Easier than pie

Years ago, pie crusts intimidated me. During my childhood, I doubt I ever saw anyone make one from scratch. My grandmother used the Pillsbury ones, that came rolled up in a box. After my Celiac Disease diagnosis, any pie I wanted needed to start with a homemade crust.

However, making a gluten free galette is easier than pie! You simply roll the dough out flat, and leave it on the parchment paper. No need to have it perfectly circular. You don’t even have to transfer it to a pie pan. You just place the filling in the center, fold up the edges, and BAM, you’re ready to go!

Fresh or Frozen Fruit?

After preparing my pie crust, I pondered on what filling to create. Being that Valentine’s Day and “all things red” were about to pop up, I settled on strawberries. However, I wondered if I could use frozen strawberries instead of fresh.

After much research, I found I could use frozen fruit! I find it to be so much cheaper this time of year. Every so often, my local Aldi offers a 2 lb bag of pre-sliced frozen strawberries. They worked perfectly for this gluten free strawberry galette. I simply weighed what I needed, placed them in a colander, and let them thaw for a few hours.

Sweet or Savory?

Most galette recipes call for a sweet, fruit filling. For example, this beautiful grain free apple galette from Lexi’s Clean Kitchen is a show stopper! However, this simple pastry easily transforms into a savory brunch or dinner delight.

You can use this crust recipe to create various savory galetttes. I have my eye on this Mushroom Goat Cheese Galette from A Beautiful Plate. I’m never one to say no to goat cheese! This Breakfast Galette filling from Some the Wiser makes a great alternative to a quiche. No heavy cream needed!

Homemade Ice Cream

Every sweet galette recipe I see calls for ice cream on top. Therefore, I made a small batch of homemade vanilla ice cream for this gluten free strawberry galette. I made it in my new Dash pint sized ice cream maker. However, it didn’t work so well.

Therefore I highly recommend my old stand by, the Cuisinart ICE-21 ice cream maker. Years ago, I won this along with David Lebovitz’s The Perfect Scoop recipe book. This book has so many amazing recipes, you’ll want to make them all! David recommends a ratio of 2 parts cream to 1 part whole milk for vanilla ice cream.

Gluten Free Galette Recipe

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Gluten Free Strawberry Galette

Equipment

• USA Pan Half Sheet Pan, 17 1/4 x12 1/4 x1
• Dreamfarm Brizzle-Red
• Cup4Cup Multipurpose Flour, 3 Pounds

Ingredients

For the (9″) pie crust

• 1 cup Cup 4 Cup Gluten Free Multipurpose Flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/3 c COLD butter cut into small chunks
• 1 egg yolk
• 2-3 tbsp ICE COLD water

For the filling

• 1.25 lb frozen fruit thawed (approx 3 cups)
• 3 tbsp sugar
• pinch of salt
• 2 tbsp corn starch
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 egg + 2 tsp water for egg wash

Instructions

• In a food processor, combine flour and salt. Next, add chunks of cold butter. Turn on processor and pulse until the butter has blended into the flour. 
• Remove lid and add egg yolk and blend. 
• Finally, add ice cold water, one tbsp at a time until dough starts to form. Remove dough from food processor, press into a disk, and cover in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight. 
• To prepare filling, prepare strawberries. If using fresh strawberries, slice and add sugar, and allow to set. The sugar should draw out the natural juices.
• If using frozen sliced strawberries, place in colander and allow to thaw for up to two hours. I do so by placing them in a colander, over a bowl. After strawberries have thawed, transfer to a bowl and then add sugar. 
• To the strawberry and sugar mixture, add pinch of salt, corn starch and vanilla. Stir mixture and set aside. 
• Remove pastry dough from refrigerator. Place on a large sheet of parchment paper, which has been sprinkled with gluten free flour. Using a rolling pin, roll into a rough 10-12 inch circle. It doesn't have to be an exact circle, and the edges can be shaggy. 
• Leaving approximately a 2" gap from the edge, place filing in the center of the pastry dough. Fold the edges of the rolled dough up over the filling, naturally creating creases as you fold. 
• In a small dish, combine egg and water, whisk with a fork, and coat the pastry edges with egg wash. If desired, sprinkle with sugar. 
• Bake at 400 for 25-30 min.
• Best served warm, with ice cream or whipped cream on top. 

Have you tried your hand at making a gluten free galette? If you want to make a pie, you can use this same crust recipe to make my gluten free dutch apple pie, blueberry pie, or my jam-filled hand pies. I always use Cup 4 Cup multipurpose flour for my pastry and yeasted dough baked goods. It does contain milk powder.

