E desperately wants to be a part of all kitchen ventures. Sometimes she plays with rice and beans on the floor. Other times, I let her stand on a chair by the counter top and pour (pre-measured) dry ingredients into the mixing bowl, or measure and stir her own nuts and raisins. Yes, she makes messes and her cleaning efforts, at this point, usually exacerbate those messes. But I love the time together, and I know she’s learning to love the art of cooking even at her wee age (Thanks Mom, Heather H. and Heather V. for teaching me to invite my kids–and their inevitable chaos–into my kitchen).
Most recently, E helped me make some treats to include in K’s lunches on the days he works downtown.
GF Gingersnaps (from Living Without)
2 3/4 gf flour (I combined almond meal, sorghum flour, chickpea flour, and a little white rice flour)
1/2 tsp ground cloves
3/4 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 3/4 xanthan gum
1/8 tsp salt
1 stick butter, melted (I used Earth Balance Vegan Butter)
1/4 c. molassas
1 c. sugar
1 large egg
Granulated sugar
Mix together flour, cloves, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, xanthan gum and salt. Set aside. In seperate bowl, mix butter, molassas and sugar together. Beat in egg. Slowly stir in dry ingredients. Dough will be sticky. Refrigerate, covered, for several hours. Divide dough into three equal parts. Roll into logs. Slice one log into 1/4 to 1/3 inch pieces. Press both sides of the slices in granulated sugar. Bake on lightly greased cookie sheet for 8 to 10 minutes. Cool.
Wrap the remaining two logs in plastic wrap and freeze in a ziplock bag for later use.
GF Brownies
(from: Karina’s Kitchen) Gf, vegan chocolate is gross. So, I had to hunt for some time before I found a gf brownie recipe that used cocoa powder as the only source of chocolate. Fortunately, the search was worth it. I made these brownies last Wednesday. And Thursday. And now I’m considering baking them again today. My excuse? I cut, wrap in foil, and freeze most of them in order to pop them in K’s lunch box in the coming weeks. A moist, rich fudge-like square helps him forgive me for sending a lunch of chicken salad over spinach, baby carrots, red pepper spears, and an apple.
3/4 c. gf flour (I combined almond meal & white rice flour, but plan on adding a bit of chickpea flour next time to improve the chewiness)
1 c. granulated sugar
5 TB cocoa
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup shortening (butter, or GF margarine etc.), softened
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 c. crushed pecans or walnuts
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in a glass bowl using a microwave, then stir in the rest of the ingredients. Add 1/2 cup of nuts, etc., if desired. Spread in an 8×8-inch baking pan. Press nine whole pecans into the top, evenly spaced. Bake for 30 minutes. Cool. Cut. Wrap and freeze.