Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Sugar Free Banana Bread

So, Let me be real with you, the first time I made this bread it was seriously bland.  Like, not much depth to it at all.  It was a 5 ingredient recipe that enticed me to make it, but needed some serious re-invention and tweaking to make it tastey!  I'm proud to say, that I found a perfect balance for my taste buds and was able to leave it Gluten Free, Dairy Free and Sugar Free!  

 Now, your probably thinking to yourself, how is this dairy free and sugar free with those Chocolate chips on top? Right?  Well, those are added for my kids benefit, but can totally be made without them!  I just sprinkle them on top of the loaf right before I bake it, so if you didn't want all that chocolatey goodness, you could scrape it right off!

Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Sugar Free Banana Bread

1 Loaf

About 10 servings

Ingredients:

3 Ripe Medium Bananas

2 eggs + 2 egg whites (or you can just do 3 large eggs)

2 Cups Oats

1/4 Cup Pure Maple Syrup or Honey

1 Tbsp Flaxseed Meal

2 tsp Baking soda
2 Tsp Vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2-3/4 tsp salt
1/4 Cup Chocolate Chips (optional)

Preheat Oven to *350.  Put all ingredients in a blender, pulse until mixed thoroughly but not made into a puree.  Pour into a greased 9x5 Loaf pan.  Sprinkle on Chocolate chips only if wanted for kids sake!  Haha!  Bake for about 30 minutes!  Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes then take out of pan to completely cool off! Or Enjoy warm with butter!!!

Popeye Muffins

So I've literally had this recipe hanging around since St. Patricks Day, and just stumbled across the picture I took on my camera!  So I figured, it's better late than never, because it's not like you can only make these bad boys for St. Patricks Day, you can have them anytime of the year!  Those green muffins are dyed purely by Spinach.  No artificial dyes or food colorings.  My Kids Loved them.  Heck, I loved them.  A little too much!  And the next best thing is they are sweetened with Pure Maple Syrup, not sugar.  They literally melt in your mouth!

makes 12

2 cups flour, I used 1 cup whole wheat, 1 cup white

2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon fine ground sea salt

1 large egg

¾ cup pure maple syrup (Grade A or Grade B)

¾ cup unsweetened almond milk)

¼ cup unrefined coconut oil, melted

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 5- or 6-ounce bag of fresh baby spinach leaves

2 medium ripe bananas, mashed

1/2 Cup Chocolate Chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with unbleached parchment liners.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3. In a blender add egg, maple syrup, milk, oil, vanilla and spinach.  Process until pureed.
4. Add spinach mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just combined.  Fold in the mashed banana and Chocolate Chips.
5. Scoop batter into prepared muffin tin, filling cups about ¾ full.    Bake about 25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
6. Store at room temperature up to 3 days.  These freeze nicely!

Zucchini Coconut Bread

Like I said, It's Zucchini Time!  This Zucchini Bread is completely "healthified" as well!  Made with Zucchini, coconut oil, Whole wheat flour, Greek Yogurt, and more!  It's just good, and it tastes good! It comes in to a close 2nd to my favorite Chocolate Zucchini Bread! Add it to your list of Zucchini recipes you'll be searching for, for the next 2 months!!

This is the Greek Yogurt I used for this recipe.  Plain, Total 0%.  Good stuff for cooking!

This recipe is adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod.

Zucchini Coconut Bread

Yield: 1 loaf of bread

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes

Total Time: 75 minutes

Zucchini Coconut bread made with coconut oil and coconut! You won't miss the butter, I promise!

ingredients:

3/4 cup all-purpose Gold Medal flour
3/4 cup whole wheat Gold Medal flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini (squeezed and drained in a paper towel)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar - I used Xylitol ( a natural sugar)
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (I use Fage 0%), at room temperature
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup shredded sweetened coconut

directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan and set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.

3. In a separate large bowl, combine shredded zucchini, sugars, coconut oil, yogurt, egg, and vanilla extract.

4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until moistened. Stir in the shredded coconut.

5. Pour the batter into prepared pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let zucchini bread cool in pan for 10 minutes. Carefully remove the bread from the pan and cool completely before slicing.

