Category Archives for Recipes (Gluten Free)
Soet cookies
Today I baked some soetkoekies. I was in the mood for something easy with no fillings or anything else. Just something that would be quick to bake and lovely to enjoy! A cookie recipe with just over a hand full of ingredients.
I have not baked any of these cookies for a while. Last time I tried them, they were not very successful. I bake with gluten free ingredients and sometimes the flour can be difficult to bake with. To be honest, it has taken me more than 4 years to discover the best flour combination for the best results for baking all different things.
So this time the cookies were a raving success! I baked them before I left the house to pick up the kids from school and as we opened the door when we got back, we were bowled over by the the aroma of the soet cookies. These are truly wonderful cookies. I know that old fashioned soet cookies are fantastic, but I have not been able to successfully bake those yet. I will have to work on them next! But this easy so bake soet cookie recipe from my mother is always a winner…
When you work with gluten free products it is always important to have a look at what type of recipe it is. What is the goal? If you are baking cookies that need to be crisp or harder, it is very important to use a plain gluten free flour that contains some kind of harder flour like soy or brown rice. You do not want these cookies to run or rise too much.
If you choose to bake something that needs to be very light and fluffy or rise quite a bit like cakes, cup cakes or plaatkoekies (like American pancakes), you will need a mix of softer flours like tapioca or potato. Use self-raising flour and then add half the amount of raising agent suggested by the recipes. This will result in beautiful, fluffy baking every time.
Hope this helps a bit!
If you are intereste in having a look at my recipe books that are available online, please have a look at my Amazon site. You will also find my gluten free version here. Otherwise you can buy my downloadable book from my website.
Soetkoekies
Ek het vandag soetkoekies gebak. Was in ‘n bui vir ‘n eenvoudige koekie sonder enige fieterjasies of vulsels. Net iets wat lekker vinnig bak en heerlik smaak met slegs ‘n handvol bestanddele.
Ek het baie lanklaas hierdie koekies gebak. Het gesukkel die laaste keer wat ek dit gebak het. Ek bak mos alles gluten vry en soms kan die meel probleme gee. Om die waarheid te sê, dit het my nou net mooi 4 jaar gevat om uit te pluis wat die beste kombinasie van meel is om te gebruik, afhangende wat jy bak.
So hierdie keer het die koekies heerlik gebak!! Ek het gebak voor ek by die huis uit is om die kinders by die skool te gaan haal en toe ons terugkom het die geur van die koekies ons sommer dadelik getref toe ons die deur oopmaak, heeltemal uitgebowl! Dit is werklik heerlik. Ek weet die outydse soetkoekie het ‘n fantastiese geur, maar die kan ek nog nie suksesvol bak nie. Die maklike soetkoekieresep wat my ma vir my gegee het, is altyd ‘n wenner.
Wanneer jy met glutenvrye produkte werk is dit altyd belangrik om te kyk na watter resep jy wil bak. As jy koekies bak wat lekker hard of bros moet wees en nie te veel rys nie, is dit belangrik om gewone meel te gebruik. Die meel moet nie net sagte mele bevat nie, maar het ‘n meel nodig wat harder is, iets soos soya…
As jy iets wil bak wat moet rys soos koek, kolwyntjies of plaatkoekies, is dit belangrik om die sagter mele te gebruik soos aartappel of tapioca meel. Gebruik oor die self-rys meel wat reeds bakpoeier in het en voeg die helfte van die bakpoeier bly as wat die resep vir jou sê om te gebruik.
Hoop hierdie wenke help so bietjie!
As jy belangstel om te kyk na die resepteboeke wat beskikbaar is, doen gerus so deur na my Amazon site te gaan kyk. Jy sal ook die glutenvrye weergawe hier kry. Anders kan jy die aflaaibare boek op hierdie webwerf van my koop.
Pancake day
How wonderful that there is a day dedicated to baking and eating pancakes. Not that I ever need a reason for baking these wonderful treats. I love eating them warm with cinnamon sugar sprinkled on top. If I close my eyes I can just smell that now. Why no treat yourself and your family to these wonderful treats.
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups of water (you can replace the half cup with milk)
2 eggs
1/4 cup of oil (I use sunflower oil)
2 cups of self-raising flour (you can use regular flour with 2 teaspoons of baking powder. If you are a celiac, replace with self-raising Gluten Free flour and add 1 teaspoon of baking powder and a 1/4 teaspoon of xanthan gum)
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon of sugar
Method
1. Beat the eggs, water and oil together.
2. Add the flour, salt and sugar and mix very well.
3. Bake as many pancakes as you can eat!!!
The nice thing about pancakes is that you can either fill them with beautiful mince and sauce or chicken as a main meal, or sprinkle with cinnamon sugar as a wonderful snack. Enjoy your pancake day!!
