All things gluten-free and dairy-free...
All the while dancing wildly in the kitchen, singing unabashedly in the car, and thrift store shopping to my heart's content.
The fall bounty is in full effect. Apples of every kind line the market aisles. Big ones. Small ones. Juicy ones. Tart ones. Red ones. Pink ones. It's apple mania, people!
Why not make use of fall's most notorious fruit in some fluffy gluten-free muffins? Besides, baking this treat today will fill your home with a heavenly aroma. Why not! Let's not waste another minute...
Apple Spice Muffins (Gluten Free)
Makes 12 muffins
Ingredients:
Wet Ingredients = Large Mixing Bowl
3 large eggs
3/4 cup applesauce
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp apple pie spice
Dry Ingredients = Small Mixing Bowl
1 1/2 cups sweet white rice flour
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
Filling
1 sweet apple - peeled, cored and diced
The Preparation Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Whisk the three eggs well. Add remaining wet ingredients. Stir together until well blended.
Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Fold gently to combine. Do not over-stir. Stir just enough to make the dry ingredients wetted. Gluten-free muffins are temperamental. Don't go agro on 'em, folks. Be gentle. And kind. If you take your time, the muffins will be gentle and kind right back at you.
Just like the Gluten-Free Pumpkin Buckwheat Muffins I posted last month, stirring too much will cause your muffins to turn out tough. And like I've said before... nobody likes a tough muffin. A tough cookie, maybe, but not a tough muffin.
Have the peeled, cored and diced apples on hand.
Begin filling the muffin cups just halfway. About a tablespoon of batter will do. We're going to fill the center of the muffin with the diced apples and finish up with another tablespoon of batter on top.
With a technique like this we might as well call this recipe Spiced Apple Surprise Muffins.
Once all the apples are tucked nicely inside each muffin cup, bake in a preheated 350 degree oven approximately 18 minutes (give or take) until a toothpick inserted to the center of the muffin comes out clean. Don't overcook. This also leads to tough gluten-free muffins, friends.
Raise your hand if you love Mat Kearney as much as I do. Ah-ha, I knew it. See, that's why we're friends.
This song is so flippin' fantastic it deserves a three-peat listen-to. Amazingly enough, the video is approximately twelve times more fantastic than the song by itself. How hard is that to accomplish? Go, Mr. Kearney, Go!
Mat Kearney - Hey Mama
(Special note for my readers who receive Dance While You Cook posts via email: I realize you may not be able to play the videos I've been posting from this email. You probably already realize this, but just to be sure I thought I'd mention it. Click on the link at the top of the page to get through to my website so you can see the videos play.)
'Tis the season for all things pumpkin. These gluten and dairy free muffins are such a huge hit in my household—a batch of twelve barely lasts twelve minutes out of the oven. Even the neighbor kids devour these little bad boys, asking for seconds and thirds. This is a good sign when it comes to gluten-free baked goods around here. A real good sign.
Pumpkin Buckwheat Muffins (Gluten and Dairy Free)
Makes 12 muffins
Ingredients:
Wet Ingredients = Large Mixing Bowl
3 large eggs
3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree (this is half of a 14oz can)
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
Dry Ingredients = Small Mixing Bowl
1 1/2 cups sweet white rice flour
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
The Preparation Method:
Crack 3 eggs in a large mixing bowl and whisk well. Add 1/2 cup canola oil and whisk to combine. Add the remaining 'wet' ingredients from the list above.
Whisk well to combine.
In a small mixing bowl combine all the ingredients from the 'dry' list above. Whisk well to combine.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.
Do not whisk well to combine. Lightly fold the ingredients together until the wet has wetted all the dry. Do not stir too much. This will cause your muffins to turn out tough. Nobody likes a tough muffin. A tough cookie, maybe, but not a tough muffin.
Once the dry ingredients are lightly folded into the wet, it's time to place them into your muffin wrappers.
Place muffins in a preheated 350 degree oven. Bake 15-20 minutes until the tops of the muffins are golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center. Be careful not to bake too long. This too will result in a tough muffin.
Remove from the oven and place immediately on a rack to cool. Try your darndest to let them sit for five minutes before devouring.
Bring them to kiddie Halloween parties. Bring them to neighborhood pot-lucks. Bring them to your office and hide them in the corner of your desk. This way they might last longer than twelve minutes. No one will know but you. The little people might start questioning you with that heavenly smell coming out of the kitchen, but I'm certain you'll find a way to explain that away. Pumpkin muffins? What pumpkin muffins?
I may have mentioned how ridiculously hot my house is lately. We have no air conditioning, very little cross ventilation and one ceiling fan. That said, I have been ridiculously under-motivated to spend any time in the kitchen creating new recipes. Unless they are frozen. And include ice. And can be consumed through a straw.
