We make lots of quick breads around here. They’re easy to throw together and make a great breakfast.  We made this fall inspired version based on Karina’s banana bread recipe. (By the way, the banana bread recipe is awesome.) You’re probably stocking up on pumpkin puree and fresh cranberries anyway, right? Might as well give this recipe a try.

• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons potato starch
• 1/2 cup sorghum flour
• 1/4 cup buckwheat flour
• 1/4 cup brown rice flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup dry milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup fresh cranberries, halved

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Mix the pumpkin puree, oil, sugar, dry milk, and vanilla in a large bowl.
3. Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Take care to thoroughly mix.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture. Stir to combine, then add in the cranberries.
5. Lightly grease a loaf pan. Add the batter. Bake for about 60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

(Makes about 8 slices)

This recipe easily doubles. (We’ve found that even though there’s only the two of us, we still go through quick breads fast.) You could make muffins instead of bread if they are more to your liking, although you’ll probably need to adjust the cooking time down some.

You can use 1 cup of sugar and omit the dry milk. That’s just a trick we learned from Mike’s mom to lessen the amount of sugar included in one’s baking–handy if you’re eating sweet quick breads many days of the week. (Quick note for those who care: If you leave out the dry milk the recipe is vegan.)

Another variant I had pondered was replacing some of the brown sugar with molasses. I’ll have to fiddle around some and see how it works.

Mike adds: It wouldn’t hurt to increase the amount of cranberries slightly: perhaps 1 cup instead of 3/4 cup.

I decided a while back that I needed to learn the basics of making casseroles so that I’d have another technique for using up whatever leftovers happened to be around. Mike (as per usual) suggested that the casserole involve fruit. This is what we came up with–not exactly what I think of as a typical casserole, but I guess it’s a switch from banana bread if you need to use up ripe bananas.

I’ve read about using flax meal as an egg replacement, but I’ve never tried it before because eggs are not an issue for us. I decided to try using the flax meal this time because I thought it sounded tastier than eggs mixed with bananas and I figured the extra nutty flavor would be a bonus.

• 2 cups cooked millet
• 3 tablespoons flax meal plus 6 tablespoons water
• 2 bananas
• 1 cup blueberries
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Beat the flax meal and water together in a large bowl. Let rest for about 5 minutes, until the mixture is roughly equivalant to the consistency of eggs.
3. Mash the bananas into the flax mixture.
4. Stir in the millet and cinnamon; then gently mix in the blueberries.
5. Pour into a greased 8×8 inch casserole dish.
6. Bake for approximately 45 minutes until the edges are browned.

(Serves 4)

This would be nice for a weekend breakfast, although Mike would like me to point out that it’s also good for dinner.

Last time I added 1/2 cup chopped walnuts. I completely forgot to add them this time, but they were a good addition. I think I’ll try almonds next time.

For the cake:

• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup plain yogurt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• rounded  1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• rounded  1/4  teaspoon ground nutmeg
• rounded  1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 cups Pamela’s Ultimate Baking and Pancake Mix
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 tablespoons orange juice
• generous 1 1/2 cups shredded carrots
• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch springform pan.
2. In a large bowl, beat the eggs, then beat in the oil, then add in the brown sugar and mix until smooth.
3. Add in the yogurt, vanilla, orange juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves.
4. Add in the Pam’s Mix, baking soda, and baking powder, mix thoroughly.
5. Stir in the carrots, raisins, and walnuts.
6. Pour into the pan and bake for 40-50 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

For the frosting:

• 8 ounces light cream cheese or neufchatel cheese
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• juice from one small lime, more or less to taste

1. Combine the cream cheese and butter in a mixing bowl and beat until fluffy.
2. Add in the vanilla, then gradually add in the powdered sugar.
3. Once all the sugar has been added, add in the lime juice and beat until the frosting is smooth.

It’s probably easiest to make the frosting using a mixer, but you can hand mix if need be. You may want to chill the frosting before decorating the cake; make sure to cover the frosting if you do chill it. It’s also good to let the cake cool before you frost it.

