Amazing Sugar Cookies

Sugar cookies! Delicious cookies, fun to decorate! Sugar cookies can be made for a party anytime of the year, since they can be frosted and decorated in many ways.

These (gluten-free) cookies that my sister, Suriyah, makes are a roll-out cookie - that way the surface is flat and easy to frost and decorate. The dough is nice, a pleasure to work with and they stay together well.

Need a little extra somethin' to spice up your party? These are perfect!

Amazing Sugar Cookies
Adapted from 
(Gluten-free, Dairy-free, can be made Corn-free*)

1 cup lard
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons baking powder*
2 3/4 cups gluten-free flour (we use fine rice flour)

Cream fat & sugar. Add egg and vanilla. In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients. Add to the sugar mixture. Roll out to about 1/4 inch thickness and cut either with cookie cutters into shapes or use a canning jar band (large or small, whatever size you want). Bake at 350 for 7 to 10 minutes.

Notes:
*To make this corn-free, substitute 1 teaspoon baking soda + 1 teaspoon cream of tartar in place of the baking powder.

I hope you had a good Thanksgiving! I did with my family. Today? We're having another party very soon! Friends are coming home, a friend's birthday is today and a 2nd Thanksgiving.

"I will praise the name of God with a song, And will magnify Him with thanksgiving." Ps. 69:30
"giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ," Eph. 5:20

~ Hanunyah

Link Parties:
Gluten-Free Wednesdays @ The Gluten-Free Homemaker
Allergy-Free Wednesdays @ The Tasty Alternative
Gluten-Free Fridays @ Vegetarian Mama

Thanksgiving 2012!

Thanksgiving already? Yep, 2 days! This year we're going to our Grandma's. She's making the meal, but she's not making it allergy-friendly . . . so we have to make a meal for those of us who don't eat that. Which is fine, but it's contamination we're concerned about. Thankfully, we're bringing the desserts so that should make it a bit easier.

We (my sisters and I) made a list of desserts we plan on making:

Super Simple and Good Fudge Brownies - a little chocolate is good at every party, right?
Pumpkin Pie is a yummy classic to the Thanksgiving table, even without a crust. For plenty more pumpkin dessert options, see my Pumpkin Sweets Recipe Round-Up.
Oatmeal Creme Pies are like spiced up oatmeal cookies!
Pear and Apple Pies . . . Sorry no recipe up! Just in case I don't get to posting tomorrow: It's really simple. Basically mix up 1 cup sugar, a few cups of the fruit, a teaspoon or 2 of cinnamon, pour that into an unbaked pie shell and bake for about 40 to 50 minutes. I made some pear pies the other day, didn't really measure (although, probably should've) and they were gone!
Peanut Butter Cookies - more yummy cookies for the party!
Turkey Cookies - Nicole @ Gluten-Free on a Shoestring posted a great idea, and we like it! This can be part of a school project and Thanksgiving!
GAPS variations of pumpkin and apple pies (basically honey instead of sugar, and almond flour for rice flour).

~ Hanunyah

Link Parties:
Gluten-Free Fridays @ Vegetarian Mama & 1 other blog

Thanksgiving Party

Just thought I'd post a few pictures of the thanksgiving party we had. It was a fun time with friends and family - singing, dancing, quizzes and of course, lots of food.

Something went wrong with this GAPS pumpkin pie that a friend made - it looked fine when it came out of the oven, but it became like this overnight. It still tasted great!! It was dense like a cheesecake.

~ Hanunyah

Whoopie Pies

There are many kinds of whoopie pies - pumpkin, red velvet, peanut butter, banana, etc. There are so many kinds that there are books with just whoopie pie recipes. But, the traditional is made with soft chocolate cookies and vanilla cream filling.

I am learning how to bake with oat flour. It is very interesting. Gluten-free baking in general (let alone "regular" baking) is kitchen science . . . much to learn. I have just touched the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. You have to learn to expand your horizon, not just follow recipes. That's when it gets fun. You'll most likely have flops somewhere along the line, but finally success comes in if you press on.

