Soy Sauce Substitute: If you can’t find gluten free soy sauce or tamari
, use an equivalent amount of the following mixture in the Cashew Nut Chicken recipe:

3 Tbsp beef bouillon* (or 9 cubes) - I use Better than Bouillon
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp maple syrup
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 pinch black pepper
1 pinch garlic powder”
1.5 c water

*please do read the label

Discount on Gluten Free Suppers Menu Plan: If you find that the menu plan works well for you, I hope that you will consider subscribing to Gluten Free Supppers or purchasing some of my other menu plans.  During June, you can click here in order to subscribe for $7.95/month instead of the regular price of $9.95. (This special price is to celebrate my 2nd blogging anniversary - woohoo!)

Each menu has the recipes for 6 suppers as well as a grocery shopping list. The menus do use a variety of meats, focusing on less expensive cuts. During the summer I am choosing recipes that can be cooked on the grill or stovetop so that you’re not heating up your house with the oven. And there will also generally be one salad-based meal and one vegetarian meal each week. And probably most important to you the recipes are written so that dairy products (casein) is optional. If you have any questions about the plan, please comment below and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible =)

If You Liked This Try:

• Grocery Shopping for Your Gluten Free Diet - Week One
• What to Eat on a Gluten Free Diet - Week One
• Getting Started on a Gluten Free Diet

Making a Grocery List:
After reading the first post you should have a good idea of what you will be eating for each meal this first week. The next step is to make your grocery list.  If you’ve never done this before, start by grabbing a sheet of paper and listing categories that match the general layout of your grocery store. I usually use PRODUCE, FROZEN, DAIRY, MEAT, CANNED GOODS, DRY GOODS, and HOUSEHOLD.

Now, go through the list of your meals and write down each ingredient that you need to buy. If you’ve followed the instructions in What to Eat on a Gluten Free Diet, then there will be a lot of whole foods listed on your sheet and very few processed foods, if any.

Remember, on this first shopping trip the goal is to read as few labels as possible. If you will be using foods that you already own in this week’s menu, be sure to check to see if they are marked “GLUTEN FREE”. If they are not and they contain any processed products I would strongly recommend that you change your menu to not include these foods. Reading labels is the most depressing and tedious part of a gluten free diet and I’d love for you to be able to avoid that until you’ve had at least a week to adjust and do some reading.

If there are some essentials that you need to replace - like mayo, ketchup, etc., consider shopping at Walmart this week. Walmart’s store brand, Great Value, is very good about clearly  marking all of the gluten free products on the label.

Absolute No-Nos:
Wheat is so ubiquitous in the Standard American Diet that we often forget that we are eating it. Here are a few foods that you may not realize contain wheat.

• all-purpose flour
• self-rising flour
• semolina (the flour used in most pasta)
• couscous
• most soy sauce
• Campbell’s Cream of ______  Soup
• cornbread mix
• most cold cereals (barley malt flavoring)

At the Grocery Store:
The best tips that I can give you for the grocery store are to stick to the outside aisles and whole, unprocessed foods. Follow your grocery list and look forward to feeling better during the coming week. While you’re there ask the service desk if they have a list of gluten free foods that they stock. Also check to see if you they have a special location for gluten free foods, or if they shelve them near their gluten-filled counterparts. This knowledge will help you plan for next week’s shopping trip.

You may feel that my advice to only eat unprocessed foods and foods that are clearly marked “Gluten Free” is overly restrictive. But I really do want you to feel better quickly, and the easiest way to accomplish that is to get ALL of the gluten out of your diet. And it’s only for a week. By next week you’ll have learned more about identifying gluten in foods, what foods are naturally gluten free, and where to buy gluten free foods that your local grocery doesn’t stock.

