GF Soft Pretzels and Pretzels Dogs

We make soft pretzels all.the.time at my house. My preschooler thinks they are some kind of manna - necessary for life. At first, we made them all in the standard pretzel shape, but we've since grown more inventive. These can be shaped like letters, numbers, or even cut out with cookie cutters. My preschooler's current favorite are "Christmas pretzels." They are his favorite snack - even in late January!

This recipe is so easy, I had to share. I use my Gluten Free Flour Recipe #1 and it does not have xanthan gum added. If your flour includes xanthan gum, do not add more. If you do not need to eat gluten-free, you may use all-purpose (gluten) flour and omit the xanthan gum.

***Soft Pretzels
1 cup warm water
2 Tbsp. yeast
2 tsp. honey
2 2/3 cup flour mix (possibly more if dough gets sticky)
1 tsp. xanthan gum (if not included in your flour mix)

1 egg for brushing over the top (or melted butter or oil)
Kosher salt

Preheat oven to 425. Lightly grease cookie sheet. In large bowl, dissolve yeast in 1 cup warm water (NOT hot). Add honey, flour and xanthan gum (if needed) to yeast mixture. Blend into dough. Knead until well mixed. If necessary, add more water if dough is too dry to work with, or flour if dough is too sticky. Form dough into snake shapes (I do small pretzels, but any size will work), and shape as desired.  Beat egg in a bowl. Brush pretzels with egg (or oil or melted butter) and sprinkle with salt. The egg will cause the pretzels to brown, so spread it as thoroughly across the pretzels as you can. My picture above shows what happens if you don't get it over the whole pretzel!

Bake 8-12 minutes, or until pretzels begin to brown on top.

Super easy!

With the Super Bowl coming up, I've begun planning a "snacky foods" day for my little family. I thought pretzel dogs would be good, but I wanted to test them out before game day to make sure it turned out. I learned some tips along the way, and by the end, I was a pretzel-dog-rolling pro.

You need wax paper for this project in addition to hot dogs and all the ingredients for the pretzel recipe above.

I think they are worth the work. My two-year-old ate two whole pretzel dogs, and she normally eats like a little bird.

***Pretzel Dogs

Prepared pretzel dough (see recipe above)
8 hot dogs (make sure they are GF)
Lots of wax paper and a rolling pin

Mix pretzel dough. On clean work surface, spread out wax paper. Place dough on wax paper. Top with second sheet of wax paper. Roll dough out until it is about 1/4 inch thick. Trim edges of dough to form neat rectangle or square shape. If you are using standard length hot dogs, cut dough into 4 inch by 4 inch squares. With knife, gently go under dough to release it from wax paper. Place square away from the rest of the dough. Put hot dog on the dough, just like this picture below.

Here's where it gets a little tricky. GF dough is notoriously brittle. What worked for me was lifting the wax paper as I rolled. Roll slowly and patiently. If dough starts to stick, gently encourage it with your fingers or a knife to release from the paper. If it starts to break, press it back together with your fingers. It will hold together, you just have to be patient.

Once the dog is rolled up in the dough, place it (seam down) on a lightly greased baking sheet. Repeat until all hot dogs are wrapped. Brush hots dogs with egg and sprinkle with salt. I use kosher salt because the crystals are larger.

Bake at 425 for about 15 minutes. The tops won't brown a lot, but they will brown some. Bake until the bottoms are a nice golden color.

The pretzel dog closest to you in this picture is the last one I rolled. As you can see, I got better as I went along. They tasted great, and we look forward to having them for the big game!

Baked Donut Holes

Who ever said gluten-free breakfast had to be boring? Probably the same people who think good donuts have to be fried.

Last week, I woke up craving donut holes. I had no idea what to do, but I was determined to make them. The secret is to use a mini muffin tin. My mini muffin tin can make 24 mini muffins at once, and luckily, the batter I whipped up was the perfect amount to make 24 donut holes. I rolled the baked donut holes in melted butter and then powdered sugar, but you could do a cinnamon-sugar mixture instead. My whole family ate these up, and I look forward to making them again. I hope you love them too!

