Dinner Rolls

I wish I had the genius mind that concocted this gem of bready goodness... alas you should know that full credit belongs to Art of Gluten Free Baking. All I have done is simply copy her recipe here for ease of locating it. Please go check out her site (and try not to drool on your computer when doing so) she has some lovely pictures and a wonderful post in which she talks about how she developed this recipe.

DINNER ROLLS
-makes about 20 rolls

Note: This recipe uses my gluten-free flour mix:
Jeanne’s Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour Mix (mix together and store in fridge):
1 1/4 C. brown rice flour
1 1/4 C. white rice flour
1 C. tapioca flour
1 C. sweet rice flour (also known as Mochiko)
2 scant tsp. xanthan gum

(you can also use the gluten-free flour mixture (not baking mix) of your choice–just be sure it contains xanthan gum. Or, you can add 1/4 tsp. xanthan gum per cup of gluten-free flour. If you use bean flour, it will add a bean taste to the rolls)

Special Equipment Needed
-stand mixer is really helpful, but a hand mixer will do
-muffin pan

Ingredients
3 C Jeanne’s Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour Mix
1 TBL xanthan gum
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 C sugar
2 TBL active dry yeast (I use Red Star)
2 C warm but not hot milk
2 tsp vinegar (I use apple cider vinegar)
2 large or extra large eggs
1/4 C olive oil (or neutral vegetable oil)
melted butter for pans and for brushing tops of rolls
tapioca flour for pans

-butter and flour muffin tins
-in a small bowl, whisk sugar into warm milk
-add yeast, whisk to dissolve; set aside to proof (start the yeast working)–it will get foamy on the top
-in a medium bowl, mix together flour, xanthan gum, baking powde, and salt; set aside
-in bowl of mixer, beat together eggs, vinegar and oil
-add yeast mixture, beat to mix
-add flour mixture, beat on high with paddle attachment for about 3 minutes
-spoon dough into prepared muffin tins–filling about 3/4 of each cup
-with a butter knife that has been dipped in tapioca flour, cut a deep slash in the top of each roll
-don’t worry if there’s a little extra tapioca flour left on the rolls
-turn on oven to preheat to 375 degrees
-put muffin tins on top of stove to let dough rise in proximity to warmth of the preheating stove. Let rise until about double in bulk–about 40 minutes
-once rolls have risen, brush the top of each with melted butter
-bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes–until the tops are a nice golden brown
-release rolls from tins–I often put them into a tea-towel lined basket to keep warm
-these rolls keep well, although you’ll probably eat them all the day you bake them! I have put them on the counter overnight to see what they would be like the next day–and they were yummy!

*Note: you can also make these by dropping large spoonfuls of dough onto a greased cookie sheet. Follow rising and baking instructions for the muffin-tin rolls.

Enjoy!

English Muffins

1 ½ cups Bread Flour Mix
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp dough enhancer (optional)
½ tsp. salt
1 T. sugar
1 pkt. Yeast
¾ cup plus 1 T. water, heated to 110 degrees
1 tsp. canola oil

Mix yeast, sugar and water, set aside. Lightly grease a six-bun hamburger bun pan (each bun form is about 4 ½ inches in diameter). Dust with corn meal or rice flour. Mix all dry ingredients in large bowl of electric mixer. Pour water mixture and canola oil into mixing bowl, mix until just blended. Scrape bowl and beaters, then beat at high speed for 2 minutes.

Spoon dough into prepared pan and spread it out to the edges with a table knife or off-set spatula. Carefully smooth and flatten top of the buns with a table knife. Cover with a light cloth and let rise in a warm place for about 20 minutes. Muffins should approximately double in height.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees while muffins are rising. Place rack in center of oven. Bake muffins for 15 minutes. They should be very light in color and cooked through. Remove from pan and cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Open each muffin by piercing it with a fork around the edges. Carefully pull apart and toast to desired crispness.

Bread Flour Mix for English Muffins

Bread Flour Mix

1/3 part millet flour	2 cups	2/3 cups	1/2 cup
1/6 part sorghum flour	1 cup	1/3 cup	1/4 cup
1/6 part cornstarch	1 cup	1/3 cup	1/4 cup
1/6 part potato starch	1 cup	1/3 cup	1/4 cup
1/6 part tapioca starch	1 cup	1/3 cup	1/4 cup
.	6 cups	2 cups	1 1/2 cups

Source: Gluten-Free Baking Classics by Annalise G. Roberts

Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls

Once you get the hang of these they're a snap to make and I look for excuses to have them... even the rest of my gluten guzzling family looks forward to (and requests) these treats!

This is out of The Gluten Free Kitchen by Roben Ryberg. However the tip about how to easily work the dough was stolen from Alton Brown's Good Eats*. He's by far and away my favorite TV foodie guy... science meets food meets dork. I'm in love... shhhh! Don't tell DH on me!

