Almond-Apricot Bread

Gluten-Free Bread just keeps getting better. Imagine the kind of bread you might get at a rustic bed and breakfast with a warm and slightly sweet loaf waiting for you.....

2/3 cup of chestnut flour
1/3 cup of cornstarch
1/3 cup of tapioca starch
1/3 cup of potato starch
1/3 cup of oat bran mixed with flax seeds
1/4 cup of dried milk powder
3 tablespoons of sugar or sweetener

1 cup of water
1 egg plus an extra egg white
1/2 teaspoon of cider vinegar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon of almond extract
3 Tablespoons of oil

1 1/2 teaspoons of xantham gum
1 teaspoon of gelatin
2 1/4 teaspoons of yeast
1 teaspoon of salt

[1/2 cup of chopped apricots and flaked almonds]

Mix all of the wet ingredients together, put them in the bread machine, then add the dry ingredients except for the yeast. Make a little thumbprint and add the yeast inside. Or follow the instructions of your bread machine. (Add 1/2 cup of flaked almonds and chopped apricots according to how your bread machine handles additional ingredients)

Pumpkin Muffins!

I love pumpkin and butternut squash so much that I never wait until fall to bake with it, but it's almost October and I wouldn't be true to myself if I didn't post a pumpkin muffin. These little orange beauties are perfect all year round and make everyone's tummy happy.

1 and a half cups of amy ruth's baking mix
1 cup of pumpkin puree
2 eggs
1/4 cup of oil
1/4 cup of pear puree
1/4 cup of sweetener
2 tablespoons of maple syrup
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1/4 cup of flax seeds

How to Bake Looking Fabulous

There are many things I can do well, baking is one of them. Looking current and chic is not. I spent 2 years wearing Lululemon workout clothes, through my pregnancy and for a whole year afterwards. But then a truly extraordinary woman, Sarah Hogan, walked into my life and turned my old pieces into major fashion statements. A day with Sarah is better than a day at a spa. You're left with your old wardroble, spruced up without the clutter of your old clothes that you don't know what to do with. After a day of Sarah, I feel purged, decluttered, and I know exactly what to throw on and look like a thirty something year old woman with a real wardrobe. I don't know anyone else who admits to using a personal stylist, but I say it how it is.... somtimes we all need a little help.

http://www.sarahhoganstylist.com

Chestnut Flour Muffins

On a recent trip to New York, my mother made my blueberry muffin recipe from this blog, added one mashed banana, and they were delicious. Along with that, she bought a bag of chestnut flour that I could experiment with. So in the midst of fatigue and jet-lag at 5am, I made a batch of muffins primarily made of chestnut flour. This flour could be a new favorite!!

1 cup of chestnut flour
1/2 cup of potato starch
1/8 cup of flax seeds
1 teaspoon of xantham gum
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 cup of apple puree
1/4 cup of vegetable oil
1/2 cup of yogurt
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
dash of salt
1/2 cup of cut up strawberries
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/3 cup of sweetener or sugar (to taste)

Mix wet ingredients together and add to mixed dry ingredients. Mix until smooth. Fold in the strawberries or any fresh or dried fruit of choice. Bakes approximately 10 muffins. Bake at preheated 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes.

Gluten Free Bread that even your mother- in-law will love

I do love my husband's mother. She's a wonderful baker. But she, like many others, think that gluten free bread tastes "gluten free." Millet and almond flour give this a sweet and healthy taste. Using tricks like gelatin and xanthan gum will make you say goodbye to any gluten-free tasting bread! The last day of my summer in La Jolla, I made my mother-in-law taste it. If only I had a tape recorder as she said "this is good."
Cinnamon makes the whole house smell amazing and the day it's baked, my toddler goes nuts for it!

2 cups of amy ruth's baking mix
1 teaspooon of unflavored gelatin
2 tablepoons of sugar or sweetener. (I use erythritol and I use 3 to make a sweeter bread)
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1/4 cup of dry buttermilk powder
2 1/4 teaspoons of dry yeast granules
1 egg plus 1 egg white
1/2 teaspooon of cider vinegar
1 cup of water
3 tablespoons of oil

Using a bread machine, follow the directions of your own bread machine as each is different. With mine, I put in all of the wet ingredients first. Then pour the dry ingredients on top without the yeast. Make a little well in the dry ingredients and put the yeast inside. Do a regular loaf setting. (With my machine, it took 3 and 3/4 hours)

Delicious Gluten Free Bread!

Since I have some free time spending the summer in La Jolla, I decided to discover how to make some amazing batches of gluten free bread that anyone would love. I prefer Genius bread in London to Udi's in the States. But I'm on the quest to beat both of them. This recipe was done in a bread machine. Light, brown, healthy, crusty, all the things you want your bread to be.

1 ¼ cup of almond milk
2 Tablespoons of sugar
1 Tablepoon of active dry yeast
½ cup of millet flour
½ cup sorghum flour
1 cup potato starch
½ cup tapioca flour
½ cup flax meal
1 ¼ t xanthan gum
1 ¼ t guar gum
2 Tablespoons of maple syrup
3 eggs
3 Tablespoons canola oil
2 teaspoons cider vinegar
1 Tab;espoon honey
1 Tablespoon of juice (I used lemonade)
1/8 cup of ground pecans
2 teaspoons of cinnamon

PS. Baby Jake isn't a fan of bread but he ate a whole piece when it was freshly baked....

Chocolate Cherry Cake

When I think of summer fruits as as child, the first thing that comes to mind are big, red, sweet and firm cherries. My brother and I had a ritual of searching for the ones with the stems joined together and saving them since they were the "good luck" ones. Today, Uncle Jason eats cake for breakfast so this chocolate cherry cake is for him.

1 1/2 cups of amy ruth's flour
1/2 cup of cocoa powder
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 tablespoon of brewed espresso
3 eggs
1/2 cup of pear puree

1/2 cup of yogurt
1/3 cup of maple syrup
1/3 cup of sugar or sweetener of choice
1/4 cup of oil
1/2 cup of pitted cherries

Mix the dry ingredients together and then beat in the wet ingredients until completely mixed. Fold in the pitted cherries. Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven in a 9 by 5 loaf pan for 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.