Gluten-Free Recipes

Gluten-Free Recipes for Dessert

GLUTEN-FREE MAPLE PECAN BARS

From Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering

My recipe is adapted from wheat recipes that often use macadamia nuts and corn syrup. Since I am in NH, I use grade B maple syrup and the taste is wonderful!  You can also use British Lyles Golden Syrup which I always used in England for pecan pies etc. and put on my toasted, buttered crumpets.  It’s made from cane sugar and is very tasty. Golden syrup is also safe for those that are corn intolerant as well as gluten intolerant.  I also adapt this to a maple bourbon pecan tart, rather than standard pecan tart.                                                                                                                               

The outcome is very rich and very crumbly! The crumbliness of the shortbread base of the gluten-free version is due to butter, shortbread texture etc., not being gluten-free. The base of my regular wheat flour version also crumbles when fresh. This recipe holds together better when moistness of the pecan topping is absorbed by the shortbread base.

Using an 8×8 pan (Easily double to 9 x 13 inch.)

Crust:

-6 tbsp (1.5 oz) powdered sugar

-1.5 sticks of butter (6 oz) (earth balance is a good butter substitute, coconut oil does give a coconutty flavor)

-1.5 c (7 oz) my gluten free flour mix or 1+1/3 c/ 7 oz King Arthur gluten-free flour. (King Arthur Flour is just plain flour blend, no xg or baking powder).

-½ tsp xanthan gum

 -pinch of salt

Filling:

-3/4 cup of pecans or other nuts, coarsely chopped.  If you decide to use macadamias or cashews that are salted, rinse them in warm water and toast in 350* oven for 10 minutes to re crisp.

-1/2 c (4oz) lightly packed dark brown sugar – you can use light brown sugar, it’s not such a rich flavor, but saves you buying 1 lb of dark brown sugar.

-1/2 stick, (2 oz) butter

-2 tbsp cream (try milk/creamer substitute, not as rich but still good)

-3 tbsp maple syrup 

1. Mix gluten-free flour, powdered sugar, salt and xanthan gum in a food processor or in a bowl. Add butter and run the food processor until fine breadcrumbs form. Or rub butter in by hand in a bowl. Grease an 8×8 inch pan, especially up the sides.  Sprinkle mix evenly over the base of the pan and press down. It looks like a lot of base but it does shrink as it cooks. 
2. Bake in preheated 350* oven for 35 -45 minutes, until the base is light golden brown. Don’t let it overbrown, it will taste unpleasant. You might need to adjust the time the second time around.  I find if gluten-free baked goods are not cooked sufficiently, then they do taste ‘floury’. If it puffs, press dough down with clean cloth. 
3. While the crust is baking and nearly cooked. Gently melt butter, sugar, cream and maple syrup together in a non stick pan until sugar is totally dissolved, stir in nuts.  Do not let the mix burn. 
4. Remove pan from oven, pour nut/butter mix evenly over base and bake in oven for 10 minutes.  The filling will be bubbling.
5. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.  I like to run a thin knife around the edge of the pan while the filling is still hot/warm to loosen caramel and make it easier to remove. 
6. Cut into small fingers.

ENJOY!

Chef Oonagh has a Culinary Arts degree and prior to the gluten-free diet and her son’s diagnosis with celiac disease, she always cooked from scratch with real ingredients. “Like” Chef Oonagh on Facebook at Gluten Free Cooking with Oonagh. Connect, watch and learn from Chef Oonagh’s gluten-free cooking classes on Curious.com.

Snickerdoodle, Ginger or Chocolate Chip Crisps

From Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering

Last year at this time, I adapted a wheat flour pumpkin snickerdoodle cobbler from Better Homes and Gardens, changing pumpkin filling and snickerdoodle topping. I discovered that some leftover dough cooked on a cookie sheet was lovely, light and crispy.

