Taking a break

Dear readers,
Thank you so much for stopping by.

Our family has experienced a great loss, so I will be taking a break from my
blog for a little while.

I hope to be back before long.

Thank you,
   ~ Kristie

"Everything-free" Cherry & Almond Muffins

My husband said that these are his favorite of my bakes, so far. I am happy with how they've been turning out, too, so I thought it was time to share the recipe with you. :)

I use sweet cherries, as I am not a fan of sour. The first time I made these, I used sweet Bing cherries. I pitted and chopped them, then spread them out on a baking sheet and froze them. That way, when I mixed them into the muffin batter, the cherry juice did not immediately turn the batter purple. It worked well, but it was time-consuming and the muffins took much longer to bake. I've made them again since then, using Bing cherries, but skipping the freezer and just putting the chopped cherries straight into the batter. This also worked well. They still looked fine and tasted good.

This time around, I used Rainier cherries. It feels extravagant to me to use these in baking, but there is a reason. :) I usually only buy Rainier cherries once or twice a year. They are only available for a short time during the summer, and they are far more expensive than our standard sweet Bing cherries. Rainier cherries are just delicious, so I look forward to their advent every summer.

When I saw them in our local grocery store for only 3.99 a pound, instead of eight or nine dollars a pound, I was happily surprised. I bought some, of course, and was excited to have them for a snack. I washed a small bowlful and sat down to savor this perfect summer treat. Imagine my disappointment when I bit into the first one and found it to be flavorless and sour! I ate them anyway, as I was very hungry and they were food, even if they did not taste good. What a let-down!

I don't like to waste food, but I did not want to eat any more of those Sour Cherries of Disappointment, so I decided to put them in muffins.

I made two batches of muffins this morning, as our daughter Heather and I are taking a little road trip. (We're going over to Idaho, to visit my husband's mom.) Given my food limitations (and hers) we travel with our own food for most meals.

Usually, I simply pit the cherries, chop them up, and stir them into the batter. Given how sour these are, I macerated them first- chopped them, added sugar, and let them sit. This draws out the juices, and will hopefully temper their sourness in the muffins.

I have a handy little gadget for pitting cherries. Recently, I have used it for removing the pits from Castelveltrano olives. It worked well for that, but it seems to have messed up the alignment of the pitting gadget. It still works pretty well, and makes it much faster to remove the pits (stones) from fresh cherries.

"Everything-free" Cherry & Almond Muffins
Gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, soy-free, nightshade-free
Makes 12 regular-sized muffins
Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit ~ 18-22 minutes

Dry ingredients:
1 cup millet flour
1 cup tapioca starch
1 Tablespoon flax meal
     see my post on May 4, 2018-Replacing Eggs: Flax Gel and Flaxmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon coconut flour
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon salt

Wet ingredients:
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/3 cup light agave nectar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
         I use organic granulated sugar- it has more the taste and texture of raw sugar, which I like.
1/3 cup oil (I currently use a light avocado oil, or grapeseed oil)
2 teaspoons melted coconut oil
         see my post on March 3, 2018-  Replacing Eggs In Baking
2 teaspoons almond extract
         I can't tolerate almonds themselves, but so far, the extract does not seem to bother me.

Add-in:
1 cup sweet cherries, washed, stems removed, pitted and chopped
(as mine were sour, after chopping I added 1/4 cup sugar and let them sit while I mixed up the batter)
 *1/4 cup was a little much. If doing this again, I'd only use 2 Tablespoons sugar.

~ a little more granulated sugar to sprinkle on top of the muffins

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tins with paper baking cups.
(I prefer the If You Care brand of unbleached baking cups. They're supposed to be a more healthy option, but my favorite thing about them is that they peel off of the muffins easily.)

Combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the wet ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir to combine. When the wet and dry are about halfway mixed, add the cherries. Fold the cherries in until the batter is just mixed.

Spoon or scoop the batter into the prepared tin. I like to use a cookie/ice-cream scoop. The one I use holds about two tablespoons of batter. Sprinkle the tops with a little bit of granulated sugar. This helps avoid the sticky tops that gluten-free muffins can have, after they are baked.

Bake for 18 minutes, then check by gently pressing on the top of a muffin. If it squishes, they need more time. If it gives a little, but does not stay dented, they should be done.

Turn the muffins out onto a rack to cool. Remember that fruit like cherries or blueberries holds heat for a long time, so do let them cool a few minutes before eating. I have burned my mouth from being too impatient for fruit muffins. :)

Enjoy!

