Rachel’s Recipe Box

The girls love French Toast, but it’s my mother who usually makes it. This past weekend my parents were gone for the day, so they sent me on a hunt for a good recipe. After much Googling, I ended up with this recipe which was inspired by Alton Brown’s recipe – because if Alton made it, you can’t go wrong! I tweaked it for our taste buds, allergies, and for my own cooking preferences.

This is a delicious gfcf, gluten free, family-friendly recipe! It is also (if you double check ingredients!) a wheat free, dairy free, soy free, tree nut free, peanut free, fish free, shellfish free, corn free, and vegetarian recipe.  Be sure to check the allergy notes at the bottom of the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup milk or milk substitute (soy, rice, almond, hemp…)
• 3 large eggs (eggs are integral to this recipe, so I don’t recommend using an egg substitute)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 9-12 slices gluten-free bread¹
• 4 TBS oil or margarine²

Method:

Preheat oven to 250. Set a lasagna pan or similar 9×13 pan near the stove.

In a deep pie dish, combine the milk substitute, eggs, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt. Whisk gently, so the milk/egg mixture doesn’t spill.

Heat your griddle or skillet to medium heat. Add about 1 TBS oil or margarine to pan and swirl around so it coats the pan.

Dip bread into mixture, allow to soak for about 1 minute on each side. Pick up a piece of bread and gently shake the excess egg mixture into the pie pan.

Lay 2-3 slices of bread in the griddle/skillet, depending on the size of the bread and your pan. Cook until golden brown, approximately 2 to 3 minutes for each side. When browned, remove from griddle and gently put in the lasagna pan, then slide the pan into the oven.

Continue with the next set of bread slices, until all of the french toast has been made.

Serve to many cheers and soon-to-be-empty plates! This tastes great with maple syrup, or perhaps a bit of confectioner’s sugar sprinkled on top.

Allergy Notes:
¹ Our favorite bread recipe is perfect for this, as is our sweet bread recipe, but any gluten-free bread will work. The Kinnikinnik loaf pictured was perfect, because it tasted a bit dry when eaten plain. Our favoite purchased bread is Ener-G Brown Rice Bread, which tastes especially wonderful when toasted.
² We usually use Earth Balance Organic margarine tubs, which are Kosher and dairy-free. However, that margarine includes soy protein. Fleishmann’s Unsalted is also Kosher and dairy-free, but only uses soy oil – no soy protein. Alternatively, to make the recipe safe for the corn or soy-free,  you can use canola or another cooking oil to coat the griddle.

Who doesn’t love a breakfast of waffles? We make a big batch, and then refrigerate or freeze the extras so they can be heated up in the toaster on busy mornings. While this recipe has 4 eggs, it can be substituted with a commercial or homemade egg replacer without sacrificing taste or quality.
This is a delicious gfcf, gluten free, family-friendly recipe! It is also (if you double check ingredients and use appropriate substitutes!) a wheat free, dairy free, soy free, egg free, tree nut free, peanut free, fish free, shellfish free, corn free, top 8 allergen free, and vegan/vegetarian recipe.

Ingredients

• 2 cups gf flour (I like sorghum, millet, or brown rice)

• 1 cup starch (tapioca, arrowroot, or corn is good here; or use 3 cups gluten free flour mix in place of the flour and starch)
• 2 TBS sugar
• 1 TBS xanthan gum
• 1 TBS + 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 2/3 cup milk substitute
• 4 eggs or equivalent egg substitute (while usually I wouldn’t suggest replacing eggs in a recipe with 3 or more eggs, egg replacers work quite well in this recipe)
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar or lemon juice
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• optional: 1 1/2 cup frozen blueberries

Method:
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour through salt.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine milk substitute through vanilla extract.

Slowly mix the liquid into the flour, and stir until smooth.

This batter will act differently based on humidity, temperature, and phase of moon. So you may need to add 1/2 cup more flour or 1/2 cup more water, depending if it is very wet or very thick.

