Pecan Pie: Fall Classic!

Thanksgiving pie – gotta have it. Posted my go-to pumpkin pie recipe last week.  Here is another classic pie. This is is my favorite pecan pie recipe; been making it for a long while and I have shared the recipe before but not on this blog; right out of Betty Crocker, just now with a gluten free crust.  I add an extra quarter cup pecans to make the pie a bit fatter and I always use dark Karo syrup; it is really the only one you should use if you want a great result.

karopecans

I don’t need a whole pie so I am thinking of making a half batch of filling for four flat bottom tartlets filled with pecan yumminess. Just a thought if you don’t want a whole big pie.  I think my tartlets would be baked in 30-35 minutes.  I’ll let you know how the tartlets turn out.

Pecan pie is awesome on its own but is also great with some whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.  A classic never goes out of style.  I wanted to get the post up so you can have it on Thursday; it looks just like pecan pie should; rich, dark and nutty.

pecan-pie

I haven’t made my pie yet; this is from McCormick Spices but looks a lot like mine.

Angie’s GF Pecan 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 inch metal pie pan with cooking spray, dust with white rice flour.  I don’t usually bother with this but feel free to take this extra caution.

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 get the rest ready.

Filling:

3 large eggs

2/3 c sugar

½ tsp salt

1/3 cup very soft or melted butter

1 cup dark corn syrup

1 1/4 cups pecan halves

Sprinkle of cinnamon

Directions: Beat eggs, sugar, salt, butter and corn syrup until well mixed, can use a hand held mixer.  Stir in pecans and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Roll out pie crust 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 pecan mix.  Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 40-50 minutes until set.  Cool at least 1 hour before serving at room temperature or chilled.

 

Brown Rice Flour Mix (same as King Arthur’s gf flour blend)
2 c brown rice flour

2/3 c potato starch

1/3 c tapioca flour

Best Darn Dinner Rolls AND GF!

If you are searching for easy to make gluten free rolls for Thanksgiving, look no further. I made them for a holiday party and one of my guests asked for the recipe saying they were the best rolls he ever ate, gf or not!  They are very easy to make and taste just as good as any I have made with wheat flour in my past life as a gluten fiend.

You make a yeast slurry of milk, sugar and yeast and let it rise while you mix all the dry ingredients in the stand mixer bowl. Then dump the wet ingredients all together in with the dry ingredients.  Beat the sticky mess up, glop it into the sprayed muffin pans and let rise a bit. Bake them a few minutes and there they are,: golden, puffy and almost like a mini popover!

The flavor is fantastic, so is the texture and love that they keep well for a few days; could make them the day before your big meal and just warm gently.  I cut this recipe in half pretty easily.  For that I used 2 eggs and discarded the excess egg after I glazed the rolls.  I have used regular whole milk and 1 percent milk in my batch but you can use rice milk if you want it dairy free.  This is a keeper recipe for anyone, GF or not!

rolls

Soft Dinner Rolls -24 rolls

Ingredients

2 tablespoons dry active yeast
2 teaspoons sugar
2 cups rice milk (or milk) – warm but not hot
*1½ cups superfine or Asian White Rice Flour
*½ cup Sweet Rice Flour
*¾ cup potato starch
*½ cup tapioca starch
3 teaspoons xanthan gum
1 ½ teaspoons fine sea salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 large eggs – use divided
¼ cup butter plus more for brushing the pans
¼ cup honey
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

*in place of the various flours and starches you can use 3¼ cups GF flour blend.

Directions

Combine the yeast, sugar and warmed milk in a small bowl and whisk to dissolve the sugar. Let sit for 6 or 7 minutes or until the mixture is foamy and had increased in volume.

Combine the flours, starches (or all-purpose gluten free flour blend), xanthan gum, salt and baking powder in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Mix for 30 seconds on medium-low to combine and break up any lumps in the potato starch.

Add the yeast mixture, 2 eggs, melted butter, honey and vinegar. Mix on medium low until combined. Scrap down the sides of the bowl, turn the mixer on high and mix for 3 minutes. You should have a very thick, smooth batter.

Brush 2 twelve cup muffin pans with melted butter or spray with gluten free, non-stick cooking spray. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Spoon the batter into the sprayed muffin pans, filling about ¾ full. You can also use a small (#60) ice cream scoop and place 3 scoops in each muffin tin (clover leaf). That is my favorite way to form them! Cover with a clean ultra thin kitchen towel and place in a warm, draft free place to rise. Let rise for 30-35 minutes or until the dough has almost doubled in size.  I often put them in a 105 degree oven, uncovered for their rising time.

Beat the remaining egg with 1 teaspoon of water very well with a fork. Gently brush the tops of each roll with the beaten egg.  I used my finger to do the brushing as my brushes were too stiff. Sometimes I sprinkle the wet egg wash with poppy seeds.

Bake for 17 – 18 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool in the pans for 15 minutes.

Note: These rolls can be made ahead – bake them, let them cool in the pans, wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 2 days. Warm them for a few minutes in a 350 degree oven.  I froze them for 2 days and then nuked the rolls for 30 seconds to warm up.  Leftover rolls are great with jam for a snack. Enjoy!

