Our 1st GF Thanksgiving!

This year for Thanksgiving we were planning to have a very low key day with Scott and Christa coming over to hang out, do a bunch of sewing, and maybe another movie night. But at the last minute those plans changed and, very long story short, we ended up hosting dinner for 14 people!

***Warning: extremely long post to follow.***

Did I mention this was very last minute? As in, I found out we were hosting that many people around 6:00pm the night before Thanksgiving??!!! Fortunately I was at the grocery store at the time and simply planned to make more. The biggest challenge was making everything totally gluten free for the very first time (and the added pressure of all of these people coming over to eat it and hoping these brand new recipes I had never tried before would actually turn out edible!).

Before we could begin any of the massive cooking plans, we had to figure out some additional seating in our tiny home. I bought a fold up table and set of 4 chairs to add to our dining table and also picked up these barstools...which we also need to use in the P90X program on one of the videos. Of course, they were a very light wood color, so I picked up some cans of black spray paint and went to work. Voila!

While everyone else worked on cleaning up the house, EJ was my absolutely amazing assistant cook! Here she is cracking and peeling the eggs for my family tradition of Pickled Beets & Eggs. It's an old German dish, and for us it's simply NOT Thanksgiving without it!

 

I grew up eating this and simply love the fact that my kids love this dish too, and now I'm passing on those extremely fond memories to them. They get so excited when I make this. A can of sliced beets mixed with hard boiled eggs and seasoned with apple cider vinegar and sugar until it tastes just right. Don't let this awful picture fool you, it's seriously a DELICIOUS dish!

Next up was the GF stuffing, a totally new recipe. Last year at a get together with some friends one of them made stuffing with sausage and apples...something I had never heard of before, and it was unbelievably good. So when I went searching for a GF stuffing recipe I made sure to find one with those ingredients.

It also had onion and celery mixed in with the Italian sausage, apples, and bread crumbs and it beats old store bought boxes of stuffing hands down!!! This stuffing recipe was the BOMB! And it made a TON of stuffing, even with all of those people, I saved half of this dish in the freezer and we still had leftover stuffing, which I ate a lot for the next 4 days after Thanksgiving.

The process involved a LOT of cutting and chopping all of those fresh ingredients.

For the bread crumbs I made a loaf of Pamela's bread mix, sliced and cubed it up, and then seasoned it and toasted it in the oven to harden into bread crumbs. These would also make great croutons!

 

When it was done, it was seriously amazing!

GF Stuffing: 

1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter

5 cups chopped onion (about 3 large)

2 cups chopped celery

6 cups diced cored tart green apples (such as Granny Smith)

1 tablespoon dried rubbed sage

2 teaspoons dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

5 1/2 cups Ener-G stuffing/croutons, gluten free (Or you could toast a loaf of your favorite GF bread until it's hard and cube it yourself).*

Directions:

1. Sauté sausage in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat until cooked through, crumbling sausage with back of spoon, about 10 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer sausage to large bowl.

2. Add butter, onions and celery to skillet; sauté until onions are tender, about 15 minutes.

3. Add apples; sauté until apples are tender but still hold shape, about 10 minutes. Add sage, thyme and allspice; sauté 1 minute.

4. Add to sausage. Stir in stuffing cubes. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; chill.)

5. Preheat oven to 325°F. Generously butter a baking dish. Transfer stuffing to prepared dish. Cover with foil and bake until heated through, about 40 minutes.

*GF Croutons:

Chop up the loaf of bread into cubes. Put the cubes into a bowl and drizzle the olive oil on top to just slightly coat the bread and mix. Add a pinch of sea salt, black pepper. Mix and add 1/2 Tbs. garlic powder, 1 Tbs of Italian Seasoning and 1 Tbs. of Thyme. Mix well and then put it on to a baking sheet. Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes at 350 degrees or until golden brown and toasty.

Okay, next up was the GF green bean casserole, because cream of mushroom soup and cans of French fried onions both contain gluten. So I began with making the homemade cream of mushroom soup. Then, I bought fresh onions and sliced them up in rings. EJ coated them in milk and a GF flour blend and gave them to me to fry up in a large pan.

