Basic, Simple Marshmallows

Homemade mini marshmallows ready to dress up rocky road bars ;) (come back in a day or so!!).

When we learned about our allergies, we realized how simple things can be. These marshmallows are an example. Made with 3 main ingredients, they are much simpler and easier without the corn syrup and preservatives found in most (if not all) marshmallows found in the store.

Plain marshmallows with cranberry marshmallows in the background.

Most people are amazed that marshmallows are very easy to make and only require 3 ingredients (besides the dusting mixture to make them not too sticky).

Why don't you guess what 3 ingredients? I told a friend the other day.
Since marshmallows are white and fluffy, someone said egg whites. Some recipes do call for egg whites, but they are not needed.
Milk? No. Keep guessing.
Sugar? Of course (I know you can make marshmallows without sugar, but that's something else).
Water? Yes.
And gelatin. That one was hard for them to guess. It makes sense, though . . . marshmallows are like fluffy, white jell-o, kind of. That can be toasted over a campfire . . . for a sticky, goo-ey, sweet mess.

Now that's the marshmallow I'm talking about here. But they're better than the store-bought variety (taste-wise). One of my taste-testers (one of my sisters) said that they taste more "real" than store-bought - not fake, but good, homemade candy. Made with real sugar. Not that liquid that some now call "corn sugar".

Basic, Simple Marshmallows (Gluten, Dairy, Corn, Egg, Gum-free)
Adapted from Pumpkin Marshmallows

3 (.25 ounce) unflavored gelatin
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup cold water, divided
1/4 cup arrowroot powder
1/4 cup corn-free powdered sugar

1. Uniformly grease a 9x13 inch pan. Pour the 1/2 cup cold water into the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the gelatin on top; set aside for 8 to 10 minutes.


2. Meanwhile, combine the sugar and water in a saucepan. Stirring constantly, bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Continue to cook, without stirring, until mixture reaches 250 degrees F on a candy thermometer, or until a small amount of syrup dropped into cold water forms a rigid ball.

3. Attach the mixing bowl to the stand mixer with the wire whip attachment and start the mixer on low speed. Carefully and slowly pour the boiling sugar syrup in a steady stream over the gelatin mixture. Increase the mixer to medium-high speed and mix until very thick, shiny, and white in color, about 5 to 12 minutes. When done, the mixture should form a more-or-less continuous ribbon off the spatula into the bowl. Scrape down the sides of the bowl occasionally using a rubber spatula.

4. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan in an even depth. Let the mixture set at room temperature for at least 8 hours or overnight.

5. Sift the cornstarch and confectioners' sugar into a pie plate or shallow bowl. When the marshmallows have set, turn them onto a work surface and cut them into squares or shapes as desired. You may make several cups worth of mini marshmallows for recipes, or bigger marshmallows for toasting, s'mores, make shapes matching the occasion, etc. Roll each marshmallow in the sugar mixture to coat all sides. Marshmallows are best served fresh, but they can be stored in an airtight container (unrefrigerated) for about a week or in the freezer for a month. If you store the marshmallows, re-roll them in the cocoa mixture before serving.

~ Hanunyah


Linked to Motivate Me Monday by Keeping it Simple, Made By You Mondays by Skip To My Lou, Shindig Saturday by Kims Kandy Kreations and Weekend Wrap-up by Tatertots and Jello

French Toast

Nothing is hard about french toast, really, as long as you have the bread making down (although we did think about making it with pancakes - that wouldn't be traditional french toast, but, hey, maybe we'd start a new tradition ;) ).

Ducks and french toast, resting in the morning sunshine.

For an easy bread recipe, go here to my quick bread recipe, or use your favorite gluten-free bread. For a quick and easy breakfast treat, try making several loaves of bread in one day, freeze it, then pull out a loaf the night before.

Funny picture . . . the cat wanted some ;).

So, onto the sweet goodie of the day. . . . 

French Toast (Gluten, Dairy, Corn-free)

4 eggs
1 cup milk*
cinnamon (optional)
about 1/2 a loaf allergen-free bread
lard or other cooking fat
powdered sugar or maple syrup**

1. Whisk together the eggs, milk and cinnamon. Dip the bread in the mixture, letting soak for several seconds, depending on how moist the bread is.

2. Melt the cooking fat on a griddle. Cook until golden brown on each side, flipping once.

Notes:
*You may use non-dairy milk, I used goat milk.
**This is corn-free as long as you use corn-free powdered sugar and/or syrup.

One more duck picture ;).

~ Hanunyah

Caramel Sauce

You may have noticed that my last couple recipes have a brown sugar sauce in them. It is very quick, simple and easy, and would be great as a dip for apples, or maybe even over ice-cream.

Caramel Sauce (Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Corn-free)

Hanunyah Creation

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup goat milk

1/4 cup lard

Bring sugar and milk to a boil over medium-hight heat. Boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and add lard. Let cool for a couple of minutes, then beat until thick. Store in the refrigerator, and warm up when ready to serve.

~ Hanunyah

Instant Oatmeal Packets

~ This is my 100th post on this blog! ~

This is a good substitute for the packets in the store. To be sure this is gluten-free, use gluten-free oats and read the labels of the variations you use.