If You Liked This Try:

• Starting a Gluten Free Diet: Free Menu Plan
• What to Eat on a Gluten Free Diet - Week One
• Getting Started on a Gluten Free Diet

Long-time readers will know that I don’t bake sweets that often (because I have no will power). Given that I have recently polished off Double Chocolate Brownies, a Hershey Pie, and a batch of chocolate chip cookies (the new Betty Crocker mix to be released this summer), you probably won’t be getting any more sweet recipes from me for a while. Luckily for you, Jeanne Basye , the Gluten Free Cookie Lady, agreed to write a guest post featuring one of the cookies from her cookbook, “Gluten Free Cookies“. Please welcome Jean in the comments and check out her cookbook.
~Mary Frances

Hello from Arizona!

My name is Jeanne Basye, happily called The Gluten Free Cookie Lady. It’s 100 degrees outside today and my grandkids and I are in the kitchen baking gluten free cookies. Care to join us? We are making one of their favorite cookies, Peanut Butter Lollipops. They like these cookies because they are big, their favorite candy bar is hidden inside and they are fun to eat because the cookie is on a stick! Hey, I love them too and my favorite candy bar is Baby Ruth.

If you are like me, making cookies with my grandkids (ages 2 ½ -11 years) are fun and so rewarding. Teaching them how to crack eggs, measure ingredients, mix properly, and make uniform-size dough balls are baking lessons for a lifetime. Fun in the kitchen is our goal as are the kitchen cleanup chores! However, the best lesson cookie baking offers in our home is how to share with others. We make cookies, decorate boxes to hold them and give them away.

As we deliver our cookie boxes, there is always a smile and big thank you on the receiving end. Baking cookies is a lifetime skill that can make so many people happy. Plus we educate people about celiac disease through our cookies. How fun is that!

Are you ready to bake? As I tell the grandkids… first wash your hands. Be sure to read the recipe and set out all the ingredients. Select your favorite snack-size candy bar. Almond Joys, Snickers, Mars, 3 Musketeers, Oh Henry, Payday and Baby Ruths are ready to be prepared in our kitchen.

We are recycling the wooden sticks from the popsicle/ice cream bars we ate yesterday and using them for these cookies. You can also purchase Kraft Caramels and use the wooden sticks in the package. If you don’t have sticks, just wrap the snack-size candy bar (about a 2-inch length) around the dough and bake as directed.

As the anticipation builds in our kitchen waiting for the cookies to bake and cool, each one selects their favorite color ribbon to tie on the cookie sticks. Decorating small plastic bags to wrap the big lollipops is next.

Finally the cookies are ready to taste. We pour a big glass of milk and take a big bite! “Outstanding, says my 5 year old grandson, I love these cookies!”

We hope you enjoy Peanut Butter Lollipops as much as we do. Let us know if you like them too.

Peanut Butter Lollipops
(Makes 9-10 (4-inch) cookies on a stick)

1 ¼ cups of favorite GF flour blend
½ teaspoon xanthan gum
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 large egg
½ cup creamy peanut butter (I like Jif)

10 (.65-oz.) snack-size GF candy bars (each bar measures 2-inches)
10 (4 ½ x ¼-inch) wooden ice cream sticks

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degree F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. Gently insert wooden stick ¾ of the way into each candy bar. Place inside freezer until ready to use. (Freezing the candy bar/stick minimizes candy oozing out of the cookie as it bakes.)

3. Sift flour, xanthan gum, baking soda, baking powder and salt in bowl; stir. Set aside.

4.  Beat  butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar and vanilla in large mixer bowl on medium speed until creamy, about 4 minutes. Scrape bowl as needed.   Beat in egg and peanut butter.  Gradually beat in flour mixture.

5. Wrap ¼-1/3 cup dough around each prepared candy bar. Be sure dough covers candy bar completely. Reshape uneven edges of dough with hands for a more uniform appearance. Place 4-inches apart on prepared sheets. Cookies spread! Keep dough refrigerated until ready to bake. (I bake one cookie sheet at a time on the middle rack.)

6. Bake 14 to 16 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool 10 minutes on cookie sheet then carefully transfer to wire rack to cool completely. (Use a wide spatula to remove cookies from sheet.)

