Delicious Banana Muffins (big and fluffy)

 https://meaningfuleats.com/gluten-free-banana-muffins/

• 1 2/3 cups (250g) gluten-free 1:1 baking flour
• ▢1/2 cup (50g) almond flour
• ▢1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• ▢1 teaspoon baking soda
• ▢1/2 teaspoon salt

WET INGREDIENTS:

• ▢1 1/2 cups (345g) mashed bananas 4 bananas
• ▢1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
• ▢1/2 cup (100g) brown sugar
• ▢1/3 cup (75g) neutral-flavored oil I use avocado 
• ▢1/4 cup (60g) sour cream 
• ▢1 tablespoon milk
• 
  

1. Line one 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners or lightly grease with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. In another bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients.
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix with a rubber spatula until just combined and no dry streaks remain. If adding any chocolate chips or nuts, fold them in when the batter is just about mixed to avoid over-mixing.
4. Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tin. Fill the tins all the way up! Refrigerate the muffins for 20 minutes before baking. Preheat the oven to 425F.
5. Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 350F and bake for another 10-15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean and the muffins spring back when touched on top.
6. Let cool for 3-5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy

The best brownies

 From https://www.loveandlemons.com/brownies-recipe/

These are the best! 

• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar*
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour (use 90g one-to-one GF flour for gluten free)
• 2/3 cup cocoa powder, sifted if lumpy
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted if lumpy
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
• 3/4 teaspoons sea salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup canola oil or extra-virgin olive oil**
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 
  

• Preheat the oven to 325°F. Lightly spray an 8x8 baking dish (not a 9x9 dish or your brownies will overcook) with cooking spray and line it with parchment paper. Spray the parchment paper.
• In a medium bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, powdered sugar, chocolate chips, and salt
• In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, olive oil, water, and vanilla.
• Sprinkle the dry mix over the wet mix and stir until just combined.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan (it'll be thick - that's ok) and use a spatula to smooth the top. Bake for 40 to 48 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with only a few crumbs attached (note: it's better to pull the brownies out early than to leave them in too long). Cool completely before slicing.*** 

Caputo Pizza Dough

 Makes three 300g dough balls, which is 3 small pizzas

500 g Caputo flour

400 g room temp water

12 g instant yeast

18g olive oil

12g salt

Mix water, yeast and flour in stand mixer until combined, scrape down with oiled spatula, add salt, mix another minute, scrape down and add olive oil. Mix on high 5 minutes, scrape down 1-2 times as needed. Divide into 3 balls. Wrap each ball in seran wrap and let rise overnight in the fridge. If using immediately, let the balls rise in proofer 1-2 hours and then refrigerate for 30 min to make easier to handle.

Preheat bread steel/stone and oven to hottest temp (500-550) for an hour! 

Plunk dough ball on parchment on a pizza peel and using your fingertips, push dough out from center until you have a circle with thickest around the edge.

Brush with olive oil. 

Turn oven to broil and place pizza dough on stone for 2 minutes to parbake. 

Remove, top with sauce and cheese or other toppings. Return to oven and bake at 550 for 3 min or broil 2 min or some combo. Watch carefully. 

You can skip the parbake, top the raw dough with toppings and place on hot stone. Bake for 3 min at 550 and then broil for 1-2 min. 

Crust is chewier and puffier if parbake but either works.   2nd tomato pizza photo is parbaked. Pesto and first tomato is topped raw. 

Patrick's Bread

420 g Better Batter Artisan flour blend

400g warm water

35 grams sugar/honey/molasses

11 g instant yeast

9 g salt

56 g olive oil

(alternate version calls for only 7g yeast and 1 T apple cider vinegar)

Mix in stand mixer, start slow and then whip on high for 6 minutes.

Cover bowl and let rest/hydrate for 20 minutes.

Form into a ball, maybe stretch and tuck a couple times and then place in floured bread basket.

Proof in proofer for 1 hour

Baking option 1: Preheat oven with a breadstone to 450 degrees. Make sure the stone/steel has 30 minutes to truly preheat. When bread is proofed, tip onto a parchment lined pizza peel, score bread, and place bread (with parchment) onto the hot stone. Add 4 ice cubes or spray loaf with water twice 7 minutes apart to create steam. Bake for 35-40 minutes.

