Quick and Easy Garlic Toast:

I love Garlic Bread....the smell, taste, everything about it just screams comfort food to me!

This recipe is awesome, because you can make it ahead of time, and pull it out of the freezer whenever you need it! You can make this entire batch, you can cut it in half to make a smaller amount...whatever you want!

But I hope you give it a try!!

2 sticks butter, room temperature

2 teaspoons dried parsley

1 tablespoon garlic powder

dash of salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 cup parmesan cheese, optional

Slices of bread

In a small bowl, mix together butter, parsley, garlic powder, salt and pepper, and Parmesan cheese, if desired.

I use roughly one teaspoon of the mixture per slice of bread.

Spread evenly, and place slices, butter side up, on a baking sheet.

To freeze:

Place baking sheet in the freezer for 30-60 minutes, or until butter is firm. 

Place bread in an airtight container or zip-lock bad and keep frozen until ready to use.

To Bake:

Lay frozen slices, butter side up on a baking sheet.

Bake at 375 degrees for 5-6 minutes, or until light golden brown and edges of the bread are lightly toasted (if baking unfrozen slices, you may need bake 1-2 minutes less)

Serve!!

{Easy, Cheesy Muffins}

Served with salads, soups and stews, spaghetti, lasagna, scrambled eggs and omelets, steak or grilled chicken...you name it...these muffins go with EVERYTHING!

Basically the texture of an extremely light, fluffy, airy biscuit,  and really fast to make!

My entire family loved them!

I hope you give them a try!

1 & 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon xanthan gum

1 & 1/2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder, optional
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, optional

3 cups shredded cheese

1 cup milk

1 egg

1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) butter, melted

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, xanthan gum, sugar, baking powder, and garlic powder. 

Stir in cheese.

In a separate bowl, whisk together milk, egg and butter.

Add to dry ingredients and mix until well combined. Batter will be thick and sticky.

Spray a muffin pan with cooking spray, and divide batter evenly between 14 muffin cups.

Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until lightly golden brown.

Let rest in muffin pans for 5 minutes, run a table knife around the edges to loosen, and place in on a serving plate!

Best served hot!

Enjoy!

Note:

-You can use whatever cheese you have or like. I like the mozzarella because it melts well, and makes a stringy, cheesy texture that I love. And cheddar adds great color! But as long as you have 3 cups of some type of cheese, that's all that matters!
This is what I love to use:
1 & 1/4 cup mozzarella
1 & 1/4 cup cheddar
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan

{Simple Banana Bread}

There are 4 foods off the top of my head, that I don't like.
I generally just simply love food in general, so honestly, the fact that I don't like these things, is a tad disturbing to me.

Cream cheese, white chocolate, sweet potatoes, and banana bread.

I know, I'm crazy! I'll eat any kind of bean or pepper, but put cream cheese in front of me, and my heart will drop!
The thing is, I really, really WANT to like all of those things.
When you say "cream cheese" it just seems like it's going to be so rich and absolutely delicious! "White chocolate" sounds somehow romantic or something!
"Sweet Potatoes" seem healthy, and light!
"Banana Bread" just reminds me of grandma's house!
I see all kinds of different recipes and I think "oh, I'll like it like that."
So, I try it.
And it never fails.
No matter what, it still tastes like cream cheese, or white chocolate or whatever!

BUT!
After 20+ years of trying to convince myself that I like these things, it looks like banana bread at least, may be coming around (pretty sure the other 3 things are never gonna happen!)!
I only made it out of desperation, really...we had bananas going bad, and I just hated to throw them out. Again.
So I dumped all the ingredients in a bowl real quick, threw it in the oven and honestly didn't expect it to be anything great.

Surprise! Surprise!
  I actually liked it! Ironically, it still tasted like banana bread (go figure), but something about it, was just simply good! I don't know how to explain it, but it's safe to say that I will be eating more banana bread from now on!!

I hope you give it a try!!

