Waffle Maker Recipes

Kayleigh here. If I had to choose a favorite kitchen appliance, one that I would buy before anything else in a new setup, it would without question be a waffle maker. Now, if you have never picked one up for yourself, it is probably because you are not a huge fan of waffles. Okay, I know, it is in the name- waffles are obviously what this thing is made to make. But take my word for it- my iron has seen a lot more than buttermilk batter. It had become my main machine for on-the-spot gluten free meal prep.

When our household runs out of bread, things are not as easy as running to the closest convenience store for an emergency loaf of WonderBread. So, rather than pile the fixings onto a plate and eating as-is, I whip up a biscuit dough and toss it in the waffle maker. Five minutes later, just pull out the crisped biscuit, tear the two halves in half to expose the fluffy insides, and add all the fixings. Sure, the shape is a little off, but it holds up well to any sauce or spread you throw on it.

Another fantastic use we have found is in making perfectly crisp hash browns. Grate up a couple small Russet potatoes, rinse them off to remove some of the starch, then toss in some salt, garlic powder, and a pinch of cayenne. Throw it into the well-greased waffle maker, then remove once the outside is golden brown (may take as much as ten minutes). Strike while the iron is hot, and crack an egg into each quarter- just be careful about closing the top down, if you don't want the yolk to spread out.

Want to get more experimental- try making a moffle! Take out that glutinous rice flour, and mix a cup of it with about 2/3 cups. The consistency should be a somewhat thick paste, but no quite a cohesive dough. Add a pinch of salt, and other spices depending on what you're making, then pour it on the waffle maker until it just starts to brown on the outside. The result will be a thin layer of crisp containing a very gooey, slightly transparent inside- a similar texture to melted mozzarella! I suggest eating it slightly warm, but the toppings are entirely up to you. Strawberries and whipped cream turn it into a lovely dessert, or add shredded cheese and diced pepperoni to the batter, then spread with a thin layer of marinara sauce after it is cooked- moffle pizza!

Jason here. I have been trying to cook crispy hashbrowns for years now. It always felt just a step away, ever eluding me. Well no longer! The hashbrowns have come out crispy and perfect each and every time we cooked them in the waffle maker. To top it off, this made the cleanup even easier.

The moffle dough it creates can only be described as magic. It literally tastes like it has a center of melted mozzarella cheese. The moffle pizza has now become a staple of our diet. It is just so easy to whip up on the spot. Each person can make it their own, by adding there favorite toppings.

The Gluten-Free Gourmet Bakes Bread Cookbook Review

Kayleigh here. Seems like it's about time for another cookbook review: this time, The Gluten-Free Gourmet Bakes Bread, by Bette Hagman. If you are anything like us, then you have one tried and true bread recipe, and you find yourself using it over and over again, since you do not want to go through a string of failures again finding out a new recipe. Clearly, the writer of this cookbook was cut from a different cloth, since she has made the effort to test and compile hundreds of different recipes for all sorts of bread varieties, from hearty, distinctive Rye and Sourdough recipes to inspiring and rut-breaking Irish Soda Bread and Chocolate Cherry Loaves. If you have the hankering for the vast array of varieties a gluten eater has at their disposal, then boy is this a book for you!

Hagman starts you right off with a Q+A session, covering quite many common issues with gluten free baking, from bread machine quirks to water-to-flour ratios and how to combat differences in brand behaviors. And as if this was not useful enough, she follows it up with quite a comprehensive list of flours, covering how they taste, what they are best used in, and even what other flours pair well with them! No longer does the sea of GF flours seem so daunting, with this list as your guide!

