GF Chocolate Chip Coconut Cookies

Hey all!
So it being a rainy, blah type day here, we figured some homemade cookies were in order! They go great with a cup of tea, curled up under a blanket with a good book :) This recipe is GF as long as you use ingredients that assure no contamination (ie. GF oat flour, etc.), but all ingredients should be naturally gluten free!

Ingredients
1.5 tsp xantham gum
1 cup shredded coconut
10oz butter, room temperature
1.25 cup sucanat (or brown sugar)
1/2 cup sugar
4 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1.75 cup + 2 TB oat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2) Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or silpats.
3) Mix together sugar, butter, vanilla, and salt. Add in eggs and mix until well blended.
4) Whisk together flour and baking soda in a separate bowl. Add mixture to above wet ingredients and mix until blended.
5) Stir in, by hand, coconut and chocolate chips.
6) Scoop ~2 TB of dough onto cookie sheet, 6 cookies per sheet fit nicely!
7) Bake 18-20 mins.
8) Let cool ~5 mins then transfer to cooling rack.
9) Enjoy!!!

GF Pumpkin Maple Bread with Pecan Streusel

Sorry it's been so long, friends! Things have been a bit hectic crazy around here, between DH being in and out of the field for work, a mini "deployment" of sorts, and an energetic 17 month old, oh yes, and let's not forget losing the past 3 years of photos because our computer crashed! (NOTE to readers: ALWAYS back up your important files! We had all our documents and music backed up, but not photos, which are arguably more important. Saddness!) Anyhoo, I hope to jump back into blogging with more frequency in the near future! For now, I hope you enjoy this autumn yumminess....

{Gluten-Free} Pumpkin Maple Bread with Pecan Streusel

...to welcome autumn...
Super simple- mix, pour, bake, yum!

This recipe was inspired by a Pinterest pin I'd found a while back {found here at Hot Polka Dot}. 

-- Bread Ingredients --
1.5 cups Bob's Red Mill gluten free baking mix (or regular flour)
1.5 tsp guar gum (or ~1 tsp xantham gum) (skip this if you're using regular flour)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice*
1 cup pumpkin puree (make sure you get 100% pumpkin, NOT pumpkin pie filling)
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 egg (or 1/4 cup egg beaters)
1/3 cup olive oil (or veggie oil, or applesauce)

-- Streusel Topping Ingredients --
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2 TB flaxseed meal (or almond meal, or flour)
2 TB sugar
1/4 cup butter, chilled
1/4 cup chopped pecans

* I made my own pumpkin pie spice (as per THIS recipe), as it's something I rarely use so I didn't want to buy a whole bottle of it. The below mix will make 1 TB (3 tsps) of pumpkin pie spice!
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp cloves

-- Instructions --
(1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit, placing the rack in the center of the oven. Line a 9" loaf pan with parchment paper, leaving some overhanging the edges (so you can later lift the loaf out easily).
(2) Whisk the first 6 (or 5, if you're using regular flour) ingredients together in a medium bowl. In a large bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, and whisk until just combined.
(3) Mix the first 3 topping ingredients together. Cut in the butter. Toss in the pecans.
(4) Pour batter into the loaf pan and smooth the top with a knife or spatula. Evenly sprinkle on the streusel topping.
(5) Bake 30-40 minutes (mine ended up baking closer to 50 mins), until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 5-10 mins, then transfer to a rack to continue cooling.
(6) After cooled, cut, serve, and enjoy!

Crustless Spinach Quiche

Sorry it's been a while, ladies! Things are a bit crazy around here, but I'll be posting some more stuff soon!! Thanks for stickin with me ;)

So I usually don't like quiches since I don't eat eggs. I used egg beaters for this recipe and absolutely loved this!! I was pleasantly surprised :) I wanted something simple to make for breakfast whilst my in-laws were visiting. My MIL often makes a quiche when we visit them, so I knew they'd like it. This was fabulous! It's called a "tart" in my cookbook, but I use the term quiche- if anyone knows the technical difference between the two, please do let me know! :) So here is my vegetarian tweaked recipe! Original recipe is from:: Incredibly Easy Gluten-Free recipes

.: quiche ingredients :.

1 tsp olive oil

1 c. finely chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

10 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed & drained

1 c. milk

3 eggs

1/4 c. grated parmesan

1 TB minced fresh basil OR 2 tsp. dried basil

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg

.: topping ingredients :.

2 TB grated parmesan

.: directions :.

(1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 9-inch glass pie plate.

(2) Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Saute onions and garlic. Stir in spinach. Spread mixture evenly into pie plate.

(3) Combine the remaining quiche ingredients in a medium bowl and gently stir until combined. Pour mixture evenly into pie plate. Bake 50 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Sprinkle with the 2 TB parmesan topping.

.: notes :.

- I used Goya's extra virgin olive oil {that's essentially what we use in everything unless otherwise indicated!}

- I used 2% milk, as that's what we have in the house. I imagine any would type would work just fine though!

- As you can see in the photo, the spices all float to the top. Don't worry! That is how mine looked, and it tasted fabulous- not over spiced or anything :)

- I placed a cookie sheet on the rack below the rack that the quiche was on, just in case there's any overflow. The mixture pretty much fills a 9-inch pie plate to the brim, but I didn't end up having any overflow in the oven.

.: linking up to :.
Show and Tell Saturdays @ Be Different, Act Normal

Strut Your Stuff @ Saturday Mornings