Gluten Free Double Chocolate Chip Muffins

Gluten Free Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins

Also Dairy Free

OK so maybe this isn’t the best recipe to be posting the first week of the new year when so many of use are trying to be healthier, but sometimes you need things like this to get through certain things….okay…yeah, we don’t NEED food to cope with things, but sometimes, if I can just eat something chocolate…I’m a much better person.  Anyways, the kids love ‘em too.  For some reason I got thinking about muffins and those jumbo chocolate chocolate chip muffins you can buy at Costco or other bakeries and I just really missed being able to have that.  So I pulled out the best muffin recipe I have ever used (including pre-gluten free days) and just made one change to it to make these delicious gluten free chocolate chocolate chip muffins or double chocolate chip muffins….however you want to say it!

Here is the gluten free muffin recipe, but to make them double chocolate, just like the ones from the store, you are going to subtract 1/3 cup flour and replace it with 1/3 cup cocoa powder.  Then add a cup of Ghirardelli semi-sweet or 60% cocoa chocolate chips (they are dairy free and I use coconut milk when making these).

Gluten Free Homemakers Basic Muffin Recipe

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

• 1 2/3 c. gluten-free flour mix
• 1/3 c cocoa powder
• 1 tsp. xanthan gum
• 1  Tb. baking powder
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 – 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/2 c. oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla or other flavoring
• 3/4 – 1 c. milk, juice, or water
• up to 1 c. chocolate chips

In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, xanthan gum, baking powder, salt and sugar.  In a smaller bowl, or measuring cup, combine the oil, eggs, vanilla and milk.  Add that to the dry ingredients and whisk together until moistened.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Divide into lined muffin cups and I like to sometimes sprinkle a little sugar on top like the bakeries do.  Bake at 375 degrees for 20 – 25 minutes.  Let the muffins cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.  Usually best served warm.

(note: I use Silvana Nardone's GF blend and leave out the xanthan gum when making this recipe since her blend already has the xanthan gum in it.  I just love her blend and all her recipes!  

I love this recipe because it is so versatile!  I've also used this gluten free muffin recipe to make

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Muffins

Gluten Free Strawberry Muffins

Gluten Free Blueberry Lemon Muffins with Coconut Streusel

Gluten Free Coffee Cake with Maple Frosting

Thanksgiving Recap

Hello out there....if anyone is still there!  We are alive over here, however we had family come visit, then went and visited family...pretty much the time between Halloween and Thanksgiving just happened at warp speed.  But we are back and Scrappy Saturdays will be back on this weekend too.
After not posting in so long it's almost hard to know where to start so I thought I'd start with a recap of our Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving day started with these

Gluten-Free Sticky Cinnamon Swirl Pancakes with Maple Frosting

 by Silvana Nardone

 For her other great thanksgiving breakfast menu recipes including this one, visit Silvana's Kitchen!


And our Day Ended with this

Toasted Marshmallow topped Pumpkin Ice Cream Pie with Ginger Snap Cookie Crust from 

 from Silvana's Book Cooking for Isaiah 

(I LOVE LOVE LOVE this gluten free dairy free cookbook!)

Both were super yummy and delicious, along with everything else we had in-between.  My husband cooked the actual meal and did a great job on everything.  I sure am Thankful for such an awesome hubby!!!  And I'm thankful for all the great resources, including Silvana's recipes that make eating gluten and dairy free easy and delicious!  We had company over for Thanksgiving and they said they would have never guessed everything was gluten and dairy free.

I did make ONE thing for the actual meal from a recipe my sister gave me. I made this the night before and I  want to make this everyday, just to make my house smell like this.  Now I'm desperate to find the perfect candle that smells like this...cranberries, apples, vanilla, cinnamon and clove! *I left out the raisins.

homemade cranberry relish

2 cups fresh apple juice

1/2 cup sugar

24 ounces cranberries

2 slightly sweet apples, peeled and diced

1/2 vanilla bean, slit open

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 -2 cloves depending on preference

1/4 cup golden raisins

Combine all the ingredients in a large saucepan. Cook, stirring occasionally, on medium-high heat until the cranberries have popped and everything has begun to gel. Spoon into a casserole dish. Let cool.

This is beautiful and super Yummy!!

Gluten Free Corn Bread Stuffing (also got this recipe from my sister)

Use your favorite GF cornbread mix - (Bobs Red Mill is awesome) or substitute gluten free all purpose baking mix for the flour in any basic corn bread recipe. Mix dough then stir in 1/2 Tbs of dried thyme. Bake according to recipe directions.

Once the cornbread has cooled, cut into cubes and arrange on a baking sheet. Let this sit overnight to dry out and create cornbread crumbs.

Stuffing ingredients:

2 Tbs Olive oil

1/2 onion - chopped

4 cloves garlic - finely chopped or pressed

1-2 stalks celery - chopped

1 apple - peeled and chopped

.75 oz of fresh Rosemary, Thyme and Sage

Vegetable or Chicken stock as needed

Salt and Pepper to taste

In a large pot, saute onion, garlic and celery. Add apple, salt and pepper and herbs, cook stirring frequently over medium heat for 3-4 mins. Lower to med/low heat and add cornbread crumbs, toss to coat with herb mixture. Add vegetable stock to moisten cornbread to desired consistency/texture. Serve warm.

