The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

"It's that time, Christmas time is here, everybody knows there's not a better time of year," (Weill). We all gather around, hot chocolate in hand, ready to sit and watch National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation together. My sister and I have so many little Christmas traditions together, making gingerbread houses, watching every Christmas movie imaginable, and of course baking.

For us, baking at Christmas time is a multiple day event, baking fudge, peppermint bark, cookies, chocolate cornflakes, cupcakes, and more! Each year though, at the beginning of December, my sister and I would volunteer at our Church's Christmas Bazaar, often working the bake sale. One year however, our schedules did not allow us to volunteer our time, so rather we decided to bake something to donate to the sale.

Wanting to make something really nice, I decided to make a chocolate truffle wreath. I truly had no idea what I had just signed myself up for. I had never made truffles before and it was definitely more involved than I had initially thought. I had to crush Oreo cookies using the food processor, mix it together with cream cheese, which I found out is a lot harder than it sounds, and more. Once the truffles themselves were made, I thought the hard part was behind me, turns out the hard part was just beginning.

The next step was to cover the truffles in baking chocolate. I first melted down the green baking chocolate, which was easy enough, but covering the truffles was the hard part. I dipped the first one in, only to have it come out no longer in the shape of a ball. The next was not much better, refusing to be completely covered in chocolate. My frustration quickly rose. I only had a few hours before I was going to have to take this wreath to the church. Failure was not an option at this point.

After many trial and errors, I finally figured out a way to dip the truffles into the chocolate while maintaining their shape relatively well. I quickly finished dipping the rest and set them out to dry. Once they were all dry, it was time to assemble the wreath, a whole new challenge. I began placing the truffles into a circle, but how was I supposed to "glue" them down? I finally figured out that melting more baking chocolate could be used to hold the truffles together, while still being the same color as the truffles themselves.

With each added truffle, it began to take on more of the shape of a wreath. By the time I placed the last one on it looked like a bare wreath. But, how was I going to make it look like an actual wreath? I found little red candies that could help it look more like a wreath, but the selling point was the little bow I found. I carefully placed the bow onto the wreath, making sure it was centered and straight. At this point I had already worked so hard on this wreath, I wasn't going to let a crooked bow ruin it for me now.

Once the bow was on, the wreath was complete. After hours of laboring over the placement of each truffle was complete. It had seemed so easy, I didn't know how it ended up to be so complicated, but I actually didn't mind. I knew it was for a good cause, and it was my favorite time of year, nothing could make me mad. I didn't even mind at that point that I couldn't eat any of it. I simply had one thing to say after completing the wreath; I am never making truffles again.

Thankful for Cookies

Now that Halloween is over, Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Time spent with friends and family around the table, thankful for everything life has to offer, and of course the delicious food. Each Thanksgiving in my family is different, some years going to Georgia to see family, other years going to neighbor's houses, and of course some years just staying home.

One thing that never seems to change is how people look forward to my peanut butter blossom cookies. I make them every year no matter where we end up. Last Thanksgiving, my family flew down to Georgia to visit our grandparents and cousins. We stayed at my Aunt's house who was hosting the dinner, and so we helped out making dinner. My mom helped with the turkey, my sister helped with the potatoes, and I was in charge of baking.

My Aunt had asked me to make my peanut butter blossom cookies because they were her favorite. The last time she had been at my house I made them for her. I remember she had helped my unwrap all of the Hershey kisses for each individual cookie. It had taken us much longer than it should have because we were having so much fun doing something together. I don't see my Aunt that often, usually once maybe twice in a year, so this was something special.

The night before Thanksgiving, after we had finished dinner, I got started in the kitchen, whipping up the eggs, adding in the peanut butter, and rolling them into balls before putting them in the oven. As we waited for them took bake up, we moved to the dining room to begin setting the table, with an orange tablecloth and china plates.

When the timer went off, just like last time my Aunt helped me unwrap all of the Hershey kisses I would need for the cookies. We took our time pressing each one into the center of the warm cookies. For a few of the cookies the Hershey kiss melted a little too much, it couldn't be put on display on the Thanksgiving table, so of course it had to be eaten.

Even though the cookies were meant for the next day, we all had to try one. How can you bake cookies and then not eat any? It's practically impossible, especially when it's peanut butter and chocolate. Of course we had other things to bake for Thanksgiving dinner, but we ended up only baking the peanut butter blossoms that night. It caused for a very early morning for all of use to make the pies and other desserts as well as the stuffing and cook the turkey itself.

This year my family won't be making it down to Georgia, rather it's one of those Thanksgivings where we stay home and cook all of the food ourselves, still together, just less people. And of course, the peanut butter blossom cookies will still be made. Who knew that a recipe off the back of a Hershey's kiss package could provide more than just good cookies, but countless family memories.

One Minute

Chocolate chip, snickerdoodle, and sugar cookies line the case as the aroma sweeps through the room. I could tell the cookies had just come out of the oven, still fresh and warm.  My mouth began to water and my stomach began to rumble. I longed for one of those cookies, only I knew I couldn't have one. I walked back to my dorm thinking only about those warm cookies.

So I got to thinking, how could I modify this for myself? I clearly can't bake my own cookies there is no kitchen in my room, no oven down the hall, all I have is a microwave. But, what if I made something other than cookies. What is the next best thing? Brownies. I can make a brownie in a microwave. And those can easily be made flourless, perfect for me and for anyone who doesn't want a flour mess in their room.

I went online and began looking for a recipe I could use. I was shocked at how quickly I was able to find one where the reviews were favorable and it was only five ingredients! After a quick trip to McLanahan's I had all the ingredients I needed to make my brownie in a mug.

