Hi Everyone!
I have moved the blog to GFREED.com - go check it out and thanks for the comments!
http://gfreed.com
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Friday, December 25, 2009
Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies (david leite's chocolate chip cookies, gluten-free )
The following recipe is compliments of http://glutenfreegirl.blogspot.com
My mother in law made these gluten free chocolate chip cookies over thanksgiving and they were awesome (it helps that she is an awesome cook to start with).
So below is my attempt and reproducing the cookies for Christmas. I have to say, they turned out awesome thanks to my wife Andrea who helped make them.
The cookies made it to a large family xmas party and gluten laden family members enjoyed them as well.
Here's the recipe - watch the video too!
36-hour chocolate chip cookies, gluten-free
adapted from David Leite's chocolate chip cookie recipe
1 cup sorghum flour
1 cup tapioca starch
1 cup potato starch
1 cup amaranth flour
1 tablespoon xanthan gum
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar (we used bakers' sugar, which is extra fine)
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
16 ounces Dagoba chocodrops
sea salt
Sifting the dry ingredients. Sift each of the four flours, individually, into a medium-sized bowl. Add the xanthan gum, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir well (I like to use a whisk, to sift again, in a way). Set aside.
Mixing the wet ingredients. Put the soft butter and the sugars into a stand mixer. Using a paddle attachment, mix them well, until they are just combined, and then 1 minute more. (Do not over-cream, however, because this could lead to spreading in the baking stage.) Add the eggs, 1 at a time, making sure each is fully incorporated before adding the next. Pour in the vanilla extract and mix for a beat.
Finishing the cookie dough. Sift the dry ingredients into the batter, about 1/2 cup at a time, and then mixing. When the all the dry ingredients have been incorporated, add the chocolate pieces and mix for just a moment. You don't want broken chocolate here.
Refrigerating. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and put it in your refrigerator. You might want to shove it to the back and arrange even more enticing foods in front of it, because you shouldn't touch the dough for 36 hours. Really.
Preparing to bake. 36 hours later (or as long as you could stand it), pull the dough from the refrigerator. Uncover it. Preheat the oven to 350°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a non-stick baking mat.
Baking the cookies. Scoop generous balls of dough from the bowl. (You can determine the size for yourself. David suggested they be the size of large golf balls. Or you can weigh them at 3 1/2 ounces each. Mine were the size of the indentation of the palm of my hand, but I could still lightly wrap my fingers around the ball.) Place 6 of them onto the baking sheet. Poke any errant chocolate pieces into the dough. Sprinkle the top of each cookie with the sea salt.
Bake the cookies about 18 minutes, or until the tops have turned golden brown. The middles should still be somewhat soft, however. Take the baking sheet out of the oven. Allow the baking sheet to sit on the counter for 10 minutes. Transfer the cooling cookies onto a cooling rack and allow them to cool for a few more moments.
My mother in law made these gluten free chocolate chip cookies over thanksgiving and they were awesome (it helps that she is an awesome cook to start with).
So below is my attempt and reproducing the cookies for Christmas. I have to say, they turned out awesome thanks to my wife Andrea who helped make them.
The cookies made it to a large family xmas party and gluten laden family members enjoyed them as well.
Here's the recipe - watch the video too!
36-hour chocolate chip cookies, gluten-free
adapted from David Leite's chocolate chip cookie recipe
1 cup sorghum flour
1 cup tapioca starch
1 cup potato starch
1 cup amaranth flour
1 tablespoon xanthan gum
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar (we used bakers' sugar, which is extra fine)
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
16 ounces Dagoba chocodrops
sea salt
Sifting the dry ingredients. Sift each of the four flours, individually, into a medium-sized bowl. Add the xanthan gum, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir well (I like to use a whisk, to sift again, in a way). Set aside.
Mixing the wet ingredients. Put the soft butter and the sugars into a stand mixer. Using a paddle attachment, mix them well, until they are just combined, and then 1 minute more. (Do not over-cream, however, because this could lead to spreading in the baking stage.) Add the eggs, 1 at a time, making sure each is fully incorporated before adding the next. Pour in the vanilla extract and mix for a beat.
