So, I know some of you in higher altitudes have had a little trouble with the donut recipe. Here is a great website to help you adjust recipes for your area. Thanks, King Arthur Flour! Hope this helps!
King Arthur Flour's Info on High Altitude Bakingl
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Friday, January 3, 2014
UPDATE: Experiment 106B
Experiment 106B: GF, Dairy Free, Nut Free, Egg Free Cinnamon Rolls. Not only are we working on simplifying Experiment 106's recipe, we're also removing the dairy, nuts and eggs.
We're about 4 dozen in after trying all kinds of ideas - everything from several different gf flour mixes to apricot preserves (which I don't recommend). Getting close, but I have a couple other ideas that I think will lift the flavor a bit. Definitely getting better tasting with good texture and less complicated than the last recipe.
More to come soon! Keep the feedback coming!!
We're about 4 dozen in after trying all kinds of ideas - everything from several different gf flour mixes to apricot preserves (which I don't recommend). Getting close, but I have a couple other ideas that I think will lift the flavor a bit. Definitely getting better tasting with good texture and less complicated than the last recipe.
More to come soon! Keep the feedback coming!!
Friday, December 27, 2013
Lab Experiment 106: Cinnamon Rolls!
Yields 6 rolls
INGREDIENTS:
Dough
- 2 large egg yolks, room temperature
- 1 large whole egg, room temperature
- 1/3 cup of honey
- 3 tablespoons of vegan buttery sticks or unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup buttermilk*
- 2 1/4 cups Cup 4 Cup gf flour or any other all purpose gluten free flour, plus a little for dusting
- 1 pkg dry yeast
- 1/4 cup of almond milk
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
Filling
- 2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 2/3 tbsp ground cinnamon
- Pinch of salt
- 2.5 tbsp vegan buttery sticks or butter, melted
- 1/4 cup cream cheese, softened
- 3 tbsp almond milk
- 1.5 cups powdered sugar
DIRECTIONS:
Dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup of warmed almond milk with 1/2 tsp of sugar. Set aside to let foam.
In the bowl of your standard mixer, whisk together the whole egg, egg yolks, honey, butter, buttermilk, and shortening. Make sure all these ingredients are at room temperature. Add 2 cups of gluten free flour and yeast mixture to bowl and mix on low speed for approximately 5 minutes. Scrape sides, add the other 1/4 cup of gf flour. Mix another 2-3 minutes until the dough starts to pull away from the bowl. The dough will be slightly stickier than you might expect with this mix.
Generously dust a flat surface with your gf flour and scoop out dough. Roll into a ball and knead by hand about 30 seconds. Lightly oil a large bowl. Place dough into bowl and lightly oil the top of the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and let double in volume - approximately 2.5 hours.
After the dough has doubled, place in refrigerator overnight to chill.
In the morning, remove dough from fridge and roll out onto a lightly floured surface into an 18 x 12 in. rectangle with the long side nearest you. Be sure to flour your rolling pin. I recommend pounding out the dough a little with your pin before actually rolling to help the dough keep from sticking.
In a medium bowl, combine brown sugar, cinnamon, pinch of salt, and 1 tbsp of the melted butter. Mix well. Brush the dough with the other half of the melted buttery sticks or butter leaving a 1/2 in. border along the top edge. Sprinkle filling mixture over the dough, leaving a 3/4 in. border along the top edge. Gently press the filling into dough. Starting with the edge nearest you, roll dough into a tight cylinder to create even thickness. With sharp knife, slice cylinder into 1.5 in. rolls, yielding 6 rolls. Arrange in a buttered baking dish, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Remove from fridge and place in an oven that is turned off. Place a shallow pan filled 2/3 with boiling water on the rack below the rolls. Close oven door and allow to rise for 30 minutes. Remove rolls and shallow pan and preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Once preheated, place rolls in oven on middle rack and bake until golden brown, approximately 30 minutes.
While the rolls are cooling, make the icing. Mix cream cheese, milk, and powdered sugar in standard mixer for approximately 5 minutes, scraping the sides midway through, or until mixed well and creamy. Spread over rolls and serve!
Enjoy.
