Nutlove: Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls

It's getting close to Christmas and the end of the year, so I wanted to share another #nutlove recipe before the end of the month that's great to share with the family. I adapted it from a Cinnabon clone recipe on that I found on +Allrecipes.com. The original recipe can be found at: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/clone-of-a-cinnabon/. I adapted it in two ways, I made it gluten free, and changed the directions to not use a bread machine. It's easy, and super delicious!

Check out our pinterest board for all of the nut related recipes this month: http://pinterest.com/bdgergrl/love-bloghop/. If you'd be interested in joining our food love blog hop, then let me know via th Contact Page, or contact me on Google+ +T.R. Crumbley.

Active Prep Time 30 minutes
Inactive Prep Time 1 1/2 hour
Bake Time  15 minutes

Ingredients

Dough

1 cup warm milk

½ cup sugar

2 ¼ teaspoon quick active yeast

2 room temperature eggs

1/3 cup melted butter

4 tsp xantham gum

½ cup brown rice flour

1 cup potato starch

1 1/3 cup tapioca flour

1 2/3 cup sweet rice flour

Filling

1 cup light brown sugar

2 ¼ tbsp. cinnamon 1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1/3 cup soft butter

Frosting

3 oz soft cream cheese

¼ cup soft butter

1 ¼ cup powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Steps
In a large bowl, add the milk, sugar, and yeast. Set aside for 5 minutes. Stir in the butter and eggs to the milk mixture. In a medium bowl, stir the gum and flours together. Slowly add to the milk mixture. Once the dough becomes hard to mix by spoon, knead the dough by hand until the dough is well combined. Cover with a cloth and store in a warm place for half an hour.

In a small bowl, mix the butter, cinnamon, nuts, and sugar together. Remove the dough from the bowl and roll out to a rectangle, about 1/4 inch thick. Spread the filling on the dough, and roll into a log. Cut into 3/4 inch thick rolls, and place into a greased rectangular pan. Cover with a cloth and let sit for 30 minutes.

Once they have risen more, bake them in a 400F preheated oven. While the rolls bake, stir the frosting ingredients together. Once the rolls are slightly golden brown, remove from the oven and frost while warm.  

Fancy Santa Hat Brownies

Last Saturday night we were invited to a neighborhood holiday party.  I wanted to bring a gluten-free dessert but wanted something different, yet festive, creative, colorful but it had to be gluten-free.  I turned to Pinterest to get my creative juices flowing.  Many of you, I am sure, are familiar with Pinterest. The creativity on this social media platform is astounding and is a must to at the very least explore.  This is where I found the Fancy Santa Hat Brownie!  So festive, creative, colorful, everything I was looking for.  I am excited to say this went over very well at the party and at home.  Of course, I kept some for my GF kids!  I mixed up my recipe for GF fudge brownies and violá!

GF Fancy Santa Hat Brownies

This is definitely a must for this holiday season. Oh, by the way, this is the actual picture I took in my kitchen to show off these cute little guys!

Santa Hat Brownies
Yields 12-16 brownies

Ingredients:
1 pan of your favorite gluten-free brownies, cooled and cut into desired size and shape (I used a round cutter approximately 2" in diameter).  

12-16 small strawberries, cleaned and hulled
vanilla-mascarpone buttercream (recipe below)--Yes, mascarpone is GF.
 (I used Bel Gioioso www.belgioioso.com/Mascarpone.htm brand mascarpone cheese found in the specialty cheese section of most supermarkets).

Mascarpone Buttercream
Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
8 ounces mascarpone cheese, room temperature
2-1/2 to 3 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
pinch of salt

Method:
Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat butter and mascarpone cheese until light and creamy, about 2 minutes.  Add vanilla extract and salt.  Add 2-1/2 cups of sugar, half a cup at a time and continue beating until smooth.  Add more sugar, if needed to reach desired consistency and sweetness. I did end up adding a total of 3 cups of powdered sugar for a thicker consistency.

To assemble, pipe a ring of vanilla buttercream on top of each brownie.  Cut off the base of a strawberry so it is flat and place it upside down on each brownie, pushing slightly to secure in place.  Top the tip of the strawberry with a dot of buttercream to finish the santa hat. 

Enjoy this great holiday treat. Send us picture of your Fancy Santa Hat Brownies!
Happy Holidays &a very healthyNew Year.

Traveling Coast to Coast Gluten Free

Hey everyone, for the next few days I'm on travel for work. I live and work in Virginia and am traveling to San Diego for a few days for work. I've talked with others about how they maintain their diet while on travel,Any so I figured I would share my food experiences on this adventure I'm having this week. I hope you enjoy, and find some of it useful. Also, if you know of any awesome gluten free restaurants in San Diego, message me and let me know, I'd definitely appreciate.

Sunday, Day I:
To start off, I definitely woke up way too early for my flight. Before leaving the house, I had a standard breakfast of some yogurt and gluten free granola. And way way too much coffee...

On my first flight of the day, I had soda and peanuts, the one gluten free option on any flight I've ever been on.  In between flights, I only had a little bit of time, so I purchased a few kind brand granola bars (gluten free) and ate them on the flight west.

Once I touched down, I went to a San Diego restaurant called Alchemy, where I had brunch after already being awake for 10 hours! They had a delicious gluten free basil, bacon, and mushroom frittata,and some super tasty coffee!