Finishing the cookie dough. Sift the dry ingredients into the batter, about 1/2 cup at a time, and then mixing. When the all the dry ingredients have been incorporated, add the chocolate pieces and mix for just a moment. You don't want broken chocolate here.
Refrigerating. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and put it in your refrigerator. You might want to shove it to the back and arrange even more enticing foods in front of it, because you shouldn't touch the dough for 36 hours. Really.
Preparing to bake. 36 hours later (or as long as you could stand it), pull the dough from the refrigerator. Uncover it. Preheat the oven to 350°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a non-stick baking mat.
Baking the cookies. Scoop generous balls of dough from the bowl. (You can determine the size for yourself. David suggested they be the size of large golf balls. Or you can weigh them at 3 1/2 ounces each. Mine were the size of the indentation of the palm of my hand, but I could still lightly wrap my fingers around the ball.) Place 6 of them onto the baking sheet. Poke any errant chocolate pieces into the dough. Sprinkle the top of each cookie with the sea salt.
Bake the cookies about 18 minutes, or until the tops have turned golden brown. The middles should still be somewhat soft, however. Take the baking sheet out of the oven. Allow the baking sheet to sit on the counter for 10 minutes. Transfer the cooling cookies onto a cooling rack and allow them to cool for a few more moments.
Merry Christmas!!
Merry Christmas GF's!
Christmas provides a unique opportunity to practice your discipline as a gluten free individual. Often holidays are the culprits of a relapse as those of us who suffer a gluten allergy gather with friends and family to celebrate. It's easy to get caught up in the excitement and gobble down aunt Jan's fresh apple pie, but be for-warned, that that decision can dictate how bad your day will be tomorrow.
Instead, take a backpack of your favorite gluten free munchies if your travelling outside of your gluten free zone and have a wonderful holiday without the fear tomorrow may bring post gluten.
On a side note, I've switched out Santa's cookies with Gluten Free ones. These things are so good that I doubt he'll notice or care.
I'll post the how to video today or tomorrow.
Happy Holidays!!!
- Posted from my mobile device
Christmas provides a unique opportunity to practice your discipline as a gluten free individual. Often holidays are the culprits of a relapse as those of us who suffer a gluten allergy gather with friends and family to celebrate. It's easy to get caught up in the excitement and gobble down aunt Jan's fresh apple pie, but be for-warned, that that decision can dictate how bad your day will be tomorrow.
Instead, take a backpack of your favorite gluten free munchies if your travelling outside of your gluten free zone and have a wonderful holiday without the fear tomorrow may bring post gluten.
On a side note, I've switched out Santa's cookies with Gluten Free ones. These things are so good that I doubt he'll notice or care.
I'll post the how to video today or tomorrow.
Happy Holidays!!!
- Posted from my mobile device
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Is That Gluten Free? There's an App For That.
Yesterday my wife ran across this app .
I've already tested it out and found it to have a TON of products and brands that are gluten free. It's been very helpful in the grocery store, especially as I shop for stuff to throw into the best damn chocolate chip cookies on the planet (that are also gluten free - hard to believe I know).
Check out the app. Tomorrow I'll be adding video of said cookies and posting the recipe.
Happy Holidays!
I've already tested it out and found it to have a TON of products and brands that are gluten free. It's been very helpful in the grocery store, especially as I shop for stuff to throw into the best damn chocolate chip cookies on the planet (that are also gluten free - hard to believe I know).
Check out the app. Tomorrow I'll be adding video of said cookies and posting the recipe.
Happy Holidays!
Monday, December 21, 2009
Meatball Dinner and BEER REVIEW!!
Tonight I made a Gluten Free Meatball Dish with left over Lasagna stuff.
Also, I review three GLUTEN FREE BEERS!!! and they're all pretty good.
Also, I review three GLUTEN FREE BEERS!!! and they're all pretty good.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
My Gluten Free Lasagna
What you'll need:
A casserole dish
Rice Lasagna noodles
chopped tomatoes (Check for gluten)
tomato paste (Check for gluten)
mozzarella cheese (Shredded and organic)
ricotta cheese (Medium sized Tub)
fresh basil
sliced or diced mushrooms
Thyme
Oregano
Garlic Salt
350 degrees for 1 hour.