Add optional blueberries when the batter is well mixed, and stir until just incorporated.

Use a ladle to add waffle batter to the waffle iron, and cook according to device instructions. Keep waffles warm on a plate covered by a tea town in the oven set at 200 degrees. Serve with margarine, maple syrup, and Gooseberry Syrup.

My dear friend Nanny Ogg had an overflowing zucchini crop last year, and every time I sent her an instant message, her status had something to do with making, serving, or eating Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread. It does taste every bit as good as I thought it would, too!

This makes 2 loaves. This doubles wonderfully, too!

This is a delicious gfcf, gluten free, family-friendly recipe! It is also (if you double check ingredients!) a wheat free, dairy free, soy free, tree nut free, peanut free, fish free, shellfish free, corn free, and vegetarian recipe.

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs

• 2 cup sugar
• 1 cup oil
• 2 cups shredded zucchini
• 2 cups gf flour (sorghum, rice, brown rice, millet, or another mild flour)
• 1 cup starch (tapioca, arrowroot, or corn)
• 1 TBS xanthan gum
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup chocolate chips (the miniature Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips are perfect here if you have them!)

Method:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour or use parchment to line 2 loaf pans

In a stand mixer or medium bowl, combine eggs, oil, and sugar. Beat well. (Since this recipe has 3 eggs, it is not easily changed to an egg free recipe)

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, starch, xanthan gum, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.

Add zucchini and vanilla, and combine well. Stir in flour mix, and mix well.

Add chocolate chips and stir just until they are distributed well.

Divide batter into two loaf pans, then bake for approximately 1 hour. Start testing with a toothpick after 45 minutes – when the toothpick comes out clean, it’s done.

Cool for 10 minutes on a cooling rack in the pans, then knock out of pans and cool completely. Slice and serve. While it’s delicious hot, it might be better to wait for it to cool – it’s only somewhat crumbly after it’s cooled, but quite crumbly when hot.

This recipe freezes well if your freezer isn’t already crammed with zucchini and the bread isn’t inhaled by your family!

adapted from an adaptation by a friend from a recipe in Roben Ryberg’s GF Kitchen book

Very light. A bit crispy on the outside, light and chewy on the inside. These donuts would please a newly-GF donut lover.

Enjoy the Cinnamon Donuts recipe, too!

This is a delicious gfcf, gluten free, family-friendly recipe! It is also (if you double check ingredients!) a wheat free, dairy free, soy free, egg free, tree nut free, peanut free, fish free, shellfish free, corn free, top 8 allergen free, and vegan recipe.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup oil

• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 egg or egg replacer
• 1 cup tapioca, corn, or arrowroot starch
• 1/2 cup millet or sorghum flour
• 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup cocoa
• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 cup coconut milk or other milk substitute

Glaze:

• 2 TBS margarine or coconut oil

• 2 TBS coconut milk, soy milk, or rice milk
• 2 cups powdered sugar (watch out – this has corn unless specially purchased)
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips (check for dairy & gluten free status)

Method:

Combine all ingredients except milk in a medium bowl. Slowly add milk while stirring and break up any lumps. The batter will be relatively thin.

Heat about 1/4″ oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat.

Scoop out with cookie scoop and drop into hot oil. Flip after a minute or so. Remove from oil and place on paper towels. (Be very careful! hot oil burns!)

Glaze, then repeat process with the next batches until batter is finished.

Glaze:

In another bowl melt margarine and chocolate chips in the microwave for a minute, adding 30 seconds and stirring if additional time is needed.

Add the milk substitute and powdered sugar. Mix until not lumpy, then drizzle over donuts. yum!

This is based on an Italian peasant dish. It’s made with a little of this and a little of that – leftovers that have been turned into a delicious meal. The original has plenty of milk and cheese, but our version is dairy-free. We needed to keep the eggs, though – so this won’t work for folks with egg allergies.

