GF Cinnamon Rolls, homemade...

I have been wanting to make cinnamon rolls at home for a while, and with the 3 day weekend we just had, I found a little time to give this recipe a go! I actually looked all over the internet to find a recipe, and then remembered reading about Better Batter's Pillsbury Cinnamon Roll Clone.

I went for this one because it seemed pretty easy, and there weren't too many ingredients (I don't keep a variety of GF flours on hand to make blends). I thought I had a full box of Better Batter, but I was almost out, so I had to use the rest of what I had, and then mix in King Arthur All Purpose Mix as well (I'm not sure if this affected the results, but maybe?).

Anyway - I made the dough, rolled it out in two, and sprinkled the filling on top:

I sort of just winged the filling, and didn't follow exactly to suit my tastes. Then I rolled it up, and cut little 1 inch pieces.
After rolling them up, you let them sit in the pan for about 40 minutes, then pop them in the oven to bake at 400 for 15 minutes. I actually let mine cook longer, about 20-25 minutes because the top wasn't browning, but I think I probably cooked them a little too long.


After you take them out, voila:

YUM CITY. Dont' they look great? At the very top you can see a pic with the sugar glaze poured over the top - these were fresh out of the oven and smelling HEAVENLY.

I didn't do the topping recipe that called for cream cheese and butter --- I am doing Biggest Loser at work after all (ha!) -- so I just did a simple sugar glaze mixing confectioners sugar, milk and a drop of vanilla.

These were great! They aren't exactly the texture that I was picturing, they were a little more doughy -- but I think they're yummy, and I probably over-cooked them, AND I use the correct

Better Batter Giveaway!

I have been totally M.I.A with the blog - busy summer so far! Still getting settled into our new home and my sister got married last weekend! So I've been at shower/bachelorette/wedding for a few weekends...And now it's over :(

Anyway - I have some great reviews and a giveaway from BetterBatter! One of my faves! :)

They were recently kind enough to send me their new Pancake/Waffle Mix, some All Purpose Mix (of which I am already a loyal user) and their new Brownie Mix!

Here's a few pics & things I made.... The Pancake & Waffle Mix is awesome. Great flavor - very thick & fluffy pancakes. My only gripe with the Kinnik brand is they are very thin, so this is perfect! I had to experiment with the amount of liquid a little bit, on the first try, too thick: But I got them right after adding a little more milk into the batter, and ended up with delicious fluffy cakes! On the instructions it gives you options to add a little liquid up to a certain measure. I did the full measure plus a little & got them the way I like 'em. YUM. Excellent!

We also finally got to try out our waffle maker we got from the wedding! The waffles were PERFECT. Crunchy, excellent flavor, tasted delish with some syrup & sausages. OMG, I can barely write this I'm drooling. So, I'm a big fan of this new mix! I also made the brownie mix and to be honest, I ate the whole tray and didn't get a chance to take a picture! I don't even usually like brownies, but these were really really good. Again, excellent flavor - texture is a tad grainy at first, but not anything you would notice -- my husband actually asked if they were gluten free (like i'd make a whole tray of brownies non GF just for him - yeah right!) so, that's a good sign. We made some Brownie sundaes a couple of hot nights that were quite decadent. So much for dieting!

As for this All Purpose Mix.... This has been my go-to mix for a little over a year. I've posted about it before. It's great. It's worked in everything I've used it for. A few items:

I posted the Banana bread & cupcakes in the past. Both awesome. Last week I whipped together a quick dinner of Chicken & Capers. I dipped the chicken in egg white, then dredged in a very light Better Batter coating & fried in the pan. I removed the chicken & cooked shallots with white wine, a little butter, capers and lemon, then put the chicken back in for a bit - then poured over rice. Super quick & easy, and it's really delicious!

SO.... I'd like to offer these items to you!!! Please leave a comment and I will randomly pick a winner on MONDAY, June 28th! I will post who wins and we'll be in touch so I can ship the All Purpose mix, brownie mix, and pancake/waffle mix to you!

So exciting! My first giveaway!! Good luck :)

Better Batter - and really good banana bread

When I was at that natural foods store in Reading, MA -- I saw a new box that was not familiar to me - Better Batter. A pre-mixed gluten free flour containing rice and brown rice flours, tapioca starch, potato starch, potato flour, xanthan gum, and pectin. I was going to try to mix my own gf pre-made mix - but I don't really bake all that much. I had a big bag of Tom Sawyer GF Mix that lasted me about 2 years.... Plus, I've gotta say - i was drawn to this packaging. You don't see much clean, fresh packaging in the gluten free world - and this drives me crazy. 

So props to better batter for both a cute box -and an even cuter website -- speaking of which, definitely check it out - they have tons of really great looking recipes.

Anyway - I had only dug into the 2lb bag I bought one other time to make some beef stew - so last night, I had some very rotten bananas so I decided to make some banana bread. I used Mark Bittman's recipe from "How to Cook Everything" (no surprise here, I only use this book as of late - and it never fails!)

Anyway -- I used 2.5 cups of the Better Batter, and also used 1/2 cup of just brown rice flour - and OH MAN -- by far, the best tasting banana bread I have ever made. I've had a string of bad luck with baking as of late, and this was delicious! Even matt went back for seconds and thirds - which definitely means it was great - and NO weird gluten free taste at all.