10 Vegetarian Christmas Recipes

Here are a hand-picked few of my favorite gluten-free vegetarian recipes.

Winter Solstice has blessed us with a turning point. Daylight now grows longer inch by inch. Or is that minute by wintry minute? In spirit, I suspect, it is both. Christmas is almost here, and the season celebrating rebirth, light, and sliding into credit card debt is in full swing. Carolers are caroling. Gift wrappers are gift wrapping. Egg noggers are nogging. The shiny New Year crouches right around the corner.

And recipes are flooding my in-box for... ham. Roast beef. Rack of lamb. Wait a duck fat glistening minute, here.

Where are the vegetarian Christmas recipes?

I can't be the only person not forking a slab of meat on Christmas day. I can't be the single solitary soul who doesn't treasure bacon fat like it's a princess tiara. I'm not alone in my imaginings of a fresh and lively meatless Christmas dinner--- am I?

Okay. Okay. I get it. I honestly do. I realize I'm in the minority here. That to most folks celebrating the winter holidays in all their myriad and nuanced diversity, meat is the centerpiece of celebration. I acknowledge that. I even accept that. Just because I've been a vegetarian 78% of my life doesn't mean I bury my head in the sand of denial. I cope. I deal.

I go with the flow.

But just so you know? The UN thinks vegetarianism is not only a cool idea, it may be necessary to save the planet. So here's ten of my favorite vegetarian and vegan recipes for Christmas. With love.


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Gluten-Free Pumpkin Crumb Cake

A light, pumpkin coffee cake for your holiday brunch.

Cinnamon Pumpkin Coffee Cake

The Winter Solstice will be here soon. The holiday frenzy of gift buying and light stringing and cookie making is officially upon us. Everywhere I cast my gaze I am pummeled with messages. SHOP! BAKE! SPARKLE!

And that's okay.

Because I understand the hoopla. I know where this urge comes from. The itch to make a ruckus in the dark. To sing, brave and clear, cupping our tiny flames against Midwinter's long night.

The California sun hangs soft and low in the sky, as pale as ice cream. Hours feel clipped. Afternoons are shorter and shorter. Night creeps ever closer. Darkness will soon reign over light.

But only for a moment. One single, solitary, longest night of the year.

No wonder we gather to celebrate. The rebirth of light is no small thing. And a brand new year awaits. Front loaded with promise, and changes hoped for.

I had hoped to finally conquer gluten-free sugar cookies. But after tasting more than one middling batch (I also have to bake without butter, remember) I became more interested in reading a new book than wrestling with sugar cookie dough. Yes, I miss rolling out sugar cookies. And yes, I would be (more than!) thrilled to sign on here today and boast about the best gluten-free sugar cookie ever. But. It's not gonna happen. This week anyway.

I had two sad, cracked (and complaining) teeth yanked this week. (Celiac disease is not kind to teeth and bones. My childhood was riddled with amalgam and the torture inducing whine of belt-driven drills, cementing a lifelong terror of dentists.)

So that gave me the perfect excuse to nap. And read in bed.

I am reading Carolyn G. Heilbrun- The Last Gift of Time. I read a chapter on memory- and the seduction of nostalgia (a favorite subject of mine, you may remember). And I read this...

"Every time those of us in our last decades allow a memory to occur, we forget to look at what is in front of us, at the new ideas and pleasures we might, if firmly in the present, encounter and enjoy."

Carolyn (in her seventies when she wrote this book) urges us to stay present in the here and now as we age, and not drift into the mental trap of nostalgia and memories. I wholeheartedly agree. I love learning something new- every day- turning not to an assumption, a belief or a habit, but toward the thrill of a new skill, and new technologies (iphoneography is a new passion of mine- an art form in its infancy). Keeping myself open, engaged in the here and now means keeping things fresh. Letting go of the old, the stale past, the so-called good old days. Because as good as they were, they are not now. And as bad as some days may have been, today can be different.

Now is new.

And in this spirit, Steve and I baked a pumpkin crumb cake instead of recreating cookies. A new Christmas tradition, perhaps? Why not?

Cake for breakfast.

Sweet.


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Gluten-Free Goddess eBook

My new ebook- best loved recipes

[Now available on iTunes!]

My blog anniversary is just around the corner. Yep. Number six. And I am trying to wrap my little gluten-free brain around it. Six years. Six. That is a long time in blog years. (Maybe blog years are kinda like dog years? Every twelve months of blogging seems equal to seven human years. What I think I'm trying to say is that GFG feels... more grown up somehow. She's no longer a lurching toddler- or as Johnny Depp likes to phrase it, "tiny drunk"). The bumble-puppy years are over.

We're respectable now. (But hopefully not too serious.)

I  began blogging and sharing my recipes in late fall of 2005. There are over 400 original gluten-free recipes now on Gluten-Free Goddess. This astonishes me!

