Years ago I searched for the holy grail of GF baking: home made chocolate chip cookies. Bet you thought I was going to say some sort of bread! That’s another post entirely. Anyway, when I went GF almost 9 years ago I made a batch of chocolate chippers that were gf. They were rather sweet and didn’t taste all that great. I keep looking for something that would approximate the real deal cookies I loved all my life. Recipes I came across seemed to require that I buy weird vegetable shortenings or use Crisco. I draw the line at Crisco. Or they used odd flour blends and I feel it’s just not worth it to me to add another flour mixture just for one cookie recipe. So I had not made chippers in years. Missed them….desperately. Store ones I tried were small, hard, drab in flavor and incredibly pricey. Until I went to King Arthur’s website and looked in their cookie recipes. There it was: cookies made with the same flour blend I use and made with butter, one of my few chosen shortenings. Glowing reviews and advice; said to make them and refrigerate a day or better yet, freeze them formed and ready to bake in a few minutes. Comments about how much they are like Tollhouse cookies, great texture and flavor. Bingo, this seemed so hopeful. So…Less than a week later I made up a batch; Goal scored; perfect brown sugar nutty flavor and texture; not too hard or too soft. I am a happy chocolate chip cookie lover at last! Lots of you probably bake chocolate chip cookies for Christmas so I decided to reblog this cookie so you could easily make a batch.
When I first made them I put some in my cookie jar, closed it tightly and 4 days later those cookies (what remains) were still delicious. That is pretty long for a gluten free baked good. By the fifth afternoon my last cookie in there was getting soft so suggest not holding them for more than 4 days in a jar. A big bonus I love is that they can be frozen ready to bake in like 12 minutes. Super fast warm fresh gooey chocolate chippers!
This is my go to basic chocolate chip cookie recipe; none other will do. I love that I can freeze them ready to bake and in 12 minutes I have warm fresh gooey cookies!
So, if you are still looking for a great gf chocolate chip cookie look no further.
The classic Christmas stollen bread is made with yeast. So don’t tell your gluten eating friends that this quicker, easier gluten-free version, made with baking powder as the rising agent, is even tastier in my humble opinion. Filled with dried fruit and toasted almonds and covered with a layer of melted butter and powdered sugar, this is more like pastry and is delicious with a cup of coffee or tea. Great choice for when company is coming as it isn’t that much work or time needed to create this masterpiece. Everyone will think you slaved all day to bake it. No need to tell them how easy it is! Its origins are Germanic but it isn’t heavy or dry; flaky and tender, pastry perfection. If you are searching for the perfect gluten free holiday treat; look no further. I cannot say enough good things about this treat. It is loved by all, and that second loaf makes a wonderful gift. I am looking forward to enjoying stollen this afternoon; in the oven baking right now!
I first made it about 6 years ago, lost the recipe; had to get it again from the King Arthur Flour’s web site customer service center as they had removed it from their recipe rotation. They said it needed some tweaking. I disagree, it is just delectable although shaping it can be rather messy. It is far easier made without yeast which adds steps and can be finicky. I frankly don’t miss the yeast like I once thought I would. This dough is very tender and flavorful, I have been known to eat leftover tidbits raw it is that tasty. My family adores this pastry treat and will do nefarious things to get more stollen at Christmastime.
Notes: You could use orange rind instead of lemon rind and the dried fruit selection is entirely up to your tastes or your pantry. If you dislike the raisins substitute more dried fruit. One more good thing; it doesn’t require aging like a fruit cake. As soon as it cools you can cut a fat piece and enjoy a slice of heaven on earth!
Adding the butterButter is now integrated into dough using pastry cutter
Dough
2 1/4 cups King Arthur basic blend Gluten-Free Flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt*
3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) cold butter
3/4 cup ricotta cheese, part-skim milk type, let warm a bit to get it close to room temp. Can use whole milk ricotta if that is what you have.
2 large eggs, room temp
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Grated rind of 1 small lemon; or 1/4 teaspoon lemon oil, or 1/4 teaspoon lemon extract
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup of your favorite dried fruits, chopped to 1/2″ pieces Yes, dried, not fresh. (I do apricots, cherries, currents, raisins or peaches/pears)
1/3 cup slivered almonds, toasted and cooled
—————
*Reduce the salt to 1/4 teaspoon if you use salted butter.
dried fruit and citrus zest
Topping
the dried fruit is mixed in!Adding the toasted almondsAdding the wet mixture into the dry doughformed stollen ready to bakebaked and powderedMore powdered sugar sprinkled on using a sieve
4 tablespoons butter, melted
2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
Directions
1. Preheat your oven to 325°F. Lightly grease a baking sheet, or line it with
parchment.
2. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and xanthan gum in a mixing bowl.
