Easy Gluten-Free Crunchy Coconut-Topped Scones

 These scones are easy to make and do not require any special instructions.   If you’ve made biscuits, simply follow the same method.

 

I do not make biscuits often, although I do love biscuits!  I try to make them for special occasions or with variations.  I wanted to try the Original Bakewell Cream that I recently purchased.  There is also Bakewell Cream Baking Powder.

 

These are great for brunch or entertaining.  They are the right size for potluck or buffet style meals.

 

The coconut gives them a little crunch.

 

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Crunchy Coconut Topped Scones

 

Ingredients

 

Dry Ingredients

 

1 1/4 cup Gluten free all purpose flour mix (whole-grain)

2 tbsp arrowroot flour

2 tsp egg white powder

2 pkts stevia powder (or 4 tsp sugar)

1/4 tsp Bakewell powder

 

Wet ingredients and Fats

 

2 oz. Neufchatel cream cheese (reduced fat)

2 tbsp butter with canola oil

1/2 cup coconut water or plain water

 

Topping

2 tsp unsweetened shredded coconut

 

Procedures

 

Preheat the oven to 400F.

 

Combine all of the Dry Ingredients into a mixing bowl.  Add the cream cheese and butter to the mixing bowl. Using a wire whisk, mix until the mixture is grainy like corn meal.

 

 

Mix in the water using a wooden spoon.  Use the spoon to beat and stir until the dough begins to get smooth, about 2 minutes.  Scrape down the mixing bowl, as needed.

 

Grease a baking pan with shortening. Place 8 even sized portions of dough into the prepared pan.  Slightly shape using a wet spatula (with water shaken off).  Sprinkle with the coconut.

 

 

Bake about 18 minutes, until tops begin to brown.  If the bottoms are beginning to brown too much, move the pan to the center of the oven.

 

When done, remove from oven, transfer to a serving plate and serve.

 

 

 

Served with some DIY strawberry jam! They are also delicious plain.

 

 

 

Makes 8 scones

 

Nutrition (per scone as prepared): 136 calories, 5.1g total fat, 1.7g monounsaturated fat, <1g polyunsaturated fat, 2.3g saturated fat, 9.3mg cholesterol, 236.5mg sodium, 33.8mg calcium, 12.9mg potassium, <1mcg folate, 29mg phosphorus, <1mg phytosterols, <1mcg selenium,  <1mcg vitamin b12, 2.8mg vitamin c, <1mg zinc, 20.1g carbohydrates, <1g fiber, 19.1g net carbohydrates, 1.1g sugar, <1g fructose, <1g galactose, <1g glucose, <1g sucrose, 2.8g protein.

 

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Tips

One recommendation is to lightly press the coconut into the scone or coat the scone with half and half or cream before sprinkling the coconut, so it will stick to the scone.

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© 2013 http://retiredwithnoregrets.blogspot.com/

DIY Breakfast Bacon and Egg Biscuit Cups - Gluten-Free

 

Today is St. Patrick’s Day and I started out with a little green! Spinach, that is…

These biscuit cups use a DIY biscuit bottom with your choice of ingredients plus egg.

Gluten-free dough works a bit different from the gluten-filled kind.  One must beat it, to get it smooth and pliable.  I find that a wooden spoon works well for biscuits.

This is not a meal I would eat everyday, because it is high-fat and calorie for the amount of food.  The ingredients that make up the filling can be changed a bit to lower the sodium, fat and calories, by omitting or reducing the pepperoni, adding more spinach or peppers.  This was a quick fix, so I didn’t put much thought on calories when making it.

The muffin pan used is deeper than the normal one.  It is about double the size of a normal one.¹

Breakfast Bacon and Egg Biscuit Cups - DIY - Gluten-Free

 

 

This biscuit has spinach, sweet peppers, bacon, pepperoni and egg, topped with a small amount of cheese.

