Sour Cream Apple Pie

This is not a paleo recipe, but it's such a classic in our household that I have to add it. Although it is a 'sour cream' apple pie, the recipe works just as well with tofuti sour cream, and it has never let me down. Most of the gluten free pie crust recipes that I've encountered work just fine, and I know everyone has their favorites, so I'm hesitant to suggest one particular recipe above all others. For the pie pictured above, I used the standard crust out of "The Allergen-Free Baker's Handbook" by Cybele Pascal (http://www.cybelepascal.com/books/) because I was trying to use up some old flour mix, and it turned out very well. My sister swears by the dream pastry out of Bette Hagman's "The Gluten Free Gourmet Makes Dessert" ( and in the past I've usually just found a recipe that fit whatever ingredients I had on hand. I'll include a basic pie crust recipe here, but feel free to experiment and try your own! The filling is quite adaptable to different temperatures, times, etc :)


Sour Cream Apple Pie
Servings: 8

For the topping
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons flour, gluten free

For the filling
1 1/3 cups sour cream, imitation
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons flour
5 large granny Smith apple (about 2 1/4 pounds)

1. preheat oven the 350 degrees F.
2. Roll out the dough 1/8 inch thick on a lightly floured surface, fit it into a 10-inch (6 cup capacity) pie plate, and flute the edge decoratively. Chill the shell while making the topping and filling. make edge of pie high so that filling does not pour out.
3. Make the topping: In a small bowl blend together the butter, the sugar, the cinnamon, and the flour until the mixture is combined well and chill the topping, covered, while making the filling.
4. Make the filling: In a large bowl whisk together the sour cream, the sugar, the salt, the vanilla, the eggs, and the flour until the mixture is smooth, add the apples, peeled, cored, and sliced thin, and stir the filling until it is combined well.
5. Spoon the filling into the chilled shell, smoothing the top, and crumble the topping evenly over it. Bake the pie in the middle of a preheated 350 degree F. oven for 1 to 1 1/4 hours, or until it is golden and the apples are tender, transfer it to a rack, and let it cool completely.

Pie Crust

1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup potato starch
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup shortening, cold
1/2 cup water, ice cold

1. Place flour, starches, salt and sugar in a food processing bowl. Pulse for a few seconds to blend ingredients. Place shortening or shortening/butter combination, cut into small, approximately ½-inch pieces, in the food processing bowl. Pulse ingredients for 15 to 30 seconds until mixture resembles a coarse meal.
2. With the food processor running, slowly pour cold water into the feed tube, just until the dough comes together. Stop the food processor immediately and remove the dough. If the dough comes together before you’ve poured all the water into the feed tube, do not add the final amount of water.
3. Place dough on a lightly floured surface (brown rice flour) or a piece of parchment or waxed paper. Form dough into a ball and cut in half. Wrap one half of the dough in plastic wrap to prevent it from drying out while you work with the other half.
4. Flatten the ball of dough into a round disc, place between two pieces of waxed or parchment paper and roll out the dough with a rolling pin. If your dough is slightly sticky, lightly flour the dough disc and the bottom parchment/waxed paper before rolling out the dough
5. After rolling the dough, gently remove the top piece of parchment/waxed paper. Invert the rolled pie dough into a lightly greased pie tin (using spray oil or lightly grease with shortening). Fill the pie shell with desired filling.
6. Unwrap the second half of dough and roll it as instructed above. Lay rolled dough on top of the pie. Using your fingers, gently press down the dough along the edge of the pie tin. This will help seal the top and bottom pie crusts together. Running a knife along the outside edge of the pie tin, cut the excess pie crust from the pie tin and discard or save for another use. Using your fingers, pinch the dough to flute the edge or use a fork to press the crust edge down.
7. To obtain a nice golden crust, lightly brush your crust with milk of your choice or a beaten egg white mixed with 1 tablespoon water, before placing the pie in the oven for baking. Double-crusted pies must vent steam during baking. With a small knife, place several slits in your top crust before baking your pie.

Blueberry Lemon Cupcakes/Muffins, Paleo

I've been trying out a bunch of new blueberry recipes lately, trying to take advantage of our temporary bounty, and I finally found a successful Blueberry muffin! Before my paleo days I had a ridiculous amount of trouble finding a decent blueberry muffin recipe. A few of my memorable attempts were soapy, gummy, or too dense. One mildly successful batch even tasted like blueberry popovers. I've found paleo desserts to be far more reliable, and would suggest these muffins to any baker with coconut flour on hand.

Blueberry Lemon Cupcakes/Muffins
Servings: 12

1/2 cup coconut flour
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
4 large eggs
1/2 cup grapeseed oil
1/2 cup agave nectar
2 tablespoons lemon zest, firmly packed (2 to 3 lemons)
1 cup blueberries, frozen or fresh

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line 12 muffins cups with paper liners (Watch out for soy ink if you're allergic! We use bridal white muffin tins these days)
2. In a large bowl, combine the coconut flour, salt, and baking soda. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, grapeseed oil, agave nectar, and lemon zest. Blend the wet ingredients into the coconut flour mixture with a handheld mixer UNTIL THOROUGHLY COMBINED (took longer than I expected), then fold in the blueberries.
3. Scoop 1/4 cup of batter into each prepared muffin cup.
4. Bake for 22 to 26 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the cneter of a cupcake comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached. Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 1 hour, then frost and serve.

