Bread Pudding (gluten free of course)

 What do you do when you make the Thanksgiving rolls too dark?? You turn them into bread pudding!

Gluten Free Bread Pudding

6 slices gluten free bread

3 T melted butter

1/2 C apples, diced

4 eggs, beaten

2 C Milk

3/4 c sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp pie spice

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 deg.  Spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray, Tear bread into cubes and spread evenly on the bottom of the pan. Pour the melted butter over the bread. Sprinkle with apple pieces. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs until whites and yolks are combined. Add in milk, sugar, spices, and vanilla extract. 

Pour the mixture over the bread evenly. Press down to make sure the bread is soaking up the liquids. 

Bake 45 min in the 350 deg oven or until the bread springs back when you push on it. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly. Top with vanilla sauce. 

Vanilla Sauce

1/2 C brown sugar

2 T Corn Starch

Pinch Cinnamon

1 egg

1 1/4 c Milk

2 T Melted Butter

pinch salt

For vanilla sauce, whisk 1/2 cup of light brown sugar, the corn starch, a pinch of cinnamon, 1 egg, 2 tablespoons of melted butter, 1 1/4 cups of whole milk, and salt together in a heavy saucepan until smooth. Heat over medium heat, whisking constantly, until thickened and the sauce coats the back of a spoon, 10 to 12 minutes. Stir in the vanilla extract. Pour sauce over warm bread pudding, or serve on the side in a bowl.

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes-gluten free style

    I am, as you know, addicted to Pinterest. This recipe has circulated Pinterest and facebook. Today I am snowed in.....so I decided it would be a great day to try these Cinnamon Roll Pancakes and turn them gluten free.
    They are very easy to make and maybe take an extra 10-15 minutes more than regular pancakes. They are very yummy. However, they are super sweet so you will want to serve some fruit on the side to balance the super sweet.
    Oh......and unlike the recipe circulating the Internet, I used a pancake mix. If you want to make yours from scratch then by all means do that and you will get a gold star for the extra effort. Otherwise...just use your favorite pancake mix and mix it according to the directions on the box. Drizzle the cinnamon filling on and finish it off with the drizzle when done and enjoy!!

Cinnamon Filling
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons brown sugar
11/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Combine the above ingredients and drizzle (in a circular swirl) over the pancake batter on the griddle. (approximately 3/4 T per pancake, depending on pancake size)

Cream Cheese Glaze
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
2-ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine the above ingredients and drizzle over warm cinnamon roll pancakes.

I hope you enjoy these!!

-Jessica

Product Review: Crunchmaster Cheezy Crisps & Grammy Crisps

     Without further adieu.....my product review for the New Crunchmaster products!!! I have been trying to find a free moment to sit down and write the review for these. I have FINALLY found a chunk of time to do it....so I had better get this posted before someone decides I need to be doing something else! ha

     Crunchmaster was kind enough to send me a review box that contained their two new products. Cheezy Crisps and Grammy Crisps. I was more excited than a kid at Christmas when the UPS man brought the box. Some of you may have caught my picture of the box on the USASillyYaks facebook page. I have been looking forward to these products for MONTHS now!! I have been so excited. I used to LOVE cheesey crackers back in my gluten filled days (Cheez-its, goldfish, etc). So I could not wait to tear into the boxes and get started. Here is what I thought........

 

     I think that these are an OK product. I think they could be better. I was envisioning a cheese cracker more like a cheez-it or a goldfish....puffy, crunchy, with baked in cheese. Cheezy Crisps are ok, but they are more of a rice cracker with cheese dusted on the outside. That product can already be found in the gluten free market, granted it isn't in a triangle shape...but it's mostly the same taste. I was really hoping for a bolder cheese tasted that was baked into the cracker.

     To sum it up...these are ok. I may buy them but I probably won't crave them.

Now on to the Grammy Crisps...............

 



     Again, I was super excited about this product. I used to LOVE the cinnamon and sugar graham crackers. So I was very excited to give this a try. I'm also a HUGE fan of the Cinnamon Chex. However, again, I really think that the Crunchmaster product fell through with the flavor. It seems like the flavor is just sort of dusted on the outside, so it was like a rice cracker with a small amount of cinnamon and sugar on the outside. The flavor wasn't strong enough for me.
     I didn't hate it. I probably won't crave it either though.....