Gluten-Free Snickerdoodle, Ginger or Chocolate Chip Crisps
Makes about 18 x 2+1/2″ cookies 

Ingredients:

• ¼ c (2oz,56g) soft butter
• ¼ c (2oz, 56g) granulated sugar
• 2 tbsp (30 ml) light/soft brown sugar
• ½ tsp (3 ml) gf baking powder
• 1 tsp (5ml) gf vanilla extract. Use a different extract, almond, lemon, maple etc, to change flavor.
• pinch of salt
• 1 egg
• 1/2c + 2 tbsp (2+1/2 oz, 70g) rice flour – I use imported, Asian white rice flour – Erawan, three elephant logo brand. Very fine, not gritty. Widely available in Asian stores, reasonable price.  I also use it for greasing and flouring cake pans and crispy batter for fish. Picture on Amazon but less expensive in Asian market. amazon.com/Thai-Rice-Flour-16-Basic/dp/B000EYC096
• NO xanthan gum

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350*. I like to line cookie sheet with parchment paper
2. Beat ingredients together until mix is lovely and soft and fluffy.
3. For snickerdoodles. Using one tablespoon/# 60 scoop, drop cookie mix into bowl of sugar and cinnamon, one at a time, shake bowl gently to cover complete ball, then carefully scoop out onto cookie sheet. You can refrigerate cookie mix but it is then quite hard to scoop. Leave cookies about 2 inches apart on cookie sheet, they will spread and flatten.
4. For ginger or chocolate chip. Stir in chocolate chips or ginger, use 1 tbsp scoop and drop onto cookie sheet.
5. Bake in 350 oven for 15-18-20 minutes. Do not use black surface cookie sheet. Bake on middle shelf. Baking on a lower shelf, darkens the bottoms too much. Bake until ginger or chocolate chip cookies are a nice golden brown. They will still be soft and crisp up on cooling.  Snickerdoodles, the cinnamon sugar prevents you seeing obvious color.
6. Remove from oven, let cool, remove to cooling rack. Store in airtight container when totally cool.

Snickerdoodles:

I like to mix 1 tbsp (15ml) sugar and 2 tsp (10m) cinnamon for outside of cookie.

Ginger:

1-2 tbsp (15-30 ml) crystallized ginger chips by gingerpeople.com.  Package has crossed through wheat symbol. Add one teaspoon ground ginger for even spicier. You can roll scoop in regular sugar for crunchier surface.

Chocolate chip:

You know how much chocolate you like, 1-2 tbsp.  I had a chocolate chip cookie made with milk chocolate and it was delicious and not too sweet.  I did use cheese grater for some milk chocolate but chocolate was much too fine. Size of Tollhouse mini semi sweet chocolate chips is best size.

Remember I have a Culinary Arts degree as well as celiac disease and other food allergies so I know food and live this way daily.

Obviously talks and appearances are currently canceled, but you can connect with me on FB at Gluten Free Cooking with Oonagh. I’ve just filmed recipes at home for NH’s ABC WMUR’s Cooks Corner  and they are being aired.   I am also being included in nationwide library data base of on line presenters.

You can find Chef Oonagh Williams at Gluten Free Cooking with Oonagh on FB, web or LinkedIn. Remember most real food is naturally gluten free until manufacturers ‘mess’ around with it and only baking really needs changing. Real food is now being called clean eating.

For new recipes and lots of advice, my Delicious Gluten Free ecookbook only $20 available to download at wwwglutenfreecookingwithoonagh.com , tips, recipes ranging from Grandma’s comfort soup to dinner party fare, full color photos, follow link for list of contents and thumbnail photos of full size photos in ebook.

Pumpkin Cake

From Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering

This is the original pumpkin quick bread from my wheat flour days that I’m sure many of you used to bake.  I’ve been making it gluten-free for years, it can be dairy-free without any of the dairy add-ins/ons. Without the cream cheese, a slice or two is a good sustaining breakfast or snack.  

I try and use less xanthan gum or even none if I can, as you get an even fluffier texture when baked. 

There is no xanthan gum in this recipe.

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cake

Ingredients:

• 1/2 of 15 oz can (8oz) roughly 1 cup solid pack pumpkin, not pie filling (ingredient list should only be pumpkin)
• 1c + 2 tbsp sugar (8 oz) 
• 1/2c (4oz) melted coconut oil or almond oil or avocado oil
• 3 large eggs
• 1/3 c water 
• 1 tsp gluten-free vanilla extract 
• 1+1/4 c (5+3/4 oz) my gluten0free flour mix or same by weight of King Arthur Flour gluten-free all-purpose flour (no xanthan gum, no baking powder, only flour blend)
• 1 tbsp (15 ml) gluten-free apple pie or pumpkin pie spice that you know you can eat. So many brands aren’t labeled gluten-free. 
• 1/2 c (2 oz) almond meal 
• 1 tsp (5 ml) baking soda
• 1 tsp (5ml) gluten-free baking powder 
• pinch of salt
• 1/3 c craisins – dried cranberries
• 1/3 c golden raisins (known as sultanas in UK) or ordinary raisins
• 1/3 c chopped pecans or other nuts. 

