Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins

Delight the taste buds of your family and friends this Thanksgiving with these delicious Pumpkin Cranberry muffins. Those of you who know me know that I find more joy creating my new recipes and baking them for friends and family than I do eating them. I usually will take a bite and if passes the Gluten Free Mama test for taste and texture then I will write it down for the new cookbook. Then I usually will give the extras away to my family, friends, or the community.

A good friend invited me to lunch today. I offered to bring a treat for dessert so I packed up the muffins and some Gingerbread Cookies I spent the morning preparing. I had not tasted either yet, so had no idea if they turned out or not. The Chicken Tortilla Soup served for lunch was very delicious and filling so I decided to just have a bite of the muffin to check for flavor and texture. Much to my delight, the muffin was moist, flavorful and the cranberries and crystallized ginger burst with flavor. I couldn’t help but smile at the results and indulged in an entire muffin. I must admit when I returned home to my house still filled with the fresh baked aroma of pumpkin and ginger I indulged in 3 more muffins, one right after the other. Four more muffins await me this evening. Bliss!

Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins

Ingredients:
1 ¾ cup Mama’s Almond or Coconut Blend Flour
1 ¼ tsp. xanthan gum
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. chia seeds (optional)*
2 Tbsp. crystallized ginger, minced
¼ tsp. salt
½ tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. cloves
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, coarsely chopped

⅓ cup oil
1 cup pumpkin puree
¾ cup sugar
¼ cup molasses
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg

Course Sugar if desired

Directions: Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour muffin pan or fill with muffin liners.

In a medium bowl combine flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, chia seeds, crystallized ginger, salt, cinnamon, cloves and cranberries. Mix to combine and set aside.

In a mixing bowl combine oil, pumpkin, sugar, molasses, vanilla and egg. Mix on low speed to combine. With mixer running on low speed slowly pour in a little of the flour mixture at time until all flour is combined. Mix for 30-60 second to combine well.

Fill muffin cups ¾ full. An ice cream scooper works great! Sprinkle with coarse sugar if desired. Bake for 33-35 minutes or until muffins bounce back when touched.

Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes before serving.

*Chia seeds are available at www.GoChiaGo.com or can be found in bulk at your local health food store. Chia Seeds are high in Omega 3 fatty acids, b vitamins, and help support cardiovascular, digestive, bone, joint neurological, visual and immune health. I add 1-2 tsp. of Chia seeds to breads, muffins, and cookies for added nutrition and the kids don’t even know they are there. For more information check out their website listed above.

*Note: When measuring molasses, measure out in dry measuring cup. Use a rubber scraper to level off the top for and accurate measurement.

Gluten Free Ice Cream Sandwiches and Chocolate Mint Cookies

Cassie my middle child is always asking me to make her favorite cookies, chocolate mint. Yesterday I decided to make the recipe a little different and found myself delighted with the results. I thought these cookies would also pair nicely with ice cream and make perfect ice cream sandwiches. They are easy to make and oh so delicious! My kids ate them up as fast as I could make them. Impress your friends by serving these beautiful sandwiches at your holiday parties this season. Or make several up and enjoy as an evening snack. Enjoy!

Chocolate Mint Cookies

Ingredients:
1¾ cup Mama’s Almond or Coconut Blend Flour
½ cup cocoa
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt

1 cup butter or dairy free margarine, room temp.
1½ cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. mint extract
2 eggs

1½ cup chocolate chips

Ice Cream Sandwiches: Fill with ice cream flavor of choice

Directions: Preheat oven to 350°.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa, xanthan gum, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream butter with sugar until soft. Add vanilla, mint and eggs. Mix to combine. Scrape down sides of bowl. Add flour mixture a little at a time until all flour is combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

Using a 1 inch cookie scoop, place dough 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 12-14 minutes. Remove from cookie sheet to a cooling rack immediately.

To Make Ice Cream Sandwiches: Once cookies are completely cooled, place ice cream on counter for about 15 minutes to soften. Using a ice cream scoop, place one scoop of ice cream onto a cookie. Place another cookie on top of ice cream and press lightly until the ice cream spreads to the edges and forms an ice cream sandwich. Place on baking sheet and freeze for ½ hour. Remove from freezer and wrap individually with plastic wrap and place in freezer until ready to serve.

