An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving

There is this Hallmark channel movie that my sister and I bought once at a Blockbuster movie sale . It is about a poor family long ago who longed to celebrate Thanksgiving through various challenges. It is filled with that cozy old-time celebration and that's what I thought of when I made this pie for my first-of-the-season Thanksgiving family event tomorrow. 

Cozy, old fashioned, and of course, perfect for Thanksgiving

An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving Apple Pie 

Crust Ingredients:
2 3/4 cups Gluten free flour
1/2 tsp Salt
11/3 cups chilled butter
2/3 cup ice water
My secret ingredient: 1/3 cup sugar. Makes the crust a little more sweet and almost like a sugar cookie.

Use half of the crust and roll out the bottom of the pie. Place in the pie plate and fill with the apple slices.

Then Cover the pie in lattice design of choice.

The recipe calls for about 8 Granny smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced, yet I only used about 6.

Melting Mixture:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup water (minus one tablespoon)
1 Tbs Vanilla
1 Tsp cinnamon
Dash of nutmeg
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar

Then mix up these ingredients in a sauce pan on the stove until melted and mixed.
Pour carefully over the pie, making sure to get the liquid in the cracks of lattice dough and into the pie. Some should go over the dough.

Bake Pie at 425 degrees for 15 minutes
Then reduce oven temp to 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes
Let Pie set before serving!

Enjoy this Thanksgiving comfort food and have a wonderful holiday season!
Happy Living
~M

Picture Perfect Pumpkin Pie

The Holidays are just around the corner, leaving me in a frenzy excited state as I begin to plan out gifts,  gatherings, and of course FOOD!
Now thanksgiving is all about tradition. Traditional turkey, traditional meal, traditional PIE.

Which is why I had to of course perfect a gluten-free pumpkin pie recipe to make for my multiple Thanksgiving gatherings.

 Picture Perfect Pumpkin Pie (Gluten Free)

1 Gluten free Pie crust: (curtsy of Silvana Nardone).
This makes two bottoms or one bottom and one top.

Ingredients:
2 3/4 cups Gluten free flour
1/2 tsp Salt
11/3 cups chilled butter
2/3 cup ice water
My secret ingredient: 1/3 cup sugar. Makes the crust a little more sweet and almost like a sugar cookie.

Mix together very well… roll out and make crusts.

Pumpkin Pie Filling:
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
t tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1.2 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground cloves
(or you can substitute pumpkin pie seasoning for the last 2)
1 15 oz Can pumpkin
1 12 oz can evaporated milk

In large bowl, beat eggs slightly with wire whisk or hand beater. Beat in 1/2 cup sugar, the cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon salt, ginger, cloves, pumpkin and milk.

To prevent spilling, place pie plate on oven rack before adding filling. (Sometimes I use a cookie sheet on the bottom) Carefully pour pumpkin filling into pie plate. Bake 15 minutes

Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Bake about 45 minutes longer or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Place pie on cooling rack. Cool completely, about 2 hours.


Have a Wonderful Thanksgiving!
~M

The First Snow

For us Minnesotans, snow is not a word heard less than a billion times a year.

We go from November to what seams like June with feet of that icy cold stuff covering everything… and I mean EVERYTHING…

But there seriously is still something magical about that first snowfall of the year, or for me any fresh snowfall.

Yesterday everyone was buzzing about the 8-12 inches we were supposed to accumulate today, yet it only ended up being about 5 in the cities.  Some were excited, some mad as can be, some torn between the beauty of that white fluff, and the road conditions lengthening the morning commute from 30 minutes to 2 hours.

I always remember waking up as a kid on the first day it snowed. Looking out the window then running and waking up my siblings, throwing on our boots and coats, as we ran out the door with our black lab imagining what we could do with this moldable ice.

Eventually we came up with some weird looking snowman that stood awkwardly in the middle of our yard. But still, it was magical in it’s own little way.

Now, as a 22 year old, I don’t exactly run outside, but I still love that quietness and serenity of a fresh fallen snow. Everything is white, everything is pretty, and it is simply the best against lit up Christmas lights throughout the month of December. ~~Cue the Christmas eagerness~~

Yeah okay, the driving stinks, and luckily, today I was home from classes in a Nyquil induced coma with the common cold. So I skipped that part.