Looking over my recipe index this past summer I began to imagine the beginnings of a cookbook- a collection of recipe favorites from Gluten-Free Goddess. (In full transparency there have been cookbook offers, and some tempting projects pitched to me this year. But none seemed like the perfect fit. In fact, most felt like a tight shoe that pinched and chafed and left me preferring to go barefoot, taking my own meandering solo path, focusing on blogging, my first love.)

But then you know what happened. I got an iPad. And soon discovered the convenience and pleasure of bringing my entire blog into the kitchen with me. And that led to ebooks...
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Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pie Bread

Tender, delicious tea bread that tastes like pumpkin pie.

Pumpkin Bread That Tastes Like Pie

I'm feeling a tad, shall we say, under the weather, lately. Nothing serious. Just an autumnal cold that has knocked the stuffing out of me. I feel like a rag doll. An achy, cranky, ratty old rag doll with matted squirrelly hair and baggy sweatpants.

It ain't pretty is all I'm sayin'.

So forgive my delay in sharing the promised new pumpkin bars recipe. Soon, Babycakes. Soon.

In the meantime, here's an easy gluten-free pumpkin bread recipe- a lovely tea bread you can bake in a bread machine. Or in your oven, if you prefer.

As mentioned earlier the oven here in our temporary studio isn't exactly a cook's dream. So I was inspired by a reader who mentioned baking my banana muffin recipe as a banana bread in her bread machine (how brilliant is that?).

For my first excursion into bread machine tea bread baking, I converted my Big Banana Muffins recipe to a banana bread. And holy tap-dancing zombies- it worked! The trick (for a vegan egg-free bread, at least) is to use two teaspoons of baking powder. For those of you using eggs in your gluten-free baking, you may not need the extra oomph of a little more baking powder- but, please, as always, use your best judgment.

For this scrumptious pumpkin pie flavored pumpkin bread, I used a Breadman bread machine, but I don't see why any bread machine wouldn't work- as long as it has a rapid cycle and can accommodate a 2-lb loaf. Double check your manufacturer's instructions for baking an un-yeasted sweet bread.

Pumpkin pie bread.

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pie Bread Recipe

Originally published October 2009.

I kept tasting pumpkin pie with every bite of this moist and delicious tea bread, hence the name. I baked it in my Breadman bread machine but you could also bake it in a conventional oven. Just be sure it bakes long enough- I'm guessing, about 50 to 55 minutes up to an hour at 350ºF. This is a large loaf.

Ingredients:

Add to the bread machine:

1 cup packed organic light brown sugar

4 tablespoons pure maple syrup

1/4 cup light olive oil

1 tablespoon Ener-G Egg Replacer whisked with 1/4 cup warm water (or two large eggs, beaten)

1 tablespoon bourbon vanilla extract

1 cup pumpkin puree (canned pumpkin is fine)

1/4 teaspoon light tasting apple cider vinegar or lemon juice

1/2 cup GF buckwheat flour

1/4 cup GF millet flour

1/4 cup sorghum flour

1/2 cup tapioca starch or potato starch

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon xanthan gum

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon or gluten-free Pumpkin Pie Spice blend

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

As needed for liquid as it mixes:

Pure apricot or peach juice

Instructions:

Using the 2-pound setting with light or medium crust (not the dark setting or it may create a tough crust) program the bread machine for the Super Rapid setting.

As it begins to mix the ingredients, use a soft silicone spatula to scrape down the sides. After a minute or two of mixing check the consistency. If the batter is at all like my batter, it will be a bit thick and stiff. Add a tablespoon at a time of your favorite unsweetened pure apricot or peach juice until the batter becomes slightly thinner than muffin batter but thicker than cake batter. Not too thin, but not too thick. You'll know it when you see it. When you are happy with the consistency, close the lid and let the paddle beat the batter.

When it pauses to let the batter rest and rise, reach in and remove the paddle; smooth the top. Cover and let the rapid cycle do its thing (rest and bake the loaf).

When it beeps done reset the program to Bake. Set a timer and bake for an additional 10 minutes. It's a large loaf.

*(Now, if for some unknown reason your bread looks ready at this point, test it before you add on ten more minutes baking time; I'm at sea level now, so I imagine my baking times are in the normal range, but as we all know, humidity and temperature and ambient weirdness- not to mention, the fickle baking faeries- can affect gluten-free baking times.)

When the top is domed and the loaf is firm to the touch, and a wooden pick inserted into the center emerges clean, this is a good sign it's done. Using a pot holder, remove the bread pan from the machine and cool it on a wire rack for five minutes or so, until it's a tad cooler to handle.

Using a clean tea towel and a pot holder, grasp the pan and carefully tip it upside down to release the pumpkin bread onto the wire rack; set the loaf upright on the rack and continue to cool.

Although you'll be tempted to slice and eat it warm, wait if you can. This moist bread only gets better as it cools. In fact, I did an experiment.

Half the bread- we ate that day. It was tender and moist. The other half we wrapped in foil, bagged and froze. Although the fresh loaf was tasty, I thought the frozen and thawed half tasted even better, and had an improved (less fall-apart) texture.

