Pizza Crust

This crust is so easy to make, and in its normal form is gluten and dairy free. It comes from my favorite cookbook Cooking for Isaiah by Silvana Nardone. She calls this her “Perfect Pizza Crust” and, as far as GF goes, I would have to agree. One of the key tools that is needed for the success of achieving the crispiest of crusts is a baking stone. They can purchased online for around $30.00.

Ingredients
2 cups GF Flour1 (1/4 ounce) package active dry yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
2 egg whites, at room temperature and lightly beaten
3/4 cup warm water
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

DirectionsIn a large bowl, whisk together the flour, yeast, salt and sugar. In a separate bowl mix the egg whites, oil and water together. Add to the dry ingredients and mix until the dough forms a ball and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
Separate the dough into two pieces and place each onto a piece of lightly floured parchment paper.

Using your floured finger tips or rolling pin, roll the dough flat leaving it about 1/4 inch thick. (I have had the most luck using my finger tips in the beginning to start the flattening process. I then place a piece of waxed paper over the top of the dough and roll the dough flat and round from there.)


Remove the waxed paper, keeping the dough on the parchment , loosely cover with plastic wrap, and let rest for 30-40 minutes. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Bake one crust at a time, on the parchment paper and preferably on a baking stone. Bake for about 8 minutes until it is puffy and the bottom is golden brown and crispy. Repeat with the second crust.

You can freeze the baked crust for up to one month. Make sure you prepare your pizza on a thawed, room temperature crust.

Taking the room temperature crust, I loaded it up with my favorite toppings, and placed it in a 425 degree oven for 8-10 minutes.

Chocolate Frosting

The other day I attempted to make a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. I wasn’t complete sold on the cake but the frosting was wonderful!! This recipe was given to me by Kristie from her “Cooking for Isaiah” by Silvana Nardone cookbook. I only adapted the amounts.

Ingredients

2 cups DF semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup water

Directions

In a microwaveable bowl combine the chips and water. Microwave on high for 2 minutes or until the chips are melted. Stir until smooth and let cool to room temperature. With a handheld mixer, beat the chocolate mixture on medium-high speed until light and whipped; about 10 minutes.

Note: Beating the chocolate made huge mess of my kitchen. I would make sure to wear an apron and transfer the chocolate to the deepest bowl that you have before mixing.

Banana Bread

This recipe came from Kristen and has been in my recipe book since right after Brent and I got married. It is a classic, very easy banana bread that leaves the house smelling wonderful. I made a few changes to the recipe, only to make it gluten and dairy free.

Ingredients

1/2 cup Earth Balance butter
3/4 cup white sugar
1 Large egg
2 cups GF flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2 large bananas)
optional: 1/2 cup DF chocolate chips or nuts

Directions

Cream the butter and sugar together. Add the egg and beat thoroughly. Add the dry ingredients, mixing well. Stir in the bananas and finally the chocolate chips and/or nuts. Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes. When a knife placed in the center of the loaf comes out clean the bread is done.

Side note: I have made this recipe as a loaf, regular muffins, mini muffins, and as pictured above, a 9X9 pan and all have turned out golden brown on top and moist in the middle. The muffins usually bake for about 15-17 minutes and the 9X9 baked for the full 60 minutes.

Dairy Free Chocolate

It was really scary to take the DF plunge knowing I would have to get rid of chocolate.  Besides the whole angry intestinal fight we would have, chocolate and I got along really well pre-DF diet and I wasn’t sure I was going to find a substitute that came close to the real thing.

I was proven wrong after taste testing a bunch of different brands.  My absolute favorite is Chocolate Dream Dairy Free Chocolate Bars.


Beyond the great flavor the texture of this chocolate is smooth and creamy.  The taste is most definitely chocolaty, but does not try to mimic the flavor of the well known dairy-full chocolate bars like Hershey's or Cadbury.  Chocolate Dream is exactly what I need as an after dinner treat…just a couple of bites and my craving is fed.

