Memorial Day is right around the corner, and strawberry season is upon us! To celebrate, I made us a menu of all my best Gluten Free Strawberry recipes, some new and some from way back when in the Gluten-Free on a Shoestring archives. Most of these recipes call for little more than a basic all purpose gluten free flour blend, butter, sugar, eggs and a whole bunch of fresh, ripe strawberries. Oh, and whipped cream. Plenty of whipped cream. And if you’re looking for basic recipes for gluten free cakes, cupcakes and cookies, turn to Chapter 8 of Gluten-Free on a Shoestring Quick & Easy for 13 recipes no-fail recipes for make-your-own gluten-free mixes. It’ll be a Memorial Day to remember!

[If you've been reading this blog for a while, you know the drill with the clickable collage, but just in case—hover over each photo for the recipe title, then click the picture to open a new window with that post and the entire recipe]

Here’s the 10¢ tour of these gluten free strawberry recipes (remember – the links are all above):

Gluten Free Rustic Strawberry Tart: This super simple (but rather impressive) tart has just a few ingredients, and it will give you a chance to watch that how-to roll out gluten free pie crust video I made.

Gluten Free Roasted Strawberry Cake: This moist and flavorful cake makes the most of even the least of the season’s strawberries by roasting them before nestling them in a lovely yellow gluten free cake.

Gluten Free Strawberry Shortcakes: These aren’t just any gluten free strawberry shortcakes. They’re strawberry strawberry shortcakes, since even the shortcakes themselves are strawberry-flavored (naturally!).

No-Bake Gluten Free Strawberry Yogurt Pie: This is the no-bake pie that you can make days ahead of time, freeze and then defrost for about an hour before serving on the big day. No Cool Whip in this gorgeous no-bake pie!

Gluten Free Strawberry Poundcake Muffins: Studded with fresh strawberries, these sweet little muffins have all the taste of gluten free poundcake without the long, slow baking time.

Gluten Free Sponge Cake with Strawberries and Whipped Cream: This richer cousin of gluten free angel food cake makes the perfect warm weather treat, layered with fresh whipped cream and strawberries. Make it ahead of time and refrigerate it for up to two days before serving!

Love,
Me

P.S. Don’t forget your copy of Gluten-Free on a Shoestring Quick & Easy, especially for all those Make-Your-Own-Gluten-Free-Mix recipes in Chapter 8! Your support means more to me than you know. 

The post Your Gluten Free Memorial Day Menu: Strawberry Recipes appeared first on Gluten-Free on a Shoestring.

Gluten free sponge cake is very similar to gluten free angel food cake, but it makes use of the egg yolks instead of just the whites, resulting in a more flavorful, slightly more moist cake. And although I really do not like to sift flours, both sponge cake and angel food cake call for sifting. I’m sorry I love you and it’s worth it.

It probably won’t come out of the pan looking 100% perfect (well, mine sure didn’t), but it’s not meant to be served all by its lonesome anyhow. And although you could make it in a bundt or tube pan, personally I find it’s not worth the nail-biting over whether or not it’s going to come out of the pan in one piece. I don’t know about you, but if I’m baking in a bundt pan that isn’t brand spankin’ new, I know it’s likely to stick and I’m a nervous wreck getting it out of there. Those pans are like cake prison.

A word about the gluten free flour blend in this recipe. Please use my basic Xanthan Gum-Free Basic Gluten Free Flour Blend, or your favorite, comparable blend. But no xanthan gum! I learned the hard way that if you include xanthan gum in this recipe, the egg yolk mixture clumps terribly and leads to a lumpy, clumpy sponge cake. More tips and tricks below in the printable recipe, as always. For you? Anything:

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Let’s celebrate ourselves, why don’t we. Yeah yeah yeah food is not love and everybody knows that. But sometimes a mini cake for 1, ready in just a few minutes, is what you need to remember to breathe.

Now these are not fully grown Gluten Free Cinnamon Buns (and quick as that recipe from from my Quick & Easy Book is, it takes more than a minute). But you barely have to dirty 3 bowls (cut that down to two bowls if you’re okay with some lumps in the batter).