3. Cut the cold butter into small chunks, then blend it into the flour mixture to form uneven crumbs.
4. In a separate bowl, mix together the cheese, eggs, vanilla, and flavors.
5. Toss the fruit and almonds with the flour mixture until evenly distributed. Then combine the wet and dry ingredients, mixing until most of the flour is
moistened.
6. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, and knead it two or three times, until it holds together. Divide it in half.
7. Pat each piece of dough into an 8″ x 7″ oval about 1/2″ thick.
8. Fold each piece of dough roughly in half, leaving the edge of the top half about 1/2″ short of the edge of the bottom half. Should you fold the long way, or the short way? The long way will give you a longer, narrower stollen, with shorter slices; folding the short way will give you a wider, fatter stollen, with longer slices. I do the long way, your choice.
9. Use the edge of your hand to press the dough to seal about 1″ in back of the open edge; this will make the traditional stollen shape. It’s also the familiar Parker House roll shape, if you’ve ever made them. The dough will probably crack; that’s OK, just smooth it out as best you can.
10. Carefully place the shaped stollen on the prepared baking sheet.
11. Bake the stollen until they’re very lightly browned around the edges and on top, about 40 minutes. A cake tester inserted into the center should come out clean.
12. Remove the stollen from the oven, and transfer them to a rack. Brush them each with 2 tablespoons melted butter. Sprinkle heavily with confectioners’ sugar.
13. Allow the stollen to cool, then brush with butter again, and sprinkle with sugar again. Wrap in plastic wrap until ready to serve; serve within a week. If desired, sprinkle with additional sugar just before serving.
14. Yield: two 1-pound stollen loaves. I like to freeze one for another occasion if I am not gifting it right away. Enjoy!
Apples, is a favorite American fruit and the main ingredient in America’s favorite pie. This crumb topped pie is easier than a two-crust pie. I gave you the amounts for a 9-inch pie; I myself generally make it 10 inch; use 10 cups sliced apples and higher end of amounts of sugar, tapioca and spices. Bake 55-60 minutes.
I used just golden delicious apples in this most recent apple pie, and they were apple perfection, held their shape without any crunchiness. They also play well in pies made with other baking apples like Empire, Ida Red, Rome to name a few.
I used a Bob’s Redmill GF crust mix someone gave me; pretty decent if a bit trickier to roll out than my usual homemade crust. Definitely a good choice when you don’t have the time for a scratch pie crust. I did use my homemade crumbs. They are the best!
I put this pie together in a few steps; make the crust dough; put it in fridge to chill while I peel, slice and cut up the apples. I also throw together the crumbs before rolling out the pie; you don’t need to rinse the mixer bowl from the crust then. If you plan to prebake your crust those ten minutes of baking the empty pie crust are also a good time for making the crumbs and preparing the apples too! I generally move an oven shelf to the very bottom of my oven and that helps the bottom crust bake fully.
Each step is fairly easy but the results are spectacular. Of course, you could buy a readymade unbaked crust but this crust I use is really tasty: my mom never believed it was gluten free! This disbelief of hers was proof of the great flavor and texture of this particular basic gf pie crust.
It goes without saying that this pie is great with a slice of vanilla ice cream. Fall is the best season for apple pie as they are fresh and full of juicy flavor. Be seasonal whenever possible when it comes to fruits, and you will get the best taste in your fruit-based desserts.
Apple Crumb Pie
Crust:
1 c plus 2 Tbsp. brown rice flour mix (at bottom of recipe)
2 Tbsp. sweet rice flour
1 Tbsp. granulated sugar
½ tsp xanthan gum
¼ tsp salt
6 Tbsp. cold butter cut into 6 chunks
1 lg egg
2 tsp fresh orange or lemon juice
Directions: Spray a nine-inch pie pan with cooking spray, dust with white rice flour. Set aside.
Mix dry ingredients in bowl of stand electric mixer. Add butter and mix until crumbly and resembling coarse meal. Add egg and juice. Mix until it comes together into big chunks. Shape into a ball with your hands. Put it on a crust sized piece of wax paper (14 x 14 inches more or less), flatten the crust ball some; put on top of it another piece of wax paper and chill it all in your fridge 15-20 minutes.
Roll out the flattened ball into a pie crust in a pie bag or between the two sheets of wax paper, try to get the thickness even, no thick middle! Peel off one side of paper and place in the pie pan, be sure to center it. Remove other slice of wax paper. Crimp edges all around.
Filling:
8 cups thin apple slices from 8-9 medium-large sized apples, I like a mixture of yellow delicious and at least one other cooking variety; red Rome, Jonathan, empire, Courtland, or any tart apple you like to bake with. Note: I have made it just with Cortland or with Golden Delicious apples; excellent pies!