3 medium bananas

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup oil
1 egg
1 & 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 & 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Place bananas in a mixing bowl, and beat until mostly smooth. Add sugar, oil and egg, and mix well.
Add remaining ingredients and mix just until moistened.

For a loaf:
Pour into a greased loaf pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 60 -70 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, and the bread is dark golden brown.

For muffins:
Spray a muffin pan with cooking spray. Fill each cup 3/4 full.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, and the bread is dark, golden brown.

Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Run a table knife around the edges of the bread to loosen from the pan.
Flip the bread out, and place on a wire rack; cover loosely with a clean dish-towel and let cool completely.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Chocolate Chip Raspberry Muffins:

We have had so much rain where I live lately! I'm normally all about the rainy days, but even I'm starting to wish for a little sun now and then! Last month, we only had 6 days without rain. So far, this month, it's rained every single day!
But I'm thankful for the rain, and I know other places would love to have it, so I'm not complaining!
One thing about rainy days, though, is it just makes me want to bake!
I was craving muffins one morning, and decided to give these a try. I'm not normally crazy about raspberries (I don't like the fuzzy feeling on the roof of my mouth!), but I loved them in these muffins!
They were light and fluffy, yet moist...so yummy!
And they tasted so perfect on this dreary, rainy day!
But, rain or shine, and with or without the glaze, I hope you'll give these a try!!

1/2 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup milk
2 eggs
1 & 3/4 cup Flour
1 tsp. xanthan gum
3/4 cup sugar
1 tblsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups chocolate chips
2 cups raspberries (fresh or frozen)

Glaze:
1/3 cup powder sugar
milk

In a large bowl, whisk together butter, milk and eggs. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, xanthan gum, sugar, baking powder, salt and chocolate chips. Slowly pour dry mixture into milk mixture, stirring with a spatula as you pour. Mix just until combined.
Add berries, and stir very gently to incorporate.
Using an ice cream scoop, pour into paper-lined muffin cups.
Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, and muffins are very light golden brown.
Let cool in pans for 10 minute.
Place a cooling rack over a piece of wax paper, and transfer the muffins from the pans to the cooling wrack. Let stand 10 more minutes.
Mix up glaze by adding milk to the powder sugar, one teaspoon at a time, until mixture reaches a thick, yet pour-able consistency.
Drizzle over muffins and let stand for about 5 minutes until glaze is set.
Serve or let cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

Note:
-If you do not want these to be gluten-free, just use regular flour, and omit the xanthan gum.
-I love my muffins to have a slightly crunchy top, so after these were done baking, I actually put them under the broiler for just a minute, to give them a darker brown color and to make the tops just a tad crispy. 

Cake-Mix Banana Muffins:

When I first saw a recipe similar to this, I couldn't see how it would ever possibly work.

Plus, I mean, dry cake mix, mixed with bananas? Even if it did work, it wouldn't taste all that great.

However, my mom was going on a business trip, and wanted muffins to take with her. I didn't have much time at all, but oddly, we had a cake mix and several bananas that either had to be used or thrown out, so I gave in and tried them out.

All I can say is, I'm glad I did! They had a completely unexpected consistency and taste.

And they were just really good! I don't even know how to describe them, but I hope you'll try them out! 

4 medium size ripe bananas

1 yellow or white gluten-free cake mix

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 cup chocolate chips, mini or regular, optional

Place bananas in a food processor and pulse until smooth. Add cake mix and cinnamon and pulse until well combined (you may need to scrape down the sides and across the bottom with a spatula, depending on how well your food processor mixes things.) Stir in chocolate chips, if desired, by hand.

Fill paper-lined muffin cups 3/4 full - I use a cookie scoop for the mini-size and an ice cream scoop for the regular-size muffin cups.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-17 minutes or until lightly golden brown and toothpick inserted in the centers out clean.

Remove from the pans, and cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

Note:

-As you can tell, I didn't use chocolate chips, but I'm sure they would taste great!

-I've read of some people using a chocolate cake mix instead! Just omit the cinnamon.