**This post is not sponsored. However, it does contain affiliate links. Purchases made through those links help support this blog with no extra expense to you. Thank you for your continued support!**

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Awhile back, I made Food 52’s New Fashioned Chocolate Chip Cookies With All Tahini and No Butter. Tahini brownies were a thing, but I had never heard of using it in cookies. Inspired, I made a batch of these tahini chocolate chip cookies. I thought for sure the tahini would overpower the cookies. Au contraire. Noticing the recipe contained no dairy, I wanted recreate them to be completely vegan. Enter my take on gluten free tahini chocolate chip cookies, with a vegan twist.

Egg Substitution

As I mentioned, the original recipe contains no dairy. To make them vegan, I simply needed to replace the egg. Many substitutes exist for replacing eggs. Bob’s Red Mill makes a powdered egg replacer. Many vegan bakers create a “flax egg” by combining 1 tbsp flax meal with 3 tbsp of hot water, and allowing it to set up for 5 minutes. (Minimalist Baker adds 2.5 tbsp of water.)  However, my digestive system and flax seed aren’t the best of friends. Besides, I wanted to to find a substitute you likely stock in your pantry. (Visit Allergylicious for more tips on Egg Free Baking.)

Applesauce. That’s right, applesauce. Many use applesauce to replace fat (like in my Applesauce Bundt Cake), but you also can use it as a substitute for eggs. One quarter cup equals one egg. Some people add baking soda to the applesauce. I made these gluten free tahini chocolate chip cookies three times. The first time I added the baking soda. The other two batches I left it out, and did not notice a huge difference.

Tips on Tahini and Sesame

What is tahini, you ask? Similar to peanut butter, tahini is a seed butter made from sesame seeds. Much like natural peanut butter, it separates at room temperature. Therefore, you must make sure to stir the whole container thoroughly before measuring. Otherwise, you may have more “ground seed” in your batter than oil. In addition, start with a fresh jar of tahini. I baked my first batch of gluten free tahini chocolate chip cookies with old tahini, and it definitely didn’t taste as good. (Other uses for tahini? HUMMUS.)

Recently, the FDA sought insight on possibly labeling sesame as an allergen, here in the United States. In Europe, they include sesame in their Top 14 allergen list. The incident of food allergies to sesame appears to be on the rise here in the US. If serving these gluten free tahini chocolate chip cookies to friends, please make sure to alert them to the inclusion of sesame. Enjoy Life Foods products do not contain sesame.

Two Types of (Enjoy Life Foods) Chocolate

The first time I made these, I only had a few ounces of dairy free chocolate chips on hand. Therefore, I chopped up some dairy free chocolate bars I had on hand. Lemme tell ya, the best culinary substitution ever. I mean, you can use just chocolate chips if you want. However, I find the chopped chocolate almost melts into the cookie, creating different layers of chocolate in every bite. PHENOMENAL.

I used two Top 8 allergen free Enjoy Life Products for these gluten free tahini chocolate chip cookies. With Valentine’s Day around the corner, I used their Dark Chocolate Valentine’s Chocolate Minis for chopping. Second, I used the Enjoy Life Foods Mini Chips. I always have a bag of these on hand. They work perfectly in recipes like my Easy Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Blondies, or my Gluten Free S’mores Bars. Of course, eating them straight from the bag works too. Life can always use more chocolate.

Treats for All To Enjoy

As mentioned before, these cookies contain none of the top 8 allergens. (Make sure the flour you use contains none of them, either.) That makes my gluten free tahini chocolate chip cookies a great option for Valentine’s Day parties! (Always provide a list of ingredients, as kids / adults may have additional food restrictions.) Enjoy Life’s seasonal chocolate minis add a great treat to parties, as well. They come in 4 bags – dark chocolate (orange bag), rice milk chocolate (pink bag), rice milk crunch (remember Nestle Crunch bars?!?!) and a variety bag of all three (purple bag).

Find other fun recipes for your Valentine’s Sweetheart below!

