The Best Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls

My early impression of homemade cinnamon rolls was that they were dry, heavy, and always a bit overdone. Needless to say, I wasn't a fan of them early on. 

But, as time passed and I grew up, I decided to try making cinnamon rolls myself. I made a batch and I instantly fell in love with this sweet treat.

When I started eating gluten free, a good cinnamon roll recipe was a must. I was lucky to find this great recipe pretty early on, and I have made it at least a dozen times since. 

The Best Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls

• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• 1/4 Cup Sugar
• 2/3 Cup of warm Milk
• 1 Tablespoon Yeast
• 1 Egg (or 3 Tablespoons hot Water mixed with 1 Tablespoon Flaxseed Meal)
• 1/4 Cup Canola Oil
• 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 Cup Potato Starch
• 1 Cup Corn Starch
• 2 1/2 Teaspoons Xantham Gum
• 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
• 2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda

Filling:

Brown sugar
Cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the butter and sugar. 
3. Heat your milk, not too hot but warm enough to activate yeast, and add in the yeast. Whisk together until dissolved. 
4. Add the milk/yeast mixture to the sugar and stir together. Add the egg (or flaxegg), oil and vanilla, and mix again. 
5. Add all of the dry ingredients and mix well to combine, removing all lumps (expect the dough to be pretty soft).
6. Sprinkle a big sheet of plastic wrap with sugar and plop dough out onto it. Add a second layer of plastic wrap and roll dough out between them, making roughly a 13" by 13" square.
7. Remove top layer of wrap and sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon over dough. Then, lifting up an edge of the plastic wrap to help you, roll the dough. Cut with a knife and place in a greased pan (I usually bake mine in a 9x13 and they all fit).
8. Bake for about 20 minutes (until tops are lightly browned), and frost when slightly cooled. Enjoy.

TIPS: Make sure that you measure the ingredients exactly right. There have been a few times when I was off, and these turned out a bit messy (but still tasty). Stir the dough long enough, too, and you should come out with the perfect cinnamon rolls.

Recipe found here and here.


-Bethany

Ten

Did I ever mention that I love fudge?

Oh, yeah. I think I did.

You can't blame me for saying it again, though, right? Fudge is just so... good. So good.

I love fudge so much that this year I decided to make ten different varieties of fudge, trying to outdo last year when I made nine.

From right to left: Top row: Salted Caramel, Cookie Dough, Butterscotch

Second row: Dark Chocolate, Dark chocolate with Peppermint, Snickerdoodle

Third row: Cotton Candy (made with the help of my nephew!) and M&M and Pretzel

Last row: Chocolate and Funfetti

I brought this pan of fudge out to my parents' for Christmas eve with my family, and the salted caramel fudge was the biggest hit, as it was last year, and all of the others went over good, as well. Everyone seems to love fudge, and it's just a great - and relatively easy - way to make a wide variety of yummy Christmas treats.

-Bethany

Baked Chickpea Meatballs

I made these chickpea meatballs a couple of weeks ago, and they turned out great. They were so good, in fact, that I have been craving them the past few days. 

Baked Chickpea "Meatballs"

• 2 Cups Chickpeas
• 1/3 Cup Gluten Free Breadcrumbs
• 1 Tablespoon Ground Flaxseed
• 3 Tablespoons Hot Water
• 2 Cloves Garlic, Minced
• 1 teaspoon Dried Oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Onion Powder
• 8 cranks freshly ground black pepper (or really, however much you'd like)

1. Heat the water and add the ground flaxseed to it. Set aside for 10 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. In a blender, pulse chickpeas until small crumbs form (almost fine).
4. Mince the garlic.
5. Add the chickpeas, flax-egg, garlic and the remaining ingredients to a big bowl and mix until combined.
6. Shape into 2 Tablespoon size balls of dough and set on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray.
7. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, until slightly browned. Serve with sauce on spaghetti, and enjoy!

Adapted from this recipe.

-Bethany

I Love Fudge

I love fudge.

And there are so many reasons why.

One, it's one of the easiest things you can make this Christmas season.

Two, it is so versatile. The possibilities of flavors are really endless.

And last, but certainly not least, it tastes amazing.

One of the fudge recipes that I made last year and just had to make again this year, because it was so creamy and tasty and delicious, is this salted caramel fudge. It's easy to throw together and just so good. Not to mention pretty.

If you are looking for a gourmet-looking, sweet-tasting treat to make this Christmas season, I highly recommend this fudge.