For the filling, I made a simple powdered sugar frosting: Beat together a few tablespoons lard or shortening and about 3 cups powdered sugar, adding enough water for the right consistency. Add about a teaspoon or more vanilla.


Whoopie Pies (Gluten, Dairy, Corn-free)
Adapted from Epicurious.com

1/2 cup lard

1 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups oat or other gluten-free flour

1/2 cup dark cocoa powder

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda*

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup water

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Beat together lard and sugar in a large bowl, then add egg, beating until combined well. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.

3. Drop by teaspoonfulls (or whatever size you want) onto large greased baking sheets. Bake in preheated oven for 8 to 14 minutes (depending on size of cookies), until the top is set. Transfer with a metal spatula to a rack to cool completely.

4. Spread filling on bottom side of half of cookies. Top with remaining cookies.

Notes:

*The first few I baked I left the baking soda out to see how they would do. I later added some baking soda to the batter. But, I liked how the ones turned out without the baking soda - they held together way better than the ones with the baking soda. The ones with the baking soda were puffier, but if I made these again I probably would not use the baking soda, unless using some kind of gum to hold them together.

~ Hanunyah

Impossible Pumpkin Pie (Crustless)

Still warm from the oven, I ran outside with the pie and a cute turkey pot-holder to take a picture.

Pumpkin pie - without the crust is called an "Impossible Pie". Though a nice crust is great, it is much easier to add a simple 1/2 cup of oat flour (or other gluten-free flour) to the pie "batter" - and it turns out awesome! Now you have a creamy pumpkin pie in a easy-as-cake type of deal! And add some crunch with nuts . . . but that's optional.


Impossible Pumpkin Pie (Gluten, Cow Dairy, Corn-free, GAPS adaptable*)
Adapted from Ginger Lemon Girl


3/4 cup sugar -or- 1/2 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 cup gluten-free flour -or- 3 tablespoons almond flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 large eggs
1 cup goat milk -or- plain, homemade yoghurt
1 3/4 cups pumpkin puree**
2 tablespoons vegetable oil -or- cold-pressed olive oil
nuts, optional

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 


2. In a large bowl whisk together all ingredients thoroughly into a smooth batter. Pour into a large, greased 9" pie plate. If desired, top with nuts such as pecan or walnut halves (we used raw peanuts for the GAPS ones). 


3. Bake in the 350 degree oven for 30-40 minutes until set in the middle. The pie will only jiggle slightly in the middle when done and a toothpick inserted in the middle should come out mostly clean. Allow pie to cool for about an hour, then slice and serve.


Notes:
*To make this GAPS legal, use all of the substitutions indicated in the recipe as "-or-". Also be sure that all of the spices and baking soda have no additives, and that the eggs are GAPS-approved.
**1 3/4 cups pumpkin puree is the same as one 15 ounce can.




~ Hanunyah

Oatmeal Creme Pies

Crunchy, chewy, creamy sweet treats - CCC's? (crunchy, chewy, creamy ;) ).

I hope you had a good Thanksgiving! Here is a recipe for one of the cookies I made. It took a few tries for these to come out good, but once they did they were great! These are like Little Debbie's Oatmeal Creme Pies (without the additives). They were gone pretty fast.

For the filling, I just made a simple powdered sugar frosting: Beat together a few tablespoons lard or shortening and about 3 cups powdered sugar, adding enough water for the right consistency. Add vanilla and maybe some spices - to taste ;).

Oatmeal Creme Pies (Gluten, Dairy, Corn-free)
Adapted from Sugar Bananas


1 cup lard (or shortening)
1 1/4 cups sugar (brown or white)
2 tablespoons molasses or sorghum syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla, optional
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups oat flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/2 cups safe quick oats

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Cream lard, sugars, molasses and vanilla. Add eggs one at a time, mixing completely after each addition. Add remaining ingredients and mix until well combined.

3. Drop small teaspoons onto greased cookie sheets. Bake for 6 to 9 minutes (depending on how big they are), until set on top. The bottoms will be medium to dark brown.


~ Hanunyah


P.S. We've had a few long nights = my brain is tired, so don't expect long posts the next few days ;).


