Delicious gluten free sugar cookies... GF DF

250 grams dairy free margarine (or butter if you're not dairy free)
1 cup sugar
pinch of salt
2 large eggs
1 tsp grated lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup tapioca flour
1 cup potato starch
1 cup ready made gluten free flour mix



Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

With your electric mixer, cream the butter, sugar and salt for around 5 minutes until really creamy.

Then add the eggs, lemon zest and vanilla essence, beat well.

On slow speed, beat in the flour one cup at a time until just combined.

Divide dough into four equal parts in plastic freezer bags, flatten into circles, and place in the freezer until firm, this can take 30 minutes to an hour.

Flour the work surface I use a cookie tray and your rolling pin with gluten free flour and roll out one bag of dough at a time to 1/2 cm thickness. The dough is not that easy to work with and you need to work quickly or it will soften and you'll have to put it back in the freezer.

Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters.

With a metal fish slice, transfer to a cookie sheet lined with baking paper.

Bake 10 – 12 minutes, until lightly golden. Cool on racks.

You get quite a lot of cookies from one batch,

but they won't last long because they're so delicious!

After the cookies have cooled, ice with different coloured icing and sprinkles... We made ours for easter, hence the egg shape! :D

Carrot & Raisin Muffins GF DF

1 cup GF baking mix or flour
1 cup tapioca flour
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup coconut cream
1/3 cup canola oil
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 medium sized carrot (finely grated)
1/2 cup raisins

1. Preheat the oven (190-200 degrees celcius).
2. Sift flours & baking powder and add sugar in one bowl. In another bowl put whisked eggs, coconut cream, grated carrot and oil. Add wet to dry, using a large metal spoon to mix until just combined.
3. 3/4 fill the muffin pans and cook for 18-20 minutes.

So delicious!

If you want you can substitute the raisins for fruit cake mix! :D

Red Velvet Cupcake Recipe GF DF

2 1/2 cups gluten free flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 cup soy milk with a little squeeze of lemon juice in it
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon white vinegar
2 tablespoons red food colour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 12-cup muffin pans with baking papers.

Sift flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and cocoa powder into a large mixing bowl and then set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl combine the oil, soy milk, eggs, vanilla, vinegar and food color. With a hand or electric whisk, mix until thoroughly combined.

Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients. With an electric mixer, mix to combine the ingredients and then continue to mix until thoroughly combined, about 2 minutes.

Portion the batter into the paper lined cupcake pans. Bake until the cake centers are firm to the touch — approximately 20 minutes.

Remove for the oven and cool. When cool, decorate with icing and your favorite decorations.

Yield: 36 mini cupcakes

based on the recipe found online at The Providence Journal, there's a recipe there for royal icing, as well as buttercream icing too! YUM!

Dee's Most Delicious Pavlova Recipe

I get many requests from friends for this recipe - so here it is in all it's simplicity!

Makes 1 large pavlova or 2 smaller ones:

6 Egg Whites (#7 eggs - large)
2 cups Castor Sugar
2 tsp Malt Vinegar
1 tsp Vanilla Essence

1. Beat egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff enough to form a peak.

2. Add castor sugar gradually until the mixture is shiny and then add vinegar and essence.

3. Pile onto a non-stick baking sheet (3 1/2 inches), on tray, and bake at 150'C (300'F) for approximately 1 - 1 1/2 hours for 2 small and 2 hours for a large one.

4. Remove from sheet and cool on rack.

TIP
If you don't have a non-stick baking sheet, use waxed paper as follows:-
Cut paper to twice the size of the oven tray and sprinkle dull side with water and then fold over so the waxy dry side is now on the outside. Pile the egg white mixture onto this and cook as above but leave it on the tray for about two minutes before removing the paper.

french pancakes - crepes DF

Makes 14-16 five inch pancakes:

2 eggs
2/3 cup milk (tastes good dairy-free, using soy milk or coconut milk as a substitute)
1/3 cup water
1/2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp sugar

1. Beat the eggs. Add to the beaten eggs, the milk, water and vanilla. In a larger bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking powder and sugar. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the liquid ingredients. Combine with as few strokes as possible. The objective is to moisten all the dry ingredients and incorporate as little air as possible into the batter. Refrigerate the batter for at least 1 hour.

2. To make the crepes: Gently stir the batter. Grease the skillet using a small amount of oil or butter. Pour a small quantity of batter (about 1/4 cup) to the skillet and tip the skillet to let the batter spread over the bottom. Cook the pancake over moderate heat. When the surface looks dry, check the bottom. If it is brown underneath, reverse the crepe and brown the other side very slightly. Gently remove from the skillet. Add a little bit of fat before preparing each subsequent pancake. Spread each crepe with jelly or filling. Roll and add appropriate topping. We ate ours with icecream.