Instant Oatmeal Packets (Gluten-free, and Dairy-free if not using some of the variations below)
From: The Dollar Stretcher Family


3 cups quick oats
salt (optional)
small sized zip bags



Put 1/2 cup oats in a blender and blend on high until powdery. Set aside in a small bowl, and repeat procedure with an additional 1/2 cup oats. If you're using a food processor, you can do the 1 cup of oats in one batch. Put the following ingredients into each zip bag: 1/4 cup quick oats, 2 Tbsp. powdered oats (or oat flour), and 1/8 tsp. salt. Store in an airtight container.


~ To serve: Empty packet into a bowl. Add 3/4 cup boiling water. Stir and let stand for 2 minutes. For thicker oatmeal, use less water - for thinner oatmeal, use more water. ~

Variations:

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal: To each packet add 1 Tbsp. sugar, 1/4 tsp. cinnamon, and 2 Tbsp. chopped dried apples.
Sweetened Oatmeal: To each packet add 1 Tbsp. sugar or 1 packet 'Equal' artificial sweetener.
Brown Sugar/Cinnamon Oatmeal: To each packet add 1 Tbsp. brown sugar & 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
Oatmeal w/ Raisins & Brown Sugar: To each packet add 1 Tbsp. packed brown sugar and 1 Tbsp. raisins.
Fruit and Cream Oatmeal: To each packet add 1 Tbsp. non-dairy coffee creamer and 2 Tbsp. dried fruit
Fun Fruit Oatmeal: To each packet add 6 or 7 pieces of 'fruit snack' type dehydrated fruit.
Confetti Oatmeal: To each packet add 1 tsp. decorative cake/cookie sprinkles.
S'More Oatmeal: 

To each packet 

add 6 miniature marshmallows and 1 Tbsp. chocolate chips.

Exploding Oatmeal: 

To each packet 

add 1 tsp. sugar, and 1/2 tsp. 'Pop Rocks' candy to each packet. This one is fun for celebration days, such as birthdays.

Update - July 27, 2011: Here is what I have come up with the last 2 times I made this. I may add more if I make up more.

~ My Variations ~

These are flavors I've come up with. Since it is eaten up so fast, I mix it in a big bowl and put it back in the oatmeal container. My brothers and sisters like it in cold milk, so they just scoop out what they want out of the container.

Seeds and Spices Oatmeal: Add poppy seeds, flaxseeds, a little nutmeg, a little ginger, and cinnamon. I made up this flavor and my sister who has been eating my Instant Oatmeal for breakfast every morning said it was really good. She likes this one better than the Maple Nut/Brown Sugar Cinnamon flavor I made today (below).

Maple Nut/Brown Sugar Cinnamon: Add brown sugar, cinnamon, finely ground walnuts and maple extract. I can't taste this since I'm on the GAPS diet, but it smells really good!

~ Hanunyah

Link Parties:
Gluten-Free Wednesdays @ The Gluten-Free Homemaker
Food on Friday @ Carole's Chatter

Cooked Frosting

This simple and easy frosting is cooked, cooled and then beat. There's no powdered sugar (aka confectioners', icing or 10x sugar) in this frosting. I made it today along with Basic Cupcakes, and Flourless Peanut Butter Cupcakes. I added the cocoa powder to make it chocolate.

I found this here - http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AjuEVTcMaPSjF0vpUcK5e_l36xR.;_ylv=3?qid=20080227114317AABxbfm

This frosting keeps in the refrigerator, but it does set. Just take it out and put it in the microwave for a few seconds, then stir and microwave until spreadable.

Frosting (with no powdered sugar)
1 c. white sugar
1/4 c. butter (I used lard)
1/4 c. milk
1 tsp. vanilla

Stir together in a small saucepan, and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Boil for 1 full minute; remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Place pot in a bowl of cold water, and let it cool about less than a minute. Remove from bowl of water and beat with a spoon until thick enough.

Chocolate Frosting:
Add 1 tablespoon cocoa to sugar.

Brown Sugar Frosting:
1/2 c. white sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar

31 for 21 Blog Challenge!

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

I've made no-flour peanut butter cookies before, but I was given this recipe, so I tried it. They were better then the recipe I made before, on my other blog here. The recipe called for white and brown sugar, but I used all white and a couple tablespoons molasses. I doubled the recipe. I added a handful of chocolate chips to the last of the batter, and they baked (and tasted, of course) great, and the chocolate chips were a perfect addition. If you like crunchy cookies, I'm sure you could add a handful of peanuts, or use crunchy peanut butter (we only had creamy, so I used that). You may either drop the cookie dough from a spoon, or make into balls or blobs and flatten with a fork. They tasted almost just like regular peanut butter cookies.

Note: The baking time on this recipe may vary. The cookies may need to be baked longer than 6 minutes, or maybe a little less.

The recipe is from: http://www.thebakingbeauties.com/ . This is a gluten-free blog, and has good recipes from what I have glanced at.

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredient:
1 cup peanut butter (smooth or chunky)
1/4 cup white sugar1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Combine ingredients and drop by teaspoonfuls on cookie sheet. Bake for 6 minutes. Let cool.