Makes one generous loaf.

Karina's Gluten-Free Bread Tips:

If you'd rather bake this pumpkin bread in the oven, use a large loaf pan and  bake in a preheated 350ºF oven, for 50 to 55 minutes, until the top is firm but gives slightly to a gentle touch.

If your gluten-free baking is gummy in the middle, try cutting back on the amount of liquid- one tablespoon at a time. Your flours may be damp from humid weather (or from storing them in the refrigerator).

I also find that using too much agave or honey can create gumminess. When I develop a recipe with fruit puree (such as pumpkin or banana) I prefer to use a little less olive oil in the recipe, and no agave or honey. This improves the texture.

At sea level you need less honey or agave than you would need at dry higher altitudes; adjust the liquid-to-dry ratio to see what works best for you.

If your ingredients are cold, allow the batter to rest and come to room temperature.

Check your oven calibration; several readers have reported that their pre-heated ovens had not- in fact- reached baking temperature when they tested their ovens with an oven thermometer.

I'm now using less brown rice and brown rice flour, and eating fewer rice cakes, etc. Here's why- there is elevated arsenic in rice.

Enjoy sugary treats in moderation. Gluten-Free Goddess advises consuming no more than 2 tablespoons of sugar a day. 

Pumpkin Quinoa Cookies - For Breakfast?

Pumpkin cookies with quinoa flakes. Like oatmeal- but better.

Karina's Pumpkin Quinoa Cookies - For breakfast?

Dear Reader (yes, Babycakes, I'm talking to you)- you know how I feel about you, right? I'm crazy about you. I read your kind and thoughtful comments on Facebook. I am humbled by your generous,  warm and giving e-mails (I save them). 

Your feedback and support keeps me going and inspires me.

I started this whole crazy blogging adventure back in a village on Cape Cod famous for quaint. One of those slow paced leafy communities with whitewashed churches and a town grist mill. Salt weathered shingles and white picket fences and roses in June. You know, historic. Beachy. The magical stuff of regional painters and windswept poets prone to melancholy.

Then an empty nest ignited the urge for going and my husband and I moved west to the rural high desert of New Mexico where the cobalt beauty of an oceanic sky met the hot iron of isolation and a certain individual's proclivity toward brittle bones. My broken hip changed my body forever.

Four years later (relocated to Los Angeles) I am profoundly grateful to live by the ocean again. I am wrestling with new ideas and facing certain limitations (still waiting for Margaret Mead's promise of zest). Days are often a stew of conflicting realities, losses and gains stirred so close together they emulsify.

There are days I feel thirty and days I feel eighty. Sometimes in the same single moment. 

Forgive my habitual drift into philosophical territory here, but here's the thing. A growing, deepening awareness of how little we actually control has sparked my need to surrender. And shake loose some assumptions. Including the perception of Other (risking a messy and complicated expansion of the heart, the awareness of Yeah, I am that too). Which startles you with a sharp clean view of what is valuable and true. 

What is bare bones rock bottom important.

Important not in some airy-fairy New Agey or even dyed-in-the-wool religious way. I chafe inside any system and its man-made rules (key word: man-made). I'm old enough now to look back upon decades with an estrogen-free seasoned eye. I see the need behind belief. I see the old paradigm. I see why people judge and separate, critique and belittle. I see the reason why unruly concepts are snipped down to size and labeled and tucked safely into rehearsed little packages of fear whisked with a pinch of faith. The Ego rules. And the Ego loves conflict.

I also see the powerful few doling out platitudes to the millions who struggle with so much less. And we are not blameless, either, we who are so willing to consume what masquerades as inclusion when it is anything but.

So here's the thing.

Before I share my recipe today, before I conjure words about cookies and yummy flavors and how much vanilla to beat into the dough, allow me some food for thought, if you will.

We are all given moments of grace.

Far too many of these moments are missed, floating by the fuzzy edges of momentum, a stream of invisible assumptions. And needs. Life guarantees change, but really, what else? Opportunity (what are you going to do with what you've got?). Choice. Self explanatory, right? We cut a swath of choices every single day. Trivial choices (would you like whipped cream on that?). And loaded choices (some requiring nothing less than moral courage to execute). Each and every choice spins us off in a direction, a trajectory with consequences.

And what I am coming to realize, even cherish, now more than ever, is this. The choices boil down to a choice between love (connection) or fear (separation). So what will you choose today?

Think about it.

As for me?

I vote for love.

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Dark Chocolate Brownies- The Best Gluten-Free Recipe

Why bake a gluten-free brownie from scratch and not a mix?

Chocolate Brownie Love.

While baking mixes are perfectly acceptable in a pinch, and no doubt a boon to busy cooks on a gluten-free diet (well, honestly, who isn't busy these days, I ask you?), your taste buds will tell you why. In a heart beat, Darling.