-After these cool, the tops are pretty sticky, so I would recommend layering them with wax paper, if you have to stack them in a container.

-This recipe can of course be made with a regular, wheat cake mix as well.

Flourless Peanut Butter Muffins:

I posted another version of this recipe a couple weeks ago, and I wanted to share this one with you.

They're so yummy and extremely fast and easy!

I hope you try them out!

1 medium banana
1 egg

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (a generous 1/2 cup)

3 tblsp. honey

1 tblsp. vanilla

1/4 tsp. baking soda

pinch of salt, optional

1/2 cup chocolate chips, mini or regular

Prepare a mini muffin tin with paper baking cups or generously coat with cooking spray; set aside.

Place all ingredients, except the chocolate chips, in a blender or food processor.

Blend until smooth. Stir in chocolate chips. Using a small cookie scoop, fill mini muffin cups 3/4 full. Sprinkle additional chocolate chips over the tops of the muffins, if desired. Gently press into the batter.

Bake at 400 degrees for 8-12 minutes, or until golden brown and toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, or with a few moist crumbs.

Cool in muffin pan for 10 minutes. Remove to a clean dish towel or cooling rack to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days or up to 4 months in the freezer.

Flourless Chocolate Peanut Butter Muffins:

I love muffins as it is, but when they are super quick and easy muffins? Well, that just makes me love them even more!! From start to finish, these can be done in under 20 minutes! And you'll never guess they don't have flour in them! I was skeptical at first, but wow! They are SO good! They have the texture of any normal muffin, except they are just really moist and absolutely delicious! 

1 medium banana

1 egg

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (a generous 1/2 cup)

1/3 cup baking cocoa

3 tblsp. honey

1 tblsp. vanilla

1/4 tsp. baking soda

pinch of salt, optional

1/2 cup chocolate chips, regular or mini

Prepare a mini muffin tin with paper baking cups or generously coat with cooking spray; set aside.

Place all ingredients, except the chocolate chips, in a blender. 

Blend until smooth. Stir in chocolate chips. Using a small cookie scoop, fill mini muffin cups 3/4 full. Sprinkle additional chocolate chips over the tops of the muffins, if desired. Gently press into the batter.

Bake at 400 degrees for 8-12 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, or with a few moist crumbs.

Cool in muffin pan for 10 minutes. Remove to a clean dish towel or cooling rack to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days or up to 4 months in the freezer.

Note:
-I actually prefer NOT to use paper baking cups. They work okay, but these muffins have a tendency to stick to the paper. They come right out of the greased muffin tin, so that's the method I prefer. 

BEST gluten-free bread:

I don't know if I have ever been more excited about sharing a recipe! And that says a lot, because I am generally very excited to share most recipes!!!

My mom found a version of this recipe and wanted me to try it. I was a bit hesitant, because it's gluten-free bread and that just doesn't turn out all that great. We had a fairly good bread recipe - granted we never made it because it took all day, tons of ingredients and I mean, it was good, but was it really worth it all?

I read and read and read over the recipe AND the comments before I ever tried it out, and something about it just kind of pulled me in! I think I was just too curious not to try it out! For one reason basically - could a recipe this easy, taste as good as they claim? 

I am here to tell you that it absolutely does!! I have no clue why or how, but I have enough confidence in it to proudly scream "THIS IS THE BEST GLUTEN-FREE BREAD"!!!!!!

Over the past several weeks, me and my other gluten-free eating family members have been enjoying SANDWICHES like PB&J, meat and cheese, tomato, scrambled egg, etc. (with bread that doesn't have to be heated up before you eat it, by the way)!!!!! 

GRILLED CHEESE!!!!!!! 

FRENCH TOAST!!!!!!!! 

Hot dogs on BREAD!!! 

CINNAMON-SUGAR TOAST!!!!!

And just PLAIN!!!!

My brother has been thoroughly enjoying taking a sandwich to work!

I wish I could make a loaf for everyone of you, so you could see how good it really is!

But since I can't, I hope you will just trust me and try it out!

