Tag: gluten-free baking

Gluten-Free White Cheddar Thyme Apple Pie

by bepaulin, posted in Uncategorized

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It is November, which means it is pie month! At least that is what consumes my mind. Although, pies are my jam and Thanksgiving is all about some pumpkin pie, I am planning on making a Croquembouche. Weird, I know. Some of the cream puffs will have pie inspired fillings, like pecan. Just because I will not be making pie for our family Thanksgiving does not mean I will be not making pies this month, though.

I love pies because they are rustic. Plus in recent years I have been really experimenting and playing with designs. Obviously this is can be seen in the picture of today’s pie. This excites me, because gluten-free pie dough can be trickier to use. There just isn’t the elasticity or ability to play like you can with a traditional pie dough. Like I love to braid. Braid hair. Braid pie edges, but I have to be able to braid gluten-free pie dough. I will not stop though, some day. I have learned that I can make these roses, though, which are pretty quick and relatively easy to achieve. They just add to the rustic beauty and add a touch of elegance. Make some pie dough with freeze-dried strawberries, raspberries or cherries and boom you’ll have pink roses. Maybe some turmeric for yellow roses. Add a bit of matcha to the leaves. You can really have some fun.

This pie, besides the excitement to decorate, I was pumped to play with flavor combos. Originally I was inspired by one that was a smoked gruyere and thyme apple pie. The price of gruyere was a little too much for me. Therefore I swopped the gruyere for white cheddar cheese. I will say you really can’t taste the cheese. What I adored was the thyme. I’ve really been wanting to bake with it for some time. Especially since I’ve seen multiple bakers try to use it on the British Baking Show. My husband was not so fond of tasting thyme in his pie. I pleasantly enjoyed it. I tasted it subtly in the beginning of the bite and it was just enough to me to make it interesting. Not too much at all. Plus it made the flavors more dynamic to me.

If you want to be daring this Holiday season, I would give this pie a try. And play. Play with your decorations. I also enjoy putting words or phrases on my pies. Sometimes I use cookie cutters for that, but many times I will cut them by hand (especially if I want cursive writing).

Gluten-Free White Cheddar Thyme Apple Pie

White Cheddar Pie Crust

  • 1 1/4 cup almond flour
  • 1 1/4 cup tapioca flour
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1 cup shredded white cheddar cheese
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp coconut sugar
  • 1 tbsp honey

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Gluten-Free Maple Cut-Out Cookies

by bepaulin, posted in Uncategorized

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Happy Monday you all! I totally meant to post this last Sunday, but my life has still been crazy busy. Saturday we finished up our summer season, so I will have more time to write. And to play in my kitchen. Baking for markets are fun for me, but there is a difference in producing large quantities of food on Fridays to just focusing on creating one recipe. Truthfully I am exhausted by the end of the nights on Fridays and ready for a nap Saturday afternoons, if I have time for one.

So I am looking forward to this pause, to do markets once a month. I hope to just let my creativity run rampant in testing new recipes, because I truly love that. I also plan on doing some major praying and exploration into my future baking plans. What I really want to contribute. My hearts wants a little house tea and coffee place with pastries. With helpers. But I really want a big outdoor table and to fix several course meals. I want to bring people together, to connect over delicious food. I want to do more cooking classes. My dreams are shaping more into an experience, rather than mass production. I want to do farm-to-fork eating and a low-key pastry shop. Some place where bible studies want to come and meet. Somewhere were bridal or baby showers want to come. I want a place that encourages fellowship, over tasty, creative food.

We’ll see what develops out of that. I know that this week my focus is to make a cheese and thyme apple pie. Because people have been making pies with cheese crusts for a long time. And I saw one with thyme. I HAVE to make a gluten-free one. Period.

These cookies I am sharing, were one of my favorite things I’ve made recently. Once frozen, they reminded me of my grandma’s sandies. So tasty. My mom loved them too. She planned on hoarding them, but my nephew Trenton spotted them, so she had to share. I got the Trenton approval, which is important, because children can be brutally honest. He would tell me if it wasn’t very good.

I think I was most happy, because the moose cookies kept their shape. A year ago I used it and the cookies did not resemble a moose at all. See below, I attempted to turn them into buffalo instead. It had me a little scared, so I have waited a full year to give it another go. Plus I didn’t have any leaf cookie cutters for Fall. How that is, I have no clue because I have a huge drawer full of cookie cutters. But for some reason moose make me think of Fall. Or my mind is thinking that I would love to be in the mountains in the Fall spotting moose.  Continue reading “Gluten-Free Maple Cut-Out Cookies” →

Gluten-Free London Fog Shortbread Cookies

by bepaulin, posted in Uncategorized

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Oh my goodness, September has been a month for me! I have been so busy, planning to run a kitchen for a women’s retreat weekend. Plus the weekend itself, which was awesome. Bible Study has started again. This weekend I am going to Nashville to celebrate my dear friend Chelsey who is getting married in a few weeks. And next month I will be volunteering in a kitchen for a prison ministry. So there has been a lot going on, especially on the weekends. My mother is AMAZING, because she has been doing my markets for me a lot. Praise God for her, she has been tremendous.