If you make these, I'd love to hear how they turn out for you.

P.S. One of my pet peeves is having to scroll past forty thousand photos of the same thing, to get to the actual recipe on a blog.  Because of this, I usually only include one photo of my finished product. Today, though, I felt like doing more, as the cherries were so pretty, and I wanted to show the process and tools that I use. I hope you enjoyed baking with me. :)
        

"Everything-free" Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Sugar Glaze (gluten-free, vegan)

I love lemon-flavored things. They represent all the sweetness and sunshine of summer, to me. I needed a dessert to take to a church potluck last week, and decided to make these. They turned out well, and got good reviews.

Rather than full-sized cupcakes, I made mini cupcakes for the potluck. A box of gluten-free cake mix only makes one cake layer, or one dozen cupcakes. I wanted to spread the joy a little more evenly, without using a second mix, and I decided that a whole plate of mini cupcakes was the answer. They were very cute and looked most tempting. :)

One of these days, I hope to be able to make really good, from-scratch cupcakes. Until then, I am happy with the results I get from the Betty Crocker gluten-free cake mixes.

Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Sugar Glaze
gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, soy-free

Makes 12 cupcakes, or 24 mini-cupcakes + one shallow cake layer
Heat oven: 325 degrees Fahrenheit for dark or non-stick pans, 350 for shiny pans
 Line cupcake tin with baking cups, line bottom of cake pan with parchment paper

Cake
Dry ingredients:
1 box Betty Crocker gluten-free yellow cake mix
    *contains potato and rice ingredients

Fat and wet ingredients:
1 stick (1/2 cup) Earth Balance soy-free butter substitute
2/3 cup water
1/2 cup flax gel (egg replacer)
    see my post on May 4, 2018-Replacing Eggs: Flax Gel and Flaxmeal 
1 Tablespoon melted coconut oil (also egg replacer)
     see my post on March 3, 2018-  Replacing Eggs In Baking
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon zest (zest of one large lemon)
2 teaspoons lemon extract
     (I used extract, as using fresh lemon juice does weird things to the texture)
(optional: 1 teaspoon vanilla)
    ( I used vanilla powder, which does not darken the batter the way vanilla extract does.)

Glaze 
when cakes are completely cooled
1 cup powdered sugar (confectioner's sugar)
2 tsp- 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice

 The directions on the box mix say to use the "all-in-one" method of mixing the batter- dumping everything in at once. I have tried it this way, and adding the fat first, then the liquids. I don't see a big difference either way, so I do what the box says. :) Continue beating until the batter is nice and smooth, about one or two minutes, usually. Do not over-mix, as this will result in dry, crumbly cupcakes.

I like to use an ice-cream/cookie dough scoop for putting the batter in the cupcake tin. This is neater than using a spoon, and makes it easier to get equal amounts of batter in each cup.

Bake: 
In pre-heated oven, the mini cupcakes took 12 minutes, at 325 degrees;
       the shallow 8" cake layer took 15 minutes.

After removing from the oven, let sit for just a couple of minutes in the pan, then remove and set on a cooling rack. Let them cool completely before glazing.

Glazing:
Once cupcakes are completely cooled, make the glaze. Put something (like a plate, or a sheet of parchment paper) under the cooling rack, to catch any drips or spills. Spoon a little bit of glaze onto each cupcake or cake and spread just to the edges. This glaze recipe made enough that I was able to add a second coating of glaze to all of the cupcakes. Let set until glaze is no longer wet.

Enjoy! :)

 

"Everything-Free" Lemon Blueberry Muffins

For a while now, I've been tinkering with my muffin recipes. Since realizing that the butter-substitute that I've used is causing me some problems, I've had to reconsider my whole approach to making muffins. Switching to oil, rather than a solid fat, requires an entirely different balance of ingredients. The first few attempts were tasty, but came out with deep dips in the middles. I soldiered on, trying for the right balance of delicacy and strength.

The batch that I made this morning turned out pretty well, so I thought I'd share it with you all.

These are sturdy enough to not sink in the middle, but still tender and moist. The flavor is good, and the balance of sweetness, to the tartness of the lemon, is about right.