 

Drying off in a paper towel, adding a little Lawry's season salt, and these onion rings tasted AMAZING! Even EJ who hates everything was an awesome sport and actually tried these AND she actually really liked them! They'd be perfect as a snack themselves with some fry sauce for dipping!

Then we added these to the green bean casserole, following the typical recipe instructions to bake.

Green Bean Casserole w/French Fried Onions: 

Large Onions, peeled and sliced in rings

Enough Milk for soaking onions

1 1/2 tsp. Salt

1/8 tsp. White Pepper

gluten free flour blend + xanthan gum

oil for frying

Directions:

1. Put the sliced onion rings in a bowl and cover in milk, let soak while you prepare everything else.

2. Put about an inch or so of oil in a large pot or pan and allowed it to get hot. You will know if the oil is ready by flicking a few drops of water into the oil and if it sizzles, it’s ready.

3. Put a few of the pre-soaked onion rings (allow excess milk to drain off) into the bowl with the flour mixture. Stir to coat. Place onions in the hot oil, a few at a time and allow to cook for a couple of minutes. Repeat until all of the onions have been cooked.

Green Bean Casserole:

1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup (or GF equivalent)*

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon soy sauce (La Choy is GF)

Dash ground black pepper

4 cups cooked cut green beans

1 1/3 cups French Fried Onions

Directions:

1. Stir the soup, milk, soy sauce, black pepper, beans and 2/3 cup onions in a 1 1/2-quart casserole.

2. Bake at 350°F. for 25 minutes or until the bean mixture is hot and bubbling.

3. Stir the bean mixture.Sprinkle with the remaining onions. Bake for 5 minutes or until the onions are golden brown.

*Cream of Chicken or Mushroom Soup:

2 tbsp butter

3 tbsp potato starch

3 ½ cups chicken broth

1 cup light cream or milk

2 cups finely chopped cooked chicken

For cream of mushroom soup, omit cooked chicken and instead add one 4oz. can chopped mushrooms

Mix all together in a large pot in order listed until thickened. Be careful to sprinkle in the potato starch to avoid clumping.

Next up, LA practiced her ironing skills on the tablecloths, I threw a can of sweet potatoes in a dish and later covered them with marshmallows for simple yams.

Meanwhile one of my favorite things about Thanksgiving is that I never have to cook the turkey! In fact, I never even have to touch it! Last year for Christmas we splurged on this really nice, oil-LESS turkey fryer that cooks all kinds of meats, and makes an amazing, juicy turkey in about 2 hours! It's also incredibly easy to clean up with no giant oil mess, I love it!

SD decided to flavor half of the turkey with lemon pepper and the other half with BBQ sauce. They didn't mix strangely as you might think, and despite the photo nothing was burnt. It was totally perfect and awesome!

 

In the turkey picture above you can just barely see my attempt at some GF rolls, which turned out to be much more like biscuits and slightly burned on the bottom, so we threw them out, but nobody cared since there was so much other food to eat.

Moving on, I went to work on some GF pies! One pumpkin and one pecan, I'd never made a pecan pie before and ended up making a double batch of filling for the big 9 inch pie crust.

I rolled out the dough onto some wax paper which made it really easy to flip over into the pie dish. Then pinching the edges to make it look pretty.

Here's the first pie shell all ready to go. I forgot to stop and take a picture of the pumpkin pie as I was hurrying to finish everything, but you can see it in some upcoming pictures below.

Pecan pie ready to bake.

And then baked, delicious! Now, my only complaint on the pies was that I swear I can taste some very slight, weird, almost indescribable aftertaste in the crust...almost like a bean flavor of some kind, which makes no sense since there's no bean anything in them.

SD and the kids loved the pies, couldn't taste anything like what I described, and thought I was smokin' something for saying so, so I guess as long as they were happy I'm good.

GF Pie Crusts (makes 2):

2 1/4 cups of gluten-free flour blend*

about 1 tsp. xanthan gum

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup cold butter, cut into pieces

1 egg

4-6 Tbl cold water

*GF Flour blend: 2 parts white rice flour to 1 part tapioca flour and 1 part potato starch

Directions:

1. In a mixer blend the first three ingredients until butter is incorporated. This will take a few minutes - you want it nicely mixed without being overdone.

2. Add the egg and blend until it's mixed in. Add 1/4 cup cold water. Dough should begin to form a ball. Add more water if needed until dough reaches a firm, yet pliable state.

