Gorilla Bread...individual sized and gluten free!!!

     I'm super excited to share this recipe with you guys. I think you just may love it. I guess even if you don't love it, I still love it.
     I was Pinteresting (I may or may not have just made up that word) the other day and ran across this recipe for Paula Deen's Gorilla Bread. Well my gal Paula uses canned biscuits in her recipe and unfortunately those are SO not gluten free. However, she has this genius idea of using cream cheese. I'm a fan of cream cheese. I had run across a gluten free monkey bread recipe a while back (also on pinterest). SO I meshed these two ideas, added my own twists and I have come up with individual sized gluten free gorilla bread. GET EXCITED!!

Individual Size Gluten Free Gorilla Bread

3 egg whites
1 tablespoon oil
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup Gluten Free Flour Blend
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2  teaspoons xanthan gum
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Filling:
4 Tablespoons Butter OR margarine (melted)
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Cream Cheese (6 teaspoon size pieces)

Preheat oven to 350 deg. Generously spray a 6 cup muffin tin with cooking spray.  In a small bowl beat egg whites until frothy and semi stiff. Add in the remaining dough ingredients and mix until thick. This will take a few minutes to get the dough thick. Keep that electric mixer going for a while. You will notice a change in the texture of the mixture.

Combine the filling ingredients in a small bowl. Using a spoon, put a small amount of the filling mixture into the bottom of the muffin tin holes. Layer about 3 drops of dough ontop of the mixture. Spoon a little more of the filling mixture ontop of the dough balls. Top with the small slice of cream cheese. Top the cream cheese with a couple more spoons of dough.Try to completely cover the cream cheese and make a "seal" with the dough.  Put the remaining filling mixture ontop of the last layer of dough.

Bake at 350 deg. for 20-25 min. You may want to place a cookie sheet or foil under the muffin tin. It may bubble over. Cook until browned.

Remove from the oven and serve warm. Pop the gorilla breads out of the muffin cups and drizzle the syrup that is in the bottom of the muffin cups ontop of the warm bread.

This recipe makes 6 gorilla breads, you could double or triple the recipe for a larger family.

This recipe moves pretty quick, it is easiest to just have everything you need out and ready to go.

Beat the egg whites until they are almost stiff (think meringue)

Put a little filing mixture in the bottom of the muffin cup and top with about 3 teaspoons of dough.

Add a little of the filling and top with the slice of cream cheese

Top the cream cheese with another layer of dough. Drizzle the remaining topping over the last layer and into the oven it goes!

Enjoy!!!

-Jessica

Christmas has come early.....I found something amazing.

     I found something amazing. However we are keeping this a secret between you and I. OK? OK! I don't want the world buying up all of these limited edition cinnamon and sugar chips. So keep it hush hush!!
    I had heard a little rumor that Mission had a cinnamon and sugar chip out for the holidays. So while at the store today I had to see if my store had them. YES!!! I bought two bags without even tasting them. However now after tasting them I am contemplating going back and clearing the rack! ha

    I am a huge Mission fan to begin with. Their tortilla chips are my fave! This new flavor is amazingariffic!! I am in hopes that it sticks around long after the holidays have passed. I would buy them year round and I'm sure I'm not the only person out there that would. So Mission Company if you are listening, KEEP THESE CHIPS YEAR ROUND!! OK? OK!
    One more great thing.....Mission has this bag clearly labeled gluten free. I LOVE companies that take the time to label things clearly. I will promote companies like that until the cows come home.

I love companies that clearly label!

     Now I just need to think of an amazing dip to go with these. Apple pie dip??? However, they are quite yummy on their own.

     So remember that you promised to keep quiet about this amazing find. And if you live in my town....save some for me!!

Enjoy!!!

-Jessica

Hot Chocolate Rice Krispie Treats

      I had a vision of making rice krispie treats and then dipping them in a hot chocolate flavored chocolate. However, I just couldn't decide how I was going to get the hot chocolate taste into the chocolate without ending up with nasty hot chocolate powder lumps in the chocolate. ICK! I suppose if I would have worked on it and experimented I could have figured it out, but I decided to try this experiment out instead. I'd have to say I think it came out well and there are NO nasty lumps of hot chocolate powder ha!
      So I put up a little guessing game on the USASillyYaks Facebook page today. Your clue was a package of hot chocolate mix. Did any of you guess Hot Chocolate Rice Krispie Treats?? NO? Well that's the snack of the day today!!

Here is your clue picture. Look familiar? Ok....now on to the recipe

Hot Chocolate Rice Krispie Treats

1 Stick  (8 T) of Butter Or Margarine

1 Package of Mini Marshmallows (10.5 oz)

7 C. Gluten Free Rice Krispies Cereal

2 envelopes hot chocolate mix (about 6-7 T)

Topping:

Handful of mini marshmallows

Melted Milk Chocolate Chips (1/2 Cup approximately)

Melt the butter in a large saucepan on low heat. Stir in the hot chocolate mix. Allow the granules to dissolve completely. Add in the marshmallows and cook until mixture is completely melted and well blended. Stir constantly!!  Turn off the heat and add the cereal. Mix well making sure to coat all of the cereal.