***Baked Donut Holes
1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup white rice flour
1/2 cup corn starch
2 Tbsp. tapioca starch
1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 cup sugar

2 Tbsp. oil
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2/3 cup almond milk (regular milk will work, too)
Melted butter and desired donut hole topping (cinnamon-sugar, or powdered sugar work well)

Preheat oven to 350. In mixing bowl, mix sugar, brown and white rice flours, cornstarch, tapioca starch, and xanthan gum. Stir in egg, oil and vanilla. Slowly stir in almond milk (or regular milk) until soft dough forms. I did not grease my mini muffin tin, but you are welcome to do that if you think your pan will need to be greased. Roll dough into walnut-size balls (or slightly smaller) and place one ball in each mini muffin spot. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until the donut holes turn a very light brown, or until each donut hole is firm to the touch (not hard, but firm). Melt butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Roll donut holes in melted butter and then into desired topping.  A ratio of 1/2 cup sugar to 2 tsp. cinnamon works well. Or you can use plain powdered sugar. Serve while still warm. Makes 24 large donut holes, or 36 smaller donut holes.

Chocolate Fruity Pebble Treats

I'm still packing my meals for Vacation Bible School this week. I've been kinda boring and have stayed with a cold meat sandwich on bread each night. Tomorrow night they are grilling hot dogs, so I think I'll eat a hot dog without the bun and pack my own side dishes. Hopefully that will work out all right.

Each night the kids get a dessert of some sort with the meal. I've just packed basic sides like GF pretzels, raisins, plantain crispers, etc., but then I heard that Fruity Pebbles are gluten-free now. I decided I should make myself a dessert, and I wanted to use Fruity Pebbles. So, I made a quick trip to the local grocery store, picked up some Fruity Pebbles and came home. The box did NOT say gluten-free on it, so I went to Post Cereal's website. It did confirm that Fruity Pebbles and Cocoa Pebbles are gluten-free, but if you have specific dietary needs, I would recommend calling or emailing the company with your specific questions. As with all my recipes, please double check what you are using to ensure that it is gluten-free and safe for you.

Not the greatest picture, but here's what I came up with for my Vacation Bible School dessert:

***Chocoalte Fruity Pebble Treats

1/4 cup (or 1/2 stick) butter or margarine
1 pkg. (10.5 ounce) mini marshmallows
1 box Fruity Pebbles
2 Tbsp. cocoa powder
2 tsp. sugar

Line a 9x13 pan with foil and grease foil. In a very large, microwave-safe bowl, melt butter with cocoa and sugar on high for about 45 seconds. Stir well. If the mixture isn't melted, add another 10-15 seconds and stir again. Add marshmallows and toss with the chocolate mixture until the marshmallows are coated. Microwave 1 1/2 minutes (stopping after 45 seconds to stir), or until marshmallows are completely melted. Add Fruity Pebbles cereal and mix well. Spoon mixture into prepared baking dish. Dampen hands with water and firmly press cereal mixture into pan until evenly spread. Allow the treats to cool. Cut into about 15 squares.

Hope you enjoy these! They lasted all of one day at my house!

Gluten-Free Birthday Cake - A Prehistoric Endeavor

I have two kids and their birthdays are only two days apart. They are two years apart in age, but their birthdays are so close together that we've had a combined birthday party for the past two years. As we were gearing up for "Birthday Land" at my house, I asked each child what theme they wanted for the party. My oldest requested dinosaurs. My youngest wanted zoo animals. I thought each theme was wonderful, but I had no idea how I could create one cake around both of those themes. Our birthday parties are small - just my husband, my kids, me and grandparents, so there would simply be no need for lots of cake. But, I also wanted each child to feel special at the birthday party and to enjoy the cake I made for them.

In addition to this challenge, I also wanted to make the cake gluten-free. I wanted to be able to enjoy the cake with my kids on their day, and my youngest child has shown some small indicators of food allergies as well. I wanted a cake that would be safe for all of us. I also wanted it to be something my gluten-eating relatives would enjoy.

