the BEST apple cinnamon muffins

1 cup rice flour (brown or white)
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup brown sugar (or less if you don't want them as sweet)
2 t baking powder
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t xanthan gum
1/4 t salt
2 eggs
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup milk
1 apple, peeled & diced

Combine eggs, milk, and butter, then add dry & mix. Mix in apple. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Makes 12 regular-sized muffins.

The BEST peanut butter cookies

I forgot I had this recipe, but I love this one, and it turns out great every time. Very available ingredients too!

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 t vanilla
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t baking powder
3/4 cup rice flour
1/2 cup cornstarch

Cream butter, pb, sugars, egg, and vanilla. Then add rice flour, cornstarch, baking powder and soda.
If I'm in the mood for chocolate chip cookies, I add chocolate chips. You can use creamy or crunchy pb depending on your preference.
Bake 325 degrees for 8-10 minutes. I take them out while they're still soft (in my oven that's 9 minutes) and let them cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet. They're perfect!

the BEST bread I have made from scratch - my own recipe

Having failed miserably at several gf experiments lately, I've been considering just buying mixes for a while. It's just so frustrating when you find a recipe you like, make it again, and it doesn't come out the same or even edible. Ugh! And the wasted ingredients sometimes make me want to cry! My baby is also mobile now so I find myself getting distracted while I'm baking and losing my concentration while I'm trying to rescue her from whatever....also not good for results.

Today makes up for all the recent frustration. While the baby was sleeping, I decided to try my own recipe for rice bread. I combined a couple of recipes that I like pretty well and made my own. It wasn't perfect, but it's pretty close! The taste is better than either of the original recipes I was pulling from. The texture was very good, there was just a bit too much chew at the end, so I'm going to work on this a little more, but this bread is not only edible, it is really good!

Andrea's Rice Bread (I doubled this today)

1 3/4 c white rice flour (I grind my own super fine)

3/4 c tapioca starch

1/4 c corn starch

2 T sugar

2 1/2 t xanthan gum

2 t yeast

1 c warm water

1 1/4 t salt

2 t apple cider vinegar

2 T vegetable oil

3 eggs

Combine the yeast & warm water in a bowl with a sprinkle of sugar to proof it. In your mixing bowl (I use a Kitchen Aid to mix the bread), combine the vinegar, oil, & eggs. Then add all the dry ingredients. I added the yeast mixture last to make sure it was foaming. Mix until well blended.

Let rise for 1 hour. Mine doubled. Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes. Cover with foil after 30 minutes to prevent it from getting too brown.

This makes 1 large loaf.

I think that next time, I'll use 1/2 c tapioca & 1/2 c corn starch and see if that makes it less chewy. Also, I wonder if I mixed it a little too long?

This bread is soft, not gritty, not bitter (sometimes I taste a bitter aftertaste with certain flours), slightly sweet in a white bread way, and not gummy! I'm so excited to have yummy bread to eat!

The BEST white bread

The Blue Chip Baker Gluten-Free French Bread/Pizza Crust Mix.

If you liked white bread prior to being gluten free, this is a great one to try! It has a very smooth soft texture like white bread, not quite as airy, but not gummy either.

The only difference is that, to me, this bread didn't have any flavor, which works ok if you're putting tasty topping on it or making a sandwich. What is the flavor of white bread? I'm just wondering if would taste better with a little salt or sugar or something added.

Either way, this is very edible. It's the least crumbly of any gf bread that I've tried without being gummy or too heavy.

My mom found this mix at Macey's. I couldn't find a picture of the package online, but it comes in a dark ziploc-type bag. One bag makes two medium-sized loaves.

The BEST "scratch" pizza crust

This pizza crust earned the word "indulge" from my husband. I don't think he's ever used the word indulge with anything he's eaten that's gluten free....
I found the recipe online and changed it to suit the ingredients I had. I'll list it as I made it...

Gluten Free Pizza Crust
1 tablespoon dry yeast
1/3 c white rice flour
1/3 c millet flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
2 T sweet rice flour
2 teaspoons xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
2/3 cup water (110 degrees F)
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
This is the best part - just mix all the ingredients at the same time in a mixing bowl & mix for 3 minutes. Then spread onto a sprayed pizza pan dusting the top liberally with rice flour so it's not too sticky to spread. I use my fingers to spread it. Cook for 8 minutes. Then flip it over and cook for 4 more minutes (believe it or not, this is what keeps it from being gummy & if you've ever had gf pizza crust, you probably know what I mean). Take it out, flip it back, & put your toppings on. Cook for 8-10 more minutes and take it out.
I hope you love this as much as we did! This is a little bit of a thin crispy crust type of thing. But, it's not gummy, gooey, eggy or spongey. It's de-lish!
This makes what I would call a medium pizza. I doubled the recipe and made breadsticks too. YUM!
Here is the original recipe from recipezaar if you want to experiment.
http://www.recipezaar.com/Gluten-Free-Pizza-Crust-44487

The BEST brownie mix

The Blue Chip Group Double Fudge Brownie Mix
My mom spoils me with gluten-free mixes. She bought this one and Grove & I both really enjoyed it. Grove, my husband, is not gluten free so it's really a good recommendation when he likes something that is gluten free.
These brownies were different from any other mix brownies I've had. They rose higher than other brownies & aren't so dense and fudgy. So they're between brownies & cake in texture. My husband commented that they're not gritty at all.
The chocolate flavor is very mild - not strong at all. I put about 1/2 cup of chocolate chips in them & it really added to the flavor. I also think these are also a great start for making fancier brownies - with frosting, caramel & nuts, cheesecake, etc.
Maceys sells lots of The Blue Chip Group mixes. They also sell their mixes and gluten free flours online at http://www.bluechipgroup.net/GlutenFreeProducts.html.

The BEST BBQ chicken salad

I had this at Zupas, but it's not so complicated to make at home.
The ingredients at Zupas were: Chicken, BBQ Sauce, Tomatoes, Black Beans, Corn, Black Olives, Tortilla Strips, Red Onions, Mixed Greens, and Ranch Dressing.
They make the salad, toss it with Ranch, then put chicken on top and squirt BBQ sauce on top of that. It's so YUMMY!
At home, I mixed the salad with Ranch and coated the chicken in bbq sauce before I put it on the salad.
Check this link out for lots of fun salad ideas. Also, if you go to Zupas, they have a list of which ingredients have gluten so you can ask them for that & be sure you're safe!
http://www.zupas.com/index.php