 

  

1 & 1/3 cups brown rice flour
1 & 1/3 cups tapioca flour
1 & 1/3 cups cornstarch
1 tblsp. potato starch
1 tbslp. xanthan gum
1 tblsp. Egg Replacer
2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup dry milk powder
1 package (2 & 1/4 tsp.) Active Dry yeast

3 large eggs
¼ cup butter, softened
2 teaspoons cider vinegar
⅓ cup honey
2 cups very warm water (but not too hot)

In a large bowl, whisk together the first 9 ingredients; set aside.
In a mixing bowl with a paddle attachment, mix together the eggs, butter, vinegar, honey and water. There may be some small pieces of butter that don't get thoroughly mixed together, but that's fine.
Add half of the flour mixture, and mix just until combined. Add the remaining flour mixture, and mix just until combined. Scrape down the sides, and mix on medium-high speed for 4 minutes. Mixture should resemble very thick cake batter.



Divide the dough evenly between two, greased, 8-inch loaf pans.



Spread the dough evenly. Dip your fingers in warm water to smooth the top of the loaf.
Cover pans with a clean dish towel, and set in a warm place to rise for 1 to 1 & 1/2 hours or
until the dough has risen about an inch above the pans.

Once they have finished rising, bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes or until an instant read thermometer reaches between 200 and 205 degrees.
To test for doneness, remove the bread from the oven. Insert an instant read thermometer from the side to the middle of the loaf, making sure not to touch the bottom of the pan. 
Once done, let them cool in the pans for 10 minutes.
Gently remove from the pans and place on a cooling rack. Cover with a clean dish towel, and allow to cool completely before cutting.
Store in an airtight container on the counter away from direct heat, such as by the stove or something like that.
It can be refrigerated as well, but doesn't have to be. It will keep on the counter for about 5 days. 
To freeze, wrap individual loaves in plastic wrap and place in a gallon bag.
You can also slice a loaf and freeze individual slices wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in a ziplock bag in the freezer. Place in the microwave for 10-20 seconds to thaw.



Note:
-I have used Active Dry yeast and Rapid Rise yeast, and I think they both work great.
-Here's a recipe for the Egg Replacer!

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.

Bubble-Up Pizza:

My older sister used to make Bubble-Up Pizza all the time and we all loved it! Well, everyone except for mom! I have tried several different ways to make it gluten-free and it just never worked out right. Until, I have found "wonder bread"!!! The bread dough from my Monkey Bread recipe has again been put to good use and it worked perfectly for this make-over Bubble-Up Pizza! We all loved it (even mom!) and I hope you'll give it a try!  

 

 

The Dough Part:

2 & 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup tapioca starch

3 tsp. xanthan gum

1 tblsp. Rapid Rise yeast

3 tblsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 cup instant vanilla pudding mix (dry)

1 tsp. baking powder

4 tblsp. butter

1/2 cup water

3/4 cup milk

1 egg, room temperature

1 tsp. cider vinegar

2 tblsp. canola oil

1 tsp. vanilla

 

The Pizza Part:

1 & 1/2 cups pizza sauce

1 tsp. minced garlic

1 cup quartered pepperoni slices

2 & 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

 

1. Lightly spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray; set aside.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix all the dry ingredients from the "dough" list, until well combined. Set aside.
3. Put water and butter in a glass measuring cup and microwave just until the butter has melted. Remove from microwave and stir. Add milk, stir. Add egg, cider vinegar, oil and vanilla; whisk to combine.
4. With the stand mixer running (using the paddle attachment), pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Scrap down the bowl if you need to. Allow to mix on medium speed for 3 minutes.

5. Mix together the pizza sauce, garlic, pepperoni and 1 & 1/2 cups cheese in a large, preferably rectangle container (this allows the dough to be spread out more, rather than stacked on top each other, which makes them squish together, and you don't really want that.).

