Snap! Our Gluten-Free Gingersnaps - the Best Ever!

Tuesdays with Nana - Bake a Cookie Day

Today, we baked Gingersnaps, gluten-free gingersnaps. Decidedly the best gingersnap cookies any of us have ever eaten. Seph helped with gathering and blending the ingredients and mixing the dough, but both helped with rolling them in granulated sugar before baking.

Papa photobombed us while the gingersnaps were cooling, then tried to snitch one from off the cooling racks before we had a chance to test them ourselves. We caught him red-handed in the kitchen and made him put his cookie back, and wait five more minutes until our "Cookie Party" with Mama.

 We all watched as Mama dunked her gingersnap in coconut milk. Mama said, "Nice and crispy, lots of flavor... the best gluten-free gingersnap cookie I've ever had!"

Sephira and Leif thought the cookie dough had such great taste, they quickly dunked their cookies into rice milk, goggling them down posthaste. They didn't fall apart; crispy on the outside with the slightest bit of chewiness in the center. Perfect!

 

Even Papa agreed that he'd never tasted a finer gingersnap cookie, and well worth the wait.

You too can enjoy our Best-Ever Gingersnaps Cookies!

Ingredients

3/4 cups Butter or Earth Balance (our non-dairy preference)

1 cup Sugar

1/4 cup Molasses

1 Egg

2 cups Effie's All-Purpose Gluten-Free Flour

1/4 teaspoon Salt

2 teaspoons Baking Soda

1 teaspoon ground Cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground Cloves

1 teaspoon ground Ginger

Directions

1. Cream together the butter and sugar.
2. Add the molasses and egg; beat well.
3. In another bowl, using a fork, thoroughly blend the flour and dry ingredients.
4. Add the dry mixture to the butter mixture, and mix until a well-blended doughy consistency.
5. Roll the gingersnap dough into small balls (heaping teaspoon), then coating with granulated sugar.
6. Place the sugared, gingersnap dough balls two inches apart on a greased baking sheet or on a Silpat baking mat (our preference). 
7. Bake in a 375-degree oven for 10-12 minutes. Our's baked for 11 minutes and were perfect.
8. Slide them off the Silpat onto cooling racks.

Enjoy! And don't forget to dunk!

Think what a better world it would be if we all, the whole world, had cookies and milk about three o'clock every afternoon and then lay down on our blankets for a nap. - Barbara Jordan

Thanksgiving Dinner that Your Mama Didn't Make

Creating a sauce that tastes of warm carmel apple with the pleasant and not so over-powering tang of cranberry, was the beginning of putting together a semi-non-traditional Thanksgiving dinner that taste better than any traditional meal I've made in the past. According to my husband, the best ever!

Don't wait until next Thanksgiving to try these recipes - Christmas is just around the corner. Enjoy!

Our Gluten-Free Holiday Menu

• Garlic Mashed Potatoes with Tamari Gravy 
• Tempeh and Sage Loaf with Cranberry Maple Cider Sauce
• Ginger-Glazed Parsnips & Carrots
• Romaine, Red Onion & Orange Salad with Lime Dressing
• Cranberry-Apple Pie

So, let's go through the ingredients and directions for all the recipes. Click here for the cranberry sauce.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes with Gluten-Free Tamari Gravy

Since you probably already know how to make garlic mashed potatoes, I'll only share that we boil white potatoes until soft, then mash them with freshly minced garlic, a cup of non-dairy sour cream, along with some of the reserved potato water in the pot, with sea salt to taste.

Tamari Gravy

You'll love the ease and simplicity of this one!

Ingredients:

1/4 cup Tamari, organic and gluten-free soy sauce (San-J)

1/4 cup Olive Oil

1/4 cup Water

1/4 cup Nutritional Yeast

Directions:

Pour all of the ingredients into a blender and blend until a smooth consistency. While preparing the rest of the meal, I leave the gravy mixture in the blender to give one final blend until ready to pour into a small gravy bowl or pitcher as dinner is about to be served. Yields 1 cup.

Tempeh and Sage Loaf

I thank my daughter for this fabulous gluten-free entree, which she found in the cookbook Casseroles (and Loaves) You Wish Your Mother Had Made (page 99). My husband says it's an excellent alternative to both turkey and stuffing all in one. What I love about this recipe is that you mix the ingredients a day ahead and then on the day you serve it, it slow cooks in a crock pot while you busy away in the kitchen making the side dishes to accompany it.