Linked to Foodie Friday and Frugal Friday
       

Thanksgiving

There are many things to be thankful for. During this day of giving of thanks, let us not forget to . . . give thanks. We are so blessed, there are countless "things to be thankful for". Just a few that come to mind for me are: living in a free country (though it may not seem very free anymore, it really is. Just look at North Korea) - namely Oklahoma, living on a ranch with animals that produce food for us, a warm house ready for winter, helpful and hard-working brothers, my little brother that doesn't cease to make us laugh, being one of seven sisters . . . the list goes on, but I am very thankful for my large family and the ranch God has given us in OK, teaching me to fear God, be responsible, and be thankful for the little things that happen everyday - Such as my little brother that has DS, he puts a smile on our faces when he waves from the balcony in the morning when he gets up, or my other brother who is always excited when there is some kind of kitchen flop awaiting him.

Have a happy, thankful Thanksgiving! We are hoping to have Thanksgiving here at our house this year . . . with the neighbors, family and friends. That way it is easy to control what food is brought - it is hard when we go to other people's houses, because my little brother is very sensitive to cow dairy - even a drop of butter on his hand and he'll break out in a rash . . . let alone if he eats any. It is scary - he has choking episodes (where he can't breath) that he could very well die of. That's what I mean by scary. It is that bad.

Anyway, here are some recipes that would be great for your Thanksgiving meal. I hope to post about our thanksgiving day in the next few days. Have a happy allergen-free Thanksgiving!
Sorry these recipes are somewhat jumbled . . . I need to go. For more recipes, you may go to my Recipe Archives.

Fudge Brownies
Maple Walnut Bars
Cinnamon Swirls
Apple Muffins
Brown Sugar Cinnamon Coffee Cake
Pumpkin Roll
Sweet Potato Cake
Mashed Potato Fudge
Lollipop/Suckers
Black Gold Cookies (you gotta include something chocolate, right? These are AWESOME!)
Gingersnap Cookies
Molasses Cookies
Pumpkin Cookies
PumpkinSnap Cookies
Banana (or fruit) Ice-Cream (isn't ice-cream welcome?)
Layer Bars (like Seven Layer Bars!)
Oatmeal Cookies 2
Apple Pie, Mock
Fudge Pie
Bread Pudding
Pumpkin Buckle
Pumpkin Pudding
Pumpkin, Zucchini or Apple Bread
Autumn Pumpkin Spice Fudge


Remember to always be thankful . . . 
~ Hanunyah

Bread Pudding

Tuesday some friends came over to butcher a pig. I made this while they were here, and as soon as I cut it and said that they could have some, it was like the locusts came in! It was only about 5 minutes until the pan looked like this, and it was a 10x13 inch pan (a doubled recipe)! -

So, I guess it was good! I sliced a peach over the bread (before baking), and the one time I made it before I used the raisins. Old, dry pancakes work well in this recipe (that's what I used the first time, and the second time I used pancakes and "rice bread" - cornbread recipe, with rice flour instead of cornmeal).

Bread Pudding (Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Corn-free)
Adapted from AllRecipes.com

7 slices worth of old GF, DF, CF bread, pancakes or rice bread*
2 tablespoons oil
raisins or fruit (optional)
4 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon maple (or vanilla) extract
2 cups goat milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Break bread into small pieces into an 8x8 inch baking pan*. Drizzle oil over bread. If desired, sprinkle with raisins or sliced fruit.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, spices and maple extract. Add the milk and beat until well mixed. Pour over bread.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until the top springs back when lightly tapped.

Notes:
*The bread - if you're not sure how much bread to use, just fill the pan with pieces of the bread product you're using until the pan is about 2/3 full. My family liked it with more bread, so it wasn't so gooey like a custard, but it was actually kind of spongy. They liked it like that, but if you like it more like a custard, then you may use less bread. I hope that makes sense ;).
**The baking pan - I used a 6x11 inch pan for when I didn't double the recipe, and a 10x13 inch pan when I doubled it. If you double it, you'll have to bake it longer. I don't know how much longer I baked it when I doubled it, I just left it in the oven until it was done.

Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Corn-free bread pudding, before "the locusts" came ;).

~ 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

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