Archive for Recipes
Easter Candy
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[2010 Update: I can't believe how many different Easter candies show up every year. I've added quite a few this year. I even added a category for pre-filled plastic eggs.
Some items to note: 1) Cadbury's Creme Eggs don't have gluten listed in their ingredients this year. Yay! 2) The original Reese's peanut butter eggs and even the small size do not have gluten in the ingredients. However, there is wheat flour in the the Reese's miniature candies that are foil-wrapped, including the mini Reester Bunnies. Boo!
I've done my best to make accurate updates, and will continue to do so as I find more this month. If you happen to find a mistake, or question the gluten safety of the candy, please add a comment below so everyone can read and benefit from the discussion. Thanks, and have a Happy Easter!]
So I’ve been shopping at our local discount and grocery stores for gluten-free Easter candy. You’ll find my list of Safe and Unsafe Candy below. My determination of “Safe Gluten-Free Candy” and “Unsafe Candy” is based solely on me reading package labels at the stores in my area. After each “unsafe” candy, I have noted why I chose to consider it unsafe. Whether it has gluten in the ingredients or the possibility of trace amounts due to cross-contamination, you can decide for yourself. Please keep in mind that products do vary their packaging and labeling, so it’s always best if you read the labels yourself. However, I know sometimes that isn’t always possible, especially this time of year when our kids are going to community egg hunts. So, here’s what I found in our stores. I hope it helps and gives you peace of mind while you enjoy the “Safe” Easter candies.
Safe Gluten-Free Candy
Jelly Beans
- Jelly Belly Jelly Beans (including original and sour flavors)
- Just Born Jelly Beans (including original fruit flavored, licorice flavored (black), berry flavored, and spice flavored)
- Jolly Rancher Jelly Beans (including fruit smoothie flavors)
- Lifesaver Jellybeans
- Mike and Ike Jelly Beans
- Nerds Bumpy Jelly Beans (Wonka) (Be careful. This had cross-contamination warnings on the packages I found last year.)
- Russel Stover Pectin Jelly Beans
- Spree Jelly Beans (Cherry, Lemon and Green Apple)
- Starburst Jellybeans
- SweeTart Jelly Beans (Be careful. This had cross-contamination warnings on the packages I found last year.)
- Teenee Beanee Jelly Beans (including Island Breeze, Americana Medley, and Country Retreat flavored packages)
Plastic Eggs Pre-filled with Candy
- Bee Flowers and Fairies Egg Hunt (includes Smarties, Super Bubble bubble gum, Taffy Werks, Jelly Bean Werks, and Lemonheads)
- Bee Sport Ball Eggs (includes Smarties, Super Bubble bubble gum, Taffy Werks, Jelly Bean Werks, and Lemonheads)
- Bee Noah’s Ark Easter Egg Hunt (includes Smarties, Super Bubble bubble gum, Taffy Werks, Jelly Bean Werks, and Lemonheads)
- Mmmm…Cupcakes Egg Hunt (includes Ferrara Pan jellybeans, Red Hots, Tropical Chewy Lemonhead and Friends, Chewy Lemonhead and Friends, Jaw Busters)
- Peace and Love Egg Hunt (includes Ferrara Pan jellybeans, Red Hots, Tropical Chewy Lemonhead and Friends, Chewy Lemonhead and Friends, Jaw Busters)
- Glow in the Dark Egg Hunt (includes Ferrara Pan jellybeans, Red Hots, Tropical Chewy Lemonhead and Friends, Chewy Lemonhead and Friends, Jaw Busters)
- Wonka Egg Hunt with a Golden Egg ( includes Nerds, Laffy Taffy, and SweeTarts)
Other Easter Candy
- Almond Joy Eggs
- Andes Creme de Menthe Thins
- Brach’s Jelly Bean Nougats
- Cadbury Caramello Bunnies (as found Mar. 2009)
- Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate Bunny (as found Mar. 2009)
- Cadbury mini-chocolate eggs – Royal Dark and Dairy Milk Chocolate
- Cadbury Creme Eggs — This year, the regular and mini eggs I found did not have gluten listed in the ingredients. (Last year “Glucose (wheat)” was listed in the ingredients. Many Celiacs consider the glucose, even from wheat, to be gluten-free due to all the processing.)