Press into a 9x13 pan, coated well with cooking spray. Top with the handful of mini marshmallows and let cool completely.

Place the chocolate chips in a microwave safe container. Heat them in the microwave until melted. (cook for about 30 sec. stir, cook another 30 and stir...repeat until they are melted). Spoon the melted chocolate into a snack baggie (Ziploc baggie). Snip the tip of the baggie off with scissors and pipe the chocolate onto the rice krispie treats. Swirl it back and forth...making a pretty chocolate drizzle. Allow the chocolate to set up and then cut the bars into squares. Store in an airtight container.

Melt the butter in a large pan. Add the hot chocolate mix and stir until the mix is completely dissolved.

Add the marshmallows and stir constantly until melted.

Keep stirring, I saw you take a break there......

Remove from heat and stir in the Rice Krispies Cereal

Press into a 9x13 pan and sprinkle the handful of mini marshmallows on top.

let the mixture cool

Using your mock pastry bag (Ziploc with the corner cut) drizzle chocolate over the pan of treats.

Enjoy!!

-Jessica



My Ham Dilemma and a Ham Glaze Recipe

     I always always always buy Hormel ham. It's gluten free, tastes amazing, always yummy. However, I just could NOT justify spending the $43 dollars on the single Hormel ham left at the grocery store today. I needed it for one meal for just me. We have a family Christmas to attend this weekend, and I always bring my own food. It saves alot of headaches. I always try to bring similar food to what everybody else is eating. They are having ham for dinner. I thought "no problem". UGH, until I saw that darn $43 dollar ham! ha
     I traveled to another store, absolutely zero Hormel hams. So I started looking at all of the other brands available. They had a package of a few slices of this yummy looking ham. I called the company. They told me that their ham was gluten free, but usually their packaging company put flour on the packaging so that the ham wouldn't stick to it (weird). The lady told me that "but you could just wash that off." I chuckled at her and that then led to a educational lesson for her on cross contamination and how that ham was no longer gluten free. Sometimes calling companies is exhausting and amusing.
      I moved around to check out more of the hams.....I spied this cute little ham. It was adorable. It was not HUGE. I picked it up. Turned it over to read the label and in huge black letters it said GLUTEN FREE!!! Oh my gosh I LOVE this company! So obviously this is the ham I bought. It was a perfect size, it didn't require a loan to purchase it, and it was safe!

Look at those beautiful words "Gluten Free"

    Here is the one catch to my little plan. I LOVE spiral cut ham with a glaze. My cute little ham was not spiral cut, and it did not have a glaze.........now I had a dilemma on my hands.  Ok maybe dilemma is a little too dramatic of a description. ha Never fear though...........I just made my own glaze!!
   
Amazingly Easy Ham Glaze
1/2 C. Brown Sugar
2 T. Honey
2 T. Ham drippings (liquid from the ham)
2 T Seasoned Water (don't worry I'll explain this one)

Mix the ingredients above together and brush on your favorite ham. You may need to double this recipe for a larger ham.

Seasoned water: 1 Celestial Seasonings Apple Cinnamon Tea Bag, 1 C Water, and citrus peel (orange, clementine). Boil on the stove for a few min. You will need about 2 Tablespoons of this seasoned water for your glaze recipe.

This is my pan of "seasoned water" I had some clementine peels, tea bag, and water.

The cute little ham had a netting on it that needed to be removed before the glaze was added.

Since my ham was not spiral cut, I used a knife and made slits in it for the glaze.

Brush or pour the yummy glaze all over the ham. Make sure it makes into all of the sliced pieces.

Bake according to the directions for your ham. Remove the ham from the oven about 1/2 way through the cooking time and baste the ham in the glaze. Continue cooking.

Enjoy!

Chex Mix....it's just not the holidays without it.

     There are just certain things that must be around during the holidays. Certain recipes that have to be made. Bags of goodies that are expected to be available at all times to munch on. Chex mix is one of them!!
      Of course, making it gluten free you just have to get a little creative with what you put into it. Those little bagel chips are not gf (until some genius comes out with those). Of course the wheat chex have to be left out of the traditional recipe. Spices and brands must be checked to be sure they are gluten free. However, in my opinion the left out stuff isn't really missed.
      I also tweak the recipe in the seasoning department. The original recipe calls for onion salt. I don't keep onion salt on hand, and I hate to buy it for one recipe that I make once a year. So I leave it out and bump up the other two spices.
      Here is my version of Chex Mix:

Chex Party Mix

4 1/2 C. Corn Chex
4 1/2 C. Rice Chex
2 C. Gluten Free Pretzels
2 C. Cheetos
6 T. Butter or Margarine
2 T. Worcestershire Sauce
2 tsp. Seasoned Salt
1 tsp. Garlic Powder

Heat oven to 250°F. In large bowl, mix cereals, pretzels and cheetos; set aside. In ungreased large roasting pan, melt butter in oven. Stir in seasonings. Gradually stir in cereal mixture until evenly coated. Bake 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Spread on paper towels to cool, about 15 minutes. Store in airtight container.

