Go-To Gluten Free Pie Crust

Summer is the perfect time for fresh fruit pies.  Especially fruits like peaches or berries which are in season.  I have to admit, I was intimidated by the idea of making a pie crust gluten free.  Pie crust can be very unforgiving.  There's a lot that can go wrong, and it typically doesn't like to be rerolled if you mess up.  But intimidation is not a good enough deterrent!  Too my surprise this turned out great on the first try!  Just a hint of sweetness, flaky, buttery but not oily, crispy edges yet not dry.  It's the best all-purpose gluten free pie crust - great for sweet pie or for more savory I'd just leave out the sugar.  It's also very easy to work with and roll out.  So go pick up some fresh summer fruit and this will be your go-to pie crust!

Go-To Gluten Free Pie Crust

Recipe a Jesicakes Original
Makes a double pie crust
Print Recipe

Ingredients

- 1 cup brown rice flour
- 1 cup sorghum flour
- 1/2 cup white rice flour
- 1/2 cup tapioca flour
- 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
- 3 Tbsp sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup butter (2 sticks, cold, cut into pieces)
- 3 Tbsp shortening (1.5oz)
- 5 Tbsp ice water
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice

Vegan Apple Peanute Butter Cookies

My mom recently switched from vegetarian to vegan.  As a congratulations for her first month, I wanted to make her some celebratory cookies.  The only complication was I had never made cookies before that had neither butter, eggs, nor refined sugar (regular refined white sugar or any brown sugar is not vegan.  Only organic white sugar  or brown sugar is.  You can find lists of vegan white sugar online). So I did some research, found ways to substitute that I preferred and found a recipe that I thought she would like and that I could also make gluten free easily.  Apples and Peanut Butter and a perfect match.  They're healthy but they're also something I used to have when I was a kid as a healthy treat--and still frequently have!  These cookies are for everyone, not just vegans, looking for a healthier version of a cookie, while still being just as indulgent any other cookie.

Vegan and Gluten Free Apple Peanut Butter Cookies

Recipe adapted from The Tolerant Vegan
Makes 2 1/2 dozen cookies
Print Recipe

 

Ingredients

- 1 Tbsp flax, ground
- 3 Tbsp water
- 1 1/2 cups brown rice flour*
- 1/8 tsp xanthan gum
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 cup vegetable shortening (I used Earth Balance Natural Shortening)
- 1/2 cup Peanut Butter (I used Nature's Promise Smooth, Salted Organic Peanut Butter)
- 1 cup organic brown sugar (I used Florida's Crystals)
- 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/2 tsp gluten free vanilla
- 1 apple, peeled, cored, and diced (I used a fuji)

*When I made these I used a mixture of flours (1/2 cup brown rice four, 1/3 cup oat flour, 1/3 cup white rice flour, 1/3 cup tapioca flour).  The result was the cookies were very soft when baked.  The were delicious but a little too soft.  I think using only brown rice flour, or maybe even brown rice and oat flour, will toughen them up and make them the correct texture.  If you try it let me know the outcome!!  I will update this when I try the recipe again!

Individual Baked Oatmeal Cups

So last month I got tested for celiac (negative! But I still want to be mostly gluten free because I just personally feel better when I don't eat gluten).  The hardest part is cutting out things that I had started eating daily during the two months before testing.  One of those things is granola bars.  They're just so easy and convenient to carry around except most of them have some form of gluten, soy, or dairy in them.  I just started using Pinterest and I saw a pin of Personal Sized Bake Oatmeal from Sugar-Free Mom and was inspired to use these to replace granola bars!  I made them in cupcake pans not muffin tins and got 3 1/2 dozen little oatmeal cups out of it!  That's part of my lunch for 42 days.  Not only is it going to cut granola bars and help cut soy, dairy, and gluten back out of my diet, but it'll probably save me a lot of money too!  I made fourteen different varieties too to try new flavors and so I don't get tired of them.  I use Chia Seeds in them which have lots of Omega 3 fatty acids, protein, antioxidants and much more.  I topped them chopped nuts and fruits to add to add more protein and for more energy.  So if you try these get creative with your toppings and see how many different varieties you can make!