My excitement was through the roof! I hadn't made a brownie in a mug since last summer. I couldn't wait until that first bite of a warm brownie as if it had just come out of the oven. I quickly added all of the ingredients needed and mixed them together in my mug. Then I put the mug in the microwave, set the cook time for one minute and waited. I watched as the time slowly went down. It felt like ages had past before the timer indicated my brownie was ready.

I stood there in front of the microwave watching as the batter slowly rose up, filling the mug until the microwave finally chimed saying the brownie was baked. I opened the microwave door, spoon in hand, ready to take a bite. The brownie tasted just as good as I remember making the a few summers back, and all it took was a minute to make. No lines, no walking all the way to the dining hall, just to microwave and back.

This type of recipe is great for any day of the week, whether it's another late night studying, or it's cold outside and you want something nice and warm. It has little to no mess and can be made in the comforts of your own dorm. Below I attached the recipe along with the directions so that next time you are craving something sweet, you don't have to look any further than the microwave. Enjoy!

Flourless Brownie in a Mug

Ingredients:

1 egg
3 tablespoons of sugar
2 tablespoons of cocoa powder
A dash of vanilla extract
A pinch of salt

Directions:
1. Put all of the ingredients into the mug and mix them together
2. Place the mug in the microwave for one minute
3. Let the brownie cool and enjoy!

How the Cookie Crumbles

It's beginning to look a lot like the holiday season and that means baking galore. My absolute favorite time of year. Between Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, I usually find myself baking at least once or twice a week whether it be for parties, favors, or just for fun.

These cookies are my favorite to make as they are small enough to not feel that holiday guilt, but have a delectable buttery taste that always leaves you satisfied. The only issue, how in the world was I going to achieve the same buttery taste and texture with a gluten-free alternative? While gluten-free flours are available, many of them don't work how they should. 

It took countless tries with different brands of gluten-free flours from Pamela's to King Arthur's before realizing that the only way I was going to get the cookie I wanted was to find another alternative. All purpose gluten-free flour tends to not bake up in the same way that regular all purpose flour bakes up, making achieving the correct texture a real challenge.

I took to the computer to do some research about the best options so that my cookies wouldn't taste like cardboard as the previous batches had. The internet had become my encyclopedia, my resource for all things gluten-free as no one else in my family had ever dealt with this kind of intolerance before. To my surprise, there were other alternatives to regular gluten-free flour. There was flour made from almonds, chickpeas, quinoa, tapioca, and even rice! I had no idea flour could be made from so many different foods, and that each one had different attributes that made it ideal for baking or cooking certain dishes. 

I learned that almond flour and quinoa flours are good replacements for all-purpose flour, but quinoa flour tasted best when used in smaller amounts. Tapioca, chickpea, and rice flours on the other hand were much denser and could even be used to replace eggs! None of these flours, however seemed to fit the criteria I needed. Then I finally found it. Buckwheat flour. I know, it sounds strange, it has wheat in the name, how could it possibly be gluten-free? Surprisingly, buckwheat flour has no wheat in it, rather it is related to the rhubarb, and is ideal for baking cookies and pancakes.

Finally, I had found something that was going to make my butter cookies actually taste like cookies again! Quickly I gathered the other ingredients once again, ready to make the final batch, the one I would enjoy eating. I was so excited I nearly forgot the vanilla. Once I pulled the cookies out of the oven and decorated them with simple sprinkles, I timidly took a bite, nervous about whether this buckwheat flour would work as well as people said.

To my delight, the cookies tasted nearly as good as they did with regular flour. Cookies were the thing I baked most often before being affected by Celiac's, from chocolate chip, to butter, and peanut butter blossoms. This simple flour search began to change the game of baking for me, making everything seem realistic again. 

Why Flour?

Butter, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and flour. I place all the needed ingredients into the mixer and turn it on as I listen to music in the kitchen. I was baking a cake for my cousin's birthday as he moved to Philadelphia from his Georgia home. He had asked for a chocolate cake, but little did he know that my definition of chocolate differed ever so slightly when it came to decorating the cake as seen above.

Once the cake came out of the oven and I put the KitKats around the perimeter and sprinkled the top with M&Ms the cake was finally complete. When my cousin saw the cake he stared at it in awe and made sure to put it on Snapchat and Instagram because who didn't want to see a cake like this? We sang the usual Happy Birthday and it was finally time to taste the masterpiece.

Up until tonight I had been having issues with my stomach as after I would eat I would end up with crippling stomach aches, but one look at this cake and I knew I just had to have a slice. I had worked to long and too hard on it not to. One bite and it was easily my best work yet. I had never tasted a cake so moist and fluffy, I silently declared in my head that it was my new favorite. However, what happened next changed that thought quickly.

Once I finished my piece, within ten minutes I was doubled over in unexplained pain. I laid on the couch for the next day and a half rarely moving from my spot. I didn't understand, I had made cakes before and I never had this kind of reaction to it before, so why now? Why did it have to be this cake? Why not vanilla instead since I prefer chocolate anyways?

In the weeks to come, concurrent with countless doctor appointments, I found out that it was the flour that caused my unexplained pain and other symptoms, more specifically the gluten in the flour. My first thought what is there left for me to eat? Half of my diet is bread and how in the world would I be able to bake? Baking was what I loved. People have their hobbies of sports, video games, and other activities, but I had baking. How was I supposed to tell if what I made was any good if I wasn't able to taste it myself?

I felt like my days of baking were over. I didn't know what to do. Where would I buy gluten free ingredients, did stores even carry gluten free products? I felt my entire world getting smaller, that is until I actually looked into it. I went the store looking for flour substitutes, only to find that stores carried gluten free flour and to my surprise, more than one brand!

Suddenly, I felt my world of baking opening back up once again, I wouldn't have to give any of it up. With this blog I plan to chronicle my experiences with gluten free baking both good and bad.