Peel apples, quarter, cut out core, slice into 1/3 inch thick slices. Mix in a large bowl with:
¼ cup brown sugar
3-8 Tbsp. granulated sugar (3= pretty tart, 8 if you like it sweet)
2 Tbsp. minute tapioca or tapioca flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
A good sprinkle of ground nutmeg
A small sprinkle of ground ginger (optional)
1 Tbsp lemon juice
Heap in pie crust.
Crumb topping
Put all four ingredients in the same mixing bowl you made the bottom crust in and mix well with mixer paddle until crumbs form.
¾ c brown rice flour mix
½ c sugar
½ tsp xanthan gum
1/3 c cold butter cut into six chunks
Finishing directions: Sprinkle the top of the pie with crumb mix; use as much as you like. I like about 2/3 of the mixture. Up to your personal taste… Bake in a preheated 375-degree oven for 55-60 minutes until bubbly and the crust is light brown. You can cover the pie loosely with aluminum foil for the first 30 minutes. I bake my pies at the lowest possible level shelf, so my crust gets crisp but if you have issues with soggy bottom crusts; prebake your crust for 10 minutes; then fill and bake immediately.
Cool the pie at least 3 to 4 hours before serving at room temperature.
Brown Rice Flour Mix
2 c brown rice flour
2/3 c potato starch
1/3 c tapioca flour
The crust and crumbs are from Annalise Roberts’ great cookbook: Gluten-Free Baking Classics. My filling is slightly different.
Originally posted February 2015. Revised slightly and updated 10-29-23.
In eastern Pennsylvania we are past the peak of blueberry season, but both are still plentiful, and I was craving a great late summer pie. The resulting pie was delicious down to the last slice.
This is so easy to make: slice and dump together the filling, crumb topping gets made in the mixer bowl you just used for bottom crust. You can store any leftover crumb mixture in a sealed container in the fridge; it keeps a few weeks. This GF crumb topping is perfect for most any fruit pie.
I used a lot more peaches than blueberries; the proportions are up to you.To peel peaches; heat 3 inches of water to a boil, drop the peaches gently in 3-4 at a time and poach them 1-3 minutes. Allow to cool somewhat before peeling. I like to do that over a bowl to catch the juices as I slice each peach.
Bake and enjoy summer in a pie in just a few minutes of work. Don’t eat it piping hot; it should be cooled to close to room temperature. You could certainly serve this with vanilla ice cream. And this pie works perfectly with fresh nectarines. Bonus: no peeling required!
GF Blueberry Peach Crumb Pie
Crust:
1 c plus 2 tbsp brown rice flour mix (at bottom of recipe)
2 tbsp sweet rice flour
1 Tbps. granulated sugar
½ tsp xanthan gum
¼ tsp salt
6 Tbps. cold butter cut into 6 chunks
1 lg egg
2 tsp fresh orange or lemon juice
Directions:
Spray 9 or 10 inch metal pie pan with cooking spray, dust with white rice flour. I confess I forget to do this more often than I remember…still works.
Mix dry ingredients in bowl of stand electric mixer. Add butter and mix until crumbly and resembling coarse meal. Add egg and juice. Mix until it comes together into big chunks. Shape into a ball with your hands. Put it on a crust sized piece of wax paper (14 x 14 inches more or less), flatten the crust ball some; put on top of it another piece of wax paper and chill it all in your fridge 15-20 minutes while you prepare the filling.
Filling:
5 cups sliced fresh peaches, peeled and cut in thick slices
1 cup fresh blueberries – rinse and place in medium bowl
Mix with:
½ cup sugar
½ tsp. cinnamon
3 Tbsp. quick tapioca
Add and stir in
2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
Let the filling stand while you prepare the crust, important for the tapioca so it does its job optimally.
Roll out pie crust in a pie bag or between the two sheets of wax paper, try to get the thickness even, no thick middle! Peel off one side of paper and place in pie pan, centered. Remove other slice of wax paper. Crimp edges all around. Fill with fruit mixture.
Crumb topping
Put all four ingredients in the same mixing bowl you made the bottom crust in and mix well with mixer paddle until crumbs form.
¾ c brown rice flour mix
½ c sugar
½ tsp xanthan gum
1/3 c cold butter cut into six chunks
Directions:
Sprinkle the top of the pie with crumb mix; use as much as you like. I like about a heaping cup and a half of the mixture. Up to your personal taste… It sinks partially into the fruit mixture and adds lots of sweetness and eye appeal.
Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 45-50 minutes until bubbly and the crumb crust is light brown. I put a piece of aluminum foil on top for the last ten minutes. Cool at least 2 to 4 hours before serving at room temperature. I think it is best served the same day you make it, or no more then 10 hours after baking for optimal flavor. The crumbs will get soggy if too much time passes.
