Yummiest Pretzel Bites {Gluten free baking}

Well, hail the conquering hero!  I FINALLY mastered a gluten free pretzel bites recipe.  Woot!
For those just joining us, I became inspired by this recipe.  Since we have a child with celiac's disease in our family, I knew the regular recipe wasn't going to work for us, so I set out to make the recipe gluten free....I blogged about my fails HERE.
And now, onto the success!

This is a recipe I would use sometime when the kids and I are looking to make something together and we just want something a little fun.  That doesn't happen every week, but the kids had a good time with cutting out their shapes, and I had a good time knowing there really isn't much to dislike about this recipe. I used whole-grain flours, there is no oil, there is very little sugar....it's a great little snack, and easily dip-able, too!

YUMMIEST (GF) PRETZEL BITES

makes about 2 full sheets of pretzel bites

1 cup warm water

1 T. sugar

1 1/4 tsp. yeast

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 cups millet flour

3/4 cups GF oat flour

1/2 cup tapioca starch

2/3 cup almond flour (I've also used sweet sorghum)

2 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum (or whatever 'binder' you use)

2 T. baking soda

2 cups hot water

coarse sea salt

*I mix my own flours as I go...use your own mixture if you have other favorite flours, but do NOT omit the starch or it will affect the rising!
*For GF baking by weight, consider 1 cup=140g.
*Don't want this gluten free?  Just leave out the xanthan gum and use the same amount of flour!


In a large measuring cup (I use my 4 cup glass measuring cup), add 1 cup very warm (not hot!) water and sugar.  Stir well to dissolve the sugar.  Add yeast and stir.  Cover with a tea towel and allow to begin rising (about 10-15 minutes).

While the yeast is rising, add flours and xanthan gum together in a large mixing bowl and whisk well (this is because I am a little lazy, and I don't sift my flours together.  Whisking them well works for me, and it saves the hassle.  If you sift, sift them now.)  Pour the yeast into the mixture and using a dough hook, allow the mixer to mix the dough.  NOTE:  you can't overmix GF dough the way you can with regular dough, so let that mixer MIX!  Give it a good couple of minutes before you mess with it (although you can scrape the sides here and there if you need to).  I have been guilty of under-mixing in the past (force of habit), and I was surprised the first time I really mixed it that it became much more smooth and behaved better.  The things you learn... ;)
When the dough is very well mixed, it should be soft/slightly sticky.  If it's seems too sticky, just flour your hands well and generously sprinkle it with flour as much as needed.  It may feel softer than gluten dough, and that's ok!  If it's well mixed it should behave similarly to gluten dough, although GF dough is always a little different.
Roll out on a well-floured surface (I did mine oh, about 1/4 thick, maybe a little thicker) and cut dough into desired shapes or roll and twist for pretzels.  Place on baking mats or parchment-lined cookie sheets.  Cover with a tea towel and allow to rise in a warm place (I turned my empty oven on to 200, placed a pot of water in there and allowed it to preheat.  I then turned it off and let my dough rise in there.  Hey, however you let dough rise, it's fine with me ;) )  It takes time, but it does rise.  I gave mine about an hour (and good news!  If it doesn't rise as much as you want, they still taste great!)

Once they have risen, dip them into a baking soda solution of 2 cups warm water and 2 T. baking soda. Sprinkle with sea salt (we tried them both ways and you'll definitely want the salt sprinkles). Place bites back on the baking sheets and bake at 425 for 7-8 minutes, or until they are lightly browned.  They go fast, so keep an eye on them :) Eat warm!

These stayed good for about 2 days for us before they do what all soft pretzels do and got kind of dry.  Lucky for us, there weren't really any left :)

And there you have it!  A perfectly yummy, soft pretzel snack that everyone can enjoy!  Try them, and let me know what you think.  I'm always open for suggestions, and I'd love to hear about your results!  Who says GF can't be delicious?

Frosty Banana 'Ice Cream'

This is the new 'special treat' kid on the block at our house.  I don't even know where the idea came from....a friend mentioned it, then another friend, then suddenly...it's all over the place!  Have you tried it?  It's

Frosty Banana Ice Cream!
Yum.

This mama recently has been experimentally dropping added sugar from her life, and though I don't have a problem with special treats here and there, I love that we can FEEL like we're eating a special treat and yet, we're still eating bananas!  I also love that my little one with lactose issues can enjoy a frozen treat just like the rest of us because this can be made completely dairy free (and it's gluten free, too!)  Here to help us with taste-testing today is my own Little Critter (he's not my sprout with lactose problems, but he WAS a big fan, by the way)!
Here's how you make it:

FROSTY BANANA 'ICE CREAM'

serves 4

6 frozen bananas, cut into chunks

1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

2 T. cocoa powder

2/3 cup oat milk (or other milk--regular, almond, coconut...)

mini chocolate chips for garnish, if desired

variation: try without cocoa powder if you don't love chocolate, or add a good dollop of peanut butter for peanut butter banana!