3. Remove from bowl and press into an oval. If dough is a bit too dry, you can sprinkle water on top and knead it into the mixture.

4. Divide into two equal size pieces and roll each piece out on a floured surface. I suggest rolling this out onto parchment paper, waxed paper, or even plastic wrap. You'll want the extra stability the surface will give when it comes time to placing the crust into the pie plate.

5. Once crust is to desired thickness, turn a pie plate upside down over the crust and then lift up the entire mat, plate and all, and turn it over so the plate bottom is sitting on the counter. Gently peel your mat away and then press the crust into the plate. If it tears, no worries, take the torn piece and just press it into place. Flute the edges and you're done.

6. If you're baking the crust separately from the pie, poke the bottom and sides with a fork multiple times before doing so. Bake at 375 for 12-14 minutes, or until very lightly golden brown. Let cool and then fill with your favorite pie filling. Recipe makes 2 - 9" pie crusts.

For Pumpkin Pie: follow the directions on the back of the can of pumpkin (everything else was enough work already, so I opted for simple pie, not totally from scratch with an actual pumpkin).

For Pecan Pie: (I had to double the filling to fill the pie crust)

1 unbaked 8 or 9" gluten-free pie crust

2 large eggs

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup light corn syrup

2 tablespoons melted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup pecans plus about 20 whole pecan halves

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425° F / 218° C

2. Add eggs, sugar, salt, corn syrup, melted butter and vanilla in a blender jar and pulse several times until mixture is combined.

3. Add 1 cup pecans and pulse once or twice, just until pecans are coarsely chopped.

4. Pour filling into prepared pie crust and place remaining pecan halves around the top of the filling. 4

5. Bake in 425° F / 218° C for 15 minutes and then lower oven temperature to 350° F / 177° C and bake an additional 30 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the pie is lightly browned.

6.Cool on a wire rack before serving. Yield - 6 to 8 slices

When all the housework was done the kids laid around watching movies and waiting for guests to arrive.

The table was set. I pulled out my beautiful china I inherited from SD's grandmother. The set only has 8 settings, so last year SD found some awesome matching china with silver trim to increase the set. It doesn't have the fine detailed flower etching of the original set, but when you space them out on the table with every other plate it blends in perfectly!

My kids loved sitting up on the new barstools at the counter. Oh, see that bowl on the far left? Yeah, those are some homemade candied almonds I made early that morning for the very 1st time, they turned out AMAZING, and we snacked on them all day long while cooking. And they've been specifically requested to be made again, often, and esp. at Christmas.

So, turkey SD made in the fryer...check.

GF stuffing...check.

GF green bean casserole...check.

Gravy SD made from the turkey drippings mixed with some cornstarch and GF chicken broth...check.

Mashed potatoes, simple...check.

Sweet potatoes, simple...check.

Pickled beets and eggs...check.

GF rolls...bombed, but I don't care.

Candied almonds...awesome!

Tons of sparkling apple cider, cranberry juice, and sodas...check.

GF pumpkin and pecan pie with cool whip...check.

The guests arrived:

And a KILLER amazing meal was had by all!!!

Time for clean up.

Playing with cousins.

And on to dessert...oh yeah, I also made a GF pumpkin ice cream cake with gingersnap crust the night before. It was seriously MONEY! Yum!!!!

 

GF Pumpkin Ice Cream Cake: (also known as the Pampered Chef Frosty Pumpkin Dessert)

32 gingersnap cookies, finely chopped (1 1/3 cups crumbs)*

1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted

1 (1/2 gallon) container vanilla ice cream, divided

2 1/2 cups frozen whipped topping, thawed, divided

2/3 cup toffee bits

1 cup solid pack pumpkin

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons Pantry Cinnamon Plus Spice Blend (or just regular cinnamon & nutmeg)

*I bought a bag of GF gingersnaps at Fred Meyer, Mi-Del brand

Directions:

1. Chop cookies, place butter in small bowl and microwave on high 30 to 40 seconds or until melted. Stir in crumbs. Firmly press crumb mixture onto bottom of Springform Pan. Place in freezer.