6. Form the dough into 3/4″ balls (I just used a cookie scoop) and place in the container. Stir very gently (so you don't tear the balls apart) until they are evenly coated in the sauce.
7. Pour gently into the prepared pan and spread evenly.
8. If you want to bake it now, you may go ahead and follow the remaining steps. You can also cover the dish with it's lid or plastic wrap, and place it in the refrigerator over-night or until you are ready to bake it. Follow the remaining steps.
9. Allow the dough to rise for 20-30 minutes in a warm, draft-free place, covering the dish with a clean dish towel.
10. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 40-45 minutes or until dough is no longer "doughy" when a ball of dough is pulled apart. Carefully remove from the oven.
12. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese and return to the oven for 5-10 minutes or until cheese is melted. Serve and Enjoy!

 

Note:

-The Rapid Rise Yeast is very important here. Don't use Active Dry, or it will not rise at all. 

-Sometimes we like to prepare this up to step 8 earlier in the day, then later in the afternoon/evening continue with the remaining steps. This way, a lot of the mess and time is out of the way!

Cheesy Garlic Pull Apart Bread:

After falling in love with the Monkey Bread I posted a couple of weeks ago, I knew there would be other ways to use that bread. Why not a savory option? When I saw a version of this recipe, I knew it would be AMAZING. And let me just tell you - it was!!! It smelled SO good while it was baking and it tasted heavenly! Even my mom liked it and she is NOT a fan of garlic or Parmesan cheese! As with the Monkey Bread, it takes a little time, but it's really easy. I hope you give it a try and enjoy it as much as my family did!!!

Dough:

2 & 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup tapioca starch

3 tsp. xanthan gum

1 tblsp. Rapid Rise yeast

3 tblsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 cup instant vanilla pudding mix (dry)

1 tsp. baking powder

4 tblsp. butter

1/2 cup water

3/4 cup milk

1 egg, room temperature

1 tsp. cider vinegar

2 tblsp. canola oil

1 tsp. vanilla

Coating:

1 & 1/2 cups grated Parmesan Cheese

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

1 tblsp. dried parsley

4 tsp. garlic powder

2 tsp. Italian seasoning

2 tsp. onion powder
Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

1. Lightly spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray; set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix all the dry ingredients from the "dough" list, until well combined. Set aside.
3. Put water and butter in a glass measuring cup and microwave just until the butter has melted. Remove from microwave and stir. Add milk, stir. Add egg, cider vinegar, oil and vanilla; whisk to combine.
4. With the stand mixer running (using the paddle attachment), pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Scrap down the bowl if you need to. Allow to mix on medium speed for 3 minutes.
5. Melt butter in a small bowl. Combine the Parmesan cheese, parsley, garlic powder, Italian seasoning and onion powder from the "coating" list in a seperate small bowl.

6. Form the dough into 3/4″ balls (I just used a cookie scoop) and dip each ball first in the butter and then roll in the Parmesan cheese mixture.
7. Place into the prepared pan. Be sure to not tightly pack the dough into the pan, allow gaps between the dough. Repeat until all of the dough has been formed, dipped in the butter, rolled in the cheese and placed in the pan. You will probably have some butter and cheese mixture leftover. You can reserve the butter for another use. Sprinkle about 2 tablespoons of the cheese mixture over the top of the rolls. Place the remaining mixture in a zip-top back and refrigerate for later use.
8. If you want to bake it now, you may go ahead and follow the remaining steps. You can also cover the dish now, and place it in the refrigerator over-night or until you are ready to bake it. Follow the remaining steps.
9. Allow the dough to rise for 30 minutes in a warm, draft-free place, covering the dish with a clean dish towel.
10. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes or until dough is no longer "doughy" when a ball of dough is pulled apart. Carefully remove from the oven.

11. Sprinkle with shredded mozzarella cheese and return to the oven for 5-10 minutes or until cheese is melted. Serve and Enjoy!

Note:

-The Rapid Rise Yeast is very important here. Don't use Active Dry, or it will not rise at all.