After visiting the San Diego Zoo, I went to a local grocery store to stock up on gluten free breakfast items such as yogurt and gluten free granola in case the free breakfast was filled with gluten.

Monday, Day 2:
For breakfast, I headed to the hotel's restaurant for breakfast. They had a wide range of typical breakfast foods, such as bacon, eggs, oatmeal, cereal, and fruit. I steered clear of the oatmeal, cereal, and eggs. Even though oats are naturally free of gluten, most plants process them with wheat and other gluten free grains. I normally don't eat oatmeal, but if I do, I make sure its processed correctly.  I grabbed some fresh fruit, bacon, and milk and consumed that with the groceries I bought the night before.

Holiday Recipe Exchange & Giveaway

Hey everyone! To celebrate the holidays, I'm hosting a recipe exchange until January 4th! Please come by and add your favorite holiday recipes to the list below!To do so, just click the "Click here to enter" link and fill in the link to your recipe and information!

And be sure to like your favorite holiday recipes in the list, because as added incentive, I'll be giving away kitchen tools and gluten free cookbooks to the people who send the recipes with the greatest amount of Likes! I'm still getting the gifts together, so I'll update this page with the gifts for the giveaway!

Thus far I have two gifts I'll be presenting,

Fast and Simple Gluten Free by  Gretchen Brown
and
a Kitchenaid Immersion Blender

Happy Holidays!

Holiday Recipe Exchange Links!

GFRR: Gluten Free Cheesy Herb Focaccia

This month I'm very excited to participate in the Ratio Rally again! The past few months have been super busy, but this month I got to participate in the Ratio Rally for focaccia bread! For those who haven't had it before, focaccia is a flat bread that is normally topped with herbs and other savory ingredients. I like to mix mine into the dough, and serve it with cheese and tomatoes as an alternative to pizza.

The ratio for focaccia that I used is:

1:4:10

oil : water : flour

Its very similar to the ratio for bread, which is 5 flour : 3 water. For focaccia bread I like to substitute some of the water with olive oil for some additional flavor and color. 

Thank you to Heather for hosting! Check her post here. Thank you to everyone else who participated as well!

Carol | Goodness Gluten Free made Gluten Free Garlic and Parmesan Focaccia
Morri | Meals with Morri made Sweet Cinnamon Raisin Focaccia Bread
mary fran | frannycakes made Gluten Free Sage Foccacia
~Aunt Mae (aka ~Mrs. R) made Focaccia Bread
Silvana | Silvana’s Kitchen made Sun-Dried Tomato and Olive Focaccia
Shauna | Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef made Gluten Free Cherry and Almond Focaccia

Ingredients
8 oz warm water
2 tbsp sugar
1 pkg yeast
2 oz olive oil
20 oz gluten free flour blend
1/2 cup shredded mozarella
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp thyme
salt and pepper

Steps
Preheat an oven to 400F. In a large bowl, add the yeast and sugar to the water. Let it sit for 5 minutes. Add the oil. and then gradually blend in the flour. Once completely combined, stir in the cheese, herbs, salt and pepper. Cover, and set it on top of the warm oven for about 25 minutes.

After the 25 minutes are over, grease either the inside of a round baking pan. Transfer the dough to the pan, and press into the space of the pan. Drizzle some more olive oil on top of the bread, and place in the oven. Bake for about 25 minutes, and then remove from the oven once baked.

Serve with tomatoes and cheese, and enjoy!

Nutlove bloghop: Gluten Free Cinnamon Pecan Muffins

Hi everyone, I hope that everyone's December has gone to a great start! This month's lovehop bloghop theme is #nutlove, so join us in sharing nut-themed recipes. This recipe is great for breakfast brunches, and has a great texture to it. I love grinding fresh cinnamon for this recipe, it adds such an aroma.

Gluten Free Cinnamon Pecan Muffins

Makes 12 muffins

Batter
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1 2/3 cup gluten free flour blend
1/4 tsp xantham gum
3/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 stick butter, melted

Filling
3 tbsp butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/4 tbsp cinnamon

Topping
1/4 cup Kind gluten free granola
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup chopped pecans
2 tbsp butter, room temperature

Steps
Preheat the oven to 375F. Line 12 muffin cups with muffin liners.

In a medium bowl, whisk the milk and eggs together. Set aside. Mix all of the dry ingredients together, and stir into the milk and eggs. Once combined, stir in the butter until combined. Fill the muffin tins halfway up in all 12 tins.

To make the filling, mix the filling ingredients together, until the cinnamon butter forms small pea-sized balls. Top all the muffin halves with the filling, and press the tops of the muffin filling down. Top all of the muffin cups with the remaining batter.

In a small bowl, mix the topping ingredients together. Top the muffin batter with the streusel topping. Place in the oven, and bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

#Nutlove bloghop - Other Co-hosts

Below are all of the other co-hosts for #nutlove, be sure to check them out!


Badger Girl Learns to Cook ~ Kimberly
Cheap Ethnic Eatz ~ Evelyne
No One Likes Crumbley Cookies ~ T.R.
Rico sin Azúcar ~ Helena
Teaspoon of Spice ~ Serena
The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen ~ Susan Palmer
The Spicy RD ~ EA Stewart
Vegan Yack Attack ~ Jackie S.

Please join in on the #cranberrylove fun by linking up any cranberry recipe from the month of December 2012. Don't forget to link back to this post, so that your readers know to come stop by the #nutlove event! The twitter hashtag is #nutlove :).