Another interesting quirk to this cookbook is that nearly every recipe has multiple versions for different sized loaves. Built as a guide for the oven baker as well as the bread machine user, each yeast bread contains instructions for both, noting the differences in cook times and behaviors quite thoroughly. I think it is fabulous, since it opens me up to baking at a friend’s house that may not have the same fancy kitchen setup as we do. It also makes recipe swapping easier, for the same reason!
Out of all the recipes we've dog-eared in this cookbook, our favorite so far is the cinnamon swirl bread. We added a cup of raisins to the cinnamon ribbons in the loaf, and baked a beautiful, fragrant loaf of bread worthy of toasting, spreading with Nutella or butter, and enjoying in your pajamas on a cold winter morning. In fact, this is the first gluten-free bread we've been able successfully make french toast with, as most other attempts have yielded crumbly, wet piles of disappointment. Not this cinnamon bread- it held up to the battering, gained a lovely crust and moist interior, and stayed in one piece when taken from pan to plate- fabulous!

Jason here. This cinnamon bread was absolutely delicious. Kayleigh has been the one who has persevered and made bread after bread, trying to find recipes which are enjoyable. Each time I feel the bread gets slightly better. What started as dry, dense, and bland, as slowly become flavorful, light, and fluffy. I know for sure that the various bread making books which we have picked up, or had gifted to us, have done wonders. I for one really enjoy the desert breads like the cinnamon bread we made from Hagman’s book.

Unfortunately, we cannot link to a blog or website for the author, as she has since passed away, but she does have several more cookbooks available for purchase, covering everything from comfort foods and desserts to more healthy dishes and baking tips- all lovingly researched and written long before gluten-free lifestyles entered the public spotlight. We cannot speak for the other books yet, but we highly doubt you can go wrong with Hagman's creative culinary concoctions!

Christmas Cookies for Two Recipe

Kayleigh here. Yes, I know the holidays have come and gone, but I am sure most of you are still wrapped in the warm blanket of good will and kindness that the season brings every year. Along with that fuzzy feeling, I'm sure you're still craving the tastes and scents of all that delicious holiday food that countered the cold, blustery weather so well. So, what to do when you do not want to roast an entire ham, or wait weeks for that fruitcake to soak? Well, why not take the quicker route, and bake some Christmas cookies?

Really, these cookies are quite lovely any time of the year, but I have some strong sentimental feelings from baking dozens of them towards the beginning of December, and riding out that sugary tide all the way into the start of the new year. But if you are like Jason and I are, and prefer a little variety from week to week, then maybe that thought of piles of cookies does not sound all that appealing. Why not reduce the recipe, and just whip a couple up when you get that craving?

The recipe below makes two each of Snowball cookies and Christmas Wreath cookies, since the base for each is the same. Really, you could alter this recipe pretty easily to just make one or the other- just double the extra ingredients for that cookie, and omit what is only needed for the other. But if you are like me, then these two go together like peanut butter and nutella, and I could not dream of having one without the other!

Christmas Cookies- Snowball and Christmas Wreath

Makes two of each cookie (4 total)

Ingredients:
For both:
2 TB butter, softened
1/4 Cup White Rice Flour
1/4 Cup Corn Starch
1 Cup Ice Cold Water (you will not use all of this)

For the Snowballs:
1 ts Granulated White Sugar
1-2 drops Almond Extract
2 TB crushed up Walnuts (very small pieces)
1/4 cup Powdered Sugar

For the Christmas Wreaths:
1 TB Brown Sugar
1-2 drops Vanilla Extract
1/2 Egg, beaten
2 heaping TB of Crushed Walnuts
2 TB shredded Coconut
2 heaping TB jelly or preserves of your choice (I usually use Raspberry or Strawberry)

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350. Combined butter and flour in a bowl, until it forms a crumbly dough. Add water, 1/2 teaspoon at a time, until the mixture JUST forms a ball. You want these cookies to hold their shape when baked, so do not make it too wet.

2) Divide dough into two bowls now. In the first, add the Sugar and Almond Extract, then mix in the walnuts. Form the dough into two balls, then place onto cookie sheet.
3)  In the second bowl, mix in Brown Sugar and Vanilla Extract. Roll the dough into two balls, then squish slightly to make a fat disk.