Check the brands of all of your spices and ingredients to be sure that they are gluten free!

Stir the mixture well to be sure that everything is coated before putting it into the oven.

This is the chex mix BEFORE going into the oven.



See how the party mix is golden and browned after coming out of the oven. MMm

Knockoff Glutenfree Lofthouse Cookies and an adventure gone wrong!

   I am either fortunate or unfortunate enough to have had many years of my life where I could eat gluten. I used to LOVE those little cookies that you buy in the bakery department. They always had pastel colored frosting and sprinkles. They were soft baked sugar cookies and they were AMAZING. However, they are also filled with gluten so now they are out. I just drool over them when I walk by them in the stores.
     The other day I was checking out Pinterest and saw a recipe for cookies that were supposed to be JUST LIKE Lofthouse cookies!! I pinned the recipe and decided I would have to give them a try sometime. I also decided that they would make a great base recipe for this other cute idea I had seen. You turn a circle shaped cookie into what looks like a melted snowman.
    So today I decided I would convert the lofthouse recipe into gluten free and make the snowman cookies. I made the cookies and then went to start on the decorating.....OOPS I bought the wrong size marshmallows, and I don't have the right ingredients to make the right kind of icing. OH geez...this isn't turning out very well at all. So my snowmen turned out pretty darn ugly!! They were NOT the cute and adorable things that I had pictured. Mine were downright scary! So I ended up pulling the little marshmallows off the cookies, making the knockoff lofthouse icing and coating the cookies with a second layer of icing. I topped that second layer with sprinkles and the ugly cookies were now beautiful!! So the epic fail turned into a save!! YEAH!!! I may give the melted snowcookies a try another day when I have the right ingredients gathered. But for now...
      Here are some pictures for your laughing pleasure.............

This is how the Melted Snowman Cookies were SUPPOSED to look

This is how mine was shaping up to look.....epic fail!

This is all the snowmen laid out....but not decorated. I didn't get the right size Marshmallows AND didn't have ingredients for the right kind of icing to decorate them further. UGH! SO I dis-assembled them and made them beautiful pink cookies!

These look SO much prettier than the scary snowmen!

So I will also share the Knockoff Lofthouse recipe....I don't think it is exactly like lofthouse, but it does make a good cookie. I also cut the recipe in half.....the original non gf recipe used 6 cups of flour!!! I couldn't justify using 6 cups on an experimental recipe. Gluten free flour is TOO expensive.

    

Lofthouse Style Frosted Sugar Cookies

Cookies:

3 cups gluten free flour blend
1/2 tsp. Xanthan Gum
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 c. butter, at room temperature
1 c. granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla extract
3/4 c. sour cream

Frosting:

1/2 c. butter, room temperature
1/2 t. vanilla extract
2 c. powdered sugar
3 T. heavy cream OR Evaporated Milk
Several drops food coloring
Multi-colored Sprinkles

Directions:
In the bowl of a stand mixer with the flat beater attached, cream the butter and granulated sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Add the eggs, one at a time beating until each is incorporated. Add the vanilla and sour cream and beat at low speed until combined.

Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed until just combined, scraping down the bowl as needed. Dough will be a bit “sticky”. Chill the dough for approximately an hour and a half in the refrigerator.

Use about 1 tablespoon of the chilled dough, roll it into a ball in your hands. Work quickly so the dough doesn't get warm in your hands. Place the ball on a well greased cookie sheet. Flatten the dough down with the bottom of a glass. Continue filling your cookie sheet. Place the unused dough back into the fridge while the batch of cookies bake.

Bake at 425 deg. for about 10 min. or until cookies are a golden brown color.

To make the frosting, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and vanilla. Slowly beat in the powdered sugar. Once smooth and creamy, add in heavy cream, 1 tablespoon at a time until the desired spreading consistency is achieved. If desired, add food coloring and beat until combined.

Once cookies have cooled completely, frost and add sprinkles. Allow frosting to set, then store in an air-tight container. Let cookies sit for several hours before serving to allow the flavors to develop.

Roll the chilled dough into balls

Flatten the dough with the bottom of a glass.

Bake at 425 until golden brown (about 10 min.)

Frost with the beautiful pink frosting (or whatever color you chose)

Add lots of sprinkles and be SO glad you didn't make the awful snowmen! ha