought that sounded good...

Until I thought about it.

My other friend was not so kind. He bluntly told me he was surprised by how good they tasted because they looked like turds. His words, not mine. I'm pretty sure these would roll out so you could cut them into shapes. That would solve the appearance problem. I'm also pretty sure I shouldn't have admitted to you that someone called them turds.

Oh well. What's done is done.

Don't let looks fool you. These cookies are really good. I highly recommend you make them.

Molasses Spice Cookies 
Print-Friendly Option


Ingredients:
1 3/4 cup sweet white rice flour (make sure you get sweet white rice flour, not regular white rice flour; aka glutinous rice flour or mochiko)
2/3 cup potato starch
1/3 cup brown rice flour
2 tsp. xanthan gum
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/2 cup Spectrum Organic Palm Shortening (butter works too)
1/2 cup mashed ripe banana
3/4 cup blackstrap molasses
3 Tbsp. coconut milk
2 Tbsp. flax seed meal
1 Tbsp. agave nectar
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
   
2. Whisk the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
   
3. In a separate bowl, mix the flax seed meal and coconut milk. Let it sit a couple of minutes. 
4. Mix the shortening, banana, molasses, agave nectar, and vanilla in with the flax seed meal/coconut milk until smooth. You can use a beater here, but I used a fork and it worked fine. 
5. Stir the flour mix into the liquid mix completely.
6. Form the dough into balls with your hands, and place on a greased cookie sheet.
7. Bake for 10 minutes.
   

Makes about 2 dozen cookies

Some Link Love: 

The theme for Go Ahead Honey, It's Gluten-Free this month is "Family Traditions", and the fabulously talented Carol of Simply Gluten-Free is hosting.

The beautiful Ms. Tia of Glugle Gluten Free got glutened over the holidays and is laid up in bed. Stop by her blog and send her some healthy vibes, and while you're there, check out her holiday roundup and Shabtai giveaway. The giveaway is open until the 27th, so get over there quick!

The ever amazing Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays roundup is open at Simply Sugar and Gluten-Free.

Lovely Linda, our very own Gluten-Free Homemaker, has her weekly carnival up at Gluten-Free Wednesdays.

(Top Ten) Recipes From Last Week

 Every week, Aubree Cherie at Living Free posts her top ten favorite blog recipes from the last week. I love reading her lists because a) sometimes my recipes are there, and that makes me happy, b) I get behind in my own blog reading, so this helps me out, and c) I learn about new blogs. Aubree is off becoming a world-wide, traveling horticulturist so she asked some of her friends to take care of her Top Ten Lists while she was gone. Last week, it was hosted by Gluten Free Scallywag, and here is a perfect example of just why I love the Top Ten. I had never heard of Gluten Free Scallywag before, but her blog is a complete joy to look at. Her photos are beautiful, and her caramelized banana and ginger cheesecake is on my Top Ten List this week.

A little note about my Top Ten: Aubree Cherie is gluten, dairy, and sugar-free, so the Top Ten is a great place to highlight recipes that fall within those categories. My Top Ten this week will not be all dairy and sugar-free, but they will be amazing recipes that can inspire you, no matter what your diet. Limiting this list to only ten recipes was really difficult, especially because this is the only time I'll be doing this. Because I wanted to explore some new blogs (and encourage you all to do so as well), I chose from blogs that aren't on my sidebar. But all of those blogs (look to your right and down) are the ones I make sure to read every week, so you should definitely check those out for more holiday baking inspiration. 

My Fav (Top Ten) Recipes from Last Week (12/14 - 12/20)

Caramelized Banana and Ginger Cheesecake
Jas at Gluten Free Scallywag

Maple Pecan Tart
Hallie at Daily Bites

Dairy-Free Buckeyes
Heidi at Adventures of a Gluten Free Mom


Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies
Beth at Delectably Free

Vegan Salted Cayenne Dark Chocolate Almond Fudge
Sunny at And Love It Too

Cranberry Chocolate Chip Bread
Tara at A Baking Life

Pressed Butter Cookies
Jeanne at Art of Gluten-Free Baking

Cacao and Cayenne Cornbread
Autumn at Autumn Makes and Does

Basic Biscuits
Laurie at Cakes 'N Bakes

Pear and Hazelnut Tart
Aran at Cannelle et Vanille

Next week's Top Ten list will be hosted at City|Life|Eats, and I hope you stop by to find some more great recipes. If you didn't get a chance to read my guest post at Glugle Gluten Free, stop by for my sweet potato biscuit recipe. I recently adapted the recipe to make a crust for turkey pot pie, so I'll be sharing that recipe (and one for molasses cookies) with you soon.

