Monkey Bars

Bars are really easy, quick, yummy, and they freeze good. So, I've been making bars to stock the freezer with goodies, and I made mostly only bars for the New Year's party tonight.

This recipe is easy and it makes a big pan of yummy bars.

Monkey Bars (Gluten-free, Corn-free, Dairy-free)
Adapted from http://www.womansday.com/

• 1 2/3 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 5 bananas)
• 3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1/4 cup milk (or milk substitute - you could use water, I used goat milk)
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 3/4 cups rice flour
• 1 cup chocolate chips

1. Heat oven to 350ºF. Line a 15 x 10 x 1/2-in. baking pan with nonstick foil (let the foil extend about 2 in. above pan at both ends).2. Whisk mashed bananas, sugar, oil, milk, eggs, vanilla, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl until mixed thoroughly. Whisk in flour just until blended; gently stir in 1/2 cup of the chocolate chips.3. Spread batter in prepared pan. Sprinkle remaining chocolate chips on top. Bake 15 to 20 minutes until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.4. Holding foil by ends, lift from pan onto a cutting board. Carefully cut lengthwise in 4 strips and then cut each strip in 10; remove foil.

~ Hanunyah

Make Your Own GF Flour!! It can be Cheaper than Gluten Flour!

Yay! Well, after all gluten-free living is NOT sooo expensive :) . . . We buy big 50 lb bags of white rice for cheap (I think we get it at Sam's), and recently we found out that we can make our own rice flour - easily. Just grind it in a Vitamix (with the dry container), until fine (stir it while grinding).


So, since we can get rice cheap, we figured it out to about 50 cents a pound! Compare that to the stuff you buy in the store - it's over $2 a pound. We grind a couple gallons at a time . . . . And use it very fast. I think I've been baking the most I have ever baked - I have been stocking the freezer with goodies, and everyone likes it.


Praise the Lord for his kindness to us to be able to do all this.


Christmas is EVIL! Please see - http://www.atruechurch.info/christmas.html.

Corn Allergy

We just recently (around Thanksgiving) discovered that my oldest brother has a corn allergy. Corn is pretty easy to cook without, but when it comes to buying pre-made foods, it is in almost everything - dextrose, corn syrup, modified food starch, MSG, to name a few. Even Iodized salt - third ingredient - dextrose. Here is a great website for someone with a corn allergy - http://www.cornallergens.com/. Click here for a list of ingredients that are corn-based, or can be made of corn.

Since going gluten-free, we were eating corn tortillas and tacos all the time. But, when we found my brother's corn allergy, we looked into making crepes. They are soo simple, so that is what we have been making instead of corn tortillas. Just mix together 1 cup rice flour, 1 cup water and 2 eggs. Tip the hot pan and pour about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of the batter on the top of the pan, and spread around by tilting the pan. Cook, flip, and DONE!

While I am baking, I look at each ingredient BEFORE I add it in the recipe.

Powdered (aka confectioners', icing) sugar has cornstarch in it. You can make your own by simply grinding regular granulated sugar in your blender, food processor, or vitamix.

Baking powder - it has corn in it, too. For a substitute, use 1/2 baking soda and 1/2 cream of tartar for the amount of baking powder in your recipe.

Cornmeal, Corn flour (masa harina) - obviously is made from corn. Instead of cornbread, we made a cornbread recipe but used rice flour instead of cornmeal. We called it "Rice bread" ;).

Corn syrup - See my recipe for Corn Syrup Substitute.

Cornstarch - You can use flour, but this doesn't work for sauce or something alike if there is leftovers - because it doesn't stay thick. Arrowroot powder we have heard works good.

Xanthan Gum - is corn-based. Guar gum we have heard is good in GF baking, like xanthan gum.

~ Hanunyah

Sweet Potato Cake

This was pretty good - mild flavor, not too sweet. We frosted it with buttercream. We doubled it and put it in a 9x13" pan.

Sweet Potato Cake (Gluten-free)
Gluten-Free Goddess


1 c sweet potato, precooked
3/4 c sugar
3/4 c gluten-free flour
1/2 c chopped almonds
1/8 c coconut flakes
1/2 c oil
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
2 eggs, separated

1. Precook the sweet potato until soft, then drain and peel.
2. In a food processor, beat in all the ingredients except for the
egg white. Beat the egg white separately until stiff. Fold the egg white into the cake mixture.
3. Place the mixture into a deep 8” cake pan lined with baking
parchment. Bake in a preheated oven at 350F for 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 hours. Cool in pan before turning out and removing parchment

GF Pie Crusts

I haven't found a really good pie crust recipe yet, but the pie crust that I usually make is made of 1 cup flour, 1/3 cup lard, and some water - this is what I have been using and it works fine for now.
       Depending on what type of pie you are making, you can crush different types of gluten-free cakes or cookies. I crushed Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies, put it in a pan, and used that for a Creamy Frozen Peanut Butter Pie.