Dark Drizzled Kettle Corn

Aldi’s has something so yummy I am loath to share it with all of you for fear you will buy it all and I will be then crying the blues.  It is their Dark Drizzled Kettle Corn.  Lightly drizzled with dark chocolate, and not that sweet. Perfection in popcorn form. An addictive snack. It combines my deep love for dark chocolate with my frequent enjoyment of kettle corn. A one ounce serving has 140 calories. The label says GF.  It also says limited edition, so get a few bags and tell the staff to tell the boss to keep ordering it and maybe, just maybe Aldi’s will keep it around! kettle-corn-001

Forgotten Kisses Cookies

Ever on the lookout for a great tasting cookie I came across these sweet meringue treats called forgotten kisses. I found an easy recipe on foodnetwork.com.  Made them once we got past the rainy days a week or so ago.  If you can whip egg whites, you can make these beauties.  They have chocolate chips and walnuts in them but if you look at the comments you will see that folks add many different spins and flavors.  They keep really well too.  I put some in my cookie jar four days ago and they still taste as though they were just baked.

I froze some for later.  My Christmas cookie list just got longer with this beauty added on!  Thank goodness hey are simple and they keep well. I used slightly less than the sugar amount here and my version has less chocolate chips in it.  They seem pretty chocolaty to me just as I made them.  My whole house smelled like a chocolate factory while they were baking.

forgotten-kisses-and-spicy-eggplant-001

forgotten-kissesForgotten kisses

Ingredients

2 egg whites, room temp

½ tsp. cream of tarter

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

¾ cup semi sweet chocolate chips

¾ to 1 cup finely chopped walnuts

Directions: Heat oven to 350.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.  Beat egg whites until frothy with electric mixer (I used a stand mixer), add cream of tarter, keep beating until fluffy.  Then add the sugar a tbsp or two at a time. Add the vanilla when half to all of the sugar is incorporated.  Beat until shiny and stiffly peaked when you put a spoon in.  If it gets a chunky look you have overbeaten it, not a good thing.  Stand mixers are so powerful they can do just that so watch it closely; has to have stiff peaks and look shiny but don’t keep going or you will have the overbeaten which is a no no.  The opposite is bad too; if the egg whites are not beaten to a stiff peak the cookies will flatten out and not look right.  When it looks ready, fold in the nuts and chips with a spatula.  Use two spoons to put tablespoons of batter on a baking sheet 1 inch apart. Mine made about 30 (15 on a sheet) cookies.  I did use a mixture of semi sweet and dark chocolate; was incredible tasting!

Bake at 350 degrees for five minutes, turn off oven, and leave for 2 hours up to 8 total hours.  If your oven is gas you should probably reheat it after an hour back up to the 300 degrees and let them cool in the closed oven for that second hour.  Do not open the oven door for any reason before 2 hours is up.

Here is the original recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/meringue-cookies-forgotten-kisses-recipe.html

Be sure to read the comments for other flavor ideas.  I know I will be trying a few of them.

Info on My Blog Posts

Sometimes I get questioned on the recipes I put up on my blog. I never post anything I have not made myself.  Know too, that if it doesn’t taste great it doesn’t get on this page!  I make many things that never reach print for one reason or another.   I go back and bake/cook a lot of these things again a year or two later; most of the recipes I post become true favorites of mine.  For example, I am making a fig and yogurt cake this afternoon with some of my last few figs. I made the first one for me two weeks ago and knew it was a keeper on my first bite, see the blog post from two week ago.  Today I am making it with some orange extract I bought for the purpose to see if that was even better than the lemon extract I used last time.  I often switch things up a bit to try different flavors for new results.  Next fall, you better believe that I will be making this cake again once the figs ripen.  Ditto for that fig and raspberry galette of last week; it was an amazing dessert for sure.

fig-galette-016

Feel free to change things if you make my recipes; if you hate a seasoning use something you prefer.  I do suggest that it may not go so well if you change the proportions in pie crusts, breads or quick breads as baking is really a science; there you need to stick closer to the proportions and ingredients.  You still can switch the seasonings if that floats your boat!

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If you are new to my blog know that I tend to cook seasonally with fruits and vegetables are they are harvested and ripe. I like using organic and local grown produce as often as possible.  I tend to add extra veggies to soups, stews and stir fries as I am a lover of them to a bit of an extreme.  My herbs are often grown in my own yard for best flavor and freshness but I do buy them when I don’t have and need them for a dish.

chicken-gumbo-005My food is totally gluten free as I must remain gf due to celiac disease.  But that doesn’t mean my meals are less than fantastic or that the plate of cookies I bring to your house won’t be delicious. They will, I promise!  Gluten free from scratch baked goods CAN taste great.  Do not think otherwise and bake gf with confidence for your loved ones.

I cook with love for my friends and family. I cook with joy for the process and I cook with great anticipation for the flavors and textures of my home cooked from scratch gluten free meals.  Enjoy!