I really hope that Crunchmaster goes back and amps up the flavors on these two products. They have great potential and would really fill a needed niche. Those are just MY thoughts on the product....if you have tried them leave me a note and let me know what YOU thought.

-Jessica

Basic Muffins turned into Three Different Kinds of Muffins!!

   I have been preparing wildly for tonight's Relay for Life event. I have been packing my bags of campsite decorations, gathering donations, checking with my team to be sure they are ready...and then it hit me...what in the world are you going to eat? The snacks and such that are served are not usually gluten free. You will have to take FOOD!! UGH....so I decided to bake muffins. I couldn't decide on a flavor though...so I just made three kinds. They turned out pretty good so I thought I would share the recipe with you!

Basic Muffins

2 C. Gluten Free Flour Mixture
1/2 tsp. Xantham Gum
1/2 C. Sugar
1/2 tsp. Salt
2tsp. Baking Powder
1 1/4 C. Milk
2 Eggs
3 T. Oil OR 5 T Applesauce
1tsp. Vanilla

Combine all ingredients. Divide batter into muffin tins generously sprayed with cooking spray. Bake at 350 Deg. for 15-20 minutes.

I divided my batter into thirds and added the following ingredients in to make 3 different kinds of muffins. 

Blueberry Muffins
1/3 of the batter recipe from above
1/2 -1 C Fresh blueberries
1/2 tsp. Almond Extract.

Mix together and bake as directed

Apple Cinnamon
1/3 of the batter recipe from above
1/2 C Applesauce
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. Pie Spice

Mix together and bake as directed.

Lemon Yogurt
1/3 of the batter recipe from above
2 tsp. Lemon juice
1/2 tsp. Lemon extract
1 Cup Lemon yogurt

Mix together and bake as directed.

I used applesauce instead of oil in the basic batter.

Adorable cuppeycake wrappers with awareness ribbons on them.

Divide the batter into thirds.

Lemon yogurt muffin batter

Blueberry!

The 3 different kinds of muffins.

The recipe came out making 15 muffins, so I had to use a 2nd muffin tin.

Yummy finished product! Mm Mmm Mmmm!

Blueberry came out super fluffy and yummy!

Applesauce was very moist and good flavor.

Lemon yogurt came out very very moist, could use a little more lemon flavor. Next time I will buy a lemon and put in some zest.

Cinnamon Roll Cake, gluten free of course and A-mazing!

     There has been a recipe on Pinterest going round and round. I converted the gluten-full recipe to gluten free before I started blogging. One of our new members to the facebook page found the picture that I took of the yummy cake when I had made it and requested the recipe. I decided that I may as well make it into a blog post because that cake is A-Mazing!! This cake needs to be on record!!
     I think that this cake is THE PERFECT answer to a cinnamon roll for folks who are gluten free. I have tried making cinnamon rolls gluten free and I can't get them perfect. I am then, of course, frustrated and still have the craving. However, this cake fixes all that. It is quick to mix up, moist, dreamy, warm, and soooo yummy. It's perfect for a gluten free cinnamon roll craving! LOVE IT!

Cinnamon Roll Cake - Gluten Free

Cake:
3 c. Gluten Free Flour Mix
1/2 tsp. Xanthan Gum
1/4 tsp.salt
1 c. sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 c. milk
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. butter, melted

Cinnamon Swirl:
1 c. butter, softened
1 c. brown sugar
2 T. Gluten Free Flour Mix
1 T. cinnamon

Mix everything together except for the butter. Slowly stir in the melted butter and pour into a greased 9x13 pan. For the cinnamon swirl, mix all the ingredients together until well combined. Drop evenly over the batter and swirl with a knife. Bake at 350 for 28-32 minutes.

Glaze:
2 c. powdered sugar
5 Tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla


While the cake is still warm drizzle the glaze over the top. Serve warm.

The cake batter goes together super fast.

I think that honestly the cinnamon swirl does best when you almost melt the butter completely instead of just soften it.

Swirl with a knife and into the oven it goes.

Glaze while the cake is still warm and serve warm.

This cake is SOoooooo yummy and is a great cure for those cinnamon roll cravings.

I hope you enjoy this gluten free version of Cinnamon Roll Cake. I know I do!

-Jessica