Peanut Butter Granola Clusters

I can't take any credit for this recipe, but it makes a hearty, tasty, relatively-good-for-you treat, and I wanted to pass it along! I found this recipe in the Relish magazine insert that comes in my weekly newspaper. You can find the recipe on their website using this link:

Peanut Butter Granola Clusters Recipe

I used honey rather than brown rice syrup, and I was short on dried cranberries so I just added in some raisins to make up the difference. As long as your oats are certified GF, there shouldn't be any  substitutions needed.



These clusters do get pretty crispy, and they are a little on the fragile side while they are cooling. Let them cool almost all the way before removing from the parchment paper. Because of the protein in the peanut butter and the hearty oats mixed in, these clusters stuck with me for quite a while. Hope you enjoy these as much as we did at my house!

Product Review: S'moreables and S'more Mix Recipe

Time for another product review!

I will admit that my kids had an "off" day at the grocery store this week, and so I didn't pay super close attention to what I was selecting when I picked out a couple new GF products to try. The picture on the box of Kinnikinnick Foods S'moreables sold this product to me. I saw s'mores and had to try them. If I had read the bold print on the box, I would have realized that the product was graham crackers and I would need to supply the chocolate and marshmallows. Ha! Oh well!

The crackers are fantastic. They taste almost exactly like their gluten counterparts, but I actually like these better. They aren't flimsy. They aren't overly hard either. They are sturdy enough for making a s'more, but crumbly enough to be a cracker. The texture is perfection. My kids loved them too, but I didn't share very many. After eating a S'moreable, I started thinking about s'mores. I wanted one. And then, it hit me! Why not have a "s'more" in a bowl? After a bite or two, I wanted more S'more Mix!

***S'more Mix
Kinnikinnick S'moreable crackers
Chocolate chunks of your choice (I read that dark chocolate M&Ms are GF, though you may want to check for yourself)
GF mini marshmallows

Break crackers into bite size pieces. Combine with chocolate chunks and marshmallows. Enjoy, and pretend you are sitting near a campfire somewhere.

Product Review: "Plantain Crunchers" by Amport Foods

If I am ever driving through a town that has a Hy-Vee Grocery Store, I have to stop and check out what's new in the gluten-free section. Hy-Vee has really impressed me with their organic and health food selection, and I've been particularly impressed by how much they stock in the way of gluten-free food. I have always been able to find healthy snacks in the gluten-free section of the store, and it is my go-to store for the various flours I need for GF cooking and baking.

This past week I stopped at a Hy-Vee I'd never been in before, and they had a couple of products by Amport Foods. They both looked great, but I decided to try the "Plantain Crunchers" first. I have to be honest that I don't think I have ever eaten a plantain before this, so I had no idea what to expect. I knew they were like bananas, but usually used in preparing main dishes. That was about the extent of my knowledge. So, I brought these cute little yellow snacks home with no idea what to expect.

My first impression was of "sensory confusion." At first my nose smelled banana, and so I expected a sweet flavor even though I *knew* the crunchers were salted. Once I got over the fact that they tasted pretty much nothing like bananas, I started to enjoy them. My son started begging for some of mommy's "new yellow chips," so I decided to share. He loved them too! They have a texture similar to banana chips in that they are crunchy without being hard, but they have a flavor that is full and meets my salty carb craving.

If you see these snacks in a store near you, it would be worth giving them a try! I've heard Amport Foods has a line of other dried snacks, but I have not yet seen them in the store. Have you tried any of Amport Foods' products? What did you think?

Wheat-less Wheat Thins

I was doing an internet search for homemade rice crackers, when I happened upon a recipe that looked wonderful. The picture looked delicious and I thought it would be great to have something for soups, or dips, or really anything else. I love crackers! They are truly one of the things I've missed the most since going gluten free. Here's the site I found: Easy Homemade Crackers

I whipped up the dough (I used oil instead of butter) and rolled it out on parchment paper like the recipe suggested. I topped the dough with wax paper (less sticky than another sheet of parchment), and rolled out the dough. The end result was both wonderful and a bit of a letdown. The taste was exactly like Wheat Thins! I couldn't believe it! But, I had made the crackers a little too thick and had cut them too big. So, I tried again. This time, I divided the dough in half and placed each half on its own piece of parchment. I rolled the dough with wax paper over the top. I tried to cut off uneven edges and roll them into the dough until I got a nice, even rectangle. Then I cut the dough into 1 inch by 1 inch squares. After cutting the crackers, I pierced them with a fork. I sprinkled on a little salt (recipe calls for kosher, but I didn't have any. Table salt was fine).

As the crackers baked, I noticed the ones on the edges were getting done faster. Rather than just let them burn, I removed them and put the rest back in. They taste best once the tops of the crackers have turned a deep brown color. I didn't realize how much I missed Wheat Thins until I tasted these! I will put this into my rotation of recipes that I make often.

These crackers are amazing! Now I'm busy plotting all the fun dips and spreads I can make to go with them! What is your favorite way to eat your crackers? I'd love to get some ideas going in the comments!

***Wheat-less Wheat Thins*** recipe modified from this one: Easy Homemade Crackers

3/4 sorghum flour

3/4 cup brown rice flour
1 tablespoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
4 tablespoons oil
6 tablespoons cold water
Salt,  for sprinkling on crackers (kosher or regular)

Preheat oven to 400. Mix flours, sugar, salt and baking powder in medium-size mixing bowl. Add in oil, and stir with fork until mixture gets clumpy and oil is well mixed in. Slowly add water, one Tablespoon at a time, until a crumbly dough forms.

Cut two sheets of parchment paper - each about 12 by 15 inches. Place half of the dough on each parchment piece. Place wax paper over the dough and roll into a thin rectangle. Dough should be about as thin as you can make it without causing it to tear. Trim edges and roll dough as necessary to achieve desired shape and thickness. Repeat with other half of the dough. Remove wax paper. Cut dough into 1 inch by 1 inch squares. Pierce eat cracker with a fork (I used a child-size fork, but a relish fork would work too). Transfer parchment and dough to cookie sheets. Bake for about 15 minutes. Watch the crackers and as the edges darken, remove them so that they do not burn. The crackers are done when both the bottoms and the tops have browned.