Posts tagged ‘gluten free baking’
Blueberry pie
This is the pie I made for Thanksgiving Dinner this year. It’s adapted from Canadian Living’s recipe for Old-Fashioned Blueberry Pie. I’ve made it gluten free and added in more lemon and more blueberries. The overwhelming sentiment about the pie was, “Wow, that is a LOT of blueberries!” I used one and a half big baskets of blueberries that my parents picked up at Granville Island while they were out exploring, and it probably amounted to at least a cup more than what’s below. If you too want a gigantic pie with LOTS of blueberries, go crazy and jam them in there like we did.
In all three big baskets of blueberries came home from Granville Island. We enjoyed the rest with yogurt the morning after Thanksgiving dinner and then each had a big bowl of fresh blueberries for dessert that evening. Just plain blueberries – so good. The rest finally made their way into a coffee cake for breakfast this week.
Blueberry pie
Filling
6 cups blueberries
3/4 cups sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons gluten-free flour
1/2 tsp grated lemon rind
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Pastry
2-1/2 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 tsp salt
1 tablespoon lemon rind
1/2 cup cold butter, cubed
1/2 cup cold vegetable shortening, cubed
1/4 cup ice water
3 tbsp sour cream
1 egg white
Mix flour, xanthan gum, salt and lemon rind. Using pastry blender, cut in butter and shortening until mixture is in fine crumbs with a few larger pieces.
In small bowl, whisk water with sour cream; drizzle over dry ingredients, stirring briskly with fork to form ragged dough and adding more water, 1 tbsp (15 mL) at a time, if too dry. Divide in half; press into discs. Wrap each in plastic wrap; refrigerate until chilled, about 30 minutes.
In large bowl, combine blueberries, sugar, cornstarch, flour, lemon rind, lemon juice and cinnamon; set aside.
On lightly floured surface, roll out half of the pastry to fit a 9-inch pie plate. Pour in the blueberry filling and then roll out the remaining pastry. I sliced mine into strips for a criss-cross pattern, which I find much easier than trying to transfer over a whole top sheet of pastry.
Brush the top pastry and the edges with a bit of egg white and sprinkle with sugar. Bake in the bottom part of the oven at 425F for 15 minutes; reduce heat to 350F and bake until the filling is thickened and the pie is golden, about 35-45 minutes. I usually put a bit of foil around the edges and top of the pie so it doesn’t burn and gradually remove it as the cooking time goes by.
Let cool on rack and serve. Ours made enough for 6 generous helpings plus a big piece leftover.
Raspberry chocolate scones
In honour of Valentine’s Day, here is the recipe for my husband’s favourite breakfast scones – raspberry with bittersweet chocolate. Gluten-free, of course, and best paired with a steamy hot chocolate. What a good wife I am for making these for breakfast today.
1-1/2 cups flour*
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup flaxseed meal or ground flaxseed
1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used bittersweet)
1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
1 cup plain yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla
Mix together flour (and xanthan gum for gluten-free), sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and flaxseed. Stir in raspberries and chocolate chips, and then add yogurt and vanilla. Stir together only until the dry ingredients are well-mixed with the yogurt. Spoon onto a greased baking sheet and bake at 375F for 20 minutes or until scones are lightly browned.
*I use Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free flour mix. For gluten-free, also add 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum.
Banana muffins
Banana muffins were one of the first recipes I mastered in the kitchen when I was learning how to cook in my teens. The recipe came from a Canadian cookbook called Muffin Mania. I still own it; the pages proudly wear all the slops and spills of a well-used cookbook. My family loved seeing a batch of warm banana chocolate chip muffins emerging from the oven on the weekend, and I loved the fact that they loved what I was making. That feeling of mutual enjoyment between cook and eater was born with this recipe and is at the heart of why I find cooking such a joy, a true source of peace and comfort. (more…)
Lemon poppyseed muffins
Most of the food I make has a strong bias towards being healthy. This recipe is an exception to that rule. It’s probably only good for your soul. Lots of butter, lots of sugar and white flour. Still, they are very good: lemony with a perfect poppyseed crunch. I’ve added a few fresh cranberries and a sprinkle of raw sugar on top. (more…)
Best blueberry muffins
These are the best blueberry muffins I have ever made, and possibly the best I have ever tasted. I’ve been making muffins almost once a week since the age of 16, so that’s saying something! These were made with fresh blueberries and a generous helping of lemon zest, slightly crispy on the outside and deliciously moist on the inside. Yum! The recipe is adapted from the Four Sisters Inn Cookbook, which I am steadily cooking my way through as the weekends wind by.
Blueberry Lemon Muffins
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup yogurt
2 eggs
1-1/4 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons lemon zest
1-1/2 cups blueberries
1/2 cup flax seeds
Cream butter and sugar. Add lemon juice, yogurt and eggs and mix well. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, lemon zest, blueberries and flax seeds and gently fold into butter mixture. Spoon batter into greased or non-stick muffin tins*. Bake for 15 minutes at 350F. Makes 12 regular or 24 mini muffins.
*I recently received new muffin tins as a gift. I especially love the mini muffin tin, which is the perfect and amazing Non-stick Goldtouch brand from Williams Sonoma.
