Cinnamon Rolls

I was on a baking frenzy last weekend.  I love when the weather finally gets cold enough for me to want those comfort foods that we all know and love.  A comfort food for me is cinnamon rolls.  I don't make them often, because they are hard to resist and bad on the waist line, but I just needed to conquer this recipe.

I have made cinnamon bread a couple of times, and tweaked the recipe and tried again and failed...well maybe not failed, but it didn't live up to what I wanted the recipe to turn out.  I have a vision of how I want the texture of the gluten free stuff I make, and often the taste is fine, but the texture is off.  I do have to say that the texture is not perfect in these rolls, but they are about as good as it is going to get!

Here are the ingredients -

1 1/2 tablespoons yeast
1/2 cup warm water
2 teaspoons sugar
1 cup tapioca starch
1 cup gluten free flour mix (Wendy Warks)
3/4 cup rice flour
1/3 cup coconut flour
1/3 cup sweet rice flour
1/3 cup almond flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp xanthan gum
2 eggs - room temperature is best
1/3 cup butter melted
1/2 cup warm milk
1/4 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup warm water - if needed

For cinnamon roll filling -
4 tablespoons of softened butter - or more, whatever you desire
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

The Directions -

In a small bowl, combine the 1/2 cup warm water with the 2 teaspoons sugar.  Mix in he 1 1/2 tablespoons yeast.  Let sit while the yeast works its magic (ie...gets foamy).

In a standing mixer with paddle part attached, combine the dry ingredients.  I always just mix the wet ingredients right into the dry ingredients, but if you want to combine them first before putting them into the standing mixer, combine the melted butter, eggs and warm milk.  Mix in the apple cider vinegar.  Mix well.  Pour in the yeast mixture into the dough.  Mix well.  If you find that the dough is pretty dry, take an additional 1/4 cup warm water and pour it in to the dough and mix well.  I found that I needed it when making the dough.  You want the dough to be runnier then regular bread dough but not as runny as cake batter.  It won't be the same as the dough you are used to with wheat flour/

After the dough is well mixed, pour it into a greased bowl.  Cover with saran wrap and a towel and let rise for an hour.

Sprinkle your counter with tapioca starch, and your rolling pin and also the dough after it has finished rising.  This dough will be VERY sticky if you do not, and you will get frustrated.  It is ok to use a lot of tapioca starch.  Roll the dough into a large rectangle.  Maybe like 18 inches by 12.  Spread the softened butter over the entire rectangle.  Mix the sugars and cinnamon and then sprinkle over the buttered dough.

I use a pizza cutter and do about 1 inch strips.  Im not very precise with cutting or rolling my cinnamon rolls.  I make some bigger than others.  You can probably make about 24 medium sized rolls.  You will want to roll the strips from one end to the other.  They might stick to your counter if you didn't use enough tapioca starch when rolling the dough out.  Just put more tapioca starch under the dough while you are rolling into the cinnamon roll.  I also use a knife and make sure it has tapioca starch on it as well as my fingers.

 

The photo above are the rolls rising.

Put the rolled cinnamon rolls into a 9 x 13  greased pan or glass casserole dish to rise.  I have a proofing feature for my oven so I put mine into the oven to proof for an hour.  After they have risen well, bake them in a preheated 400 degree oven  for 10 to 15 minutes or until golden.

If you like to put icing or glaze on your cinnamon rolls, do so right out of the oven.

Glaze recipe I use -
1/8 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 cups powder sugar
3/4 teaspoons vanilla
1/3 cup milk

Combine with whisk and pour over cinnamon rolls.

 

 Already a few are missing from the plate.  I happily shared some with my mom as well, since I am supposed to be watching what I eat!

Here is a hint - You can take this same recipe and just make dinner rolls with them.  You can divide the dough in half, roll each half into a 12 inch circle, spread the softened butter over the entire circle.  Cut each circle into 8 wedges, roll wedges starting at wide end; roll gently but tightly.  Place point side down onto greased cookie sheet and rise.  Bake at the same temperature as the cinnamon rolls, and you have a delicious sweet dinner roll.

I also modified this recipe to make a delicious pizza dough recipe, but that is for another blog post for another day.

Enjoy and please let me know if you have any questions or how yours turned out!

Sasha

Gluten Free Pancakes

Here in Virginia, the weather drastically changed over the weekend.  We had 80 degree weather one day and 50 degree the next.  I actually like this type of weather, so it doesn't bother me, though I would rather Fall temperatures to stick around now for good...who knows if they will though.