 

Ingredients

 

Add Ins

3 oz. pepperoni slices, chopped

2 slices bacon, chopped

6 tbsp liquid egg substitute

1/2 sweet red peppers, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup spinach, raw, roughly chopped

 

Garnish

1/2 oz. Shredded Mexican Style cheese (Kraft)

 

Biscuits

 

Dry Ingredients

1 cup whole grain flour blend (KAF)

1/2 cup Pamela's Artisan Flour Blend

2 tbsp arrowroot flour

1/2 tsp ginger powder

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

 

Liquids and fats

1/2 cup unsweetened plain almond milk (or water or milk of choice)

4 tbsp shortening (Palm)

1/2 cup water (as needed)

 

Procedure

 

1. Heat oven to 375°F. Grease a deep 6-cup non-stick muffin tin with shortening.

 

2. Prepare all of your Add-Ins and measure out the cheese. Cook your bacon, if you haven’t already done so, lay on paper towel to remove extra fat.

 

3. Whisk the Dry Ingredients in a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk in the shortening using a wire whisk until crumbly and mixed.

 

4. Stir in the almond milk, continue stirring adding as much of the water as needed. Continue ‘beating’ the dough in circular motions with the wooden spoon until it is pulled together and smooth.  You may need to use a spatula to scrape it together to continue ‘beating’ it to get it smooth. This takes about 5 minutes of mixing and ‘beating’.

 

 

 

 

5. Divide the dough into 6 even sized portions.  Gently spread it out and flatten into an oval shape to fit the muffin tin and rise up the sides.

 

 

 

6. Place one portion of dough in each cup, pressing it into the bottom and up the sides.

 

7. Divide the pepperoni among the cups, then half of the bacon among the cups, then peppers, then spinach, then remainder of bacon, then the egg.   Top the center with the cheese.

 

 

 

 

8. Bake about 25 minutes until puffed and sides of biscuits is golden brown.

 

 

 

 

9. Remove from oven, place on serving plate and allow cooling at least 3 minutes, as it is very hot in the centers.

 

 

 

 

Yield: 6 Biscuits

 

Nutrition (as prepared per biscuit): 301 calories, 17.5g total fat, 6.3g monounsaturated fat, 2g polyunsaturated fat, <1g trans fatty acids, <1g trans-monoenoic fatty acids, <1g trans-polyenoic fatty acids, <1g linoleic acid, 6.8g saturated fat, 19.5mg cholesterol, 526.7mg sodium, 171.2mg calcium, 230.1mg potassium, 13.8mcg folate, 204mg phosphorus, 58.4mg phytosterols, 0mcg lycopene, 6.9mcg selenium, <1mg thiamin, <1mcg vitamin b12, <1mg vitamin b6, 16.5mg vitamin c, 1.3IU vitamin d, 28.2g carbohydrates, 2.6g fiber, 25.6g net carbohydrates, 1.5g sugar, 8.7g protein.

 

 

¹Difference between regular muffin tin and larger deeper one

 

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© 2013 http://retiredwithnoregrets.blogspot.com/

Bits and Pieces - Chocolate Nuts N Oats Cookies

Sometimes I think I am the only one with little bits of chopped nuts, chocolate chips or snacks lying around with no idea of what to do with them.

A really good counter top kitchen appliance to have is a food processor!  Oh the bits and pieces that can be thrown in and pulsed a few times and voila out comes something tasty!

After having to go gluten-free, I could not find the type of granola bars, trail mix or granola like the ones I really liked so I started making my own versions.

Most of the pre-packaged gluten-free granola has too much sugar and fat, so I prefer to not buy it. Besides, I have always loved cooking, so  I am enjoying ‘fiddling’ around in my kitchen.

When I make those big batches, I have a sister or two who benefits from my experimentation. You see, I love cooking and ‘sharing’ it with someone else.  Of course, I do not eat all of anything I make.    Most of the time, I will mix up a batch of 24 or 30 cookies, bake 6 or 12 and freeze the remainder. At first, I baked all of them, then froze the cookies.  The problem was, I always forgot I had cookies in the freezer and would mix up and bake 6 or more.  The problem, was that I stored them in those zipper bags.  When there were a bunch of those together, they could be overlooked.  Anyhow, freshly baked taste better!

I  have a trail mix that I have been making for about 2 years that I have slightly grown tired of.  The last bit of the last batch has been sitting with the snacks since about Christmas.  So it was time to either throw it or drive over to one of my sisters to give a snack to one of her grandkids.  Well gas is too expensive to make a special trip, so I dumped it in the food processor and pulsed it.  I stared at a minute or two and thought “hmm, I’ll just make cookies!”