This is a delicious gfcf, gluten free, family-friendly recipe! It is also (if you double check ingredients!) a wheat free, dairy free, soy free, tree nut free, peanut free, fish free, shellfish free, and corn free recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb pasta (we like the Tinkyada Brown Rice pasta)
• 3 eggs
• several pieces of bacon or ham, cut into small pieces (double check ham/bacon for allergens!)
• olive oil, flax oil, or margarine

Method:
Prepare pasta according to package directions

Lightly whisk the 3 eggs together.  Add a bit of milk substitute if desired.

Drain pasta, immediately dump into a serving dish, and drizzle with olive oil, flax oil, or margarine.  Stir until combined.

Drizzle the egg mixture over the pasta, and toss – the hot pasta will cook the egg.

Add the bacon or ham, and mix until well combined.

Serve for breakfast, brunch, lunch, or a light dinner.  Yummy, easy, quick, and inexpensive – what’s not to like?

These are vegan & vegetarian, as well as gfcf, egg, dairy, gluten, nut, and corn free. They are also yummy and amazingly easy. They make a great banana bread, too – just cook it longer.

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup banana – mashed (about medium 2 bananas)

• 1/3 cup maple syrup (or brown sugar)
• 2/3 cup orange juice
• 1/3 cup cooking oil
• 2 cups gf flour mix – 1 1/3 c flour, 2/3 c starch (if not gluten-free, use 2 cups “regular” flour and omit the xanthan gum)
• 1 tsp xanthan or guar gum
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil a 12 cup muffin pan, or use muffin cups. Keep a 6-cup muffin tin ready, sometimes this works out to be 18 muffins. Mini-muffins work great with this recipe, too.

In a blender, combine banana, juice, syrup, oil.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl until combined. Add banana mixture and combine, using as few strokes as possible so that you do not overmix the batter.

Spoon batter into muffin tins, filling each one 3/4 full. Bake until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 20 – 25 minutes.

Let muffins cool 5 minutes before removing from pan.

If you are OK with nuts, you can replace some of the flour with a nut meal/nut flour. Or add 1/2 cup chopped nuts to the batter at the end.

This has been a staple weekend lunch/light dinner for us since we started eating meat

Ingredients:

a little olive oil
about 1 1/3 lb sweet italian turkey sausage (the kind that isn’t already cooked)
1 medium onion, chopped
2+ cloves garlic, minced/pressed
half a bell pepper, if available, chopped
1 pkg sliced mushrooms (we like baby bellas especially)
1 14oz can beans
baby spinach
pinch salt
oregano, basil, etc as desired

Method

In a large saute pan, heat the olive oil and start the onion, garlic, mushrooms & bell pepper. start sauteing them.

Squeeze the sausages out of their casings and start mushing them up and cooking them with the veggies. Add salt and spices.

When the sausage is no longer pink, add the beans to heat, and right before serving add the spinach and cook until wilted.

Serve all mixed together. yum!

Adapted from The 125 Best Gluten-Free Recipes

Preheat oven to 350

Ingredients:

1 cup sorghum
1 1/4 cup bean flour
1/2 cup tapioca starch (or starch mix)
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
3 eggs
1 1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup coconut milk with a little lemon juice/vinegar to sour
3/4 cup applesauce or crushed pineapple with juice
2 cups shredded carrots (I suggest a food processor for this)
3/4 cup chopped walnuts or dried coconut

Method:

Whisk or sift together flours, spices, and other dry ingredients.

Use an electric mixer in another bowl to beat eggs, brown sugar, coconut milk, and applesauce/pineapple until well blended. Slowly add dry ingredients. Stir in carrots and coconut/walnuts.

Spoon into greased & floured pan (bundt, 2 layer cakes, or 13×9? pan or cupcakes).

Bake for 40-60 min until cake tester comes out clean. Time will depend on what cake pan you use. Let cool in pan for 10 min, and then remove from pan and let cool. I don’t suggest using a rack, as GF cakes tend to stick to the rack. I put foil or wax paper on top of a platter or cardboard and turn the cake onto that.