4) Beat the egg, then roll the two disks until coated. Sprinkle on Walnuts and Shredded Coconut, then place on cookie sheet. Using your thumbs, make an indent in the center of each one for the jelly to go in later.

5) Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the cookies are just starting to brown. Take the snowball cookies (the round ones) immediately off the sheet and roll them in powdered sugar. The sugar sticks better when they are hot, but be careful!
6) After the cookies have mostly cooled ( about 10 minutes), place a heaping tablespoon of jam into the center of each wreath cookie. Plate them up all pretty, and serve!

Jason here. These cookies definitely remind me of Christmas. They have that super crumbly texture that I associate with Christmas cookies. Unfortunately I do not like coconut, so I made mine without. Make sure you have a nice glass of milk to wash the cookies down with. I found my mouth getting dry after just a cookie, and then they are no fun. For that Christmas cookie taste, definitely try out these cookies, especially if you are just looking for a small batch cookie recipe.

Brown Rice Bread Recipe

Kayleigh here. So, after many, many, MANY crumbly and dense loaves of bread, I think we've finally found a recipe for the perfect gluten free sandwich bread. The recipe? It came from my Great Grandmother.

Well, mostly. She had no concerns about using non-gluten flours, so I did have to modify it a bit to match our needs. But fortunately for us, nearly every baked good she wrote down the recipe for included 2, 3, or even 4 different sorts of flours. So instead of guessing at what would match what quantities of the All-Purpose flour, I just plugged in direct substitutes I knew would match the taste!

Another addition to this particular recipe came from the previous post, actually! After making a wonderfully light and fluffy Angel Food Cake, Jason wondered 'Why can't we just make sandwiches out of this?' Although a sandwich made out of cake sounds a bit tempting, we realized it was probably not the best idea, but there was nothing saying we could not take a couple pointers from the cake-making process.

For those of you who have made gluten-free bread before, you know how hard it is to make anything close to the light, springy wonder breads of yesteryears. Certainly, the right flour blend can help with this, but most of the success actually comes in the process. Sift the dry ingredients at least once or twice to introduce more air to the loaf. Make sure all the refrigerated ingredients are taken out well beforehand, so they are at room temperature. Before adding the egg, beat it with Cream of Tartar until it forms a stiff foam. And make sure to proof your yeast beforehand!

What is proofing? Well, just take your liquid (water or milk, depending on the recipe) and heat it until just slightly warm. Add a tablespoon or two of sugar, then pour in the yeast, stirring well. After ten minutes or so, the surface should be very foamy looking, which means the mixture is ready to use. If you give it a fair amount of time, and it still does bot foam, then either the liquid was too cold, or the yeast is no longer active. Either way, it is no good, and your bread would not have risen with it!

If you are using a breadmaker, like we are, then you do need take an extra step beyond pressing the 'start' button. Pay attention to the first stirring cycle. As soon as it ends, reach in and remove the stirring paddle. That way, the first rise can happen uninterrupted, and the second stirring cycle will not undo all of that. Really, this will make or break the final rise and texture of the loaf, so do not forget this step! Gluten-free loaves do not have enough elasticity or strength to rise a second time.

Well, suppose I should stop rambling. Onto the recipe!

Brown Rice Bread

Ingredients:

1 Cup Brown Rice Flour
1 Cup Tapioca Flour
1 Cup Tapioca Starch
2 ts Guar Gum
1 ts Baking Soda
1 1/2 ts Baking Powder
1/2 ts Salt
1 Packet Active Dry Yeast (or 2 1/2 TBS)
1 Cup Milk
2 TBS Sugar
2 ts Apple Cider Vinegar
1/4 Cup Mollasses OR Corn Syrup
1 Egg
1/2 ts Cream of Tartar

Directions:

1) Heat the milk until just barely warm, then stir in sugar and yeast until dissolved. Let this sit for at least 10 minutes, or until proofed.
2) Sift all three flours, guar gum, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. If you're feeling ambitious, sift it two or three times!
3) Break the egg into another bowl, add the cream of tartar, and beat with an electric mixture until very foamy, and you can form stiff peaks.
4) Add the milk mixture to the breadmaker, followed by the molasses/corn syrup, vinegar, flour mixture, and egg.
5) Set the bread machine for a 1 1/2 lb loaf, and press start. We recommend checking a couple of times early on, and scraping off the sides if they are not getting combined properly. Remove the stirring paddle after the first mixing cycle, them just let the rest of the process run its course as normal.

By the end, you should have a beautiful, airy loaf with an earthy brown color. And we promise, it tastes even better than it looks!

Jason here. I’ll be brief, I promise.

Finally a decent home cooked bread I could enjoy. All of the previous breads turned to bland tasteless mush. This holds its texture fairly well, while having a distinct bread taste. The bread itself is harder than a regular bread, but not in a dense sort of way. It is more like how bread feels after you lightly toast it, just now all the way through.

It is missing the elasticity that gluten brings to regular bread. This can make it crumbly at times, so I have taken to occasionally eating my sandwich with a fork and knife. I don’t really mind, it just makes it a little messier. 

All in all, this makes for very decent sandwich bread, if you can spare a little mess.

Recipe Experimentation, Part Two

All right, so last week we were talking about the whole issue about trying different cuisines of the world while avoiding gluten. Sometimes, the solution is simply looking up "___ gluten free recipe". Other times, you may just end up finding recipes for similar dishes, and cobbling things together yourself. The best solution, though? Just look into gluten free cuisine!

Back when most cultural cuisines were first invented, people really couldn't just hop on Amazon grocers for flour and yeast. They worked with what grew there, which often didn't involve gluten at all. Growing corn, rice, or potatoes were much easier to cultivate and harvest in their climates, so they made do just fine.

So, instead of lamenting the loss of airy French pastries, try making mochi instead! Make fried rice with a decorators flair. Give Brazil's cheese bread a chance, or Sweden's almond-based cakes. Most authentic mexican foods are cornmeal or cornflour based, and Japan just as soon uses sweet rice flour for their sweets. Just search around a bit with naturally gluten free foods in mind, and you can guarantee that nothing will get lost in translation.

Jason here. It’s been amazing finding new interesting cuisines from around the world that are naturally gluten free. The Swedish almond-based cakes were particularly great, and Brazil’s cheese bread was wonderfully delicious. Since becoming gluten free, I have learned to appreciate the recipes I have always cooked that were gluten free. For example, simple fried rice, or chili.

As a final note, just be creative! Making eggs benedict with arepas instead of english muffins, for example, is pretty darn good. Throwing an extra egg or two into gluten free pancake batter, along with a bit of extra liquid, can make a great crepe. Instead of feeling like you're just making do, change it to something you'd like even more than the original!

Product Review- Blendtec

Kayleigh here. Now, since the breadmaker deserved its own post, I feel like it's time to spotlight another weapon in our anti-gluten arsenal- the Blendtec. Yes, a blender. But hear us out- it's a big up-front cost, but it'll save you LOADS in the long run.

Jason has been dreaming of buying a Blendtec for years now, since the creation of those ridiculous “Will it Blend” videos. If it can pulverize cubic zirconia, then it must be able to make a decent frozen drink! So, with dreams of Strawberry Daquiris and homemade milkshakes tantalizing our mental tastebuds, we took the plunge as our first major apartment purchase.

When it first arrived, I was surprised to find a rather large cookbook amidst the packing paper and blender parts. Even more surprised when the majority of the book was NOT drinks. No sir, this fancy machine can blend, grind, mill, pulverize, and even clean itself! From mixing pancake batter, to processing peanuts into butter, to grinding coffee beans, you can do almost any task that requires a bit of horsepower. And believe me, this last month has seen MANY batches of homemade nut butters, and the blades are not any worse for wear.

