"Everything-free" Currant, Orange & Honey Scones

I just made these for the first time last night and I like them so much that I want to share the recipe right away. Why wait? Scones now! :-)

"Everything-free" Currant, Orange and Honey Scones
vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, egg-free, nightshade-free 
(nut-free if you use a different milk)
Makes 8-10 scones

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit
Line baking sheet with parchment paper

Combine:
1/2 cup coconut milk (or other alternative milk of your choice)
     I use SoDelicious Unsweetened Original or Silk Unsweet coconut milk
2 Tablespoons lemon juice

In a mixing bowl, combine:
2 cups gluten-free flour 
      I use 1 cup millet flour & 1 cup arrowroot or tapioca starch
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder  
      (a full tablespoon is just a little too much- gives them a bitter edge) 
       I use Rumford's aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon salt
     I usually use pink Himalayan salt

Whisk dry ingredients together well.

Add, and cut in well with pastry blender:
1/2 cup Spectrum palm kernel oil shortening (or butter alternative of your choice)

Make a well in the center and add soured coconut milk, along with:
3 Tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons dried currants 
      (I've found these in both the bulk section and pre-packaged with the dried fruits)
2 teaspoons melted buttery-flavored coconut oil
     Important for flavor and texture
Zest of one orange     
     My orange was large, so this equaled about 1 Tablespoon. 
     I use a micro-plane grater for zesting.

Mix wet ingredients into dry with a fork.
When about halfway combined, add:
2 Tablespoons dried currants
Mix well.

Turn dough out onto a lightly (gluten-free) floured surface. Fold/knead very gently just a few times, to combine the dough well, then pat out into a rough circle, about 1" thick. I use a 2 1/4" biscuit cutter, with a nice, sharp cutting edge. A dull cutter will mash the edges, and inhibit the rise. Dip the cutter into a bit of gluten-free flour between cuts. Arrange on the parchment-lined baking sheet with about an inch of space between the scones. Let rest for five to ten minutes before baking.

Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for 15-20 minutes, until bottoms are lightly golden and centers are cooked. Remove from pan and set on a cooling rack. If left on the pan, the bottoms will continue to brown.

**Leftover gluten-free baked goods are usually better if they're warmed up slightly. I warm a single muffin, scone or biscuit for 9 or 10 seconds in the microwave. When they're slightly warm, they are much softer and have a more enjoyable texture.

Store in an airtight container and eat within a few days. They will also freeze well.


*We live in an RV/travel trailer, so my baking is done in a small (15" square) gas oven. The time and temperature may vary, depending on your oven size and type. I use an Air-Bake baking sheet, to prevent over-browning of the bottoms. The oven is so small, and the rack so close to the heat, that things burn more easily than in a standard oven.



  

"Everything-free" Waffles!!! no wheat, no dairy, no eggs, no soy ~ just waffle-y goodness!

Waffles are a thing of beauty. <3

In the nearly eight years since learning I needed to give up wheat and eggs, I had not had a really good waffle. For several years, I have used a gluten-free baking mix to make waffles. They were pretty good, but not really good. "Good enough" is often what we settle for, in the world of food intolerances. Sometimes, I really want more than just good enough.

Last weekend, I started thinking about yeasted Belgian waffles. I did some research and cobbled together several recipes into something that I thought might work. I mixed up the batter and let it rise overnight. Here's what it looked like next morning:

So bubbly and alive! :)

I cooked up the yeasted waffles, and they got mixed reviews. Our daughter Anna and her sweetie Zach were here, and thought they were pretty good. My hubby Lee didn't care for them so much. The yeast flavor is very strong, almost like a strong sourdough flavor. I won't make them for my hubby again, BUT next time I'm visiting my sweet mama and she makes her amazing sourdough pancakes for people, I will definitely mix up some of this batter for myself! :)

That experiment launched me on a Week of Waffles!

The next morning, I worked out a regular baking-powder recipe for, as we call things, "everything-free" waffles. They were good! :)

Granted, it has been a long time since I ate a "real" waffle, but these made me pretty happy. Gluten-free things tend to be more hard/crunchy than crisp, but after a few minutes they did soften more toward a crisp texture. Outer crunch, soft and moist inside- yum!