Espresso Pumpkin Bread

The aroma of fresh baked bread in the oven with the scents of pumpkin and cinnamon filled the air today as I spent the day baking. My house smells so good this time of year, makes me feel like inviting friends over. A week ago I was invited to a good friend’s house for a day of stamping. I felt so welcomed and blessed as I drove up to her home that was so beautifully decorated with the look of fall with cornstalks and pumpkins. When I walked into her home I was greeted with the fresh aroma of fall scents like pumpkin and cinnamon. It was so cozy and inviting. It made me feel like staying all day, and I did! Your friends and family will feel so blessed and welcomed into your home if you have this delicious bread in the oven when they arrive. Baking fresh baked fall goodies is such a simple way to add comfort and love to your home.

Today I decided to add flare to my pumpkin bread by changing it up a little and adding a little espresso and an all time favorite chocolate! The hint of espresso mixed with chocolate and pumpkin made this bread very rich and full of flavor. My taste buds had a party in my mouth. This will be a perfect bread to accompany your morning coffee or have as an afternoon snack. It is also a perfect treat to share with friends during your fall get-togethers. Don’t worry, kids like this bread too! The chocolate flavor had my kids coming back for more. Enjoy!


Espresso Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients:
1¾ cups Mama’s Almond or Coconut Blend Flour
¼ cup cocoa
1¼ tsp. xanthan gum or guar gum
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. nutmeg

½ cup butter or dairy free margarine, room temp
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
1¼ cups sugar (I use evaporated cane sugar)

½ cup milk (dairy, rice, nut, soy)
1 Tbsp. instant espresso powder

½-1 cup chocolate chips (optional, but oh so good!)

Sugar topping: 1 Tbsp. sugar, 1 tsp. cocoa, pinch of cinnamon

Variation: Omit chocolate chips and add 1 cup chopped walnuts.
Variation: If you do not have instant espresso use ½ cup coffee or prepared espresso in place of the milk.

Directions: Preheat oven to 350°.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside. Measure out milk and dissolve espresso powder in milk. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream butter until soft. Add pumpkin puree, vanilla, eggs and sugar. Mix well. Alternate adding flour and milk mixture until all ingredients are combined. Mix on medium low speed for 30 seconds. Fold in chocolate chips or nuts. Spray large loaf pan with cooking spray. Spread batter evenly into pan. Sprinkle top with sugar topping. Make 3-4 slashes across top of bread.

Bake in 350 degree oven for 60-65 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean or bread bounces back when touched. Cover last 20 minutes of baking to prevent over browning.

Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Enjoy!!!

© Rachel Carlyle-Gauthier 2009

Quick Tomato Basil Soup and Gluten Free Sun Dried Tomato Biscuits

Winter Hits Montana Early And Inspires Cooking In The Kitchen! Temperatures in Montana this week completely bypassed fall, did not pass go, and headed straight towards winter. Last week we had temperatures at 89° only to be blessed with the teens and twenties this week with 4 inches of snow on Friday. My family was not prepared and strangely the winter coats somehow disappeared and I was not thrilled to be thrown into scraping the snow off the windows in order to take my children to school.

This week’s weather events helped give me that boost of energy to get into the kitchen again. The last few weeks have not only been busy but stressful and I realized just the other day that I haven’t created a new recipe in nearly 4 weeks. Too long! So thanks to the snow and a cold house I am back to my old self again, well at least a little! This week on the menu is Quick Tomato Basil Soup and Sun-dried Tomato Basil Biscuits. Both are a hit for families and crowds and pair nicely together. There is nothing like a warm bowl of soup and biscuits hot out of the oven to warm up your house and bodies on cold winter days.

Quick Tomato Basil Soup

¼ cup butter or margarine or 2-3 Tbsp. olive oil
½ an onion, minced
1 large garlic clove, minced (about 1 tsp.)

1- 32 oz can organic chicken broth
1- 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
2- 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes ( I used the cans that have oregano and garlic added)

2 Tbsp. dried basil or ¼ cup fresh basil, minced
1 Tbsp. sugar
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. baking soda
Fresh Black Pepper to taste (about 1/8 tsp.)
½ cup heavy cream

Directions:

In a large soup pan, sauté the onions in the butter or oil until translucent. Add minced garlic and stir to combine. Pour in chicken broth, crushed tomatoes and diced tomatoes. Add basil, sugar, and salt. Stir well to combine. Add baking soda. The baking soda helps to cut the acid in the tomatoes. Add fresh ground pepper to taste.

Allow to heat over medium high heat just until the soup begins to boil. Reduce heat to low. Slowly pour in cream stirring constantly to combine. Allow to rest for about 5 minutes stirring occasionally.

Serve warm. Add a pinch of fresh shredded Parmesan or Romano cheese if desired.

