Tyra Creates

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Recipe from:  Gluten-Free Baking Classics by Annalise G. Roberts

1 cup vegetable shortening (not butter or margarine)

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup dark brown sugar (I use light brown sugar)

2 large eggs

1 tbsp pure vanilla extract

*2 cups plus 2 tbsp Brown Rice Flour Mix

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp xantham gum

1/2 tsp salt

12 oz chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Position rack in center of oven. Lightly grease cookie sheet with cooking spray.

Beat shortening and both sugars at medium speed in large bowl of electric mixer. Add eggs and vanilla; beat until fluffy.

Add flour, baking soda, xantham gum and salt; mix at medium speed until well blended. Mix in chocolate chips.

Drop heaping teaspoons of dough onto cookie sheets 2 inches apart. Bake in center of oven for 8-10 minutes until light golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack and cool. Store in airtight container.

*Brown Rice Flour Mix

2 cups brown rice flour

2/3 cup potato starch

1/3 cup tapioca flour

These are delicious and you can't tell they are gluten free. Gluten-Free Baking Classics is a great cookbook and helped me cook things for my daughter that I didn't think she would be able to ever have again.

 

Gluten Free Pumpkin Bars

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil (I used canola oil)
• 15oz can pumpkin
• 1 cup rice flour (I used super fine brown rice flour from Authentic Foods)
• 1 teaspoon xantham gum
• 1 cup cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using an electric mixer at medium speed, combine the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin until light and fluffy. In a seperate bowl, stir together the rice flour, cornstarch, xantham gum, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and mix at low speed until thoroughly combined and the batter is smooth. Spread the batter into a greased 13x9 baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting. Cut into bars.

Cream Cheese Icing

• 1 8oz package cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 3/4 to 4 cups confectioners sugar

For frosting, in a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla. Gradually beat in enough confectioners sugar to achieve the desired consistency.

These are super yummy and did not last long in my house!

Let me know if you make them and if you like them as much as we did.

Days at Home

I have had off work the last 2 days, I have spent that time resting, catching up with things around the house, enjoying the peace and quiet while the kids are at school.

This is Mack and he loves when I'm home from work. We spend time snuggling and napping on the sofa.

Mack has been so good for me. I got him 3 weeks after my father died, he brought life and happiness into our home. I've often said that Mack and my children helped me through the grief and depression that nearly swallowed me whole.

There is just nothing like the love of a dog, he thinks I'm the best thing ever.

I baked these whole wheat blueberry muffins on Sunday.

In one word these are-yummy!

Super moist and healthy too. I will post the recipe later. The recipe uses whole wheat pastry flour, only a half cup of sugar and yields 12 normal size muffins. You can use frozen blueberries but they are way better with fresh. I like to get my fresh blueberries right now at Sam's Club.

These are the colors of one of the crochet projects I'm working on. When finished, it will be a bag.

The pattern can be found here. I love Lucy's blog, she is so talented and uses the prettiest colors.

For my blog I am using yarn from my stash, I figured that was the more frugal thing to do and besides, I have a lot of yarn!