I made these cookies weeks ago, I just had so much going on I couldn’t post them until today. Last time I posted I shared my love of tea and how my neighbor at the market sells tea. I got some Earl Grey tea from him (the smell alone was heavenly) and whipped up these shortbreads. Once I posted the picture of them, multiple people at the market asked if I had them. Needless to say, I think I am going to put together a tin of assorted tea shortbreads.

These cookies were SO good. The tea gave it such a complex taste. I folded them so I got some glaze in each bite. My 8-year-old nephew Trenton kept going back to eat more and more of them. That is a testament to their tastiness, when a young kid loves them.

London Fog Cookie
• 1 cup softened butter
• ⅔ cup organic powdered sugar
• 2 cups almond flour
• 1 vanilla bean split and scraped
• 1 tablespoons Earl Grey tea (about 1-2 teabags)
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Gluten-Free Orange Ricotta Matcha Tart

by bepaulin, posted in Uncategorized

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I have been on a bit of tea kick recently. I wanted to make some deep-dish strawberry pies with freeze-dried strawberries in the crust to give it more flavor and a pink color. I also decided to put a little strawberry on top for decoration. I was thinking of getting some all-natural food coloring, when I realized that was silly because matcha is naturally green. So I got some matcha for the stem work, but my mind was racing with other ways to incorporate it.

I had nearly a whole batch of matcha pie dough left, what to do? I became inspired by a tea bag I have at home. It is an orange matcha flavor. It is delicious. I had one before with lemon and matcha, which was really good, but I was intrigued more by the orange. I use lemon a lot, so I wanted to give orange a try. Feel free, though, to make this tart with lemon curd, rather than orange.

I’ve used this ricotta filling on a few tarts too, and it is very nice. I loved this tart. It had a subtle combination of flavors  that worked well. I didn’t have too much matcha in the crust, so it did not taste earthy to me. The orange was present, but not in your face or overwhelming. It is not too sweet, which I really enjoyed. Something I’ve learned with watching so many baking shows, is desserts need balance and you don’t want one-note of just pure sweetness. Make it a little more complex.

I really enjoyed this tart. I would love to try it again with lemon. And it makes me want to go drink a cup of that orange matcha tea, right now!

IMG_0943.jpg Continue reading “Gluten-Free Orange Ricotta Matcha Tart” →

Gluten-Free Golden Milk Muffins

by bepaulin, posted in Uncategorized

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Turmeric is kind of like the matcha I talked about two week (click the word matcha for a link of some cookies I made). I researched turmeric about 10 years ago when I was a research queen. When I find out something is amazingly awesome,  I try to include it. Note: when you put it in bone broth it may turn florescent yellow (turmeric is a lovely mustardy yellow color spice).

Fast forward to the present day, when golden milk lattes are kind of popular. You can even get them pre-mixed at health stores. Of course they are expensive and you are better off making them at home. And the time it takes to make them is minimal.

Earlier this year I found a recipe I really liked. You mixed almond milk and maple together, which you place in a glass with ice. Separately you mixed coconut milk, maple, and the spices. Then you pour it over the iced almond milk. It made a beautiful, ombre-like drink. And it tasted good. My husband didn’t like it. Why is it yellow? This is kind of typical in our house. He can’t stand the smell of kombucha when I drink it. Therefore, when I made these muffins, I told them they had turmeric in them until after he had already eaten them.

Originally I was planning on making a loaf, but I wasn’t really sold on any of the flavor combos. Then one morning at the market, I realized I wanted a golden milk inspired muffin. I found a donut muffin recipe that I wanted to transform into gluten-free, the glaze looked nice. I had some dates in my fridge waiting to be used. And a handful of leftover pecans. In my mind all these things go. All these things would enhance the flavor.

They were delicious! I was supposed to double dip the glaze, but I only had enough for one dip. Plus I think the one was sufficient enough. They smelled absolutely phenomenal. And they tasted like a yummy spice cake. So good. I had to put them in my freezer and offer them to someone else, so I wouldn’t want to eat them breakfast all day. Or a lunch side. Or a dinner side. They were Zach-approved (the husband who did not like my golden milk drinks). And mom approved (I also waited to tell her it had turmeric until afterwards, I couldn’t get her to try the drink either).

You could omit the dates. Or exchange them for raisins. Or use another nut in place of the pecans. Or just make them as they are, since they are so good. And try the drink as well.

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Gluten-Free Matcha Swirl Sugar Cookies

by bepaulin, posted in Uncategorized

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I am a lot like my momma (who is awesome and whom I love dearly). Growing up I mimicked her often. I was totally a picky eater like her. And I loved tea. I still love tea and I thank my momma for this.