Ingredients:

1 package plain Tempeh, cubed (8 ounces)

1 small Onion

2 cloves Garlic

2 stalks Celery

1 medium Carrot

1 cup fresh, sliced Mushrooms

2 tablespoons Olive Oil

1 cup gluten-free Bread Crumbs

2 tablespoons Flaxseed mixed with 2 tablespoons Water

2 tablespoons vegan Chicken-Flavored Bouillon

1 teaspoon Thyme

1 teaspoon rubbed Sage

1/2 teaspoon Oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried Rosemary

1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt

Directions:

1. The day before, steam the cubed tempeh for 10 minutes and cool.
2. Using a food processor, mince the onion, garlic, mushrooms, celery and carrot. To avoid the mixture from becoming mushy instead of minced into small bits, I pulsed separately first the onion, then the carrot and celery, and lastly the garlic and mushrooms.
3. After heating the oil on medium heat in a skillet saute the vegetables for a few minutes, only until the onion is translucent.
4.  In a large bowl, crumble the cooled tempeh and add the vegetable saute, the bread crumbs, flaxseed mixture, bouillon, herbs and salt.
5. Mix thoroughly, then refrigerate in a sealed container overnight.
6. Planning ahead when you wish to serve your meal, put the tempeh mixture into the oiled crock pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours (7 is about right). Keep the lid propped open during cooking to keep the condensation from dripping on top on the loaf. You want the top to have a crisp texture; the center will be moist. Use a flat spatula to cut and lift out each serving. Serves 6 

Ginger-Glazed Parsnips & Carrots

This Ginger Glazed Carrots recipe has been one of my favorite holiday side dishes for years; a recipe from Spices of the World Cookbook by McCormick I acquired in 1978. This adaptation includes my other favorite root vegetable, parsnips.

Ingredients:

4 medium Carrots

4 medium Parsnips

1 teaspoon vegetable-based Bouillon, chicken-flavored optional 

1 teaspoon Sugar

1 teaspoon Bon Appetit seasoning, optional

3/4 cup Water

4 tablespoons Butter or butter substitute

1 tablespoon fresh Lemon Juice

3 tablespoons Honey

1/2 teaspoon Ginger powder, or fresh minced

1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg powder, or freshly grated

Parsley

Directions:

1. Wash, peel and slice diagonally carrots and parsnips. 
2. Finely chop some parsley for garnish.
3. In a skillet add the carrots and parsnips, bouillon, water, sugar, Bon Appetit and 1 tablespoon of the butter.
4. Cook covered over medium-high for 10-12 minutes - or until tender, then drain.
5. To the skillet, add the remaining butter, lemon juice, ginger, nutmeg and honey.
6. Cook uncovered over medium heat 2 to 3 more minutes, tossing continually to glaze the carrots and parsnips.
7. Garnish with parsley when serving.
8. Serves 4

Romaine & Orange Salad with Lime Dressing

Dressing - Mix the following ingredients by shaking in a tumbler or by blending in a blender:

2 tablespoons Olive Oil

1/8 teaspoon grated Lime Peel

1 tablespoon fresh Lime Juice

1 large clove Garlic, minced

3/4 teaspoon Sugar

1/8 teaspoon Sea Salt

Salad - Toss together six (6) cups of washed, crisped and torn Romaine Lettuce leaves with 1/2 cup thinly-sliced red onion and 1 can of drained or freshly chopped mandarin oranges. Either drizzle dressing over individual salad servings or toss the dressing with the salad.

Cranberry-Apple Pie

Working with a gluten-free dough can be tricky, especially when trying to make a pie with a lattice top. Photo clearly shows the challenge I had making a "pretty pie". If it's texture and taste you're going for ,bursting with flavor, tucked into a flaky crust... it's so worth the effort.