My previous pie post spawned out the the desire to use a flour mix we received. Last weekend we received more gluten-free flour from Mike’s brother and sister-in-law. This time we received a bag of Andrea’s Gluten Free Flour Blend. Andrea’s Gluten Free is located in St. Louis, and we enjoy her baked goods anytime we visit the family. I’ve never tried baking with her flour mix before, but now that we own pounds and pounds of flour mix clearly some serious baking projects needed to happen. Here’s the first one:

• 2 1/2 cups Andrea’s Gluten Free Flour Blend or other all-purpose flour mix*
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk
• 4 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup honey and molasses
• 1 1/2 cups small chunks of pineapple

*Please note Andrea’s Mix contains xanthan gum so no extra binder was included in the recipe.

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix well.
3. Mix the remaining ingredients into the flour mixture.
4. Grease muffin tins and fill each cup about two-thirds full.
5. Bake for approximately 20 minutes until muffins are golden brown.

(Makes 12 muffins)

I measured the honey and molasses at the same time. Out of the total half cup, I’d say about 1/8 was molasses and the rest was honey.

Andrea’s Mix uses superfine brown rice flour so these muffins were nice and light.

Mike’s family came to visit us last week so we didn’t do much wheat-free meat-free cooking. We did have lots of fun visiting with everyone though. Mike’s dad also has Celiac disease so there’s frequently a lot of food talk. His mom was nice enough to bring us a bag of Meister’s Gluten Free Flour Mixture. Apparently it’s well know throughout the St. Louis Celiac community for being a great mix to use for more delicate baking projects like angel food cake, pie crust, pastry, etc.

I used Meister’s pie crust recipe and based the filling off of this pie recipe from Allrecipes.

For the pie crust:

• 1 1/2 cups Meister’s Gluten Free All Purpose Flour or other all-purpose flour mix*
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick cold butter
• 3 tablespoons milk

For the filling:

• 2 1/2 cups fresh blackberries
• 2 cups fresh raspberries
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup tapioca starch

*Please note Meister’s Flour Mix contains xanthan gum so no extra binder was included in the recipe.

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Combine the berries, sugar, and tapioca starch in a medium-large bowl. Stir thoroughly and set aside.
3. In a separate mixing bowl, combine the flour, 1 tablespoon of the sugar, and the salt. Mix well.
4. Cut the butter into small chunks, then cut into the flour mixture. The butter should be in little balls. Add in the milk. Mixture will be slightly crumbly.
5. Press a little more than 3/4 of the dough mixture into a pie pan.
6. Spoon the berry mixture into the unbaked crust.
7. Mix the other tablespoon of sugar into the remaining pie dough. Sprinkle on top of the berry mixture.
8. Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 375 degrees and bake for another 30-40 minutes until pie is done.

(Yield 1 9 1/2″ Pie)

Meister’s website says the recipe makes enough dough for two 9″ crusts or one 9″ crust and top. I, of course, didn’t bother to look at our pie dish and notice it’s 9 1/2″ until we had already started. Hence the crumble topping rather than a top crust.

Also, we found that the dough was rather dry, so you may need to add a little extra milk.

The filling is very thick. As thick as jelly. As you can see in the picture, you can make a clean cut. If you want pie filling that oozes all over the place, then decrease the amount of starch in the berry mixture.

I’m sure this will work with pretty much any berry mix you can think of, so mix and match according to what berries look best.

We frequently bake various breads to have for breakfasts. Chocolate chip banana bread is popular, as is the gluten-free version of cranberry cheese bread, which Mike grew up with. About a month or so ago I thought it would be fun to try and make an apple cinnamon bread. This is the result.

• 2/3 cup buckwheat flour
• 1/3 cup sorghum flour
• 1/3 cup brown rice flour
• 2/3 cup potato starch
• 2/3 cup gluten-free oats
• 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup dry milk
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup natural apple sauce
• 1 large apple, chopped (this was ~1 1/3 cups)
• 2 eggs, beaten

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine all the dry ingredients (that’s everything from the cinnamon up) in a large bowl and mix thoroughly.
3. Cut the butter into small cubes, and cut into the flour mixture.
4. Mix in the applesauce, apples, and eggs.
5. Pour into a greased loaf pan, and bake for 60-70 minutes. Bread is done when a knife inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes then remove from loaf pan to finish cooling.

I think we got pretty lucky on our first try with this one. The inside was nice and moist, and the sweetness was about right for our tastes in breakfast breads (i.e., not too sweet). If you like things sweeter, you can cut the dry milk and replace it with sugar.