Sweet Potato Biscuits

Happy Sunday! Today, I'm sharing a recipe for sweet potato biscuits over at Glugle Gluten Free.  I made this recipe months ago, but Tia was patient enough to wait until my finals were over so I could send it to her. I hope you stop by and check it out, and give Tia some blog love for me!

Update 4/23/12: A reader brought it to my attention that the link no longer works, so I'm posting the recipe here.  However, it's been so long since I've made these and my baking has improved so much since then that I'm not sure I would vouch for them anymore! I would make them again to test them, but I can no longer eat eggs... But this also tells me that I need to make an updated egg- and gum-free sweet potato biscuit recipe! Will get to work on that soon! xoxo Iris

Sweet Potato Biscuits

Ingredients:
1 cup millet flour (or sorghum)
1 cup potato starch
1/2 cup sweet white rice flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
3/4 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2-1 cup spectrum organic palm shortening or butter (the more you use, the flakier they will be)
1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk
1/4 cup pureed sweet potato
2 Tbsp. honey
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 egg yolk, 2 egg whites

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
2. In a mixing bowl, beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the flours, baking powder, xanthan gum, sea salt, and cinnamon.
4. In a separate bowl, beat the shortening, soy milk, sweet potato, honey, vanilla extract, and egg yolk. Pour into the dry mix and beat until smooth.
5. Fold the egg whites into the batter until well combined.
6. Lightly flour a large surface and roll the dough out. Cut out biscuits and bake for 10-12 minutes on an ungreased cookie sheet.

2010 Word of the Year

I have something to share with you. I'm going to let go of any attempt to act cool about it, and just be honest and tell you that I'm having a moment. A "jumping up and down, life just gave me a gift, the world rocks right now" moment. You see, I've been following Christine Kane's blog for years. Her words motivate and often guide me. It was because of this post that I made a vision board last January. Posts like this have helped me when I'm feeling stuck. And this one? Don't even get me started. The woman just knows what she's talking about.

Case in point? Last year, Christine suggested her readers pick a word for the year, as a way of setting their intention. In December of 2009, she posted her readers' stories. They wrote in about the words they had chosen, and the paths their lives had taken. Reading all their stories, I was inspired to choose my own word. I didn't tell anyone this, but my secret hope was that somehow my word would lead me to a happier place and then next year I would be one of those people writing about my story on Christine's blog. 

It's not such a secret anymore, is it? I was never good at keeping secrets anyway. 

I struggled with whether to write this and put it out there for everyone to read. But the words wanted to be written. My story is now on Christine Kane's blog. And you can read about how one simple word can change everything.

Affairs of Living Giveaway Winner

And the winner is: 

NEVA

Congratulations, Neva, and thank you to everyone else who entered! And to anonymous, who ordered her own copy, happy cooking! I'm sure your special someone will be very happy!

Affairs Of Living: Recipe Calendar Review And Giveaway

Having food allergies or sensitivities forces one to get creative. Like, really creative. This is why blogs (and the internet in general) are so amazing. Need an idea for a gluten-free, egg-free, sugar-free, nut-free cookie? Just google it. Want to know what the best egg substitute is for your muffins? Google it. This is where I get a lot of my ideas. I think of something I want to make, then see what others have done to help me figure out how to tailor it to my needs. It's fun to see what google comes up with. Just so you know, if you use blogsearch.google.com and type in "gluten-free egg-free sugar-free nut-free cookie," you get a recipe from one of my favorite bloggers. Ironically, the recipe is not egg, sugar, or nut-free. Oh well.