• Eat at Our Table Adorable DIY Chocolate Valentines
• Celiac and the Beast Gluten Free Bourbon Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Flippin Delicious Gluten Free Cookie Dough Brownie Truffles
• Gluten Free Palate Homemade Chocolate Sauce

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Gluten Free Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies (Vegan)

Equipment

• King Arthur, Measure for Measure Flour 3 Pounds
• Soom Foods Ground Sesame Tahini Paste 11oz (2 Pack
• Enjoy Life Mega Chunks 10 oz Each / Pack of 3

Ingredients

• 4 oz tahini make sure it is well stirred (Scant 1/2 cup)
• 100 g sugar 1/2 cup
• 70 g brown sugar 1/3 cup
• 1/4 c unsweetened applesauce or one egg
• 1 tbsp water
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 124 grams gluten free flour sifted (1 cup) (I used King Arthur Flour)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3 oz chopped chocolate I used 9 Enjoy Life Valentine minis (about 1/2 cup)
• 3 oz mini chocolate chips I used Enjoy Life mini chips (about 1/2 cup)

Instructions

• Chop chocolate bars (or minis)and set aside. 
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
• In a small bowl, combine sifted flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
• In bowl of a stand mixer, combine tahini, both sugars, applesauce, water and vanilla. Fit stand maker with paddle attachment and cream for at least 3 minutes.
• Slowly add flour blend, mixing until completely incorporated. 
• Remove bowl from stand mixer, and add chopped chocolate and chocolate chips. You can use just chocolate chips if you want, but I find that the thinly chopped bits of chocolate practically melt into the cookie, creating a bite of chocolate in every bite. 
• Using a one ounce cookie scoop, distribute dough on cookie sheet that has been lined with parchment paper. Wet your fingers, and gently push down on the rounded top of each dollop of dough. This bit of flattening helps the cookies to spread more evenly. I place 8 dough balls per cookie sheet, and I usually do one sheet at a time. 
• Bake cookies for a total of 12 minutes, rotating the cookie sheet halfway through baking. Remove from oven and allow to cookies to cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes. 
• Remove cookies from sheet and place on baking rack to cool. Cookies are best eaten warm, or gently reheated in microwave for 12 seconds. 

**This post is sponsored by Enjoy Life Foods. They provided me free product and compensated me for my time and efforts. Regardless of sponsorship, I love this brand and their staff. They truly feel like family! This post also includes Amazon affiliate links.**

The post Gluten Free Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies (Vegan) appeared first on MI Gluten Free Gal.

What Gluten Free Cake Mix Should I Use?

You can use any gluten free cake mix to make these gluten free valentine snack cakes. King Arthur Flour makes a delicious gluten free cake mix. I can usually find them at my local Meijer store. I believe Betty Crocker still makes a gluten free yellow cake mix.

Which product do you miss most since starting a gluten-free diet? I asked this question on my Facebook page, and received lots of comments and answers. Know what I miss? Little Debbie’s. They evoke a sense of my childhood. So today, I’m making adorable gluten free valentine snack cakes, reminiscent of those sweet treats wrapped in cellophane. I can still hear the crinkling of that wrapper, can’t you?

Two Ways to Make Heart Shaped Cakes

So, there are multiple ways you can go about making the cake for these gluten free valentine snack cakes. I have a silicone pan with heart-shaped wells. I filled each well with one ounce of batter, and baked them for 15 minutes. If you take this route, the mini cakes will rise, and you’ll have to trim he tops to make them flat. You’ll also need to cut the baked heart cakes in half, to fill them. 

If you lack a pan like mine, you can bake the cake in a jelly roll pan. I suggest lining it with parchment paper first to make removal easier. Then, simply use a heart cookie cutter to cut out heart shapes. This will leave bits of leftover cake bits, which you can later turn into cake balls. This is how I made my Gluten Free Christmas Tree Cakes.

How to Make the Filling for Valentine Snack Cakes

What’s the best part of a Little Debbie snack cake? Is it the the cake? The coating? Or is it the creamy filling ? This filling uses a creative, miraculous ingredient. Marshmallow fluff. Did you know that marshmallow fluff makes the easiest buttercream frosting?

Wish I could say this was my brain child. Nope. Just another wonderful recipe from The Kitchn. If you are curious on how to cook everything from spaghetti squash to authentic curry, I guarantee they have a recipe for it. Know what they don’t have? A recipe for gluten free valentine snack cakes. So I guess that makes me a genius. 😉

How to Coat Your Valentine Snack Cakes

I recommend using melted candy coating/ almond bark. I use the candy coating from Kroger, as it states gluten free on the package. I melt it using a double broiler method. This involves placing the coating in a glass bowl, over a hot pot of water. I add 1 tablespoon of shortening to thin it down a bit. 

To cover your Valentine Cakes, place on a fork, and dunk the whole cake in the melted candy coating. Place on parchment paper to cool. If you would like to add sprinkles or decorations, make sure to do so BEFORE the coating completely sets.

Can I Make the Coating for These Cakes Pink?