A dark chocolate brownie made from scratch is deeply delicious and decadent. Impressive, even. Company worthy. Dare I say, date night worthy. I'm not kidding. This brownie recipe is swoon inducing.

You know what they say about chocolate.

But here's the best part. Throwing this recipe together takes only a few minutes longer than opening up a box. You can whip up these luscious gooey babies in a mere ten minutes. In less time than it takes you to scan your Pinterest feed. Or catch up on Facebook. Seriously.

So what is more rewarding? Watching kittens on YouTube or stirring together this rich, tender, dark chocolate brownie recipe, one of the most loved recipes here on Gluten-Free Goddess? 


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Gluten-Free Rice Crispy Treats

Gluten-free brown rice crispy treats, GFG style.

Crispy Rice Goodness

Sunday seems to stir up all kinds of sneaky devils and hungry ghosts in the guise of food nostalgia. I dreamed up my last post about Zucchini Gratin on a Sunday, stirring up a bread crumbed casserole of desire fraught with secret emotions and sticky attachments. Food as familial. Food evoking a warm embrace. Food as a way to connect our twenty-one grams of soul to this earth. The ground of being.

I think I know why I'm tip toeing in the garden of nostalgia lately.

My tribe is expanding.

The family my husband and I created when we held hands and promised I do through a veil of mutual tears is now plus one. I have a new daughter-in-law I regard with deep affection. She brings a fresh focus to our four-squared history. And I see us in a slightly altered light, looking at our shared quirks and wrinkles and dreams with renewed optimism. Our clan now feels stronger. Our humble, wacky tribe feels enriched.

And more than a tad sweeter.


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Almondy Almond Butter Cookies

Gluten-free almond butter cookies await.

Almondy Cookies

Rumor has it baking weather is just around the corner. Though you'd never know it by looking out the window here in Southern California. Texting skateboarders whip by in short shorts, bikini clad surfer girls are paddling out on their long boards, and jewel-studded flip-flops remain the shoe du jour. It feels more like July than September. It's hot.

And it feels good.

It was a coolish summer for those of us on the South Bay coast. June Gloom stuck around long past its expiration date. Until this week, in fact, I was walking my morning ritual loop in my thickest hooded sweatshirt, fingers tucked up inside the sleeves for warmth (what visitors to Los Angeles assume is smog is actually fog that hugs the coast, blanketing our beaches- and west side- with a fuzzy soft marine layer). It's lovely for baking. But chilly for fingers and toes.

So I bake. In UGGs.

And my latest experiment is cookies.

Just because.


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Gluten-Free Bread Machine Tips

Warm, gluten-free bread with sorghum flour, just baked.

Need to troubleshoot a gluten-free bread machine disaster? Here's a few key tips on baking gluten-free bread in a bread machine.

Match your g-free bread recipe or gluten-free bread mix to your bread machine (pan sizes vary). Are you baking a 1.5 pound loaf? Or a 2-pound loaf? Check manufacturer's instructions for loaf sizing. Often, "short" loaves are the result of not enough dough for the size of the pan.

Use a good recipe. Or a tasty gluten-free bread mix with superior ingredients (sorghum flour, brown rice flour, almond flour, millet, to name a few). Not all recipes and mixes are created equal. A bread based on white rice flour and potato starch is never going to be amazing. Honestly. Remember that starches are dirt cheap for manufacturers (hence their popularity). But they're also devoid of nutrition, texture and flavor. So choose wisely. Because the cheap stuff still sports a hefty price tag (the gluten-free market is booming, after all). So why not go for the higher protein, more flavorful gluten-free flours?

More tips:

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Spiralized Raw Zucchini Pasta in Curry Cream Sauce

Raw zucchini pasta- angel hair style, with a Joyce Chen spiralizer..

Spiralizer Yum

I'm not usually one to focus a recipe around a cooking gadget. Though heaven knows, I love me my kitchen power tools as much as any scratch cook out there. A gluten-free goddess has gotta have some fun, after all. And sometimes, to change things up, you need to break out of your routine and try something completely new. 

Which, not surprisingly, brings me to pasta.

I love pasta. Especially gluten-free pasta. But I don't love cranking up the gas stove to boil bulky pots of salted water when the kitchen is already steamy with late summer heat and I'm faint and famished (and did I mention, hot flashing like some cussing heaving alligator from the swamps of wherever it is they film True Blood. I may idly dream of gleaming white porcelain bowls heaped with creamy mounds of angel hair spaghetti kissed by a delicate white sauce, but I'm not inclined to heat up my kitchen just to satisfy this culinary craving.

I get prickly and sticky just thinking about it.

So I started investigating raw pasta. Which led me to discover a modest little kitchen tool that makes magic happen. A spiral slicer that turns August's ubiquitous zukes into tender strands of pasta. And not like, puny three inch strands. 

I'm talking long, lovely, curvy strands of angel hair spaghetti.

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Gluten-Free Breakfast Bars

Gluten-free breakfast bars with quinoa flakes.