And you can cook this tiny cake for 1 in anything microwave-safe. I’ve made it in everything from mini mason jars and mugs to an ice cream bowl. Success & high-fives all around, every time.

Be sure to read the recipe carefully if you’re not familiar with my microwave cake for 1 methods from my gluten free chocolate cake for 1 recipe. I’ve got alllll kinds of simple tips for microwave-cake-success the first time. Happy You Day, friends. And cheers to that.

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This pie is a (much better) riff on the yogurt pies I used to have as a kid. Those were a tub of thawed Cool Whip mixed with some strawberry flavored yogurt (probably nonfat, at least if it was the lowfat 90′s, when everyone got fatter), pour into a premade graham cracker pie crust, and then frozen.

This gluten free pie is worlds apart from that one (which, sadly, makes me shudder when I recall the plastic taste). Lightly sweet, totally real and absolutely fresh and creamy. Instead of strawberry flavored nonfat yogurt, we use full fat plain Greek yogurt mixed with fresh strawberries reduced with just a touch of sugar (if you’re reading this and it’s no longer strawberry season, frozen and thawed strawberries would work great). Instead of Cool Whip, fresh whipped cream stabilized with some unflavored gelatin. You can skip the gelatin, but the pie will be much more icy in texture.

After I made the pie a few times, I bought more strawberries and made more of that gorgeous, bright red strawberry puree and have been drizzling it over gluten free waffles, mixing it into yogurt and stirring it into lemonade. Oh my word.

You can even stir some of the strawberry puree into the top of the pie right before you freeze it. Or serve it with some more sauce on the side. Or just give it to me. I’ll figure something out.

The crust is just a basic no-bake cookie crumb crust. One time I used crushed thin & crispy gluten free chocolate chip cookies, another time gluten free graham crackers. Or … you could make things even easier (and let’s face it way better for you!) and serve it crustless. Naked pie! To avoid any confusion, I am not suggesting eating it when you’re naked (not that there’s anything wrong with that but this is a family blog so let’s keep it clean).

The post No Bake Gluten Free Pie: Strawberry Yogurt Cream appeared first on Gluten-Free on a Shoestring.

Bite into your first truffle, and as the chocolate shell gives way to the creamy and buttery cookie dough center, you’ll know what I know: this is important work we’re doing here.

I will spare you all my whining about the times I tried, and failed miserably, to make these truffles taste like the crazy treat they are meant to be. I will spare you, but it’s a struggle. I really want to whine my little heart out. That’s the esteem in which I hold you. High. It’s high esteem.

You do not have to dip these in chocolate, but I did have to. That way, I can serve them after they are no longer well-chilled from the refrigerator. The chocolate is like a protective shell for the gorgeous edible raw chocolate chip cookie dough beneath. Just make sure the balls of cookie dough are really cold when you dip them, since melted chocolate is most cooperative for dipping when it’s warm. That way, the dough will stay together well during the dipping process.

Oh, right! Here’s the secret: pasteurized eggs. There is a company called Safe Egg that makes pasteurized eggs, which are safe to eat raw. I bet there are other companies, too. I found them at a slightly more expensive local grocery store, and believe me when I tell you that I’m not planning to buy them all the time. But they’re lovely for homemade mayonnaise, and of course perfect for making everybody’s favorite gluten free cookie dough. Oh, and did you know that you can even pasteurize your own eggs? It’s not even hard. Just watch the temp carefully, and your eggs will be quite safe.

The other secret? My Basic Gluten Free Flour Blend, Xanthan Gum Free. We’re not baking these, so they don’t need to hold together during baking. Plus, xanthan gum raw? Not a great taste.

Related Recipes:

Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

A collage of photos and links to tons of Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Gluten free flour blends are, really, the most important resource on this entire gluten free blog. A slightly more complex blend of flours (like my Better Than Cup4Cup Blend), including xanthan gum, is essential to success in most of my gluten free recipes. But lately I find myself using a more basic, 3-ingredient flour blend without the benefit of xanthan gum in some recipes, and it’s strangely liberating. Woohoo! I still believe that xanthan gum is a critical component of most gluten free baking, but this basic gluten free flour blend is an important resource, too, in a certain type of more delicate recipe. Scroll all the way down for the infographic that makes short work of remembering how to make this simple flour blend (it has also taken up permanent residence on my gluten free resources pages), but first, let’s review all the wonderful recipes this blend has made possible so far. Who knows where we’ll go from here!