Cream Cheese Center
Mix together:

• ½ of 8 oz brick of cream cheese softened– I use lite 
• 1 egg yolk or 1 tbsp liquid egg substitute
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp gluten-free vanilla extract 

Streusel
Mix together:

• ¾ c chopped pecans or nut of choice 
• ¼ c sugar 
• 2 tbsp light brown sugar 
• 1 tsp gluten-free apple or pumpkin pie spice

Directions:

1. Put pumpkin, oil, sugar, eggs, water and vanilla in large mixing bowl and beat well for 2 minutes until air bubbles are visible.
2. Stir all dry ingredients together, then add and beat in dry ingredients. Stir in fruit and nuts.
3. Grease and gluten-free flour a 10” bundt pan.
4. Sprinkle half of the streusel around base of pan and pour in half of batter.
5. Gently spread cream cheese mix on top of batter.  It won’t be perfect and might sink a bit.  Try not to spread cream cheese to sides of pan or it will stick.
6. Gently pour in second half of batter and sprinkle second half of streusel on top.
7. Bake in preheated 350 * oven for 45-55 minutes. If top is browning too much, cover with foil. The cake will rise and dome and look cracked from nuts and sugar.
8. I prefer using a bundt pan, the cake looks prettier than in a loaf pan and with the hole in the middle, the cake cooks more evenly with less chance of a raw center. Cake should be well risen, it will be dark brown because of spices, firm at edges and pulling away from sides. I poke at middle of cake with a fork, since I find that most gluten-free cakes need longer cooking than regular flour cakes. Remove from oven, leave to cool for 10 minutes, turn out onto cooling rack and allow to cool completely.  Cake keeps fresh for quite a few days, freezes and nukes well.

Watch me make variations of this cake:

• 2011 on NH’s ABC WMUR Cooks Corner with gluten-free pumpkin bread (recipe slightly changed now)
• 2017 on NH’s ABC WMUR Cooks Corner with gluten-free pumpkin made into ginger cake with crystallized ginger.

For Halloween, make the pumpkin cake in cupcakes, without filling. Frost with cream cheese frosting, tinted orange if you want (mix red and yellow food coloring together.  A recent bottle of McCormick’s food coloring stated it was a gluten-free food.) Top with Halloween candies that are gluten-free. 

Note: cream cheese filling and streusel adapted from a recipe in Port Danby Cozy mystery by London Lovett.

My rice-free GF mix:

• ½ cup potato starch 
• ¼ c tapioca starch from Asian market or Goya or Yoki brand in supermarkets.  
• 2 tbsp amaranth or millet flour: Bob’s Red Mill (millet is roughly one third the price of amaranth, is not so nutritious, but is more readily available.)
• 2 tbsp sorghum flour: Bob’s Red Mill. 

Larger quantity:

• 1 x 14 oz bag potato starch, which is 3+1/2 cups – that’s the size I can buy. 
• 1+3/4 c of Tapioca Starch is 7 oz
• Just under 1 cup of Amaranth or Millet (actually ¾ c plus 2 Tbsps is 4 oz)
• Just under 1 cup of Sorghum (actually ¾ c plus 2 Tbsps is 4 oz)

Making about 7 cups total of mix.

Egg-Free Chocolate Cake

From Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering

After asking a friend to share a new cake recipe, she pointed me to The Joy of Baking, and a chocolate cake that I could adapt to gluten-free, use butter or oil, make egg-free and didn’t use flaxseed meal, chia seeds, or any egg alternative. 

I’ve made this cake several times, it’s very quick and easy to make, everyday ingredients. Since gluten-free flours have little flavor compared to wheat flour I used light brown sugar rather than regular sugar. For laziness as well as to make it dairy-free, I have used both almond oil and avocado oil. Using melted butter would give more flavor. Interestingly if you Google this cake, there are quite a few recipes for it, many claiming authorship and changing quantities of ingredients. 