Frost with a buttercream frosting or faux-cream cheese frosting.

This has been adapted without eggs here

This is a recipe I came up with when a friend dropped off a bunch of mixes she can’t use any more (her son developed more allergies). She included several muffin mixes, including the Namaste Muffin Mix. I usually make muffins and cakes from scratch (when I have the energy), but I was happy to have the mixes, as I haven’t had a lot of energy! Included in her bags were 3 mixes my kids made with very little supervision, and they were delicious! Cherrybrook Kitchen Wheat Free/Gluten Free Sugar Cookie Mix, Cherrybrook Kitchen Wheat Free/Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix, and Cherrybrook Kitchen Wheat Free/Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Mix. A big thumbs up on all of those. Yummy AND Easy, plus free of the major allergens!

I was craving a muffin with a bit of sugary, nutty topping, and this is what I came up with. It would be easy to swap diced apples for the peaches, or use fresh peaches (to eliminate the corn in the canned ones), and the nuts could be eliminated if necessary. I’d keep the topping, though! These went over well with the whole family – my husband (who can eat gluten) loved them – a great test of deliciousness! Another good test is they were eaten (2 dozen) before I could think to take a picture!

This is a delicious gfcf, gluten free, family-friendly recipe! It is also a wheat free, dairy free, soy free, egg free, peanut free, fish free, and shellfish free recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 package muffin mix (we love the Namaste Muffin Mix or Miss Robens muffin mix from AllergyGrocer.com for allergy-free mixes). Or 1 batch homemade versatile muffin mix
• 1 14 oz can sliced peaches in light syrup or juice
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/4 tsp almond extract
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

For the topping:

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2-3 TBS vegetable oil or margarine
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Method
Rinse the sliced peaches and dice small.

Prepare the muffin mix as directed, including greasing/lining the muffin tin & preheating the oven. Add the spices, diced peaches, and walnuts to the mix. Scoop into muffin tins, filling each muffin about 2/3 full. The walnuts and peaches add quite a bit of bulk – it is likely that you will end up with more muffins than what the mix indicates (I got 2 dozen). Set aside.

Mix together the topping ingredients. It will look like a wet, coarse brown coating on walnuts. Sprinkle topping on each muffin. Pat the topping so it doesn’t fall off the muffins.

Bake per package directions, and check with a toothpick to make sure they are done.

Let cool if you can wait that long (I made mine the night before so we could have them for breakfast. Yum!

adapted from an adaptation by a friend from a recipe in Roben Ryberg’s GF Kitchen book

Very light. A bit crispy on the outside, light and chewy on the inside. These donuts would please a newly-GF donut lover.

Enjoy the Chocolate donuts recipe, too!

This is a delicious gfcf, gluten free, family-friendly recipe! It is also (if you double check ingredients!) a wheat free, dairy free, soy free, egg free, tree nut free, peanut free, fish free, shellfish free, corn free, top 8 allergen free, and vegan recipe.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup oil
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg or egg substitute
1 cup potato, tapioca, corn, or arrowroot starch
1/2 cup millet or sorghum flour
1/4 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp salt
4 tsp cinnamon
1 1/4 tsps baking powder
2 tsps vanilla
3/4 cup coconut milk or other milk substitute

Glaze:

• 2 TBS margarine or coconut oil

• 2 TBS coconut milk, soy milk, or rice milk
• 2 cups powdered sugar (watch out – this has corn unless specially purchased)

Method:

Combine all ingredients except milk in a medium bowl. Slowly add milk while stirring and break up any lumps. The batter will be relatively thin.

Heat about 1/4″ oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat.

Scoop out with cookie scoop and drop into hot oil. Flip after a minute or so. Remove from oil and place on paper towels. (Be very careful! hot oil burns!)

Glaze, then repeat process with the next batches until batter is finished.

Glaze:

In another bowl melt margarine for about 30 seconds.

Add the milk substitute and powdered sugar. Mix until not lumpy, then drizzle over donuts. yum!