PUMPKIN WAFFLES

PUMPKIN WAFFLES

Makes 7 servings, 4 small waffles each

Cooking spray

6 eggs

6 egg whites

½ cup brown sugar or coconut sugar

5 ¼ cups warm water

1 ½ cups canned pumpkin

6 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup sorghum flour

1 cup brown rice flour

1 cup millet flour

6 tsp. grain free/aluminum free baking powder

3 tsp. baking soda

¾ tsp. sea salt

4 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. ground ginger

1 tsp. ground cloves

OPTIONAL: add 1 cup of chopped pecans, walnuts, Enjoy Life mini chips, or Sunmaid dried cranberries

Pre-heat waffle maker according to directions.  Spray grates of waffle maker with nonstick cooking spray.   Combine egg and egg whites.  Add sugar, water, pumpkin, and vanilla.  In a separate bowl, whisk together flours, spices, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Add dry ingredients to wet and whisk until smooth.  Add optional ingredients if desired.  Pour batter in waffle maker according to directions, being careful not to overfill.  Cook for about 4-6 minutes, or until waffle is cooked through and outside is crisp.  Repeat with remaining batter, making sure to coat grates with cooking spray before each batch.  Keep warm in a warm oven, or serve immediately.  Very good with Breakfast Sausage Patties and pure maple syrup.

 We have been looking for an amazing waffle recipe, and came up with this one after some trial and error.  With chocolate chips added, it is almost exactly like my Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins.  Needless to say this was a HUGE hit with my family!  I don't mix any optional add ins with the batter so that I can add Sunmaid Cape Cod Dried Cranberries or pecans to hers, and Enjoy Life Mini Chips and pecans to ours.   Steve wants me to make caramel sauce and turn these into Belgian style waffles using my Dairy Free Whipped Topping.  

Linked to  Weelend Whatever #77

Pull Apart Cinnamon Raisin Crockpot Biscuits

All of Christmas break I had been promising to make the kids a crockpot breakfast, and they've been craving cinnamon rolls or something similar.   I got out my WONDERFUL new cookbook, The Everything Gluten-Free Slow Cooker Cookbook  and modified this recipe.  It made 10, which was perfect for my family of 5.  The kids are already begging to have this again soon!

PULL-APART CINNAMON RAISIN BISCUITS

Modified from The Everything Gluten-Free Slow Cooker Cookbook

1 cup brown rice flour

1 cup arrowroot starch

1 Tbsp. Hain Foods grain free baking powder

1 tsp. guar gum

½ tsp. sea salt

1/3 cup sugar

½ tsp. ground cinnamon

1/3 cup lard or ¼ cup plus 1 Tbsp. grapeseed oil

2 eggs OR 2 Tbsp. flax meal or chia seeds combined with 6 Tbsp. hot water & set 5 minutes

¾ cup hemp or hazelnut milk

½ cup Sunmaid Raisins

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, starch, gum, baking powder, salt, sugar, & cinnamon.   Cut in oil or lard until it is in crumbles.  In a small bowl, whisk together milk and eggs.  Mix into flour mixture using a fork.  Dough will be a sticky, cake-like batter.  Mix in raisins.      Grease a 4 quart slow cooker with cooking spray or line with parchment paper then cooking spray.  Using an ice cream scoop, drop balls of dough into cooker, with edges almost touching.  They will rise while baking and will be pull apart biscuits.   Cover slow cooker with lid vented with chopstick or handle of wooden spoon (my toaster tongs worked perfectly).  Cook on high for about 2-2 ½ hours, or on low for 4-4 ½ hours.  Biscuits around edges will be more brown than those in the center of cooker.  They are done when a toothpick inserted in the center of the biscuit comes out clean.   Remove cooker insert to a cooling rack. Remove lid.  Allow to cool for several minutes while you make the glaze.  Glaze and serve warm.

QUICK VANILLA GLAZE

1 cup sifted corn free powdered sugar

2 Tbsp. hazelnut milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Whisk together and drizzle over biscuits in cooker.  Serve immediately.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

If there was only one treat I could eat for the rest of my life, I would immediately name these as the one.  My fiance likes to say that he fell in love with me for these - before he had any clue about all of the food allergy business, or had formed any ideas of what "safe" food should or should not taste like.  Anyone who tries these is immediately in heaven.  They are so soft, moist, fragrant, addicting.... lol.             Of course, the advent of Mandie's chocolate allergy in late July put a bit of a damper on these for a while, but we have found that by subbing Sunmaid Cape Cod cranberries for the chocolate chips makes her just as happy. I LOVE making that girl happy with food!  I also love how easy these are to make. I often make these in my mini muffin tins to freeze and later send to school for her snacks for the week.  When I sent these with her for her class snack, she said that every single person and both teachers just loved them and hoped she'd bring them another time! ;) Now THAT is my idea of a successful recipe!  

PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS

(makes 12 muffins)

1 cup plain pureed pumpkin (Libby's brand is top 8 & corn free)

1/3 cup water

1/3 cup grapeseed oil

2 Tbsp. ground flaxseed

1 tsp. pure vanilla

1 cup sorghum flour

2/3 cup BRM all purpose flour

1 1/3 cups pure cane sugar

1 tsp. Hain grain free baking powder

1 tsp. guar gum

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. sea salt

½ tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. nutmeg

½-3/4 cup Enjoy Life chocolate chips (Ghirardelli semi-sweet chips are also dairy/gluten free)*

½ cup chopped, toasted pecans (OPTIONAL)

Cinnamon Sugar**

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a muffin tin with paper liners. Spray liners with cooking spray.   Put pumpkin, water, oil, flaxseed, & vanilla in a food processor.  Blend for 60 – 90 seconds, until light colored and well blended.  Set aside.   In a mixing bowl, whisk together flours, sugar, baking powder and soda, spices, and guar gum.  Add the pumpkin mixture and mix well.  Stir in chocolate chips and pecans.  Using an ice cream scoop, divide batter into muffin papers.  Sprinkle tops with cinnamon sugar.  Bake for 30-40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, testing after 30 minutes.  Let cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then cool on wire rack. 

*When making these for Mandie, I omit the chocolate chips and use Sunmaid Cape Cod Cranberries instead.