"Everything-free" Lemon Blueberry Muffins
gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, soy-free, nightshade-free
 
Makes 12 standard-sized muffins
Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 18-20 minutes 
 
Dry ingredients:
1 cup millet flour
1 cup tapioca starch
1 Tablespoon flaxmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
   *if you are corn-sensitive, there are recipes online for corn-free substitutes for baking powder.
     I have done this at times, as our daughter is sensitive to corn, and it seemed to work fine.
1 teaspoon coconut flour
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
     *xanthan gum can be derived from corn. If you are corn-sensitive, it may be safer to use guar gum.
1/2 teaspoon salt

Wet ingredients:
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/3 cup light agave nectar (or other liquid sweetener)
1/3 cup sugar
     (I use organic granulated, which is similar to turbinado or raw sugar. I like the flavor it gives)
1/4 cup neutral oil (I used grapeseed oil)
2 teaspoons liquid coconut oil
2-3 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Zest of one lemon
        Lemons vary wildly in size, which could give greatly different results. Next time, I'll measure
        so I know just how much I use. I would guess that I used about 2 teaspoons of zest this time.

        These were quite lemony, almost on the edge of being too tart for me. Next time, I think I'll use
        slightly less zest, and see if that gives a little better balance.

Add-in:
1 cup blueberries (I used frozen)

Topping:
A bit of granulated sugar 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a muffin tin with baking cups (I grew up calling them cupcake papers or muffin cups) . I like using the "If You Care" brand of unbleached baking cups, because it seems a healthier choice, but also because the muffins release from the cups so neatly.


Whisk together dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together wet ingredients, add to dry ingredients and begin to stir together. Add in blueberries, and stir until just barely combined. Scoop or spoon into prepared muffin tin. I use a cookie/ice-cream scoop that holds about 2 Tablespoons of batter. This makes the scooping part quicker and less messy.

Sprinkle the top of each muffin with a pinch of sugar. Gluten-free muffins can develop a gooey, sticky top once they cool. The little sprinkle of sugar helps to prevent this.

Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes, until the top of a muffin no longer squishes when gently pressed.

Remove from the pan and let sit on a cooling rack for a few minutes. Blueberries hold heat very efficiently. I have burned my mouth more than once from diving into a fresh blueberry muffin too quickly. :) If you leave them in the baking pan, the bottoms and sides keep baking, becoming dark and leathery. Dark and leathery are words that do not fit the sweet delightfulness of muffins. :) 

Enjoy!



 

Tuna Salad My Way :)

Fish and I are not friends. I have a hard time gearing up to eat fish.  It was not always this way. I grew up in a family that loved to go fishing and I enjoyed fish pretty well. My favorite was when we went back-packing in our favorite wilderness area. Eating wild fish Whitefish, Brown Trout, Rainbow Trout or Dolly Varden, caught from clean water, cooked over an alder wood fire.....that was tasty! The change came in my early twenties. It all started when I was pregnant with our second child. The fish department at the store where I did our grocery shopping smelled very bad, every time I was there. I think that the heightened sense of smell during pregnancy did not help the situation. Ever since then, I just can't stand most fish.

I've been trying, actually, because fish is so good for us. I can do salmon once in a while. I can handle albacore tuna, also once in a while. I used to enjoy fish-and-chips, but I can't eat it anymore. Sad. You could take just about anything, dip it in batter and deep-fry it, and I would be a happy camper. :) I miss all of the so-unhealthy, greasy and delicious fried foods! My body is probably grateful that I can't eat like that anymore! ;)

The only fish that I actually like is Orange Roughy. This, of course, is hard to find. They have been over-fished, so the harvest is restricted. I'm not complaining. I'm glad they're trying to preserve the population and not let it get wiped out!

So, all of that being said, when I find a way that I can enjoy fish, it is cause for celebration. This salad works for me. I have it about once every couple of weeks. Today was actually the first time that I added cabbage to it, and I liked it a lot. It was nice to have the crunch of the cabbage, in counterpoint to all the softer things. :)


Tuna Salad My Way
1 cup chopped cabbage
            (I had purple cabbage on hand, so I used that. I liked the color contrast)
5 ounces good albacore tuna, drained and broken up into chunks
1/3 cup sliced olives
      I sometimes add a few "fancy" olives, such as Kalamata or Castelveltrano, for added flavor
1 ripe avocado, peeled and cubed
1 - 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 - 2 teaspoons lime juice
         (I love lime. You can, of course, substitute lemon juice or a vinegar that you like)
1/4 teaspoon salt

~as I was enjoying my lunch, I thought that some shredded carrot would probably be good in this. It would boost the nutrients, and add another pretty color. For those who can eat them, some green onions would probably be good. Or chopped celery or cucumber. :)  Or diced bell pepper. The possibilities are many. :)