-This would be SO good served with just about anything, but especially Lasagna, Spaghetti, or something like that. I served it with this Vegetable Meatball Stew and it was super yummy!

Monkey Bread:

We used to always have a thing called "Wake-up Rolls" for breakfast on Christmas morning. It's a lot like monkey bread. When we first went gluten-free, I tried to make Wake-up Rolls gluten-free, but it just didn't work. This year, I really wanted to try it, so I searched and searched, and came across a recipe that looked amazing, and sounded pretty good. I was nervous about it, though, because the ingredient list was long, the instructions were even longer and nothing was really going right for me while I was trying to make them. Thankfully, they turned out AMAZING!!! I was beyond impressed and excited with how they tasted and how they were surprisingly easy to make! Please try them! I would HIGHLY recommend that you read all the way down through the instructions before starting, just so you can be familiar with everything. It's really not hard at all and doesn't really take that much time either. I hope you try them and enjoy them as much as we did!

Dough:

2 & 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup tapioca starch

3 tsp. xanthan gum

1 tblsp. Rapid Rise yeast

3 tblsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 cup instant vanilla pudding mix (dry)

1 tsp. baking powder

4 tblsp. butter

1/2 cup water

3/4 cup milk

1 egg, room temperature

1 tsp. cider vinegar

2 tblsp. canola oil

1 tsp. vanilla

The yummy gooeyness:

1/2 cup chopped pecans, optional

1/2 cup raisins, optional

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

2 tblsp. maple syrup

2 tblsp. heavy cream

pinch of salt

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1. If you choose to use the pecans and/or raisins, place them into the bottom of a greased 9x13-inch baking dish (you could also use a greased bunt pan if you prefer). Set aside. Do not use a pan with a removable bottom, as the syrup would run through and make a huge mess.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix all the dry ingredients from the "dough" list, until well combined. Set aside.
3. Put water and butter in a glass measuring cup and microwave just until the butter has melted. Remove from microwave and stir. Add milk, stir. Add egg, cider vinegar, oil and vanilla; whisk to combine.
4. With the stand mixer running (using the paddle attachment), pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Scrap down the bowl if you need to. Allow to mix on medium speed for 3 minutes.
5. In a small bowl, stir together the 1/2 cup sugar and the cinnamon from the "gooey" ingredient list. 6. Form the dough into 3/4″ balls (I just used a cookie scoop) and roll them to coat them fully in the cinnamon/sugar mixture.
7. Place sugar coated dough into the prepared pan, on top of the pecans/raisins. Be sure to not tightly pack the dough into the pan, allow gaps between the dough. Repeat until all of the dough has been formed, rolled in the cinnamon/sugar mixture & placed in the pan. If you have any cinnamon/sugar mixture left, sprinkle it over the top of the dough in the pan.
8. In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the butter. Stir in the brown sugar, maple syrup, salt & vanilla. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Stir in the heavy cream. Pour mixture over the top of the dough.
9. Allow the dough to rise for 20-30 minutes in a warm, draft-free place.
10. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes or until dough is no longer "doughy" when a ball of dough is pulled apart.
11. When you remove the Monkey Bread from the oven, allow to sit in the baking pan for 5 minutes before turning it out onto a serving dish or plate.
12. To do this, place the plate upside down on top of the baking pan, and (while wearing oven mitts, just in case), quickly turn the plate and baking pan upside down. Your Monkey Bread should release from the pan without a problem. If there are still pecans and syrup in the baking pan, use a spoon and spoon the mixture over the top of the Monkey Bread. Let stand 5-10 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Pecan Pie Muffins:

I love Pecan Pie and I love muffins, so having them together is awesome!!

I was actually a little worried about trying them, because it seemed to good to be true!!

I mean, something so easy, couldn't possibly turn out good.

Thankfully, I was very wrong and my whole family loved them!

Wouldn't they be perfect for a quick and easy breakfast on Thanksgiving morning?

