Fun favorites

If you're looking for some donuts that taste as good as the real thing, try KinnickKinnick maple glazed donuts. They're amazing. They're in the freezer section.

If you're craving Oreos, try Kini-Toos. They come in chocolate or vanilla. The chocolate ones are definitely better, but they're both very edible. They're dairy free, egg free, etc. in addition to gluten free.

I posted before about Betty Crocker gluten free cake mix. I've discovered a better way to make it. Try adding 1/2 cup applesauce, and 2 egg whites to the dry mix in place of the 3 eggs that the back of the box calls for. Add the other ingredients as listed (I think it's 1/2 cup butter & 1 cup water). According to my not gluten free husband, this melts in your mouth. I tried this because I'm allergic to egg yolks, but really it's just better this way. I tried using EnerG egg replacer in place of the eggs and it was super dry - stick with applesauce! :)
Here's another way to use the Betty Crocker gluten free chocolate cake mix - use 1 package cake mix & mix with 2 eggs and 1 can of cherry pie filling. Bake in a 9x13 pan at 350 until a toothpick in the middle comes out clean (approx 25-30 min). I tried this with 1/2 cup applesauce instead of the eggs and the middle was very gooey (the edges were amazing) so you might have to increase the cooking time to make sure the middle is done. My toothpick came out clean, but it was still gooey so I'll have to experiment more with this.

The BEST Waffles/Pancakes from scratch

This is the best pancake/waffle from scratch recipe I have tried. I started out with a recipe from online and altered it for my additional food allergies and tastes. I hope you like it too.

1/4 cup rice flour
1/4 cup sorghum flour
1 T and 1 1/2 t corn starch
2 T and 2 t potato starch
3/4 t baking powder
1/4 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1/4 t xanthan gum
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 T canola oil
1 cup milk or milk substitute (I made these with soy milk)

Mix the dry ingredients. Then add the wet. Mix again.
I also added 1/2 cup frozen blueberries when I made pancakes. I left out the oil for the pancakes and it still worked great.

The waffles were amazing - golden and crisp on the outside, soft inside. The perfect texture in my opinion!

I want to experiment with making a large quantity of dry mix for these so it's easy to add the wet in just a few minutes. When I figure it out, I'll post the quantities

The BEST gluten-free flour tortillas (from scratch)

Here's a recipe I posted on my family blog a few years ago and I'm resurrecting it.

Gluten-free flour tortillas
1 c rice flour
1/3 c corn starch
1/3 c tapioca flour
1/3 c sorghum flour
2 t xanthan gum
1 t baking powder
1/2 t sugar
1 1/4 t salt (probably too much if you're adding salty toppings but really yummy plain)
2 T vegetable or other shortening (I used butter-flavored Crisco b/c it's what I had)
3/4 to 1 c warm water
Combine all of the dry ingredients, then cut in the shortening using a pastry blender.Add the warm water, starting with 3/4 c and mix well.Continue to add water until a soft, cohesive dough is formed. I stopped before it got sticky so it was still a little crumbly but stuck together when I pressed it.This is my secret to rolling out gluten free dough. I have a very large glass cutting board that I dust with corn starch. I sprinkle a little corn starch on top of the dough and then roll with a rolling pin also dusted with corn starch.Cook one at a time on a hot lightly greased or sprayed skillet until the surface bubbles & it has brown flecks.Turn only once, and cook until the second side is slightly browned. This doesn't take very long.For the pan size I had, this made four tortillas, about twice as thick as a wrap tortilla when cooked - more like a thick soft taco tortilla (like a gordita maybe?). They do thicken a bit when they cook b/c of the baking powder. For me, it was hard to get them any thinner and still get them in the pan w/o breaking.The recipe says that these will freeze in a plastic bag for up to three months. I'm not sure they'll last past tonight...

I haven't posted in a while because I found out in December that I have additional food allergies and then I found out shortly thereafter that I'm pregnant with my 5th child. So I really haven't been doing much cooking and baking, but I'm hoping to get back into it now that food actually tastes good again (well, some of it).