Today I bring to you a recipe for something that will cool you off and replace a meal if you so choose.
It's a milkshake. Not a true milkshake because there is no cow's milk in it. In fact, when I told my children that we were having milkshakes for dinner they asked me with such sweet innocence, "Mama, what's a milkshake?" It's a funny thing being dairy-free for so long. The children are not entirely aware of all the divine pleasures that exist out there in the world of eats and treats.
The unique thing about this milkshake, besides the absence of milk of course, is the addition of oatmeal. For months now I've been considering creative ways to use the leftover oatmeal from the morning's breakfast.
Finally, the excess oatmeal has found a happy home in my Super Thick Strawberry Almond Milkshakes.
Super Thick Strawberry Almond Milkshakes
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups almond milk
1 cup smooth almond butter (or less if you don't prefer your shake to be sooooo thick)
1 cup cooked oatmeal
2 cups frozen strawberries
1 banana, fresh or frozen
2 cups ice
1 1/2 TBS honey
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
The Preparation Method:
Combine all ingredients in a blender. Turn on high and puree until smooth.
For the Visual Learners Among Us:
Begin by measuring out your ingredients. One and a half cups almond milk—original or vanilla, sweetened or unsweetened—whatever your preference. I love, love, love Almond Breeze!
One cup creamy almond butter. Use half this amount if you would rather your Super Thick Milkshake move more quickly through the straw when all is said and done.
Two cups frozen strawberries, or more for a stronger strawberry presence.
One banana. Use a frozen one for proper milkshake thickness. Use a fresh one if that's all you have because you've made smoothies for dinner every night this week and you don't have any frozen bananas left.
Two cups ice cubes.
One and a half tablespoons honey.
One half teaspoon pure vanilla extract.
Blend it all up on high for a few minutes until you've achieved a Super Thick Strawberry Almond Milkshake.
Insert straw, enjoy the cool refreshment and sit outside under a shady tree where the cool wind blows.
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Now that we've all cooled off a bit—let's dance!
Toby Keith - Beer For My Horses featuring Willie Nelson
I realize this is no revolutionary recipe. Heck, it's not even a recipe. It's more of a sanity strategy if nothing else.
This Mama needs plenty of sanity strategies to make it through the day in one piece. Luckily, the other night when I was feeling overly tired and unwell I got myself into bed at 7:30 and fell fast sleep. In my stead, Dada had an evening of fun and adventure with the littles in the kitchen.
These orange juice ice cube pops were just one result of the troop's freewheelin' late night capers.
The concept is simple. Yet, somehow, I have never done this with my children in all my years in my role as mother. I suppose it takes Dada and his freewheelin' ways to come up with such an exciting plan for morning joy.
Pour your favorite juice into an ice cube tray. Cover with plastic wrap so the toothpicks remain upright. Insert toothpicks. Wake up in the morning and dig in.
Enter the Sanity Strategy.
Imagine if you will...
Mama is still in bed trying her darndest to sleep in, if there is such a thing with young children in the house. She hears the pitter patter of little feet in the kitchen. Dining room chairs are being pulled over the hardwood floor to the freezer making a highly undesirable noise at such an early hour. Little hands reach deep in to the back of the cooler box and grab the little blue tray of delight. They start in on the ice cube pops. Everything is quiet. For minutes. For tens of minutes. Pop after pop and the children are quiet. And delighted. Mama nuzzles her head under the covers for just a few minutes more. All is well with the world.
With summertime in full swing there is nothing this woman craves more than Sticky Rice with Mango. It is the ultimate gluten-free dairy-free desert.
I could eat it every day. I could eat it all day.
Yes, I could eat sticky rice in a house. Yes, I could eat sticky rice with a mouse. I could eat it here and there. I could eat it anywhere. I would, I could eat it in the rain. I would, I could eat it in the dark or on a train or in a car or in a tree. It is so good, so good you see!
Don't put it past me to make an entire batch and then stare dumb-foundedly at my family when they come to get theirs and find an empty bowl.
This is one of those recipes I knew I needed to learn to make at home after tempting my taste buds at the local Thai restaurant. It is slightly time intensive—but like any good thing—certainly worth the wait.
Thai Sticky Rice with Mango
Serves: 4
Cook Time: 40 minutes + 1 to 8 hours for soaking the rice
Ingredients:
1 cup raw (glutinous) sticky rice
1 (13.5 ounce) can unsweetened coconut milk (shake can well), divided
3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
2 TBS + 5 tsp white sugar, divided
1 teaspoon tapioca starch, dissolved in a trickle of water
1 TBS toasted white sesame seeds
2 ripe Manila mangos, perfectly ripe (yellow skinned and oblong, not the green and red South American varieties)
The Preparation Method:
The variety of rice you use in this recipe is imperative to its success. Using the wrong type of rice will not give you true Thai sticky rice. I found the right type of rice at the local Asian market. I could not seem to find it anywhere else. Glutinous sticky rice does not contain gluten, but rather carries the name for its glue-like nature when soaked and steamed. It can also be called sweet rice, waxy rice, obtain rice, biroin chal, mochi rice and pearl rice.
