Gluten Free Pepernoten

In The Netherlands Sinterklaas visits the children on December 5th accompanied by his faithful helper Black Peter.  The pepernoten are thrown to the children through the open door before the arrival of SinterKlaas.

This recipe is quite hard/crunchy.  Do not bake too long or they will get harder.

Easy Gluten Free Pepernoten
1 cup Rogers Golden syrup (or pancake syrup, or corn syrup)
1/2 cup oil (I used canola)
3/4 cup white sugar
1 cup sweet rice flour
1 cup tapioca flour
1 cup millet flour (or chickpea)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4
teaspoon nutmeg powder
1//4 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Method:
Warm the syrup. Add the sugar to the syrup.  Stir.  Cool . Add the oil to the syrup. Stir.  Mix the dry ingredients together in separate bowl .  Add the dry mixture and stir with wooden spoon or hands until smooth.  Let sit for 5 minutes.
Flour your counter top with sweet rice flour.  Form into marble sized balls.  Flatten slightly.  Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.  The cookies will be hard.

**Dairy and Egg free.

Gluten Free Poppy Seed Cake

This cake has always been a favourite of Robert's.  After he was diagnosed with Celiac disease it took quite a few years before I tried making it gluten free.  This recipe worked out quite well.

Gluten Free Poppy Seed Cake
1/3 cup poppy seeds
1 cup milk
1 cup cornstarch
1 cup rice flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup oil
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 eggs, separated
1/2 teaspoon cream of Tartar


Filling:
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:
Using a 2 cup measurer - Soak poppy seed in 1 cup milk for 1 hour.  Sift together cornstarch, rice flour, 1 1/2 cups sugar and baking powder - set aside.
Add oil and vanilla extract to poppy seed mixture.
Place egg whites in mixer bowl.  Add cream of tartar.  Beat until stiff.
Add milk and poppy seed to the sifted flour mixture.  Mix for 1 minute until blended.
Fold the egg whites into the batter.  Place in 2 9" cake  pans.  Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.  Cool before removing from pans.

Filling:
In saucepan add: milk, egg yolks 1/2 cup sugar and cornstarch.  Mix together.  Bring to a simmer - stirring constantly until thickened.  Stir in vanilla extract.  Let cool.   Slice cake in half.  Spread filling between the layers.  Place in covered container in fridge until serving time.  Optional - dust top with icing sugar.

Gluten Free Gingerbread Men

Gingerbread Men Recipe

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar ( icing sugar)
• 1 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cups shortening or butter or margarine
• 3 eggs
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract (this is correct)
• 1 1/2 cup amaranth flour or sorghum flour
• 1 cups potato starch
• 1 cups sweet rice flour
• 2 cups white rice flour or brown rice flour
• 1 tablespoons xanthan gum or guar gum
• 1 1/2 tablespoons Baking Powder.
• 2 teaspoons ginger powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
• 1 teaspoon cloves

Preheat oven to 325*.  Mix together the dry ingredients with a wisk until well combined.  Set aside.
Cream together the sugars, shortening (or butter or margarine), eggs, vanilla and salt.  Add the flour mixture a cup at a time stirring with a wooden spoon or with your mixer's dough hook.  Stir until all the flour mixture is incorporated.  Remove to counter or table top that has been dusted with rice flour.  Knead and fold the dough a bit.  The dough should be able to be gathered into a ball.

• For roll out/cut out cookies chill the dough for about an hour.  then you can either dust your table top with sweet rice flour or roll the dough between two sheets of plastic wrap to 1/8" for crispy or 1/4" for soft cookies.  Bake at 325 for 10 - 12 minutes or until light brown.

You do not have to use all the dough at once.  Just wrap it well and store in freezer.  The baked cookies freeze well.  If left at room temperature in a container for more than 3-4 days they will dry out.

Pork Sausage Patties

Gluten Free Pork Sausage Recipe

1lb ground pork
1 teaspoon sage
1/8 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon thyme
Mix together and let sit a few minutes.  Form into patties or sausage and fry until done.

Grandma Booy's Rice Stuffing Recipe

This is a tradition in the Booy family.  Turkey and Rice Stuffing for Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving Dinners.

Rice Stuffing
2 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, diced
1 lb ground pork
1 teaspoon sage
1/8 teaspoon ginger powder
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon thyme
dash of pepper
1/2 cup sliced mushroom
2 stalks celery, sliced
pinch of sage and thyme
1 cup rice

Method:
Mix ground pork, sage, ginger, nutmeg and thyme  together.  Let sit for 15 - 30 minutes to flavour the meat.
Cook 1 cup white rice in 1 1/2 cups water until done.
In large sauce pan melt butter and add diced onion.  Fry until light brown.  Add the ground pork  and fry until done.  Add remaining ingredients and fry until celery and mushrooms are softened. Add a pinch of sage and thyme.  Add rice and fry a few minutes until it is all heated through.  Add a little soy sauce according to your taste.

This recipe would serve 4.  We always double or triple it.

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Coffee Ring

I have adapted this recipe from Gert Bakker's family cookbook and made it gluten free.  We ate it before I could take a picture and so I randomly searched images on Google and found one that looked exactly like mine!  The recipe is basically the same as the one I adapted.  I'll take my own photo next time I bake it!

Beat at medium speed in mixer bowl:

Picture is borrowed from Taste of Home.  

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 butter

Add:

• 1 cup sweet rice flour
• 1/2 cup potato starch
• 1/2 cup tapioca starch
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat at low speed until blended, scrape bowl with spatula.  Increase speed to medium- beat for 3 minutes.  Stir in:

• 1 /2 cup chocolate chips

Spread batter in a greased and floured bundt or tube cake pan.  Mix the following into a crumbly mixture:

• 1/2 cup rice flour or a half rice flour and half millet flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup butter

Add to crumb mixture:

• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Bake at 325* for approximately 60 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.  Cool in pan.
Notes: This cake starts out very soft.  The next day it firms up nicely.  Can be kept in sealed container for 3-4 days.  Can also be frozen.

Sweet and Sour Meatball Sauce - Made with pickle juice!

Those of you who made Ice Cream Pail Pickles this fall save the juice to make Sweet and Sour Barbecue Sauce for your Christmas meatballs!
There should be about 4 cups pickle juice enough for 7-8 pounds meatballs.
Sweet and Sour Barbecue Sauce
4 cups pickle juice, strained (from ice cream pail sweet pickle recipe)
4 cups ketchup
8 tablespoons cornstarch
8 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Place in large pot and stir until combined. Bring to a boil stirring occasionally until thickened. Pour over meatballs. Heat in slow cooker or roaster as you would your regular recipe.