Orange Buttermilk Waffles

I love breakfast foods.  They're my absolute favorites, so most Saturday mornings you'll find me in the kitchen whipping up something wonderful to eat.  This recipe is one I've wanted to try for awhile, and finally got around to this morning.  They turned out so well that I thought I might as well share them right away.

Orange Buttermilk Waffles

1-1/4 Cups gluten-free flour mix
1/4 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 tsp sugar
1/8 tsp salt

1/2 Cup orange juice
3/4 Cup buttermilk
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp grated orange peel
2 eggs, divided

Coat inside of waffle iron with cooking spray and preheat.  Whisk together the dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl.  In another bowl, whisk together the orange juice, buttermilk, vegetable oil, grated orange peel and egg yolks.  Pour into flour mixture and whisk together until dry ingredients are incorporated.  Beat egg whites until soft peaks form; fold into batter.*  Pour batter onto heated waffle iron and bake until steaming stops and waffle is golden.  Makes 4-6 waffles.

*Doing this step will ensure light, crispy waffles.  However, having raised kids, I know that sometimes everyone is clamoring for breakfast and you'd rather have your teeth drilled than dirty one more bowl and dig around in the bottom cupboard for your hand mixer, let alone take the time to beat the egg whites and then slowly fold them into the batter.  So hey, go ahead and just beat the whole eggs into the liquid ingredients and proceed.  I won't report you to the waffle police, the waffles will still turn out delish, your family will never know the difference, and you can still feel proud of yourself for having produced something better than cold cereal.  Happiness all around :-D.

In case you're wondering what's smeared on the waffles in the picture, remember the Cream Cheese Spread from earlier in the month?  Oh. My. Goodness.  They are M.F.E.O. (remember Sleepless in Seattle? )  Seriously, you've got to try it.  Mmmmmmmmm.

Pumpkin Bundt Cake

If you have people in your family who don't care for pumpkin pie, this cake would be a great substitute on Thanksgiving.  It has that autumn/holiday aroma and taste, great texture, and a cream cheese frosting -- how can you go wrong?  Best of all, no one will ever guess it's gluten free.  Enjoy!

Pumpkin Bundt Cake

3 Cups rice powder gluten free mix (click here if you need the recipe for the mix)
1 tsp xanthan gum
3 tsp baking powder
2-1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Whisk together in a bowl.  Set aside.  In a stand mixer, if you have one, or with a hand mixer beat together:

1 Cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1-1/2 Cups granulated sugar

Beat until light and fluffy.  Don't skimp on this step -- it needs to be billowy for a nicely textured light cake. 

3 eggs, added one at a time
1 tsp vanilla extract
1-1/4 Cups solid-pack pumpkin puree

Beat into butter/sugar mixture. 

1 Cup milk

Beat in alternately with flour mixture.  Spoon into sprayed bundt pan.  Bake at 350 for 57-60 minutes -- test for doneness with toothpick.  Cool in pan for 10 minutes.  Invert onto plate and let cool until just slightly warm.

Cream Cheese Frosting

4 oz cream cheese
1/2 Cup sifted confectioners sugar
4 Tbsp milk
1 tsp grated lemon zest
1/4 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Beat together until well blended.  Pour over cake top while it's still slightly warm, letting it drip down sides.  Cool completely before cutting.

(For you gluten eaters, just substitute regular flour and leave out the xanthan gum.)