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup applesauce (preferably unsweetened)

1 & 1/2 cups brown sugar

4 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup flour

1 tsp. xanthan gum

1 & 1/2 cups chopped pecans

In a medium bowl, cream together butter, applesauce and sugar with a hand mixer until well combined. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Stir in salt, flour and xanthan gum. Mix just until combined and add pecans. Fill paper-lined muffin tins 2/3 full (I use an ice cream scoop). Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until light golden brown and toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in muffin tins for 5 minutes before removing. Serve!!!

Note:

-This made approximately 16 muffins

Muffles:

 

I have seen a lot of things on Pinterest lately,

that are made in a waffle iron, and muffins is one of them. 

I love waffles. I love muffins.

So naturally, I LOVED this Muffle (muffin + waffle = Muffle)!!!!

My favorite part of a muffin, is the top. On a good muffin, the top is soft and fluffy inside, and slightly crisp on the outside.

The whole entire Muffle tastes like one big muffin top!!! So yummy!

I hope you give them a try!! I bet you'll be pleasantly surprised!

 

 

 

Start, by mixing up your favorite muffin batter,

just like you would if you were making regular muffins.

Preheat your waffle iron.

Spray with cooking spray, and use the muffin batter just as you would waffle batter. Cook as long as you do your waffles (takes mine about 5 minutes, but it varies from one waffle maker to another) or until dark, golden brown and slightly crisp.

Serve with butter!

 

Notes:

-I used my Blueberry Yogurt Muffin recipe for the Muffles in the photo.

-Play around with different muffin recipes!

-Mix up your muffin batter the night before. Then it's ready the next morning and all you have to do is wait the 3-5 minutes it takes in the waffle iron for a nice, hot muffle!!! Way faster than baking in the oven!!

 

 

Pumpkin Donut Muffins:

 

These are SO good and perfect for fall! They only have a very subtle pumpkin flavor, but they are so fluffy and moist on the inside. I love muffins, but these are definitely my new favorite! 

I hope you give them a try....with your favorite soup, for breakfast, a snack....whenever!

 

 

 

1 & 3/4 cup flour

1 tsp. xanthan gum

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

3/4 cup canned, pumpkin pie filling

1/2 cup milk

 

Coating:

3 tblsp. butter, melted

1/3 cup sugar

1 tblsp. cinnamon

 

In a large bowl, combine flour, xanthan gum, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl, whisk together oil, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, pumpkin and milk. Add to dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Using a 1-inch cookie baller, place one scoop in each cup of a well greased, mini-muffin tin. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the tops of the muffins begin to get crispy. This is pretty important. You basically want to over-bake these, so they are a tad crunchy on the outside.  

Remove to wire rack to cool completely.





Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Lightly, dip each muffin in melted butter and roll in cinnamon/sugar mixture. Place on wax paper to cool completely. Store in airtight container in the refrigerator.

 

Note:

-These even taste good re-heated in the microwave for a few seconds.

-Recipe adapted from: Six Sisters Stuff

 

Peanut Butter Banana Muffins:

These taste just like a peanut butter and banana sandwich!! I was afraid they would be dry and heavy, but they were surprisingly most and spongy! Definitely a great switch up from regular banana muffins!

2 cups flour

1 tsp. xanthan gum

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tblsp. baking powder (yes, that's tablespoon!)

1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 cup peanut butter, crunchy or smooth it's up to you

2 tblsp. vegetable oil

2 eggs

3/4 cup milk

3 ripe bananas

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, xanthan gum, brown sugar

baking powder and salt. 

Place bananas in a separate bowl, and beat with a hand mixer until thoroughly mashed. Add peanut butter, oil, eggs and milk and mix until well combined. Pour into dry ingredients, and mix just until combined. Fill paper-lined muffin tins 3/4 full. Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in tins for 5 minutes. Serve or transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Note:

-You can use a whisk, fork or stand mixer to mash the bananas and combine with the remaining ingredients. I just used a hand mixer and that worked fine. It is a fairly thick consistency.

-Chocolate chips or peanut butter chips would probably be very good in these!!

