gluten-free eats

These breakfast cookies are made with powdered peanut butter (also known as peanut flour) which makes them lower in fat than traditional peanut butter cookies. They're also hearty and delicious, with a firm, chewy texture. Or skip the oven and eat the dough raw.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups rolled oats or quick oats
3/4 cup powdered peanut butter, packed
2 tablespoons chia, hemp seeds, or flax meal
1/4 teaspoon fine salt, heaping
1/4 cup neutral flavored oil
1/4 cup maple syrup or honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons water
2/3 cup chocolate chips (optional)

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This date-sweetened chocolate frosting doesn't taste like your standard frosting with all the fat and refined sugar, but if you can't have that—or don't want it—this is a fair replacement. It's thick and smooth, spreads easily, and has the texture and feel you'd expect from frosting. It's great on brownies.

Ingredients:

100 grams pitted dates (~1/2 cup)
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
60 mL warm water (1/4 cup)
85 grams unsalted natural nut butter (1/3 cup)
25 grams cacao powder or unsweetened cocoa powder (1/4 cup)
1 pinch fine salt (optional)
15 mL oil (1 tablespoon, or sub water or nut butter)

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My quest for the perfect blueberry muffin continues. These almond flour muffins from Gluten-Free Goddess are nice and hefty, but have a tender crumb, and a sweet, whole grain taste that's reminiscent of graham crackers. They're full to the brim with blueberries, and bake up with a beautiful dome and a golden crust.

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cups almond flour (145 g)
1 cup sorghum flour (130 g) or oat flour
1/2 cup tapioca starch (70 g) or potato starch
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum

1 1/3 cups brown sugar, packed (185 g)
2 tablespoons oil (20 g)
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup liquid, could be milk (any kind!), juice, or water (more as needed, up to 3/4 cup)

2 cups blueberries, fresh (rinsed and patted dry) or frozen (defrosted, rinsed, and drained) ~300 grams

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Every winter I make a double batch of this cranberry relish. Not only does it give turkey a reason to be eaten, it's also good with ham, pork, and chicken. I never used to like fruit on my meat before I made this stuff.

This is my recipe, but I mostly just wrote it down so I didn't have to keep interpolating between the two recipes I routinely mashed together every year. Because every year I looked at those two recipes—neither of which calls for apples—and was like, "Do I peel these apples??" Yeah, dummy, you do. But you—you, the reader!—don't have to! So consider this a loose set of suggestions. As written, it makes a thick and chunky cranberry sauce that's slightly sweet, with a bonus hit of orange, apple, and cinnamon that'll make your kitchen smell amazing.

APPROXIMATE INGREDIENTS:

2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries, rinsed
1 apple, peeled, cored, and diced
zest from one orange (about 1/2 Tablespoon)
1/4 cup orange juice
10 oz can mandarin oranges, drained
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

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I love these chocolate chip banana muffins because they're tender yet satisfying, and come out of the oven with a beautiful domed top. They're based on these vegan muffins from Beaming Baker. If you want to use a flax egg, check out the original recipe, which also has a nut-free option.

Ingredients:

1 ½ cup oat flour (150 grams)
¾ cup almond flour (65 grams)
2 Tablespoons flax meal (14 grams, optional)
¾ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
2 large, very ripe bananas (~230 grams peeled or 1 cup mashed)
¼ cup oil
¼ cup coconut sugar (40 grams)
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½ cup chocolate chips, heaping (100 grams)
¼ cup walnuts or pecans, chopped (optional)

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Treeline Treenut Cheese: French-Style Soft Cheeses

Scallion Flavor: Flavored with chopped scallions for a tangy flavor and creamy texture.

Now, keep in mind I haven't had any dairy in, well, more than two years, but this stuff tastes just like cream cheese. It's soft and spreadable, and deliciously tangy. I spread it on some homemade crackers and it was all I could do to not eat the whole tub. I also tried it on a sweet apple, but it had a weird aftertaste; maybe it'd be better on a tart apple like a Granny Smith. I would have tried it on toast, but I had to make the bread first, and didn't.

Ingredients: Cashew nuts, filtered water, onion powder, sea salt, dried scallions, lemon juice, L. Acidophilus.

Herb-Garlic flavor: Flavored with fine herbs and garlic for a sophisticated and complex flavor.

Tried this one too, and it tastes very similar to the other, though not nearly as garlicky as I expected/hoped/feared. (I have garlic issues.)

Ingredients: Cashew nuts, filtered water, sea salt, lemon juice, dried scallions, garlic powder, white pepper, onion powder, L. Acidophilus, dried basil, dried oregano.

I found these at Natural Grocers, but Treeline products are available in a lot of places in the US, including Kroger stores. The soft cheese comes in several more flavors, and there's a hard cheese, too. Treeline is made in New York and is gluten free, dairy free, lactose free, soy free, palm oil free, probiotic, vegan, and certified non-GMO. From their FAQ: "No gluten is processed or used in our facility." From the packaging: "We do not process dairy, eggs, meat, fish, shellfish, gluten or peanuts in our facility."

Highly recommended for my dairy-free, soy-free, cashew-capable friends.

This BBQ sauce is sweet and smoky with a nice vinegar tang. I adapted it from Sharon Lachendro's The Best Homemade BBQ Sauce You'll Ever Have at What The Fork.

Ingredients:

Wet:

• 1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
• 1 cup brown sugar, unpacked (134 grams)
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar (3 fluid oz)
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 Tbsp worcestershire sauce

Dry:

• 2 1/2 tsp ground mustard
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp ground black pepper

Non-Newtonian:

• 1 Tbsp cornstarch + 1 Tbsp water

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This recipe appeared on my journal in a slightly different form.

This is a dry spice mix you keep in your cupboard and then sprinkle on things you're cooking. It has lots of flavor without being hot, though you can certainly make it that way.

Based on the esteemed Alton Brown's Taco Potion #19, though in my house we call it "taco poison" because that's just how we are.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt (I use Morton)
1 tablespoon sweet paprika (or smoked, or hot)
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional, for heat)

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