- Cadbury Caramel Eggs — This year, the regular and mini eggs I found did not have gluten listed in the ingredients. (Last year “Glucose (wheat)” was listed in the ingredients. Many Celiacs consider the glucose, even from wheat, to be gluten-free due to all the processing.)
- Carousel Bubble Gum Eggs
- Carousel Easter Egg Surprise Lollipops (as found Mar. 2009)
- Charms Blow Pops
- Dairy Good Easter bunnies (chocolate flavored, foil-wrapped)
- Dairy Good Easter eggs (chocolate eggs)
- Dairy Good Chocolate and White Chocolate Crosses
- Disney Princess plastic eggs with candy and stickers inside
- Dove Chocolate Eggs (including milk chocolate, milk chocolate almond, peanut butter, and dark chocolate varieties)
- Dove Fairy Bunny hollow milk chocolate
- Dove Solid Chocolate Bunnies (both milk chocolate and dark chocolate varieties)
- Dove Truffle Eggs
- Dubble Bubble Eggs (egg-shaped bubble gum) and Speckled Bubble Gum
- Easter Bunny Egg-head family filled with Power Candy
- Farley’s Kiddie Mix includes Now & Laters, Jawbreakers, Super Bubble bubble gum, Tootsie Roll Midgees, Sassy Tarts and Smarties
- Florida Natural Healthy Treats fruit snacks eggs (as found Mar. 2009)
- Frankford Marshmallow Chicks and Bunnies
- Fun Dip (Wonka)
- Hershey’s milk chocolate eggs
- Hershey’s Special Dark chocolate eggs
- Hershey’s milk chocolate hollow egg with candy-coated milk chocolate eggs inside
- Hershey’s candy-coated milk chocolate eggs
- Hershey’s Bliss milk chocolate eggs with a meltaway center
- Hershey’s Bliss dark chocolate eggs
- Hershey’s Bliss Hollow Milk Chocolate Bunny
- Hershey’s Solid Milk Chocolate Speedy Bunny
- Hershey’s Kisses
- Hershey’s Kisses filled with Caramel
- Hershey’s Kisses with Almond
- Hershey’s Marshmallow Eggs
- Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bunnies, Springtime Flowers, and Crosses
- Lifesaver hard candies – Original and Pastels
- Lifesaver Eggsortment (including jellybeans, gummies and pops)
- Lifesaver Gummies – Original, and Bunnies and Eggs
- Lindt white and dark chocolate bunnies as well as Lindt Chocolate Carrots did not have any gluten listed in the ingredients, but are at risk of cross-contamination. (See Lindt listing below.)
- Melster Chocolate Flavored Marshmallow Bunnies
- M&M’s — original, peanut, Speck-tacular Eggs, and Bunny Mix
- Mounds Eggs (as found Mar. 2009)
- Nestle’s Nest Eggs (Nestle’s Crunch Nest Eggs are not gluten-free.)
- Nestle’s milk chocolate Nest Eggs
- Nestle’s creamy caramel Nest Eggs
- Nestle’s Butterfinger chocolate Nest Eggs
- Nestle’s Butterfinger Creme Eggs
- Palmer’s Bunny Bites foil-wrapped eggs (includes both soft caramel and peanut butter flavors)
- Palmer’s Bunnyettes (milk chocolate)
- Palmer’s Butter Cream Flavored eggs
- Palmer’s Carrot Patch Pete (solid milk chocolate bunny)
- Palmer’s Fudge Filled Big Ears (foil-wrapped bunnies with big ears)
- Palmer’s Hollow Bunnies (milk flavored and milk chocolate flavored)
- Palmer’s Little Beauty milk chocolate bunny
- Palmer’s Milk Chocolate Flavored and premium milk chocolate eggs
- Palmer’s Peanut Butter Filled chocolate eggs
- Palmer Poppin’ Rockin’ Egg (hollow egg filled with Pop Rocks)
- Palmer’s Soft Caramel Cups
- Palmer’s Super Sports Balls
- Palmer’s Quax hollow milk flavored candy duck (“The Yummy Ducky”) — Be careful with this one. In one store, this statement was included on the boxes: “Manufactured on equipment which processes wheat, peanut butter and other tree nuts.” In other stores, this statement was not on the boxes. Made in different facilities?