7. Store in airtight container up to 2 days or freeze up to 2 months.

Permission granted by: Jeanne Basye, The Gluten Free Cookie Lady

Basye, Jeanne. Gluten Free Cookies. Phoenix, AZ: What No Wheat Enterprises, 2008, page 116. www.glutenfreecookielady.com

If You Liked This Try:

• Finally, Really Good Sandwich Bread (with Brown Rice Flour)
• Gluten Free All Purpose Flour Mix Recipe
• Light and Fluffy Gluten Free Biscuits
• Yummy Sandwich Bread (Gluten Free, Casein Free, Soy Free)
• About

The hardest part of the gluten free diet is probably when you realize that wheat is in almost every processed food imaginable. So don’t think about that now! Give yourself a week to mourn the fact that you can’t buy normal bread and pasta, and that Campbell’s soup can no longer dwell in  your pantry. Mourn the obvious losses - we’ll deal with the rest later. For the first week, just focus on eating whole, unprocessed foods.

So, what are whole, unprocessed foods?

• Fruits and vegetables that do not come in a package.
• Meats that the butcher has processed in the store and that have not been puffed full of saline solution and seasonings.
• Grains that only have one ingredient listed on the packaging, e.g,. “Rice” and do not say “Contains Wheat” or “is processed in a facility that also processes wheat”.
• And since you always have to break the rules you create, any processed food that is CLEARLY marked as gluten free.

Most people are not used to cooking with whole, unprocessed foods or for looking for gluten in their foods, so don’t freak out if you still can’t figure out what to eat. I’m going to give you some ideas for breakfast and lunch and a menu plan (with shopping list) for your suppers.

Breakfast:

If you usually eat cold cereal for breakfast, then this week try Rice Chex, Corn Chex, Cinnamon Chex, Honey Nut Chex, Chocolate Chex,  or Strawberry Chex. These Chex cereals are the only mainstream gluten free cereals. If you live near an urban center, you may find that your grocery store carries other gluten free specialty cereals, and if they do then feel free to try them. The advantage of starting with Chex is that it’s widely available, less expensive than other gluten free cereals, and familiar (Please note that most of these Chex cereals have only recently become available as “gluten free”, so be sure to look for that marking on the box. Some stores may still have boxes on the shelf that contain barley malt flavoring)

If you usually eat a breakfast bar for breakfast, first check to see if your usual bar is marked gluten free. If not, then I’d suggest switching to cereal or fresh fruit for a week. You’ll be tempted to read the labels on all of the breakfast bars in the grocery store, but that’s just going to depress you. Save that for next week. Unless your store carries Larabars - those are all gluten free.

If you usually eat a hot breakfast, then see how many eggs recipes that you can come up with. A few that I can think of off the top of my head are: scrambled, fried, poached, omelette with veggies, and frittatas. Bacon, saussage, and hot cereals are all processed and should be avoided this week unless they are marked gluten free.

Lunch:

If you have access to a microwave at lunch, then the easiest option is to eat leftovers from last night’s meal for lunch. Add a salad or fresh fruit if you need to round out the meal. Lunch is easily the most bread-centric meal of the day, so don’t freak out when everyone around you is having sandwiches. You will be able to eat good bread again.

If you don’t have access to a microwave, then pack a large salad and some fresh fruit. I like to add chickpeas to my salad as the protein - that way I don’t have to worry if I forget to take my lunch to the refrigerator. A lot of salad dressings contain gluten; an easy solution is to make your own vinaigrette at home and take that with you to dress your salad. Check out these recipes from Michael Ruhlman’s new book, Ratio, if you need some guidance.

If you have to go out for lunch, please try to get the lunch moved to a restaurant that has a gluten free menu or has a chef that is very familiar with the diet. You are new to gluten free foods and you are very likely to slip up if you try to identfy the gluten foods on your own.

Call the restaurant before hand and talk to the manager or the chef and explain to them that you have to eat gluten free, but that you’re going to need their help since you are new to the diet. They should be able to tell you which items from their menu are gluten free, or can be prepared gluten free. The manager at a good restaurant should also be willing to oversee the preparation of your food to make sure no one slips up. And, if you call ahead, hopefuly all of this can take place discreetly in the background, especially if it’s a business meeting.