Start by making the dough for the top and bottom gluten-free pie crusts:

Recipe for 1 crust (for 2 crusts, double the ingredients except for the salt)

Wet Ingredients:

1 Egg

2 teaspoons White Vinegar

Dry Ingredients:

1-1/4 cups Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour*

1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt

1/2 teaspoon Xanthan Gum

Additional Ingredients:

6 tablespoons Butter Flavored Crisco, chilled or frozen

1 teaspoon ice cold Water

Directions:

1. Whisk the egg and vinegar until very frothy and refrigerate while mixing other ingredients.
2. Combine the dry ingredients.
3. Cut the Crisco into the flour mix until a coarse, mealy consistency the size of small peas.
4. Add the egg/vinegar mixture. If the flour mixture is still too dry, add cold water 1 teaspoon at a time until you have the consistency where you can form the dough into a ball (2 balls if doubling for 2 crusts).
5. Wrap dough balls in plastic wrap and refrigerator for an hour.
6. Roll the dough between wax paper or parchment paper until the circle is the size to fit your pie pan.
7. Add the filling** and top second crust. I used a lattice cutter as I found the top too fragile to weave strips of crust into a lattice top.
8. Brush the top with a glaze made of mixing together: 1 egg and 1 tablespoon of milk brush over the top and edges of the crust, then sprinkled with a mixture of: 2 teaspoons sugar and a dash of cinnamon.
9. Bake pie in an oven pre-heated to 400-degrees and bake for 25 minutes.
10. Reduce the oven to 325-degrees and continue baking for another 40-45 minutes.
11. Especially yummy served warm a la mode with vanilla coconut ice cream.

* Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour Mix

Blend together the following ingredients and store in an air-tight container:

2 cups Rice Flour

2/3 cup Potato Starch

1/3 cup Tapioca Flour

** Filling for Cranberry-Apple Pie

In a large bowl, thoroughly mix together the following:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup dried Currants and Raisins

2 tablespoons Dark Rum or Water

1 cup fresh, whole Cranberries, washed and drained

3/4 cup Sugar

5-6 medium Baking Apples - Fuji or Braeburn, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch slices

2 tablespoons quick-cooking Tapioca

1 tablespoon fresh Lemon Juice

1/2 teaspoon ground Cinnamon

Throat-Comfort Tea

While culling through a pile of paper scraps during a sorting frenzy today, I can across my recipe for a tea that I share with scratch-throated friends. If you're experiencing a sore throat, give this a try. I hope it's healing and comforting, speeding your recovery. Be well!

Ingredients:

1. Ginger, coarsely chopped*
   
2. Zest of 1 Lemon
   
3. 3 tablespoons of fresh-squeezed Lemon Juice
   
4. 1/4 cup of fresh Mint Leaves, chopped
5. 2-3 teaspoons of Honey
6. 1 teaspoon Echinacea - Goldenseal Extract

Directions:

• *Coarsely chop a four to six-inch slice of fresh ginger, depending on how strong you want the flavor of ginger.
  
• In a sauce pan, combine the chopped ginger, lemon zest and chopped mint with 6 cups of water. Cover and bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes, with lid slightly ajar, until the tea has reduced to about 5 cups.
  
• Pour the tea through a fine strainer over a heat-proof bowl.
  
• Pour the tea from the bowl back into the sauce pan, add the fresh lemon juice and honey to taste.
• Simmer for 2 minutes. Place 1/4 teaspoon of the echinacea-goldenseal extract into each cup of tea. Pour tea and serve.
  

Chocoholic's Delight

Raw desserts are fun, especially for those that are gluten-intolerant. I love a good piece of chocolate now and then, but variety is the spice of life "they" say. This creamy, pudding-like dessert is so rich that I made small sample-size servings for our guests to taste.


Ingredients:

1/4 cup cacao or dark chocolate nibs
1 avocado
1/4 cup dates, pitted
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons agave nectar
1 thumb-size piece of fresh ginger, peeled and diced

Directions:

Blend all ingredients in a blender or a Cuisinart for 2-minutes or until smooth. Chill.

Note: I found that I can put this dessert in the freezer to chill and to keep. It will not freeze solid. I think this is because of the oil from the avocado. I made this a week ago and they remain fresh and edible right out of the freezer today. Yum! I just at two tasty treats, just as good as if I just made them. I love the zing of ginger!

Serves 3 or makes a plate full of appetizer-size servings.

This recipe is from Fresh - The Ultimate Live-Food Cookbook by Segei and Valya Boutenko, page 105.