Note: if you find your bottom crust is not browning enough bake it empty at 375 degrees for ten minutes before filling it with the fruit. I have a bottom heat oven which gives me perfect pie crust if I put the pie on the very lowest shelf so I don’t ever have pale pie crust.
Brown Rice Flour Mix 2 c brown rice flour (finely ground)
It is the start of peach season so get some peaches and whip up a delicious gluten free peach pie. This is an easy pie to create. Slice and dump together the filling, crumb topping made in unwashed mixer bowl you used for bottom crust. You can store any leftover crumb mixture in a sealed container in the fridge; it keeps a few weeks. I let my mix spin a few more moments in the stand mixer for extra big crumbs for this pie; love that look. If you prefer a solid crust just double the crust part and top your pie with it. Be sure to cut some slits for steam escape! And if you don’t have time, buy a ready-made crust but homemade is always best.
Please make every effort to use local fruit; can get peaches at orchards like Bechdolt’s near Springtown, at most farm stands and at farmer’s markets; one on Saturdays in Easton or Sunday’s in Hellertown. This pie really showcases great tasting peaches. If you use lousy peaches your pie will taste crummy. But, here’s the thing: store peaches can be poor in flavor and texture due to improper chilling so I strongly suggest you buy only locally grown, sweet, ripe peaches to make your pie. I love when they have a pink blush; it makes the pie so pretty and perhaps even tastier!
To peel easily; heat 3 inches of plain water, drop the peaches gently in 4-5 at a time and gently poach them 2-3 minutes. Use the lesser time for more ripe peaches. Allow to cool somewhat before peeling. I like to do that over a bowl to catch the juices as I slice each peach.
Bake and enjoy late summer in a pie in just a few minutes of work. Don’t eat it hot; it should be cooled to just warm if you like it so or room temperature or even a bit chilled. You could certainly serve this with vanilla ice cream. And this pie works perfectly with fresh nectarines, bonus: no peeling required!
Angie’s GF Peach Crumb Pie
Crust:
1 c plus 2 tbsp brown rice flour mix (at bottom of recipe)
2 tbsp sweet rice flour
1 Tbps granulated sugar
½ tsp xanthan gum
¼ tsp salt
6 Tbps cold butter cut into 6 chunks
1 large egg
2 tsp fresh orange or lemon juice
Spray 9 inch metal pie pan with cooking spray, dust with white rice flour.
Mix dry ingredients in bowl of stand electric mixer. Add butter and mix until crumbly and resembling coarse meal. Add egg and juice. Mix until it comes together into big chunks. Shape into a ball with your hands. Put it on a crust sized piece of wax paper (14 x 14 inches more or less), flatten the crust ball some; put on top of it another piece of wax paper and chill it all in your fridge 15-20 minutes while you prepare the filling.
Filling:
6 cups sliced fresh peaches, peeled and cut in thick slices, place in medium bowl
Mix with:
½ cup sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon (optional)
3-4 Tbsp. quick tapioca
Stir in 1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice and ¼ tsp. almond extract
Let stand while you prepare the crust.
Roll out pie crust in a pie bag or between two sheets of wax paper, try to get the thickness even, no thick middle! Peel off one side of paper and place in pie pan, centered. Remove other slice of wax paper. Crimp edges all around. Fill with fruit mixture.
Crumb topping
Put all four ingredients in the same mixing bowl you made the bottom crust in and mix well with mixer paddle until crumbs form. If you let them go extra long you get big fat crumbs if you want that look and I did!
¾ c brown rice flour mix
½ c sugar
½ tsp xanthan gum
1/3 c cold butter cut into six chunks
Sprinkle the top of the pie with crumb mix; use as much as you like. I like about a heaping cup of the mixture. Up to your personal taste… It sinks partially into the fruit mixture and adds lots of sweetness and eye appeal.
Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 45-50 minutes until bubbly and the crumb crust is light brown. Cool at least 1 to 4 hours before serving at room temperature. I think it is best served the same day you make it, or no more then 12 hours after baking for optimal flavor. The crumbs will get soggy if too much time passes. Mine was still very good the next day; just not as great as when really fresh.
Note: if you find your bottom crust is not browning enough bake it empty at 375 degrees for ten minutes before filling it with the fruit. I have a bottom heat pizza style oven which gives me perfect pie crust so I don’t ever have pale pie crust.
Brown Rice Flour Mix (Same as King Arthur GF All purpose blend)
2 c brown rice flour (finely ground)
2/3 c potato starch – Not potato flour!
1/3 c tapioca flour
Note: This post was originally blogged by me the late summer of 2015. Minor changes made.
My World Without Wheat 