But still. Yes it’s cold, yes, its annoying to drive in, but SERIOUSLY GUYS, we live in Minnesota, the frozen artic of the United States. So ready or not, here it comes.

So you might as well look at it from a childlike set of eyes, light a fire, make a cup of cocoa, and enjoy it.

Cause it is here to stay.

Happy Living

~M

Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

So I had leftover pumpkin from my baking spree this weekend… So as a quick dinner before a coffee date I threw some pumpkin and spices into my GF pancake batter… because of course right after you workout you crave pancakes….. life. BUT anyways.. here it is :) 

Pumpkin Spice Pancakes:

There are many boxes of GF pancake mix out there… I use This and This or this
So…. Make the mix as it says on the box: Usually includes an egg, some oil, some milk, and some mix….. leave a little milk out of the recipe, you can add more later if needed and insert the following:

• 1tsp cinnamon 
• 1tsp pumpkin pie spice 
• 1/2 ground ginger
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup canned pumpkin 

 You can alter the spices and pumpkin as you wish… mix all ingredients and make as you normally would! 

Happy Fall Living!
~M

Gluten-free Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies

Gluten-free Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies 

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter

1/4 cup light or dark brown sugar

1 cup granulated Sugar Divided

1 tsp vanilla extract

6 TBS Pumpkin puree (I use Libby's or Organic puree). 

1 and a half cups gluten free flour RECIPE HERE

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

2 tsp ground cinnamon divided

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1.4 tsp ground cloves 

1/2 cup white chocolate chips 

Directions: 

Melt Butter in microwave, In a medium bowl, mix in the brown sugar and 1/2 cup of the granulated sugar. Mix until lumps are gone. Add in vanilla and pumpkin until smooth. 

In a large bowl, toss together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, 1 and 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon,  pumpkin pie spice, and cloves. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix together.  The dough will be very soft. Fold in white chocolate chips. They may not stick to the dough because of the melted butter, but do your best to have them evenly dispersed among the dough. Cover the dough and chill for 30 minutes.  Chilling is mandatory.

Take the dough out of the refrigerator. Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. 

Roll the dough into balls, about 1.5 Tablespoons of dough each. Mix together the remaining 1/2 cup of granulated sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon. Roll each of the dough balls generously in the cinnamon-sugar mixture and arrange on 2 baking sheets. Slightly flatten the dough balls because the cookies will only slightly spread in the oven. (I used the bottom of a small glass bowl) 

Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes. The cookies will look very soft and underbaked.  Remove from the oven and press a few more white chocolate chips onto the tops, if desired. 

Allow the cookies to cool for at least 10 minutes on the cookie sheets before transferring to a wire rack. The longer the cookies cool, the chewier they will be. I let them sit out for at least 1 hour before enjoying. 

Doing my best to enjoy this beautiful holiday weather and everything apple and pumpkin that can be baked! 

but the great baking season of Christmastime is right around the corner ;) 

Happy Living!

~M

Apples to Apples

Fall is my absolute favorite season for baking. It's almost awful how much I always want to bake!

Here is my absolute favorite Apple Crisp recipe adapted to be GF of course!

Old Fashioned Apple Crisp:

4 Granny Smith apples
2 tbsp ground cinnamon

2 TBS lemon juice

Topping:

2/3 cup Gluten free flour (Flour Recipe Here)

1 cup brown sugar

2 cup GF oats (I used Bob's red Mill) 

2/3 cup melted butter

I also added just a pinch of Nutmeg and Pinch of ground cloves 


Peel, core and slice the apples into medium slices (eighth to sixteenth) 

Place them in a bowl with the ground cinnamon and lemon juice and toss to coat

Lay the apples at the bottom of a ceramic casserole dish


For the topping, mix the flour and brown sugar in a large bowl, then add the Oats and mix well. Pour the melted butter over the mixture and again, mix well. Add pinch of nutmeg and cloves and stir until mixed. 

Sprinkle the topping evenly over the apples and bake at 375°F for about 30 minutes. 


Serve warm with a scoop of Vanilla ice cream

Enjoy! 

Happy Living!
~M