- Peeps (all shapes and colors) — “Gluten Free”
- Pixy Stix Green Grass (Wonka) (as found Mar. 2009)
- Pop Rocks in plastic egg
- Reese’s Easter Assortment Eggs (including peanut butter eggs, white peanut butter eggs, and miniatures) – This does not include the foil-wrapped mini eggs, which do have gluten.
- Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup minatures
- Reese’s Pieces Pastel Eggs
- Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs – small size, but not the foil-wrapped mini eggs (see Unsafe list below)
- Reese’s Reester Bunny — large size only, but not the mini-sized (see Unsafe list below)
- Ring pops
- Sixlets
- Skittles eggs and fun-size
- Smarties candy rolls “Contain none of the following: gluten (from wheat, barley, oats and rye), milk, egg, fish, Crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, wheat, peanuts, or soybeans.”
- Snickers mini’s
- Sour Patch Bunnies
- Starburst fruit chews – funsize
- Swedish Fish Eggs soft and chewy candy
- Sunny Seed Drops chocolate covered sunflower seeds
- Tootsie Rolls (including midgees and fruit rolls)
- Tootsie Pops
- Wonka Hoppin’ Nerds (as found Mar. 2009)
- Wonka Runts Freckled Eggs
- York Peppermint Patties
- Zachary real chocolate Marshmallow Eggs
- Zachary solid milk chocolate Bunnies
- Zipperz Lollipops (as found Mar. 2009)
Unsafe Candy (may contain gluten)
Jelly Beans
- Brach’s Jelly Bird Eggs (includes classic, black, orchard fruit, and premium tiny jelly-bird eggs) — “Packaged on equipment that also packages products containing traces of milk, egg, wheat, peanuts, tree nuts, and/or soy protein.”
- Brach’s Hawaiian Punch Jelly Beans — “Packaged on equipment that also packages products containing traces of milk, egg, wheat, peanuts, tree nuts, and/or soy protein.”
- Sour Patch Jelly Beans — “Manufactured in a facility that processes peanuts, wheat, milk, soy, cashew nuts.”
Other Easter Candy
- Brach’s Chocolate Bunnies — “malt extract” is listed in the ingredients. “Manufactured on equipment that also manufactures products containing peanuts, tree nuts and wheat.”
- Cadbury Creme Eggs — “Glucose (wheat)” is listed in the ingredients, but many Celiacs consider the glucose to be gluten-free due to all the processing.
- Cadbury Caramel Eggs — “Glucose (wheat)” is listed in the ingredients, but many Celiacs consider the glucose to be gluten-free due to all the processing.
- Child’s Play Easter Mix — “Packed on equipment that also manufactures products containing peanuts, tree nuts and wheat.” (as found Mar. 2009)
- Chick Feed sunflower seeds “May contain wheat, peanuts, and tree nuts.”
- Ferrero Rocher candy — “wheat flour” in ingredients
- Frankford Cookies and Creme Eggs — “wheat flour” in ingredients
- Frankford Crispy Eggs (milk chocolate flavored) — “malt extract, milk and soy” listed in ingredients. “Manufactured in a facility that also processes peanuts and wheat.”
- Frankford solid milk chocolate bunny — “Manufactured in a facility that processes peanuts and wheat.”
- Galerie Edible Easter Grass (imported from Germany) — “May contain wheat.” on label
- Hershey’s miniatures — “malt” listed in ingredients. “Allergy Information: May contain wheat.”