A Tasty Gluten-Free Breakfast Bar

Tired of gnawing on gluten-free toast or slurping down a bowl of gluten-free cereal for breakfast? Me too. I'm in a rut. An almond butter on toast rut. And though I hate to complain (the simple truth is, I adore almond butter with the white hot passion of a thousand suns, so chowing down on it daily does not qualify as drudgery or sacrifice), I used to start my day a little sexier. I used to indulge in these rich and dense Quinoa Breakfast Bars or this orange infused Quinoa Breakfast Cake. Both are beyond delish.

But alas they contain sugar.

And me? I'm still on the sugar-free train. Life just tastes sweeter without added sugar (my taste buds have come alive going sugar-free). After two solid months of strictly all-sugars-free, my one make that two indulgences are an occasional nibble of dark chocolate. The darker the better. And a drizzle of pure maple syrup once in a blue moon, when the mood strikes me.

So I started thinking about a gluten-free breakfast treat using pure maple syrup as the sweetener. And I dreamed up these little beauties studded with dried cherries and yes, a few dark chocolate chips (which you are free to leave out if you prefer). The result is a light and delicately flavored cereal style breakfast bar with the triple proteins of quinoa, hazelnuts, and brown rice. No starches. No xanthan gum. No sugar. No dairy. But Darling, big on taste and texture- due to the pleasant chewiness of hazelnut meal and quinoa flakes.

I hope you like them.

I add dark chocolate chips to mine. Just sayin'.

Gluten-Free Breakfast Bars Recipe with Quinoa Flakes, Hazelnuts and Cherries

Recipe posted August 2011.

These delicately flavored breakfast bars have zero xanthan gum. Baking without xanthan gum makes the bars a bit more fragile- but for those of you shunning gums, the happy tummy pay off is worth it, right? Freezing the bars helps bind the texture. Served cold they are really quite tasty.

Ingredients:

1 cup brown rice flour
1 cup hazelnut flour, packed
1 cup Ancient Harvest Quinoa Flakes
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
3 organic free-range eggs or egg replacer
1/2 cup real maple syrup
1/4 cup organic coconut oil
1 teaspoon bourbon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
2-3 tablespoons almond milk, as needed
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/3 cup dark chocolate chips

Instructions:


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9x9-inch baking pan with parchment paper.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients- brown rice flour, hazelnut flour, quinoa flakes, baking powder, cinnamon, sea salt, and ginger.

Add in the eggs, maple syrup, coconut oil, vanilla and almond extracts, and beat to combine. The batter should be thickish, clumpy and sticky. Add in the almond milk one tablespoon at a time, until the batter becomes smooth.

Add in the dried cherries and dark chocolate chips. Stir to combine.

Spread the batter into the prepared baking pan and smooth the surface evenly. Place the pan into the center of a pre-heated oven and bake until golden and set - about 20 to 23 minutes until the top and the center are firm. Insert a thin knife to check if you are unsure to make certain the center has baked thoroughly.

Cool on a wire rack. Using a thin sharp knife, cut into squares; wrap them in foil; bag in a freezer storage bag. Freeze. Delicious warm from the oven, or slightly chilled. Great to keep on hand for on-the-go breakfast treats and snacks.

Cook time: 20 minutes

Yield: 15 bars

Recipe Source: glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com

All images & content are copyright protected, all rights reserved. Please do not use our images or content without prior permission. Thank you. 

Notes:

These maple sweetened cereal bars are gently sweet, and they are lovely with coffee or tea.

Instead of almond milk, any non-dairy milk will work. Use a vanilla flavored milk for a touch of extra flavor.

If you prefer using almond flour to hazelnut flour, go ahead Darling. It will work.

If you prefer, leave out the dark chocolate chips and add chopped walnuts instead.

Instead of dried cherries, dried blueberries or chopped dried apricots would be fab.

For egg free, an egg replacer such as Ener-G egg replacer works like a charm.

If xanthan gum is not an issue for you, feel free to add 1 teaspoon xanthan gum (or guar gum, as you prefer).

For nut-free, you'll need to experiment with your own whole grain high protein gluten-free flour mix.

Grilled Vegetable Pasta Salad

Fresh summer salad ingredients: basil, red and yellow tomatoes.

Summer Love

We have a wedding to go to. And not just any wedding. My first born son's wedding. I am mother of the groom. For the first time. Twenty-nine summers ago I cradled this soulful, musical being with new mother innocence and awe, lost in the ocean of this newborn's eyes, starting a journey called motherhood with few tools beyond my willing heart and a deep rooted conviction that I would create for him a childhood unlike my own.

And in many ways I did. I listened with curiosity. I valued his opinion. I gave him paper and paint and books and music. I gave him the time and space and respect to create. We hung together as true companions.

He was always good company.

And still is.

He inspires me daily. We connect through Instagram and iChat. He lives his life as an artist. Creatively. He improvises and honors his intuition. He composes music. Takes killer iphone photographs.

