Healthy Obsessions The Adventures of a Mild Obsessive Compulsive

Tag Archives: Dessert

Accidental Gluten Free Beignets

beignet crop2

I was trying to make cannoli. Turns out this particular pastry dough puffs up more than I expected when it’s fried. So I had these poofy cannoli shells, which were way too rich for the cannoli filling. Turns out, coating them with powdered sugar makes them taste like beignets. So I’ve been playing with this recipe for a week now. It’s based off the croissant recipe I got from Gluten Free Gobsmacked.

2 sticks of butter
1/3 cup + 1 Tablespoon GF cottage cheese
1/3 cup + 1 Tablespoon GF cream cheese
1 cup GF Flour*
2 Tablespoons of sweet rice flour
1 ½ teaspoons xanthan gum
½ teaspoon salt (if you use unsalted butter)
¾ teaspoon cream of tartar
¾ teaspoon baking soda
3 Tablespoons sugar

Mix up the dough, roll it out or shape it by hand. If you’re rolling it out, make sure to flour your surface and the rolling pin. Then cut it into rectangles (or whatever shape you want).

I used a sauce pan for the frying, since it has high sides and contains the oil spatter better. You want the frying oil at least an inch deep. I’ve used toasted pistachio oil (which was awesome) and grapeseed oil.  Heat the oil on medium until it’s hot enough to fry the dough (I use a small test piece of dough to be certain). Then start frying up the pieces of dough.

You’ll want to flip the dough over once the bottom portion has turned golden brown. Remove it once both sides are golden brown and place it on a cooling rack covered with paper towels; the paper towels absorb any excess oil.

Use a baking dish (bowl or plate or whatever) filled with powdered sugar to coat the beignets. This seems to work best while they’re quite warm, but not too hot to touch. Coat one side and then flip them over. Or sift more powdered sugar on top.

If you roll the dough thinner and add cinnamon to the powdered sugar, they’re not far off from churros.

 

*I used Glutino/Gluten Free Pantry’s all purpose flour mix.

Best Gluten Free Products I’ve Found

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This list is for a friend who just went gluten free to see if it would help his health. I was telling him about all my favorites and realizing I hadn’t made an updated list. So. (And yes, many of the links below are affiliate links.)

Box Mixes:

I have never found a gluten free cake mix that was okay without doctoring it. All of them require something. The Betty Crockers, at least, are simple. I really dislike the Bob’s Red Mill mixes. Most of them are garbanzo bean based, which is a strong and unpleasant flavor for sweets. Most mixes have corn starch.

Trader Joe’s mixes are mostly from Bob’s Red Mill. So, I avoid them.

Pasta:

  • Jovial Organic Brown Rice Capellini — the only gluten free capellini I’ve liked. All their pastas are good. Wholefoods carries this brand.
  • Schar Gluten Free Anellini — pasta for soup. I use these in place of pastina or acini di pepe. All their pastas are good, but they do have corn (if you’re not avoiding corn, no worries). I’ve seen Schar products at Safeway,Wholefoods, and Nob Hill. But very inconsistent selections.
  • Conte Cheese Ravioli (frozen) — you can order these online, but don’t. Link is only for reference. Wholefoods and some Safeways carry this. Under cook by at least one minute, if you don’t want it falling apart. They have other great frozen pastas.

Cookies:

  • Schar Chocolate Hazelnut Bars — BEST gluten free chocolate wafer cookie out there–by a long shot. I’ve only seen this at Nob Hill or online.
  • K-Toos — best oreo equivalent (most taste like cardboard, this tastes like cookie). Best dipped in milk.
    Wholefoods.
  • Trader Joe’s Gluten Free Crispy Crunchy Chocolate Chip Cookies — similar to Nantuckets. I like these better, though.
  • Glutino Lemon Wafer Cookies — these are great. Avoid the chocolate ones like the plague. Many stores carry these.

Bread:

  • Udi’s gluten free sandwich bread — take your pick of flavor, but remember to toast the bread. All gluten free bread is better toasted. Lots of grocery stores carry this.
  • gluten-free-ciabattas-plain-largeRudi’s Gluten Free Ciabatta Rolls — I’ve only seen these at one Safeway in Mountain View, but they are far and away the best dinner roll I’ve found. Again, toast them. They are actually the best gluten free bread I’ve found of any kind.