Because the weather was so cool, and we had church on tv on Sunday, we decided to have a Sunday brunch!  We had chocolate chip pancakes, eggs, sausage and hot chocolate.  It was delicious.  I figured, I could share my pancake recipe with you!

I take my base recipe from my Better Homes and Gardens cook book I have had since I got married in 2004.  I also double the recipe, since we have a little pancake eating monster named Josh in our house, so I will do the actual double recipe I make.

Gluten free Pancakes

1 scoop protein powder into 1 cup measuring cup, fill the rest with Wendy Wark's GF mix.
1/3 cup almond flour
1/3 cup coconut flour
1/3 cup Wendy Warks GF Mix.
2 tablespoons sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 beaten eggs
2 cups milk
4 tablespoons cooking oil
Milk chocolate chips

To vary the recipe above -

If you do not want to use protein powder, just use 1 1/3 cup GF mix.
If you do not want to use almond or coconut flour, just use 2 cups of GF mix.

If you have milk allergies, almond milk works just fine as well, I made mine on Sunday with 1 cup regular milk and 1 cup almond milk.

I mix all dry ingredients together in a medium sized bowl.  Then I just put the wet ingredients in and mix well with a wire whisk.  After that, if you want to put in chocolate chips, mix in as many as you would like.

 

We use a griddle to make our pancakes.  I set the heat at about 350 degrees.  The batter will be thick, but it will spread out on the griddle.  Once it looks like it is rising a bit, you can flip it over.

 

We like to top our pancakes with strawberries, chocolate syrup, whipped cream or regular syrup.  My son likes to do all of that at once!

 

Enjoy and please share with anyone you know who would like to learn some recipes!

My next recipe should be cinnamon rolls!  Stay Tuned!

Also--if you viewed my flour post...I have posted a picture of the rice flour, sweet rice flour and tapioca starch brand that I use.http://www.theglutenfreeimposter.blogspot.com/2012/09/lets-talk-flours.html

Sasha

Tis the season for Banana Bread!

I woke up this morning pretty early...and it was raining.  So--to brighten up the house, I decided to take the bananas that are far too ripe for anyone in this house to eat and whip up a banana bread for breakfast.

Mother/Wife of the year award!

As you know, I take recipes that are not gluten free, and convert them.  This is no different.  I got this recipe from allrecipes.com.   http://allrecipes.com/recipe/janets-rich-banana-bread/

I can't endorse the recipe by itself, as I have never tried it, but it does have five stars, so I am sure it is delicious.

 Ingredients you will need: butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, gluten free flour mix (I use wendy wark's), baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, baking powder, sour cream, lemon juice, xanthan gum, bananas, and mini chocolate chips if you so desire.

First - you will cream your butter and sugar in a big mixing bowl.  I use my old trusty kitchen aid.  After it is good and creamy, add your eggs, vanilla and lemon juice.  During the creaming process, you can mix all your other dry ingredients.

                                            


                                            

 I just use a fork to mix the ingredients a bit.  After lightly mixed, pour into the butter mixture.  It will get pretty dry, and you will wonder if you made a mistake.  No worries!  You aren't done yet.
 Add the mashed up bananas and sour cream, until it is fully incorporated.

                                           


                                           
 After that, if you so desire, you can add about a half cup of mini chocolate chips into the batter, and transfer to a greased 8x4 inch loaf pan, and stick in a preheated 350 degree oven for about an hour.

 During this hour, you home will fill with a wonderful smell, and you will salivate at the thought of sinking your teeth into a delicious bite of that bread.

You will want to make sure the bread is fully cooked before taking it out of the oven...cause if you don't it will fall in the middle.  I usually turn off my oven and let my bread or cakes sit in the oven for a minute or two before taking it out, just to make sure it is done.

Here is the final product!  Yummy banana bread for you to enjoy!

Here is the recipe -

Gluten Free Banana Bread

1/2 cup butter, softened - if you want to make it dairy free--you can always just use shortening.
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 1/2 cups gluten free flour mix (Wendy Wark's)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 cup sour cream
2 very ripe bananas (mashed)
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (optional).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 8x4 inch loaf pan.

In a large bowl, mix the softened butter and sugar til well combined and fluffy.  Add the eggs, vanilla and lemon juice.  Mix well.  Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, baking powder and xanthan gum, mix into the butter mixture until smooth.  Fold in the mashed bananas and sour cream by hand until well combined.  Spread evenly into the loan pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for one hour, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.  Cool loaf in the pan for about 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy! and let me know how it turned out!

Sasha