Now, why does this belong on Gluten Free Singularity? Well, because gluten free flours are expensive! And what are they, really? Finely ground versions of a lot of common household staples. So far, we have used the Blendtec to make several different rice flours, buckwheat flour, and even coconut flour, all with a single press of a button! Sure, some flours and starches (like corn) are still cheaper and easier to just buy pre-ground, but being able to do this with the harder to find varieties has been a HUGE boon to us.

Jason here. Like Kayleigh mentioned, I have wanted a Blendtec for a long long time. I have never liked beer, and most other alcohol, but I have always loved frozen daiquiris. For at least the first 2 weeks we had the blender I would say we made strawberry daiquiris every other night. I have used a few blenders in the past and seen some struggle with ice, and some even completely fail to blend ice at all. Not the blendtec- this thing makes perfect frozen drinks everytime, exactly to my taste.

But there is one more reason I have always wanted a Blendtec, and this is because of a homemade recipe my Dad and I came up a long time ago when I was still in elementary school. We knew a popular frozen drink was taking Kool-aid packets and dumping those in with some ice, and a little bit of water, to make frozen Kool-aid drinks. We began thinking, why not use other powders, and finally settled on using iced tea mix powder. Wow did we settle on something delicious. It is very sweet, sugary. The basic recipe is to add about 4oz of ice tea mix, 2 oz of water (or Mountain Dew), and about 10 ice cubes. You can add more or less of the various ingredients to suit your tastes. I have found this to be a cheap summer frozen drink, since ice tea mix is fairly inexpensive.

Now, the model we purchased is the Wildside 120V from Amazon here. Different suppliers will have different models, so be careful to do your research before making a decision. Warantees can also vary, since only official Blentec vendors can actually be held responsible for it. If you want the blender mainly for milling your own flours, or plan on using it commercially, then they do actually offer a kitchen mill for purchase at a lower price than the blender. But for our needs, the two-in-one has been working just wonderfully.

Deliciously G-Free Cookbook Review

With the internet as our arsenal, Jason and I started our journey of gluten free enlightenment with an enormous array of contradicting and confusing information. While many websites offer gluten free recipes by substituting with GF all-purpose flour, many others recommend shunning the stuff whenever possible, since they tend to be largely diluted with inexpensive potato and rice flours. But, if the mixes are so bad, then what kind of flours SHOULD we buy?

The saving grace in this madness came as an housewarming/engagement present: the Deliciously G-Free cookbook. Yes, it was written by a celebrity. No, this doesn't mean you should ignore it. The beginning of the book shares her story of diagnosis, and how she turned it around into an adventure. The preface then turns into a very thorough explanation of common flours, starches, and gums, explaining not only what they are, but how they behave, and what they help do in gluten free cooking and baking.

From this book, we were able to make a list, and scoured every market in the area (and even a few on the internet), and quickly found that nearly every grocery store in the area had a decent selection in stock for a fair price. With tens of flours now in hand, we made.....waffles.

Well....we used the cookbook's pancake recipe, added chocolate chips, and made waffles. We kinda forgot to buy the sour cream and lemon needed for the book's waffle recipe. But they came out fantastic nonetheless. So fantastic that we made them again a week later.

The recipes in the book range the whole breakfast-to-dessert gamut, so we definitely recommend it for beginning gluten-free cookers, or simply anyone who'd like a few more recipes on the shelf. We'll certainly be trying quite a few of the meals out in the future!

Jason here. The book has been fantastic. As Kayleigh mentioned, the introduction discussing all of the gluten alternative flours is really helpful if you want to do any of your own baking.

The waffles did indeed turn out very well. They were crispy on the outside, but still light and fluffy on the inside. My favorite part was of course the added chocolate chips. I will probably add more next time. Maybe toss some sliced banana's on top.