Thursday, September 3, 2015

Sugar Cookies...Ho, Ho, Ho...Christmas is coming!


                                                                              





The other night my grandson wanted to spend the night, and since he loves pizza I took him out to our local Pizza Hut. OK....ya caught me! No I didn't have pizza, but opted for salad instead, so I am just a wee bit proud of myself. Can I pat myself on the back now???

When we got home I decided we ought to make cookies to occupy some time. Its really hard to keep a 10 year old boy who's full of energy at my age,  and I thought this would be a rather tasty diversion. With that being said, and being to tired to make cookies from scratch as I normally do, I opted for a box mix.

Several weeks back I had received several mixes from Cherrybrook Kitchen to review so I opted for the easy way. The mix calls for melted butter, rice milk, vanilla, and the box mix. Well I didn't have rice mix on hand so I used regular 2% milk, which is always on hand.

I am a stickler with following directions, my daughter swears I  have a slight case of OCD  ..think that's what she said...Oh well, I just like things done a certain way.

When I assembled the mix it was more like a crumble that you might put on top of a coffee cake. Oops... The directions say you are suppose to roll the cookies in balls before you bake them. If I would have done this they possibly would have turned out ok, but being who I am I didn't want to take the chance of having to throw everything in the garbage. So I did the only logical thing I thought I should do, and that was to add a egg.

The dough at this point actually resembled cookie dough, so I scooped them out with my cookie scoop, flattened the tops just slightly with the back of a spoon, and baked.

I have to say these really surprised me! They tasted exactly like a sugar cookie should, rose nicely, and were tender and moist. Oh, did I tell you I added a sprinkle of sugar to the tops before baking?

I have no idea how they would have turned out if I hadn't added the egg, so for that reason alone I can't give a honest review, as I didn't follow the directions on the box....Sorry Charlie.

But I can say this... if you want to give this product a try, then be sure and add a egg, unless you are adventurous and want to follow the directions exactly as stated on the box! If you do I would love to hear back from you as to how they actually turned out.

Until next post, have a blessed gluten free week!
Sharon
 

Friday, August 14, 2015

Enjoy Life....Top of the muffin to ya!



Good morning all. Today I posted on Facebook that I was going to make this the best day I possibly could. Having lost my mom recently the days just seem to run together. So I am determined to pick myself up and try and make today as normal as possible. Baking has always been a sort of go to project that seems to help make all things seem right, so therefore  I baked!

Several weeks ago Enjoy life sent me this incredible box of goodies. I was tickled when I received it and excited to finally be able to give their new "box mixes" a try. I have tried many of their shelf items and am so thrilled that they finally are offering mixes that I can make from scratch and enjoy warm, straight from the oven.                                     

                                                                               

The mixes are not only gluten free, but also free from dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, egg, soy, fish, and shell fish, so they are very allergy friendly. They are made with Ancient Grains like teff, buckwheat (has no wheat), millet, quinoa, with rice flours being last on the list. They are developed with probiotics which also make them good for your gut....Well enough dousing your brain with ingredient information, I was getting a little brain fog there also...

The muffins were even more than I had hoped for. They were light, fluffy and had a great flavor, unlike mixes based on strictly rice flours, there are actually hearty tasting. I felt like I was doing something special for my body :-)

They rose nicely and were soft and moist. I had to stop at two...didn't want to get too carried away, and I added some frozen blueberries for a extra added treat.
                                                                                
So if you are looking for a great hearty muffin mix, then look no more. Stop by the Enjoy life  site at http://www.enjoylifefoods.com and pick up a box or two. Since this is a brand new item it make take awhile to be found in your local stores.
 
So shop away, and as always have a great gluten free week. See you real  soon....
Sharon "Lee"

Buckwheat - Gluten Free -- Grass Free

 Buckwheat, which is actually not in the wheat family at all, has somehow gotten a bad rap over the years. I personally have avoided it basi...