Gluten Free Zucchini Muffins

Friends of ours got me the book Gluten is My Bitch when they found out I had Celiac Disease.  It was informative and funny and also included some recipes.  The first one I tried was Gluten Free Zuchini Muffins since I had some zucchinis from the farmers market.  It did take me a few stops to find xanthan gum (which of course I found at Whole Foods).  They didn't look exactly like regular muffins (they don't settle into the muffing tins) but I think they turned out pretty tasty!  We ate half for breakfasts and then froze half for the following week.

Gluten Free Zucchini Muffins
From: Gluten is My Bitch
Prep Time: 20 min
Cook Time: 25-30 min

Ingredients:
1 1/3 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 tsp vanilla
4 cups grated fresh zucchini (about 4 small zucchinis)
1/3 cup melted unsalted butter
2 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
3 cups gluten free all purpose flour
1 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease muffin cups in muffin pan.

2. In a large bowl, combine the sugar, eggs, and vanilla.  Stir in the grated zucchini and then the melted butter.  sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the zucchini mixture and mix.

3. In a separate bowl, combine the gluten free flour, xanthan gum, nutmeg and cinnamon. (I only used half the amount of nutmeg it called for because I don't like an overpowering nutmeg taste). Slowly stir dry ingredients into the zucchini mixture.

4. Distribute muffin batter evenly among the cups, filling cups up completely.

5. Bake on middle rack until muffins are golden brown and the tops of the muffins bounce back when you press on them (25-30 min) or until toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

6.  Let cool in pan for 5 minutes.  Remove muffins from pan and let cool another 20 minutes.  Makes 18-20 muffins.  I stored 1/2 of mine in the freezer to eat later.

Pretzel Rolls

I don't know about you, but I love a good pretzel roll.  I'm a sucker for a sandwich or burger if it is served on a pretzel roll.  They get me every time.

We were planning on having our neighbors over for dinner so I thought I would give these a shot.  While they require a little planning and some time (need to start prepping them 2 hrs before hand) they were fairly simple to make. They got rave reviews from our guests but Bill didn't love them (although he did have 2 so they must have been ok).  I thought they were quite good although I noticed that if the rolls weren't kept very round, they didn't seem to cook evenly, so that is something to watch next time.

I would make these again but probably only for if we were having people over for dinner or to bring somewhere since they would be hard to make on a week night considering the prep time.  The recipe does say you can freeze them, so maybe making a double batch and trying that might be a good idea if you wanted to use them on a weeknight.

Pretzel Rolls
From: Pennies on a Platter
Prep Time: 2 hrs
Cook Time: 15-20min
Makes 4-5 hamburger sized buns, or 8-10 dinner rolls

Ingredients:
3/4 cup water
1 tsp instant yeast
2 1/4 cup flour
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted then cooled to room temperature
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup baking soda
1 egg, beaten
Kosher or pretzel salt to top rolls

Directions:
1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the water, yeast, flour, butter, sugar and salt.  If using a stand mixer, use dough hook attachment to mix the ingredients, then knead at medium-high speed for 1 minute.

2. Shape the dough into a ball and place it back into the mixing bowl.  Cover with clean kitchen towel and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size.

3. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface.  Separate into 4-5 equal portions if making hamburger sized buns or 8-10 equal portions if making dinner rolls.  Form into balls by pulling the sides to the center and pinching to seal.

4. Placed the formed rolls, seam side down, onto a parchment or silicone mat lined baking sheet.  Cover with the towel and allow to rise again for 30 minutes.

5. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil in a large sauce pan, then add 1/4 cup of baking soda. Boil each roll for 1 minute each, flipping over halfway.

6. Place teh boiled rolls back onto the lined baking sheet, seam side down.  Brush the tops with beaten egg, then lightly sprinkle with salt.  Slice a shallow "X" into the top of each roll, then bake for 15-20 minutes.

7. Serve warm or at room temperature.  You can also freeze for later use in a freezer bag once cooled to room temperature.  Microwave for 30 seconds to thaw. (If not consuming the same day they are baked, freeze right away to preserve freshness).