[If you've been reading this blog for a while, you know the drill with the clickable collage, but just in case—hover over each photo for the recipe title, then click the picture to open a new window with that post and the entire recipe]

Here’s the 10¢ tour of these recipes made with my xanthan gum-free basic gluten free flour blend (remember – the links are all above):

Gluten Free Crêpes: The ultimate in delicate, crêpe batter without xanthan gum swirls around that frying pan with ease.

Gluten Free Fluffy Chocolate Chip Pancakes: These gluten free pancakes are made extra fluffy by the yogurt in the batter, but without xanthan gum the batter is still easily pourable.

Gluten Free Chocolate Pudding: Most chocolate pudding is made with cornstarch, but cornstarch will cause pudding to leak liquid when it’s chilled. This pudding, made with my basic xanthan gum-free gluten free flour blend, is smooth as silk—hot or cold.

Gluten Free Cornmeal Pancakes: I have made these pancakes both with a more traditional gluten free flour blend and with my basic xanthan gum-free blend, and the xanthan gum-free variety has a much nicer bite.

Classic Gluten Free Pancakes: Ah, the classic gluten free pancake. You can make it with a more traditional gluten free flour blend, one that contains xanthan gum, but you have to begin with a super hot skillet and work quick quick quick, as the batter will thicken as it stands. This xanthan gum-free pancake batter pours with ease and makes for a tender pancake that tastes just like you remember.

Gluten Free Microwave Chocolate Cake for 1: Disappointed by every other gluten free microwave cake I had ever made, I finally got it! No xanthan gum in the flour (along with a few other secrets I spill in that post and recipe) makes for the perfect moist, tender cake for 1—even once it’s cool. Quick chocolate fix!

Finally, as promised, here’s that handy infographic with the basic blend itself (which also lives on the Resources page with all the other All Purpose Gluten Free Flour Blends). And Pin It so you don’t lose track of it!:

Love,
Me

P.S. Don’t forget your copy of Gluten-Free on a Shoestring Quick & Easy! Your support means the world to me. For real.

The post Basic Gluten Free Flour Blend (Xanthan Gum Free) appeared first on Gluten-Free on a Shoestring.

It’s easy to forget how elegant something as simple as rice pudding can be. There’s no flour and no cornstarch, and not even any egg yolks. You’ll need nothing but the arborio rice plus some milk to make this thick and creamy gluten free pudding. Sometimes, when I’m feeling like feeling virtuous, I make it with brown arborio rice (Lundberg family farms makes it). It will tolerate any sort of milk at all, as long as it’s not nonfat, and you can dial back or dial up the sugar, too.

Single servings of gluten free pudding (like we did with this no-cornstarch gluten free chocolate pudding), especially in these little 4 ounce Weck jars, are perfect for stashing in the back of the refrigerator for an after-school, or a late night, snack on the double.

 I like to steep some whole cinnamon and whole nutmeg in the milk, too, just to dress it up. And all you need to remember about cooking the rice is not to overcook it. Simmer it in water just until it has absorbed most of the liquid before pouring in the simmering milk.

If you’d like an even quicker and easier version of rice pudding (one that’s dairy-free, too) that requires almost no tending, kindly turn to page 179 of Gluten-Free on a Shoestring Quick & Easy. That one even has a thin and lightly sweet crust on top that just … sends me.

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*This original mix has “modified manioc starch” as one of its lesser ingredients, which it claims is necessary for binding the wet and dry ingredients. Since both the dough and the bread are extremely chewy and stretchy without any modified manioc starch, I can’t for the life of me imagine how that is necessary. So I didn’t knock myself out trying to find some of my very own modified manioc.

Remember, when you buy the boxed mix, you still have to add allllll of these other ingredients (eggs, oil, cheese, water or milk – I used milk instead of water and dry milk, like in this mix, so you don’t have to go hunting for dry milk). And a note about cost-savings: This nameless company sells its 7.5 ounce original cheese bread mix for about $2.50 (on average, being kind). The gluten free tapioca starch/flour necessary for this recipe costs about $1.12 (on average). So you don’t have to take off your shoes (like I did), that’s less than half as expensive.