TIP
Crepes may be prepared ahead and frozen. To do so, put each crepe between layers of waxed paper, place in a plastic bag and seal tightly before freezing. Defrost in the refrigerator. Remove crepes from wrapping, lay singly on a cookie sheet and warm in a low to moderate oven.

When I was little the only pancakes we ever made were the thin crepe ones. It wasn't until McDonalds came on the scene that I ever tried "american" pancakes. I love both a lot - too much :) Hehehehe! Still, it's been years since I have made crepes, so long ago that my kid's had never tried them. Last night, I was inspired to make them for dessert - and they were DELICIOUS! We had them with ice-cream (Lite-licks for Bree). I made a half batch for Briahna, changing the milk to soy. Everyone loved them.

Scones made the dairy-free way!

3 cups flour
6 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
50 gm dairy free margarine
1 1/4 cups coconut cream (slightly less than a can)

Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Rub the margarine into the flour mix until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add coconut cream and mix quickly into a soft dough. Lightly knead. Lightly dust an oven tray with flour. Press scone dough out onto this. Cut into even sizes. Leave a 2 cm space between scones. Brush tops with left over coconut cream. Bake at 220 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes or until golden brown.

dairyfree carrot cupcakes

1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
salt, pinch
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
2 cups grated carrots

1. Blend all ingredients and mix very well.

2. Put in spoonful amounts into a prepared patty tin.

3. Bake until cooked (20 minutes) at 170 degrees Celcius.

Dairy Free Chocolate Cupcakes

This recipe is based on a very moist chocolate cake. I've also known it to be called Wacky Cake or Crazy Cake. It is delicious and similar to the other chocolate cake I have on this blog.

3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
6 tablespoons cocoa
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon mixed spice
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons vinegar
3/4 cup canola oil (almost any kind of cooking oil will do)
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
1 cup soy milk
1 cup water

1. Sift first 6 ingredients together in mixing bowl.

2. Make 3 wells and in each hole place the next 3 ingredients.

3. Pour 1 cup of water and 1 cup of soy milk over top and mix with a fork or wire whisk.

4. Put spoonfuls into patty tin.

5. Bake at 170 degrees Celcius for 20 minutes.

Sugar Cookies

INGREDIENTS

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup dairy free margarine (or butter)

1 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Assorted candies, sprinkles, or coloured sugars, for decorating (optional)

1. In large bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt. With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. With mixer on low, gradually add flour mixture; beat until combined. Divide dough in half; flatten into disks. Wrap each in plastic; freeze until firm, at least 20 minutes, or place in a resealable plastic bag, and freeze up to 3 months (thaw in refrigerator overnight).

2. Preheat oven to 180°C. Line baking sheets with parchment. Remove one dough disk; let stand 5 to 10 minutes. Roll out 1/8 inch thick between two sheets of floured parchment, dusting dough with flour as needed. Cut shapes with cookie cutters. Using a spatula, transfer to prepared baking sheets. (If dough gets soft, chill 10 minutes.) Re-roll scraps; cut shapes. Repeat with remaining dough.

3. Bake, rotating halfway through, until edges are golden, 10 to 18 minutes (depending on size). Cool completely on wire racks. To ice cookies, spread with the back of a spoon. Let the icing harden, about 20 minutes. Decorate as desired.


Note: To make icing, sift 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar into a small bowl. Whisk in 3 to 4 tablespoons milk, water, or lemon juice, 1 tablespoon at a time, until smooth and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. If too thin, whisk in more sugar; if too thick, add more liquid.


TIPS: Use flour on utensils to keep dough from sticking: Dip the cookie cutters, and dust the spatula before transferring uncooked dough to a sheet. Rolling dough between two sheets of floured parchment will keep it from sticking to the rolling pin.
You can store cookies in airtight containers at room temperature, up to 1 week.

Muesli Bread - breadmaker recipe

This is a great recipe for people, like me, who are not good at having breakfast (cereal & milk, that is!). Toast is a whole lot easier to do when your eyes are blurry and head fuggy! I make a large 1.5kg loaf that lasts me just over a week if I slice and freeze the bread.

2 cups water, tepid
4 tablespoons coconut milk powder
2 tablespoon honey
1 tsp salt
4 tablespoons oil
4 cups plain flour
3 tablespoons gluten flour
3 cups muesli (I used a real cheap brand that had lots of dried fruit in it)
3 tsp breadmaker yeast

Place all the ingredients in the baking pan in the order in which they are listed above. Set the programme to 'Basic'.

At the end of the cycle, turn out the bread onto a wire rack and leave it to cool. It's as simple as that, and oh so DELICIOUS!

Dairy Free Muffins

Sweet Muffins

2 Cups plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup milk I use rice milk for the milk but have used soy and regular.
1/3 cup canola oil
2 eggs whisked

TIP ~ If just doing plain you will need to add a little more milk or it will be too dry.

