Homemade BBQ Sauce on a burger.

With the Fourth of July just around, I thought I would mention some of my favorite summertime foods, all perfect for a gathering or backyard BBQ. And best of all, these are great tasting dishes. They may be gluten free, but everyone will enjoy them.

Entertaining gluten free does seem daunting, but it can be done. And it doesn’t have to be super expensive. I try to prepare dishes that are naturally gluten free, thus avoiding all the expensive flours and gums that are typically required for gluten free baking.

Think fresh, simple, and delicious. Make a great main dish, a side or two, and serve some really fresh fruits and vegetables and everyone will be well fed and happy to eat gluten free.

And most of the recipes I am suggesting are family friendly; and I think there is no better time than summer to get the kids in the kitchen helping prepare food. A couple of the recipes even include the word Easy in the title. Cooking great tasting gluten free food can be easy and fun.

Happy Fourth of July and happy gluten free cooking.

Lemonade anyone?

Some great sides: Grilled Corn, 4th Of July Beans, Bacon Potato Salad, Homemade BBQ Sauce, Easy Fruit Salad, Creamy Fruit Salad, and Chunky Guacamole.

Main dishes: Tequila Marinated Grilled Chicken with Citrus Salsa, Chicken Under Bricks,  and Steak with Chili BBQ Sauce,

And for dessert: Easy Strawberry Shortcake, Sour Cream Ice Cream, Easy Chocolate Mousse, and Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies.

Holidays & Special Occasions gluten free entertaining, gluten free potluck foods

So, they say a picture is worth a thousand words. This is how our recent family vacation with a three year old went.

No, that is not singing it is SCREAMING!

We have taken several gluten free vacations and there are a couple things I have learned.

1. Take lots of gluten free snack foods.

If you feel like baking before the trip, we like Double Corn Snack Mix or gluten free rice crispy treats. If you can eat peanut and tree nuts, those make great snacks as well as dried fruits and trail mixes.

2. Carry a cooler for yogurts, puddings, applesauce, string cheese and plenty of fruits and veggies. Don’t forget to pack some spoons.

3. Be prepared ahead of time for what restaurants you can eat at.

It is frustrating to try and figure out if the town you are passing through or staying at has any gluten free offerings. With the Internet you can do all this research before hand and even print out the menu and directions.

We haven’t had a lot of luck eating out gluten free, but I know lots of people feel otherwise. It ruins the vacation to get ill from a quick meal.

4. It is so much easier to stay somewhere with a kitchen.

Trying to find safe, gluten-free meals while vacationing can become overwhelming. If you can cook your own food it relieves a lot of stress. It may seem too expensive to stay at a condo or vacation house (or inconvenient to stay with relatives) but the cost and logistics of eating out gluten free for every meal shouldn’t be underestimated.

5. Although I am not a fan of mixes, vacation is one time I try a few gluten free mixes and prepared foods I normally wouldn’t buy.

For vacations I cut myself some slack and buy pasta sauce, Chebe mixes, and packaged cookies.

6. Vacationing gluten free can be challenging and slightly stressful, but it can be done. And although there were tears on our vacation, it wasn’t because of the food : )

Holidays & Special Occasions gluten free vacationing

Why am I posting about pumpkin cake in May you ask yourself?

Well, here’s the story. I have been making a pumpkin bundt cake for years and it is my teenage daughter’s absolute favorite cake. We typically make it in the fall, but we had just started eating gluten free so I had no idea how to attempt to convert this recipe so we skipped it last year.

It’s been almost 9 months and I have built  up some confidence in my gluten free baking abilities, so I decided to pull out the recipe and attempt adapting it to be gluten free.

The original recipe came from and old Taste of Home magazine and required a cake mix and a package of pudding. It crossed my mind to try and use a gluten free cake mix, but honestly, why spend $6 on a cake mix that you have to add a bunch of ingredients to? It seems much more cost effective to figure out how to recreate this cake from scratch.

I did keep the instant pudding in the dessert, because I think it really adds to the flavor and the butterscotch compliments the pumpkin without being obvious. Personally, I dislike butterscotch, but in this cake you don’t taste it, you just end up with the most delicous, moist, dense, mildly pumpkin cake.

And just to let you know, Kraft, the makers of Jello Pudding are really good about labeling allergen information; so unless it says, wheat, rye, barley, it doesn’t have it. You can read their official statement here.