Easy Pumpkin Muffins

If you are on Pinterest then I'm sure you've seen this recipe.  It is so easy it is hard to pass up.  I decided to make them this week because I thought they would be nice to have for Thanksgiving morning. They turned out pretty good and will be a nice breakfast treat.  The recipe said you could dust with powdered sugar or spread on a cream cheese frosting, but I'm going for plain since it is breakfast after all.

Easy Pumpkin Muffins
From: Sweet Verbena
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min

Ingredients:
1 box yellow cake mix
1 can libby's pumpkin

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350.Spray muffin cups with Pam.

2. Mix cake mix and pumpkin until smooth. spoon into muffin cups and bake 20 - 25 min.

Banana Bread

Growing up, my mom made the best banana bread.  It is one of the few breads I enjoy eating.  I also like that I have all the ingredients in the house anytime I have a couple of overripe bananas!

Banana Bread
From: Mom

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter or margarine (softened)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
3 ripe bananas

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat together butter and sugar.  Beat in eggs one at a time.

2. In food processor blend milk and bananas together

3. Stir in vanilla, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt alternately with banana misture.

4. Grease ad flour loaf pan and pour mixture into pan. Bake for 1 hour or until wooden pick instered in center comes out clean.

Poppy Seed Bread

 

Here's a secret... I don't really like most bread.  I know it isn't a well kept secret since I have mentioned it a few times.  I usually only serve bread when we have company (much to Bill's dismay).  But one bread I do like is Lemon Poppy Seed.  When I saw Ashley's recipe for Poppy Seed Bread I knew I wanted to give it a try. I have actually been wanting to try this for a while but since it makes 2 loafs I wanted to make it when we were having a gathering of people, so I waited to make it for a bridal shower my mom and I hosted in May.  It doesn't have lemon in it but it was still delish and the glaze was perfect (and surprisingly easier than the ingredients look).  I may try adding lemon next time though - I think it would be spectacular.

Poppy Seed Bread

From: Ashley's Cooking Adventures

Ingredients:

For the Bread

1 cup oil
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla flavoring (I used my homemade vanilla extract)
1 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/2 teaspoon butter flavoring
1 1/2 tablespoon poppy seeds

For the Glaze
1/4 cup orange juice
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 
1 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/2 teaspoon butter flavoring

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream oil and sugar together in an stand mixer or with an electric hand mixer. Add eggs and mix well. Mix the vanilla, almond, and butter with the milk. In a small bowl mix flour, salt, and baking soda.

2. Alternately add in milk and dry ingredients to the sugar/egg mixture. Mix well after each addition. Add in poppy seeds and mix. 

3. Pour into 2 large greased and floured bead pans. 

4. Bake for 50 - 60 minutes. While baking make the glaze by whisking all ingredients together. After removing bread from the oven, punch holes in the top with a fork. Pour glaze over bread and let sit for at least 20 minutes.

5. Remove from bread pans. Slice and serve.     

French Toast Bites

When I saw this recipe for French Toast Bites on Tasty Kitchen, I knew I wanted to give it a try.  I thought they might be too sweet for Bill (who doesn't like anything too sweet for breakfast), but I'm glad that they turned out not to bee too sweet at all.  They mainly just tasted like little bits of French toast with a little bit more flavor.  I really liked them and they were pretty easy to make.

French Toast Bites
From crystalcozykitchen via TastyKitchen

Ingredients:
6 slices bread
3 Eggs
3 Tbsp Milk
2 tsp ground Cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground Nutmeg
1 Tbsp Brown Sugar
1 Tbsp Butter, plus more to taste
Maple syrup to taste

Directions:
1. Cut bread into bite-sized pieces (can use ends of bread)

2.  In a medium mixing bowl, beat eggs, milk, cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar until combined.  Toss bread cubes into egg mixture to coat.

3. In a medium skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat.  Add coated bread cubes and cook until well done.