Supper: To make supper easy for you, I think you’ve basically got two options. The first option is to prepare simple meals of a meat (seasoned with salt, pepper, and/or other herbs),  a side of fresh vegetables, and a side of rice and potatoes. The second option is to print off the free menu plan that I’ll be publishing later this week, and follow it. It will have recipes for 6 meals, a cookie recipe, and a shopping list.

The point of these options is to keep you from having to search for recipes and then make sure that all of the ingredients in the recipes are gluten free. That would be way too frustrating for the first week of the diet. Option one will probably work best for those people that are accustomed to cooking without a recipe and feel comfortable dealing with unprocessed foods. Option two, the menu plan, should work for everyone else.

Homework: Make a list of what you want to eat for each day of next week. Here’s an example:

Monday: Rice Chex and banana for breakfast, green salad (with chickpeas) and balsamic vinaigrette dressing for lunch; cheddar cheese slices and an apple for snack; baked chicken breast, mashed potatoes, and roasted veggies for supper

That’s enough of  a brain dump for now. Please feel free to ask questions and share your experiences in the comments. You’re also welcome to answer the questions of others because I definitely do not have all the answers =)

If You Liked This Try:

• Starting a Gluten Free Diet: Free Menu Plan
• Grocery Shopping for Your Gluten Free Diet - Week One
• Getting Started on a Gluten Free Diet

If you’re new to the gluten free diet, then you can click on this link to browse all of Amazon’s gluten free groceries.  They have a very wide selection of products and you’ll get a great idea of the breadth of gluten free products that are available.

Amazon also frequently runs sales on gluten free items. During the month of May you can:

• Save $10 when you spend $49 or more on eligible Prana and Boomi Bar products

• Save up to 30% on select Mrs. May’s products -These are nut and seed snacks that are more on the gourment end of the snacking scale. We’ve tried a few and liked them quite a bit. However, we thought they were a little pricey at Walmart,  so Amazon may be a good choice if you buy these often.

• Save up to 20% on select Think Thin products

• Save up to 40% on select Hillside Candy products - Did you know that hard candies are often contaminated with wheat? The conveyor belts in the plants are sometimes dusted with a fine layer of flour so that they candies don’t stick. This would not necessarily be disclosed on the food label. I’m planning on keeping these candies on hand so that I can trade them to my kids for the candy they receive at the doctor, bank, etc.

• Save up to 60% on McCANN’S Steel Cut Irish Oatmeal McCann’s oatmeal is generally considered to be safe from cross-contact with wheat because no wheat is grown in Ireland. This is one of our favorite breakfast foods year round and I just signed up to have it delivered to our home every six months with Amazon’s Subscribe and Save option.
  A reader has emailed me to let me know that McCann’s oatmeal is now shipped to the U.S. in cargo containers and packaged here. Since there is no way of knowing what else has been in the cargo containers, we can no longer assume that McCann’s oatmeal is gluten free.

• Save up to 38% on Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix

If You Liked This Try:

• Gluten Free Sale at Amazon: Pasta, Flour, Pretzels, Cookies

This week a commenter asked for advice on starting a gluten free diet, so I’ve decided to use her questions as an impetus to write a series of articles. I sat down last night and jotted down a list of 10 actions that I would take if I were starting a gluten free diet again. I’ll start the series by expounding on these points, and then see where it goes from here. Feel free to chime in with your own advice and questions as we go.

~Mary Frances

Week One:
1. Figure out what you’re going to eat for the next week.
2. Go grocery shopping.
3. Cull your gluten contaminated cookware.
4. Start learning about what foods contain gluten and what foods do not.
5. Decide whether your household will go completely gluten free or not.

Week Two:
6. Identify the gluten free foods in your pantry.
7. Figure out what to eat for the next week.
8. Go grocery shopping and start figuring out what gluten free foods your grocery store carries.
9. Bake a loaf of gluten free bread.
10. Stock a basic gluten free baking pantry.