Greek Yogurt Chocolate Muffins:

We were a little sceptical of these are first, because I haven't done much with Greek yogurt. But after one bite, we were convinced! We made one batch one morning - they were gone by the afternoon, so we made another batch the next morning! I hope you give them a try too, because I know you'll love them as much as we do!

1 cup Flour

1 tsp. xanthan gum

1/2 cup baking cocoa

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup plain or vanilla Greek Yogurt

3 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup chocolate chips

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, xanthan gum, cocoa, baking powder, salt and sugar; set a side. In a small bowl, combine the yogurt, eggs, vanilla and oil. Mix well. Combine with dry ingredients and mix until well combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Fill paper lined muffins tins 3/4 full using an ice cream scoop. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the pan and cover with a clean dish towel to cool. Store in an airtight container.

Pudding Muffins:

I published this earlier, but I updated the recipe a little and got a picture, so I decided to re-do it!
They are super easy and we absolutely love them!
I hope you give them a try!

Right: Coconut Cream

Left: Strawberry Cream

2 cups flour
1 tsp. xanthan gum
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 pkg. (3.4 oz.) Instant Pudding mix, flavor of your choice
1 cup water
3/4 cup canola oil
4 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract

In a large bowl, combine flour, xanthan gum, sugar, baking powder, salt and pudding mix; set aside.
In another bowl, whisk together the water, oil, eggs and vanilla. Add to dry ingredients and mix well. Normally in muffins, you just want to mix until everything is moist and lumps in your batter are fine. But not with this muffin. You want to mix until there are no lumps. Fill greased or paper lined muffin tins 3/4 full. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. I usually leave them in about an 10 minutes or so after they are done, to get a crispier top, but the choice is yours! Place on a clean dish towel and cover with another towel to cool. Store in airtight container in the refrigerator.

Note:
-For the pudding: The choice is completely up to you. Combos that we have tried and like are:
-Vanilla/butterscotch
-Vanilla/vanilla
-Vanilla/chocolate
-Vanilla/lemon
-Banana cream pie
-Coconut Cream
-Strawberry Cream
Generally we like to do a flavor with vanilla, just because it helps to tone down the other flavor. But you can certainly just use two of the same flavor if you want. Again, the choice is up to you!
-These are good warm, but they are also great cold!

Oatmeal Applesauce Muffins:

I just love muffins! Equally good cold or hot from the oven,
these are perfect for breakfast or a snack!

 I hope you give them a try!

1 cup old-fashioned oats (not instant)

1 cup milk

1/2 cup applesauce

2 egg whites

1 cup flour

1 tsp. xanthan gum

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 cup raisins, optional

1/2 cup chopped nuts, optional

1 tsp. each of sugar and cinnamon

Soak the oats in the milk for 1 hour. Combine the applesauce and egg whites with the oat mixture and mix until well combined. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, xanthan gum, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Stir in raisins and nuts, if desired. Line your muffin tin with paper muffin cups and lightly spray with cooking spray. Divide the batter between 12 muffin cups. Mix together sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over muffins. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in muffin pan for 5 minutes. Serve or cool completely and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Note:

-Soaking the oats is optional, but results in a softer, more moist muffin.

-I think these would also be great with a variety of dried or fresh fruit.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins:

I wasn't too sure about these when I first saw them, but they turned out really yummy! The pumpkin was not at all over-powering and they were super moist! I hope you give them a try!



2 cups flour

1 & 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum

2 & 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. ground ginger

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

3/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. baking soda

pinch of ground allspice

1 egg

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup canned pumpkin

2/3 cup milk

3 tblsp. melted butter

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup chocolate chips

In a large bowl, combine first 8 ingredients. In a smaller bowl, whisk together egg, brown sugar, pumpkin, milk, butter and vanilla. Add to dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups 3/4 full (I use an ice cream scoop for this). Bake at 375 degrees for 18-20 minutes or until slightly golden brown and toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in muffin pan 5 minutes. Remove to cool or serve!