4 1-2-3 gluten free Biscuit Mix: Cinnamon Rolls

A couple weeks ago, I heard that you could easily make gluten free cinnamon rolls using 1-2-3 gluten free biscuit mix. The mix is gluten free, dairy free, tree nut free, egg free, and soy free. It's versatile for anyone with food allergies as substitutes can be used as needed.

The 1-2-3 gluten free website has a great wealth of recipes that uses their mixes, and this cinnamon roll recipe is based upon two 1-2-3 gluten free recipes:

1-2-3 Buttermilk Biscuit Recipe
1-2-3 Cinnamon Roll Recipe

I altered up the recipes above. I used 2% milk in the biscuits, and mixed the melted butter and cinnamon sugar before spreading to minimize the mess and evenly distribute the filling. I also created a cream cheese frosting to top the rolls. I found the biscuit mix to create a well-textured pastry that was able to hold the cinnamon filling well, and recommend this to anyone gluten free craving biscuits.

Produces 8 rolls
Prep Time: 30 minutes active, 30 minutes inactive
Bake Time: 40 minutes


Ingredients

Biscuit
1 package 1-2-3 Gluten Free® Southern Glory Biscuit Mix
6 Tbsp. butter, cold, cut into pieces
1 cup 2% milk
Filling

6 Tbsp. butter, melted
1 cup sugar
⅓ cup cinnamon
Frosting 

4 oz cream cheese
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 375F. Grease the inside of a round 9" cake pan.


Add the butter into the mix and knead until it has the texture of coarse meal. Add milk and stir until the mix has formed a dough. Store in a bowl and cover. Store in the fridge for 30 minutes


In a small bowl, mix the butter, sugar, and cinnamon together.

Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a rectangle between two sheets of parchment paper until 1/4 inch thick. Spread the cinnamon butter into the roll, leaving an inch of one end uncovered. Roll into a log, starting at the end where the cinnamon touches the edge. Roll tightly, and cut into 1 inch thick rolls. Place in the pan, and bake for about 40 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

To make the frosting, whip the cream cheese, sugar, milk, and vanilla. Spread onto the warm rolls, and enjoy!

1 How to Easily Dice an Onion

Onions are one of the core ingredients that can pack a lot of flavor in dishes, and can be prepared a variety of ways. You can lightly brown onions and add them to soups and sauces for a slightly sweet, powerful flavor. Caramelize them for a sweet, buttery flavor with a soft texture, perfect for topping pizzas or salads. You can even add them raw for a strong, powerful kick, commonly done in dips or appetizers.

Sad thing about preparing onions is that it's easy to feel as though you're going to cry from the aroma of freshly cut onion. Here's some tips for dicing onions quickly and easily. If you aren't fully comfortable with your knife skills yet, take your time as you don't want to cut yourself. Always be aware of where your fingers are and you'll be sure to prevent cutting any fingers.

Figure 1

1. Cut the top and bottom off of the onion. Slice the onion in half and address each half at a time.
2. (Figure 1) Cut the onion horizontally, about 3-4 times for a medium onion, equal distance between each cut.

Figure 2

3. (Figure 2) Cut the onion now lengthwise, while holding the onion at each end. This will create squares all inside the onion.

Figure 3

4. (Figure 3) Finally, cut the onion such that onion cubes are produced from each slice.


I hope this helps, and feel free to share any of your onion cutting tips in the comments!

0 TipTap: A New Social Network

Hey everyone,

A week ago one of my college friends invited me to a new social network called TipTap. Think of it as a blend of Facebook and Pinterest, with a really interesting hook.

There are three types of personality quizzes: Personality, Tastes, and Style. Each quiz takes only a few minutes, and are fun little activities to participate in. By taking a few short personality quizzes, the website will recommend followers with comparable tastes and personalities. For each follower it provides a percentage of compatibility, making it easier to decide whether you want to follow others or not.

Once you’ve followed other members, you’ll be able to participate in taps. Taps are how you share images, videos, or music. This functionality is comparable to Pinterest, as it creates a stream of taps. Your tap stream is a combination of shares from yourself and your followers. With any tap you share, you’re able to add comments and tags, and these tags will be searchable in future enhancements.

After using it for a week, I’ve grown to really appreciate the personality matches. I’ve had a good experience with the taps that others have shared, and have found a variety of delicious looking recipes (one thing I’m interested in with these types of social networks). I definitely recommend it for users who love new social networking sites. It’s also a great social tool for bloggers, great for anyone looking for new site traffic.

Be sure to check it out, and all of the new features that will be coming out soon! Visit tiptap.com to give it a try!

