Mac n' Cheese

Not sure why, but I can't seem to stick to a recipe when I cook.. which is especially odd since I love to bake  (which is very precise).

Anyway, I found a recipe for Gluten Free Mac n' Cheese from a blog called "Gluten Free Mommy" so I thought I'd give it a try.

Macaroni and Cheese

(Adapted from: http://glutenfreemommy.com/)

Yields: 6-8 (unless you love mac n' cheese as much as I do, then it may be 4-6) ;)

Ingredients:

2 Cups Uncooked Gluten Free Pasta (Elbows, Penne, etc)

8 oz of Cheddar Cheese cut into cubes (Sharp, Mild, etc)

1/4 Cup Diced Onion*

1/4 Cup Butter

2 Cups Milk

1/4 Cup Rice Flour*

1/2 Tsp. Dried Mustard*

Salt and Pepper, to taste

Breadcrumbs and Parmesan Cheese for topping (approximately 1 1/2 - 2 cups)

Directions:
Pre-heat over to 350 degrees and grease a 9x13 baking dish*.  Cook pasta according to directions, being careful not to overcook. For cheese sauce: heat butter on the stove and cook onion until translucent.  Add rice flour, mustard, salt and pepper; stir until bubbly and smooth.  Gradually add milk and cheese cubes.  Whisk until cheese has melted and the sauce thickens.  Combine cheese sauce with the pasta into casserole dish.  Top with the Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs.    Cook for 25-30 minutes or until bubbly.

*Tips: 

•  I have a Pampered Chef baking dish I love which cannot be greased and worked really well.  It may also be possible to use a smaller casserole, I was just afraid of overflow.  
• I had dried onion left over as well as actual mustard so I used those since I hate to buy ingredients when I have something else that will work.
• Since I didn't have rice flour on hand and hate to buy something which can be substituted (as noted above) I used Pamela's Pancake Mix as thickener.
• For the topping I mixed Schar's breadcrumbs with the parmesan cheese with some leftover Sweet Potato Pop Chips left over
• I also had a little bit of canned pumpkin leftover from some weekend baking, so I added that as well.

Strawberry Cupcakes

One of the things I have missed the most since transitioning over to GF is the baking.. it was my "therapy". Any time I needed some stress relief, I would bake (which always made my co-workers and neighbors very happy).


But now baking entails googling GF baked goods and scouring magazines, books and blogs for ideas instead of the good ol' days when I could just choose any recipe and make it.  Nope, gluten free means having to weigh flours and add other things I have never heard of  before like arrowroot and agave syrup.


So my to get back into the groove of baking my first post will be:

Strawberry Cupcakes

(from Delight, Fall 2011)

Yields: 8

1/2 C. coconut flour

1 Tbsp. arrowroot powder* 

1/4 tsp. sea salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

4 large eggs

1/4 C. agave nectar

1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

1/2 C. finely chopped strawberries

1. Preheat oven to 350 F and line 8 muffin cups with paper liners.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, arrowroot powder, salt, and baking soda.  In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, agave nectar, and vanilla.
3. Blend wet ingredients into flour mixture with handheld mixture until thoroughly combined, then fold in strawberries.
4. Scoop 1/4 cup of batter into each muffin cup and bake for 20-25 minutes (or until toothpick comes out clean). Let the cupcakes cool for one hour, then frost and serve.

*Tip: While searching for arrowroot powder, I kept finding it in huge quantities, which I certainly didn't need. So after a final stop to my local health food store, I found they had jars of specific powders, etc and she scooped out 1/4 cup of it, weighed it and sold to me that way.  Cost me less than $1 for that 1/4 cup instead of  over $10 for huge bag.