First, I happened upon this recipe for gluten-free yellow cake. I decided to do a trial run about a month before the birthday just to make sure the cake would turn out well. I turned that cake into chocolate covered cake balls (oh, yum! Will definitely share this recipe in the future!). The cake was a success. My husband said the cake balls tasted as good as the Starbucks Cake Pops. What a compliment!

Then, the night before the birthday party, I baked the cake again. This time I lined the 9x13 cake pan with parchment paper. I followed the recipe I linked above, poured the batter into the cake pan, and then baked for about 25 minutes. It might take more or less time in your oven. Check the center of the cake with a toothpick, and it if comes out clean, it is done. My cake began to turn golden brown on top. Once the cake was cool, I gently lifted it out of the pan and placed it on one of my nicer-looking cookie sheets. Then I trimmed away the excess parchment paper. I left the paper on the bottom of the cake, but you could remove it if you were feeling adventurous.

When I decorate my cakes, I prefer to use pre-made frosting. I'm a busy mom, and what I care about is giving my kids a cake they will love and remember. I've never dabbled in fondant. Maybe sometime I will. But, for now, I'm able to do most everything I want with store bought frosting. I was pretty geeked to learn that Betty Crocker frosting is now certified gluten-free. Check the back of the can yourself. Let me know if you do a little jump right there in the store. I know I did, and it would be nice to know I'm not the only one! For this cake, I kept some of the frosting white (I used vanilla. Whipped white will also work.), made some of the frosting green, and made a small amount of it blue.

I started the decorating process by making a t-shaped path on the cake using white frosting. Next I iced the remaining quadrants with green frosting. I also made the sides of the cake green.

Once the basic design was iced onto the cake, I created a "cobblestone" path using Rice Chex. Can you tell I love that Rice Chex are a gluten-free food? I left a little bit of white frosting visible on either side of the path. This allowed me to add a "fence" later on in the decorating process. I'm not sure how much Chex I ended up using. Maybe a cup or so. We keep Chex at the house for making "bread crumbs" and as a breakfast option, so we had some in the house already.

Next, I "fenced" off each green rectangle with gluten-free, vanilla wafer cookies. I used Schär brand cookies, but I hear Glutino makes them as well. I had to cut a few of the wafer cookies with a knife so that they would fit properly on the cake.

The only other thing I had to make for decorating involved pink tootsie rolls. I took one pink tootsie roll, broke it into two pieces, flattened the pieces and put a little strip of white frosting down the center of each piece. These served as "T-bone steaks" for the cake. The rest of the cake was created using little plastic toys my kids already had. I washed the toys thoroughly first, of course, and then arranged them on the cake. When all was said and done, we had a PREHISTORIC ZOO! Both kids loved it (and it tasted great too)!

Prehistoric animals were paired up with their modern relatives in each zoo exhibit. The king of the dinosaurs (T-rex) was paired up with the king of the jungle (a mighty lion). A long-neck brachiosaurus was eating leaves from the treetops next to a giraffe. A rhino and a triceratops drank from a pond (blue icing outlined with gluten free Rice Krispies). An armored euoplocephalus was next to an armadillo. Give a few candy steaks to the meat-eating T-rex and lion, stick on a few trees with icing to the cookie sheet, and VOILA! A birthday cake that two kids can agree on. It tasted great, it was gluten-free, and no one felt like they were missing anything.

In addition to the ingredients for the yellow cake and the Betty Crocker frosting, you will need:

Around 1 cup of Rice Chex

A few Rice Krispies to outline the pond, and maybe a handful more to make a desert environment for the armored animal/dino

1 pink tootsie roll

1 pkg. Schär brand vanilla wafer cookies

Food coloring: green and blue

1 skewer cut in half and sanded until ends are smooth

Small piece of paper for creating a "Prehistoric Zoo" sign (personalize as is appropriate for you)

Desired dinosaur and animal plastic toys

Plastic trees, cactus, or other desired zoo decor

1 or 2 plastic people to visit the zoo

Total decorating time was not much more than an hour. Allow more time if you've never decorated your own cake before. And then, trust yourself! You can do this and your kids (or other family members/friends) will love it!