We have a new niece born just this morning! (Well, now yesterday morning, as it took a day to get this post up.) Unfortunately, we do not live in the same city as Mike’s sister and brother-in-law, so we are not able to celebrate with them in person. But a celebration is still in order, so we made cupcakes.

As I’ve mentioned before, Pam’s Mix sure is handy to keep around. We used the yellow cake recipe right from their website and jazzed it up a bit with some tangerine zest. Then we topped our LadyBaby Cakes with a simple buttercream frosting.

For the cupcakes:

• 3 eggs, separated
• 4 tablespoons butter, softened
• 2 cups Pamela’s Ultimate Baking & Pancake Mix
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup vanilla soymilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• zest of one tangerine

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line one 12-cup or two 6-cup muffin tins with cupcake liners.
2. Whip egg whites until stiff, set aside. In a separate bowl, mix butter, Pam’s Mix, and sugar. Blend until the butter is evenly distributed, about 1 minute at medium speed.
3. Add half of the milk and the vanilla extract. Blend on medium for 1 minute. Add the rest of the milk, egg yolks, and tangerine zest. Blend for 1 minute more. Fold in the egg whites.
4. Pour batter into lined muffin tin. Bake until cupcakes are starting to brown around the edge and cupcakes are springy, about 20 minutes.
5. Once cupcakes are cool enough to touch, transfer to a cooling rack, and allow to cool completely.

For the frosting:

• 3 cups confectioner’s sugar
• 6 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons vanilla soymilk
• food coloring (optional)

1. Combine sugar, butter, vanilla, and soymilk and beat until smooth. If frosting is too stiff, add a tad more milk. Add food coloring if you so desire.

Mike’s thoughts: Delicious, easy to make, and good lookin’. Definitely recommend them if you have a birthday party or something like that coming up.

Happy Birthday LadyBaby! We can’t wait to meet you.

My sister was in town this weekend, so we had her and her boyfriend over for brunch yesterday. I’ve been wanting to make monkey bread ever since I came across Jill’s recipe a while back, and this seemed like a good opportunity to make it.

All in all it was pretty good. The only thing I’d note is that we used more cinnamon than she calls for (not sure exactly how much more, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we doubled or even tripled the amount), and we still felt it could use more. So, if you like a caramel taste, make the recipe as is. If you really like cinnamon, you’ll need a lot more than listed in the recipe.

Either way I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. Thanks Jill!

Ahh…Pamela’s Mix. I doubt I’m the first person in the gluten-free world to proclaim Pam’s Mix a lifesaver–especially when you’re first trying to figure out gluten-free baking. But even when you do start to get a handle on gluten-free baking, it’s still nice to have around.  Sometimes you don’t want to sift through a multitude of flours/starches trying to figure out the best mixture for what you’re trying to bake. Pam’s Mix just makes life easier.

• 2 1/2 cups Pamela’s Ultimate Baking & Pancake Mix
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup dark rum
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 dry milk
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 cup chopped dried figs
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 2 large eggs

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl.
3. Spoon the batter into a greased muffin tin. Don’t overfill.
4. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes.

(Made 10 muffins)

The spiciness was not too pronounced in these muffins. Feel free to add more cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, or rum as you see fit.

Mike also adds that the texture was great–”nice and springy.”

My mother-in-law has been baking this bread for years. Now that both Mike and his Dad have been diagnosed with Celiac Disease, she’s switched to making a gluten-free version. When I asked her for the recipe, her response was “Oh, you Sweetie. The Cranberry Cheese Bread is straight out of Betty Crocker pg. 52.” Here is the gluten-free version.

• 2/3 cup sweet sorghum flour
• 1/3 cup brown rice flour
• 1/3 cup buckwheat flour
• 2/3 cup potato starch
• 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3/4 cup orange juice
• 1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup cranberries, halved

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine the dry ingredients until well mixed.
3. Cut the butter into small cubes, then cut into the flour mixture.
4. Mix in the orange juice, cheese, egg, and cranberries.
5. Pour into a greased loaf pan, then bake for around 70 minutes, until a knife inserted will come out clean.
6. Remove the loaf from the pan after cooling for 5 to 10 minutes.

I just used store bought orange juice this time. However, I’d imagine the bread would be extra tasty if you used the zest and juice of an actual orange. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.