Want to tine the melted candy coating pink? “Add just a few drops of an oil-based food coloring into your bowl or container of melted candy melts, then stir the liquid into the melts. Try not to use traditional, alcohol-based food coloring for your candy melts, as this could cause the mixture to seize. You can find oil-based food coloring online.” (Wikihow)

Watch my Christmas Tree Cake Instagram Reel for a tutorial on how to coat the cakes. 

Other Gluten Free Valentine’s Day Treats

For an easy semi-homemade treat, try Eat at Our Table’s Easy Gluten Free Cookie Pops. (Just use your favorite gluten free Oreo type cookies.) For a a gluten, egg and dairy free treat, make these homemade Vegan Heart Pie Pops from Sarah Bakes Gluten Free. For the best sugar cookies ever, try these Gluten Free Valentine’s Day Sugar Cookies from Flippin’ Delicious.

What Valentine’s Day Candy is Gluten Free?

Since Valentine’s Day is a big day for candy, make sure to check Celiac Mama’s article on Gluten Free Valentine’s Gluten Free Candy List.  No Whey Chocolate make top 8 allergen free candies and truffles. Michigan based Mindo Chocolate makes excelleny gluten free chocolate. Find them both on my list of Gluten Free Easter Candy.

Gluten Free Heart Cakes Recipe

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Gluten Free Valentine Snack Cakes

Servings 12 -16 cakes

Author Margaret Clegg

Equipment

• Dolci Frutta White Melting Wafers, 8 ounce (Pack of 2) | Always Gluten-Free and Nut-Free
• King Arthur Gluten Free Yellow Cake Mix
• Silicone Heart Mold Heart Shaped Small Cake Pans 2 pack
• Heart Cookie Cutter Set, 5 Pieces
• USA Pan Bakeware Half Sheet Pan

Ingredients

For the Cake

• 1 box gluten free cake mix batter prepared according to directions
• **BAKE FOR ONLY 10-12 MINUTES in 2 jelly roll pans**

For the Filling

• 1 stick softened
• 7 oz marshmallow fluff
• 4 oz powdered sugar

For the Coating

• 24 oz vanilla candy coating I used Kroger
• 1 tbsp shortening to thin

Instructions

• Prepare the batter for your gluten free cake mix according to directions. If using a 15 – 16 oz cake mix, bake in TWO 10 x 15 jelly roll pans. (Or bake one batch and then reuse. If using a 18-22 oz cake mix, I recommend using 2 11×17 pans.
• ONLY BAKE FOR 10 minutes. Longer than this, and you'll have burnt cake on your hands. Remove baked cake from pans and allow to cool completely.
• Meanwhile, prepare your marshmallow cream filling. Make sure your butter is room temperature and soft, before starting. Mix using a hand mizxer, or a Kitchenaid stand mixer. (I like the stand mixer, because I can walk away.)
• Stretch the mouth of a piping bag over a tall glass, then fill the piping bag with filling mixture. Set aside.
• Once cake is cooled, cut cake into heart shapes, using a cookie cutter. Pipe filling on to the bottom piece of cake. Don't be afraid to be generous with the filling. You have plenty of filling! Place another heart cake cutout on top of filling
• Once all heart cake bottoms have been topped with filling and a top cake, place in freezer for 60 minutes, before coating.
• Meanwhile, melt candy coating / almond bark in a glass bowl, set over a hot pot of water. To that, add your shortening, if needed. I used 24 oz of vanilla candy coating, and added a tbsp of shortening. You can make your coating thinner if you like, but I would test that out with a small portion of melted bark, and not a whole bowl of melted white chocolate. 
• If you would like to make your candy coating pink/red, make sure to use oil based food coloring. Water based food coloring will make the chocolate seize. I added some pink colored sanding sugar to mine to make them festive.
• Place valentine cake on fork, and dunk completely in bowl of melted candy coating. Use spoon to fully coat, if needed. Tap / bounce cake over bowl, to get rid of excess coating.
• Place finished cake on parchment and allow to coating to set. **Note- If you want to add sprinkles or colored sugar, you need to do this BEFORE the coating sets.
• **Note – If you have leftover filling, this can last in the fridge for 5 days. I used my leftover filling to the cake scraps to make cake balls. I don't have an exact measurement of frosting to tell you to add. Use just enough for the cake to hold together. Dip chilled cake balls in remaining melted candy coating.

**This post contains affiliate links. Purchases made through those links help support this blog with no extra expense to you. Thank you for your continued support!**

What’s your favorite Valentine’s treat? What family recipes do you make for your kiddos every February? Share your recipe ideas with me below! 

Originally Published February 2018

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