If You Liked This Try:

• Starting a Gluten Free Diet: Free Menu Plan
• Grocery Shopping for Your Gluten Free Diet - Week One
• What to Eat on a Gluten Free Diet - Week One
• Two Minutes to Homemade Bread
• The Linguistic Challenges of Slicing an Avocado

Double Chocolate Brownies

So, I discovered last week why you should always make brownies from a packaged mix. (Sounds like the start of a joke doesn’t it. I wish!) It allows you to remain in the delusion that brownies do not have just as much sugar as flour! And a whole entire cup of oil!

I had lost almost all of my baby weight before I made these brownies and the Hershey Pie that I posted last week. But after eating 95% of the pie, and at least half of the brownies, I gained 5 lbs. back. That’s what happens when  you reward yourself with dessert every time you have to get up with the baby! I’ve been eating salads like crazy this week trying to get over my sweet tooth.

It finally was beginning to work when a coworker was able to get me samples of the new Betty Crocker Gluten Free Devil’s Food Cake and Chocolate Chip cookies mixes (in stores this summer).I’m sure that I’ll break down and bake the cake and cookies this weekend, so I’ll write a review of both of those next week. In the meantime, these brownies should keep you high on sugar =)

I started working on this recipe after a friend raved about her grandmother’s brownies. Unfortunately, her grandmother makes the brownies without the aid of a recipe or measuring tools, so the written recipe that they did have doesn’t taste exactly like the real thing.  Knowing this, I felt free to adjust the recipe a bit once I’d made it a few times. I’ve replaced some of the oil with water, added chocolate chips (because you always need more chocolate) and made the recipe gluten free. I think you’ll really enjoy these brownies, especially if you like your brownies to have a really deep chocolaty taste. But beware feeding them to your children - my sweet boy is now addicted to brownies (or “yannis” as he pronounces it) which makes it very difficult to go down the baking aisle of the grocery store now!

Double Chocolate Brownies

2 c.  gluten free all purpose flour mix
2 c. sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. xanthan gum
6 Tbsp. cocoa
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

4 eggs
1 c. vegetable oil
1/2 c. water
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Cooking Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Mix all of the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
3. Beat the eggs thorougly and then add the eggs and other liquid ingredients to your dry ingredients. Stir until just combined.
4. Pour the batter into a greased 13 x 9 baking dish. Cook for approximately 55 minutes, or until the brownies do not wiggle in the middle and a toothpick or fork inserted in the middle comes out clean.

If You Liked This Try:

• Hershey Pie with a Rice Cereal Crust
• For Midnight Snacking: Rice Chex Treats
• Gluten Free Red Velvet Cake
• Egg Series No. 1: How to Beat Egg Yolks & Crème Brûlée Recipe

I’ve gotten several questions about flour mixes lately, so I threw together this post that summarizes a lot of information that’s currently spread around my blog in various places. If you have any additional questions, just ask them in the comments and I’ll answer them and somehow incorporate the answers into this post.

First, here are the recipes for my flour mixes:

Gluten Free All Purpose Flour Mix
3 parts brown rice flour (I use Bob’s Red Mill)
3 parts corn starch
2 parts soy flour or garfava flour
1 part masa harina

Gluten Free, Soy Free, All-Purpose Flour Mix
3 parts brown rice flour
3 parts corn starch
2 parts sorghum flour
1 part masa harina

Gluten Free Cake Flour Mix
1 part brown rice flour
1 part sorghum flour
1 part tapioca starch

Instructions:

1. Depending on how much flour mix you want to make, choose a measuring cup. If you want 9 cups of mix, use a 1 c. measure. If you just need a tad, you can use a 1/8 tsp. measure =)

2. Whichever measure you choose is now a “part”. Scoop out the appropriate amounts of each flour and pour into a large mixing bowl.

3. Sift/whisk/stir the flours until they are extremely well combined. No streaks of corn starch allowed.

4. Store in an air-tight container in your pantry, refrigerator, or freezer depending on how long you think it will take you to use all of the mix. The colder the storage area, the longer the shelf life of the flours.