In less than a week, I have made waffles four times. First, the yeast-raised batch, then variations on the baking-powder idea. I tried one using a can of full-fat coconut milk (pretty good), one with coconut milk beverage (the one I liked best), one using flaxmeal to replace the egg (more hearty, less even texture)...oh! I guess I've made them five times! This morning, I one made more batch, to re-test the version I liked best. :)

This post will have the baking powder recipe. I'll make a separate post about making flax gel for egg replacement, so it's easier to find, and another day I'll share the yeasted waffle recipe. Because I used (coconut) milk soured with an acid (lemon juice), these are more like a buttermilk recipe, so that's what I'll call them.

"Buttermilk" Waffles
In a large, square Belgian waffle maker, this makes 2 complete waffles, or 8 squares.
The recipe should double well; just don't quite double the salt. 

To:
1 cup alternative milk (I use Coconut Dream unsweetened original shelf-stable "milk")
add:
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
     (I've been using the kind from a bottle. If I wanted to make actual lemon waffles, I would go for
      fresh lemon juice, use more of it, and add some zest. With this amount of juice, the waffles don't
       taste of lemon to me, at all.)

Let the milk sit and "sour" while your mix up the rest of the ingredients.

Dry ingredients:
1 cup millet flour
1 cup tapioca starch
1 Tablespoon coconut flour
     (I feel this cuts down on the gummy feeling you can get with tapioca starch)
2 Tablespoons sugar (I've been using coconut sugar)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
    (I've been taught that any time you use soured milk, you should add a little baking soda to work with it)

Whisk the dry ingredients together well.

Wet ingredients:
 1/3 cup oil (I've been using a light avocado oil. Any neutral oil will do.)
3 Tablespoons flax-gel egg replacer *I'll post separately about this

Whisk together the oil and flax gel, then combine with the soured milk.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk together well, until completely combined and smooth. With wheat flour, you'd have to be more cautious in mixing so the batter wouldn't be tough. Gluten-free flours are not so finicky.

Allow the batter to rest while you heat the waffle iron.

When the waffle iron is ready, spray the top and bottom surfaces with baking spray (or oil them, using a natural-bristle pastry brush). Plastic bristles melt. (voice of experience) I have had numerous struggles with gluten-free things sticking to hot surfaces. I oil before every batch, to save on frustration.

I use a large scoop to portion out the batter. (Ice cream scoop/dough scoop. It's the in the picture of the yeasted batter. I think it holds about 1/2 cup. I put one scoop on each square of the waffle iron.

Let the waffle bake, without peeking. If you try to lift the lid too soon, you'll tear the waffle to bits. (Learned from impatient experience!) :)

Most waffle makers have a light that turns on or off, to let you know when it's ready. Another way to tell is by watching how much steam is coming out. If large amounts of steam are still pouring out, leave it alone. When the steam gets noticeably less, it's time to start checking.

If you pull these out when they're too pale a gold, they'll have soggy bits. Leave them until they're a nice, solid golden brown color.

Any that we're not eating right away, we put on a cooling rack so they don't get soggy. They reheat well in a toaster. They would freeze well, too.

Enjoy!

Cinnamon Bit Fry-cakes

Really, these are pancakes, but "fry-cakes" is just such a fun word that I had to use it. ;)

Usually, I cook pancakes on our electric griddle, but yesterday I just didn't feel like clearing the space and hauling it out. I fried these up in a ceramic-lined non-stick skillet...and they were so good! <3
Funny that when I cook them on a griddle, they're "pan" cakes, but cooked in a pan, they have other names. Some people call them hotcakes or flapjacks. Because they had that delectable crunch from being fried in oil, "fry-cakes" just fit the best.