Honey Whole Wheat & Oat Bread

Ok, so there is a reason I don't post bread recipes very often.  If I make it, I eat it.  Home Made Bread is just one of those things that I can't say no to, so my poor family suffers because I will only make bread like twice a year!  I've been eyeing this recipe for about 2 months now because one of the main ingredients is Oatmeal.  No, not oats, oatmeal!  You actually boil water, stick the oats in and let it cook into oatmeal, and then you add it to your recipe.  It's awesome!  And its sweetened with Honey, not sugar.  AND its wheat!  You can actually do half wheat, half white, and it turns out awesome too!  This recipe comes from a friend of mines sisters friend,  Julia! So to a fabulous Friday and eating bread!

Ingredients:

2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
½ c. milled flax seed
3 Tbsp yeast
8-9 c whole wheat flour (you can use ½ white if you like as well)
½ c. honey
1 tsp baking soda
4 tsp salt
5 Tbsp olive oil

Oatmeal:
Before you begin, boil 4 cups of water (do not add salt) and once it boils, add 2 cups of oatmeal.  Turn off heat and stir well.  Let oatmeal cool to luke warm before beginning recipe.

Yeast:
Once oatmeal has cooled, mix 3 Tbsp yeast and 1 tsp sugar with 1 cup warm water in a small bowl to proof the yeast.  Let it rise while adding other ingredients to the mixer.

Mixer:

Add oatmeal first, then ½ c. honey, 1 tsp baking soda, 4 tsp salt, ½ c. milled flax seed, 5 Tbsp olive oil.  Add yeast (once proofed) and two cups of whole wheat flour before beginning to mix.  Turn on mixer, and continue to add flour gradually, one cup at a time until dough pulls away from the walls…(usually 8-9 cups total.)  Use whatever ratio of wheat to white you like, but bread flour works best if you decide to use white flour too.  Mix well for a few minutes or until dough begins pulling away from the sides and is “tacky” to the touch but not really sticky.  Remove the mixing blade, cover the dough, and allow it to rise (usually about an hour).  Once dough has risen, divide it evenly into three equal loaves and knead on a floured surface to make three loaves.  Put into greased bread pan and let rise again (about 30-45 minutes).  Bake at 325 degrees for 30-35 minutes.  Once out of the oven, butter the tops of the bread and allow it to rest for 10 minutes in the pan before removing the bread onto a cooling rack.  Enjoy!

Pumpkin Rolls

So I know, its been like months since I've posted a new recipe!  I blame it on the combination of having a cute little baby around, AND trying to operate a new computer!  Anyways, I made these yummy pumpkin Rolls for BUNKO this month and not only did my mouth water over them, I had MANY people begging for the recipe so they could make them for Thanksgiving!  Aren't they just darling!!!  And they really don't take that much more time than rolling up plain old circle!!  I wish I would have taken pics during the process, but I've been soo out of the loop about blogging my food,  until THIS BLOGWORTHY yummy pumpkin roll!  Which of course I found on Pinterest with a way cooler picture than mine!

Yield 30 Rolls:

3/4 cup whole milk, scalded

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

1/3 cup light brown sugar

1/3 cup white sugar

6 tablespoons butter

1 egg

1 teaspoon salt

2 packages active dry yeast (1/2 ounces) plus 1 teaspoon white sugar

1/4 cup lukewarm water

5 cups all-purpose flour

15-20 pecan halves, sliced into 3 vertical sections

1/4 cup melted butter, optional

Directions

1. Pour hot milk in a mixing bowl, add butter and stir to melt. Add sugars, pumpkin puree, salt to the milk and combine well.
2. In a small bowl proof yeast in a lukewarm water with a teaspoon sugar. When it gets foamy add to the pumpkin mixture, and add the egg, mix well.
3. Add in flour gradually until well combined. The dough will be sticky.
4. If using electric mixer, attach a dough hook and beat the mixture until the dough itself pulls from the side of the bowl.
5. Turn the dough out to your table or  board dusted with a little flour. Knead with hand for 1 minute. Form the dough into a ball shape, place in a greased bowl and cover with a cloth. Let it rise in a warm place until it doubles in volume, about 1 hr.
6. Punch the dough to deflate and knead it for a few seconds on a board. Cut the dough in half. Cut each half into about 15 pieces.
7. Roll each piece into a ball shape with your hand. Flatten the piece with palm of your hand a little. Using a knife, give 8 cuts on the edge to mimic flower pedals but the leave center uncut.
8. Poke the center with your finger to give a deep indentation, and repeat the same procedure to all the other pieces.
9. Place them, 2" apart, on a baking pan lined with parchment paper or baking mat, and let them rise again to be doubled, about 45 minutes.
10. Preheat oven 350ºF for 20 minutes.
11. If the center indentation is not obvious on the rolls, poke them again with your finger.
12. Brush with egg wash, if you wish, and bake for 9-12 minutes until the top gets slightly golden.
13. Brush the rolls with melted butter or a little honey diluted with water to make it shine if you wish.
14. Insert pecan slices on top for your pumpkin stem.

