New Gluten-Free Blueberry Crisp

A new dairy-free blueberry crisp recipe for Summer 2014.

A Summer Classic: Blueberry Crisp

We had a sudden hankering. You know how it is. A craving hits that will not be denied. Insistent. Growling. Desire with an uppercase D. You start imagining fresh, juicy blueberries, nestled beneath a perfectly golden crumble of a crust, warm, the deepest purple, bubbling as you slide it- ever so gently- out of the oven and onto a cooling rack to rest and settle until you can't stand it a minute longer, breathing in the cinnamon laced aroma of a summer dessert classic.

The forever glorious blueberry crisp.

And this one's gluten-free. And dairy-free. No xanthan gum either- a bonus.

So, Babycakes.

Don't wait.

Blueberry season is short and sweet.


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How to Keep Chill: Karina's Best Frozen Treats

Karina's Best Dairy-Free Vegan 'Ice Cream' Recipes

The Big Chill

Our move to the Pacific Northwest has been a looping, crooked road. We've been gypsies for so long now our empty nester's walkabout feels like one epic morning-after flashback. From Cape Cod to Santa Fe, from West Hollywood to the Berkshire foothills, we've crisscrossed the country twice, renting a different space each year- for seven years. We built fires in the kiva of a snowed in adobe casita, listening to coyotes beneath the deepest, darkest, star studded sky. We've gone urban and modern in a glassy fourth floor loft, and budget friendly practical in a murky, cheap, fifties apartment with no laundry onsite. We spent a windy, salty year on Redondo Beach, and a wildly creative nine months in an 1840's New England carriage house with the biggest, brightest art studio I've ever had the pleasure to paint in (the bizarre, off kilter landlord is another story).

Along the way I've shed outdated things- furniture, frocks, and too many books, old assumptions, outgrown needs. And I got older (who has not?). My fifties are officially over. I turned the milestone of sixty here in Portland, and marked the occasion with grilled salmon, a fire pit, toasted marshmallows and dark chocolate.

There is more to the story of course (isn't there, always?). But I will leave you with recipes today, rather than exposition. Just know that magic is alive, in spite of evidence to the contrary. In spite of the sad, dark nature of things. In spite of the awful, awful news and Internet idiocy. Life is surprising. And sly. And yes. Full of magic.

When you least expect it.



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Gluten-Free Blueberry Muffins - Almond Flour

Tender almond flour muffins bursting with fresh blueberries.

Gluten-Free Blueberry Muffin Recipe with Almond Flour

Originally published July 2010.

I used Bob's Red Mill Almond Flour in this new muffin recipe. Finely ground almonds create a delicate, soft gluten-free flour that is light and subtly sweet.

First: 

Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Line a 12-muffin tin with paper liners.

Ingredients:

Whisk together:

1 1/3 cups almond meal
1 cup sorghum flour or certified GF oat flour
1/2 cup tapioca starch or potato starch (not potato flour)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
2 teaspoons Bourbon vanilla extract

Beat in:

1 1/3 cups organic light brown sugar
2 tablespoons light olive oil
1 tablespoon Ener-G Egg Replacer whisked with 1/4 cup warm water till frothy
1/2 cup warm water, more as needed, up to 3/4 cup
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Beat the batter until it is smooth, like a slightly thickened cake batter. I found this batter a bit thinner than I'm used to (I haven't baked with almond flour in several years).

Add in:

1 pint fresh blueberries, washed and patted dry

Stir gently and briefly.

Baking instructions:

Plop the blueberry muffin batter into the twelve lined cups. You'll probably have some xtra- for a baker's dozen. We made tiny mini-muffins with our extra better. Too cute.

Bake in the center of a preheated oven for 23 to 25 minutes, until golden and firm to the touch. A wooden pick inserted into the center should emerge clean.

Cool the muffin pan on a wire rack for five minutes. Gently pop the muffins out to continue cooling on the rack (don't cool them in the hot pan- they'll get soggy).

If by some chance, Babycakes, your muffins are soggy or slightly underdone-- due to unforeseen oven temperature variations-- place them back into the warm oven directly on the center rack for five minutes or so.

These are simply divine warm from the oven. 

Enjoy every bite.

Wrap and freeze cooled muffins for future breakfast treats.

Makes a baker's dozen.

Recipe Source: glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com

All images & content are copyright protected, all rights reserved. Please do not use our images or content without prior permission. Thank you.

Karina's notes:

If you prefer using eggs in your gluten-free baking, I recommend using two to three organic free-range eggs in this recipe.

*As always, follow your own doctor's medical advice regarding food allergies. Consult with her/him before even contemplating a food challenge- and obviously do not attempt a food challenge without medical advice and supervision.

Gluten-free blueberry muffins. Um. Yes.

Summer Recipes for a Gluten-Free Diet

Cook Up a Gluten-Free Wheat-Free Summer

Make your gluten-free diet fresh, fast, and light. These hand-picked Gluten-Free Goddess® recipes celebrate the abundance of local ingredients and garden-glorious taste. Kick up your warm weather meals with local fresh herbs, tender greens, lime infused guacamole,  protein rich hummus, and bright basil pesto. Simple grilled fish, colorful stir-fries, and brilliant quinoa salads  make for light and easy meals, perfect for picnic style get-togethers. Strawberries, blueberries and peaches inspire easy crisps and cobblers, cakes, muffins, and dairy-free ice creams everyone will enjoy. Eating gluten-free and wheat-free couldn't be simpler. 