Sunday, December 22, 2013
What ingredient is essential in making everything taste its very best? Love!
Wouldn't you agree? When made with love you take your time, use the best ingredients you have available to you, and make sure it turns out just right. Finding the time to put in the love isn't always easy, but when I do find enough to spend a little enjoying my ingredients and the entire process it's heaven and it's reflected in the final result.
Friday, December 13, 2013
Lab Experiment 105: Don't tell me you missed the pumpkin pie this year!
Congrats to all you who ate gluten free this Thanksgiving! I know it wasn't an easy feat. If you said no to pie, grab an acorn squash and a pie plate and get busy! You simply can't miss out on this. Gluten free with agave nectar rather than sugar and oh so good!
Filling
INGREDIENTS:
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heavily line a baking dish with heavy duty tin foil. What I mean, is allow a bit of overhang to almost "tent" the squash. Slice squash in half and remove seeds and "strings". Score both halves several times with a sharp knife. Drizzle the agave nectar and apple cider over the squash and position foil to form a wall approximately 1-2 inches high around squash. Bake 1 hr and 5 minutes.
Allow to cool enough where you can handle to remove skin. This should be easily removed by hand or with a small paring knife. Slice or break the squash into cubes and put into a food processor. Pulse into a puree. Set aside.
Pie Crust
Before we begin with your crust, here are a few items that made my life much easier when making this pie:
DIRECTIONS:
Cut shortening and buttery sticks (or butter) into cubes and refrigerate. Combine Cup 4 Cup, salt, and agave nectar, in that order, in the bowl of your food processor fitted with a steel blade. Pulse a few times to mix. Add buttery sticks and shortening. Pulse 10-12 times, until the butter is the size of peas. With the machine running, pour ice water into feeding tube until dough starts to clump into a ball. Dump onto generously floured (w/Cup 4 Cup) board and roll into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Butter your pie plate and put in fridge. Secure a piece of parchment paper (with tape or weights) to your counter top, large enough to roll your dough out onto and flour liberally. Take out refrigerated dough and cut in half. Save other half, wrapped in plastic wrap in the fridge. (You may half this recipe if you don't want a top crust/"back up" crust, depending on what kind of pie you are making as this crust can be used for any pie your little heart desires.) Flour your rolling pin and roll out dough large enough to fill your pie plate. By the way, I used a 9" pie plate, but I recommend an 8" if your squash is on the small side.
Your dough is going to be a little soft and fragile. If you struggle rolling it out and it begins to stick. Roll back into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, refrigerate for another 15-20 minutes and try again. Trust me, don't keep fighting with it once the dough has warmed. You won't win.
You'll notice in the picture above, my crust is a bit thick. This was my first attempt. (I always test a recipe a minimum of 3-4 times before posting.) Unfortunately, the photos taken of the the other pies didn't really turn out because someone got to the pie before I did or the lighting was just terrible. Regardless, although pretty, I recommend making a bit flatter, thinner crust. It bakes and tastes better! Just a thin layer with with few decorative thumb prints should do the trick!
Flip your rolled out dough over onto your pie plate and shape. If you have tears or missing parts, don't fret! Just mold it as evenly as possible into a beautiful crust as best you can, filling in the missing parts by pressing the leftover dough in place. Remember, if it looks perfect it's not homemade anyway, right? Give it your homemade love and don't mess with the crust too much.
Now it's time to blind bake it. You definitely don't want to skip this step as you are filling your pie with a liquid mixture and don't want the bottom to turn out soggy. Place either your pie weight or a sheet of parchment paper with a layer of dry beans onto your crust. (No need to prick with a fork in this case. It may also cause a soggy bottom and your weight will take care of the crust.) Bake for approximately 8-10 minutes until you see a tiny bit of color creeping onto the crust. Don't forget your foil or crust shield! Most recipes will tell you to blind bake up to 15 minutes, but this is too long for this delicate crust. I recommend being conservative as the crust will brown during baking even with the guard.