And he cooks.

In fact, he inspired this recipe.

Because he loves to grill vegetables.

His lovely bride is a vegetarian.

So the next time I cook for them- as husband and wife- I think I'll make this vegan pasta salad with smoky grilled vegetables.

Tomorrow we are off to New Hampshire for the wedding. We are staying in the picturesque town of Portsmouth. See you next week! I'll be posting as a newly minted mother-in-law.

I like the sound of that.


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Gluten-Free Cherry Almond Muffins

Whole grain, gluten-free, dairy-free... and luscious.

Cherry Cherry Bo Berry

It hit me today as I was walking my morning walk. I've been sugar-free for two months (I even looked it up, just be sure). Eight weeks without sugar. Eight! Ocho. Huit. Osiem. The first week was the toughest. Sugar detox is not for wimps, darling.

First, there is the headache. The roughshod gallop pummeling the interior of your tender, childlike skull, leaving you feeling cracked, and squinting, dodging sunlight like the unholy spawn of Dracula, begging for mercy.

Or at least a tiny, hummingbird nibble of chocolate.

Then there is The Craving. The Craving outlasts the headache (which finally bids you vaya con Dios at the end of day four). The Craving lasts for a week. Maybe two. Or three, now that I think of it. I'm not exactly sure. I stopped counting the days when it all became one big itchy wall-climbing pantry-rifling prowl for something to fill the hole. The hole that is one big long gnawing hunger for something sweet.

Then one blue-sky day I tasted almond butter right out of the jar.

And it knocked my fuzzy pink socks off.

Almond butter! Incredibly sweet and creamy. It tasted like dessert.

And I knew I was home free.

My taste buds had changed. And everything from bananas to cherry tomatoes tasted intensely, deliciously new.

Like candy.

So if you are tempted to try a sugar detox, I am here to encourage you. I did it. I survived. And I even lost a few pounds (I also gave up white starches, like white rice, tapioca starch, and white potatoes). Tenacious Doris is eight pounds lighter. And more importantly, my disagreeable tummy has settled into a more friendly relationship with yours truly.

Sugar Detox Tips: Fats can save your butt, honey. When giving up white starches and sugar, healthy fats can rescue you from intense cravings and general, no good, low sugar feebleness. Whenever I felt hungry and shaky I ate a handful of almonds or pecans, or dabbed almond butter on banana slices. I munched on olives. Avocado spritzed with lime juice was a rich and silky treat. I hard-boiled organic free-range eggs to have on hand for high protein snacks.

Now that my cravings have stabilized, I don't eat as many pick-me-ups.

As you may have noticed with my Blueberry Scone recipe, I've started to bake without sugar, using the same powdered stevia I add to my morning chai, and my ginger root tea. A tiny little bit of stevia goes a long way. (Read more about stevia and other sugar substitutes here.)

I'm pleasantly surprised at how downright killer my sugar-free treats are! Even the sugar indulging men in the house agree. These are darn tasty.

Sweet cherries and almond flour make lovely muffins.

Today's baking adventure involves cherries (why not?). And I did add two tablespoons of pure maple syrup to the batter this time, for taste, texture and sweetness. But if you need (or want) to avoid maple syrup, just sub almond milk instead.

Summer goodness: whole grain cherry almond muffins.

Gluten-Free Cherry Almond Muffins Recipe

By Karina Allrich

Cherries and almonds are a match made in heaven. So fragrant and naturally sweet. I used only a touch of stevia and a small amount of pure maple syrup to sweeten these lovely breakfast treats. If you prefer a traditionally sweeter muffin, feel free to add sugar. A half cup should do it.

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cups almond flour
1 cup sorghum flour
1/4 cup GF millet flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon powdered stevia, to taste* see notes
3 large organic free-range eggs
2 tablespoons light olive oil
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 teaspoons pure almond extract
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk, as needed
1 cup packed pitted, chopped sweet cherries

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Line a twelve-cup muffin tin with paper liners.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (almond flour through stevia).

Add in the eggs, oil, maple syrup, and almond extract, beating until the ingredients stick together. Continue to beat as you add the almond milk, a little at a time, beating until the batter loosens and becomes smooth and slightly sticky. It should look like a thick- but smooth- muffin batter. I added a half cup of almond milk to mine.

Add in the chopped cherries by hand and stir to distribute, saving a few to add to the muffin tops.

Set the batter aside to rest for a few minutes. I like to do this with gluten-free batters. It seems to help the rise.

Spoon the batter evenly into the twelve muffin cups. Stud the tops with a few cherry pieces.

Bake in the center of a pre-heated oven for 20 minutes or so, until domed and golden. The muffins should be firm to the touch.

Little cherry studded gems of deliciousness.

Set the muffin pan on a cooling rack for five minutes. Then gently remove the muffins and place them directly on the rack to cool (this keeps the bottoms from getting soggy), or serve immediately.

These cherry almond gems are heavenly warm and tender from the oven.