2. Scoop half of the ice cream into a large bowl. Place in refrigerator 10 minutes to soften. Fold 1 cup of the whipped topping and toffee bits into softened ice cream just until blended. Spread evenly over crust. Freeze until firm, about 1 hour.

3. Place remaining ice cream in refrigerator 10 minutes to soften. Meanwhile, mix pumpkin, brown sugar and spice blend in batter bowl. Scoop softened ice cream into pumpkin mixture. Mix just until blended. Spread evenly over ice cream layer. Freeze until firm, about 8 hours or overnight.

4. When ready to serve, place dessert in refrigerator 20 minutes for easier slicing. Decorate with remaining whipped topping and sprinkle with additional spice blend, if desired. Yield: 16 servings

It was an AWESOME Gluten Free Thanksgiving!!!!

Day 19 and 20: SW Taco Dip

Ever microwaved hamburger meat? Yeah, I hadn't either, and honestly it took me a little while before I could wrap my brain around this idea and actually feel comfortable with that concept. If you simply can't, you can always brown up the hamburger in a regular pan first, but if you can you'll find this dish takes less than 10 min. to make from start to finish. And oh yeah, it's delicious!

Seriously, everyone in my family "claims" they hate all beans...but they ALL love this dish and don't even notice the beans in them as they gobble up each bite. For my pickiest eater EJ I made her close her eyes as I gave her a bite of something she hadn't seen yet and told her to trust me. As she chewed the bite, she opened her eyes and said, "Mmmm! That's really yummy!"

When I showed her what it was she was very surprised because by the sight of it she never would've given it a try. But by playing the blind taste test game she happily loaded up her plate with it for dinner.

The next day some people were feeling a little under the weather, and with all my rushing to sew EJ's Halloween costume together, some people opted for this while others had some more comforting chicken soup from the pantry. Either way it allowed me to push back my meal planning again to save the next meal for another day.

Day 19 and 20: SW Taco Dip
SW Taco Dip

SW Taco Dip

Ingredients:
1 can (15 ounces) pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (15 ounces) GF enchilada sauce (red or green)
1-1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chilies, undrained
1-1/2 cups crushed corn chips
1 tablespoon dried minced onion
1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
Additional corn chips

Directions:

1. Crumble beef into an ungreased 2-qt. microwave-safe dish; cover with waxed paper. Cook on high for 5 minutes or until meat is no longer pink, stirring twice; drain.

2. Stir in the beans, enchilada sauce, 1 cup of cheese, chilies, crushed corn chips and onion; mix well. Cover and microwave on high for 3 minutes or until heated through, stirring once.

3. Top with the sour cream and remaining cheese. Heat, uncovered, at 70% power for 2-3 minutes or until cheese is melted. Serve with corn chips. Yield: 4-6 servings.

Gluten Free Granola Bars

I received this recipe from a friend a few months ago and have been wanting to try it for a while. While oats do not contain gluten, most oats are considered off limits on the GF diet because they are often grown right next to wheat and barley fields creating the potential for cross contamination with gluten foods. So unless you know you're buying gluten free oats, it's best to err on the side of caution and avoid them.

Unfortunately, some of the best snack foods, granola bars, end up on the "off limits" list. My friend Brenda had given me a bag of GF oats to sample which was perfect for this recipe. This is one of those you can basically throw anything in there kind of recipes, so it's awesome for using up leftover ingredients in your pantry.

 

For our first try we made 2 different kinds with whatever we had in the pantry. The first batch on the left I actually forgot to put any oats in, so we called them "snack bars." They were made up of:

GF Snack bars:

2 cups Arrowhead Mills Organic Sweetened Rice Flakes
2 cups Envirokids Koala Crisp
1 cup white chocolate chips
Drizzled with melted choc. bark

They turned out really yummy, but you almost need jaws of steel to bite into them, because the "granola glue" really stuck together without the oats to keep it softened. They taste delicious, but I'll be sure to include the oats next time, or don't store these in the fridge and then they're softer. I used an 8 x 8 inch pan and managed to cut them into 14 pieces. Here are the cut pieces after we drizzled chocolate over them.