Peanut butter cookie crust

To roll a crust out, there are a few ways you can do this. 

1. Roll it out in between 2 sheets of wax paper or plastic wrap. Peel off the top sheet of paper, then lay it in the pie pan and remove the second piece of paper. 

2. Roll it out on a GF floured surface. With a knife, cut the rolled crust into wedges as if you were cutting a pie. Peel the pieces up with a spatula (one at a time), put the pieces in the pie pan and push the seams together with your fingers.

Method #2:

3. Wrap the rolled pie crust loosely around a GF floured rolling pin, and roll it out over the pie pan.

Frozen Chocolate Pie

This I made from my other creation, Creamy Frozen Peanut Butter Pie. I made a chocolate version of this because my brother has a peanut allergy. He always asks, "Peanut butter?". He was so happy when I made this. 

It's not quite as good and doesn't have the same creamy texture as the frozen peanut butter pie, but it is still good.

Frozen Chocolate Pie

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1 cup powdered sugar

1/3  cup cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup corn syrup (I use light corn syrup)

1 1/2 cups milk

1 pie crust, baked

Mix cocoa, sugar and cream cheese. Add corn syrup and mix. Slowly add milk until smooth. The batter will be very thin. You can put chocolate chips on top before freezing, if desired. Pour into baked crust and freeze until set.

Lollipop/Sucker recipe

I ordered sticks on ebay. I didn't have molds, so I just poured it over the sticks.


Little Lollipops

Make sure the pan you use for cooking is of no more than one to two-quart capacity - this is a small recipe.

1 cup white sugar

1/3 cup hot water

1/3 cup light corn syrup

liquid food color

1/2 tsp to 1 tsp extract, or 2 to 3 drops oil-based flavoring

small lollipop molds

10 paper lollipop sticks

Before you begin, brush small lollipop molds lightly with vegetable oil and assemble with sticks on a length of aluminum foil.

1. Combine sugar, hot water and corn syrup in a heavy one- or two-quart saucepan. Place on high heat and stir until all sugar crystals are dissolved. Clip on candy thermometer. Continue cooking, without stirring until thermometer registers 300 F (149 C), then remove from heat. Entire cooking process takes about nine minutes.

2. Let stand for two minutes until bubbles disappear. Add flavoring and food color and stir to blend. Pour into prepared molds. Let harden at room temperature about ten minutes. Unmold and lay on a paper towel to absorb oil. Wrap each lollipop in clear plastic wrap and secure with a twist tie or ribbon around stick. These will keep at room temperature for up to six weeks. Yield: ten lollipops, about 2" (5.1cm) in diameter.

Creamy Frozen Peanut Butter Pie

I thought I already posted this recipe here, but I guess not - 

Well, on this one made up my own recipe. The original recipe had 8 oz Cool Whip, and we didn't have it (and my little brother can't have it). So, I replaced 1 cup milk, and added 1/4 cup corn syrup (because it "prevents the formation of ice crystals in frozen desserts"). I used 1/3 cup homemade goat cream cheese that one of my sisters made. The batter was very thin and looked like it wouldn't turn out, but I had hope because I knew I was going to freeze it. It does melt if you leave it out of the freezer long enough, but not very fast. The results were great. Sooooooo good!


       Anyway, I have now made this several times now, and it's always a hit.


Creamy Frozen Peanut Butter Pie

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 cup powdered sugar

1/3  cup cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup corn syrup (I use light corn syrup)

1 1/2 cups milk

1 pie crust, baked

Mix peanut butter, sugar and cream cheese. Add corn syrup and mix. Slowly add milk until smooth. The batter will be very thin. Pour into baked crust and freeze until set. May be served with chocolate pieces.

Creamy Frozen Peanut Butter Pie, 

made with Flourless Peanut Butter Cookie crust, with peanuts on top

For more pictures - http://picturethisoklahoma.blogspot.com/2010/07/in-kitchen-pie-4-creamy-frozen-peanut.html.

Chocolate Macaroon Cake

I made this the other day, and it was a hit. The cake was moist, and the glaze perfect. The whole combo was really good.

This is this cake when I made it for my Grandma's B-day party

Chocolate Macaroon Cake  (Gluten-free)

Coconut-Macaroon Filling
Reserved egg white (from one of the 4 eggs that will go into the cake)
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup shredded coconut
1 Tablespoon gluten-free flour
1 teaspoon vanilla

Chocolate Cake
2 cups gluten-free flour
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum (if you have it - I forgot to put it in, and it turned out fine)
1 3/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons vanilla
3/4 cup cold water
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup sour cream (or milk, that's what I used)
4 eggs (reserve 1 white for filling)


Chocolate Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
2 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled (I used 6 Tablespoons cocoa and 2 Tablespoons oil)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1-2 Tablespoons warm water



1. Generously grease the bundt pan and preheat your oven to 350 degrees. 


For Coconut-Macaroon Filling: In small mixer bowl, beat egg white at high speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. By hand, stir in coconut, flour and vanilla; blend well and set aside.