Gluten-Free and Egg-Free Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 1/3 cups King Arthur, all-purpose, gluten-free flour, no xanthan gum or baking powder. 
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon gluten-free baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup avocado oil, or almond oil
• 1 cup warm water 
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
• 2 teaspoons gluten-free vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon pure coffee extract (optional), zest of orange, or different gluten-free extracts

Chocolate Ganache

• 1 c, 6 ounces, gluten-free semi-sweet chocolate chips – I use Tollhouse
• 1 c, 8 fl oz heavy cream 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350*F (180* C) and place the oven rack in the center of the oven. Butter or spray an 8 or 9 inch (20 or 22cm) cake pan with a nonstick cooking spray, line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper, spray paper and dust pan with cocoa.
2. In a large bowl whisk or stir together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. Add the melted butter or oil, water, lemon juice or apple cider vinegar, vanilla extract, and coffee extract (if using). Beat all the ingredients together until well blended. Pour the wet batter into your pan and bake in preheated oven for about 28 – 30 minutes, or until the cake springs back when lightly pressed and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Don’t overcook it. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool for about 10 – 15 minutes before removing the cake from the pan.

Chocolate Ganache: Heat cream in a microwave-safe jug for about 1 minute. Stir in the chocolate, and leave for a few minutes.  Stir until smooth.  I like to use an immersion blender to make the ganache totally smooth.  

Leave in the fridge for at least an hour so ganache thickens and then spread over top and sides of cake.

I also tried making this with ¾ cup milk and one egg rather than 1 c water.  The photo shows whole cake with ganache and chopped nuts. The cake rose more and was definitely moister.  Without the egg, I found edges of cake were a bit harder, not bad, just noticeable to me.  

Original recipes talk about putting dry ingredients in cake pan, adding wet ingredients, mixing and baking. I find it easier to mix in 4 c (1 ltr) pyrex jug and pour into cake pan.  Flour and cocoa tend to fly everywhere when mixed in shallow pan.

Note that unsweetened cocoa (Hershey’s regular) reacts with vinegar/lemon juice giving a reddish tinge, like red velvet cake.

Sweet Cookie Pizza

From Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering

The base is a gluten-free sugar cookie I made from a Better Homes and Gardens wheat snickerdoodle cobbler recipe. When the cookie dough is cooked on its own cooking sheet, it cooks up thin and crispy. The original topping was 3 x 8 ounce packets of cream cheese. I used only 1×8 ounce and we liked that quantity the best. The original recipe added circles of kiwi fruit to look like pepperoni. I used circles of strawberries to look like pepperoni. I chopped fresh mango to imitate yellow bell peppers and drizzled chocolate sauce to imitate balsamic glaze. We also preferred just the sweetened cream cheese topping without the key lime juice and lime zest.

Gluten-Free Sweet Cookie Pizza

Ingredients:

Crust

• ¼ c (2oz, 56g) butter, softened
• ⅓ c (2+1/2 oz) sugar
• 2 teaspoon gluten-free baking powder
• ⅛ teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• ½ c (2+1/2 oz, 70g) King Arthur all-purpose gluten-free flour – doesn’t contain baking powder or xanthan gum.
• 1/8 tsp xanthan gum

Topping

• 1 x 8oz packet cream cheese, softened.  I use stores own ‘lite’ which is also softer.
• ¼ c (60ml) powdered (icing) sugar or to your taste.
• 1 tbsp key lime juice – optional
• zest of ¼ lime – optional
• Fresh fruit

Chocolate sauce

• ¼ c (60ml) semi-sweet chocolate melted with ¼ c cream until smooth.
• Let cool so it thickens.

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl beat all crust ingredients together for 2-3 minutes until soft and fluffy. This is a very soft mix, not stiff cookie dough.
2. Draw a 9” circle (measure a dinner plate and use that for circle size) on parchment paper on a cookie sheet/jelly roll pan (unless you’re confident that cooked cookie will release without sticking from your pan).
3. I use a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop. Make outer circle of dough blobs on parchment paper, about 1 inch apart, and then space out the rest of the dough inside the circle. Wet your fingers and flatten slightly.
4. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for about 18-20 minutes. Every oven differs and cookies will cook faster if over flattened. Cookies should merge together as a complete ‘pizza’ base and be a golden color, but not dark and just under ½ inch deep. Remove from oven, let cool and then remove from parchment paper and lift onto serving dish. Don’t worry if it cracks, cream cheese and fruit will hide cracks. Cookies will soften if left out, from humidity and from the topping.
5. Beat cream cheese and sugar together, and spread carefully on cooled base.
6. Decorate with strawberry slices, fruit, and chocolate sauce.