The cinnamon bits that I use are from the King Arthur Flour website. There are cinnamon chips available in some grocery stores, but I don't like them. To me, those just taste like Red-Hots candy; all heat and no real cinnamon flavor. They also usually contain trace amounts of dairy. The bits from King Arthur melt into pockets of delicious real cinnamon goodness when they bake, and they are now dairy-free! :)

Here's the link, in case you want to check them out:

 https://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/cinnamon-sweet-bits

They also have these delicious things that they call "jammy bits," which are little gummy nuggets of fruit puree. When they're baked, they really do seem like little bits of real fruit jam. So good! :)

 https://search.kingarthurflour.com/search?p=Q&view=grid&deftab=products&w=jammy+bits

Okay, now to the recipe...

This is a work in progress, like all my recipes, but especially so since I just made them for the first time yesterday. They were so good, though, that I wanted to share them right away.

Cinnamon Bit Fry-Cakes
Makes about 12 - four inch cakes
Dry ingredients:
1 cup millet flour
1 cup tapioca starch
1 Tablespoon baking powder (I may try a little less, next time)
1 Tablespoon coconut sugar (other sugars would work fine; this is what I used and it was good)
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Wet ingredients:
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup oil (I used a mild avocado oil; any mild neutral oil will do)
2 teaspoons melted coconut oil
3/4 cup alternative milk (I use unsweetened original-flavor Coconut Dream coconut milk)

Add-in:
2 Tablespoons cinnamon bits from King Arthur Flour Company  

Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, combine the wet ingredients. Add them to the dry ingredients and mix well. Stir in the cinnamon bits, then let the batter rest while you heat your skillet.

I used a ceramic-lined non-stick skillet. On our (glass-top) stove, I set the burner to medium at first, but turned it down about halfway through the batch.

Pour about two tablespoons of oil into your pan and heat on medium (or a little below medium) heat. To check if the pan is ready, drop a little bit of the batter into the oil. If the oil bubbles and sizzles around the edges, it's ready. Drop batter into heated pan carefully- about 1/4 cup batter per pancake. Flatten/spread slightly. Let them cook until the edges look set and the bottom is a nice golden brown. Flip and cook the other side, until it is also nicely browned and the cakes are cooked through. Add a little more oil to the pan for each batch. If the fry-cakes are getting too brown before the middle is cooked, lower the heat. If they take a super long time to brown, raise the heat.

With the "juiciness" from being fried in oil, I did not feel a need to butter these, but my husband liked them better buttered. Also, they were sweet enough that I did not want any syrup on them.

The cakes came out about 3 1/2-4 inches in diameter, and I ended up with about twelve cakes.

My mind is popping with other ideas, such as adding bits of walnut to these. Can't wait!

If you try them, please leave a comment and let me know how they turned out for you. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Cinnamon Orange Walnut Pinwheel Biscuits

Like all of my recipes, these are a work in progress. Instead of waiting until I have them perfect (which may never happen) I'm sharing with you now, so you can enjoy them, too. :) I love these little bits of biscuity goodness! With my limited diet, it's especially nice to have a tasty treat now and then.

Cinnamon Orange Walnut Pinwheel Biscuits
Makes about a dozen biscuits ~ number varies, depending on how you assemble and cut them

-ahead of time, set out some butter-alternative to soften for the filling

~Preheat oven to 400 degrees
-line your baking sheet with parchment paper (not essential, but helpful)

Dry ingredients:
1 cup millet flour
1 cup tapioca starch
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
~ whisk all dry ingredients until well mixed

Add:
1/2 cup fat of your choice (1 stick, if using "butter-style" margarine)
     I've been using Earth Balance Soy-free sticks, which have worked well. Having recently
     remembered that this has pea protein (which my body does not like), I am pondering what to use
     to replace it. For now, I'm sharing this recipe as-is. Once I have a solution, I'll add updates.
1 Tablespoon Spectrum palm-kernel oil shortening- gives a more "buttery" feel to the biscuits

It's important to have the fat cold, for biscuits. I take the Earth Balance straight from the fridge, cut it into chunks, then work the chunks into the dry ingredients with my hands. A pastry blender also works well. I've been using the Spectrum at room temperature, which has been working fairly well. It gets a little too hard if kept in the fridge.

~Work both fats into the dry ingredients. It's okay if there are still some smallish lumps of fat. It does not have to be a perfectly even texture.

