Toll House Cookies Converted to GFree!

Who doesn't love a toll house cookie!?!  The classic recipe has been around since the 30's and I haven't been able to have one in years.  So I tried the recipe with our Bistro Blend Flour yesterday, then had 6 cookies because I couldn't stop eating them.  They were fantastic and authentic!  I figured that I could have one for every mile I ran yesterday.

How I went about it...

The recipe is on the back of the bag, as you probably remember.

Here is the recipe link, too: http://www.verybestbaking.com/recipes/specialty/nth-detail-occc.aspx

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour


• 1 teaspoon baking soda


• 1 teaspoon salt


• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened


• 3/4 cup granulated sugar


• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar


• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract


• 2 large eggs


• 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels


• 1 cup chopped nuts

PREHEAT oven to 375° F.

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

PAN COOKIE VARIATION: Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan. Prepare dough as above. Spread into prepared pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pan on wire rack. Makes 4 dozen bars.

• Exchanged the All-Purpose Flour in the recipe 1:1 for the Bistro Blend GF Flour (www.theglutenfreebistro.com)


• Used the High Altitude Baking instructions because I live at 6,200 feet


• Reduced the oven temp to 350 and baked for 15 minutes

I did drop cookies at the time I made the dough, and then wrapped the rest in parchment so I could hand them off to my friend.  The dough also works as an ice box cookie, to be sliced and baked whenever you would like fresh cookies.  The batch makes 5 dozen cookies.   They are sooo good.  You won't be disappointed.







Our Bistro Blend GF Flour is made of all whole grain and non-GMO flours.  It is now available for purchase on our website.  http://www.theglutenfreebistro.com/products.html

Enjoy, my gluten-free friends!

Kelly

Co-Founder of the Gluten Free Bistro

http://www.theglutenfreebistro.com/products.html

Recipe of the Week: Gluten-Free Gingered Banana Bread-The Organic Center Webblog

Recipe of the Week: Gluten-Free Gingered Banana Bread

August 23, 2010 by Sara Snow

I started (slowly at first) eating a gluten-free diet about five years ago.  I noticed that I was having trouble digesting wheat and would get a rash along my jaw line each time I ate it, particularly if it was a white flour roll straight from the bread basket of some Italian restaurant.  You know the type!

In the meantime I have tried countless gluten free crackers, pastas and baking/flour blends.  Some are great.  Some, frankly, aren’t.

The Gluten-Free Bistro is in that “great” category.  And it’s because the three ladies eat the foods themselves.  In an interview recently published in Boulder’s The Daily Camera, co-founder Julie McGinnis said of other gluten free products, “Texture was lacking, taste was lacking, nutrition was lacking and I really got sick of buying products and throwing them in the garbage.”  Julie started GF Bistro with friends Kelly McCallister and Barb Verson who since have found great success selling their products (pizza crust in particular) to a growing list of restaurants.

Well, I too hate seeing food go to waste which is why this week’s recipe, pairing overly ripe bananas with  the Gluten Free Bistro flour blend, is perfect.

 

Gluten-Free Gingered Banana Bread

INGREDIENTS

• 4 ripe bananas – mashed


• ½ cup butter


• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract


• 2 eggs


• 2 tablespoons buttermilk


• 1/2 scant cup of sugar


• 1/2 cup brown sugar


• 2 cups Gluten-Free Bistro flour blend (or whole wheat flour if not making GF)


• ¼ cup ground flax seed


• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder


• 1 teaspoon baking soda


• 1 teaspoon nutmeg


• 1 tablespoon cinnamon


• ½ cup raisins


• 2 tablespoons grated ginger


• ¼ cup chopped candied ginger


• 1 cup slivered almonds


• 1 teaspoon dried ginger


• 1 tablespoon honey

DIRECTIONS

Grease a standard size loaf pan or 4 mini loafs and pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat together banana, butter, vanilla and eggs until well blended and light.  Beat in buttermilk and sugars.

In a separate bowl, mix together dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg and cinnamon.

Slowly add to wet mixture and mix until well blended.

Stir in raisins, and gingers.

In a bowl toss together almonds, dried ginger and honey.