- Hershey’s Cookies ‘n’ Creme eggs — “wheat flour” in ingredients
- Kit Kat Bunny Ears and Kit Kat minis — “wheat flour” in ingredients
- Lindt Chocolate — Lindt US website addresses the question of gluten with this note: “Unfortunately, at this time we cannot guarantee that Lindt chocolate is gluten free. Our white and extra dark (70% cocoa and above) chocolate products by nature do not contain barley malt. However, because they run on the same production lines as other products there is a chance of cross contamination.”
- Lindt Lindor Truffles Eggs — “malt powder” listed in ingredients
- Lindt Assorted Chocolates with smooth filling — “barley malt powder” listed in ingredients
- Lindt milk chocolate bunnies (Gold Bunny, wrapped in gold foil) — “barley malt extract” listed in ingredients
- Lindt Bugs & Bees — “wheat and barley malt powder” in the ingredients.
- Lindt mini eggs and mini chicks — “barley malt powder” listed in ingredients
- Mayfair Kid’s Play basket stuffers (including Fuit Chews, Teaberry Gumballs, Spout Bubble Log, Atomic Fireballs, Super Bubble bubble gum, Easter Pops, Jawbreakers, Airheads, Lemonhead, and Smarties) — “Packed in a facility that processes peanuts, nuts, milk products, soy protein, wheat, eggs and sesame seeds.”
- Mighty Malts Speckled Malted Milk Eggs — “malted barley and wheat flour” are listed in the ingredients.
- Milky Way minis — “malted barley” in ingredients
- Nestle Crunch Nest Eggs — “Barley Malt” listed as an ingredient. “Made on equipment that also processes peanuts, nuts and wheat.”
- PAAS eggs — “malt” listed in ingredients
- Palmer’s Double Crisp chocolate candy (including Bunnies, Bunnyettes, Pops, Chick a Dees, Bunny Munny and Eggs) — “barley malt” listed in ingredients
- Palmer’s Lil’ Crispy chocolate bunny — “malt” listed in ingredients. “Manufactured on equipment which processes wheat, peanut butter, and tree nuts.”
- Palmer’s Cookies ‘n Creme Eggs — “bleached wheat flour” is listed in ingredients. “Manufactured on equipment which processes wheat, peanut butter, and tree nuts.”
- Palmer’s Crispy Peanut Butter flavored eggs — “malt” listed in ingredients.
- Palmer’s Eggbert Double Crisp — “Barley malt” listed in ingredients.
- Palmer’s Quax hollow milk flavored candy duck (“The Yummy Ducky”) — Be careful with this one. In one store, this statement was included on the boxes: “Manufactured on equipment which processes wheat, peanut butter and other tree nuts.” In other stores, this statement was not on the boxes. Made in different facilities?
- Peter Rabbit real milk chocolate bunny — “Manufactured in a facility that processes peanuts and wheat.”
- Reese’s milk chocolate and peanut butter eggs (mini eggs foil-wrapped individually) — “wheat flour” listed in the ingredients
- Reese’s mini-Reester Bunnies — “wheat flour” in ingredients
- Russel Stover chocolate candy — With the exception of the jelly beans, every RS product I looked at had a similar statement of cross-contamination: “Products have been produced on shared equipment with peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, and wheat.” Some of their products had additional allergens listed to those above.
- Snickers Eggs — “Allergy Information: May contain tree nuts, egg, and wheat.”
- Snickers Creme Sports Eggs — “Allergy Information: May contain tree nuts, egg, and wheat.”
- SpongeBob Squarepants Eggs plastic egg with sour candy and stickers — “Manufactured in a facility that processes peanuts, almonds and wheat.”
- SpongeBob Squarepants gummy Krabby Patties — “Manufactured in a facility that processes peanuts, almonds and wheat.”