Brazilian cheese puffs
This is a wonderful recipe we stumbled upon by accident. My husband was diagnose as a celiac in 2009 and ever since we have been trying out new recipes, trying to make things the way we used to with gluten free ingredients.
It is not as easy as you might think and has taken over 10 years to get to where we are today. I published my Gluten Free South African recipe book a few weeks ago and there is one recipe in there that saves us all the time.
My husband went to the USA in 2013 and there he tasted the most beautiful little cheese rolls served with gluten free meats. He loved it so much he looked it up when he returned home. We have made these ever since and they are really tasty. You can eat them as they are, warm out of the oven or fill it with whatever you want. Cheese, jam, little sliders (mini burgers), the options are endless.
They are so easy to make and tastes wonderful. Try a stick blender if you don’t have anything else.
Ingredients:
1/3 cup of olive oil
2/3 cup of milk
1/2 cup of grated cheese
1 1/2 cups of tapioca flour
1/2 teaspoon of Dijon Mustard for extra taste! (optional)
Pinch of salt
Method:
1. Add all the ingredients in a bowl and use a stick blender to mix it together.
2. Pour the mixture into mini muffin pans and bake in a pre-heated oven of 180 degrees Celcius for 20 minutes.
Don’t use the large muffin pans or the cup cake pans. They are all too big and the cheese puffs will not rise correctly…
When I bake my cheese puffs I use a stick blender, the Russell Hobbs one… The price is not too high and It really does work wonderfully…
My books on Amazon
My recipe books are now all available on Amazon. There is a selection of both English and Afrikaans books. The list is as follows:
ENGLISH:
Recipes from South Africa – paperback version
This is a real paperback book that you can order and have delivered. Something to keep forever and pass on to your children. This book contains interesting information as well as all my recipes for starters, main courses, puddings, cookies and treats as well as cakes. Over 140 pages.
Cookies and Cakes – e-book version
This recipe book is for everyone that LOVES baking. You will find all kinds of cookies and cakes including coffee, sweet, old fashioned sweet, oats, custard and soentjies. You will also find chocolate cake, cup cakes and fruit cake recipes. Over 20 recipes.
Tarts and Treats – e-book version
This is a special treat with wonderful recipes from marshmallow tart, milk tart, sout tart and other treats including vetkoek, melkkos and much more. If you are looking for nice treats to bake for visitors or parties, this book is for you! Over 20 recipes.
AFRIKAANS:
Resepte vanuit Suid-Afrika – e-boek weergawe
Hierdie is my volle resepteboek met resepte vir alle geleenthede. Dit sluit in voorgeregte, hoofgeregte, slaaie, souse, nageregte, koekies, koeke en spesiale lekkernye…. Daar is ook ‘n paar nuwe resepte wat ek graag met jou wil deel.
Smullekker koekies – e-boek weergawe
Hierdie resepteboek is vir jou as jy daarvan hou om te bak en brou. Alles van koekies tot koeke…. Koffiekoekies, vlakoekies, soentjie, hawermout, soet, outydse soet en vele meer. Daar is oor die 20 resepte.
Terte en Bederfies – e-boek weergawe
Hierdie boek is vir jou as jy graag wil bak. Spesiale bederfies vir vriende en familie wat kom kuier of om verjaarsdae te vier. Alles van malvalekkertert, souttert, melkterk, vetkoek en melkkos… Meer as 20 resepte.
Ek is besig om aan die sagtebandboek in Afrikaans te werk. Sal baie binnekort beskikbaar wees. Geniet die e-boek weergawes vir nou…. Maklik om te gebruik en te stoor. Gebruik sommer jou telefoon of tablet om vanaf te kook en bak 🙂
GLUTEN FREE
I have now finished and published my Gluten Free book as well. This is especially for all the celiacs out there. My husband was diagnosed in 2009 and since then I have been adapting my South African baking recipes.
Potato Cakes
I know I have shared this potato cake recipe with you before, but I just felt I had to update it a bit. I found that the egg binds it very well and the amount of flour needed is not much. You can also add anything you like to it. I have experimented with many different flavours but found what my family love. That is the trick. Stick with what your family loves…
Ingredients:
4 potatoes (cook well and then mash)
A pinch of salt
A pinch of smoked paprika, beautiful flavour
Teaspoon of grated onion (very fine)
Large hand full of cheese (cheddar, mozzarella, why not try blue cheese?)
Sliced salami or fried and finely chopped bacon
1 egg
1 tablespoon of flour (not too full)
Mix all the ingredients very well together. It will be like a soft mash consistency.. Use a tablespoon and spoon them into the pan. I can fit 4 at a time and do not use any oil in the pan. Just use a non stick pan, it works wonderful.