Source
From "Gluten Free Cupcakes" by Elana Amsterdam, pg. 47

Note: Elana recommends lemon cream cheese frosting or whipped cream frosting (see Cupcake book), since both recipes include unavoidable quantities of dairy, I haven't put them in.  They tasted delicious without any topping.

Blueberry Pie, Paleo

I LOVE Blueberry Pie, so with the bushes outside packed with berries, and I fully equipped kitchen, I was ready to make pie until my supplies ran out. I was incredibly dismayed therefore when I realized that none of my paleo cookbooks had a straightforward blueberry pie recipe, and the internet let me down as well. Instead of trying to turn blueberry peach crumble into something resembling a pie, I decided to adapt a recipe my sister uses for her regular gluten free pie. The result was amazing (though I suspect now that I could have simply poured a pile of blueberries into a pie crust and my family still would have been satisfied).


Blueberry Pie
Servings: 8

Pie Crust
1 1/2 cups blanched almond flour
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup grapeseed oil
2 tablespoons agave nectar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


Pie Filling
5 cups fresh wild blueberries (a mix of wild, cultivated, and store bought works fine)
1/4 cup coconut sugar (more or less works fine, cut out completely for sugar free)
1/4 cup arrowroot starch
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 F
PIE CRUST:
In a large bowl, combine the almond flour, salt, and baking soda. In a medium bowl, whisk together the grapeseed oil, agave nectar, and vanilla extract. Stir the wet ingredients into the almond flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Press the dough into
a 9 1/2 inch or deep dish pie pan

Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool before filling.

Note: When cooking the entire pie, the almond flour crust tends to burn very easily. Since it will be in the oven for over an hour total, I tend to cover the edges in tin foil. They still crisp to a dark brown, but don't blacken.


FILLING:
In a large bowl, mix blueberries, sugar, arrowroot, lemon juice, and salt. (I tend to mix the blueberries, sugar, arrowroot, and salt together first and then add the lemon, otherwise it clumps up quite a bit)

If you haven't already, make and bake the crust

Pour filling into prepared crust.

Bake pie in preheated oven for about 60 minutes.

Let cool on counter afterwards for at least 10 minutes, refrigeration before cutting is strongly advised if you want the filling to solidify.

Sources:
Pie crust is from "The Gluten Free Almond Flour Cookbook" by Elana
Amsterdam, pg. 79
Crust makes one 9 1/2 inch crust (can be stretched out to 10 1/2 inch and
scrunched down to 9 in)
Pie filling is adapted from a Living Without online recipe, June/July 2009.

Reviving the blog

Hello! It's been a while since I last posted, and I've picked up a few more food allergies and switched to a paleo diet. These days I avoid gluten, dairy, soy, peanuts, walnuts, and cashews, and my go to flours are almond and coconut. I haven't gotten any better at taking pictures of food, so quite a few of my paleo creations will truly look like cave food, but I can guarantee that they will taste great!

Triple-Threat Mocha Chocolate Chip Cookies

Another recipe from Donna Washburn and Heather Butt that has stood the test of many poor attempts. This comes from "The Best Gluten-Free Family Cookbook," and the first time I made them they failed to flatten at all and ended up overcooked, crunchy, and pointy... despite that they tasted delicious so I kept making them until they more closely resembled the picture in the book. Turns out they're supposed to be chewy and puffy, rather than dense bombshells that spell doom for braces. They're very addictive, I guarantee you won't be able to stop at one.

Triple-Threat Mocha Chocolate Chip Cookies
Baking sheets, lightly greased
Makes 5 dozen cookies

1 cup sorghum flour

2/3 cup whole bean flour (I use Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Mix, but any bean flour will do)

1/2 cup tapioca starch

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp xanthan gum

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
4 oz semi-sweet chocolate
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup shortening
2 tbs water
1 tbs instant coffee granules
2 eggs
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. In a large bowl or plastic bag, combine sorghum flour, whole bean flour, tapioca starch, baking soda, xanthan gum, salt and cocoa. Mix well and set aside.
2. In a medium microwave safe bowl, microwave chocolate, butter, shortening, water and coffee granules, uncovered, on Medium (50%) for 2 minutes. Stir until completely melted. Set aside to cool.
3. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat eggs, sugar and brown sugar for 3 mintues, until smooth. Add vanilla and cooled melted chocolate mixture. Slowly beat in the dry ingredients until combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop dough by rounded spoonfuls 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Let stand for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
4. Bake in preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, or until set. Transfer to a cooling rack immediately.

