Fancy Pants Foodie

Foodie news, reviews and how-tos from Arkansas and beyond.

BLOGtober: Halloween Memories (with Gluten-Free, Casein-Free Classroom Treats)

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Image from Gluten-Free Doctor of her gluten-free, casein-free spice cake cupcakes.

My parents let me embrace the sugary awesomeness of Halloween early on.

For several years in a row, I was either a witch or Wonder Woman. (Lynda Carter was totally the bomb, by the way.) I mapped out the neighborhood into short bursts for trick-or-treating, hauling my bag or pillowcase until it just couldn’t hold any more. I made sure to hit the houses known for the really good stuff — one house had folks who worked for Hershey. Go home, dump out my sugary treasures, start again.

I remember sitting on the living room floor, my haul unpacked before me, and just eating. And eating. And eating.

I’m shocked my parents allowed this, but I’m not saying I’m sorry.

These days, traditional trick-or-treating has given way to organization-based functions: church festivals, shopping center events and the like. The one thing that has remained the same, however, is the preschool classroom party.

Elementary schools have pretty much outlawed the sugary cupcake-fests in the name of healthy eating, but preschool (or, in our case, Mother’s Day Out) classes still go all out.

Thing is, lots of kids also now have allergies or sensitivities to things like gluten and milk or casein. There are a couple in my son’s class who can’t have either, and I cut down his intake on gluten, as well.

So, if I’m asked to bring something to the class party, I’ll probably make this cupcake recipe from Gluten-Free Doctor, complete with a seven-minute icing that’s totally dairy free.

No compromises, no special cupcakes for the ones with allergies, no problem!

In honor of my former trick-or-treating days, I just might add some candy corn on top. (FYI, Brach’s looks pretty safe, unless someone is super-sensitive. Ask parents first!)

Posts this week will be part of Arkansas Women Blogger’s BLOGtober Fest challenge. I usually don’t blog daily unless there are a lot of events going on, so don’t freak out if you get posts by email! Click the pumpkin badge on the right side of the page for related (or not) posts from bloggers across Arkansas.

A Gluten-Free, Casein-Free Baking Adventure

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The second, more "experimental" batch of GFCF muffins, with coconut, nuts and brown sugar.

Earlier I wrote about making some Gluten-Free, Casein-Free Muffins for my DS’s teacher. They turned out pretty decent! Here’s the whole story, for anyone who cares, along with the “recipe,” if you can call it that.

At Kroger, I picked up some flours that I knew were acceptable, but I wasn’t ready to invest in all the supplemental ingredients (Xanthan gum, for example) necessary to make a good consistency. So I trucked on over to the health food store in search of a mix of some sort. I usually don’t believe in mixes, but in this case, I was willing to concede, if only for the sake of completing my mission. And sure enough, I found this, a GFCF Vanilla Cake Mix by Namaste Foods.

The first batch, just cake mix with chocolate chips added.

I wanted to add chocolate and found the dairy-free chocolate chips by Enjoy Life, which are also GFCF acceptable. So, I put the mix in the bowl of my stand mixer, and I found it to be awfully lumpy. The health food shop keeper said this often happens, just because of the nature of the products used. I sifted the mix through a wire sieve, pressed out all the lumps, and dumped in the rice grain part that was too big to go through. After adding the wet ingredients (egg, oil and water), I mixed in the chips, along with some nutmeg and cinnamon. (My recipient doesn’t have any allergies, but you should check before doing any add-ins.)

One dozen of these in the oven, and I’m getting my typical itch to experiment. Thing is, that itch can be dangerous when it comes to special diets. Luckily, my teacher friend doesn’t have any allergies, so I decided just a few “experimental” muffins wouldn’t hurt. I wrote out every ingredient, just in case. The next batch, I stirred in some coconut and walnut pieces.

A second-batch muffin, cut open. The goodies are much better suspended in these.

These had a wonderful texture, and the coconut seemed to help suspend the chips, which partially sunk to the bottom of the earlier batch. I’m guessing one cup of coconut (to the remaining half-batch of cake mix) and 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts. I sprinkled brown sugar on the tops, but this didn’t turn out like I planned, as the batter rose over the sugar. It did leave kind of a neat brown swirl in the top, though.

One problem…since I didn’t plan for experimentation while at the store, I only had “regular” coconut and nuts…with additives. BHT and some other preservative junk. I wrote it all out for my friend, and I told her she could feed those to her hubby if necessary. 😉 Lesson for you: Ask first, then shop accordingly. If it’s for a surprise goody, then get all pure products.