You can find Chef Oonagh Williams at Gluten-Free Cooking with Oonagh on FB, LinkedIn or her website. Chef Oonagh has a culinary arts degree, celiac disease and other food allergies. Remember most real food is naturally gluten-free until manufacturers ‘mess’ around with it and only baking really needs changing.

Impossibly Easy Cheesecake

From Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering

I found the original wheat flour version of this cheesecake recipe on the Bisquick website and made it with gluten-free King Arthur flour. 

Impossibly Easy Gluten-Free Cheesecake
makes at least 8 servings, over an inch deep

Ingredients:

• ¾ cup milk, I used 2% Lactaid
• 2 tsp gluten-free vanilla extract
• 1 tsp gluten-free almond extract
• 2 eggs
• 2 x 8 oz packets of cream cheese, soft, room temperature, cut into cubes
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup King Arthur gluten-free, all-purpose flour—no xanthan gum, no baking powder
• ½ tsp gluten-free baking powder
• pinch of salt

Topping:

• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 tablespoons sugar or honey
• 1 teaspoon gluten-free vanilla extract
• Fruit

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9” glass pie plate
2. Put milk, vanilla, almond, eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder and salt in food processor. Blend on high speed for 15 seconds.
3. Add cubed cream cheese and blend for 2 more minutes until no blobs of cream cheese remain. Scrape down the sides. If you don’t have a food processor, put cream cheese in 8 cup bowl, add milk, extracts and dry ingredients and beat until smooth. Then beat in eggs.
4. Put the pie plate on jelly roll pan, pour in cream cheese mix, it fills the pie plate but doesn’t overflow. Bake in preheated oven for about 40 minutes.  Usually, for a cheesecake or custard, I will insert a knife halfway between edge and center and see if the custard is sticking to knife rather than runny as it stiffens on cooling and isn’t overcooked. With this recipe, I find I have to cook it until center is set or it still tastes floury. Roughly an inch around outside will look golden brown, center of cheesecake can have some cracks, it will have risen and will deflate on cooling. Cool completely.  I prefer it refrigerated overnight and then removed from the fridge about one hour before serving so texture softens.
5. For the topping: mix the sour cream, honey/sugar, and vanilla extract together. 
6. Spread sour cream mix on top. Serve with fresh fruit, drizzle with chocolate ganache, lemon curd mixed with whipped cream, strawberry or raspberry sauce.

Don’t expect a crust like a regular pie crust, but it does form an outer layer. 

Lazy Boston Cream Pie

From Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering

Yes I know, I normally cook from scratch but I also get tired of dirty dishes. This was an easy dessert to make with the kids for Mother’s Day. It’s a simple recipe with ingredients that many already have at home.

I used half of King Arthur 22 oz gluten-free gold cake mix—substitute your favorite packet mix cake, vanilla, chocolate, or a from-scratch recipe that makes 2 x 8 or 9” thin layers.

I only used half a packet of cake mix and made 2 layers per packet instructions (reducing quantities of eggs etc) in my lined and greased Wilton maxi whoopie pie pan.

I filled with Jell-O instant vanilla pudding made up with whole milk or cream. I used less milk to powder (1+3/4c) so it was firmer. For the first cake, I used a half packet of jello but next time preferred to use whole packet for creamy indulgence.

Topped with your favorite chocolate glaze—homemade chocolate frosting, chocolate ganache or store-bought chocolate frosting.  I melted 2 oz, half stick of butter, added 1 cup (6oz) Tollhouse semi-sweet chocolate chips and 2 tbsp corn syrup, microwaved and stirred until lovely and smooth. Don’t overheat as chocolate will scorch.  Let cool slightly then gently spoon onto the top of the cake. If still warm, chocolate drips down the sides, if cool, chocolate stays on top. This is a very fudgy textured topping.

Enjoy!

Upside Down Apple Tart

From Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering

This recipe makes enough for 2 pies with one top crust. Wrap and freeze half the dough. 

This pastry is a cross between pie crust and cookie dough, soft, rises due to baking powder, very rich. 

Making a one crust tart is less calories and less money.  I made this apple tart all the time in wheat flour days, using my rich French sweet pastry recipe.  Baking tart with pastry on top, makes a far crisper, not soggy pastry. 