Sun Dried Tomato Basil Biscuits

1 ½ cups Mama’s Almond or Coconut Blend Flour
¾ tsp. xanthan gum
½ tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. dried basil
½ tsp. garlic powder or 1 garlic clove, minced
½ cup Italian cheese blend or ¼ cup Parmesan ¼ cup Romano cheese

½ cup milk (dairy, rice, nut, soy)
2 eggs
3 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. minced onion
¼ cup sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, minced

Directions: Preheat oven to 400°.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, xanthan gum, salt, baking powder, basil, garlic, and cheese. Mix well to combine. Make a well in center of bowl.

In a liquid measuring cup, measure out milk. Add eggs, olive oil, minced onion, and sun-dried tomatoes to the milk. Mix with a fork to combine. Pour in all at once to the flour well. Stir ingredients to combine.

Using an ice cream scoop, scoop dough and place dough on baking sheet 2 inches apart. With lightly floured hands or fingers run under hot water, gently smooth out the rough spots on the top of the dough and gently flatten dough.

Place baking sheet on upper rack and bake for 14-16 minutes or until the tops begin to brown.

Variation 1: Place scoops into lightly sprayed muffin pan. Smooth out tops. Bake 14-16 minutes.
Variation 2: Use a 1 inch cookie scoop and fill lightly sprayed mini muffin pan. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

Dairy Free Option: Use rice, nut or soy milk. Leave the cheese out and add 2-3 Tbsp pine nuts or walnuts.

Gluten Free Mama’s Pie Wins Third Place In Pie Contest

Yes, It is true a gluten free pie won third place amongst other pies in a fun Pie Contest Bake-off. Our church hosted an Old Fashioned Picnic a couple of Sundays ago. There was a big Pie Baking Contest as well as other contests. I decided to enter my pie. I was technically in charge of organization of the pie contest but wanted to have the opportunity to enter my pie. So we set it up so the pies would be submitted without names/anonymously and that I would have no part in the judging or tallying of scores. I was just the announcer/organizer. This assured there was no rigging of the contest. When each person came with their pie, their pie was given a number when they signed in. The judges never saw the sign in sheet to see whose pie was whose.

The pies were displayed for all the people to see before judging. There was a list of who submitted pies, but no one knew who made which one. It made for a great mystery that captured the curiosity of the crowd. The judges were called to the table to begin testing. Two judges were assigned to 5 pies each. They judged the pies according to appearance, crust, filling and overall taste. The pie in each category that had the highest points moved onto the final round, where every judge tasted each of the 4 pies and judged them.

I was surprised to hear the announcement that my pie placed third! None of the judges knew which pie was mine and none of them knew it was gluten free. This is proof that gluten free food can taste just as good as regular wheat type food and no one can tell the difference. I used Mama’s Pie Crust Mix for the crust and the filling was Apple Huckleberry. See Recipe below. I feel blessed that Mama’s Pie Crust faired so well against such amazing pie makers. By the way the winning pie was submitted by Sally B. Fresh Berry Pie, and the 2nd place pie was submitted by Cassie W. and was a Huckleberry Pie. All the other pies submitted were beautiful and I am sure tasted wonderful. It was a great event and a lot of fun. Can't wait till next year.

Mama’s Apple Huckleberry Pie
Ingredients:
1 Pkg. Mama’s Pie Crust Mix.
6 cups sliced tart apples, (Granny Smith)
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 cup sugar
½ tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. nutmeg
3 Tbsp. Mama’s Almond or Coconut Blend Flour

1½-2 cups fresh or frozen huckleberries

1 egg white, lightly beaten
1 Tbsp. water

Directions: Preheat oven to 400.

Start by preparing apple filling. If you prepare the dough first it will get tough while waiting for you to prepare filling and will be harder to work with.

Peel and slice the apples and place in large bowl. Add lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and flour. Toss the apples until all are coated.


Make pie crust per directions. Roll out into two crusts.

Place pie shell in pie pan. Add 1/2 of apple mixture. Sprinkle 1/2 of the huckleberries on top of apples. Evenly add the rest of apples over the huckleberries. Sprinkle remaining huckleberries evenly over apples. Add top layer of pie crust. Flute edges. Cut five slits in top. If desired use a miniature cookie cutter to add to the middle of the crust for design.

Baste crust with egg white mixed with water. Sprinkle crust lightly with sugar.

Bake at 400 for 25 minutes. Reduce heat to 325 and bake for 25 minutes more. Cover edges with foil if needed to prevent over browning.