- SweetTart Gummy Bunnies (Wonka) — “wheat” listed as an ingredient (as found Mar. 2009)
- Trolli Gummi Bunnies — “Packaged on equipment that also packages products containing traces of milk, eggs, wheat, peanuts, tree nuts, and/or soy protein.” (as found Mar. 2009)
- Twix — “Wheat Flour” listed in ingredients (as found Mar. 2009)
- Twizzlers Tweeters — “wheat” listed as an ingredient (as found Mar. 2009)
- Whitman’s Sampler — “Allergy Information: Products have been processed on shared equipment with tree nuts and wheat.”
- Whoppers Robin Eggs (includes mini-Robbin Eggs, too) — “barley malt and wheat flour” in ingredients
- Wonka’s eggs — “oat flour” listed as an ingredient; “Made on equipment that also processes peanuts, nuts and wheat.”
- Wonka Mix-Ups (including SweeTart chews, Laffy Taffy, SweeTarts, and Nerds) “Made in a facility that also processes wheat and egg.”
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Notable Links:
- More information about Jelly Belly candy.
- Sure Foods Living has more Easter candy information Celebrating Easter gluten-free and allergen-free.
- Gluten Free Is Life also has a list of Easter candy safe for the gluten-free diet.
- Check out the recipe for making Chocolate Eggs in a Cookie Basket.
- More gluten-free candy lists for Halloween Candy and Valentine Candy.
Soft, Warm Pretzels Gluten-Free!
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That’s right! For this month’s Adopt a Gluten-Free Blogger, I made gluten-free soft, warm pretzels. I saw the recipe on Flour Arrangements, a blog full of wonderful recipes posted by Sophie. I love her blog name: It just seems so appropriate for someone baking lots of gluten-free treats, doesn’t it? I don’t know about you, but I probably have a dozen different gluten-free flours in my pantry. I’m always impressed by the big, beautiful photos on Sophie’s site. They always make my mouth water. And when I saw her post for these pretzels, I immediately thought of the buttery, gluten smell of the hot soft pretzels at the mall. You know the ones I’m talking about. I just had to give her recipe a try.
So how were they? Good. Really good. But perhaps not perfect because I think I erred a little bit. I tried my best to follow the recipe exactly, but did have to make a couple substitutions. I did use teff flour and almond meal as instructed for the high-protein flour. But, I had to substitute brown rice flour for the white rice flour. I didn’t realize I was out of white rice flour. (Actually, I think I quit buying it.)
Another problem I had, the recipe calls for 1-1/4 tsp of yeast. When I tried to proof it, nothing happened. So, I added another teaspoon of yeast to the mixture. That seemed to do the trick. Now for the big mistake: I put the dough into the warm oven to rise, but I didn’t cover the bowl. Oops! By the time I got the dough out, it hadn’t really risen much. And, the surface of the dough got a little dry and crusty in spots. But, I was determined to make it work. So, I got it out and worked with it a little and pressed on. I didn’t find the dough to be very sticky at all. Perhaps it got too dry in the oven. But, I actually found it to be fairly easy to roll it out and shape into pretzels.
The baking soda and water mixture was a lot more than I needed to brush on the pretzels. But, it is definitely necessary for the taste and texture of the crust of the pretzel. As the pretzels came out of the oven (Oh, what a wonderful smell!), I brushed them with melted butter and sprinkled a mixture of coarse Kosher salt and coarse sea salt on them. The flavor is just what you would expect for the pretzels. The texture was good, too, however I would prefer a lighter, airier pretzel. I think the combination of letting the dough dry out in the oven and then kneading the dough probably deflated the necessary air pockets from the dough.
I was hoping to get a chance to make another batch of pretzels before posting this, but I ran out of time. I will definitely make these again! Even with the denser dough product, these were really good. The flavor was right-on and they were soft and tender. Even the next day, they still tasted good. My husband heated one up in the toaster oven two days later and said it was still good.
So for my next batch, I will use 2-1/4 tsp yeast and cover the dough before putting into the oven to rise. I would also say that for the baking soda solution, you can use 1/2 cup hot water with 1 tsp baking soda. That should be more than enough to brush onto the pretzels. And, my husband would say, “Don’t forget the mustard!” I prefer mine plain, with just a little salt.