Gluten-Free Upside Down, One Crust Apple Tart

Ingredients:

• 5 oz (1 cup less 1 tbsp, 140g) King Arthur gluten free all purpose flour – no baking powder or xanthan gum. Available in 24 oz box in grocery store. Cheapest at NE Market Basket’s $5+
• 3 oz (¾ c, 84 g) almond flour -note finely ground almond flour (white) is less volume than more coarsely ground almond flour or almond meal (freckly), that’s why I weigh. Too much or too little by volume will alter recipe. Not all measuring cups are accurate.
• ¼ c (1 oz, 28 g) powdered (icing)  sugar
• ¾ stick (3 oz, 84 g)  cold butter 
• 2 tsp (10ml)  gluten-free baking powder 
• pinch of salt
• ½ tsp (3 ml) xanthan gum, ¼ tsp xg crumbled too much even when cold. 
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp (5 ml) gluten-free vanilla extract, almond if doing more almond filling.
• ¼ c (60ml, 2oz)- 1/3 c cream.  

Filling

• 2 tbsp butter (1oz, 30 ml)
• 2 Tbsp (30 ml) maple syrup
• 2 Tbsp (30ml) packed light brown sugar
• (make 50% more butter mix and then add 1 tbsp gluten-free bourbon to one third of sauce to drizzle over dessert on serving.)
• 2-4 large Gala, Fuji, Braeburn apples, peeled, cored, halved and sliced or a mix of your favorite apples for baking – you might need more depending on size of apples – I like to use Gala apples as they are naturally sweet for the finished tart. Granny Smith needs more sugar.
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon sugar

Directions:

1. Pre heat oven to 400*. Melt butter, sugar and maple syrup in the microwave in microwave safe pan, until butter melts.    Cool slightly (so glass or ceramic dish doesn’t crack from thermal shock) and then pour into base of 9” pie plate – not loose bottomed or you will lose all the tasty syrup.
2. Mix gluten-free flour, almond flour, sugar, xg, baking powder and salt together until resembles fine breadcrumbs.
3. Mix egg, milk and extract together and whisk with a fork to blend egg.
4. You can add liquid mix to dry mix in food processor and pulse to combine. Gently knead a few times with white rice flour.
5. Put plastic wrap on counter/12 x 18 chopping board, dust with rice flour. Put half of lump of dough on top, dust with rice flour, cover with another piece of plastic wrap and roll out  between 2 sheets of saran wrap to make a circle big enough to fit the inside edge of a 9” pie plate. This can be measured by turning the pie plate upside down on pastry to check for size.  Don’t worry if the pastry circle doesn’t look beautiful as it will become the bottom hidden by apples.

Apples

6. Put apples into pie plate on top of butter mix.  Remember apples will collapse down so I like a thick layer. 
7. Mix together cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle on top of apple layers.  If you put cinnamon next to the butter layer then the tart would have a speckly appearance from the cinnamon.
8. Take off top piece of saran wrap.  Put your hand under the bottom piece of saran wrap and use it to lift up the dough and flip it on top of apples.  Don’t worry if it cracks a bit just patch it together as it won’t be visible for serving.  Tuck any extra dough down the inside edge of the pie plate not on the top edge or over the outside edge. Remove second piece of saran wrap.
9. Place on baking sheet in preheated oven and bake for 30-40 minutes until the pastry is a deep brown without being burnt.  Cover with foil if browning too fast.  If your oven cooks fast, then dig the tip of a sharp knife into the middle of the dough to see how well cooked it is.  The pastry should be light and crispy throughout with no raw doughiness.
10. Remove from oven, let stand for about 10 minutes so the juices solidify slightly.  Don’t leave for longer before you turn the tart out or the caramel will harden. Warm slightly in oven or microwave if that happens. Turn out onto a plate with edges so juices don’t spill.  
11. Serve with ice cream and an extra drizzle of the butter, maple syrup mix (plus bourbon) and Indulge!

Turtle Bars

From Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering

Peace, love and health to all.

As we head into more time with Coronavirus, I thank parents who are home schooling and honestly am thankful that my son is a single adult with a job.   Many are worrying about kids falling behind, but everyone, worldwide, will be doing catch up. Locally there are many people making cloth masks and people donating fabric, elastic, ribbon.  Another friend is co ordinating collection of single size snacks, drinks etc for local hospitals.  Meals donated to first responders.   I still post recipes on FB and my encore ABC WMUR cooking presentations.

