Croutons & Stuffing


Croutons

Gluten-Free Croutons


Special thanks to my Sister-In-Law Debi for showing Peggy how to make these for our Thanksgiving feast last year. They are great just for snacking on.


If you are making this recipe for a gluten-free guest, please read our Guide to Gluten Cross-Contact.



Ingredients:

1 to 1 ½ loaves of GF bread, cut or torn in desired size. For stuffing, pieces might be smaller vs larger for snacking/dipping.
GF Granulated Garlic
GF Granulated Onion
GF Ground Sage
GF Paprika (optional)
Salt
Olive Oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300.
Spread bread pieces on sided baking sheet. Allow to dry for at least 2 days – 3 to 4 is preferable.
Drizzle olive oil lightly over the bread and mix well.
Season to taste. Mix well after each seasoning.
Bake for 10 to 20 minutes or until GBDC (Golden, Brown, Delicious & Crunchy). Stir every 5 minutes.
Remove from oven and spread out to cool.

Note: Airbake pans won't brown as quickly. Try not to eat them all before you make your stuffing.

Tip: Instead of throwing out the heels or unused pieces of GF bread, put them in the freezer to be used later.


Gluten-Free Stuffing

Ingredients:

1 loaf gluten-free bread (or the croutons above)
3 tablespoons butter, unsalted
2 carrots, peeled and small diced
2 celery stalks, small diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, peeled and small diced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 cups gluten-free chicken broth
1 1/2 tablespoon fresh sage, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325°F. Slice the bread into 1-inch cubes and spread out on a baking sheet.
Place in the oven and toast for 25 minutes, flipping/tossing once during toasting. (Skip this step If you are using the croutons you made from above recipe)

Melt butter in a large and deep cast iron or oven-safe skillet. If you do not have a large and deep oven proof skillet, you can prep the stuffing in a skillet and transfer to a 9" x 13" baking dish before finishing off in the oven. To the butter, add carrots, celery, garlic, onion, salt, and pepper. Sauté on medium heat for 15 minutes until the onions and carrots are soft and tender. If the onions or garlic start to brown, reduce heat to medium-low.

Once the carrots are tender, add chicken broth, sage, and thyme and stir to combine. Simmer for 5 minutes. Taste, and add additional salt or pepper, if needed. Next, add the toasted bread cubes/croutons and gently toss to combine. Transfer to the oven and bake for 25 minutes. Serve warm. Makes 6-8 servings.

German Chocolate Cake

A friend of ours was throwing a large 3 day birthday-bash. They had a large sheet cake lined up for all the gluten-eating guests, but nothing for herself (the birthday girl).

Our friend asked Peg if she could make a gluten-free German Chocolate Cake.

Instead of standard sized cake, Peg decided to make a doz. cupcakes and this mini-cake.

The cake was a hit! Our friend was so excited she dug into it immediately and shared it with a few other gluten-free guests.

Another gluten-free guest headed directly for the cupcake container after seeing the mini-cake.

Peg is becoming quite the Google Master. She found the recipe in a cake baking forum - without any help from me.



After reading through the forums posts, it appears this recipe is from The Cake Mix Doctor Bakes Gluten-Free book by Anne Bryn. The premise of the book is to take ordinary [gluten-free] cake mixes, "doctor them up" and make them better! This is one cookbook we don't have.

Here is the cake recipe and frosting recipe

This mini-cake was made in 4 1/2" tart pans. We sliced the top off of the bottom layer to make it flat.

The rest of the batter went to make cupcakes.

If you are making this recipe for a gluten-free guest, please read our Guide to Gluten Cross-Contact.