Pour mixture into a loaf pan and sprinkle with tossed almonds.

Bake for 1 hour or until knife comes out clean.

Enjoy!

Also on www.SaraSnow.com

And it was good

Friday, August 6, 2010, by Stapleton Moms 

Yes, the very day I heard about this, I did drag my kids to the Nick-n-Willy's in Boulder, on 8th & Pearl, to pick up one of their gluten-free take & bake pizza's. Sausage, mushroom, peppers, no cheese. I added my own sheep's milk cheese that I got from Whole Foods. It's a mild, soft, mozzarella-like texture and I threw away the wrapper so I hope I can find it again.

Cooked it for 13 minutes, and I have to say: Aaaahhh. It was good. Really good. Nothing cardboardy or dry about it. It was moist, and chewy, and felt like pizza.

I ate way too much of it.

The guy at Nick-n-Willy's told me the women at Gluten Free Bistro tweaked around the recipe for years until they felt they'd gotten it right, and the secret is coconut flour. Whatever it is, it's good.

You can order the crusts from their website. And rumor has it Cucina Colore in Cherry Creek will start stocking it, too.

So go enjoy -- and I do mean truly enjoy -- a gluten-free pizza.

Boulder's Gluten Free Bistro finds the right ingredients

Company offers healthy pizza, pasta options

By Scott SchlaufmanFor the Camera

Posted: 08/01/2010 09:00:00 PM MDT

Read more: Boulder's Gluten Free Bistro finds the right ingredients - Boulder Daily Camera http://www.dailycamera.com/business/ci_15641947#ixzz0vSsfJHjq
DailyCamera.com

The owners of The Gluten Free Bistro of Boulder are the first to admit that most gluten-free products aren't always appetizing.

"Texture was lacking, taste was lacking, nutrition was lacking and I really got sick of buying products and throwing them in the garbage," said Julie McGinnis, who founded the company with Kelly McCallister and Barb Verson.

All three are gluten intolerant and simply wanted to be able to go out to eat with their families.

The company got started in April 2009, launching its first product last summer with a sale to Boulder's Radda Trattoria. From there, The Gluten Free Bistro has continued to grow, selling pizza crusts and pasta to more than 30 restaurants, most of which are in the Boulder area.

The Sink, located at 1165 13th St. on University Hill, has been carrying the pizza crust for nine months, according to chef Scott Baptist. Baptist isn't gluten intolerant, but enjoys the taste of the crust. That taste, he said, separated The Gluten Free Bistro from the competition.

"As soon as they walked in the door, I knew it was a great product," Baptist said. "I had already tried somebody else's (crust) and it was OK, but this is much better."

That taste comes from hours spent in the kitchen trying out different recipe variations, the company's founders said. While the experimental process led them through ingredients like corn, dried milk and almond flour, the three owners ended up with a product that uses no major allergens.

In the kitchen, they discovered coconut flour as a replacement for the dairy and nut flour that would be allergen-free. The coconut also gives a much-needed texture to the food.

"What it was with the coconut flour is that it's so absorbent," McCallister said. "It really draws in the moisture and gives a textural component to it that a lot of other gluten-free products are missing out there."

In addition to taste, McCallister and her colleagues focus on cutting down the time it takes to make the gluten-free dishes. The pizza crusts are partially baked and then frozen to cut down on baking time, and their pasta cooks in one-fifth of the time that it would normally take.

In the coming months, the owners are hoping to move their products into the retail market, but currently both the pizza crusts and pasta can be bought from the company's Web site.

The crusts are also available at Radda Trattoria, Nick-N-Willy's at 801 Pearl St., and all of the Pasta Jay's locations.

McGinnis and Verson have backgrounds in nutrition, so they said their products are not only good tasting, but good for the body.

"This is full of B vitamins and minerals. It's high in protein and fiber and it's just really well-balanced," McGinnis said. "You'd want to give your family this."

Read more: Boulder's Gluten Free Bistro finds the right ingredients - Boulder Daily Camera http://www.dailycamera.com/business/ci_15641947#ixzz0vSsY5hGn
DailyCamera.com