The company my husband works for, makes the thermal imaging thermometers that are used worldwide, so he is even busier working from home than in office.  https://www.cbsnews.com/news/thermal-imaging-cameras-coronavirus.    

Be kind to others, be kind to yourself, we are all in this together and will get through it. Stay Safe.

At this time, a special offer to help this month, 50% discount on my downloadable e-cookbook, full color photos, lots of advice plus recipes.  Go to www.glutenfreecookingwithoonagh.com and click on gluten-free cookbook on menu or picture of cookbook. Scroll to bottom of screen to order with PayPal or Credit Card.  In the ‘description’ of purchase box, type CV19, in price box, type 10. That’s it.

This is a mix of a number of different recipes until I came up with the thickness of base and caramel filling that I personally preferred.  One of my English recipes has a cake base with a caramel filling based on condensed milk.  I am finding that for me personally some condensed milk recipes are just too sweet and catch at the back of the throat.  Locally, Milford NH High School has a Culinary Arts program that I’m involved with, with a public restaurant during the school year. They had made this dessert, called it Turtle Bars and put pecans in the from scratch caramel filling (all my previous recipes never used nuts and were a Twix lookalike).  So I tried making my dessert with added nuts and used their name for it as well as using bought caramel sauce for ease.

Gluten-Free & Egg-Free Turtle Bars
made in an 8×8 pan

Ingredients:

Shortbread base: If you have a favorite sugar cookie recipe or bought sugar cookie mix or tube, you can substitute that. My base is quite thick and uses 14 oz ingredients. Look at your recipe/bought mix and do the math to substitute. 

• 1 c (4 oz, 112g ) my rice free,  gluten-free flour mix, ingredients at end of this recipe – to substitute, you have to weigh, (approx ¾ c KAF all purpose gluten-free flour with no baking powder or xanthan gum.)
• ½ c (2 oz, 56 g) gluten-free almond flour (ground almonds in UK), Trader Joe’s, Costco, BRM and KAF all sell almond flour (white) labeled gluten-free and some have almond meal (freckly with skin) also labeled gluten-free. Varying prices. 
• ½ c (2 oz, 56 g) powdered sugar (Icing sugar in UK)
• 1+1/2 sticks (6 oz, 168g) butter (or substitute) hard from the fridge and cut into 1 tablespoon slices
• ¾ tsp (4 ml) xanthan gum

Filling:

• 1+1/4 to 1+1/2 cups (10-12 fl oz, 300-360 ml) thick caramel sauce (I have used a 10 oz jar of Trader Joe’s caramel sauce labeled gluten free or 13 oz can of Nestle dulce de leche which is caramelized condensed milk.  Your own homemade caramel sauce.  Most ice cream caramel sauces don’t seem to be gluten free and possibly runnier)
• 1 +1/2 cups (6oz, 168 g) coarsely chopped nuts (almonds, pecans, cashews, macadamias) cooked in 350* oven (unless labeled roasted already) for 10 minutes.  Once you smell them cooking they could be burning, watch carefully. If you like salted caramel, you could use chopped salted nuts.  If you only have salted nuts and don’t want the salt, rinse salt off in warm water and then crisp nuts in oven. 
• Additional 2 tablespoons milk, cream to thin dulce de leche.
• 1 tsp (5 ml) gluten-free vanilla extract.  I’ve also added zest of 1 or 2 oranges.