Find the Easy Salted Caramel Fudge Recipe here.

-Bethany

Soft Gluten Free/Egg Free Sugar Cookies

There are so many good gluten free recipes out there on the internet, nowadays, and it's just a matter of finding the best ones. This sugar cookie recipe is definitely one of the good ones. The cookies are soft. So soft. And yummy. And perfect.

And they are perfect for Christmas cookies! I have made them into cut-out shapes and they turned out perfectly!

Soft Gluten Free Sugar Cookies

• 1/2 Cup Butter, softened
• 1 Cup Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Flaxseed Meal
• 6 Tablespoons Hot Water
• 1 1/2 Cup White Rice Flour
• 3/4 Cup Potato Starch
• 3/4 Cup Tapioca Starch
• 1 1/2 teaspoon Xanthan Gum
• 1 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 3/4 teaspoon Salt
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1. Mix together the hot water and flaxseed meal and set aside for about ten minutes.
2. Whisk together all of the dry ingredients.
3. In a large bowl beat the butter and sugar. Add the flaxseed mixture and beat again.
4. Add the vanilla and the dry ingredients. Mix until combined.
5. Place the cookie dough in the refrigerator for an hour or more.
6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
7. When the dough has chilled, take it out and roll it between two pieces of plastic wrap until it is somewhere between 1/2" and 1/4" thick.
8. Cut out shapes and place on a baking sheet, baking for 8-12 minutes depending on the size of your cookies.

Original recipe found here.

-Bethany

2 Ingredient Chickpea Salad

Finding a super quick, healthy snack can be challenging at times. For me a go-to item is string cheese, but you can only have so much of one thing before you get bored of it. 

I had some chickpeas in my fridge one day, waiting to be made into hummus, and I decided to give them a try as a cold salad. All I did was chop up a pickle slice and add it into a bowl along with the cold chickpeas and I was done. I had a delicious, super easy and healthy, two ingredient snack.

2 Ingredient Chickpea Salad

• Chickpeas, cooked and cooled completely
• Pickle 

1. Chopped the pickle and dump it into a bowl (along with a bit of pickle juice, if desired).
2. Add the chickpeas, stir, and enjoy!

That's it! An easy, healthy snack to add some variety to your life.

-Bethany

Gluten Free Inside Out Chocolate Chip Cookies

With Christmas just around the corner, those of us who eat gluten free food are in need of some good recipes to take the place of all of the yummy ones that we used to make for the holiday. On my site you will find a variety of delicious recipes that you can use for the Christmas season (or, really, anytime of the year), including these Inside Out Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Let me tell you a story.

One night at 8:30pm and I was going to make these cookies. But then I read the recipe and saw that it calls for the dough to be refrigerated for at least two hours. Needless to say that I was thoroughly disappointed.

But, I didn't let it stop me from making them the next day. And let me tell you, I am so glad that I went through with making them. These cookies are the best.

Let this be a lesson to you and don't let the amount of time that it takes discourage you from making them, but just be aware of it ahead of it ahead of time so that you mix up the dough with a few hours to spare before you need the cookies.

But, if you don't have any dough left by the time it comes to bake the cookies... well, you'll just have to start all over again. ;)

These are a great Christmas (or anytime) treat.

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Inside Out Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1/2 Cup Butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 Cup Sugar
• 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
• 3 Tablespoons Hot Water
• 1 Tablespoon Flaxseed Meal
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 Cup plus 2 Tablespoons Cocoa Powder
• 3/4 Cup Rice Flour
• 1/4 Cup Potato Starch
• 2 Tablespoons Tapioca Starch
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1/2 teaspoon Xanthan Gum
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 1 Cup White Chocolate Chips

1. Heat water in a small bowl and add in the flaxseed meal. Set aside for 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium size bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder, rice flour, starches, baking soda, xanthan gum and salt. Set aside.
3. Beat butter for about twenty seconds. Add sugars with mixer on and beat until fluffy.
4. Add the egg mixture and vanilla to the butter/sugar mix. Beat.
5. Slowly add the dry mixture with the mixer running, until fully combined. 
6. Stir in chips by hand.
7. Refrigerate dough for two hours or more.
8. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
9. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, scoop cookies onto it, and bake for 10 to 12 minutes.
10. Cook on the pan for 5 minutes before moving to a cooling wrap. 

Adapted from this recipe


I hope you enjoy them as much as my family and I did!
-Bethany