She sent me a note later and said she was really happy about her surprise, and that she and the girls enjoyed them. (I am assuming this means the additives were OK, or at least OK enough for someone-else-made-it status.) Give it a try yourself, if you know someone with gluten issues…or even if you don’t! They’re darn tasty, and I’m eating an “extry” as I write this tonight.
Gluten Free Recipes on Foodista

Christmas Baking with Fancy Pants (With recipe for Sweep the Floor Cookies)

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Greetings after a long hiatus! Cookies on Foodista

Chinese takeout box gift receptacle (cool, huh?) and Starbucks Ginger Molasses Cookies. You can fit four or five in the box.

I’m still getting back in the groove after our seasonal crud and recovery. Things have been hectic, as I’m sure they are for you as well. Tis the season! If necessary, let’s read my last post (the semi-depressive yet redemptive Thanksgiving offering), and we’ll take cleansing breaths together.

The past few days, I’ve eased into my annual tradition of baking for Christmas. I’ve even been looking for cake baking classes near me as I want to improve my culinary skills! All of the kids’ teachers get baked goodies for gifts, sometimes along with coffee, a mug, or something like that. (This year, I think only Morgan’s school teacher got the whole schmear.) This year’s menu:

The Starbucks knockoff Ginger Molasses Cookies were a huge hit last year, so they came back for an encore. They are firm yet chewy, so they pack well in the super cute Chinese-takeout-style boxes I found a while back at Walmart. The link above is to the recipe I used from Recipezaar (now Food.com), with a minor adjustment…use just a dash of ground cloves rather than the amount listed, and add a 1/2 teaspoon or so of freshly grated nutmeg. Use a Microplane for this. Being the total foodie nerd, I have the big, flat one and the little, just-for-nutmeg one that leaves a curved divot in the nut. (Yay, Microplane! I wish they would offer me a giveaway. Hint, hint.)

The Spicy Pumpkin Carrot Muffins you may remember from an earlier post. They were fairly popular at a recent church event, so I thought I would make a few extra to have around. I’m taking some to the DD’s school party tomorrow, for the adults to nosh during the festivities. I made a mini-muffin, non-spicy, non-nut, non-fruit version for the kids. Hey, it’s still got crunchy brown sugar on the top!

I know you’re just dying to know the story behind the Gluten-Free, Casein-Free Chocolate Chip Muffins. Well, maybe not, but I’ll wager that at least one or two GFCF folks will find this by search. It can be hard to find easy, yummy recipes to fit this growing segment of the special-diet population. One of the teachers in our 2yo DS’s mother’s day out class eats this way, along with her daughters. So I set out – with only today to shop and bake – to create something yummy just for her. More on this here…it was such a fun adventure and deserves its own post!

I hesitate to give a recipe for the Sweep the Floor Cookies, because the whole purpose (and its name, coined by the hubster) is to use whatever. You know, those half-bags of baking whatnot you have lying around your pantry and freezer. A half-bag of Craisins? Awesome. Butterscotch chips? Bring it. Forgotten bag of nuts? No problem. My Fourth of July version used white chocolate chips, Craisins and dried blueberries. This week, I used Craisins, walnuts, and these tiny caramel filled chocolate pieces I had squirreled in the freezer. Didn’t work so well, because the caramel seeped out and burned on the baking sheet. So don’t use those.

In any case, the base is pretty much a ranger/oatmeal cookie, with a few foundational tweaks. Then you load it up with as much stuff as you think the dough will possibly hold! One time I added so much junk that I had to mix in a second batch of dough. The end product was so beyond a recipe it was ridiculous…it was good, but I had no idea how much of what was in there! Anyway, here’s the basic idea for you to experiment and enjoy:

Sweep the Floor Cookies

  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
  • 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
  • 1 – 2 TOTAL cups of add-ins of your choosing (choose 2 – 4)
    Ideas: Rice crisp cereal, any kind of baking chips, dried fruit, nuts, crushed or small candy…

Cream the butter in a stand mixer using the paddle attachment (medium to high speed) until light and fluffy. Reduce the speed and add about half the flour. Add in the sugars, egg, vanilla, baking powder and soda and beat until combined. Add remaining flour and beat until just combined. Turn the mixer off and add the oats, coconut and add-ins. Turn the mixer on in short bursts, just enough to gently mix in the add-ins. Use a #20 disher or drop by rounded tablespoons onto an ungreased baking sheet. Bake about 8 minutes at 375 degrees. Cool for a minute on the sheet before moving to a wire rack to completely cool. YUMMMM!!!!

If you’d prefer more hands on help with recipe ideas and developing you cookery skills, there are courses you can attend for a variety of different cuisines, for example Saavor baking classes teach you the art of baking at a beginners or professional level.

I think that’s enough for today. Sorry again for being away so long. Lots upcoming, and I hope to get back in the groove of blogging about local chefs and trends as well. Being in school will probably help. And that’s coming soon!