Gluten Free Cinnamon Belgian Waffles

Cinnamon-Toasted Belgian Waffles

Gluten free and Dairy Free

From Cooking For Isaiah

This past weekend we had another great success from our Cooking For Isaiah cookbook.  We made the Cinnamon Toasted Belgian Waffle and it was SO delicious, the cinnamon in the waffles with classic waffle texture, crunchy on the outside, fluffy on the inside, it was hard to remember I wasn't actually eating cinnamon toast.  These gluten free cinnamon waffles topped with real maple syrup was the best saturday morning breakfast we've had in a long time.  So far, Silvana Nardone's Cooking For Isaiah Cookbook of gluten free, dairy free recipes has yet to dissapoint...everything we have tried has been awesome and I've even used her flour blend in other recipes like the gluten free blueberry muffins with coconut struesel, chocolate chip muffins and strawberry muffins and I love it.  This is my favorite cookbook, the only other cookbook I have used so much (and not even as much as Silvana's is the big BHG cookbook.

If you are not feeling brave enough to make you own flour blend and get cooking from this awesome book, well, first of all, there's nothing to be afraid of, it's super easy although I was intimidated about the different flours and everything at first...I don't know why it's really not a big deal...ANYWAYS, if you'd rather stick with the gluten free bisquik mix, or if you not gluten free and making normal waffles, make according to package directions and add 1-2 tsp cinnamon to the batter and a bit of brown sugar.  

I'm not working for Silvana or her book, but I just can't help but rave about it every time I make something out of it!  I think she is a genius.

Savory Waffles as Gluten Free Hot Dog Buns or Hamburger Buns

Gluten Free Hot Dog Bun and Hamburger Bun

Here's another reviewed recipe from the Cooking For Isaiah book by Silvana Nardone.  She has a meatloaf sandwich recipe in there and she came up with the idea of using savory waffles for the bread.  Savory waffles are exactly what it sounds like...waffles with some savory seasonings added in like italian seasoning, sun dried tomatoes...etc.  We made savory waffles to use as hamburger buns a couple of weeks ago and it worked out great! So yummy!  We wrapped up the extra waffles and put them in the freezer so when we decided to BBQ some Hebrew Nationals the other day, I just took them out and put them in the toaster to thaw them and crisp them back up a bit.  I love having these on hand!  I just don't enjoy a hamburger wrapped in lettuce and a hot dog with no bun is no fun!

The Hamburgers we made were so good!  We shredded a sweet onion and then mixed the shredded onion in with the hamburger meat when forming the burgers.  We cooked them over briquettes and then topped with Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce and carmelized onions...and my hubby did the grilling just right, they left my mouth watering with that lingering smoky flavor the rest of that evening!  Having savory gluten free waffles for the bun just made them even better, I mean, waffles are awesome and typical hamburger buns and hot dog buns aren't even good...they are like cardboard bread....so it's not a dietary sacrifice by any means...substituting these waffles in for buns is a total upgrade!

You can easily make gluten free buns by making gluten free waffles with either Silvana's Recipe in her Book, or use the gluten free bisquick mix, or if you are way too lazy, you could always try using Vans gluten free dairy free waffles (they just wouldn't be savory..but it would still be yummy without the seasonings)

More props to The Cooking for Isaiah Cookbook...Silvana...you have made living gluten free and dairy free exciting! You are such a genius in the kitchen!  Even if you aren't gluten free...you should try making some savory waffles sometime to use as a hamburger bun, hot dog bun or whatever kind of bun or sandwich bread you need.

Silvana's Banana Bread

Mom's Banana Bread

Cooking for Isaiah - Silvana Nardone

Banana bread is just awesome!  And I hadn't had banana bread since going gluten free and I missed it!  I made my favorite banana bread recipe for my husband recently and it was torture not to eat it!  So when I saw the gluten free dairy free banana bread recipe in Silvana Nardone's cookbook  we had to try it!  And man, my husband had a bite, got a goofy smile on his face and said "THIS is GLUTEN FREE???"  it was so good, it did not last nearly long enough and I'm hankering to make this again SOON!  This cookbook has not steered me wrong yet!

And we thought we couldn't make good banana bread without gluten or butter....

Meringue Layer Cake w/ Fresh Raspberries and Lemon Curd

Another heavenly recipe that came out of the Cooking For Isaiah Cookbook: Gluten Free and Dairy Free recipes by Silvana Nardone.  The picture of this dessert in the book is actually what compelled me to purchase it over other cookbooks I was looking at.  I could not WAIT to try this!  I made this at my moms house which was perfect timing because we picked the first batch of raspberries from her immaculate garden and they were TO-DIE-FOR!  I never knew raspberries could be THAT good and I'm determined to plant some raspberry bushes at our home next summer!  I give this recipe a round of applause!  The meringue is the kind your would have atop a lemon meringue cake...light and crisp on outside but super soft on the inside.  The only thing I didn't do was sprinkle with icing sugar...it didn't need it.  This gluten free dairy free layer cake is the best summer dessert I have ever had and will be using this recipe again and again!  Although I'll have to find fresh raspberries...I've never had store bough raspberries taste like these.  Anyways, I am still loving this book...maybe one of my most useful favorite book purchases ever! (along with natural baby and childcare)

 Picture of cake is not that great because it was night...by the next morning there was only the piece left in the first picture.

 A snapshot of mom and dad working on their weeds section...getting it ready to be planted with who knows what...they already have everything!

 The Produce Garden is hidden behind the arborvitaes....on the other side their yard looks like this....well...this is just a little peek...