After making my changes, the final result is a wonderful pumpkin cake that is just as moist and flavorful as the original; the texture is a bit more dense, but not crumbly or dry like many gluten free cakes. Overall, it is a fairly simple and inexpensive gluten free dessert. Who says you can only eat pumpkin in the fall anyway?

Although I have always made this cake in a bundt pan, which I think is a busy mom’s dream cake, with no frosting, filling or decorating required, you could bake it in a 9×13 or two 8-inch pans. You could even make cupcakes. Just make sure to reduce the cooking time accordingly.

Pumpkin Bundt Cake dusted with confectioners' sugar

A slice of gluten free cake that tastes as good as it looks!

Gluten Free Pumpkin Bundt Cake

Make sure and use instant butterscotch pudding here, other flavors don’t really work (I have tried) and the slow-cook variety will prevent the cake from getting done.

dry ingredients:

• 1 cup + 2 Tb white rice flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill)
• 1 cup cornstarch
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp xanthan gum
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup sugar
• I package (3.4 ounces- the small box) instant butterscotch pudding mix

wet ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

for topping:

• whipped cream or confectioners’ sugar, optional

1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease and rice flour a 10-inch fluted tube pan (bundt pan)*
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine all wet and dry ingredients and beat on low for about 30 seconds. Increase speed to medium and continue to mix for 2 minutes.
3. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 45-55 minutes or until a tester inserted in the center tests clean.
4. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan. I had to run a plastic spatula around the edges to loosen the cake from the pan before turning onto a wire rack to cool completely.
5. Serve with whipped cream or dust with confectioners’ sugar if desired.
6. Store leftovers in an airtight container or bag; this cake freezes really well.

*I used white rice flour and it left a white coating on my cake; but we sprinkled confectioners’ sugar on it so I didn’t mind; you might want to use brown rice flour, but I was worried that would be gritty. I have only used cornstarch, white rice flour, or baking cocoa to dust my pans. If anyone has a suggestion that might work here let me know.

Desserts, Holidays & Special Occasions gluten free bundt cake, gluten free pumpkin cake

What could be a more perfect combination than peanut butter and chocolate? And few treats could be easier than peanut butter balls. It’s a win-win situation. Peanut butter balls have been a holiday tradition in my family for as long as I can remember. The version my mom made had rice crispy cereal and dipped in chocolate. I ate a ton as a kid, they were pretty good. I have also had other people’s peanut butter balls, some aren’t covered in chocolate, some are made with chunky peanut butter, some contain liquor. None of these were really perfect in my opinion. I wanted something smooth and creamy, slightly sweet, but still very much a peanut butter and chocolate dessert.

After trying several things, I have a version that I think makes the perfect peanut butter balls. You can mix this by hand, but you will literally have to use your hands; it will be easier if you use a stand mixer. Kids especially enjoy helping roll the peanut butter mixture, don’t worry if they aren’t consistently sized, they’ll taste just as good. And we don’t save these treats for Christmastime, we have decided they are good year-round, especially for birthdays and Valentine’s Day.

Semisweet or bittersweet chocolate can be used, but bittersweet will give a more intense chocolate flavor; you can also use chocolate chips, but they don’t melt as smoothly as baking chocolate, so you’ll need to add butter, oil or shortening.

Peanut Butter Balls ready to dip

Dipped Peanut Butter Balls ready to eat

Perfect Peanut Butter Balls

• 1  1/2 cups creamy peanut butter (this is an entire 16 oz jar)
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 12 oz bittersweet of semisweet chocolate (depending on the humidity and type of chocolate you use, you may need to add several tb of oil, butter or shortening to make the melted chocolate thin enough to dip properly)
  

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment, waxed paper or a silicone mat; set aside
2. In bowl of stand mixer, combine peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and confectioners’ sugar, mixing until smooth, stiff dough is formed; you may have to knead dough a little with your hands.
3. Using about 2 tsp dough, roll into balls; refrigerate until chilled.
4. Place chocolate, and oil if using, in microwave safe bowl, and cook in 30 second intervals, stirring as needed, until melted. This usually takes about 2 minutes. Add more oil if needed to create a steady stream of chocolate when poured off a spoon.
5. Remove peanut butter balls from refrigerator and either insert toothpick into balls or use slotted spoon to dip them into melted chocolate; we like them entirely covered in chocolate, but you could just dip half of them.
6. Place on prepared pan, and remove toothpick if using. Return to refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to set.

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