Not far behind the question of What kind of chocolate bars can I eat, was What kind of chocolate chips can I use for DF baking?  This question was first simply answered by using Enjoy Life Dairy Free Chocolate Chips.  They are usually sold at any Natural Food Store as well as the Gluten Free section of your local Cub Foods. 

A friend of mine, who is also a Vegan, informed me that Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips are safe for a vegan and DF diet.  These chocolate chips are found at most grocery stores, are a cheaper alternative to Enjoy Life, and have since become my number one go-to chocolate chip.

Sausage Breakfast Cups

(Image courtesy of Allrecipes.com)

I think the first rule for hosting a party is don't try out a new recipe. I usually follow that, but for my sister's baby shower all rules went out the window. I was serving brunch and wanted to make something that was unique, cute, and easy. I found a recipe for sausage and cheese breakfast cups and adapted it to my liking. This recipe makes 12 cups.

Ingredients

8 oz pork sausage
10 large eggs
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
3 scallions, sliced
optional: 1/2 - 1 cup shredded DF cheese

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Fill muffin tin with liners or spray with a non-stick cooking spray.

In a medium skillet cook the sausage until brown and crumbly. Remove the sausage from the pan and sauté the peppers in the leftover sausage grease. Set aside and let cool slightly.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs. Add the peppers, scallions, cheese and sausage to the eggs and stir. Spoon/pour mixture into muffin cups, dividing evenly. (I put my mixture in a pitcher and poured that way.)

Bake for 25 minutes or until the egg is set.

Note: The sausage made the tops a little greasy and appeared to be not thoroughly cooked, so be sure to use a knife to test if the egg is set. Once the knife comes out clean they are done.

Sweet and Creamy Pumpkin Dip

This recipe I got from a friend of my mom’s a few years ago and have since adapted it to be DF. It’s more of a fall recipe but I love anything with pumpkin in it and eat it year round. The dip is meant to be served with soft ginger snap cookies such as Mi-Del Gluten Free Ginger Snaps. It’s also great for dipping apples and pears.

Ingredients

8 oz DF cream cheese, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 can (15 oz) Libby’s pumpkin (other brands actually give the dip a different consistency)
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Directions

Blend cream cheese and sugar until smooth in a mixer or food processor.

Add remaining ingredients. Mix or blend thoroughly.

Chill 30 minutes or until ready to serve. Serve with gingersnaps, apples, or pears.

Gluten Free Beer Bread

Needing one last appetizer for an upcoming party at the Eid's, Kristen and I pondered whether I could make a successful loaf of GF beer bread. The consensus was, we would never know unless I tried. I originally got hooked on Beer Bread from the Tastefully Simple parties that I had been to in years past. A few months ago, without a box of Tastefully Simple on hand, I googled the recipe and found out that it is not only very easy, but also much cheaper to make your own loaf of beer bread. I loaded the recipe, Beer Bread I, from Allrecipes.com and started making my notes for tweaking the recipe to fit our diet restrictions. The original recipe calls for self-rising flour. Because our GF flour is not self rising I did some research and found that it is also very easy, requiring only 2 ingredients, to make our flour self-rising.

Ingredients
3 cups GF Flour
1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 Tablespoons white sugar
1 (12 oz) can or bottle of Gluten Free beer. I used RedBridge
2 Tablespoons Earth Balance, melted
1 teaspoon garlic salt

Directions
In a large bowl whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together. Add the sugar, whisking again. Slowly add the beer and stir together until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Pour into a greased 9 X 5 loaf pan and let rest for 30 minutes. After resting, bake for 50-60 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Half way through the baking time pour the melted butter and garlic salt over the top of the bread and continue baking until a knife placed in the middle of the loaf comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack.

The loaf tasted delicious it was very moist and not a bit grainy. The butter on top was a great crunchy finish to the bread. However, it looked a lot different than the orignal beer bread. It did not have the vibrant golden color when it was finished. I forgot to post a picture of the loaf before I cut it up into chunks to be served. Halfway through the night I realized and took a picture of what hadn't yet been devoured.