While the crust is in the oven, you will want to warm your filling. A warm crust enjoys warm filling and this will ensure your filling isn't too soft either. Pour your filling mixture into a medium sauce pan on medium heat. Whisk regularly as it warms for approximately 8-9 minutes. This is going to infuse your flavors and ensure your filling is done.
Once crust is done blind baking, reduce the oven heat to 375 degrees. Remove weight and fill crust with warm filling. (Keep crust guard or foil on during entire baking process. If approximately 5 minutes before completely baked you feel the crust is too pale, go ahead and remove at that point.) Bake for 30-40 minutes or until knife inserted approximately 1 inch from crust comes out clean.
Let cool to room temperature - approximately 2 hours. This will allow the filling to settle. Serve and enjoy!
This can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2-3 days covered with plastic wrap but I'm sure it won't last that long!
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 large acorn squash
- 1/2 c pure apple cider
- 3 tbsp of agave nectar
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 3/4 c almond or coconut milk, unsweetened
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heavily line a baking dish with heavy duty tin foil. What I mean, is allow a bit of overhang to almost "tent" the squash. Slice squash in half and remove seeds and "strings". Score both halves several times with a sharp knife. Drizzle the agave nectar and apple cider over the squash and position foil to form a wall approximately 1-2 inches high around squash. Bake 1 hr and 5 minutes.
Allow to cool enough where you can handle to remove skin. This should be easily removed by hand or with a small paring knife. Slice or break the squash into cubes and put into a food processor. Pulse into a puree. Set aside.
Pie Crust
Before we begin with your crust, here are a few items that made my life much easier when making this pie:
- 9" pie plate - I used an Emile Henry for nice even baking. The dish does a much better job than a regular pie tin.
- Parchment paper - a must with this crust as it will stick to a counter top or other surface upon rolling out and won't transport to pie plate very easily otherwise.
- "The Perfect Pie Crust Shield" - I found this one at Sprouts. You may also use tin foil to prevent your crust from over browning, but this little guy was under $3.00 and it saved my crust! The foil didn't do as well and was harder to keep on.
- Pie Weight - I used a Chicago Metallic Disc. If you prefer, you may also use parchment paper and dry beans.
- 3 c Cup 4 Cup or other gf flour
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tbsp agave nectar
- 12 tbsp Nature's Balance vegan buttery sticks or unsalted butter
- 1/3 c vegetable shortening
- 1.5 c ice water
DIRECTIONS:
Cut shortening and buttery sticks (or butter) into cubes and refrigerate. Combine Cup 4 Cup, salt, and agave nectar, in that order, in the bowl of your food processor fitted with a steel blade. Pulse a few times to mix. Add buttery sticks and shortening. Pulse 10-12 times, until the butter is the size of peas. With the machine running, pour ice water into feeding tube until dough starts to clump into a ball. Dump onto generously floured (w/Cup 4 Cup) board and roll into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Butter your pie plate and put in fridge. Secure a piece of parchment paper (with tape or weights) to your counter top, large enough to roll your dough out onto and flour liberally. Take out refrigerated dough and cut in half. Save other half, wrapped in plastic wrap in the fridge. (You may half this recipe if you don't want a top crust/"back up" crust, depending on what kind of pie you are making as this crust can be used for any pie your little heart desires.) Flour your rolling pin and roll out dough large enough to fill your pie plate. By the way, I used a 9" pie plate, but I recommend an 8" if your squash is on the small side.
Your dough is going to be a little soft and fragile. If you struggle rolling it out and it begins to stick. Roll back into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, refrigerate for another 15-20 minutes and try again. Trust me, don't keep fighting with it once the dough has warmed. You won't win.
You'll notice in the picture above, my crust is a bit thick. This was my first attempt. (I always test a recipe a minimum of 3-4 times before posting.) Unfortunately, the photos taken of the the other pies didn't really turn out because someone got to the pie before I did or the lighting was just terrible. Regardless, although pretty, I recommend making a bit flatter, thinner crust. It bakes and tastes better! Just a thin layer with with few decorative thumb prints should do the trick!
Flip your rolled out dough over onto your pie plate and shape. If you have tears or missing parts, don't fret! Just mold it as evenly as possible into a beautiful crust as best you can, filling in the missing parts by pressing the leftover dough in place. Remember, if it looks perfect it's not homemade anyway, right? Give it your homemade love and don't mess with the crust too much.
