Just received a bag of organic apples yesterday through our co-op. Rather than make a whole pie, I decided to do a quick cobbler. The filling wasn’t too moist and the topping was sweet and crunchy, just the way I remembered it when my mom used to make it with Bisquick years ago. This recipe takes about 45 minutes and includes a few extra steps but I think it is worth it. (more…)

About two months ago, while we were on holidays in Ireland, I took my 3 1/2 yr old with me to the grocery store. He got very excited when he saw a picture of jam cookies on a packaged box and was mad about getting them. I explained that they had wheat, and that we couldn’t get them. He just pointed his finger at me and said exuberantly, “But YOU could MAKE them!” (more…)

I waited until the last minute to get together something for my son’s Mother’s Day Tea Party. Wanting to make these cookies as healthy as possible by avoiding all sugars, even maple syrup, I decided to check out Pecanbread.com, a website devoted to helping folks following a Specific Carbohydrate Diet. There I found a handful of recipes. One in particular peaked my interest because I had all the ingredients for it on hand. This was my first attempt to bake cookies without any flour or sugar and I was very surprised at the results. The kids loved them, and for anyone not familiar with the SCD diet, as it is often referred as, this recipe is gluten-free, corn-free, dairy-free, soy-free, and Feingold approved. Oh, and one last thing I forgot to mention–delicious! (more…)

This dessert is easy to put together and only takes about a half-hour. It is gluten-free, corn and soy-free, and can be dairy-free if you simply substitute the butter for spectrum palm oil. (more…)

If you have drooled over the Starbucks bakery display or have dreamed of having just one more scone again, I am here to tell you that it is time to wake up and get cooking! Little chef and I bought a scone pan from Nordicware while at our local Dominick’s store, a Safeway affiliate. It wasn’t cheap, and I hesitated to buy it, but at the last minute I gave in to my little chef’s cajoling.

This morning we decided it was time to try it out. The pan is made out of heavy cast aluminum and it makes eight large triangular shaped scones. We altered the recipe supplied by Nordicware and had tremendous success! All three boys thought it was delicious, and I even caught little chef picking the crumbs off of his plate. I think our version was a bit on the sweet side (well at least for our tastes, as we have been low sugar for about a year now). But it may be perfectly suitable for the average sweet-tooth. To put it into perspective, my diagnosed son wanted to know why we were allowed to eat dessert for breakfast….. (more…)

My mom’s most requested cake is just a simple angel food cake with fresh fruit and whipped cream. She wanted me to bake her something I could eat too, so we decided to take a chance on baking an angel food cake with an alternative flour.

We thought it would work, since angel food cake only uses 1 cup of flour, and all the leavening comes from the dozen eggs in the recipe. But just in case, we bought a back-up cake at the grocery store.

You know what that means — it worked! Any time you’re ready with the back-up, you don’t need it, right? (more…)

This year for Dad’s birthday he had only one request: carrot cake. He’s not exactly gluten-free, but the rest of us are, so I decided to roll up my sleeves and get to work. I was pleasantly surprised with this one. It is a “from scratch” recipe, as sure sign that my gluten-free confidence is building. A year ago I would have never attempted such a feat. I researched ‘best’ carrot cake recipes of the traditional gluten variety and I finally settled on a game plan when I found a tried and true recipe from All Recipes.com that seemed to get the highest ratings from viewers. (more…)

If you’re avoiding dairy it’s not too hard to find a substitute since there are so many fine choices out there — various nut milks, soy milks, as well as rice milks. Most people gravitate toward nut milks and soy milks when they need to substitute for whole milk or cream in a recipe. But what do you do if you’re avoiding soy? The thickest of the milk substitutes, soy is a handy go to for the dairy-free baker. It’s the staple product in nearly all non-dairy frozen goodies. Let’s face it, no soy means no Tofutti Cuties! (more…)

These moist, cake-like Brownies are not overly sweet. I used fructose sugar (which I’m told is always derived from corn these days). But if you are not corn-free, I think it is a good replacement for standard refined sugar. I used Baker’s brand chocolate in my version but there are several casein-free brands out there like Elite (which is a Kosher product that is also soy-free), Enjoy Life (GF, CF, MF, soy and Nut free), and Tropical Source (which is also found at Whole Foods and is vegan too).The entire dish takes under an hour to prepare and probably even less to polish off because they are so delicious. This recipe is only gluten-free as listed but can be modified to be dairy and corn-free as well with a few suggested substitutions. (more…)

I practiced a lot this past holiday with some of our family’s favorite home-baked cookie recipes, a tradition among the women in our extended family that dates back to a time long before I was born. This was our first gluten free Christmas, and it began with several mishaps and a lot of perseverance. Here is my all time best success this year.

These mini-muffin sized sweets are perfect for entertaining or that special occasion you’d like to attend. Also known as “Nut Cups”, this allergy friendly treat passed the test with all our gluten eating friends and family. They couldn’t taste the difference, nor did they see one. (more…)