Gluten Free Blueberry & Cherry Crisp

Sunday night my boyfriend and I were getting ready to watch Breaking Bad and knew I wanted something sweet to help alleviate my anxiety. First, because as of Sunday there were only three episodes left of the entire series. Second, anyone who watches it knows how insane it is.

Anyway, I had some frozen farmers market blueberries and cherries in the freezer and figured I'd throw together a nice little dessert. In the past I've made a similar version of this recipe using millet flour and quinoa flakes, but since I didn't have those ingredients I decided to improvise. Instead I used coconut flour (which I've been baking with more regularly and like because it contains a good dose of fiber) and coconut flakes. To be honest, I liked this as much, if not more. The coconut flakes, which were toasted by the time this was ready to come out of the oven, added a really nice, crispy texture.

Dessert isn't always the easiest when you're gluten free, but this is a very simple, easy and fool-proof recipe. It's the perfectly balanced dessert. The coconut flour is fairly dense and the recipe doesn't call for a lot of sugar, so it's not overwhelmingly sweet. And while it's ideal in the summer, it's most certainly a dish you can make all year round.

Gluten Free Blueberry & Cherry Crisp

Time: 30 minutes (5 minutes prep, 25 minutes cooking)
Servings: 4

Ingredients:

1 cup blueberries

1 cup cherries
1 teaspoon sugar

1/3 cup coconut flour

1/3 cup light brown sugar

1/3 cup coconut oil

1/3 cup coconut flakes

Preheat the oven to 350º. Cover the inside of a cake pan with a very thin layer of coconut oil (spray).

Place the blueberries and cherries into a bowl and sprinkle with sugar. Toss to coat. Pour into the greased pan and distribute evenly.

In a separate bowl, combine coconut flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Add the coconut oil. Rub coconut oil and dry mixture together with your hands to create a dough-like texture.

Sprinkle the crumble topping over the blueberries.

Bake in the center of a pre-heated oven for 25 minutes, or until browned. Remove and serve immediately. I'd suggest serving it with a scoop of vanilla or coconut ice cream the crumble is slightly dry and ice cream compliments it well and gives some added moisture. 

Gluten-Free Blueberry Muffins

My apartment smelled incredible last night. Why, you ask? Because I was making gluten-free blueberry muffins.

 I'll be honest, I had my doubts. Up until now I really haven't experimented too much with gluten-free baking. I've never made muffins, or cupcakes, or bread. Well, let me tell you, I am a changed woman.

A lot of my favorite gluten-free bloggers are big into baking. And of course everything they make looks amazing. Which is intimidating. Right? I figured it would be easy enough to start off with something relatively simple, like muffins, and take it from there. I spent some time researching gluten-free blueberry muffin recipes  (because let's be honest, who doesn't love homemade blueberry muffins), and finally came across this recipe from Confessions of a Gluten Free Mom. I ultimately chose this because it only required seven ingredients, whereas some of the other recipes I came across required at least 16 (like this one). Not only did I find those recipes slightly intimidating, I didn't want to break the bank on my first try.

What makes this recipe so easy is that it uses Pamela's Baking & Pancake Mix (gluten-free, of course), so I didn't have to buy five different kinds of flour. And let me tell you, I'm sold on this mix. It's delicious. And not just gluten-free delicious. Delicious delicious. I was licking the beaters, spatula, and mixing bowl until there wasn't anything left to lick. Don't judge me.

And the muffins were even better than the raw batter! Shocker, I know. But seriously. They were so good. Fortunately my gluten-free partner in crime (The Wardrobe from the adorable blog The Whisk and The Wardrobe) is in town from Boston for Fashion Week and was kind enough to be my guinea pig last night. She loved them too.

So there are two takeaways from this: 1) never be afraid to try new recipes (and if you are, find a fairly simple recipe and work your way up from there), and 2) go buy yourself a package of Pamela's Baking & Pancake Mix. Last night as I was falling asleep I started to make a mental list of recipes I want to try with it.

Gluten-Free Blueberry Muffins

Yields 15 muffins
Total cooking time, including prep: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

1 & 3/4 cup Pamela's Baking & Pancake Mix
1/4 cup organic melted butter (the original recipe called for coconut oil, but I decided to use butter this time)
1/2 cup almond milk (the original recipe called for coconut milk, you could also use regular milk)
1/2 cup organic white sugar (the muffins were a little sweet, so you could probably use less if you wanted)
1 organic egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon (I added this because I love cinnamon and think it really adds to the flavor of the muffins)
1 cup blueberries (the original recipe called for 3/4 cup, but I figured the more the merrier)
15 cupcake liners

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350º. Mix all ingredients together except blueberries (I used a hand-held beater). Gently pour and fold in the blueberries so you dont turn your batter purple. Gently scoop batter into cupcake liners in the muffin tin. Fill batter almost to the top leaving a little space for rising.

Bake for 30 minutes (the original recipe said 22-25 minutes, but mine needed more time). Make sure to test with a knife or a toothpick to make sure they are cooked through. Enjoy!

Gluten-Free Blueberry Crumble

Gluten-free dessert keeps getting better. Now there's a sentence I'd never thought I'd say! Or at least, not until recently.

This past weekend I was home at my parents' house right outside of Washington, DC for my grandmother's 90th birthday party (!). We had a bunch of family in town, so I wanted to make something special for dessert Friday night and when I happened upon this recipe from Gluten-Free Goddess I immediately knew I had to try it. 

My family loves blueberries, and with summer quickly winding down I wanted to be sure and take advantage while they're still in season. If you're looking for a gluten-free dessert to make for the fabulous Labor Day barbecue you're probably going to, this is it. 