Now it's time to blind bake it. You definitely don't want to skip this step as you are filling your pie with a liquid mixture and don't want the bottom to turn out soggy. Place either your pie weight or a sheet of parchment paper with a layer of dry beans onto your crust. (No need to prick with a fork in this case. It may also cause a soggy bottom and your weight will take care of the crust.) Bake for approximately 8-10 minutes until you see a tiny bit of color creeping onto the crust. Don't forget your foil or crust shield! Most recipes will tell you to blind bake up to 15 minutes, but this is too long for this delicate crust. I recommend being conservative as the crust will brown during baking even with the guard.
While the crust is in the oven, you will want to warm your filling. A warm crust enjoys warm filling and this will ensure your filling isn't too soft either. Pour your filling mixture into a medium sauce pan on medium heat. Whisk regularly as it warms for approximately 8-9 minutes. This is going to infuse your flavors and ensure your filling is done.
Once crust is done blind baking, reduce the oven heat to 375 degrees. Remove weight and fill crust with warm filling. (Keep crust guard or foil on during entire baking process. If approximately 5 minutes before completely baked you feel the crust is too pale, go ahead and remove at that point.) Bake for 30-40 minutes or until knife inserted approximately 1 inch from crust comes out clean.
Let cool to room temperature - approximately 2 hours. This will allow the filling to settle. Serve and enjoy!
This can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2-3 days covered with plastic wrap but I'm sure it won't last that long!
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Donuts in under 20 minutes!
Gluten free cinnamon sugar donuts in under 20
minutes! It's easy! These cute little bags have the dry
mix ready for you to make those delicious little donuts in minutes. Simply add the eggs, cider,
and butter (I use Earth Balance vegan buttery sticks). Stir
into mix, fill donut pan, and bake for 8-10 minutes. Once baked, roll
in the cinnamon sugar mix while warm and viola!
1 bag yields 2 dozen mini donuts
$8.49 a bag
Email tiffanysem@me.com for details.
1 bag yields 2 dozen mini donuts
$8.49 a bag
Email tiffanysem@me.com for details.
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Lab Experiment 104: Donuts! - gluten and nut free. They taste waaay better than they sound. :)
A friend of mine has a 2 year old son that has to stay away from gluten and nuts. When I asked her what they miss the most, she immediately responded "DONUTS!"
Everything I came across was just a bit dry and dense and let's be honest, there's nothing like homemade. With just a slight adjustment to a recipe from "Gluten Free on a Shoestring" I was able to enjoy something that actually tasted like a donut for the first time in years.
I took a couple dozen of fresh mini donuts to my co-workers at Great News! Cooking School and Cookware. They and the customers gave rave reviews! Let me know what you think.
http://glutenfreeonashoestring.com/apple-cider-doughnuts-donuts/
*I replaced the butter with Earth Balance vegan buttery sticks and used Cup 4 Cup gluten free flour mix, Bob's Red Mill xanthan gum and cornstarch, and Rumford baking powder. Please note that the recipe does call for 2
eggs in case that's an issue for you.
I can't wait to make more tomorrow!
*This recipe is also dairy free if you replace the Cup 4 Cup with a dairy free gf all purpose flour.
Everything I came across was just a bit dry and dense and let's be honest, there's nothing like homemade. With just a slight adjustment to a recipe from "Gluten Free on a Shoestring" I was able to enjoy something that actually tasted like a donut for the first time in years.
I took a couple dozen of fresh mini donuts to my co-workers at Great News! Cooking School and Cookware. They and the customers gave rave reviews! Let me know what you think.
http://glutenfreeonashoestring.com/apple-cider-doughnuts-donuts/
*I replaced the butter with Earth Balance vegan buttery sticks and used Cup 4 Cup gluten free flour mix, Bob's Red Mill xanthan gum and cornstarch, and Rumford baking powder. Please note that the recipe does call for 2
*This recipe is also dairy free if you replace the Cup 4 Cup with a dairy free gf all purpose flour.
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