Gluten Free Crumpets

Sorry it's been so long since I had a post.  It's been a busy Christmas season with little time to spare. Today I was off from work and decided I needed to make some bread.  My favorite bread since becoming gluten free has been Bette Hagman's  crumpets.  To me, they are the best bread!

The bread is made in English muffin rings so they come out looking like hamburger buns. I've played around with the flour mixture and made a few changes with the following results.

The flour mix I used for this dough is below.

2 1/2 cups Buckwheat flour
2 cups white rice flour
1 1/2 cups sweet rice flour
2 cups potato starch
1 cup tapocia starch
4 teaspoons xantham gum

I sifted all of the ingredients and made certain they were well mixed before I measured them for the crumpets. Since the buckwheat flour is dark, it's easier to tell when the blend is mixed well.

Crumpets
3 cups plus 2 tbsp of the flour mix above
1/2 tsp. Xanthan gum
3 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp unflavored gelatin (Knox Gelatin)
3 tsp. egg replacer
1 tsp Kosher salt
Mix these ingredients together in a mixing bowl and set aside.

Blend together:
1 3/4 cups warm water (110 degrees)
1 tsp sugar
2 1/4 tsp yeast (dry granules)
Set aside and allow the yeast time to work.  Be careful and don't use water which is too hot.  You'll kill the yeast. I always use an instant read thermometer to check the water temp before adding the yeast.

In your large mixing bowl, blend:
2 eggs
2 tbsp and 2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp vinegar
6 tbsp melted butter

Once the egg mixture is blended, add the yeast liquid to it and mix. Begin adding half of the flour mixture to the liquid and beat until smooth.  Stir in the remaining flour mixture.  Sometimes I do this with a wooden spoon to keep the flour from flying up from the mixer bowl and into the air.  Have you ever noticed that white dust all over your kitchen counter tops? Our flour is so fine it
can leave a coating on everything. Beat the flour mixture until smooth.

Spoon into greased English muffin rings or small baking pans.  Cover and let the bread rise in a warm place until the batter is doubled in size. When I'm in a hurry, I'll turn my oven on 150 degrees and placed my covered dough inside the oven to rise.

When dough has risen, bake in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for 17-20 minutes or until bread is browned and starting to pull away from the muffin rings.  Remove from the oven, remove the rings and enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Once the crumpets have risen, it's time to bake.

Time to eat!!!!!!!!!!!

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I have!

Cashew Brittle

One of my favorite recipes to make for Christmas is Cashew Brittle. It's so easy to make. A microwave wonder and everyone loves it. It's a tradition.

I can give it to my family and friends and it brings smiles to their faces, hopefully not cavities to their teeth.  Try it!!!!!   Normally I can fill 2 treat bags half full with one batch of this holiday wonder.

Cashew Brittle

2 cups roasted, salted cashew halves with pieces
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup

1tsp butter
1 tsp vanilla

1tsp baking soda

In a 2-quart microwave safe bowl (I use a 2 quart measuring cup with a handle by Pampered Chef), stir together the nuts, sugar, and corn syrup.  Microwave uncovered, on high until the mixture is light brown in color.  Ususally around 6-8 minutes, stirring well at 3-4 minutes.

Meanwhile grease a cookie sheet well with butter.

Use oven mitts to remove the nut mixture from the microwave.  Stir well and mix in butter and vanilla. Mircowave for another 1-2 minutes. Mixture should become caramel colored.

Again make certain to use oven mitts, remove the mixture from the oven and quickly add the baking soda to the nut mixture.  Stir quickly until light and foamy.  Then carefully pour the mixture onto the prepared cookie sheet.  Use the back of the spoon to spread out as quickly as possible. The brittle will be thick so I try to spread it out well with the back of a wooden or metal spoon. Caution the mixture is very hot!

Let the brittle stand until completely cool, about 30 minutes.  Break into pieces, serve, or store in airtight containers or treat bags.  Stores well in an airtight container for several weeks, but it probably won't last that long. Enjoy!