My thanks to Sea at The Book of Yum for creating this fun and productive blog carnival. It’s great motivation to learn about some fellow gluten-free bloggers, and try some new gluten-free recipes. Thanks also to Thomas of The GFCF Experience for hosting the event this month. And, thanks to Sophie for sharing so many wonderful gluten-free recipes. I know I’m not the only one who appreciates your tasty recipes!
Notable Links:
- This month’s round-up for Adopt a GF Blogger at The GFCF Experience.
- The recipe for Soft and Chunky Gluten-Free Pretzels at Flour Arrangements.
- The Book of Yum’s Adopt a GF Blogger Event description and links to past event round-ups.
Chicken Enchilada Soup
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Last month, I had chicken enchiladas on my menu plan, but family schedules changed and I couldn’t make the dish. I had to make due with leftovers for dinner instead. By the time I got around to making the chicken enchiladas later that week, I didn’t have enough corn tortillas or chicken to make them. But, I did have leftover Mexican chicken and fresh tomatillos that needed to be used. That’s when I thought about the soup challenge posted by Linda @ The Gluten-Free Homemaker. I did have enough ingredients to make soup. So, I got started making a Chicken Enchilada Soup.
The bad news about making this soup is that my kids won’t eat soup. The good news is that knowing my kids weren’t going to eat it, I felt free to add in the jalapeños to give it a little heat. And more good news: I absolutely loved it. I mean, I like chicken enchiladas, so why wouldn’t I like it as a soup? My husband liked it too. And now I have a new way to use up my leftover Mexican chicken. In the past I’ve used the chicken for rice bowls, salad, taquitos, quesadillas, nachos, and tacos. Now I can add soup to my list, too! I kept the soup pretty simple, but I can see making this again in the future with some corn and black beans added in before the final simmer.
Chicken Enchilada Soup Recipe
Ingredients:
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
4 cloves garlic, minced
5 tomatillos (about 1 lb.), husks and stems removed, and quartered
2 (4 oz. cans) diced green chiles
3 jalapeños, stems removed, seeded and finely chopped
1 tsp salt
4 Cups chicken broth (added 2 cups at a time)
2 Cups leftover shredded Mexican chicken
For topping:
1 Cup cheddar cheese, shredded
6 corn tortillas, sliced into thin strips
corn oil for deep frying the corn tortilla strips
Directions:
- Using a 4-quart pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the chopped onions and cook until tender. Then, add in the minced garlic and cook for an additional minute, or until aromatic.
- Pour 2 cups chicken broth into the pot and add in the quartered tomatillos, chopped jalapeños, diced green chiles, and salt. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 15 minutes, or until the tomatillos are tender.
- Remove the pot from the heat and use an immersible blender
to purée the soup.
- Return the pot to the heat and add in the remaining 2 cups of chicken broth and the shredded chicken. Simmer for 15 minutes.
- While the soup is simmering, deep fry the corn tortilla strips in hot corn oil (375° F) about 2-3 minutes, or until crispy.
- Serve the soup with some cheddar cheese and crispy corn tortilla strips on top.
- Makes 4-6 large bowls of soup.
Additional Notes:
- If you don’t have an immersible blender, you can use a traditional blender to purée the soup. You may want to let the soup cool down a little before pouring into the blender.
- I used fresh tomatillos, but you can also use canned tomatillos. The canned tomatillos will not need to cook very long, and will purée quite quickly.
- If you don’t want to fry the tortilla strips, you can simply top the soup with some crushed tortilla chips. Or even just serve the soup with warmed corn tortillas.
Notable Links:
- Celiac Family’s Slow-cooked, shredded Mexican chicken recipe
- Celiac Family’s Chicken Enchiladas recipe
- More gluten-free soups at The Gluten-Free Homemaker’s What Can I Eat That’s Gluten-Free? soup challenge
- Don’t want to deep fry the corn tortilla strips? Consider Gluten-Free Girl’s recipe for baking the tortillas instead.