Baking option 2: Preheat oven/stone to 475. Follow instructions in option 1 but after 25 minutes, turn heat down to 350 and bake for 40 more minutes. 

Baking option 3: Preheat oven and dutch oven to 475. Follow scoring instructions in option 1 but tip loaf into hot dutch oven.  Bake 25 minutes then turn down heat to 350, remove cover and bake another 40. 

 

 

Best GF artisan bread: with Caputo Fioreglut

 From SILVIASCUCINA

450 gr Caputo Fiore Glut GF flour

1×7 gr sachet of dry yeast

300 ml of luke warm water

1 teaspoon of  GF rice malt syrup (or honey/molasses)

1 tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons of salt flakes

Mix flour, yeast, molasses, oil, and 250g water

Slowly add another 50g water (might need an additional 15-20g if it seems too crumbly) and then add the salt

Mix in stand mixer 3 minutes. It is drier than the Better Batter recipes. Form into a ball, sprinkle with flour and let rise in the proofer for 1 hour until doubled. 

Take out the dough and perform some stretch/tuck: 

From Silvia: Once the dough has proven, tip it onto a bench, dust with GF flour and stretch the dough into a rectangle.You will notice it will look slightly crumbly at this stage.Fold each side into the middle, then roll into a ball. Repeat two more times. You will notice that the more you fold and roll, the more it starts resembling wheat dough. Basically we are cheating this GF flour to act like wheat flour! Also the folding and rolling will ensure you a nicer crumbs, dotted with little holes, just like wheat sourdough.

Shape back into a ball put into bread basket dusted with flour. Proof in proofer about an hour until doubled. 

Meanwhile, heat open to 480 degrees. Prepare a cast iron dutch oven with a piece of parchment on the bottom. 

Once oven is hot and bread has risen, tip bread into dutch oven making sure the embossed side is on top. Make an x with a bread lame. 

Cover with lid and bake at 480 for 35 minutes. Then turn down heat to 420, remove lid and back another 15-20 ( I did 15 and then turned on broil for 2-3 minutes to darken top of loaf slightly. Watch very carefully if you do that so as not to burn your beautiful loaf!

Four Kings Cake (GF) to celebrate Martin Luther King

 

Mix together :

1 T plus 1t Instant yeast
zest of 1/2 orange
zest of 1 lemon
1/3 cup granulated sugar
270 grams warm water (1 cup plus 2 T) if using milk powder
*If not using milk powder, do 135grams of scalded and cooled milk and 135 grams of water*

455 Grams Gluten Free One to One Flour (I have used Caputo with success)
1 t salt
2 T dry milk powder if using (see above)
1 stick slightly softened butter cut into pieces 

Then add:
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup assorted dried fruits (I like cranberries, cherries, and chopped up apricots)
1/4 cup chopped walnuts 

Form into a loose ball--it will be sticky--and let rise on a buttered board in a warm place (or in the proofer) for 1-2 hours

After initial rise, form dough into a long strand and connect the ends into a crown. Do this directly on a parchment paper covered baking sheet Let rise on proofer (remove outer walls of proofer and just place the baking sheet on top of the warming proofer. Cover with tea towel and let rise 1 hour. 

Bake at 360 for 20 minutes.

Let cool and then hide the baby in the crown (just dig it in) and frost (make sure to cover your hole) and decorate with dried fruit and walnuts so it looks like a jeweled crown.

Frosting recipe (adjust to create desired consistency): 

2-2 1/2 cups powdered sugar 

3 T butter (soft)

3 T heavy cream

1 t vanilla

Whoever gets the baby in their slice gets to pick dinner for a week (or gets a prize) 

 

Broccoli Soup

 Saute onions, celery and garlic

Add broth (water anad better than bouillion), thyme, salt, pepper, splash of Worcester sauce

Add 4-5 chopped up potatoes

Cook until el dente

Add chopped up broccoli (2 heads with stems (peel off the outer layer))

Cook until tender.

Blend (don't blend all the liquid in at first because it's easier to add more liquid to an overly thick soup than it is to thicken up a watery soup). 

Salt to taste. Optional: add 1/4 cup cream or half and half

Serve warm with grated cheddar cheese on top.