Liquid:
two options:
1 cup plain vegan yogurt (I use SoDelicious coconut yogurt)
-or-
3/4 cup alternative milk (or a little more, if the dough is too dry)
   I used Coconut Dream unsweetened original coconut milk

Whichever you choose, use a fork to stir the liquid into the dry ingredients, just until combined.
Turn the dough out onto a cutting board or counter that has been dusted with more of the millet flour-tapioca starch blend. Knead the dough together lightly and pat it out into a rough rectangle. Roll it gently until it is about 1/4" -3/8" thick, in a rectangle of about 9x12 inches.

Filling:
about 2 Tablespoons butter alternative, soft
     I use Earth Balance soy-free stick margarine
cinnamon (maybe about a teaspoon~ adjust to your personal preference)
zest of 1 small orange
     I use a small microplane grater to zest citrus, and it works very well
1/2 cup chopped or ground walnuts
    I use my Pampered Chef nut grinder, on the coarse setting. You want these to be fairly small
     pieces, as the dough is thin and fairly delicate

Gently spread the softened "butter" over the dough. Sprinkle with cinnamon, orange zest, and walnuts. Of course, a sprinkle of sugar would be delicious, but I am really trying to cut back on sugar. It tasted just fine to me without the added sugar. If you do choose to add sugar, they may burn more quickly on the bottom, so watch carefully as they bake.

Gently roll dough into a "log." Whether you roll lengthwise or crosswise is purely personal preference. If you start with the long side, you'll have smaller pinwheels, but more of them. If you start with the short side, you'll have pinwheels that are larger in diameter and have more spirals, but fewer in number.

Using a sharp knife or bench scraper, cut the dough into slices of about 1/2" to 3/4" thick. Of course, all the variables of dough thickness, generosity of filling, direction of rolling, and thickness of the slices will determine how many you end up with. Carefully transfer slices to the lined baking sheet.
Leave a little space between them on the baking sheet, so they have a better chance of cooking through. I like dough, but doughy middles are a little unappetizing.

Bake:
-at 400 degrees Fahrenheit, for about 20 minutes. I check mine at 15 minutes, just to be on the safe side. If your pinwheels are very petite, you might even check them at 12 minutes. They should be golden brown on the bottom, and cooked through the middle.

Transfer to a cooling rack, so the bottoms don't keep browning.

The first Friday Recipe...Grain-free Porridge

After doing research online, I put together elements of several different recipes to make something that I thought would work for me. Most use some form of almonds, which I can't eat, so I made it with hazelnut meal instead. This is what I tried this week, and I like it! Yay! :D

===================

Grain-Free Porridge
     (makes about 1 1/4 cups ~ One good serving, for me)
1/2 cup hazelnut meal
1/3 cup coconut shreds
1 Tablespoon flaxseed meal
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
pinch of salt
1 cup of alternative milk
(coconut oil~ see notes)
Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Heat the milk until it starts to steam. Pour it over the
porridge mix and stir well. Let it sit for several minutes, stir again, and enjoy! :)

===================

*The first time, I added about 1 teaspoon of coconut oil to the warm porridge, which was tasty
and added some good, healthy plant fats to my day.
*I tried adding a teaspoon of hemp hearts, which was also good. 
*I'm currently using sweetened shredded coconut as that's all I can get here. Once I have a chance to go out of town, where there are more options, I'll try it with unsweetened.
*I have tried it with both coconut and hemp milks, and liked it both ways.
     Coconut Dream unsweetened original shelf-stable coconut milk
     Pacific unsweetened vanilla hemp milk
*This would probably be good with fruit, like blueberries or chunks of apple or pear.
*If I were using apple or pear, I'd probably try a little ground ginger with it, too.
*My favorite cinnamon is Korintje cinnamon from Penzeys spice company: penzeys.com
     One way I help myself deal with my limits is by treating myself to a few special things.
     This cinnamon is one of them. :)  Good olives are another. :)
*Several recipes recommended the inclusion of coconut, to give it a "chew" similar to oats. I'm glad I followed their advice. It makes a good difference in the texture.
*This experiment has started me pondering on the subject of granola...maybe this porridge mix could lead to a granola that works for me! :)