Gluten-Free Beignet Recipe
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This winter, our family went to the movie theater to watch Disney’s latest animated film “The Princess and the Frog.” We loved the movie. And, although I haven’t spent a lot of time in New Orleans, I was reminded of the fun times and good food I’ve had there in the past. In the movie, there were scenes where Tiana (“the princess”) makes or powders beignets (pronounced ben-YAYs), a kind of doughnut that was made famous by Cafe du Monde in New Orleans. While watching the scenes, I wondered about making these gluten free. Of course, I couldn’t find a gluten-free recipe, so I had to come up with my own.
I am so excited to share this recipe with you. I’ve never actually eaten a lot of beignets – only when I’ve been at the French Quarter in New Orleans. They really are a delicious treat. If you’re not familiar with them, I would describe them as a square doughnut, or bread dough deep fried into little square pillows, and topped with powdered sugar. They are so yummy! If you aren’t celebrating Mardi Gras with a Gluten-Free King Cake this year, then you should definitely indulge in these little gems.
Gluten-Free Beignet Recipe
Ingredients:
1/2 Cup warm water
1/4 Cup sugar
2 tsp yeast
3/4 Cup almond milk (Regular milk should work, too.)
1/2 Cup butter, melted
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 Cups brown rice flour (I use Authentic Foods finely ground.)
1 Cup potato starch
1/2 Cup sweet rice flour
1 Tbsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp salt
1 liter vegetable oil for frying beignets
powdered sugar for dusting the beignets after cooking
Directions:
You’ll need a large pot of vegetable oil to fry the beignets. Electric deep fryers are great for keeping the temperature consistent. However, you can use a pot of oil on the stove top, but you’ll need to watch the temperature closely. You should fry the beignets between 360° - 380° F.- Start by combining the yeast with the sugar and the warm water (110° - 115° F is recommended but I don’t usually check the temperature.) in a small bowl. Set it aside.
In a large bowl, mix together the brown rice flour, potato starch, sweet rice flour, xanthan gum, and salt. Add in the melted butter, milk, and eggs and mix thoroughly.- Now stir the yeast mixture into the flour mixture. The dough should start to pull together into a soft ball.
- Turn the dough out onto a sheet of parchment paper and top with plastic wrap. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough until it’s about 1/8″ thick.
- Using a pizza cutter, cut the beignets into 2-1/2″ squares.
You should be able to make 24 – 30 beignets. - Fry the dough in the heated oil 1 – 3 beignets at a time. Don’t fry too many at once, as it can lower the temperature of the oil too fast. Thus, inhibiting the beignets to puff up like they should. Once the beignets start to brown, flip them over using a slotted spoon or tongs. Once the beignets have been lightly browned on both sides, carefully remove them from the oil and place on paper towels to absorb extra oil. The beignets should only take one or two minutes to brown on each side.
- Generously top each beignet with powdered sugar and serve while warm.
Additional Notes:
- These aren’t terribly sweet. Most of the sweetness comes from the powdered sugar, so you can easily adjust it to your liking. You can even drizzle a little honey on it, like my husband did, if you have a sweet tooth.
- In case you’re wondering: I didn’t find it necessary to wait and allow the dough to rise. I simply cut them out and fried them up.
- This dough wasn’t very sticky, so you might be able to roll out the dough without using the parchment paper and plastic wrap, but I find it convenient. A little dusting of potato starch on the counter and rolling pin should work fine.
- Just roll out the dough once. I tried to re-roll the dough (balled it up and rolled it out again) to cut perfect squares. As a result, the dough fried up flat and a little tougher.
- Watch the temperature of the oil while frying. If it’s too low, the beignets won’t puff up. If it’s too high, the center won’t cook through and will be a little gummy. If you’re having trouble, try putting two pieces of dough into the oil at a time when it’s at 380° F.
- Although I don’t believe it’s traditional, I think these would be nice with a little cinnamon mixed into the dough. I might try that next time.