Leave them in the pan for a few minutes. Make sure you wait until the potato cake is not stuck to the pan anymore before you turn them over. They will be nice and brown on one side. Leave in the pan until brown on the other side as well before you remove them. Serve warm.
Please try these wonderful cakes and let us know how yours came out. What did you add that was special to you? What is your family’s favourite?
Giant Plaatkoekies
I always bake small plaatkoekies but decided to make them bigger this time. A bit thicker as well which means that they are more filling and wonderfully soft and fluffy 🙂 We bake gluten free so the recipe is gluten free.
Ingredients:
1 cup of water
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 and 1/2 cup of self raising gluten free flour
Method:
1. Mix the water and eggs together.
2. Add the sugar, salt and flour.
3. Mix well and place spoons-full in a pan….
4. Bake on both sides turning when little air bubbles appear on one side.
You can add chocolate spread (which is a lovely sweet option), cinnamon sugar, melted cheese or even meats like salami or ham… Our family love this and enjoy eating it even for breakfast with bacon and syrup….
Rice – easy as that :)
Today I am going to share with you a recipe that my husband showed me. It is the easiest thing you will ever make. I never thought of cooking rice in this way, never ever 🙂 Amazing what there is out there still to be discovered by you. Maybe something that one person accepts as normal is totally unheard of for another person. So let’s all share recipes and ideas 🙂
This is how to make this wonderful easy rice….
First you have to decided what flavours you are in the mood for today. Curry, Chinese or whatever you like to eat. My whole family loves bacon and I just happened to have a few pieces in the fridge to use up anyway, so I cut the bacon into little pieces and fried it off with finely chopped onion in a little bit of oil. I also like smoked paprika so added just a little bit for taste.
Once the onion is see through and the bacon is cooked, you have to add your rice. We use 1 cup of rice for our family, so I added 1 cup of raw rice to the mix of onion and bacon…
You then stir the rice in the pan or pot, whatever you decide to use, for a few minutes. Not too long… Then it is time to add the liquid….. I used chicken stock. Take one chicken stock cube and add 2 cups (500ml) of boiling water and stir. Now it is ready to add to your rice mixture on the stove. Stir the mixture together… Remember you need 2 parts liquid for every part rice that you are using.
Then you have to find an oven dish or whatever you have lying around. I could only find our braai dish (a round one) and it worked wonders. I now use nothing else :). Pour the rice and stock mixture into the dish… Make sure you cover it very well. You want the steam from cooking to stay in the dish, not escape into the oven.
Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees celcius and then add the mixture to the oven. You need to let it cook for about 10 minutes. Then take it out of the oven and stir. Leave it another 10 minutes. It should be cooked after 20 minutes. If not, just cook a bit longer until the rice is dry.
The taste of the rice is wonderful, so different from just boiling it on the stove in water like I have always done. Something to try…. Goes well with anything, even just on it’s own 🙂
Gluten free fried potato balls
Like I mentioned last time, my children love potatoes. They don’t eat bread at school and it important for me to find something they will love eating that is also filling. Potatoes give me that possibility. They love it and it is filling at the same time.
Ingredients:
3 potatoes (raw potatoes that you grate)
pinch of salt
1 egg
2 tablespoons of brown rice flour (or regular flour if you prefer)
Method:
1. Make the balls as big or small as you like. I make it small, easier and quicker to cook and not too much to eat at a time.
2. Take a spoon full of mix and press together in your hand. Once it holds it’s shape, deep fry in oil.
3. I choose to deep fry them, but you can shape them and then bake in the oven without any oil.
Easy to make 🙂
Enjoy!!!
Potato Cakes, gluten free
My children are very fussy when it comes to eating at school. They do NOT like bread (only toast) so I had to come up with something else they will enjoy at school that is filling enough and NOT full of sugar and junk. So I tried these wonderful potato cakes. It only takes a few ingredients and are very easy to make. You only need the following ingredients:
Ingredients:
4 large potatoes (boiled and mashed with a little bit of butter)
1 extra large egg
pinch of salt
A large hand full of cheddar cheese (or whatever cheese you prefer). You can add as much as you enjoy.
Optional: add bacon, salami or ham.
Method:
1. First boil the potatoes and mash with some butter.
2. Add the cheese, egg and salt and mix well.
3. Add the bacon, salami or ham, whatever you are in the mood for 🙂
4. Mix well and heat up a pan. I use my pancake pan and don’t use any oil.
5. Form little balls and then press them flat in the pan. I bake 4 at a time.
6. Turn when one side is golden brown and cook on the other side.
7. Remove when ready and eat warm or cold as a snack…