A casserole dish
Rice Lasagna noodles
chopped tomatoes (Check for gluten)
tomato paste (Check for gluten)
mozzarella cheese (Shredded and organic)
ricotta cheese (Medium sized Tub)
fresh basil
sliced or diced mushrooms
Thyme
Oregano
Garlic Salt
350 degrees for 1 hour.
Day 1: Why did I start this blog
So here's the deal, about 2.5 years ago I started having serious digestion issues, which eventually turned into a chronic condition that ended up running my life (I had to plan my days around it - not easy in a startup). I eventually dropped down to 150 pounds because I was afraid to eat anything for fear of the pain the next day would bring.
After visiting a few "specialist" and getting a nowhere, my wife suggested I try a gluten free diet because a friend of hers at work was having very similar issues and was diagnosed with Celiacs Disease.
I tried going gluten free for a few weeks with good results, then went back on gluten and confirmed that gluten was in fact at least one factor (probably 80%) of the problem. Stress is the other 20% and when combined they render me completely useless.
I've now been gluten free for almost 3 months (It's December 20th today) with an incredible recovery. I'm back up to my normal 165-170lbs and about 80% better with a noticeable recovery trend. Most celiac recoveries take upwards of 6 months to a year from what I've heard.
Gluten free is NOT an easy diet and does take a fair amount of pre-planning, it's expensive too. I drop close to 80 bucks a week in groceries just for me and have to schedule my times for meals to avoid getting into situations where Gluten Free is not an option (lunch meetings and such)
The pros far outweigh the cons though in my case
My energy is 10x what it was just three months ago and probably 3x what it was for the last 5 years.
I suspect this is because Gluten free food is generally a diet of fruits, veggies, organic meats, organic grains (corn, oat, rye) and no chemicals, fillers, or preservatives. In short, I'm consuming the food we were meant to eat before industrialization got its hands on our food supply.
It has been a process of discovery and initially buying a lot of stuff that just isn't edible - ( Gluten Free Muffins, Cookies, Pizza Dough) seem to be really bad, these are just things that should not be made without wheat.
A variety of restaurants offer gluten free dishes in San Diego, but my experiences with these special items have been bad for the most part and usually result in a relapse within a few days.
After visiting a few "specialist" and getting a nowhere, my wife suggested I try a gluten free diet because a friend of hers at work was having very similar issues and was diagnosed with Celiacs Disease.
I tried going gluten free for a few weeks with good results, then went back on gluten and confirmed that gluten was in fact at least one factor (probably 80%) of the problem. Stress is the other 20% and when combined they render me completely useless.
I've now been gluten free for almost 3 months (It's December 20th today) with an incredible recovery. I'm back up to my normal 165-170lbs and about 80% better with a noticeable recovery trend. Most celiac recoveries take upwards of 6 months to a year from what I've heard.
Gluten free is NOT an easy diet and does take a fair amount of pre-planning, it's expensive too. I drop close to 80 bucks a week in groceries just for me and have to schedule my times for meals to avoid getting into situations where Gluten Free is not an option (lunch meetings and such)
The pros far outweigh the cons though in my case
My energy is 10x what it was just three months ago and probably 3x what it was for the last 5 years.
I suspect this is because Gluten free food is generally a diet of fruits, veggies, organic meats, organic grains (corn, oat, rye) and no chemicals, fillers, or preservatives. In short, I'm consuming the food we were meant to eat before industrialization got its hands on our food supply.
It has been a process of discovery and initially buying a lot of stuff that just isn't edible - ( Gluten Free Muffins, Cookies, Pizza Dough) seem to be really bad, these are just things that should not be made without wheat.
A variety of restaurants offer gluten free dishes in San Diego, but my experiences with these special items have been bad for the most part and usually result in a relapse within a few days.
The secret is learning how to cook great food at home - it's cheaper, tastier and most importantly Safer.
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