I love a good quick bread; part cake, part bread, and entirely delicious. And like the name implies, they are “quick” to pull together. Chances are you even have everything needed in the pantry, no special trip to the grocery store required.

Although banana bread is my go-to quick bread, this time of year I really enjoy pumpkin, so I was quite pleased with myself when I accomplished a perfectly moist, flavorful pumpkin bread last week. I didn’t actually invent this version entirely myself, it is my adaptation of an Elizabeth Barbone recipe and I agree with her name for it- Perfect Pumpkin Bread.

This bread is delicious as is (I should know, I ate almost an entire loaf myself), but I think some stir-ins, like chopped nuts, dried cranberries, or white chocolate chips, would make it extra special. Whether dressed up, or left plain, this recipe yields two loaves, making it the perfect choice for gift giving (or wrapping tightly and freezing for later).

I could not resist the smell of this bread, and sliced it before it completely cooled. Okay, so it did crumble some, but it was so good warm. It’s also very tasty at room temperature and stayed soft and moist for a couple days.

*Although I made an egg-free version of this recipe, it was really heavy; but I do have an egg-free pumpkin bread recipe that I previously posted. It’s very good also!

Pumpkin Bread

I think chopped nuts, dried cranberries, and/or white chocolate chips would make some great stir-ins before pouring the batter into the pans.

• 2 1/2 cups white rice flour
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1 rounded tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup vegetable or canola oil
• 1/2 cup orange juice (I use freshly squeezed)
• 3 cups granulated sugar
• 1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin

1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray or grease two 9×4 loaf/bread pans.
2. In a large bowl (the bowl of your stand mixer would work great) whisk together rice flour, cornstarch, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, salt and xanthan gum.
3. In a separate bowl mix together eggs, oil and orange juice; stir to combine. Add sugar and pumpkin and stir until thoroughly mixed together. Add pumpkin mixture to the dry ingredients and mix on medium speed in a stand mixer (or use a good old wooden spoon and do some stirring) until all ingredients are thoroughly combined.
4. Pour batter into prepared pans and bake for about 55-65 minutes or until toothpick tests clean. Place on wire rack to cool 10 minutes, then remove bread from pans and allow to cool on wire rack completely before slicing.

Breads, Food Gifts, Holidays & Special Occasions gluten-free pumpkin bread, gluten-free pumpkin quickbread

If there is one thing I love about October, it would have to be the pumpkins.

Pumpkin is the perfect ingredient in gluten-free baked goods, as it adds plenty of moisture and flavor; so your end product has the texture and the taste you desire!

Here is a kid-friendly muffin, perfect for a quick snack or lunchbox treat. They also happen to be egg-free and dairy- free (as long as you use a dairy-free chocolate chip), but they definitely don’t lack flavor!

I baked them in mini pans, so I used miniature chocolate chips; but if baking them in regular muffin tins, you might want to use regular size chocolate chips (and probably increase the amount).

These muffins do pack a lot of pumpkin flavor and although the smell very tempting warm from the oven, we’ve found they taste much better when allowed to cool.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Mini Muffins

If you don’t need/want to avoid eggs, you can simply use two eggs in this recipe, but omit the applesauce and flaxseed/water mixture.

Makes 36-48 mini muffins (depending on how full you fill the spaces)

• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
• 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 tablespoon flaxseed meal dissolved in 3 tablespoons warm water
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 3/4 cups gluten-free flour blend (with xanthan gum)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup min semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease mini muffin pans or line with paper liners.
2. Mix sugar, oil, applesauce, and flaxseed slurry until combined. Stir in pumpkin and water. Add flour, baking powder, soda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt; stirring until mixed thoroughly. Stir in chocolate chips.
3. Fill muffin cups about 2/3 full with batter (I used about 1 tablespoon batter per space and ended up with 48 mini muffins). Bake in preheated oven until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 10 minutes. Turn out onto cooling rack and allow to cool to room temperature.

 

 

Breads, Desserts gluten-free pumpkin muffins

I think one of the hardest parts about eating gluten-free is the bread. At least at my house, our meals (especially lunch) had always been bread-based; without bread I felt somewhat confused and lost.

Although the gluten-free breads available are edible, let’s face it, they aren’t fabulous. And if you have any other food issues (nuts, soy, dairy, eggs, etc), finding a pre-made gluten-free bread is nearly impossible.

So, we are left making bread from scratch or a mix. If you are familiar with making yeast breads, you probably know today’s tips. But if you are new to bread baking, there are some things that can save you a lot of time, money, and frustration…and bad loaves of bread.

Yeast is a living organism and the correct temperature is vital to it being activated; too high of a temperature and you “kill” the yeast. The result is a doorstop.

Some recipes have you add the yeast to the dry ingredients, others have you proof (dissolve in warm water or milk). If you are adding the yeast to the warm water/milk, you need the temperature to be 110-120 degrees. If adding to the dry ingredients the liquid in the recipe can be slightly hotter, but not above 130 degrees. Although I know many people just guess on the temperature, an inexpensive, instant-read thermometer is really helpful.