Individual Baked Oatmeal Cups

Recipe adapted from Sugar Free Mom
Makes 3 1/2 dozen individual baked oatmeal cups in cupcake pans, or about 1 1/2 dozen in muffin pans
Print Recipe

Ingredients

- 2 large eggs

- 2 cups unsweetened applesauce
- 5 cups rolled oats (gluten free)
- 1/4 cup chia seeds
- 1 banana, mashed
- 2 1/2 cups almond milk (or milk of choice)
- 1/2 cup of honey
- 1 Tbsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla, gluten free
- 3 tsp baking powder, gluten free
- 1 tsp salt
- toppings of choice: dried cranberries, chopped almonds, peanut butter, chocolate chips etc.

Delicious Apple Crumble Cake

When I think of fall desserts I think of two things: Pumpkin and Apple.  Apple is also one of the traditional foods for Rosh Hashanah.  So I decided I was going to make a delicious apple cake using local apples (one of the many benefits of living in NY) for the holiday...only my family's party was canceled.  But I found a recipe on Oh! Nuts' blog for a Rosh Hashanah Apple Crumb Cake that looked too good to not try. So this past Sunday I made it anyway!  I replaced the flour in the crumbs and the cake with a mix of gluten free flours I thought might work out well. My guessing was right on because this cake is delicious.  The cake is moist, but the apples are still firm and the crumble and walnuts add a nice crisp texture.  This cake is perfect for all those apples you'll be bringing home from apple picking, and if you're really ambitious this recipe calls for applesauce...which if you still need something to make you can use homemade applesauce (I was not that ambitious.  Well, actually I have not gone apple picking yet so maybe I will be once I come home with a few pounds of apples).  This cake screams fall between the apples and the cinnamon.  Plus it's best served warm...and if you're like my boyfriend, with homemade cinnamon maple whipped cream.  It's the perfect cake to eat outside on a cool fall day.

Apple Crumble Cake

Recipe from Oh! Nuts
Made Gluten Free by Jesicakes
Makes a 9'' round cake

Ingredients for the Crumble

- 1 1/2 cups walnuts
- 2/3 cup packed light brown sguar
- 3 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 2 rounded tsp cinnamon (I use more than Oh! Nuts...I'm a huge cinnamon lover)
- 1/4 cup brown rice flour
- 1/4 cup sorghum flour
- 1 Tbsp tapioca flour
- 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 1/2 tsp gluten free vanilla

Ingredients for the Cake

- 1 large Honey Crisp of Fuji Apple, and an extra just incase*
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 3 Tbsp sour cream, room temperature
- 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce, room temperature
- 2 tsp gluten free vanilla
- 1/2 cup brown rice flour
- 1/2 cup sorghum flour
- 1/2 cup sweet rice flour
- 1/4 cup tapioca flour
- 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp gluten free baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 12 tbsp butter, room temperature

*My secret to baking with apples is using Honey Crisps (if in season like they are now) or Fuji's.  They're firm so they hold up well being baked, and I find them to simply taste better than Granny Smith or Yellow Delicious.

This post is a little photo heavy because of the steps and the layering of the cake.  So click "Read more" for the procedure.

Gluten Free Apple Pie Cupcakes

One of the first things I've ever made gluten free were vanilla cupcake bases.  We were celebrating Easter at my house and I wanted to do a blind taste test with a cute cupcake idea I came across that seemed like a perfect Easter dessert.  I wanted to make "Apple Pie" Cupcakes and not tell anyone they were gluten free to see what the response was (or if anyone could even tell!  Especially my brother who my mom has tried to "trick" with organic versions of food and he instantly can tell they're organic and therefore "gross."  The ones in the middle of that picture are plain Vanilla with Vanilla Buttercream cupcakes for him because he wouldn't touch one with apples).  Now I know, you're not supposed to just switch up ingredients because it can affect the outcome of recipes, but I've often decided to throw that rule out the window.  I simply switched the cake flour for brown rice flour.  Since then, I've further delved into an exploration of flour combinations.  My first time making chocolate chip cookies using only brown rice flour they had a bit of a rustic, coarse texture, but since then with my mix they're nice and crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside.  I can't wait for another opportunity to make cupcakes so I can try it with my gluten free flour mixture I've come up with, but til then the just brown rice version were slightly crumbly, but still delicious!

Gluten Free Apple Pie Cupcakes

Recipe adapted from Annie Eats, whose recipe was adapted from Fatty Fat Fats
Made Gluten Free by Jesicakes

Makes 24 cupcakes

Ingredients

- 3 cups brown rice flour*

- 1 tbsp gluten free baking powder

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 1/2 tsp gluten free vanilla
- 1 cup almond milk (can use dairy milk, I love the flavor this adds though)

Click "Read more" for the procedure