About 10 years I was doing A LOT (as in hours a day) of food research, when I stumbled about matcha. Powdered green tea, with a dense amount of nutrients and goodness. Of course I live in the Midwest in a lovely Indiana town (and I mean that in all sincerity, I have tried to leave and always end up back here. But the older I get, the more my appreciate grows) and I couldn’t find any. Shoot when I started my market 5 years ago, I did a lot of explaining on what gluten-free meant. Now I hardly have anyone ask me what gluten-free is. I also couldn’t find a lot of flours or sugars that I needed. Recently it has gotten better. Still have to order cassava flour. Finally found a place with arrowroot. And one place with cacao butter. And maple sugar, although I bought all that, so now I ordered more online again. Now 10 years later I can find matcha powder.

So for a decade I have been eager. Eager to bake and experiment with matcha powder. To drink it (have you had a latte made with matcha? Waiting on my favorite coffee shop Java Haute to catch on to the matcha thing). And to bake with! Earlier this year I posted a recipe for a matcha ricotta tart, which I will actually be revisiting this week. I made some strawberry pies and needed a green crust for some stems and thought matcha would be a great natural way to obtain the color I needed. I drank some matcha I had the other day, which is paired with orange. It is lovely, I have had one with lemon as well, but I use orange less so I was more intrigued with that flavor combo. What if I made a matcha tart with an orange curd bottom. And then an orange ricotta filling? It got me exceedingly excited. Last winter, for Java I had made an orange ricotta pie which I absolutely loved. It had very subtle flavors and was not that sweet. So be prepared next week for that recipe.

Since I had matcha on hand, I thought I would tweak a recipe I saw for matcha swirled sugar cookies. I was geeked to say the least that I got a swirl. And the swirl kept through baking. I think if I made these again, I would dip them in white chocolate. I have found with matcha, it is about having the perfect amount. Too much can get a little bitter and not so good. Actually, thinking just now as I type, I would add some lemon zest to the regular sugar cookie dough and dip it all in white chocolate. Black sesame could be an interesting combo with the matcha too. It is on my list of things to try and I have seen it numerous times paired with matcha. Again, I do not live in a food-forward city, so first I have to find it. Some day………

IMG_0846Gluten-Free Matcha Swirl Sugar Cookies Continue reading “Gluten-Free Matcha Swirl Sugar Cookies” →

Lemon Meringue Pie Macarons

by bepaulin, posted in Uncategorized

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“Creativity is the way I share my soul with the world,” Brene Brown.

I was looking for a beautiful quote to share about how creativity makes me feel and right away I was drawn to this one. And of course it was Brene Brown, she writes some truly wonderful things.

Creativity has been one of the best blessings of my life. The creativity that flows through me is literally overwhelming sometimes. And it spills. It spills out into different areas of my life. Growing up it manifested in the form of art and drawing, notably portraits. Then It took the form of writing. Eventually the art became food. It can be seen sometimes in the way I do my hair (there was a time in my life when I used to braid a lot of hair in very unique patterns). In my clothes. In my home. It used to even show up in my kettlebells, as I used to dream up new ways to move and challenge my body.

And it comes out of nowhere sometimes. I can be on a walk and recipes ideas and flavor combos will just download in my mind. Or I will write an entire post in my head. Editing and rewriting as I go. These meringues. Same thing.

I was at work making lemon meringue pies as I often do, when I started pondering on the simplicity of a meringue. And for some reason I was also thinking about macarons. And I was remembering this pic I had seen on Instagram of a coconut macaron that had a meringue on top. I watched the video of them making it like 5 times. And I started to image the lemon meringue pie as a macaron. Lemon curd filling. A beautiful meringue on top. Maybe brush some yellow coloring in the bag to be fun. I had to make it. I had envisioned and tasted it already. It had to come to life. Luckily I had a meeting to go to where they like my macarons.

It didn’t even stop there. I’m thinking of all the curds I’ve made. Grapefruit. Cranberry. Mango. I really want to make a pineapple one, because pineapple is delicious (duh). Then I was thinking I could use a macadamia nut base for the macarons instead of almond. And I could do a toasted coconut meringue on top. Yum. Maybe some lime zest in the curd? Maybe that’s too much going. Oh well, you may have this recipe coming sometime.

I praise God for this creativity and what a blessing it is. Because sometimes I look at something I made in awe and I can’t believe I’ve made it. It is more than me. It brings me joy, but I love more that it has the potential to bring others joy. What good is it to have a talent or gift and not share it with others? That’s why we have it no? This dynamic world where we all have something we can contribute. And food. Food is such a way for me to share and express the love I have in my heart. Each pie is truly from a place of love. Plus a passion and fervor for it to bless others. That is my main desire in all this baking and striving with my business, and that is to share joy and love. And beautiful food, that hopefully tastes as equally good.

Lemon Meringue Pie Macarons

Macarons:

  • 1 cup almond flour
  • 3/4 cup organic powdered sugar
  • 2 egg whites
  • 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
  • 1/4 cup maple sugar
  • 1/2 tsp lemon zest

Continue reading “Lemon Meringue Pie Macarons” →