Christmas Morning Rolls

I got this yummy recipe from my friend Mindee who makes these every year for Christmas or New Years, and boy are they delish!!!!  Delish and easy because you do all the work that night and let them sit over night and pop them in the oven in the morning!  How nice is that?!??!  This year, I put them on my list to make for Christmas morning, just to make sure I didn't miss out on them!!!  YUMM!!

22-24 Frozen Rhodes Rolls
1/2 package Butterscotch pudding (cook and serve)
1/2 Cup butter
1/2 - 3/4 Cup brown sugar
Cinnamon

First you grease your bundt pan and sprinkle with almonds.  Above I had slivered almonds, but you could used sliced or whatever you have.  Put your frozen rolls on top of the almonds.  Sprinkle with your dry pudding mix and lightly with cinnamon.  Bring your butter to a boil then take off heat and stir in your brown sugar.  Pour over your rolls.  Cover with plastic wrap or a damp cloth and let raise over night.  So you want to make sure it's the last thing you do before you go to bed.
In the morning, place bundt pan on a cookie sheet to catch any spillovers.  Turn your oven to 350* and Bake for 25-30 minutes.  When you remove from oven, turn the pan upside down on a platter and the sugar with cover the rolls.  Enjoy while warm!!!!!

Homemade Tortillas

This week I had the opportunity to demonstrate how to make homemade tortillas to our Relief Society!  I was really excited because I had two great recipes in mind, and kind of combined the two into my liking to share!  My Aunt DeAnne has a wonderful authentic recipe that she got from my uncles mother who is mexican.  The other recipe I have, I  found from Barefoot and Baking who's Grandmother is also mexican.  So I've got a great recipe here to share!

After you mix the dough, you shape them into balls about this size and let rest at least 15 min....

 Rolling them into a nice circle is the hardest part!!!

 Stick them on a griddle or a cast iron skillet....

 And wahla.... you have a yummy tortilla to go with any meal you choose!

 Then I also did a test, one with Crisco and one with Butter because I am not  a big fan of Crisco.  I choose not to cook with it.  But as you can see, Crisco wins this contest.  The one on the left is made with Crisco, and it it's light and fluffy and you get the bubbles that brown.  Where as the one on the right was made with butter, and it almost has the texture of flat bread instead of a tortilla.  Just heavy and not as pliable, so it breaks and cracks when you try and roll it.  So I guess I have one exception with Crisco when it comes to making tortillas....

Approximately 16 tortillas

4 Cups Flour
2 Tsp Salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 Cup Crisco
1 1/2 Cup Hot Water

Start with mixing your Flour, salt & baking powder.  Cut in your shortening until well combined.  It will still be flakey.  Slowly Add in your Hot water until you get a Play dough like texture.  It wont be sticky at all.  I usually only add about 1 1/4 cup water.  You will just have to watch it.  I then pull it out of my mixer and knead it a couple of times, then I pull apart small rounds of dough and roll them into little balls.  Keep them in a bowl and let rest at least 15 min but up to an hour is great.
Flour your surface area really well then take your ball and start rolling from the center each time.  That is the key to get the circle shape.  As much as I flour the rolling pin it still sticks to it and I just pull it off and rotate the dough, and roll again.  Then stick your tortilla on a heated griddle ( pretty hot) wait until it starts to bubble and the bubbles have browned on the bottom side.  Then flip and repeat.  Serve Warm.  You can freeze them in a freezer zip lock baggy if needed!  Enjoy!!!

Peanut Butter Banana Bread Muffins

Darn Pinterest.  Darn, Darn, Darn.  There is WAY too many things posted on that site and it makes me want to make it all!  Today I had 3 ripe bananas sitting on my counter so I pulled up Pinterest and the first thing that caught my eyes were these because the word PEANUT BUTTER was  right next to the word Banana.  And if you know anything about me and Peanut Butter, we are like best friends!!!  One of my most favorite treats in the world is yes, Peanut Butter!  So what's even better?  A warm banana bread muffin with peanutbutter chips soft and gooey inside!!!  Plus these have no oil or butter my friends!