In my recipe directions, I recommend your chilling the dough before baking it, but really it isn’t entirely necessary. Chilling the dough simply makes it stiffer, which allows you to make a slightly more round roll. But a truly spherical pão de queijo would require a different, somewhat more complicated method entirely. So I chill the dough, but I consider that an optional step.

Since pão de queijo (or Brazilian cheese bread) essentially has only one dry ingredient (other than salt), and that dry ingredient is a starch (tapioca flour/starch), it won’t brown much unless you seriously overbake it. And if you seriously overbake the rolls, they will be dry as a bone. They should have a thin crust on the outside, and be quite chewy and stretchy on the inside. These are not intended to be light and fluffy rolls. They’re kinda fun and quick and easy to throw together, though, and when you make it yourself without the mix, it costs about half as much. Win-win? I’m here for you, in all my cheap and shoestringy glory. You my homies. You can officially stop paying double the price for a box of tapioca starch now. Please?

The post Quick Pão de queijo: Original Cheese Bread Copycat Recipe appeared first on Gluten-Free on a Shoestring.

This cake for 1 is the only microwave cake I have ever had that doesn’t become hard as a rock or bouncy as a ball as it cools. When I started working on this recipe, I figured I’d give you instructions for how to make it in the microwave, and when I made it again just for myself I’d stick to the oven. I’d just never met a microwave cake I could really get on with. Until…

now. This cake need only be made in the microwave. Even when it’s not too hot to turn on the oven (I see you around the corner, summertime). There are, of course, a few secrets to success in this microwave cake for 1.

First secret to success: what’s not in there. No xanthan gum. For real. Just a basic, xanthan gum-free gluten free flour blend. And no eggs. Hey, you can even make this vegan by using vegan chips, nondairy milk and vegetable shortening in place of butter.

Second secret to success: adding a few chocolate wafers or chips to the middle of the batter. They melt pretty gently in the microwave, and help keep the cake moist as it cooks.

Third and final secret to success: Adjusting the power of your microwave to approximate 1000 watts by microwaving at a reduced power level if necessary. For example, my microwave is a basic, countertop LG model. I had absolutely no idea what its wattage was. So I looked it up! It’s 1200 watts. I either microwave the cake for up to 1 minute 20 seconds at 80% power, or closer to 1 minute at 90% power. Don’t be afraid to stop the microwave, check with a toothpick, and restart it. And err on the side of undercooking, rather than overcooking. Trust me!

Without further ado, I give you the best gluten free chocolate microwave cake for 1 anyone has ever had, anywhere (too much?):

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Maybe you have a batch of my make-your-own gluten-free vanilla cake mix from page 193 of Gluten-Free on a Shoestring Quick & Easy in your pantry? Use that in place of the dry ingredients in the recipe below (flour, xanthan gum, salt, baking powder, baking soda and sugar). It’ll work just fine! You could even make this dairy-free if you use the dairy-free vanilla cake mix on page 195, and replace the butter with an equal amount of melted and cooled vegetable shortening. So many options!

Want even more options? Make this a simple gluten free strawberry cake, and 86 the strawberry-roasting. Just eliminate that step in the directions, and bake the cake for about an hour instead of 40 minutes, as the fresh, unroasted strawberries will hold more juice than the roasted ones do.

Before you make that decision, though, just look at what happens when you roast the strawberries first. They release much of their juice and it caramelizes in the oven, turning even the wimpiest strawberries into sticky, bright red delights, with the deep flavor to match.

Then just nest them, cut side down, on top of the smooth, gluten free vanilla cake batter, and bake away.

The cake will really be so moist that it keeps for days, just sitting there on the counter, loosely covered (if you have a cloche that fits over a cake plate, that’s perfect, but some plastic wrap will do just fine). The tricks for success are: (1) cover the cake in the oven if it starts to brown too quickly, (2) bake it in a light-colored metal pan or it will bake too quickly on the outside, and (3) bake only until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean, not clean-as-a-whistle, as the top layer should have a bit of a custard-like texture. 

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