Another cookie experiment

So I wanted that gluten free Betty Crocker Chocolate Chip Cookie taste. This was not it. I ended up adding cinnamon and raisin to make it taste better and it did. The original cookie tasted like a vanilla cookie, which in itself wasn't half bad, just not what I was going for. This was pretty good, but it does need a little work. This was the first try. I was bored and figured play around a little bit.  

I don't measure unless I have to

The more I post the more you will probably notice that I do not measure. When I type out what I made I am assuming this is how much was added. Very rarely do I make the same thing twice and have it actually taste the same. It is usually close though. Some days I am in the mood for more or less of a particular ingredient. I find that most of the fun in cooking is adding what you like and going with your own taste. I hate following actual recipes and usually change most of it. This isn't to say I have really screwed up a dish, but it's fun experimenting! 

What was for lunch and a snack today.

Inside out bison burgers. The one on the right is topped with Wish-Bone Thousand Island dressing.

1 package ground bison

1 slice or 2 of your favorite cheese. I used American here, but cheddar works very well.

salt and pepper

olive oil in the skillet

Form meat into little patties. Add cheese to the middle and for patties around cheese. Cook in a cast iron skillet until done. I had mine with Wish-Bone Thousand Island dressing and it was very good.

*I found out recently that Wish-Bone is starting to label their dressing. On the back bottom left it will actually say gluten free if it is!

_________________________________________________________________________________

Pepperoni bison burgers with mozzarella cheese melted under the broiler. I use bison because regular hamburg bothers my stomach.

1 package of ground bison

8 slices of pepperoni, chopped (I used 8 slices because it was Hormel all natural and they are small)

1 teaspoon or more of dried garlic

1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 tablespoon dried parsley

salt and pepper

Heat a cast iron on medium high, add a little oil, form meat into little burgers and cook until done. Add some cheese at the end if you want. If not, they are just fine without. I cut it open so you could see the inside, but I don't think I did my burger justice with my camera phone.

These are great served with a salad or veggies.

Cranberry Almond Flour Cookies

Why did I decide to bake today? I was so humid you couldn't even take a deep breath. It was just one of those days I wanted to be in the kitchen. This is what I decided to do on my break from working. This is the second set of cookies. The first set are below, the rice flour cookies. These were really good too. Just not on a day like today. The top cookie has sparkling sugar and the bottom does not.

1 cup almond flour

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 egg

1/4 cup melted butter (I use Smart Balance)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cut almond cranberry mix

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Mix everything together and drop 2 tablespoons of the mixture on an aluminum disposable tray or parchment lined cookie sheet. Flatten out the cookies a little because they will not spread out on their own. If you would like, sprinkle some sparkling sugar or regular white sugar on top of the cookies before baking.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until brown.

Rice flour cookies...

Who would have thought? I had some white rice flour just sitting around. The reason I got it was to make gravy, which happened once or twice. I was trying to think of something to do with it. Well, I really do enjoy warm cookies, so I started playing around and came up with this. A rice flour based cookie. Not only is it a rice flour based cookie, it's a maple syrup, cinnamon, walnut, rice flour cookie and it came out fantastic! Next to Betty Crocker's GF Chocolate Chip Cookies, this may be the runner up for me. I am not even sure if anybody is even reading this, but just in case someone is and you would like to try it, I have the recipe below. Thank you if you are reading this.

1 cup white rice flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 egg

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon maple syrup

1/2 cup of chopped walnuts

extra maple syrup for the top of the cookies

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Mix all the flour, baking powder, brown sugar, and cinnamon together. Then add the egg, vanilla extract and maple syrup. Mix well then add the walnuts. Let stand a couple minutes to firm up a little before placing on a baking sheet.

Evenly distribute about 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons of the mixture on parchment paper. I did not grease mine. After you evenly distribute the cookies, if you would like, add 1/4 teaspoon or more on top of each cookie before baking.

Bake for about 20-25 minutes until light golden brown.

I hope you enjoy this recipe if you try it. I was pleasantly surprised.

Strawberry Shortcake

This is the first time I had strawberry shortcake in over two years. I got a little impatient waiting for the cake to cool so some of the icing melted a little bit. It really did taste like strawberry shortcake.

Today's experiment

Chicken, broccoli, and squash baked with gluten free cream of chicken soup. This came out very good for a first try.

This is chicken and saffroncooked with in rice with some of the left over gluten free cream of chicken soup. I split the chicken in half and put a piece of chesse wrapped in salami in the middle. My only complaint about this dish is that I over cooked the rice a little bit.