The recipe called for quinoa flakes, millet flour, and coconut oil, none of which I had cooked with before. There's nothing like a new challenge in the kitchen, right? I've seen quinoa flakes called for in a number of recipes recently so it was only a matter of time. I went to our local grocery store, which has an extensive gluten-free section, but I couldn't find quinoa flakes or millet flour, so I quickly made my way over to trusty old Whole Foods. Lesson learned! 

In total, this took about 35 minutes to make. 10 minutes of preparation, and 35 minutes in the oven (while we were eating dinner). Super easy and super delish. 

Gluten-Free Blueberry Crumble

Serves 6

2 pints fresh organic blueberries, washed

1 tablespoon sugar (preferably raw sugar)

2/3 cup quinoa flakes

2/3 cup gluten-free millet flour

2/3 cup organic light brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/2 cup coconut oil

Preheat the oven to 350º. Cover the inside of a 9-inch baking pan with a very thin layer of coconut oil.

Place the blueberries into a bowl and sprinkle with sugar. Toss to coat. Pour into the greased baking pan and distribute evenly.

In a separate bowl, combine the quinoa flakes, millet flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and sea salt. (Note: the original recipe called for 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, but my family agreed it was too salty, so I cut it to 1/8 teaspoon. You may even want to cut the salt entirely.) Add the coconut oil. Rub the coconut oil and dry mixture together with your hands to create a sandy, crumbly texture.

Sprinkle the crumble topping over the blueberries.

Bake in the center of a pre-heated oven for 25 minutes, or until it is browned and slightly bubbling. 

Set the crumble aside on a rack and allow it to cool a bit before serving. I served it warm over a scoop of my favorite Talenti Tahitian Vanilla Bean Gelato.

It was a big hit and everyone agreed that they would never have guessed it was gluten-free. Success!

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Strawberry, Blueberry, and Quinoa Breakfast

I know what you're thinking: You're recycling a recipe already?!  I am. Kind of. But it's what I'm eating for breakfast right now, and it's delicious, and I wanted to share it with you.

I simply took the Strawberry, Peach, and Quinoa Breakfast recipe and substituted blueberries for peaches. I bought peaches at the Rockefeller Center Greenmarket yesterday, but they weren't ripe enough to eat, so I used blueberries instead.

If you're like me, you'll find a recipe you love, eat it every day for a few weeks, and then get sick of it. I've been eating the Strawberry, Peach, and Quinoa Breakfast for the past two weeks, so adding blueberries switches up the flavor slightly. I also have leftover mango from the Yellow Tomato and Mango Gazpacho I made the other night, so I may swap that in for strawberries tomorrow morning (I conveniently used the last of my strawberries this morning).

Advance warning: I may not have a new recipe post tomorrow, but I'll try. One of my best friends and her fiance (it's still a little strange to say that, even though they've been engaged since Christmas!), who now live in Dallas (but used to live in NYC until last summer), are staying at our apartment tonight. I can't wait. We're going to drinks and dinner, so I doubt there will be much time to cook. No complaints!

I do want to quickly mention that if there's ever a particular type of recipe you'd like to see on Gluten Free For All, feel free to drop me a note at gfreeforall@gmail.com. Whether it's a meal (breakfast, lunch, or dinner) or you want to incorporate a certain ingredient, let me know! I'm always looking to try new recipes.

I'm thinking I'll need a new breakfast recipe soon... These Overnight Oats from Skinnytaste look quite tasty.

Quinoa Fruit Salad with Honey-Lime Dressing

My latest breakfast obsession. I'm a complete evangelist for this dish.

If you're gluten-free like me, you eat a lot of quinoa. A lot. But up until two weeks ago I had never eaten it for breakfast. I thought it would be an odd addition to a breakfast dish. Well, was I ever wrong. It ads texture, flavor, protein, and fiber. I particularly love the added protein because usually I'm able to last until lunch without a snack. That wouldn't be the case if I simply had a bowl of fruit. 

Side note: My nutritional counselor is big on soaking (also known as sprouting) grains (quinoa, rice, millet, etc.) before you cook them, so I'll make a plug for that here. An article she recently sent me talks about how soaking grains (in warm water for about 24 hours before you cook them) helps "neutralize phytic acid and enzyme inhibitors. Vitamin content increases, particularly B vitamins. Tannins, complex sugars, gluten and other difficult-to-digest substances are partially broken down into simpler components that are more readily available for absorption." Basically soaking opens up enzymes and makes the grains easier to digest. You can buy sprouted quinoa, but it tends to be more expensive. I'm a big fan of this truRoots Organic Sprouted Quinoa, which is available at Whole Foods. 

Anyway, I found this recipe from Two Peas & Their Pod, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite food blogs. Not all of their recipes are gluten-free, but you can generally substitute ingredients. This is the perfect summer breakfast dish, and the fresh mint really adds a burst of flavor (I love fresh mint, and can't wait until I have my own garden to grow it in).

Quinoa Fruit Salad with Honey-Lime Dressing

Serves 6

For the quinoa:

1 cup cooked quinoa (I used red quinoa)

For the honey-lime dressing:

Juice of 1 large lime
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint

For the fruit:

1 1/2 cups blueberries
1 1/2 cups sliced strawberries
1 1/2 cups chopped pineapple
Extra chopped mint, for garnish—optional
(You can also add mango, peaches, raspberries, grapes, etc.)

Let the quinoa cool off until it's about room temperature, and mix it in a bowl with the fruit. Then add the dressing and additional mint for garnish.

I like to make a batch of this on Sunday and bring it to work for breakfast. To maintain extra freshness I keep the quinoa, fruit, and dressing in separate containers and then mix everything together each morning before I head out the door.

Enjoy!