The problem about making cookies with no recipe and odd ingredients, the amount of sweetener has to be a guess with a taste test.

Decided to add first one cup of oats, some sweetener and cocoa.  I wanted to use coconut oil, but it will clump with cold eggs, so I added it to the food processor.

I was on a roll, so I looked in the cabinet with the sweeteners and saw the Mexican Chocolate, so in went some of it………and  eventually, there were cookies!

These cookies have no added salt nor requires xanthan or guar gum.

This makes a slightly crunchy hearty cookie.  And, kids will love them, because they taste better than store bought!

And of course, this will appear on a well known recipe site claiming to be their original recipe!

 

Chocolate Nuts n Oats Cookies

 

Ingredients

 

Food Processor

1 cup trail mix (My Kind of Trail Mix - DIY) - see Tips

2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal

3 tbsp Granulated Stevia

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp molasses

2 tbsp cocoa

2 oz. Mexican Cocoa (Ibarra)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/3 tsp baking powder

 

Fats

1 tbsp Coconut Manna (creamed coconut, full fat)

2 tbsp coconut oil

 

Liquids

1 egg

2 tbsp liquid egg product

2 tbsp almond butter (DIY)

 

Add-Ins

3 tbsp chopped walnuts

 

Procedure

 

Pulse Food Processor ingredients until finely ground add the Fats and continue pulsing until it begins to stick together.

 

 

At this point, taste the mix, to see if it is sweet enough for  you. I like dark chocolate!  If needed, add an additional tbsp of sweetener.

 

Whisk the Liquids together until blended. 

 

 

Stir in the Food Processor contents, using a wooden spoon or gloved hand. 

 

Roll the dough out to about 10 by 12 inches between parchment paper or cellophane wrap.  Fold and shape to form a rectangle.  Sprinkle the nuts evenly over the dough. 

 

 

 

Starting with one long edge, roll tightly until you have a long log.

 

 

Cut into 24 even sized slices.

 

 

Lay the cut pieces on parchment paper covered baking sheets and press and shape into a round cookie about 2 inches in diameter.  They do not spread, so press down to a thin cookie.  It will puff up to about double thickness.

 

 

 

Bake in 350F preheated oven for about 9 minutes.  The bottoms will begin to brown. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for about 3 minutes. Move to serving dish or cooling rack.

 

If freezing, shape the cookie same as for baking, place on cellophane wrap and cover. freeze.  After freezing, transfer to storage container and return to freezer.

 

 

Yield: 24 cookies

 

Nutrition (per cookie): 103 calories, 6.1g total fat, 1.5g monounsaturated fat, 1.3g polyunsaturated fat, 0g trans fatty acids, <1g trans-monoenoic fatty acids, <1g trans-polyenoic fatty acids, <1g linoleic acid, 2.7g saturated fat, 8.8mg cholesterol, 12.8mg sodium, 22.8mg calcium, 71mg potassium, 5.1mcg folate, 54.6mg phosphorus, <1mg phytosterols, <1mcg lycopene, 16.4mcg selenium, <1mg thiamin, <1mcg vitamin b12, <1mg vitamin b6, <1mg vitamin c, <1IU vitamin d, <1mg zinc, 11.1g carbohydrates, 1.5g fiber, 9.7g net carbohydrates, 4.7g sugar, <1g fructose, <1g galactose, <1g glucose, <1g lactose, <1g maltose, 1.4g sucrose, <1mg stigmasterol, 2.3g protein, 3.7mg caffeine.

 

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Tips

 

If you do not have trail mix- this is an approximation to the ‘trail mix’ ingredients. 

 

2 tbsp coconut, raw, dried, flaked, unsweetened

2 tbsp natural almonds

2 tbsp raw brazil nuts

2 tbsp mixed nuts, unsalted

1 tbsp walnuts, broken into pieces

2 tbsp raisins

2 tbsp Dark Chocolate chocolate-covered raisins

2 tbsp Double Chocolate Chips(Ghirardelli)

1 tbsp cinnamon chips

 

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© 2013 http://retiredwithnoregrets.blogspot.com/