Red Velvet Cake

My Grandma always made a red velvet cake for special occasions. It is one of those things that always make me think of her and Grandpa. I haven't made one in a looooong time and had a 'hankerin' to make one today. I googled it and found this recipe.

I pretty much stuck to the recipe, except I used Authentic Foods GF Classic Blend in place of her flours......and I put it in a Bundt pan, instead of making cupcakes! I can not wait to slice into it later. It looked fabulous coming out of the oven, I had to pinch a pc off the bottom to try......

Cut Out Sugar Cookies

Merry Christmas!!!!

I am baking today, and one of my all time favorite Christmas cookies are cut out cookies. They are an absolute must for Christmas. I had a recipe that I followed faithfully every year because I didn't have to refrigerate the dough before rolling, so I dug it out and modified it for gluten free cookies!

YUMMM!!!!

***note*** melted butter is NOT softened butter. Melted butter is melted. Softened butter is soft but not liquid.....makes a huge difference.....just ask Paula...haha!

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla

2 tsp baking powder

2 1/2 cups Authentic Foods Multi Blend flour mix (this mix has xanthum gum in it already)

Preheat oven to 400 Line cookie sheets with parchement paper, set aside.

In stand mixer bowl, whip butter until smooth, add sugar, mix till smooth again, add egg and vanilla....mix......... In seperate bowl mix flour and baking powder...... add 1/2 cup flour at a time, till you reach 2 cups.....mix well after each addition, and also scrape sides of bowl after each. You may need to use the dough attachment to mix.

on clean surface (counter top) scrape dough out of bowl. Knead a little bit if needed to form into large ball, and use a bit of the last 1/2 cup flour on surface and hands if needed to help with sticking. Break into 2 balls, set one aside.

Begin rolling one ball into a 1/4 to 1/8 inch thick circle, about 12" diameter. (I like a thicker cookie, and I use the Pampered Chef baker's roller to roll). Cut with cookie cutters, placing the cookies on prepared cookie sheet.

Bake in oven for 7-12 minutes, depending on the thickness of your cookie and the size/shape. And start on the other ballof dough...... Remove from oven when edges start to brown and cool on rack. Decorate as desired......

***I had to do some research, but did find that CakeMate decorations (colored sugars, nonpareils, etc) are gluten free, along with McCormick food dyes. For about 1/3 of the dough I used some green food coloring and added a little more of that last 1/2 cup flour to make the green Christmas trees.

The glaze I used was this one..... only I used some fruit juice for flavoring and didn't add any food coloring until the end, and then I added some more sugar and corn syrup with the food coloring.

I LOVE the way these turned out!

I hope you all have a blessed and merry Christmas!!!!

Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies

1 stick butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup GF flour mix (used Grandma Ferndon's mix this time)

1 tsp xantham gum

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups GF rolled oats (Bob's Red Mill)

1 bag (11 oz) Hershey's Butterscotch Chips

Heat oven to 375.

Line cookie sheets with parchment paper (found near the foil, saran wrap, etc!).

Beat butter and sugars in large bowl until blended. Add egss, and vanilla....beat well. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, gradually add to butter mixture, beating until blended. Stir in oats and butterscotch chips by hand.

Drop by spoonful onto baking sheets. Cook 10ish minutes, or until golden brown. Remove to cool on cookie racks.

Cinnamon Sugar Butter Cookies

Topping:

3 tbsp white sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon

Mix together and set aside.

2 cups Authentic Foods GF Flour mix (add a tsp of xantham gum if mix doesn't already have it)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup brown sugar packed
1/2 cup white sugar
2 sticks butter, softened
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla

preheat oven to 325.

In large bowl mix sugars with the butter till smooth (will be grainy, just get out any lumps of sugar). Add eggs and vanilla, blend.

mix the rest of the dry ingredients together and add to butter sugar mix. Blend at low speed until smooth.