Common Substitutions:

For the corn starch: tapioca starch (also called tapioca flour), potato starch, arrowroot flour

For the masa harina: almond flour

My Recipes That Use the Flour Mixes:

Banana Bread

Fresh Blueberry Scones

Pancakes

Spiced Apple Pancakes

Drop Biscuits

Pizza Crust

Flour Tortillas

Garlic Cheese Biscuits

Yummy Sandwich Bread

Finally, Really Good Sandwich Bread

Sugar Cookies

Red Velvet Cake

How to Use Gluten Free Flour Mix in Your Own Recipes:

1. If you have a gluten free recipe that lists several types of flour, sum the amounts of each flours and substitute an equal amount of flour mix.

2. Check the recipe that you’re altering and make sure the ratio of flour:starch is about the same as in your flour mix. For instance the flour to starch ratio in my mixes is somewhere between 5:4 and 6:3. (The masa harina acts somewhat similarly to a starch - it absorbs a lot of water). If the recipe that you’re converting has a 3:4 flour to starch ratio, then the recipe author has added additional starch to “lighten” the recipe. If you are confident in your math abilities, then you can probably figure out how much additional starch to add. Otherwise, find another recipe for this type of experiment.

3. If you’re converting a recipe that uses regular wheat flour, start with a 1:1 substitution of one of the gluten free all purpose flours and add 1/2  - 1 tsp. xanthan gum. If the recipe is not as tender as you would want, then replace some of the flour with additional corn starch next time. If the baked good is too tender, then replace some of the flour with brown rice flour, soy flour, garfava flour or sorghum flour. It may take some experimentation, but most gluten free baking does.

Frequently Asked Questions:

1. Can I use the all purpose flour mix for everything? (cakes, pie crust, etc…?)

I don’t use it for cakes, and I still haven’t tried to make a gluten free pie crust. However, the mix has worked well in the few batches of cookies that I’ve made. I generally stick to savory baking, and for that it works wonderfully.

2. Do I have to store the flour mix in the refrigerator once I make up a large batch?

It all depends on how much you make and how quickly you will use it. I usually go through a batch within two weeks and I keep my flour in a canister on the counter  without any problems. These flours do contain oils that can become rancid, so refrigerator or freezer storage will extend the shelf lif.

3. I’ve read that when using non-wheat flour mixtures you have to increase the leavening agents. Is this correct with your flour mixture?

I usually use the given amounts of leavening agents when I’m converting recipes. If it doesn’t rise enough, then I increase on the next try. I figure that swapping the flours around is enough of an experiment for the first batch.

4. The recipe that I want to convert calls for self-rising flour. Are you flour mixes self-rising?

Self-rising flour is simply flour that has already been mixed with baking powder and salt. You can make your own self-rising flour mix by adding 1.5 tsp of baking powder and 0.5 tsp. salt to 1 c. flour mix.

5. Can I substitute corn flour of corn meal for the masa harina? What is masa harina:

Here’s an excerpt from Wikipedia: To make masa harina, field corn (or maize) is dried and then treated in a solution of lime or ash and water, also called slaked lime. This loosens the hulls from the kernels and softens the corn. In addition, the lime reacts with the corn so that the nutrient niacin can be assimilated by the digestive tract. The soaked maize is then washed, and the wet corn is ground into a dough, called masa. It is this fresh masa, when dried and powdered, that becomes masa harina. (Add water once again to make dough for tortillas or tamales.)

Fresh masa is available in Mexican markets, refrigerated and sold by the kilo. But masa harina is a fine substitute. Availability and your personal taste determine whether you start with fresh or dried masa.

Do not substitute corn meal or regular corn flour, however; they’re produced from different types of corn and are processed differently. They will not produce the same results. Regular wheat flour also cannot be substituted.

6. I can’t find masa harina or corn flour that states that it is gluten free. Am I missing something? Bob’s Red Mill doesn’t offer either of these products as “gluten free”.

I use the Maseca brand. It’s with the Hispanic foods in almost all of the grocery stores in our area. If you can’t find masa harina, try almond flour as a substitute.