Cook time: 20 minutes

Yield: 12 muffins

Recipe Source: glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com

All images & content are copyright protected, all rights reserved. Please do not use our images or content without prior permission. Thank you. 

Tender and not too sweet, this muffin is the perfect summer treat.

Notes:

The stevia I used is concentrated, and a little goes a long way. Taste test and judge for yourself how much you'd prefer to add to the batter. Remember that too much powdered stevia can taste bitter in baked goods. I plan on trying some of the stevia that is crystallized for baking purposes.

As mentioned above, if you prefer using sugar in your gluten-free baking, by all means use a half cup of sugar and skip the stevia.

For those baking vegan, I have made wonderful almond flour muffins without eggs. Check my Blueberry Almond Flour Muffins recipe and replace the blueberries with chopped sweet cherries, and the vanilla powder with two teaspoons almond extract. Or follow this recipe above using your favorite egg replacer.

As always, I urge you to add the liquid slowly as you beat the batter, using only the amount you need to achieve a smooth, slightly sticky batter- not too thick, not too thin. You may need slightly less (or slightly more) liquid, depending upon your climate. Humidity influences flours and their moisture content.

For easy on-the-go treats, wrap leftover muffins in foil, bag, and freeze.

Elegant and Easy Pasta Frittata

Gluten-free pasta frittata made with brown rice penne.

An Elegant and Easy Pasta Frittata

Summer is officially upon us- allegedly. And by us I mean those of us calling the Northern hemisphere our home. See? I didn't forget you lovely readers from the topsy-turvy land Down Under, strapped to snowboards or skiing the snowy slopes of Victoria in need of steaming mugs of soup and plates of comfort food. I know it's winter for you. I get it. I do. I'm chilly, too. I've got Popsicle toes. And just so you know I'm not pulling your leg, Mate, I'll let you in on a little secret.

I'm not sporting a bikini these days, either.

Well, I don't actually own a bikini, so that might not be terribly shocking news (I don't think I've even touched a bikini since 1982, and for that wise choice alone, countless thousands are grateful).

I'm still layering my long sleeved tees and thick fuzzy sweatshirts, you see. Here in Redondo Beach we have the annual weather effect (grumpily or fondly) known as June Gloom. Brushed velvet fog and low slung clouds hug the coast each morning and shower us with mist that would make Ireland proud.

It's a marine layer issue, so they say.

After three (long) sun baked years in Northern New Mexico, I rather like it. It's moody and hushed and inspiring in a rainy day spirit sort of way, transforming the technicolor blue of L.A. skies into wallflower introversion, softening and muting the usual exuberance and clamor that is Los Angeles. It's the kind of weather that makes you crave a good book.

And a lazy brunch.

Perhaps this light and easy frittata recipe will please both hemispheres.

Those in bikinis, and those snug in UGGs .

Fresh parsley, mint, chives, sweet red pepper and free-range eggs.

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Friday Eye Candy: Farmers' Market

Organic strawberries make gluten-free luscious and beautiful.

I have been sitting here in my chair, as bone quiet still as a nun in a pew at midnight, with nary a poetic turn of phrase in sight. I am trying to conjure words for strawberries. And summer. And the newly minted sensation of actually, finally, living by the sea. I keep thinking about breathing- because the ionized ocean air is so sexy gorgeous you could eat it with a spoon. And because for the first time in a long, long time I can feel myself uncoil a bit and allow a long, soft exhale to trail into the stream of salty wind that whistles through the crack of an open window above my bed as I blink awake to the whoop of a sunrise surfer ripping his way down a foamy curl. His joy is infectious. And I smile. And yawn.

The word gratitude comes to mind.

Not to mention, abundance. This week's farmers market was indeed abundant, tumbling wild with the jewels of summer. Boxes and boxes of fragrant strawberries. Buckets of cherries. Crates of plums. Potted herbs and June blooms- peonies and Japanese iris. So I offer you eye candy today. The gift of color. And ten gluten-free strawberry recipes to inspire your weekend and get you in the mood to whoop.

It's summer. Live a little. Get juicy.


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Gluten-Free Baked Sugared Donuts

Gluten-free cake donuts with powdered sugar and cinnamon.

I've missed donuts, I admit. And I haven't eaten one since going gluten-free exactly nine years ago yesterday. That's right. This a gluten-free anniversary for me. Number 9. So I thought I'd finally give donuts a try. Why not? It's been way too long.

And the best news- for so many of you--- these are vegan. No dairy, no butter, no eggs. Believe me, they don't need all that farm fresh moo-cow cluck-cluck business. Seriously. The flavor is just right. Not too sweet, with a kiss of nutmeg and a cinnamon or powdered sugar dusting.

These little gems rock.

Old fashioned cake style donuts that are gluten-free and vegan.

A new breakfast treat- gluten-free donuts.

Gluten-Free Cake Donuts Recipe with Powdered Sugar or Cinnamon

Originally published December 2010.