12 #SundaySupper: Gluten Free Cookie Dough Ice Cream

Hey everyone! I hope you've had a good weekend so far. This week is the first time I'll be participating in the #Sunday Supper group, which is a group of bloggers who share recipes weekly based on a common theme. This month's theme is "Beat the Heat," so I decided to share a gluten free cookie dough ice cream. 

When I was younger, before discovering how sensitive I was to gluten, I loved novelty ice cream. My two favorite recipes in the past were Cookies and Cream and Cookie Dough Ice Cream. Something about the blend of creamy ice cream and sweet cookie dough was just the best combo ever. And don't even get me started on Half Baked Ben & Jerry's. That was the best.

But since I've been gluten free, my ice cream choices have been much lighter and topped more frequently with fresh fruit. But every now and then we all need to indulge, and here's my guilty cold treat. 

Note: There is no egg used in the cookie dough in the recipe. Therefore, no concerns about eating raw egg. Only allergen in this dessert is dairy.

Servings: 6-8 1/2 cup servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes for the dough, 5 minutes for the ice cream

Inactive Prep Time: 25 minutes, then 2 hours

Ingredients:

Cookie Dough

1/4 cup butter, room temperature

3 tbsp brown sugar, packed 

3 tbsp granulated sugar

1/4 tsp vanilla

3 tbsp sweet rice flour

3 tbsp tapioca flour

3 tbsp potato starch

1/4 cup semi sweet mini chocolate chips

Ice Cream

1 cup cold milk

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 tsp vanilla

2 cup heavy cream, cold

Steps:

Beat the butter, brown, granulated sugar, and vanilla until creamy. Fold in the flours and starch until well combined. Fold in the chocolate chips. Wrap the cookie dough and place it in the refrigerator.

For the ice cream, whisk the milk, sugar, and vanilla until the sugar has dissolved. Whisk in the heavy cream until combined. Pour the cream into the ice cream machine, and churn for about 20 minutes. 

After 20 minutes, remove the dough from the refrigerator. Using a spoon, scoop the dough into the ice cream as it is churning, adding teaspoon sized amounts at a time. Churn for an additional 5 minutes. Transfer the ice cream to an air tight container, and then place in the freezer for 2 hours before serving.

9 TriumphDining Gluten Free Grocery Guide Review

Happy Sunday everybody! I hope you're having an enjoyable weekend, and are staying cool during this hot weather. 

A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to try the Gluten-Free Grocery Guide by TriumphDining (click here to check them out). I've been using it every time before I go to the grocery store, testing to see how useful it would be in planning my trips to the grocery store. 

For those who don't know, purchasing food on a gluten-free diet can be super scary. I can't tell you the number of times I've gone to the grocery store, movie theater, etc. and had to search through forums and other websites on my phone to see if I can safely eat the food. Most of the time, I just safely default to choosing not to eat. That’s why I was excited to try this grocery guide out. Here’s some of the reasons why I’ve grown to like it and use it on a regular basis:

Consolidated information – The guide covers pretty much everything in the kitchen outside of the kitchen sink. From breakfast items to baking ingredients, I haven’t had trouble yet with finding a type of grocery item in the guide.

Well organized – The guide is broken down into various grocery categories and includes an index. This made it easy to find items quickly through a guide dense with information.

Symbols to present the quality of gluten free – This is perhaps my favorite feature in the guide. When it comes to gluten free, there’s a wide range of how sensitive people are. Celiacs follow rigid guidelines to ensure the food they are eating is not contaminated with gluten. Meanwhile, you have those who are gluten-sensitive, and won’t experience as severe symptoms if consuming gluten. They use the following categorizations, and match a symbol up with each:

·        GF Facility – No chance of cross-contamination

·        Gluten Testing performed

·        Gluten Free based on the ingredients listed

·        Procedures are in place to minimize cross-contamination, but produced in the same plant

·        Cross-contamination possible, not labeled as gluten-free by the company

·        Company states item is gluten free without context.

This is perfect because it eliminates guessing whether the item you purchase will cause you to react negatively to the trace amounts of gluten present.

Now, if you’re like me and forget your guide, or do some unplanned shopping, you can download their guide as a smartphone app. It has all the same information, only packaged in a digital medium.

In close, I definitely recommend this guide to anyone who’s like me and worries about whether they’ll get sick from food they buy from the grocery store. It’s a great tool for Celiacs and those with gluten sensitivity. I use it regularly and I recommend it to anyone who finds gluten-free grocery shopping difficult.

Image Source ( http://www.triumphdining.com/products/gluten-free-recipe-ingredients )