Cider Doughnuts

The weather is turning cooler -- time to start baking!  Actually, these aren't baked, they're deep-fried, but you know what I mean.  If you haven't tried making your own doughnuts, now's the time to start.  It's much easier than you think.  You'll need a large heavy pan (cast iron is wonderful, but any heavy pan will do) with at least 2" of oil (use one with a high smoke point -- safflower or corn oil work well) in it and a thermometer (it needs to be 365 degrees to be hot enough to fry the doughnuts), or dig out your Fry Baby or Fry Daddy deep-fat fryer, dust it off and go for it!  I'd almost forgotten I had a Fry Daddy, but discovered it when I was cleaning out a closet recently, and it immediately made me start thinking about doughnuts, of course.  I actually hadn't made homemade doughnuts since before we had to go gluten-free, so I had to do some experimenting with this recipe to make them turn out well.  It took a couple tries, but this morning, success!  So here you go -- the taste of fall in a doughnut:

Cider Doughnuts

In a stand mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat together until batter forms ribbon when beater is lifted:
2 large eggs
2/3 Cup packed dark brown sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp cardamom
Whisk together in a small bowl:
4 Tbsp butter, melted
4 Tbsp sour cream
Gradually beat into the butter/sugar/spice mixture.  Then gradually beat in:
1 Cup apple cider *
Whisk together in a bowl:
3-1/2 Cups rice powder gluten free mix (click here for mix recipe)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp xanthan gum
Beat into above mixture.  Will be a heavy batter.  Refrigerate covered for 1 hour. 

Remove from refrigerator.  Divide in half.  Pat out half on floured board (just use more of the rice powder GF mix) to about 1/2" thick.  Cut with floured doughnut cutter (dip it into the flour between each doughnut that you cut to make the doughnuts release easily).  When oil is up to temperature, fry doughnuts 3 or 4 at a time (depending on the room in your pan/fryer), turning once.  Remove with slotted spoon.  Drain on paper towels.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve warm.  Or make a light glaze and glaze the doughnuts.  The glaze works especially well if you're going to have leftovers for later -- it keeps the doughnuts moist.

* In a hurry and don't want to refrigerate?  Use 1 Cup frozen apple juice concentrate instead of the apple cider -- it will make the dough cold enough to handle immediately.

Cream Cheese Spread

I recently found some notes I took a long time ago while watching a "Barefoot Contessa" show on the Food Network.  I had just finished making some muffins and decided to throw together this super easy recipe from my notes and try it out on the muffins.  Nirvana!  Plus, it would be wonderful on pancakes, waffles, sugar cookies, etc. etc. etc. or just by the spoonful out of the bowl -- not that I did that, of course, I'm just sayin'.  Plus, if you wanted it lemony, you could just substitute lemon zest for the orange zest, and think of all the things you could use that on....yumminess!

Cream Cheese Spread

1 8-oz pkg cream cheese
1 heaping Tbsp fresh orange zest
1/3 Cup sugar

Beat together until well blended.  Store in refrigerator.

That's it!  On your mark, get set, go!!

Pear Bread

Now that pear season is here, I just had to share this recipe.  It's one I've been working on for a couple years.  For some reason, it was a tough transition from the original non-gluten-free recipe to this one.  If you looked at them together, you'd never guess the GF version had come from the original version, their ingredients are that different from each other.  So sorry non-GF followers -- this is one of those recipes that is not an easy switch back.  If anyone really wants to see the original recipe, leave me a comment and I'll post it.

The main reason I worked so hard adapting this recipe is because it's my husband's favorite quick bread.  He looks forward all year to pear season so he can have some of this bread on those crisp evenings that are such a joy in the fall.  So here you go -- bake some up and enjoy!

Pear Bread

3/4 Cup sour cream
6 Tbsp butter, softened
1 Cup sugar

Cream together until fluffy.  Add:

2 eggs

Beat well.  Whisk together in another bowl:

2 Cups gluten-free flour mix
1 tsp xanthan gum
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Add to creamed mixture and mix well.

1-1/2 Cups peeled, cored, finely diced ripe pears (about 2 medium-sized pears)
2 tsp vanilla
3/4 Cup chopped macadamia nuts (optional)

Add to batter and stir in by hand until well incorporated.  Spoon batter into well greased loaf pans.  Bake at 350 for 45 minutes to an hour, depending on size of pans.  When browned on top, test for doneness with a toothpick.  Makes 3 small or two medium loaves.