Southern Style Sweet Potato Bake

I made this sweet-tooth dish for a pot luck dinner at my friend Katie's house.  It was real easy to make, and there was a LOT of it!  I am aware of how many recipes for sweets I have on my blog, but I just can't help it! I love sweet things!

For those of you with egg allergies, feel free to omit or add egg-replacer instead.  The eggs help it expand a bit, but has no real impact on the taste of this desert.  You can also replace the pecans with any other kind of nut you prefer, or even leave out nuts completely.  Although this desert will appease those with the sweetest of sweet teeth, it comes packed with Vitamin A, Beta Carotene, Vitamin C, and Vitamin B6.  It also has a good dose of Potassium and Manganese, so you can feel a little less guilty about the sugars and carbs you'll be taking in:)

You can use any gluten free flour you can find, or you can use the flour mixture below.

The Following gluten-free flour recipe was adapted from the book The Gluten-Free Gourmet Cooks Fast And Healthy by Bette Hagman.

Gluten Free Flour Mix

• 3 cups white rice flour
  
• 1 cup potato flour
  
• ½ cup tapioca flour
  
• 2 tsp xanthan gum
  

Southern Style Sweet Potato Bake Ingredients:

- 4 medium sweet potatoes (yams)

- 4 tblsp. butter

- 2 tblsp. heavy cream 

- 1/4 cup brown sugar

- 2  large eggs

- 1/2 cup milk

- 1 tblsp. pure vanilla extract

- 1 tsp. cinnamon

Topping

- 1 cup brown sugar

- 1/3 cup gluten free flour

- 1/3 stick softened butter

- 1 cup chopped pecans (or nuts of choice)

Directions

• Peel the sweet potatoes and place in a medium/large pot of water. Bring water to boil, then reduce heat to medium.  Cook for 20 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Drain and put aside.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Place the potatoes in a large bowl and mash them up with the butter and cream.  Whip in the brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon and milk.  Smash it all together until smooth. Spoon the mixture into a 13" x 19" pan (or whatever you got) and even out.
• Combine the topping together in a small bowl. Sprinkle the mixture over the sweet potatoes. Bake until brown, about 35 minutes.

That's it. Simple as sweet potato pie! Enjoy!

Five Guys Burgers and Fries Gluten Free Statement

My friend Marla forwarded the following email from "Five Guys" to me.  If you have children with gluten sensitivity problems, Five Guys is a good place to take them.  The place is made for messy eaters, and those who love food fights. They provide free peanuts and the shells can be tossed on the ground, something I think every person who eats there does. The last time I went to a "Five Guys" restaurant, was in Athens, Georgia, and the ground was completely covered with shells.

I don't know how many of you have looked for hotdogs that do not contain gluten, but it's not easy.  It's a good thing to know that this place has gluten free hotdogs, for all of us who get a craving for them from time to time.  Well, I'll stop rambling and share with you what was shared with me. Thanks Marla!

"Thank you for writing in to Five Guys. The only thing on our menu that contains gluten and dairy is our bread.

Our beef is just 80% lean ground beef with nothing added.

Our hotdogs are hebrew national brand.

Our fries are just potatoes, soaked in water, and then cooked in 100% peanut oil. Nothing else is fried in this oil.

We also offer Heinz ketchup which does not contain gluten.

Our bread does contain eggs, soy, dairy and gluten.

Our bread is toasted, but usually on a separate grill. However, there is always a chance for cross contamination, so please be cautious. We do, however, have many people with Celiac Disease tell us that they can eat at Five Guys.  If you are interested in nutritional information, please visit our website and click on the menu section.

I hope this information was helpful.

Thank you for your interest in Five Guys."

Here's the link to their webpage: Five Guys

Corn Bread Biscotti

This was the first GF biscotti I made after finding out I had celiac disease. Actually it's the first biscotti I ever made. It's funny how finding out you have some kind of dietary restriction can bring out your inner chef. Before discovering my gluten-intolerance, I never even thought about making my own biscotti. I figured it was too laborious to make the process worth it, especially since most coffee houses had an ample supply of the stuff. However, now things are much different. Go to any coffee house you know and try to find one that supplies gluten free biscotti, and if you find one, please let me know about it! It must be human nature to always want most, the things you can't have. This is especially true for people with celiac disease.

The following recipe comes from Peggy Cullen's book: Got Milk? The Cookie Book.. I know, I use her book for almost every cookie recipe, but it's only because her recipes are that good! In her book, she calls this "Thanksgiving Biscotti." Biscotti is a lot easier to make than I though it would be. Once you get this recipe down, you'll have no problem experimenting with a variety of biscotti recipes. Biscotti is simply twice-baked cookies, nothing more. You can use pretty much any pre-packaged GF Flour mixture, but I typically use the flour combination below.


The Following gluten-free flour recipe was adapted from the book The Gluten-Free Gourmet Cooks Fast And Healthy by Bette Hagman.

Gluten Free Flour Mix

• 3 cups white rice flour
  
• 1 cup potato flour
  
• ½ cup tapioca flour
  
• 2 tsp xanthan gum
  

Corn Bread Biscotti Ingredients

1/2 cup yellow stone-ground cornmeal (check the ingredients for gluten in any form)

1 1/2 cups gluten free flour

1 cup sugar, plus a little extra for sprinkling

1 tsp baking powder

1 pinch of salt

1/2 stick cold unsalted butter cut into pieces

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

2/3 cups dried cranberries

Directions
1) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Take some aluminum foil or parchment paper and line a heavy baking sheet, or coat the baking sheet with cooking spray. 
2) Whisk up the cornmeal, GF flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Add the butter and mash up until the mixture has a gritty texture. A potato masher works great for this recipe. Or is you have access to one, use a food processor and pulse the mixture.
3) Beat the eggs and vanilla in a small bowl.  Pour over the dry ingredients and mix to blend. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the mixture from the sides of the bowl. Add the cranberries and mix until the dough begins to clump.
4) Turn the dough out onto a table. Gather it together and form into a disk.  Using a knife, divide the disk into two equal parts.  Lightly flour a surface and form each piece into a 12 inch log.  Transfer the logs to the baking sheet.  Sprinkle the top with sugar.
5) Bake for 30 minutes, or until the logs begin to turn golden.  Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes. Leave the oven on.
6) Use spatulas to transfer the logs to a cutting board. Using a large knife, cut the logs crosswise and slightly diagonal, making 1/2 inch-thick pieces.  Transfer the pieces back to the baking sheet, arranging them cut-side up.  Bake for 12 more minutes, or until the undersides of the cookies show a little color (don't burn them!).  Take out of oven and leave on baking sheets to cool completely. 
The picture shows how I used some chocolate chips that were leftover from another cookie recipe.

*Makes about 3 dozen cookies