2. For Cake: In large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients for cake. Blend at low speed until moistened, then beat 3 minutes at medium speed scraping the bowl often.

Pour chocolate batter into prepared bundt pan. Drop teaspoonfuls of coconut-macaroon filling over chocolate batter until you have an even ring around the cake.

3. Bake cake at 350 degrees for 55-60 minutes until top springs back when touched lightly in the center of the cake. Be careful not to overbake, as this will result in a dry cake.

Cool 20 minutes, then place plate on top and invert cake to remove from pan. Let cool completely before glazing so glaze doesn't melt.

4. For Glaze: In small mixing bowl combine glaze ingredients. I used a whisk to mix everything well. Use enough warm water so that it reaches a glaze consistency and can be poured over the cake and run down the sides.

Pumpkin Cookies 1

Pumpkin cookies . . . most recipes for them make cake-like cookies, and these ones were, but I am looking to try a few other recipes. But, all of them that were left out were devoured, and my dad really liked them. I did, though, add a little extra spices (cinnamon and nutmeg) and iced them with a chocolate glaze (instead of the penuche icing that was with the cookie recipe).

Pumpkin Cookies (Gluten-free)

Adapted from Allrecipes

• 1 cup shortening (or lard or 1/2 shortening or lard and 1/2 oil)
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups gluten-free flour
• 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.
2. In a large bowl, cream together shortening, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and white sugar. Mix in pumpkin, egg, and vanilla. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt; mix into the creamed mixture. Stir in walnuts. Drop dough by heaping spoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets.
3. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool on wire racks.

Chocolate Peppermint Fudge

Another fudge I made for Thanksgiving. The recipe said to use 1/4 teaspoon of peppermint extract, but I used about 1 teaspoon, and the mint was perfect. So, I changed the recipe (pasted below) to our liking. Also, I only had Mint extract, so I used that instead of Peppermint.

I got the original recipe from - http://www.grouprecipes.com/112146/peppermint-fudge.html.

Chocolate Peppermint Fudge

• 1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup milk
• 2 Tbs. margarine
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 2 cups mini marshmallows
• 1 ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• ½ tsp. vanilla extract (optional)
• 1 tsp. peppermint extract
• ¼ cup crushed hard peppermint candy (optional)

• Line a 8-inch square baking pan with foil.
• In a medium saucepan combine sugar, milk, margarine, and salt. Bring to a full boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil, stirring constantly, for 4 to 5 minutes (until soft ball stage). Remove from heat. Stir in marshmallows, chocolate chips, vanilla extract, and peppermint extract. Stir vigorously for 1 minute or until marshmallows are melted. Pour into prepared baking pan; cool for 1 minute. Top with the crushed peppermint candy, pressing in slightly. Refrigerate for 2 hours or until firm. Lift from pan; remove foil. Cut into 48 pieces.

Linked to Food on Friday @ Carole's Chatter

Autumn Pumpkin Spice Fudge

This recipe is from Candy-Recipes yahoo group sent by Carolyn Ranker. I made this for Thanksgiving.

Autumn Pumpkin Spice Fudge
3 c. sugar
1 c. milk
3 tbsp. Light corn syrup
½ c. mashed cooked pumpkin
¼ tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Pumpkin pie spice
1 ½ tsp. Vanilla extract
½ c. butter

 ½ c. chopped nuts (optional)

In 3 qt. saucepan, combine sugar, milk, syrup, pumpkin and salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Reduce the heat to medium, continue boiling, do not stir. When mixture heats to 232 deg. on candy thermometer (soft ball stage) remove from heat. Stir in pumpkin pie spice, vanilla, butter and the nuts. Let cool to lukewarm (110 deg. on candy thermometer). Beat until very thick and until it loses some of its gloss. Quickly, pour mixture into greased 8-inch square pan. When fudge is firm, cut into pieces.

GF Thanksgiving!

Hello! I hope you'll had a happy Thanksgiving! We had Thanksgiving at our Grandma's house.  It was fun with plenty of yummy food! I helped on the desserts. Here is a list of what I made with some other pictures. I haven't posted all the recipes on here yet, but will soon, Lord willing.

Fall-themed Lollipops: Red - Hot Cinnamon, Yellow - Lemon, Orange/Brown - Pumpkin Pie Spice. For hot cinnamon, I used a little cayenne pepper with cinnamon, and added it to the sugar syrup mixture. Lemon, I used lemon extract. And for pumpkin spice, I just added some pumpkin pie spice.

Left: Chocolate Fudge, Right: Peanut Butter Fudge.

Left to right: Chocolate Mint Fudge, GF Gingersnaps and Pumpkin Fudge, Sweet Potato Cake.

GF Gingersnaps

Chocolate Mint Fudge

Deviled Eggs

Pumpkin Bread

Cranberry sauce

Jell-o

Happy Thanksgiving!

~ Hanunyah