TIPS
-Cookies spread and are still soft when baked; if baked too long, cookies become very crunchy when cold.
-For crisper cookeis, use 2/3 cup butter instead of half butter and half shortening.
-Make ahead and freeze for up to 2 months in an airtight container.
- Substitute chickpea (garbanzo bean) flour, yellow or green pea flour, or garbanzo-fava (garfava) bean flour for the whole bean flour.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

When I first started branching off from pancake and waffle recipes I was incapable of correctly using the same recipe twice. No matter how carefully I measured ingredients a cookie recipe that produced flat crispy cookies one time might create dense round masses of dough the next. This recipe passed the destructive baker test. I've used it countless times, and though I created numerous variations at the beginning-- crunchy, chewy, thin, crisp, etc-- they always came out yummy. These days they're predictably soft on the inside, crunchy on the outside, and easy to make. The recipe comes from "125 Best Gluten-Free Recipes" by Donna Washburn and Heather Butt. I highly recommend these authors. We own three other recipe collections of theirs, and they are all different, delicious, and dependable. They also have very helpful tips and great variations with each recipe.

Chocolate Chip Cookies
Preheat oven to 350 degrees (180 degrees celsius)
Baking sheets, lightly greased 
Makes 6 1/2 dozen cookies 

1 cup sorghum flour
2/3 cup whole bean flour (I use Bob's Red Mill flour mix, but any bean flour works)
1/2 cup tapioca starch
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup shortening, softened
1 1/3 cups packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups mini-chocolate chips (regular sized works too, the cookies will just be flatter)
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional, cookies will be flatter without them)

1. In a bowl or plastic bag, combine sorghum flour, whole bean flour, tapioca starch, baking soda, xanthan gum and salt. Mix well and set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, using an electric mixer, cream shortening and brown sugar. Add eggs and vanilla extract and beat until light and fluffy. Slowly beat in the dry ingredients until combined. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts. Drop dough by level teaspoonfuls (15 mL), 1 1/2 inches (4 cm) apart on prepared baking sheets. Let stand for 30 minutes. Bake in preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until set. Remove from baking sheets to a cooling rack immediately. Note- keep a close eye on them once you hit the 8 minute mark. If you like your cookies chewy, don't let them get golden.

TIP
For crisper cookies, replace shortening with butter or margarine and substitute half the brown sugar with granulated sugar.

VARIATIONS
-Substitute white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts for the mini chocolate chips and walnuts.
-To bake a dozen cookies at a time or to turn these into slice and bake cookies, form the dough into 1 inch logs 6 inches in length, and freeze for up to 1 month. To bake, thaw slightly and cut into 1/2 inch slices. Bake 10 to 12 minutes.

French Bread

This is absolutely the most delicious, amazing, closest to glutenous french bread recipe I have ever found. As a result it's usually gone less than an hour after it's come out of the oven when the whole family swoops down to eat it. It is best fresh, so not really good as a sandwich bread, but if you're looking for a taste of the past it's a very enjoyable recipe. I found it in "The Gluten-Free Gourmet Bakes Bread" by Bette Hagman, which also has recipes suitable for Bread Machines. Her cookbooks tend to have some amazing recipes, notably this french bread, waffles, and a whoopee pie recipe in her "Gluten Free Gourmet Makes Desert," but I'm usually put off by all the different mixes she requires you to make, and I still haven't found an ideal sandwich bread. This french bread has it's own mix, which I usually make in bulk since I use it for both pizza and french bread.

DRY INGREDIENTS
3 1/2 cups French Bread/Pizza Mix **
6 tbs Dry milk powder or nondairy substitute (almond flour is best, but soy milk powder works too, rice milk powder makes it too dense)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbs yeast

WET INGREDIENTS
3 large egg whites
1 tsp dough enhancer or vinegar (I haven't been able to find dough enhancer, so I use apple cider vinegar)
3 tbs vegetable oil
1 1/3 cups warm water

Prepare a French bread or cookie sheet by greasing and dusting with cornmeal (if desired)

In the bowl of a heavy duty mixer, combine the dry ingredients (including the yeast). In a small bowl, beat the egg whites, dough enhancer, and oil slightly with a fork. Add most of the warm water. Add these to the dry ingredients and beat on high for 3 minutes. Check after the first few seconds of mixing to see if more water is needed. The dough should be thick but not dry or forming a ball.

Spoon into the French bread pan or onto the cookie sheet in the shape of a French loaf. If necessary, smooth the top with greased fingers. Cover and let rise about 335 minutes for rapid-rising yeast, 60-75 mintues for regular yeast. Bake in a preheated 425 degree oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until nicely browned and the loaf sounds hollow when thumped.

VARIATION:

ROSEMARY FRENCH: To the dry ingredients add 1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary per cup of flour. (I've never tried it, but you're welcome to give it a go."

FRENCH BREAD/PIZZA MIX:

INGREDIENTS (for 6 cups of mix)
3 1/2 cups white rice flour
2 1/2 cups tapioca flour
2 tbs xanthan gum
2 (7 gram) packets unflavored gelatin
2 tbs egg replacer
1/4 cup sugar (white)

Stir together well or place in a plastic bag and tumble. Store on your pantry shelf; no need to refrigerate.