Eli’s Cheesecake Gluten Free Giveaway

December 22, 2012 By

Photo Provided by Eli’s Cheesecake

I remember years ago watching a special on The Food Network and hearing about Eli’s Cheesecake. Ever since that day I swore I would get one of their traditional Chicago cheesecakes; it became an entry on my food bucket list. I love that they use no preservatives and that their cheesecake is baked (like real cheesecake should be). But when my son’s autism struck and we decided to try the GFCF diet I gave up my dream of serving an Eli’s Cheesecake to my family over the holidays. Finally Eli’s came to the rescue with their Ricotta Cheesecake made with Gluten Free Ingredients!

It is a beautiful, stately cheesecake made with Wisconsin Ricotta, pure vanilla and a gluten free vanilla cookie crust. My kids adored it. Yes, I let them have some even though they are supposed to be dairy free too – we just gave them some digestive enzymes and limited the amount they ate. Let me just say that Matthew liked it so much he begged for another piece the next day. The Eli’s Cheesecake was tall, creamy and satisfying. It was perfect with a cup of french roast coffee. I particularly liked the vanilla mousse on top which is very light and slightly tangy. It was the perfect foil to the dense richness of the cheesecake itself, and made the cheesecake a velvety experience. I can certainly see why Eli’s Cheesecake is considered the best in Chicago.

Do you want to try your own Ricotta Cheesecake made with Gluten Free Ingredients? You can place an order here.

Would you like to win a Ricotta Cheesecake? Enter here for a chance.

I was given a Ricotta Cheesecake in exchange for this honest review.
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Gluten Free Egg Nog Muffins featuring King Arthur Gluten Free Muffin Mix

December 20, 2012 By

I love egg nog and so do my children. But since two of them are not only gluten free but also dairy free having egg nog can be difficult. My husband was out doing our grocery shopping when he found So Delicious Coconut Milk Egg Nog and he knew I had to have it. Little did he know, I too had seen the Coconut Milk Egg Nog on my last trip, so now we have two quarts of it in the house. That is when I decided to try making Christmas Egg Nog Muffins. We love King Arthur Flour Gluten Free Muffin Mix and use it quite often, so I knew it would bake up beautifully even with a few tweaks here and there. I followed the instructions on the back of the box, simply substituting the So Delicious Coconut Milk Egg Nog for the regular milk it calls for and by adding in some Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips. The kids loved them and I think they make a great addition to Christmas morning.

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Gluten Free Casein Free Egg Nog Muffins featuring King Arthur Gluten Free Muffin Mix
Author: 
Recipe type: Breakfast
 
Egg Nog flavored GFCF Muffins
Ingredients
  • 1 box King Arthur Gluten Free Muffin Mix
  • So Delicious Coconut Milk Egg Nog
  • Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips
Instructions
  1. Follow the directions on the back of the muffin mix.
  2. Substitute the So Delicious Coconut Milk Egg Nog for the milk called for on the box.
  3. (note: I use coconut oil in place of butter or oil)
  4. Add Chocolate chips to the prepared mix.
  5. Bake
  6. Serve
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Homemade Nutella Cookies Featuring Sweet Heat Pepper Jelly Gluten Free Casein Free

December 18, 2012 By

Last year I made 2 ingredient Nutella Cookies and they were a big hit. This year our middle son is dairy free and really Matthew should be too, so I decided to make homemade nutella and try using that in the 2 ingredient nutella cookies. Here is what I came up with. You can make the cookies with just the homemade nutella or you can spice them up with Stir it Up Cuisine’s Sweet Heat Pepper Jelly and make amazing thumbprint cookies like I did in the picture below.

Nutella Cookie

First you need to make your GFCF homemade nutella, then you use that to make the 2 ingredient nutella cookies. I used the basics of the homemade nutella recipe found here at Deliciously Organic but I made a few changes, mostly because I didn’t have the exact ingredients featured in the recipe.

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Homemade Nutella Cookies Featuring Sweet Heat Pepper JellyGluten Free Casein Free
Author: 
Recipe type: Cookie
Cuisine: Desserts
 
Ingredients
  • 1 Cup homemade nutella (see recipe in above link)
  • 1 egg
  • Stir it Up Cuisine's Sweet Heat Pepper Jelly
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  2. Cover Cookie Sheets with parchment or silpat.
  3. In a medium bowl mix homemade nutella with egg and mix, it may take a minute to come together.
  4. Using a spoon, place dollops of the mix on prepared cookie sheets.
  5. Using a spoon, make a "thumbprint" in the cookie.
  6. Add a dollop of the Sweet Heat Pepper Jelly in the thumbprint.
  7. Bake 10 to 15 minutes.
  8. Remove from oven and cool cookies on parchment on cooling rack.
Notes
You can also add some of the Sweet Heat Pepper Jelly to the nutella and egg mix to spice up the cookie itself.
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Stir It Up Cuisine’s Sweet Heat Pepper Jelly is the perfect jelly for this chocolate cookie creation. It has the right amount of heat and tang, while balancing the nutty, sweet flavor of the cookie. The Sweet Heat Pepper Jelly would be delicious as a glaze on chicken wings (I think we will be trying that for the Super Bowl Party) or on a shrimp taco. Yum.

I was provided with a free sample of Sweet Heat Pepper Jelly in exchange for this review.

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Pignoli Cookie Recipe Gluten Free Casein Free

December 14, 2012 By

When I was a child one of the best parts of Christmas was baking cookies with my parents. I loved the smell of our home while they baked, I loved the feel our our kitchen while we prepared the dough. I loved how our house was filled with so much love and affection, and that is what made Christmastime so special. When I had Matthew I was so excited to be able to share this tradition with him, but when we realized he and his brothers did better on a gluten free casein free diet I thought Christmas cookie making was out of the question. Then I realized there were several really wonderful cookies that were naturally gluten and casein free, such as the Italian Pignoli cookie.

I found this wonderful Pignoli Cookie Recipe on line and set to making these soft, moist, almond flavored treats just in time for the holidays.

To make them Gluten Free please be sure you purchase a brand of almond paste that is states it is gluten free or check with the manufacturer. The first almond paste we bought actually contained wheat! The recipe also suggests you use the canned paste not the one found in a tube.  Enjoy.

4.7 from 7 reviews
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Pignoli Cookie Recipe Gluten Free Casein Free
Author: 
Recipe type: Cookie
Cuisine: Dessert
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
 
Ingredients
  • 2 large egg whites
  • 2 (8-oz) cans almond paste (not marzipan), coarsely crumbled
  • 1½ cups confectioners sugar
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons mild honey
  • 1 cup pine nuts
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. In a stand mixer, beat egg whites until foamy.
  3. Add almond paste, confectioners sugar, salt and honey and mix.
  4. Scrape down bowl and mix until smooth at medium-high speed, about 5 minutes (batter will be very thick)
  5. Using wet hands (keep a bowl of water handy and re-wet hands as necessary), shape dough into balls.
  6. Pour pine nuts into a bowl.
  7. Drop dough balls into pine nuts and press the pine nuts into one side of ball.
  8. Place dough ball with pine nuts facing up on a silpat or parchment lined cookie sheet.
  9. Bake cookies in upper and lower thirds of oven, until golden, 12 to 20 minutes total.
  10. Slide cookies on parchment onto racks to cool completely, then peel cookies from parchment.
  11. Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Pignoli-Cookies-107447#ixzz2ExDohfqK
Notes
I used a baking stone and needed to bake cookies closer to the 20 minute time.
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