By the way, the notes below in Italics are my own opinions or comments...
-----------------------------------------------------
These cinnamon rolls will not quite make you forget those you used to buy at the mall, but these are nice. Please follow the unusual techniques carefully when you make these rolls. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS
2 Tablespoons Shortening
(If you can have butter it can be subbed in here, or alternately you can use Earth Balance)
1/4 Cup Sugar
2/3 Cup of Milk or milk substitue @ room temperature
It should be warm enough to help activate the yeast!
1 Packet Yeast (about 1 Tablespoon)
1 Egg Egg can be left out, it doesn't change the recipe that much. You might want to consider using an egg replacer though
1/4 Cup Canola Oil
1/2 Cup Potato Starch
1 Cup Corn Starch
1/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda
2 1/2 Teaspoons Xantham Gum
2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Flavoring

FOR TABLE TOP
1 - 2 Tablespoons Sugar

FOR FILLING
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1 1/4 Teaspoons Cinnamon
1/3 Cup Chopped Nuts - Optional

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In medium bowl, combine shortening (or butter) and sugar. Mix well. Measure warm milk and and add yeast to milk. Whisk well to fully dissolve. Add milk/yeast to sugar mixture. Add remaining ingredients. Mix very well, being sure to remove all lumps. Dough will be quite soft.

(*Here's where Alton Brown's ingenious tip comes in super handy!)

Take a piece of Plastic Wrap and lay it out so it covers a 13 1/2" x 13 1/2" square.


Sprinkle sugar on the wrap. Lay ball of dough on top of that. Then pull out another sheet of wrap and gently lay over the dough.


Pat the dough down into a rough squarish pancake. Lift the top wrap up and relay it down. Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough in between the two layers of wrap. Note that occasionally you'll have to lift and reposition the wrap because it gets "stuck" under the edges. I also occasionally flip the whole thing over. Make sure that when you're done you've got about a 13 1/2" x 13 1/2" square of dough. Remove top piece of wrap.


Combine sugar and cinnamon. Spread evenly across dough's surface. (I leave about a 1 1/2" sugar free edge because when you roll the dough all the sugar shifts and fills this in. Otherwise all the sugar spills out - oh no! And if you don't have a sweet tooth use less sugar than the recipe calls for; sometimes it can be a bit much)


Use the bottom piece of wrap to lift the edge of the dough and start to roll it up forming a long cylinder. (Start with the sugary edge, which will be the center of your roll and roll toward the sugarless edge)



Cut off or trim up the irregular ends of your "log".


Then cut into 9 slices of similar size, about 1 1/2" wide. Place rolls into a greased round glass pie pan.


Bake approximately 20 minutes, until tops are lightly browned.

Combine powdered sugar, milk and vanilla flavoring to make glaze. Stir until all lumps are dissolved. Drizzle over warm rolls if desired.

Makes 9 modestly sized rolls. Serves 9.

These are lovely with coffee in the morning. They're very light and fluffy - not too heavy or dense. I've also discovered that you can make these the night before and stop short of baking them. Wrap them up in their pan or glass dish and leave them in the fridge for the night. The next morning you can take them out and bake them and they come out just the same! I've found that this is a great thing to bring to a friends house for brunch. I just pop them in their oven - and you've got a great GF contribution and you know there's no cross contamination!

305 = Calories
10g = Fat
25mg = Cholesterol
54g = Carbs
2g = Protein
3g = Fiber
301mg = Sodium

Gluten Free Featherlight Biscuits

Ingredients
1 ¾ Cup Authentic Foods Multi-Blend Gluten-Free Flour Mix
1 tsp Xanthan Gum
3 tsps Baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsps sugar
1 tsp salt
6 Tbs cold butter or alternative (like Earth Balance), cut into small pieces
1 cup plain yogurt (or an alternative like soy or coconut yogurt)

Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a mixing bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients and whisk to mix. Mix the cold cut butter in until the mixture resembles crumbs. Add the yogurt and gently mix until the dough forms a ball. Turn out onto a piece of plastic wrap and pat to ¾” thickness. Cut the dough into 2 ½” squares or use a biscuit cutter**. Place 1” apart on an ungreased baking pan (or pizza stone) Bake for 15-20 minutes. Makes 6 large biscuits.

**If you don't have a fancy schmanscy biscuit cutter, take a used tin can (like one that holds corn or beans) and remove both the top and bottom. Once you pat out the dough use the can as your cutter, if you can't shake the dough out it can be poked from the other end to drop on the cookie sheet.

Banana Pancakes

I've been listening to a bit of Jack Johnson lately and his song, "Banana Pancakes" keeps popping into my mind. So this morning I decided to make some for the first time (I usually make blueberry pancakes). Dang if they didn't come out good. The yogurt makes them really light and fluffy. I used kinnikinnick pancake flour mix, but altered their recipe:

1 egg
1 Tbl Penzy's Baking Spice (or you could use cinnamon)
1 tea Vanilla Extract
1 Tbl Canola Oil
1/2 Cup Plain Yogurt
1/4 Cup Milk
1 1/3 Cup Kinnikinnick Pancake flour Mix
1 Banana (chopped into little bits)

Whisk egg, spice, vanilla and oil. Add yogurt and milk, whisk again. Whisk in pancake mix. Fold in Bananas. Scoop batter onto lightly buttered griddle (medium/low temp). Flip when little bubbles appear on top of pancake. Remove when both side are golden brown.