Shape dough into 1 inch balls and roll in topping mix. place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, flatten slightly. Place about 2 inches apart. Bake 15-18 minutes until slightly browned. Remove to wire rack and cool.

**this is an old favorite recipe that was easy to adapt to GF. I only had to decrease the flour a bit and add the xantham gum**

**also, just a little hint, I was out of eggs, so I used a meringue powder as a substitute....the instructions were on the label ......I used enough for 3 egg whites to replace the 2 whole eggs I didn't have!***

Sinfully delicious, better than youknowwhat pie!

Browned Butter Pecan Pie

1/2 cup butter, browned
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup chopped pecans

9 in unbaked pie shell

whipped cream

In small saucepan cook butter over low to medium heat until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Pour into bowl to cool.

Mix eggs, sugar, corn syrup, honey, vanilla and salt, blend in browned butter. Add pecans, pour into pie shell.

Bake 425 for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temp to 325 and bake an additional 40 minutes. Center will be slightly soft but will set up as it cools.

Cool completely, serve with whipped cream.

Paula and I made this for Thanksgiving...... it was so incredibly good.......we used a Grandma Ferndon's frozen pie crust......soooo sooooo sooooo yummy....so!

Tag, I'm it!!!!

Ok, so Mikki tagged me like forever and ever ago and I have been beeeesy.....and forgot and then remembered and yadda yadda and so here we are.......

The Tag Rules be....
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
5. Let each person know they've been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up. (I don't know what this means??)

My six random things....
1. My nickname has been Fred since forever. I really do answer to it.
2. I think rocks are really cool.....always have......
3. When I was in high school I thought I had fat knees.....(don't ask, I was a teenage girl)
4. I hate HATE worms and snakes and anything slimy.
5. I do NOT like celery. ever. I have never cooked anything with celery and I doubt I ever will. I really do not like any part of it, smells bad, tastes bad, texture's bad....all bad.
6. I love to read. I love to re-read and re-re-read my favorites. I can have 3 or 4 books going at the same time.

The six people I have tagged are...
Paula.....
Chris.....
Diana.....
Janice.....
and the other 2 readers of my blog that I am not related to besides Mikki and Janice, I know technically we are not related Diana, but seriously.......you guys are honorary members and you know it!! HA!

Popcorn snack mix

1 bowl air popped popcorn (about 1/2 cup unpopped)
half a bag of Glutino pretzels partially broken
1 1/2 cupsish cocktail peanuts
1 (11oz) bag of mini M&M's
1-2 cups Gorilla Munch Envirokids cereal
1 cup chow mein noodles (we used Grandma Ferndon's) (could substitute any GF cereal or etc)

Mix all that in a large bowl, make sure all unpopped popcorn kernel's are out.

Melt 1 stick butter, 1 1/4 cup packed brown sugar and 1/3 cup light corn syrup in microwaveable bowl. Stir and cook another couple minutes in microwave until bubbly. Pour over popcorn mixture.

Toss/stir gently to coat everything. Pour onto waxed paper or parchment paper lined baking pans (we needed 2 large pans). Let dry and break into chunks and EAT! Store in airtight container.

I think we gained about 80lbs today...... we made oatmeal butterscotch cookies, recipe to come later......fudge......thin mints(recipe coming later).....mini cheesecakes....and we tested every single batch.

Peanut Butter Balls

2 cups peanut butter
1/2 cup butter
16 oz powdered sugar
3 cups crisp rice cereal (we used Envirokids Koala Crisp)

Melt pb, butter in saucepan, stir smooth. In large bowl combine powdered sugar, cereal, pour peanut butter mixture over. Stir to blend. Form 1/2 inch balls, chill til firm, then dip in melted chocolate. Makes 100 balls (if you don't eat them while making them anyway!)

Angi and I had a baking day today and made a ton of goodies. I will post more recipes later. But this one was her recipe and I had to type it out before she left......I have to make more tomorrow as the boys ate at least half before we were done........