- In order to save time for breakfast, the traditional meal time to eat these, make up the dough the night before and keep the dough in the refrigerator. In the morning, roll it out, cut it and fry.
Notable Links
- I did eventually find another recipe for gluten-free beignets. This one by Teri Gruss at About.com uses a cake mix for the flour.
- There are more tips for cooking beignets at Cafe Du Monde .
- I’m linking this to Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays because I only used 1/4 Cup sugar in the dough and I reduced the lactose content by using almond milk.
- For more gluten-free recipes, visit The Gluten-Free Homemaker at this week’s edition of “What Can I Eat That’s Gluten Free?“
- Know a fan of Disney’s “The Princess and the Frog”? Here are some coloring/activity pages my daughter has enjoyed.
Chocolate Macadamia Nut Candy
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This month I’ve been experimenting with chocolate-covered macadamia nuts. I made three different versions: Easy, Delicious, and Addictive! Plus, some heart-shaped ones for Valentine’s Day. Let me start with the easy recipe:
Easy Chocolate-Covered Macadamia Nuts
Ingredients:
Whole Raw Macadamia Nuts
Dark Cocoa Candy Melts
You’ll also need a Truffles Candy Mold
Directions:
Melt chocolate candy melts in the microwave. Start by melting at half power for about two minutes. Then, put in for another minute at a time to finish melting.- Fill about a third of each candy truffle mold with the melted chocolate. Push a nut into the melted chocolate in the mold. Then, finish filling the candy mold with more melted chocolate. Tap the mold on the counter to release any air bubbles.
- Place the mold in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Then, pull it out of the refrigerator, turn it upside down and pop the candies out.
Additional Notes:
- The candy melts are so easy to work with, and they make very pretty, shiny candies. However, it isn’t as tasty as using good chocolate. (That doesn’t mean they didn’t disappear as quickly as I made them.)
- For melting the candy melt discs, I used a plastic squeeze bottle
. It made it easy to melt the candy and fill the candy mold. You can keep the bottle in a bowl of warm water to keep the chocolate warm while you’re filling the candy molds with nuts. Or, just pop it back into the microwave for a minute or two, if necessary.
- You can, of course, melt the chocolate on the stove with a double boiler. Just be careful not to get any water into the chocolate, as it can make the chocolate seize.
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Delicious Chocolate-Covered Macadamia Nuts
For an even better tasting candy, instead of raw macadamia nuts, I used Elana’s recipe for candied macadamia nuts at Elana’s Pantry. It’s a pretty quick and easy recipe, and is a very tasty treat by itself. But, the sweetness of the agave nectar combined with the salt, and then roasted in the oven gives this chocolate candy another tasty layer which is delicious!
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Best Tasting, Addictive Chocolate-Covered Macadamia Nuts
For the best tasting chocolate covered macadamia nuts, use the candied macadamia nuts and use real dark chocolate! Using real chocolate just makes these even better. In order to get the best looking results, too, you’ll have to temper your chocolate. I’m still trying to perfect the tempering process, but even if it doesn’t work for you it will be delicious! It just may not be as pretty. Un-tempered chocolate also has a tendency to bloom at room temperature. So, if you don’t temper your chocolate, eat them right away or store in the refrigerator.
Valentine’s Day Treats
So, for Valentine’s Day, I made some of these with heart-shaped molds. I couldn’t find any candy molds that were deep enough to accommodate the macadamia nuts, so I used these silicone gelatin/ice cube molds
Related Links:
- Elana’s Pantry Candied Macadamia Nuts recipe and directions.
- Diane made Chocolate Macadamia Nuts without using candy molds at The W.H.O.L.E. Gang.
- Detailed directions of Tempering Chocolate is at Cooking For Engineers.
- The Giver’s Log has great tips for buying chocolate and melting and tempering chocolate.
- For more gluten-free recipes, visit The Gluten-Free Homemaker for What Can I Eat That’s Gluten Free?