My point was that cooking is always creative. Cooking with food intolerances is creativity ramped up. And if there's one woman who knows creative allergy-friendly cooking, it's Kim Christensen. Kim is the author of Affairs of Living, an allergy-friendly blog catering to the gluten-free crowd. But Kim's blog is not just gluten-free, it's also:

• Chicken Egg-free (select recipes may use duck eggs)
• Soy-free
• Corn-free
• Peanut-free
• Tomato-free
• Potato-free
• Cane sugar-free
• Yeast-free (with the exception of naturally fermented products, ie, miso, sauerkraut, etc)

Most recipes are also:

• Citrus-free
• Dairy-free
• Vegan and/or Vegetarian
• Tree nut-free
• Digestive trouble-friendly
• Anti-Candida Diet-friendly
• Lyme Disease Diet-friendly
• Autism/Aspberger's Diet-friendly

Whew! That's a mouthful, right? But for someone like me, who spends a lot of time saying, "Sorry, I can't eat that," Kim's blog is a haven of delightfully healthy recipes. It's also a haven of delightfully tasty recipes, whether you're "something"-free or not. Case in point? Kim's sweet potato falafels with tahini sauce. You don't have to be on a special diet to love these. You just have to like good food.

I wish I could share Kim's recipe with you, but I can't because...well.. it's not mine. It's also not on her blog. But it is in her 2011 recipe calender. And while I can't share the recipe with you, I can offer you your own copy. Well, technically, Kim is offering you a copy. I'm just picking someone to give it to. Why is this a great batch of recipes to have? Aside from being wonderful for anyone on a restricted diet, the cards are also big enough to read but small enough to fit in your bag when you go grocery shopping. I don't know about anyone else, but I hate having to make a list of ingredients I need for a recipe. With Kim's recipes, I just grab the card and put it in my purse. I know I know...it doesn't sound like a big deal. But trust me. It makes a big difference. Kim is also a master at substituting foods, so if you can't eat something, chances are she'll include an alternative in her recipe. You don't even have to google it.

So without further ado, if you would like to win a copy of Kim's recipe calender (might I also point out that this would make a great stocking stuffer), please leave a comment letting me know. You can also tweet it, facebook it, or blog about it for extra entries (just come back and let me know what you did). If your google signature doesn't lead me to your e-mail address, please leave your e-mail or I won't have a way to contact you and then I'll have to give your prize to someone else. And that would just be a shame.

Sweet Parsley-Glazed Roasted Vegetables

As I muddle my way through finals, I find that simple meals are the way to go. Of course, as my housemates have noticed, the more studying I have to do, the more likely I am to be in the kitchen. Baking is my favorite way to procrastinate, and an exam will likely lead me to cornbread/muffin/cookie heaven. In fact, one of my housemates chided me to study and "be a good girl and stay out of the kitchen" tonight. Only a food blogger would have to be kicked out of the kitchen, right? Or a nutrition student...

Shrug. Sometimes I study. Sometimes I cook. But here's a recipe that allows for both. Sweet parsley-glazed roasted vegetables require only a few minutes of prep, then I pop them in the oven, turn on the timer, and study. Ideally.

Sweet Parsley-Glazed Roasted Vegetables
Print-Friendly Option

Ingredients:
Combination of root vegetables and/or brussel sprouts (I used 1 large turnip, 1 large sweet potato, and 8 brussel sprouts)
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 large garlic clove, diced
1 Tbsp. diced fresh parsley
1/8 tsp. powdered stevia
1/2 tsp. sea salt
black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 
2. Scrub and chop the vegetables; you can do large chunks or thinner slices if you want a crispier veggie. However, you'll have to reduce the cooking time for thin slices. Arrange the vegetables on a baking sheet.
3. In a small bowl, mix the olive oil, garlic, parslep, stevia, and sea salt. Brush over the vegetables, tossing to coat as evenly as possible. Add black pepper to taste. 
4. Bake for approximately an hour, turning the veggies with a spatula about halfway through.

Serves 1 hungry student during finals or 3-4 people as a side dish.