Pumpkin Cranberry Scones

Looking for that little something different and delicious for Christmas morning brunch?  Here's a thought.  These scones are light, delicious and the cranberries pop with palette cleansing goodness! : )

 

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cup white rice flour
• 1 1/4 cup glutinous rice flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 butter, cold
• 1/3 cup buttermilk (or 1/3 cup milk + 1 tsp vinegar)
• 1 cup puréed pumpkin
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup whole frozen or fresh cranberries

Directions:

1. Mix together flours, sugar, ginger, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
2. Cut in the butter to make a crumbly mixture.
3. In a separate bowl combine buttermilk, pumkpin, vanilla and egg.
4. Mix wet ingredients into dry mixture until well blended.
5. Stir in cranberries.
6. Pile the dough on a greased cookie sheet and form into a 10" round scone.
7. OPTIONAL: if you want a nice crisp crusty top, beat one egg together with 1 tbsp milk and brush it on top of the scone.  Then dust lightly with cinnamon sugar.
8. Bake at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes.
9. Cut into wedges and enjoy!  They are great warm or cold.

Apricot Buttermilk Muffins

My second buttermilk recipe is a compact, yet surprisingly light muffin.  From the pictures you might be imagining a pound cake-esque texture, but while these are definately topless muffins, they are far from dense...and it's very hard to stop at one!  : )

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cups white rice flour
• 3/4 cups glutinous rice flour
• 1 cup Brown Rice Vanilla Rice Krispies (these are gluten-free)
• 1/2 cup coconut
• 1/3 cup sliced almonds (or any other kind of sliced or crushed nut) 
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 ½ cups buttermilk
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup oil
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup chopped apricots

Directions:

1. Mix flours, Rice Krispies, coconut, nuts, baking soda, and salt.
2. In a separate bowl, beat together egg, sugar and oil.  Mix in buttermilk.
3. Pour liquid mixture into dry ingredients and stir until combined, it will be lumpy.  Add in apricots.
4. Pour into muffin tins, fill about 3/4 full.
5. Bake at 375 degrees F for 20 minutes.

Buttermilk Pancakes

I was gifted several bottles of buttermilk the other day and thought it would be a great opportunity to explore some new buttermilk recipes!  : )  Naturally the first recipe up was classic buttermilk pancakes.  They fluffed up nicely and tasted great!  A definate success.  : )

Ingredients:

• ¾ cup white rice flour
• ¾ cup glutinous rice flour
• 2 tbsp sugar (or use cinnamon sugar for something a little different)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/4 cup buttermilk*
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 large egg
• Optional: 1 cup blueberries

*if you want to make your own buttermilk use 1 cup plus 3 tbsp milk and add in 1 tbsp white vinegar

Directions:

1. Stir together flours, sugar, baking powder and baking soda.
2. Mix in milk, oil and egg.  Stir just until combined, do not over mix.  If you're adding blueberries, mix them in quickly once the batter is ready.
3. IMPORTANT: Do not let batter stand long before making the pancakes, or else they won't fluff up.
4. Pour 1/2 a ladleful into a hot fry pan for each pancake.  Cook over medium high heat.

Yield: 8 - 10 pancakes

The most amazing gluten-free cinnamon buns EVER!

Okay, so I know I'm biased because I made them and all...but seriously folks, after 15 years of gluten-free experiments gone horribly wrong (and some turning out moderately okay).  I have found the cure to all my cinnamon bun cravings...and I have to say that is the one thing I miss the most from my previous life!

Now this is not your conventional cinnamon bun, and I think that's why it works so well.  In the cookbook Rice Flour to the Rescue, we included a cinnamon bun recipe, and I'm not knocking that version at all, however I always had trouble getting the buns to rise a second time and if they didn't rise properly, the dough could be pretty dry and crumbly...a la classic gluten-free style.  : P

So here's my most amazing recipe for Cinnamon Bun Twists:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups white rice flour
• 2 cups glutenous rice flour
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp instant yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1/2 cup wam milk
• 2 tbsp oil
• 3 eggs
• 2 tbsp butter, melted
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup raisins (optional)

Directions:

1. Mix 1 cup of white rice flour, 1 cup of glutinous rice flour, all the white sugar, salt and instant yeast together in a large bowl.
2. In a separate bowl combine the milk, water, oil and eggs.  It's important that the milk and water are warm but NOT hot, otherwise you will kill the yeast.  The overall temperature of the liquids should be about 40 degrees C.
3. Add in the remaining white rice and glutinous rice flours and pat the dough into a smooth round ball.  Add only small amounts of extra flour if you find the dough is still too sticky to handle.  Too much flour will prevent the dough from shaping nicely and will create dry, crumbly texture after baking.
4. Cover and allow the dough to rise for about half an hour in a warm place.
5. Divide the dough into three equal balls.  Roll out the first ball into a circle the size of a pizza pan.  Tip: you may want to roll the dough out on a floured piece of plastic wrap to make it easier to transfer to the pan.
6. Place the rolled out dough on a floured pizza pan.  Top with some of the melted butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and raisins if desired.
7. Roll out the second ball of dough and place it on top of the first to create a sandwich.  Top again with melted butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and raisins if desired.

8. Roll out the third ball and place it on top.
9. Leaving the center whole, cut the dough into eight wedges.  See the image below:

10. Using a floured lifter, pick up one wedge and carefully flip it twice to create a twist.  Be gentle with the dough and go slow and it can fall apart easily.  This is where using too much flour can create a problem.

11. Go around the whole circle twisting each wedge.  Once you're done, pat the edges together and shape it into a nice circle.  If you want a nice presentation without having to add icing, you can brush the whole thing with a bit more melted butter and dust lightly with more cinnamon.

12. Cover and let it rise again for at least another half an hour.
  

13. Bake at 375 degrees C for 20 - 25 minutes.  Allow it to cool before trying to lift it off the pan, unless of course you're eating them fresh, in which case just serve it as is!  : )