The second batch we made turned out MUCH better! I remembered the granola this time and also added:

GF Granola bars:

2 cups Arrowhead Mills Organic Sweetened Rice Flakes
2 cups Bob's Red Mill GF Wholegrain Rolled Oats
2 sm. pkgs of slivered almonds
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup white choc. chips
Drizzled with melted white choc. bark

They turned out simply DIVINE!!!!!! And were gone fast! I had these for lunch with apple slices a few times this week. Mmmm...so incredibly good! We will definitely make these again! They make perfect snacks, take along in lunches, or even bring them camping. Simple to make and ohhhh soooo good!!!!

Gluten Free Granola Bars

½ cup honey

¼ cup brown sugar
½ cup peanut butter (creamy or crunchy)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups granola base – toasted oats or cereal (crisped rice, Nutty Flax, etc.)
2 cups nuts/seeds – almonds, pecans, green pumpkin seeds, millet, flax seed
1 cup dried fruit/other – raisins, cranberries, blueberries, cherries, chopped apricots, prunes, choc. Chips, white choc. chips, M&M’s, etc.

Directions:

1. Butter an 8 x 10 inch pan generously OR line it with parchment paper that also comes up the sides of the pan about ½ inch.
2. Preheat the oven to 400F.
3. Toast your nuts/seeds in the oven for a few minutes until slightly golden. While you are doing this, make your “granola glue” or peanut butter sauce.
4. To make the “granola glue” or peanut butter sauce, combine honey and brown sugar in a small saucepan. Heat, while stirring, until the brown sugar dissolves. Bring mixture to a simmer and simmer for 1-2 minutes until evenly foamy/bubbly on top. Remove from the heat. Add one teaspoon vanilla extract. Stir (it will steam a bit). Add peanut butter and stir briskly until lumps are gone and the consistency is uniform.
5. Mix granola base (oats or cereal) with your toasted nuts/seeds. Pour peanut butter mixture over the top and stir until evenly distributed. Add dried fruit and stir again to distribute.
6. Pour mixture into pan (on to parchment paper). Spread evenly and then press down into the bottom of the pan. Press the granola firmly together.
7. Bake for 20 min. at 350F.
8. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely (it will firm up as it cools) before cutting.
9. Cut into bars (1” wide and 4” long). Wrap bars in cling wrap or wax paper and store in a ziplock bag or airtight container until consumed. (I’ve stored mine up to 10 days, but it depends on the weather). These can be refrigerated; however, I haven’t tried freezing them yet.

Combination Ideas:

Lower Fat & Sugar/High Fiber bars – Toasted oats; Nutty Flax & millet; prunes & apricots

Kid Friendly Granola bars – Crisped rice cereal; Nutty flax; Cranberries and blueberries

Peanut Butter & Chocolate bars – Toasted oats; crisped rice & chopped peanuts; chocolate chips

Bit of Everything bars – Toasted oats; Nutty flax, almonds, pumpkin seeds; cranberries, apricots, white chocolate chips

Baked Potato Skins

Something simple to do with a bunch of potatoes...and something different from the hamburger & chicken routine. I didn't have any bacon, so I substituted some cut up ham slices. Yum!

Baked Potato Skins

• 4 large baking potatoes, baked
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 8 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled (or ham)
  
• 1-1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 4 green onions, sliced, (optional)
  

Directions:

1. Cut potatoes in half lengthwise; scoop out pulp, leaving a 1/4-in. shell (save pulp for another use). 

2. Place potatoes skins on a greased baking sheet. Combine oil, Parmesan cheese, salt, garlic powder, paprika and pepper; brush over both sides of skins. 

3. Bake at 475° for 7 minutes; turn. Bake until crisp, about 7 minutes more. Sprinkle bacon and cheddar cheese inside skins. 

4. Bake 2 minutes longer or until the cheese is melted. Top with sour cream and onions. Serve immediately. 

Yield: 8 servings.

Smothered Chicken & Potato Rosettes

This dinner was a huge hit! Nobody had any idea that this chicken was covered in mushrooms (along with cheese and bacon) so everyone ate it and raved about it! The secret to hiding mushrooms in the dish was that I used my Pampered Chef chopper to almost mince the mushrooms up into tiny little pieces.

If I had told my kids there were mushrooms in it, they would have turned up their noses and complained, but instead I got tons of rave reviews telling me I should definitely make this again!