Topping

• I use semi sweet chocolate, with kids you might want to use milk chocolate chips
• 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips (6oz, 168g- I use Nestle Tollhouse)
• 4 tablespoons butter (1/2 stick – 2 oz, 60 ml)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350*F (180*C) Put flours, sugar and xanthan gum in food processor.  Add hard butter and run food processor until mix resembles fine breadcrumbs.  If you make this with soft butter, it will turn into a paste you have to spread in dish rather than sprinkle like breadcrumbs.  Make it easier on yourself.
2. Grease 8×8 (20×20 cm) baking pan. If you use a glass pan, then stand it on a metal sheet in the oven, so base cooks better.  Sprinkle in shortbread mix, spread evenly and press down.
3. Bake in preheated oven for about 30-40 minutes.  You do want the base to be light golden brown all over now or it tastes raw later, with darker brown edges.  This is the only cooking base will get so you want to be sure it is cooked through.  There is nothing worse than a raw base. Remove from oven.  Base will probably have fine cracks throughout.
4. Open jar of caramel sauce, remove lid and warm in microwave to easier pouring consistency.  For can of dulce de leche, scrape into microwave safe bowl, warm, add some milk.
5. Add nuts and vanilla, mix well and pour on top of crust in brownie pan, allow to cool.
6. Melt chocolate chips and butter until smooth.  I give chocolate mix about 44 seconds in microwave, stop and stir.  Continue to microwave in 11 second increments if necessary. Spread over cooled caramel filling, allow to set and then cut into very tiny squares. Don’t try to cut while warm as it will crumble. My husband likes this cold from the fridge when caramel and chocolate are hard.  I like it at a warm room temperature when filling is very creamy.  It is easier to cut the bars while the caramel and chocolate are hard and then serve them hard or soft. Cut by using a sharp knife repeatedly dipped in very hot water to easily glide through chocolate topping. Transfer to storage container.

My gluten-free mix: I use for one cup of gluten-free mix. Rice-free. I have slowly been remaking my gluten-free recipes with arrowroot instead of potato starch for nightshade problems for lots of people. It’s basically trial and error, some recipes arrowroot just isn’t a good enough substitute as it’s more floury, but still tasty. 

• ½ cup potato starch or arrowroot starch for those with nightshade problems. BRM sell a bag of arrowroot, but it is more expensive than potato starch.
• ¼ c tapioca starch – note there is a difference in tapioca starch from different brands.
• 2 tbsp amaranth or millet flour: Bob’s Red Mill (millet is roughly one third the price of amaranth, is not so nutritious, but is more readily available.) 
• 2 tbsp sorghum flour: Bob’s Red Mill.  

Larger quantity
Making about 7 cups total of mix

• 1 x 14 oz bag potato starch, which is 3+1/2 cups – that’s the size I can buy. Or 14 oz arrowroot by weight. 
• 1+3/4 c of Tapioca Starch is 7 oz
• Just under 1 cup of Amaranth or Millet (actually ¾ c plus 2 Tbsps is 4 oz)
• Just under 1 cup of Sorghum (actually ¾ c plus 2 Tbsps is 4 oz) 

Note that I buy potato starch and tapioca starch from local Asian market, and brands that online say they are gluten-free.

Almond Macaroons

From Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering

You can use different nut flours for this recipe. Different brands and fineness of the almond flour/almond meal change the macaroon. My friend uses Trader Joe’s almond meal (meaning ground with skin left on so ‘freckly’) and I use Costco’s own almond flour (blanched, white colored as without skin, aka ground almonds in England) both labeled gluten free. I kept decreasing the amount of almond flour to get the chewiness I wanted, similar to ones my friend made.  When I used her cup measures with almond flour, they were dense and not chewy. This is a very simple recipe, quick to make, and a small enough quantity to find out if you like them.

Ingredients:

• ¾ cup (2+1/2 oz) almond flour (or 1 cup Trader Joe’s almond meal) 
• 1/3 cup (2+1/2 oz) sugar 
• ½ tsp gluten-free almond extract for extra almond flavor 
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup chopped, flaked almonds 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350* and line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. Mix almond flour and sugar in a 4 cup bowl.
3. Break up egg with a fork, add egg and almond extract to flour mix, and stir until mix forms a soft, moist paste.
4. I use a #60 / one tablespoon cookie scoop (number should be engraved on inside metal ring that releases cookie dough)
5. Put chopped almonds in a cereal bowl. Scrape cookie scoop against side of bowl to cut off excess mix. Drop a scoop of dough into almonds and shake the bowl to cover the ball in almonds.  It’s easier to do one at a time. Lift soft ball onto cookie sheet leaving about one inch between balls.  I have tried just covering the top of the ball in almonds, but the macaroons tend to stick to parchment paper without chopped almonds on bottom.  Flatten all balls slightly.

6. Bake in preheated oven for about 15 minutes, macaroons should be lightly golden brown, firm but still soft. Remove from the oven and let cool.

Drizzle with chocolate, sandwich with chocolate ganache or buttercream and raspberry jam. Bake until harder and use it as a substitute for Amaretti cookies in recipes.