Or more fabulous.

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Coconut Milk Ice Cream Berry Parfaits

Easy elegance. Coconut ice cream. Berries. Boom. Parfait!

We are slowly melting here in the usually friendlier, temperate wedge of Northwest Connecticut. This heat wave has not been fun. Yesterday we hit 87º degrees. Inside the barn. In the kitchen (if you can call it that), where I am not cooking. I am painting. Very slowly. And sweating. Profusely. The studio air smelled like a West Hollywood muffler shop (if I was a betting soul I'd wager greenbacks on the landlord lying when he assured us the barn was insulated). Yours truly may be suffering quasi-serious brain damage due to these cranium-baking temperatures. I cannot form a cohesive thought. Neither can my iMac which gets dangerously hot (I am writing this post early, while the room temperature is a balmy 78º).

Obviously I am unable to muster any enthusiasm for cooking.

I've been living on gluten-free peanut butter toast. And ice cream. Yes, I know. I am a poor, sad, sad role model. What kind of food blogger doesn't rise to the challenge and cheer-lead you to whip up kale salads and raw peach smoothies? What kind of food blogger would simply give in to her sticky, damp fatigue and general overall crankiness and not create some inspiring, nutritious, bunny food slaw for you?

This one.

She who is about to share a no-cook recipe she actually DID make last night, standing directly in front of her three-speed fan, silver streaked hair pinned wantonly (fashionably!) askew atop her itchy, sweaty head.

Sweet and cold and creamy. Coconut milk ice cream.

It's what's for dinner.


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Grilled Vegetable Stack + Lemon Hummus

Smoky grilled vegetable stack with homemade lemon hummus.

Grilling Vegetarian

Beneath the hot sapphire skies of an all too brief July, backyard grills will be smokin' as savvy cooks keep the kitchen cool by stoking briquettes al fresco. Cooking and dining in the open air- even if your outdoorsy territory is merely a closet-sized urban balcony hanging off a sun-kissed wall of brick and mortar- is an enduring, classic, summer pleasure. 

The smoky sweet heat of barbeque spices, chipotle, and hickory laced sauces slathered on everything from burgers to shrimp and meaty portobellos is intoxicating- and hunger pang inducing.

So to further feed the flames of desire, I'm sharing one of my all time favorite grilling recipes.

And this one's for the gluten-free vegan crowd.

Over the weekend we grilled some of our favorite farm fresh veggies and made these rustic grilled vegetable stacks layered with a light and creamy homemade lemon hummus.

Deliciousness was the word.


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Gluten-Free Whole Grain Strawberry Muffins

Gluten-free low sugar whole grain strawberry muffins.

Whole Grain Wheat-Free Muffins with Love

From the archives- as we move back to the West Coast- a favorite muffin recipe, perfect for strawberry season...

With all the recent news about sugar, I've been thinking about muffins. And not just any ordinary, ho-hum, run-of-the-mill, starchy, gluten-free muffins. Nope. A tender, whole grain, lower sugar, vanilla scented muffin that bursts with fresh strawberry flavor. Warm from the oven, these pleasantly grainy breakfast treats are pull-apart soft with juicy bites of strawberry. Sweet- but not too sweet.

I used pure maple syrup for the primary sweetener, and a mere two tablespoons of organic brown sugar. And now for the interesting part. I also experimented with no xanthan gum. This is highly unusual for me. I've usually rely on xanthan gum to give my gluten-free batter and dough the stretchability factor- a trait removed when I booted gluten from my kitchen and wished it vaya con dios. But inspired by Lauren, the Celiac Teen, I decided to try baking without it.

But here's the thing.

Shunning gluten is a complicated issue. Gluten imparts a flexibility to batter and dough, and baking without it can lead you to crumbly, gritty ruin if you're not careful. You're giving up protein. And you're giving up elasticity. And not only that, you're saying buh-bye to the toothsome texture you are accustomed to.

Reaching for xanthan gum was a quick fix, an immediate solution to this lack of flexibility problem. But many of you now report you don't want to use it. For some it's a price issue (xanthan gum ain't cheap, Darling). For others it's a digestive issue (xanthan gum or its alternative, guar gum, can be hard on sensitive digestion). And for some, it's an allergy issue (to mold or the growth medium, most often cornstarch).

Gluten-free baking without gums is tricky. This, I know. So my first foray into this venture is not vegan. I used two free-range organic eggs. Egg whites help give gluten-free batter that precious stretchability factor. And the protein factor. They bind, and they leaven.

My choice of flours reflects two things- what I had on hand this morning, and my desire to use whole grains (I am liking starches less and less). I picked hazelnut flour for the delightful nutty flavor and protein; millet, brown rice, and sorghum flour because they are whole grain and higher protein than white rice flour or potato starch; and I used coconut flour because it attracts moisture and adds a lovely texture to gluten-free baked goods (not to mention, for its high fiber status).

The result? A tasty, blog worthy success. I absolutely love these strawberry muffins.

And I hope you do, too!

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