Peanut Butter Banana Bread Muffins

adapted from allrecipes

makes 12-15 muffins

1 cup sugar  ( I used a natural sweetener xylitol)

1 egg

2 cups all-purpose flour ( I used 1 1/2 cup white, 1/2 cup white wheat)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

3 ripe bananas, mashed

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup peanut butter morsel

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place muffin cups in muffin tins

Mix sugar, applesauce, and egg until creamy and light yellow. Add bananas and vanilla. Add flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir until completely smooth. Fold in peanut butter chips. Spoon the batter into the muffin tins.

Bake for 25 minutes, until toothpick poked in center muffin comes out clean.

Gluten Free - Brazilian Cheese Rolls

For those of you wondering what kind of rolls to cook up for Thanksgiving that has to be Gluten Free, here you go! I just went to a cooking class at Kitchen Kneads themed for Breaking Dawn and they demonstrated them there. I'm in charge of rolls this year for Thanksgiving so I'm going to bake a batch of my Lion House Rolls, and a batch of these! These are sooooooooooooo easy, and soooo yummy! You actually blend the ingredients in a blender and pour them into the muffin pans. Love it! They are made with tapioca flour and have a yummy warm chewy middle from the cheese that brings on a whole new texture in these rolls, so enjoy!!! You can actually make the batter and store it in the fridge for up to a week.

*1 egg -

1/4 Cup olive oil

2/3 Cup milk

1 1/2 Cups tapioca flour

1/2 cup packed grated cheese - I liked montery and colby or chedder was good too

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp thyme (optional)

*you should have your egg at room temp. for optimal fluffiness. If you forget to plan ahead you can put your egg in a bowl of warm water for a few min.

Preheat oven to 400* Grease a mini muffin tin. Put all the ingredients into a blender and pulse until smooth. Scrape down the edges with a rubber spatula and blend again. Pour into the muffin tins almost to the top. Bake for 15-20 min. (I did 20) until puffy and lightly browned. It's definitely a bonus to eat while warm! Enjoy!

Lion House Rolls

My friend Amy is THEE Master of Rolls! Ever since I met her I've known how much she loves her cheese sandwiches on bread, and her subways, and her rolls. She's a great cook, and a master at roll making. I've tried three kinds of her rolls and LOVE every single one of them. So today, I will start with the Lion House Rolls! I've use this in my 5 quart bowl Kitchen Aid and it works great. And don't forget to serve them with this Honey Butter

1/3 Cup Warm Water
2 tblsp yeast
3/4 Cup Sugar
3 eggs
9 Cups flour -divided
1 tblsp salt
3 Cups milk

2 Squares of Margarine (YUCK on Margarine, but soooooooo worth it in this recipe!!!)

Put your yeast in water and set aside. In a seperate microwavable bowl combine your 3 cups of milk and margarine. Microwave for 3 minutes. In your Mixing Bowl combine your sugar, eggs, 6 cups flour, & salt. Once combined, add your bowl of heated milk and mix for a few more minutes then add your yeast and mix well. Add about 3- 3 1/2 Cups flour and knead for a few minutes (until dough starts to pull away from bowl but still soft and sticky) Let rise 1 hour.

Take Bread out and knead on a floured (or buttered) surface for a minute. Break dough in half, and roll each piece into a rectangle. Spread Margarine all over the dough (I've skipped this step and it tastes fine) and cut into strips of about 1 1/2 inch by 3 inches. Grab the short side with both hands and flip the dough around and tuck end piece on the bottom. Pictures above are supposed to help with this!

Bake at 375* for 18 minutes.

Honey Whole Wheat Bread

If your like me, I TRY my hardest to stay away from white flour. TRY is the key word! So this Honey Whole Wheat Bread is fantastic! I originally got this recipe from my SIL Richelle and didn't do much with it because my first batch turned out crumbly. But my other SIL Abbie cooks it all the time and it turns out fabulous! SOOOO, after alot of stalking other blogs and a bit of advice from Abbie, I tried it again and the whole family LOVED it! I think the trick was to let the mixer knead it for about 7 minutes before I let it rise. (That is what I read up on from the other blogs) :) And I have a wonderful Honey Butter recipe I will share next!