The potatoes weren't supposed to be baked, but something just didn't sound right to mix in raw eggs and then eat (even though it tasted great & I never would have known if I hadn't mixed them in myself) so I decided to bake these potato mounds for a little while and they turned into these awesome potato/biscuit creations which the kids thought were really fun.

Smothered Chicken

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (4 ounces each)
• Garlic powder and seasoned salt to taste
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 jar (4-1/2 ounces) sliced mushrooms, drained
• 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Mexican cheese blend
• 1/2 cup chopped green onions (optional)
  
• 1/2 cup bacon bits

Directions:

1. Flatten chicken to 1/4-in. thickness. Sprinkle with garlic powder and seasoned salt.

2. In a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, brown chicken in oil for 4 minutes; turn.

3. Top with the mushrooms, cheese, green onions and bacon. Cover and cook 4 minutes longer or until chicken is no longer pink.

Yield: 4 servings.

Extremely simple & VERY good!!!



Potato Rosettes

Ingredients:

• 2 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons chopped green onion (optional)
  
• 3 tablespoons sour cream
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon white pepper

Directions:

1. Place potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with water; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover and cook for 15-20 minutes or until tender; drain.

2. Transfer to a large bowl; mash potatoes. Beat in the cheese, egg, onion, sour cream, salt and pepper.

3. Cut a hole in the corner of a pastry bag or heavy-duty plastic bag. Insert large star tip #409. Fill bag with potato mixture. Pipe potatoes into eight mounds on a greased baking sheet. Cover and freeze for up to 1 month.

4. [Optional: Baked on greased baking sheet at 350 for 10-15 min. or until slightly brown and firm.]

To use frozen potatoes: Place on a microwave-safe plate. Cover with waxed paper; microwave on high for 6 minutes or until heated through.

Yield: 8 servings.

To use frozen potatoes: Place on a microwave-safe plate. Cover with waxed paper; microwave on high for 6 minutes or until heated through.

Cinnamon-Sugar Fan Biscuits

The other day we were really in the mood for muffins. While my Pumpkin Chocolate Chip muffins are a huge success that the entire family loves, it can get kind of old and boring to eat the same flavor muffins all the time.

So since I've had such great luck with substituting my GF flour blend into some of our regular favorite recipes, we decided to thumb through a few favorite cookbooks and see what we could find.

EJ was in the mood for something with cinnamon, and she really wanted to help make them.

KW showed up to help too, but yeah that's his hand down his pants once again, his new favorite obsession, so he didn't help this time.

But he did stick around long enough for a couple of cute pictures, sans hand in the pants.

Okay, back to the baking. I let EJ do everything while I read the directions and only helped on some of the tricky parts.

This was an interesting cinnamon muffin/biscuit recipe where you flatten out the dough, cover it in butter and cinnamon & sugar and cut it in strips to layer on top of each other.

Then you cut those long strips into shorter strips and place them in the pan. I just bought a new jumbo size muffin pan so it was perfect for trying it out since this recipe makes 6 jumbo size muffins.

Taste testers at the ready!

Including the chef, of course.

The recipe turned out great and everyone loved it. The only thing we couldn't figure out was why the recipe didn't include any kind of icing or glaze? So I whipped up a quick glaze with some powdered sugar and water and it fit perfectly. These muffins are ever so slightly thick and dry, more like a biscuit, so it really needed the icing and a cup of milk to help wash it down.

Yup, they were REALLY good! The only problem ended up being that the recipe only make 6!

Cinnamon-Sugar Fan Biscuits

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour (***See below for gluten free alternative)
  
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 2/3 cup milk
• FILLING:
• 3 tablespoons butter, softened
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

***For Gluten Free Flour blend: 1 cup white rice flour, 1/2 cup tapioca flour, and 1/2 cup potato starch all 3 mixed well together. Plus add 3/4 teaspoon of xanthan gum.

Directions:

1. In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cream of tartar. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in milk just until moistened.

2. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; knead 8-10 times. Roll or pat into a 12-in. x 10-in. rectangle. Spread with butter. Combine sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over butter.

3. Cut into five 2-in. strips; stack strips on top of each other. Cut into six 2-in. pieces; place cut side down in six greased muffin cups.

4. Bake at 425° for 11-14 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pan to wire racks. Serve warm.

Yield: 6 biscuits, 6 servings, 1 per serving.