No flour peanut butter cookies

I've seen this recipe around and around. I think it might be a Betty Hagman recipe, but I can't be sure. It was mentioned again this month in Living Without magazine. I finally caved and gave it a spin.

Wha wha whYYYYYYYY was I waiting?? I am officially going to rename this recipe 20 Minute Cookies- and by that I mean from start to finish. And by finish I mean out of the oven. Yeah.

Or maybe they should be called Naptime Cookies. They're quiet... shhhh... no mixer so I don't have to haul everything downstairs as to not wake Lil Woogie.

Yummy and fast.

Twenty Minute Naptime Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
From: Betty Hagman??? Living Without???

1 cup regular sugar
1 cup peanut butter (creamy)
1 egg
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Mix peanut butter, sugar, and egg together. Once combined, add chocolate chips, mix in, and then form into small balls, flatten slightly, and put on greased cookie sheet. Bake 10 minutes (check them after 8 ), cool on a rack. Makes about a dozen and a half small cookies.

Eat all in one sitting.
Repeat.

Lasagna!

We've been using the Tinkyada gluten-free pastas for a while. They are good- no aftertaste and a good consistency. I have been a little wary of using them in baked pasta dishes because there seems to be a small window of cooking time before they get mushy, despite the boxes' claim that they can take a good deal of overcooking.

I decided to bite the bullet and try the lasagna noodles. I've been craving it lately, and I'm also trying to think of good dishes to make for Ellie's party. I haven't seen these noodles in the regular grocery store. Jewel & Streck & Von Til usually carry a good selection of the other Tinkyada brands. I found these noodles at the Gluten Free Grocery in Westchester, so I thought I'd give them a try.

The package says to cook them for 15-16 minutes, 3 minutes less if baking. I cooked mine for 10 minutes and I thought that was the perfect amount. I laid them out on paper towels after rinsing with cold water. They were easy to work with and most didn't break.

I layered them in the lasagna and they held up great when I spread the sauce and the ricotta mixture. I baked it covered for 25 minutes covered with foil and 20 without the foil to brown the top. Next time I will bake it for 15 covered and 20 uncovered as the noodles were ever so slightly overdone. Leftovers were even pretty good, which is remarkable for gluten free pasta!

Overall:
Pros:
* easy to work with
* good taste without an aftertaste
* not mushy!

Cons:
* can't think of any!

Verdict:
Two thumbs up! Even Geo said he couldn't tell it was gluten free! Score!

Happy Fall & cupcake time

Wow!
We've been a little behind on this blog. Between the kids, work, school and trying to sneak in a little rest here and again, we really haven't been able to keep this blog alive.

I'm going to make a sincere effort. I know how much I rely on other blogs to help me out in the realm of gluten-free baking. I'd love to share what I've learned with others. Gluten-free products are really expensive & it stinks when you have to throw it immediately in the trash because it is disgusting.

I've been doing a lot of baking lately. Hopefully I can get caught up with everything I've been trying lately. Let's start slowly...



I've never really been one for mixes. I never understood why people bought brownie mixes, because brownies are so easy to make from scratch. Also homemade is so much tastier. When Ellie first got diagnosed we received a HUGE basket of food & information from the U of C Celiac Center. I was cleaning the cabinets last week & thought I should get rid of some of the old mixes.

I made the Namaste brand chocolate cake mix. I'd only tried the pizza crust mix before (which is decent), but I had heard good things about the chocolate cake mix. Instead of the cake, I made 24 cupcakes. I had some batter left over, which I discarded. I made a simple vanilla frosting(also from scratch... don't get me started on the store bought frostings...) and I let Ellie decorate them with sprinkles.

Let's break it down:
Pros:
*Easy to make
* Great chocolate taste
* Very moist
* Good consistency/ not crumbly
* Made nice cupcakes
* No weird gluten-free aftertaste
* Compares very well to my Kahlua Cake (scratch)

Cons:
*Very dense- I caution eating one without a glass of milk handy. Not the worst thing in the world. I wouldn't call them light or airy, but then what gluten-free item is?


Verdict:
Thumbs up!!!