MAKES 3 LOAVES

3 Cups Warm water
2 TBSP Yeast
2/3 Cup Oil

2/3 Cup Honey

1 TBLSP salt

8 Cup Wheat Flour

3 TBLSP dough enhancer

1/4 Cup + 1 TBLSP Vital Wheat Gluten

Preheat your oven to 350. Add your Yeast to your water and let process for about 3 minutes. In your mixer add all the ingredients plus your water & yeast,except for about 4 cups of flour. I actually do half white flour and half wheat flour, so I'll add the white now, then slowly add the wheat later. Measure your oil first then the honey will just slide out. The dough enhancer and Vital Wheat Gluten aren't necessary, but it's supposed to really help the wheat flour hold together, and rise and take shape better. So once everything is mixed together pretty good, slowly add the other 4 cups of flour until the dough pulls away from the bowl and feels tacky to the touch. Let rise for 1 hour covered with cling wrap sprayed with pam (a towell drys out the dough). Shape dough into 3 sprayed & floured bread pans and let rise another hour. Bake in the oven for 35 minutes and the top of the bread is golden brown.

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

We all know right now is the time to make LOTS of zucchini bread with all that zucchini coming out of our ears (garden). This is seriously sooooo yummy! And look how cute of on idea this is to give to a neighbor or friend! Once again this comes from Our Best Bites, I have their cook book that I look through daily and find something that I want to try or already established as a favorite! I did a handful of things differently to make this a tad healthier: I did half white flour and half wheat flour. And quite frankly for 2 loaves of bread, there isn't that much flour in there! Only Two! Awesome! Don't be afraid especially in something that has sooo much flavor and color to switch out the white flour for the wheat! I used coconut oil instead of canola oil. And I used half xylatol for the sugar.  And one tip, I think if you puree your zucchini rather than grate it, you need to cook it definitely on the longer side of the time suggested.  Also, squeeze the zucchini in a wod of paper towels to get out the extra liquid. But oooooh sooo goood! Oh, and don't forget to slather it in peanut butter after!!! :)

http://www.ourbestbites.com/2009/08/chocolate-zucchini-bread/

Chocolate Zucchini Bread {makes 2 loaves}

1 C Whole Wheat flour
1 C White Flour
2 t cinnamon
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 t baking soda
6 T unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 C Coconut oil
3/4 C sugar
1/2 C brown sugar
3 eggs
2 t vanilla
1/2 C sour cream or plain greek yogurt
3 C grated zucchini - squeezed in a paper towel
3/4 C mini chocolate chips
optional: zest from one orange


Topping:
2 T brown sugar
2 T white sugar
1/2 t cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour 2 loaf pans and set aside. I actually used one 8″ disposable pan to give away and a larger 9″ one for me and the batter divided perfectly. So you should get 2 very full 8″ pans or slightly less full 9″. Do one of each like I did!

Mix topping ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

Place flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder in a small bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.

With a stand or hand mixer beat oil, white sugar, brown sugar, and eggs until combined and slightly fluffy, 1-2 minutes.
Add vanilla and sour cream and mix until combined. Gently stir in the grated zucchini

Take a spoonful of the flour mixture and stir in with the chocolate chips (that will help keep them evenly distributed.) If you only have regular chocolate chips, or a chocolate bar, just give it a chop so it’s the size of mini chocolate chips

Add the remaining flour mixture to the batter and stir just until combined. Add chocolate chips and stir to combine.

Divide the batter between the two pans. and sprinkle topping over each. Place pans on a cookie sheet for easy moving.

Bake in your preheated 350 degree oven for 50-60 minutes. I set my timer for 45 minutes and then keep an eye on it for the remainder. Ya never know how different ovens handle things.

When it’s done a toothpick or skewer should come out without goopy batter on it and the top will be gorgeous and cracked with sugar.

Let it cool on a rack for 5-10 minutes and then remove from pans.

Breadsticks

So here are the way easy, go to breadstick recipe I used with my way healthy fettucini alfredo. Seriously they were soooooo easy and they tasted awesome! Mine look a little different because I still need practice on my measurements and my twisting but I'm sure they tasted just as easy! My Rendition:

http://www.ourbestbites.com/2008/04/breadsticks-and-pizza-dough/

Chocolate-swirled-banana bread /classic banana bread.

I tried this bread for Bridger because he is always a big fan of any kind of bread, and oh boy did I fall in love with this! Especially the tip to warm up the chocolate swirled bread and add a bit of peanut butter to it. That did it for me, right there! I didn't have plain yogurt on hand so I used light sour cream instead and it turned out fabulous!!

http://www.ourbestbites.com/2009/02/chocolate-swirled-banana-bread-and-classic-banana-bread/