1. Preheat the oven (190-200 degrees Celsius).
2. Sift flour and add sugar in 1 bowl. In another bowl put whisked eggs, milk, and oil. Add wet to dry, using a large metal spoon to mix until just combined. I use a big serving spoon for this or the mix goes smooth like a cake mix and the muffins are very heavy and don't rise.
3. 3/4 full the muffin pans and cook for 18-20 min. Leave in pan for 10-15 min before turning out.

Variations
Banana use two mashed.
Pear 1 1/2 pear mashed.
Choc chip I use chopped up dairy-free chocolate.
Jam 1⁄4 teaspoon of jam in the middle. Put 1⁄2 mix in, put jam in middle then add extra mix on top.
Honeycomb on top or mixed into the mixture.
Coconut Small amount of coconut is nice.

I use muffin cases for all my muffins and they nearly all get frozen to be put in lunch boxes.

Savoury Muffins

2 cups plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 cup milk (or milk substitute)
1/3 cup canola oil
2 eggs

Variations (add any of the following to muffin mix)
chives
Basil
Coriander
Cheese
Cheese and Bacon

The savoury ones are nicest on the day they are cooked or warmed in the microwave.

Cow Clear Chocolate Cashew Cookie

(fits in well with Cession – all the ccccccc’s that is;) )

1 cup dairy-free margarine
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
3 cups plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups chopped dairy-free chocolate (dark/bitter-sweet)
1 cup chopped cashew nuts

1 Preheat oven to 180`C. With an electric mixer, cream the margarine and both the sugars together until light and fluffy.
2 In a shaker or another bowl, mix the egg and vanilla essence, and then gradually beat into the margarine mixture. Sift over the flour, baking powder and salt and stir. Add the chocolate and cashew nuts, and mix to combine well.
3 Place heaped teaspoonfuls of the dough roughly 4 cm apart on baking trays. Bake in the oven until lightly coloured, about 10-15 minutes.

TIP
Don’t chop the chocolate and cashew nuts too fine – these taste great with big hunks of chocolate and nuts – MMMMMMM!!!

3.20pm (27th September 2006)
Name changed from "Best Ever Dairy-free Chocolate/Cashew Cookies" :- Thanks Jonathan for the idea - you win, you guessed it, a yummy cow clear chocolate cashew cookie as a prize.

Cake #4

Dairy version of cake #2 – We promised to take a cake in for Aimee to share with her class, and Aimee wanted it to look like last years cake (My Little Pony on a meadow of green grass). :)

The things we mum’s do for our kidlets!!!

Aimee’s Birthday Cake #2

Aimee had her two “boyfriends” from school over for a play date to celebrate her birthday, and so another cake was in order. I needed to find a nice dairy-free chocolate cake and couldn’t find one – so, thanks to Alison Holst, I adapted one of hers (Kirsten’s Chocolate Cake, page 258, Alison Holst’s Good Food) – it was delicious!!! A real success!

Chocolate Cake (Dairy-free & Delicious)

125g margarine (dairy-free)
2 rounded household tablespoons golden syrup
2 eggs
2 cups flour
2 Tbsp cocoa
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups soy milk

1. Put the margarine and golden syrup in a microwave dish and heat just until the margarine has melted. Stir to combine the two.

2. Put everything else in the food processor, with the eggs first and the soy milk last. Mix in brief busts, then add the golden syrup and margarine mixture, and process for two 30-second bursts, scraping down the sides of the food processor after the first burst.

3. Bake in two 20cm round tins for 25 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius, or until the centre springs back and a skewer in the centre comes out clean. Eat within three days.

TIP
Line the cake tin with baking paper to avoid the cake sticking or overflowing during baking.

Chocolate Icing:
1 Tbsp margarine
2 Tbsp hot water
1 Tbsp cocoa
1 cup icing sugar

1. Heat together the margarine, water and cocoa in a small saucepan until the margarine has softened and all the ingredients are easily combined when stirring with a fork.

2. Add the sifted icing sugar and beat with a wooden spoon until it has been mixed in thoroughly, and the icing is smooth.

Aimee's Birthday Cake #1

We are having a weekend of birthday cake's because Aimee is turning 8!! Tonight we had pavlova with lashings of cream - YUM! Aimee's best friend, Ashlee, stayed the night to help us celebrate! My little girl is getting older...

Hotcakes by Dee (dairy-free)

These are extremely delicious and are based on a american hotcake recipe, so you get pancakes like at McDonalds without the dairy! YUM! I use a 1/4 cup to measure out the batter, and it makes the perfect size. We make them for breakfast on any special day - birthdays, christmas, sleepover brunches - you name it, in fact any day is a good excuse to make them.

2 cups plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1/2 cup sugar
1 tin coconut cream
1/2 cup water

Place top three ingredients into a bowl. Beat egg and sugar together. Add with liquids (coconut cream & water) to the dry ingredients. Mix until smooth. Cook on a hot fry pan, until golden, flipping when the bubbles begin to burst.