Place chunks of frozen banana in a food processor.

Add vanilla, cocoa, and milk, and process until smooth.  

The 'ice cream' will have a 'soft serve' consistency.  Eat it immediately or stick it into the freezer for a little while to firm it up to your liking!

The taste test is in...Critter votes for MORE (He doesn't realize how much he has left on his face)!

And there you have it!  5 minutes, no added sugar (unless you throw in a few chocolate chips), and happy kids on a hot day.  WIN.

Baked Oatmeal 'Muffins'

Hi, all!  Deanna here.  I'm so excited for this new blog adventure with Sarah and all of you.  If there's one thing I spend time doing online, it's looking for recipes that are healthy and yummy, so I can't wait to see all of the new food ideas that will be born in this space!
I thought I would start off with my recipe for baked oatmeal muffins.  I am not usually a creator of recipes from scratch.  I am more of a 'find a recipe online and then change it to fit my needs' kind of gal. So when I am posting a recipe that isn't fully mine, I will also link back to where I found the original recipe.  That way, the recipe author is getting credit, and you can see both versions if you'd like to. Ok?
Ok. Let's get started!

So this recipe I would say is a rather mild flavored recipe.  If you are looking for something that smells and feels exactly like a delicious blueberry or apple cinnamon muffin but is healthy, you might be a little disappointed.  It's tasty, but it's more like baked oatmeal than a crumb-topped muffin.  Just shooting straight with you from the start.
Here's why I love this recipe, though:

Kid-friendly--my kids DEVOUR this recipe and I do mean devour.  They will eat them all day long. They will eat them in a box, they will eat them with a fox....ahem.  They will eat them here or there, they will eat them anywhere (ok, now I'm really done).
Easy and quick--a few minutes worth of effort and I am done.  All I have to do is keep remembering to take them out of the oven and put another pan in.
Healthy--my kids love these for snack too, but we also eat them for breakfast.  They feel like they are eating something other than oatmeal (which they can get tired of sometimes), but really, they are getting all the nutrition of a good ol' bowl of oatmeal and fruit, which mommy loves too.
Freezes well--I can double the recipe and keep some for that week, and freeze a whole batch of others that are easily pulled out of the freezer and used whenever we need quick breakfast.  I LOVE that.
Versatile--this recipe lends itself very well to whatever fruit or additions I have on hand, and that's perfect for us because sometimes we have blueberries, and sometimes we don't.  Sometimes we want raisins...and sometimes we don't.  This recipe works with whatever you want to add, which makes it a great base recipe in my book.

So without further ado:

BAKED OATMEAL MUFFINS

(original recipe found HERE)

makes 20+ muffins

3 eggs

1 t. pure vanilla extract

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup natural sugar (brown sugar works too!)

1 ripe banana, sliced and quartered

1 cup fruit/additions of your choice (blueberry, apples, nuts, raisins, mini chocolate chips...we change it up often)

5 cups old fashioned oats (we use GF oats)

1 tsp. salt

3 tsp. baking powder

1/2 cup ground flax

1-2 T. cinnamon (based on your preference)

2 1/4 cups milk

Preheat oven to 350.  

Mix eggs, vanilla, applesauce and sugar together in a large bowl.  Add banana and fruit (sometimes I add more than 1 cup if it looks like it needs more additions)

In a separate medium bowl, mix oats, salt, baking powder, flax, and cinnamon.  

Dump dry ingredients into the wet and mix well.  

Pour in milk and stir to combine.  

Scoop into muffin tins (use paper muffin cups!).   These won't rise a ton, so don't worry about filling your cups almost to the top.  Bake 35-45 minutes or until lightly browned.  

Cool completely before eating (the paper will stick while they are still warm--once they are cool, they will peel much more cleanly!)

This recipe is very forgiving, so I do play with it a little each time.  If it looks too wet, I add a few more oats.  If it looks too dry, I may add a little milk.  If you like it sweet, add a little more sugar.  I cut ours down because my kids don't miss it and we generally try to avoid sugar when we can.  If you add the full amount of sugar, you will want to increase your milk to 2 1/2 cups.

Let us know how they turn out (and if you have any creative additions to share, we want to hear those too!)