7. I made “x” changes to your flour mix recipe and tried to make your “y” recipe and it was a complete flop. What went wrong?

I’m not sure. I’ve never made the recipe with that combination of flours either =)

8. Why do your flour mixes not contain xanthan gum?

Baked goods that are meant to be soft and tender use less xanthan gum than pizza crusts and bread. Pancakes don’t need xanthan gum at all.  If I added the xanthan gum (or guar gum) to the flour mix, I wouldn’t be able to use my mix for so many different recipes.

If You Liked This Try:

• Gluten Free, Soy Free All Purpose Flour Mix
• Gluten Free All Purpose Flour Mix Recipe
• Gluten Free Bread: Banana Bread
• How to Use Bean Flours

If You Liked This Try:

• Finally, Really Good Sandwich Bread (with Brown Rice Flour)
• Gluten Free All Purpose Flour Mix Recipe
• Light and Fluffy Gluten Free Biscuits
• Yummy Sandwich Bread (Gluten Free, Casein Free, Soy Free)
• About

There have been way too many gluten free desserts in our house lately! For some reason I developed quite a sweet tooth while I was pregnant with Grant, and I can’t seem to get rid of it! It doesn’t help that some fabulous person at Erewhon sent me 6 boxes of cereals to use in my cooking experiments.

I’ve been wanting to make a gluten free Hershey pie for ages, but haven’t been sure how to replace the graham cracker crust from the original recipe. For those of you who are not familiar with Hershey pie, it’s basically a melted Hershey bar mixed with whipped cream and frozen. This is the pie that my Grandmother Somerville often made for me after a good report card.

I decided to use Erewhon’s Rice Twice cereal as the foundation for my crust. David and I poured the cereal into a large zip-top bag and crushed it with a rolling pin. We then added in melted butter, pressed the mixtue into a pie plate (the part of it that David didn’t eat straight from the bowl) and popped it into the freezer while we made the rest of the pie.

The crust did not end up being anything like a graham cracker crust, but it held togethereally, really well. No crumbles at all! And by the time I finished eating the entire pie (John wouldn’t help and I wasn’t about to let David eat much of it - he has enough energy without artificial help) I had grown accustomed to the taste and was enjoying the crust of the pie just as much as the filling.

P.S. As far as gluten free desserts go - this is an EASY recipe. It would be a great option for when you’re having company.

P.P.S. I’m also submitting this recipe to the Family Recipes: Memories of Family, Food and Fun blog event hosted by Shelby of Grumpy’s HoneyBunch and Laura of The Spiced Life. If you love good family recipes, be sure to check Shelby’s blog after May 23rd for the roundup post.

Rice Twice Gluten Free Pie Crust
(makes one 8 inch pie crust)

3 c. Erewhon Rice Twice cereal
1/2 c. butter (1 stick), melted

1. Pour the cereal into a zip-top bag and crush the cereal with a rolling pin or the bottom of a heavy glass jar. (scroll down for a picture of the crushed cereal).
2. Add melted butter to the crushed cereal and mix thoroughly.
3. Spread the cereal mixture as evenly as possible across the bottom of a pie pan. Then use a fork to press the cereal mixture down and out, so that it gradually moves up the sides of the pie pan.
4. Freeze the pie for at least 15 minutes before adding the pie filling.

Hershey Pie Filling
(makes one 8 inch pie)

8 oz. Hershey milk chocolate candy bar
3 Tbsp. milk (cow, soy, rice, etc)
8 oz. whipped cream (e.g. Cool Whip)
1 8-inch pie shell

1. Break the Hershey bar(s) into small pieces and place them, along with the milk, in a small glass bowl. Microwave the chocolate to melt it.  Melting chocolate in the microwave is a delicate business so do short spurts of time (10 seconds or so) at 50% power and stir after every 10 seconds.
2.  Let the chocolate cool a bit, and then fold the the whipped cream into the chocolate.
3. Spread the pie filling into your crust and chill the pie in the freezer for at least 3 hours before serving.

If You Liked This Try:

• Double Chocolate Brownies