Begin the holy process of making your sticky rice by rinsing and soaking the grains. Rinse them until the water runs clear, or nearly clear. Then place in a small bowl with water covering the grains by an inch or two. Set aside for the next 1 to 8 hours. One hour of soaking will do, but eight hours gives the rice a much stickier quality when steamed.
While the rice grains soak, let us take a moment to remember the divine treat that awaits us when the creation process has come to completion.
After the designated soaking period, drain the water from the rice.
Now set up a rice steaming system on the stovetop. They sell sticky rice steamers at the Asian market. It would be nifty if you had one for this project. But if you don't, simply grab any other steaming mechanism at hand. Fill the bottom pot with two inches of water, turn heat to high and wait for it to start boiling.
Drape the holed steamer with a thin sheet of cheesecloth and add the soaked rice.
Cover with a lid. Keep over medium-high heat for 20 minutes.
While the rice is steaming, begin preparing the coconut milk sauces. There will be two distinct sauces.
First up, the topping sauce... Sauce #1.
Dissolve 1 teaspoon tapioca starch (also known as tapioca flour) in a trickle of water. Stir to combine until it is a smooth paste.
In a small saucepan mix together 1/2 cup canned coconut milk (remember to shake the can really well), 1/4 teaspoon salt, 3 teaspoons white sugar and the liquified tapioca starch. It will look very thin and runny as seen here on the tip of my spatula.
On the stovetop, turn heat to low. Stir. Once thickened, this sauce will turn into a thick drizzle for the sticky rice and mango. Continue stirring until you see it start to thicken up. Do not allow it to boil or simmer. The heat should be kept very low to avoid simmering. You may need to turn the dial on the heat ever so slightly to encourage thickening. This process took me approximately 12 minutes over medium-low heat. Remove from heat and set aside once thickened sufficiently, as seen here on the tip of my spatula.
The next sauce we need to prepare is the sticky rice coconut sauce... Sauce #2.
I failed to take a picture, so please feel free to use your imagination here. While waiting for Sauce #1 to thicken begin Sauce #2.
In a small saucepan, combine 1 cup coconut milk, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 2 TBS + 2 teaspoons white sugar over medium heat. This sauce should not simmer or boil either. Heat just until all ingredients have dissolved. Remove from heat and set aside.
Once the rice is finished steaming, remove from heat and put rice in shallow bowl. Add only 50% of Sauce #2. Stir well to coat each grain in the milky goodness. Keep adding little pours of sauce until the grains are well drenched, but not swimming in pools. Do you know what I mean? The picture speaks louder than my words here. Now set the sticky rice aside covered by a kitchen towel. Wait 20 - 30 minutes while the rice absorbs the coconut milk and becomes even more sticky and luscious than it already is.
While the rice is gettin' on with its bad self, begin peeling the mangos. This is a picture of the oblong yellow mango that is perfect and right for Thai sticky rice with mango. Do not use the green and red mangos for this recipe. It just won't be right. The green and red varieties are a bit fibrous and will require you to chew them. The yellow mangos, on the other hand, will melt in your mouth with each bite. Like buttah. This is how it should be. Again, I say, only use the green and red variety of mango if you are in dire straits.
The act of peeling mango makes me feel like I'm on a tropical island near the sea. I like this feeling. A lot.
After the rice has sat for 20 - 30 minutes, it is ready to be served. The restaurants always serve their sticky rice in nice compact balls. Use an ice cream scooper, small bowl or Thermos lid (like I did). Pack the rice in nice and tight. Flip over on the serving plate.
Top with the freshly sliced mango.
Grab Sauce #1 and drizzle over the top. Sprinkle a few toasted white sesame seeds over the desert in all its divinity.
I found these already toasted sesame seeds at the local Asian market as well. Super convenient. Super tasty. The desert just isn't the same without them. Do yourself a favor and make the effort to get ahold of some of these bad boys.
And enjoy! Tell me you have not experienced heaven on Earth when you bite into this.
Note: The sticky rice and sauces can be prepared many hours in advance of serving. Just don't put the rice in the refrigerator. It will make the rice turn all hard and crunchy. And that's just not right. Simply leave covered on the counter until ready to serve.
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Crunchy sticky rice is just not right. But Grace Potter is sooo right. Here's one smokin' hot video to jam to while you prep this desert. Grace Potter and Thai Sticky Rice—it's like ecstasy in a bowl right here folks.