And… there are more, but that’s it for now. I’ll try to do another post continuing the list.

Honey Sweetened Chocolate Pots de Creme

I love my blender.

Last night I was craving something sweet, but didn’t want to put too much effort in.  And then I discovered I could make pots de creme with my blender. It was really fast. About 10 minutes to make the recipe, and 45 to chill in the fridge.

Ingredients:

  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1 tsp espresso powder
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 4 oz baking chocolate (unsweetened)
  • 3/4 cup cream (sub coconut milk for dairy free or paleo)

Directions:

  • Set the cream to heat on the stove (try to take it off the burner just before boiling)
  • Chop chocolate
  • Mix eggs, honey, vanilla, and espresso powder in the blender
  • Add chocolate
  • Pour hot cream over the chocolate
  • Blend (I used ice cream mode on mine)
  • Pour into ramekins (2 of these guys, or 4 of these)
  • Refrigerate

Using ice cream mode on my BlendTec (have I mentioned I love that thing?), even the un-chilled pots de creme were edible. The blender thickened them up into a very rick chocolate pudding.

This makes for a rich dark chocolate, slightly on the bitter side. You can easily add whipped cream to the finished product if you want it sweeter (or have a significant other who would want it sweeter).

Accidental Brownies — Gluten Free!

I accidentally made brownies the other day… My ex had just brought all my stuff over, so I was feeling like  being a bit self indulgent and decided to make frosting… and failed. Which is ridiculous, because making frosting is easy. But between using a new cocoa powder and overwhipping the butter… the frosting looked more like brownie mix than frosting. And I figured, well, why not?

So I added a few things… and the brownies were awesome. They had a chewy top and corners, but a very soft and rich center. Reminded me of the Ghirardelli mix I used to make in the days of gluten.

 

Accidental Brownies

2 ¼ sticks butter
6 — 8 tbsp cocoa powder
less than a box of powdered sugar*
two eggs
1 cup gf flour
chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla extract

  • Mix butter, cocoa powder, powdered sugar, and vanilla together in food processor or stand mixer.
  • Taste for sweetness (this makes a more bittersweet brownie, if you want it sweeter, add more powdered sugar)
  • Mix in eggs
  • Mix in flour
  • Pour into greased & sugared 9 x 9 pan (I use granulated sugar instead of flour to get a crunchier crust)
  • Bake at 350 for 30 — 40 minutes

 

*”Less than a box of powdered sugar” is my favorite instruction ever from my mom. It usually translates to 3/4 of a box.

SCD Compatible Ice Cream

Yogurt Ice Cream, with Blueberry Sauce

A friend of mine has Crohn’s Disease, which makes celiac look like a visit to Disneyland (assuming you like Disneyland). She’s on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD), which is incredibly limited. Much better than the alternative, though.

Turns out, she hasn’t had ice cream for nearly a year. Possibly longer. She can’t handle the sugar or the lactose in most commercial ice creams, and she can’t handle the agave nectar in the coconut milk ice creams. She does, however, make her own yogurt. And she can have honey.

I know what you’re thinking (well, I probably don’t, but I’m going to pretend). Frozen yogurt is usually pretty meh. Too soft. Bland. The diet version of ice cream. Thanks to Fraiche, I now know frozen yogurt doesn’t have to be that way. And that sparked an idea…

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Gluten Free Pound Cake

I am crazy busy today so instead of a detailed, well thought out post, I give you a recipe for pound cake. My friend Wendy and I made this in early October (or was it late September?) At any rate, it was incredibly popular with my gluten eating friends, to the point that one of them says it’s the best pound cake he’s ever had.

It’s very dense and moist, and goes beautifully with whipped cream and berries or ice cream or chocolate sauce. It doesn’t taste like the Sara Lee frozen pound cakes that I grew up on, so don’t expect that. But it does have a great pound cake crust. I snagged the recipe from The Happy Tummy.

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