4. Serve with melted butter and syrup.

Rosemary Rolls

 Anyone who knows me  knows I am NOT a bread person. I don't eat a lot of bread with a few exceptions and usually eat it with a lot of stuff on top or dipped in things.  However, Bill likes bread (like most normal people do).  I hardly ever have bread in the house, and even more rarely ever make it.  In fact this recipe (anther one from the Pioneer Woman) is the first bread recipe I have posted. Sometimes though, a meal just begs for bread to be served with it.  Like the pot roast I made the other night.  I needed something to soak up all that delicious roast juice.  These were easy and quite tasty - Bill of course liked them more than I did, but that is probably just because of my aversion to bread.  I will definitely make these again.

Rosemary Rolls
From: The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients:
Frozen unbaked Dinner Rolls (I used Rhode's)
Melted Butter
Fresh Rosemary - coarsely chopped
Coarse Sea salt

Directions:
1. Spray a heavy round pan (or iron skillet) with cooking spray.  Place frozen rolls in the pan, leaving plenty of room for rising (I can usually fit 7 in mine).  Cover and allow to rise for 3-4 hours.

2. After rising, brush rolls with melted butter. Sprinkle on chopped rosemary. brush with additional butter and sprinkle with sea salt.

3. Bake according to roll package directions (usually 350 - 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes), until rolls are a deep golden brown on top.

4. Serve in pan or remove to serving plate - brush with melted butter if desired.

Stuffed French Toast

Stuffed French toast always sounds delicious, but I always think it will be too rich or be to time consuming to make.  This Recipe from Tasty Kitchen (one of my favorite places to find recipes) was sweet, but not overly sweet, and was not very difficult at all.  The fresh fruit made it feel light and fresh! It was fun to try and would be a great for company!

Stuffed French Toast
From: manda2177 via Tasty Kitchen

 
Ingredients:
1 loaf French Bread
3 Tbsp Any Flavor Preserves (You Can Also Use Jam, Jelly ,Or Fresh Fruit - I used preserves and Fresh Fruit)
½ package Cream Cheese (4 Oz), Softened
2 Eggs
1 Tbsp Cinnamon
½ cup Skim Milk
2 Tbsp Butter

Directions:
1. Heat skillet on Medium- High heat (or electric griddle to 325 to 350 degrees)

2. Cut french bread into 2-3 inch wide slices. Then, cut halfway into each slice, in the center, creating a ‘pocket’ that your fruit mixture can be stuffed into.

3. In a bowl, place the room temperature cream cheese and three tablespoons of fruit spread of your choice and fresh fruit if you choose. Combine well.

4. In a separate bowl, add eggs, cinnamon, and milk and combine well.

5. Take fruit mixture and stuff into the ‘pockets’ of your french bread slices. When done stuffing each piece of bread, completely coat each piece in egg mixture. Make sure all sides are covered.

6. Put 2 tbsp of butter into a hot skillet and melt completely. Add bread to the skillet and cook roughly about 3-6 minutes on each side, until it reaches a nice golden brown. You want to make sure the cream cheese mixture heats through.

7. When done cooking, serve immediately with butter and syrup if desired.

Monkey Bread

I'm not really a bread person, so I tend to stay away from most bread recipes.  However, I have heard that Monkey bread is really good, and since this recipe was really easy, I figured why not try it out.  It turned out great and I will definitely make it again (but it would have to be for more people than just Bill & I because it is a lot of bread!).

(You can see I used jumbo biscuits because they were the only buttermilk biscuits I could find but I think it would be better with the regular size)

Monkey Bread
From: Pastor Ryan via Tasty Kitchen

Ingredients:
3 cans Buttermilk Biscuits (the Non -flaky ones)
1 cup Sugar
2-3 tsp Cinnamon
2 sticks Butter
1/2 cup Brown Sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Open up all three cans of biscuits and cut each biscuit into quarters

3. Combine the white sugar with cinnamon in a 1 gallon zip lock bag and shake to mix evenly.

4.  Put all biscuits quarters in the bag and shake until all sides are covered.

5. Spread covered biscuits out evenly in the bundt pan

6. Melt butter with brown sugar in a saucepan over medium heat.  Cook mixture, stirring for a few minutes until the two become one.  Once the brown sugar butter has become one color, pour evenly over biscuits

7.  Bake for 20-35 min until crust is a deep dark brown on top.  Remove from oven and let sit 15-30 minutes in pan before turning it over onto a plate.