To test your yeast (yep, it goes bad), it needs to be mixed with warm water (110-120 degrees) and some sugar (a pinch or sugar, a drop of honey, a teaspoon of flour, etc). Let the mixture stand for 5-10 minutes, the mixture should be thick, bubbly, and fragrant like the picture above; if it’s not, time to buy some new yeast.

Personally, I like to add yeast in with the liquid ingredients, that way I know it is activated and really working before I add the flour (I think this is even more important now that I am using expensive gluten-free flours). If it doesn’t appear active, I know the liquid was too hot or my yeast was too old; and this is helpful information before proceeding with the recipe.

Now you’re all set to make some yeast bread, right?

Breads

I already have two other pizza crusts posted, but I kept trying recipes, and I must admit my family has a new favorite that I thought I should share.

The recipe is based on a King Arthur Flour recipe. I have used multiple different brown rice flour blends (all without gums) and they have all worked beautifully in this recipe. All-Purpose GF Flour and Brown Rice Flour Blend are both posted if you need a blend recipe. I don’t worry about using a superfine brown rice flour for pizza crust, I think the coarseness actually adds to the texture; but I know a lot of people disagree

You will need a stand mixer to make this dough, I am not sure mixing it by hand would really work and he dough is really soft, almost like cake batter, which doesn’t make it super fun to handle (and impossible to knead). Oil on the pan and plenty of flour blend or cornstarch on your hands really helps though.

It also takes a while to make as it has the traditional rest times before baking, but I think this really creates the authentic pizza crust flavor and texture lacking in so many gluten-free crusts.

The recipe makes 2 crusts, enough to feed a family or freeze a crust for later; but you could certainly halve the recipe if desired.

A slice of carmelized onion pizza!

Gluten Free Pizza Crust III

Makes 2 12-inch pizza crusts

• 3 cups  brown rice flour blend
• 1/4 cup buttermilk powder or nonfat dry milk powder
• 2 tablespoon sugar or honey
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoon xanthan gum
• 3 teaspoons instant yeast
• 2 cup warm water (about 100 F)
• 1/4 cup olive oil (for dough)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided (for pans)

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer combine all the dry ingredients except yeast. Stir to combine.
2. In a small bowl combine yeast, water and oil; stir to combine. Add about 1 cup of the dry mixture and stir to mix (it will be very lumpy, that’s okay). Allow the mixture to rest for about 15 minutes or until mixture is bubbly and smells yeasty.
3. Pour the yeast mixture into the dry ingredients and mix on medium speed (about 4 on a Kitchenaid stand mixer) for 4 minutes. The mixture will be very thick and sticky (much like a cake batter). Scrape down the sides of the bowl, cover with a towel or plastic wrap, and let rise for 30 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 425. Generously grease 2 baking sheets or 12″ pizza pans, leaving a puddle (about 1/2 tablespoon) of oil in the middle.
5. Scoop out approximately half of the batter and gently place on the puddle of oil. Using generously “floured” or oiled hands, gently press the dough into approximately a 12″ circle. Repeat with remaining half of dough.
6. Let dough rest, uncovered, 10-15 minutes. (If you are really impatient you can skip this final rest). Bake the crust in the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes.
7. Remove from oven and top partially baked crust as desired. Return to oven and finish baking; about 10-15 minutes, depending on toppings. The crust should be browned and the cheese should be melted and bubbling. If you want a crisp crust, remove the pizza from the pan and bake directly on the oven rack for the final 2-3 minutes of baking.
8. Remove from oven and cut into wedges; serve warm.

Breads, Main Dishes gluten-free pizza crust

Today’s post is especially for my teenage daughter, whom I made a special egg-free, gluten-free loaf of bread for recently. You see, when I first started blogging, she had the idea that should have a regular series of “Friday Failures,” featuring all of my gluten-free baked goods gone wrong.

I agree “Friday Failures” might be humorous, but it’s also a bit embarrassing and depressing to announce my epic failures on a weekly basis.

Sure, every cooks has the occasional “not gonna be making that recipe again” kinda days. But with gluten-free cooking, it’s a bit more extreme; sometimes things explode in the oven, sink in the middle, crumble like bits of Styrofoam, or just feel like a brick. But if you bake gluten-free you probably know this already.

So, gluten-free, egg-free bread isn’t always so pretty. Here is my latest attempt without a mix. Really, it tasted ok, but it was like a brick. There is actually yeast in this thing. I think it deflated while cooking. In all my years baking bread, I have never experienced anything quite like this.

Just thought you’d all like to see that cooking with food issues is challenging for all of us. And my food is not always edible. Well, I guess technically it was edible, but it certainly wasn’t enjoyable.

At least I have a food processor so we had bread crumbs in no time.

No it's not banana bread. This is egg-free/gluten-free bread gone awry.

The fate of the bread...crumbs!

Breads, Friday Failures