Fun with PIES!

I spent the morning baking pies!!!!

Jack will never eat any because I used some coconut milk, and he HATES coconut milk... but sometimes mom and dad just want PIE! ;-)

I used Jack allergen-safe Jell-O bake and serve pudding mixes cooked with 2 parts rice milk and one part coconut milk instead of cow's milk. Make sure to read the labels, because some have "modified food starch" which is a BIG no-no. Others have just corn-starch, and luckily Jack isn't allergic to corn like many allergic toddlers are.

I made one vanilla with banana slices (we are starting to reintroduce banana into MY diet to see if he is getting less sensitive to it, but he refuses to try any himself). I'll call it "banana coconut cream pie." The other pie was with chocolate pudding mix, so I'll call that one "chocolate coconut cream pie."

My basic pie crust is as follows:

For sweet pies:
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/3 cups gluten-free flour mixture (detailed in a previous entry)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup room temp allergen-free margarine
3 Tbsp veg shortening
1/4 cup water

For savory (pot pies, meat pies, etc.):
1/8 tsp paprika
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 1/4 cups gluten-free flour mixture
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup room temp allergen-free margarine
3 Tbsp veg shortening
1/4 cup water


Mix dry ingredients and cut in margarine and shortening until in very small dough chunks. Sprinkle water over the top and mix dough together with your hands.
I just press it into pie pans and stab a few small holes in the bottom to prevent bubbling up... or roll balls and press thin and round for small cookie sheet "pies" (I made "meat pies" with sausage, potatoes, and carrots last night for dinner). However, for rolling out into sheets, just flour the pin and surface with more GF flour mixture making sure to not over-dry the dough.
Bake at 400F for 12-15 mins or until done.

Then let cool and fill as directed... OR if you are cooking with a fruit filling or a baked-in filling, just bake as directed in most other pie recipes. The 12-15 minutes still seemed to apply for my "meat pies" since the filling I made for them was pre-cooked.

Raspberry Chocolate Mini Cupcakes

Ok.. I admit it. I have a SERIOUS sweet-tooth and am a total choco-holic!

Raspberry Chocolate Mini Cupcakes

1 C self-rising flour mixture (detailed in previous post)
2 Tbsp buckwheat flour
1/4 C cocoa
1 C sugar
1 *unit* egg replacer (I used 1 1/2tsp ener-G powdered egg replacer)
1 tsp baking soda

1/2 C applesauce
1/3 C canola oil
1/4 C rice milk
2 tsp raspberry extract
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Mix the dry ingredients well and then mix in the wet ingredient. Stir/mix until very well blended.

Grease mini muffin pan (or line with paper mini muffin cups) and fill the cups mostly full with the cake batter.

Place on the middle oven rack and back for 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Makes 2 dozen super moist, not too strong, not toooo sweet, super fluffy mini cupcakes. (or one cake, 1 dozen cupcakes, etc...)

Buckwheat Pancakes

Buckwheat Pancakes

1/2 C rice flour
1/4 C buckwheat flour
1/4 C potato starch
1/4 tsp xanthan gum
1/4 C sugar
1 tsp baking powder (corn starch-free if corn is a problem)
1/2 - 1 tsp salt (1 for cooking in just veg oil, 1/2 if you are using a salted margarine)
1 tsp ground flax (optional)
dash or two of cinnamon

Mix the dry ingredients well and mix in rice milk (or your preferred milk substitute) until the batter is a smooth pancake batter consistency

This would be a very easy dry mix to make in bulk ahead of time and store in the freezer. Then just add milk and cook the desired amount.

Silver dollar pancakes for Jack:

Good breakfast muffins!

Pumpkin Raisin Muffins:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Ingredients:
1 1/3 cup rice flour
2/3 cup tapioca flour
1/4 tsp xanthan gum
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 *units* egg replacer (depends on the brand of egg replacer. 1 unit = the mount needed to equal one egg)
1/2 cup apple juice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
2 cups canned pumpkin
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
2/3 cup raisins (or nuts/seeds or a mixture)

Mix dry ingredients together. Add wet ingredients and stir until evenly blended. Bake in a lightly greased or non-stick muffin pan approx. 25 mins (until toothpick comes out clean). Makes 1 dozen muffins.

Let them eat cake!

So... I have discovered the joys of cooking with pumpkin and applesauce to help with the moisture level of wheat-free and vegan baking. I started out using pumpkin as a primary flavor ingredient (spice cakes, muffins, and cookies). Now I use it in recipes where you'd never even guess it is there by tasting them.



Super Chocolate (pumpkin) Cake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups rice flour
2/3 cup tapioca flour
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 cup cocoa
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups sugar
3 *units* egg replacer (depends on the brand of egg replacer. 1 unit = the mount needed to equal one egg)

2/3 cup of a fairly acidic apple juice
11/2 cups canned pumpkin
1 cup canola oil
3 tsp vanilla extract OR
** 2 tsp vanilla extract and
2 tsp raspberry extract or 1 tsp mint extract

Mix dry ingredients together. Add wet ingredients and stir until evenly blended. Bake in 2 lightly greased cake pans or cup cake pans for approx. 25 mins (or until toothpick comes out clean).

Depending on your allergies, you can use a lot of store-bought frostings (many only have soy)... or just make a basic icing with powdered sugar, water, and flavoring... I used raspberry preserves with the raspberry chocolate cake pictured. :-)