Homemade gluten-free Bagels:

Well, this recipe has been a long time coming! I have tried several different bagel recipes, and have had a few requests for a good bagel recipe, and I think I have finally found it!!!!! 

It takes a little while, but it's really easy to make.

I want to expirement farther, and try making blueberry ones, cinnamon-raisin ones, and so on. But I just couldn't wait to share the basic recipe with you, so here it is!

I hope you try it out, and if you try other variations, please let me know!!

1 cup brown rice flour

1/2 cup sorghum flour

1/2 cup potato starch

1/2 cup tapioca starch

1/2 ground flax seed

1 tblsp. xanthan gum

1 & 1/2 tsp. salt

1 tblsp. rapid rise yeast

2 tblsp. honey

1 tsp. cider vinegar

2 tblsp. canola oil

1 & 1/4 cups warm water

1 tblsp. molasses

1. Preheat your oven to 170 degrees (or lowest temperature. Mine only goes to 170).
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix all the dry ingredients until well blended.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients - honey, vinegar, oil and water.
4. With the mixer slowly running, pour in the wet ingredients. Then, mix on medium speed for 3 minutes.
5. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop even balls of dough onto a wax paper lined cookie sheet. Take each ball and carefully form into a bagel shape. (You can grease your hands with vegetable shortening or spray your hands with cooking spray, if the dough is too sticky). Place the formed bagels on the cookie sheet. Allow several inches in-between each one, for rising. Repeat with remaining dough.
6. Turn off the oven. Place the cookie sheet in the warm oven, and allow bagels to rise for 35-40 minutes, or until they have really puffed up.
7. While the bagels are rising, fill a large pot 3/4 full with water. Bring to a rolling boil, and add 1 Tbsp of molasses to the water. The molasses will create a nice chewy outside to the bagel.
8. Once you remove the bagels from the oven and are ready to boil them, preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
9. Gently place one bagel at a time in the boiling water. Boil on one side for 30 seconds, flip the bagel, and boil it for another 30 seconds (I like to use a large, slotted spoon for this). Remove bagel from boiling water, and place on a cooling rack that has been placed over a towel. Repeat with remaining bagels.
10. Place boiled bagels on a cookie sheet coated with cooking spray.
11. Bake bagels in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until they are nice and golden brown. Remove from oven, and allow to cool on a cooling rack for 10 minutes before eating. You can eat the bagels warm, or allow them to cool completely before storing in an air-tight bag. To make ‘day old’ bagels taste as good as fresh, simply microwave for approximately 20 seconds. These also freeze VERY well! Wrap individually in plastic wrap and place in a zip-lock bag. Remove plastic wrap, and microwave for 1 minute to re-heat.

Nutella Rice Crispy Treats:

So I went to make one of my favorite desserts the other day, and then realized I was out of corn syrup. 

Being VERY hungry for the chocolate/peanut butter combo, I started looking for alternatives! I have seen so many different rice crispy treat recipes floating all over pinterest, and this was one of them. Now, I'm not the biggest fan of Nutella, but my sister, Kelley, LOVES it, so I decided to give them a try!

They turned out really great and I was super happy with them!

Plus, it's a no-bake recipe, so it's perfect if you don't want to stand in a hot kitchen all day!

Hope you give them a try! 

4 tblsp. butter

1 (10 oz.) package miniature marshmallows

3/4 cup Nutella

1/4 cup peanut butter

2 tblsp. cocoa powder

6 cups rice crispy cereal

Melt the butter in a large saucepan, over medium heat. Add marshmallows, Nutella and peanut butter. Cook until marshmallows are melted and mixture is smooth and creamy, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in the cocoa powder. 

Place rice crispy cereal in a large bowl. Pour marshmallow mixture over cereal. Stir until well mixed and evenly coated. 

Spread the mixture into a greased 9x13-inch baking dish and pat out evenly.

Refrigerate until cool. Cut in half lengthwise and remove from the pan onto a cutting board. Using a large knife or pizza cutter, slice into long strips or squares. Store in an airtight container.

Note:

-These do not have to be stored in the refrigerator.

-I've not tried it yet, but the original recipe said to make these with Cocoa Rice Crispies for an extra chocolatey flavor!

Freezing Cookie Dough:

There are few things that are better than a fresh, chocolate chip cookie!!

But sometimes, you just don't have time or energy to mix up a batch, bake them AND clean up the mess!

When we go on vacation, we always cook in our condo, rather than eating out every meal. We generally make cookies to take with us, but after a few days, they just don't taste as good as fresh ones!

I had seen this idea with other cookies before, and running low on time I decided to give it a try. It was so easy to do, and they turned out SO good! We had fresh cookies whenever we wanted, not to mention cookie dough (I think this was the main reason everyone liked the idea!!). 

It's so easy to make a bunch to have in the freezer, and then bake as many was you want, whenever you want!!

I hope you give them a try!!

Prepare your cookie dough according to the directions.

You can use any recipe you want/have or click HERE for my recipe.

Using a cookie scoop, scoop out the dough and place the balls on a wax paper lined cookie sheet.

Freeze for at least 2 hours, or until completely frozen. 

Remove from the cookie sheet and place in a gallon, zip-lock bag. 

Return to the freezer until ready to use!

To Bake:

Place desired number of cookies on a cookie sheet(s).

Let them sit at room temperature while your oven pre-heats to 375 degrees.

Bake for 8-12 minutes or until light golden brown.

Enjoy!!

Note:

-Because the cookie dough is frozen, it might take a little longer to bake than usual.

-I use silver, air-bake cookie sheets. I tried them on a darker cookie sheet, and the cookies had a tendency to get really dark on the bottom before they were actually baked. The silver cookie sheets worked fine.

If your cookies are dark on the bottom, either let the cookie dough thaw completely before baking, or lower your baking temperature (between 325 degrees and 350 degrees). It really just depends on your cookie sheets and your oven.

Chicken-Bird Salad:

I love this card!
Every time I see it, I just have to laugh!
I couldn't figure out what to name this recipe, until I saw this!


Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, on a night that we really didn't feel like cooking anything, we had some leftover shredded chicken in the fridge. We mixed together this quick chicken salad and it was SO, SO good! My mom and brother didn't really care for it, because they don't like relish, but me and my sisters LOVED it!!
We had it with plain potato chips, but you could certainly eat on a sandwich or however you like.
I hope you try it out!

{Sorry for the terrible picture! It tasted great, though!}

2 cups shredded, cooked chicken

1/3 cup mayonnaise (we use miracle whip)

1 tblsp. zucchini relish

Mix altogether and chill until ready to serve!

Note:

-You may want more or less mayo, depending on your preference.

-This would be a great use of a rotisserie chicken. I also like to just cook some chicken breasts in a crock-pot on high for a few hours, and then shred it up once it's cooked. You don't need to add any water to the crock pot while the chicken cooks. There's enough juices in the chicken and it makes it taste roasted instead of boiled.