Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies (Gluten Free)

Ingredients:
½ cup butter
1 cup white sugar
½ cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup pumpkin
2 teaspoons gluten-free vanilla
1 ½ cups white rice flour
3/4 cup tapioca starch
1 ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum
3 teaspoons gluten-free baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon ginger½ teaspoon salt 
1 cup gluten-free chocolate chips

Directions:
In large mixing bowl beat together butter and sugars; add eggs, pumpkin and vanilla. Mix until well blended. Add small splash of milk if too dry

In medium mixing bowl combine dry ingredients and add to creamed mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350F degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Gluten Free Banana Bread & Muffins

You will need

1 1/2 cups of Gluten-Free All Purpose Baking Flour (or 1 cup white rice flour,1/2 cup bean or sorghum flour)
1 cup sugar 
1 Stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature 
2 large eggs 
3 ripe bananas*, peeled 
1 1/2 tbsp. milk 
1 tsp. ground cinnamon 
1 tsp. gluten-free vanilla extract 
1 tsp.  baking powder 
1 tsp. baking soda 
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. xanthan gum 
1/2 cup chopped pecans

1 cup milk chocolate chips

Mix sugar and butter with mixer until creamed and fluffy. Mix in eggs one at a time. In a separate bowl, mash the bananas with a fork or potato masher, and stir in milk, cinnamon, and vanilla. Add banana mixture to cream mixture and stir with mixer. Combine remaining dry ingredients. Slowly stir into wet mixture until flour disappears.

For muffins, spoon mixture into greased muffin tins, filling each muffin hole 2/3 full with dough. Bake on middle rack of oven at 350° for 12-15 minutes, or until the muffin tops are golden brown (took me 20 minutes.) For a loaf, pour mixture into a greased bread loaf pan. Bake on middle rack of oven at 350° for 50-60 minutes, or until the edges and top are golden brown. * Note that ripe bananas don’t mean spoiled bananas. If you wouldn’t consider eating it, don’t consider putting it in your bread! Also, if you have ripe bananas but aren’t ready to make your bread today, peel the banana and place it in a ziplock bag in the freezer. They’ll usually stay okay in the freezer for 3-6 months if tightly sealed. When you are ready to use them, just take the bananas out of the freezer and let them thaw for a couple hours at room temperature.

Enjoy!

Marsala Pears with Ricotta

We eat these classic Marsala Pears for desert after our big Italian Christmas dinner ever year. Except this year. Because we were in California and missed big Italian Christmas dinner, I decided I would share them with friends and family alike at my annual supper bowl party. These are a serious crowd pleaser so be ready for people to ask you to make them all year long.

•  

  
  
  
  6 firm pears, preferably Bartlett; peeled, halved, cored (using amelon ball tool) and brushed w/ lemon juice
• 3 c. water
• 3 c. Sweet Marsala Wine
• 1 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/2/c. low-fat cream cheese
• 1/2/c. low fat ricotta cheese
• 3 Tb powder sugar
• 1 oz semisweet chocolate, grated or curled
• 4 Tb sliced almonds, toasted

• Preheat oven 400 degrees F
• Place pears in deep baking dish if possible (approximately 6 x 6 x 4 inches- If you don't have this then use a 9 x 13 Pyrex). In a medium saucepan, bring water, Marsala wine and sugar to a boil over high heat to dissolve sugar.
• Pour boiling Marsala mixture over pears and bake in the oven uncovered for 1 hours (check for doneness, if it needs longer, let them cook). They are done when a knife easily pierces the pears.
• Remove pears from oven and let rest in liquid for 30 minutes to cool slightly; then refrigerate at least 2 hours but overnight is preferred.
• Beat cream cheese til light. Beat in ricotta and powder sugar mixing well. (You can also do this by combining everything in your Blendtec and hit the batter button as I did) Set aside. Remove pears from cooking liquid and set aside.
• In a medium saucepan, set on medium high heat, reduce liquid to 1 1/2 cup (approximately 15-20 minutes...stir very often).
• To serve, barely cut a flat spot on the bottom of the pears to make them sit flat. Place a chilled pear half in a bowl. Spoon 2 Tablespoons of the Ricotta mixture in the hollow of the pear. Drizzle with the Marsala syrup. Sprinkle with grated chocolate and almonds. Your taste buds will thank you for this one...
  
  
  

  
  

Gluten Free Cheesecake Fantastico :)

First let me say that this is one of those recipes that you can serve and no one, I mean NO ONE will know that it is gluten free. It is ah-mazing.

Gluten Free Cheesecake with Nut Crust Supreme (Cheesecake filling recipe courtesy of  http://glutenguide.blogspot.com, the crust I adapted from Bette Hagman’s “The Gluten Free Gourmet Bakes Dessert”)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Gluten Free Nut Crust Supreme
2 cups Pamela’s Gluten Free Baking Mix (I was out of this so I used 2 cups of crushed gf cookies)
½ cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 cup finely chopped pecans

Spray cheesecake pan lightly with olive oil spray or Pam. In a medium bowl stir together the flour mix and brown sugar. Cut in the butter until fine crumbs form. Stir in the nuts and pat into your pan. The crust will be “crumbly” but will hold together once pressed into the pan. This will be more than enough for one large cheesecake and perhaps for a second smaller pie. Though it tastes so good on it’s own you may just end up eating it!

Classic Gluten Free Cheesecake
4 – 8 oz bars of gluten free cream cheese, softened
1 cup of granulated sugar
2 eggs
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon gluten free vanilla

Mix all of the ingredients with a beater until smooth and pour into the unbaked crust. Place in preheated oven for 30 minutes.

While that is baking, prepare the topping.

2 cups gluten free sour cream
¾ cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon of gluten free almond extract
Juice from ½ a lemon

Mix the topping ingredients in a bowl. After the first 30 minutes of baking, remove the cheesecake and spoon the topping onto the cheesecake. Be careful not to overfill the pan. Return the cheesecake to the oven and bake for an additional 10-20 minutes. You may want to place a piece of foil under the cheesecake just to catch any drippings. Cooking times can vary dramatically depending upon the amount of topping you choose to use. Watch to see when it starts to solidify but don’t let it stay in so long that the crust begins to burn.
This recipe is easy to make and incredibly scrumptious, I promise.