I used my 12-count mini donut pan to bake these little beauties, so this recipe will make a dozen small donuts. They bake in only 15 minutes. If you have a pan for 6 larger donuts, the recipe may take slightly longer to bake. Check your manufacturer's instructions for guidelines in baking a bigger donut.

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

Ingredients:

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together:

1 cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup millet flour or certified gluten-free oat flour
1/2 cup potato starch (not potato flour)
2 tablespoons hazelnut flour or almond flour
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Add:

1/4 cup Spectrum Organic Shortening
1/2 cup vegan sour cream (or plain vegan yogurt)
1/4 cup So Delicious Coconut Milk (or plain rice or nut milk)
Ener-G Egg Replacer for two eggs mixed with a scant 1/4 cup warm water
1 teaspoon bourbon vanilla extract


Instructions:

Add the shortening first, by spoonfuls, and use the mixer's whisk attachment or a pastry cutter to help it distribute the shortening until the flour mix becomes sand textured.

Add in the vegan sour cream, coconut milk, egg replacer and vanilla extract, and mix until the dough forms a smooth and pliable dough. It should be slightly sticky- but not too sticky to handle. (If the dough is too wet and cannot easily form a ball when you roll it in your palms, add a bit more flour.)

Divide the dough into 12 sections and roll each piece in your palms to form a ball roughly the size of a golf ball Your hands should be slightly oily from the shortening- this is good.

Using your palms, gently roll the dough into a log shape and carefully- gently- continue to roll it into a cigar shape about 4 to 5 inches long. Drape the dough into the well of a donut pan, and slightly overlap the two ends to make a circle. Don't get fussy yet. Just lay it in there.

Continue as above with the remaining dough balls.

Using oily or slightly wet fingers, smooth out the dough evenly. Don't smoosh it down into the well- simply finesse it a bit so that it comes together evenly as a ring.

Bake in the center of a pre-heated oven for 15 minutes, until firm to the touch.

Mine baked at exactly 15 minutes. Don't over bake these little babies- remember, the center of the mold is hot too, so the donut rings are baking from both sides.

Remove the pan and set it on a wire rack to cool a bit. As soon as it's cool enough to handle, remove the donuts from the pan and place them bottom side up on a wire rack (if they stay in the hot pan too long, gluten-free goodies get soggy bottoms).

When cooled a bit, sift confectioner's sugar or a mix of confectioner's sugar and ground cinnamon all over the donuts.

Scarf down immediately with a hot cup of Double D coffee. Best eaten the day you bake 'em.

Cook time: 15 min

Yield: One dozen mini donuts.

Recipe Source: glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com

All images & content are copyright protected, all rights reserved. Please do not use our images or content without prior permission. Thank you. 

GFG Notes:

If you are nut-free, replace the two tablespoons of hazelnut flour with sorghum or rice flour.

If you'd rather use an egg, use 1 large free range organic egg, beaten.

I used vegan soy sour cream, but any sour cream or plain yogurt will work.

For milk subs, choose a good tasting neutral milk- the flavor of these donuts is pretty subtle. Don't pick a strong milk like hemp. If you want to make these ahead of time, bake, cool, and freeze plain. Then thaw and dust with powdered sugar for serving.

I'm now using w-a-a-a-y less brown rice and brown rice flour, and eating fewer rice cakes, etc. Here's why- there are elevated arsenic levels in rice.

I baked these donuts in a mini donut pan. They are cute as buttons!

If you could eat gluten, would you? The option is one step closer.

Dining out is a minefield if you have to be gluten-free. 
Would a vaccine make life easier?

The big question...

There may be a celiac vaccine in our future.

That's the word from Down Under this month. An Australian biotechnology company called ImmusanT, Inc. is developing an immunotherapeutic vaccine for celiac disease. And guess what? The Phase 1 clinical trial went swimmingly.  Read about their positive results here at the NFCA's Celiac Central.

It's a very odd feeling to imagine eating gluten again, after almost ten years of banishment. A decade of shunning gluten is no small feat. In a food culture that worships wheat, and elevates the gentle science of baking to both a high art (think crusty, fresh baked baguette) and a low art (say, pizza pockets), living gluten-free is akin to attempting to mambo in a minefield.

Gluten lurks everywhere.

Not only where you’d anticipate it (pizza, bagels, beer) but in sly, coy disguises, hiding in plain sight (soy sauce, broth, herbal tea). And even the most modest of amounts (a few stray crouton crumbs, perhaps) can trigger one’s hyper-vigilant immune system and ignite a fiery swath of digestive destruction, albeit mostly invisible to the naked eye (unless, like me, you are doubly blessed with symptoms and sport the eruptive skin rash known as dermatitis herpetiformis).

Feelings akin to those sticky, fluttery uncertainties (if not subtle panic) one feels dodging the unbidden proposal of matrimony (or tip-toeing backwards on a Sunday morning walk of shame) begin to trickle in.

Is this something I really want?

And would I, if I could?

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