Tasty, GF olive oil pie crust & pumpkin pie

Now we have pie crust. This is a big deal, since I love to grow squash. there's something about all the bright colors and shapes, plus they keep forever. I don't eat the seeds, but only because I prefer mine hulled. I saw a thing on the net about crushing the shells with a rolling pin and boiling the seeds. The shells are supposed to float to the top, so I may try that, or I could pulse them in a food processor and then boil.

I'm epi-pen allergic to milk, so butter is out. Shortening often has soy, another allergy, and I'm allergic to sunflower (God has a sense of humor), which is in otherwise useful butter substitutes (and almost all potato chips use sunflower oil). I can use Spectrum shortening (based on date palm) but it's not cheap and has no flavor.

Pie crust should taste as good as the pie.

Pie Crust

1 c GF flour mix*

1/2 c sweet rice flour

1 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 c olive oil

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp chocolate extract (essential to replicate buttery goodness)

1/4  to 1/3 c nut milk

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1. Mix dry stuff. Add wet stuff and stir. It should look like clumps. Let rest in the fridge at least 90 min to hydrate so the flour can hydrate and the crust will be tender. Press into an oiled pie pan and fill with pie filling. Bake as usual.

*GF flour mix:

1 c rice

1/2 c brown rice

1/2 c sweet rice

1/2 c toasted bean flour

1 tbsp potato flakes

1/4 tsp pectin

Makes 2 3/4 c mix.

Mock Pumpkin Pie

Carrot or winter squash puree makes a great pie that is indistinguishable from pumpkin.

2 c thinly sliced cooked carrots (6 medium) or pureed winter squash or pumpkin

¼ tsp salt

½ c brown sugar

1 tbsp GF flour

2 eggs

1 c canned coconut milk

½ tsp cinnamon

½ tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp ginger

9 inch unbaked pie shell

1. Boil or microwave the carrots until tender. Puree carrots, adding rest of ingredients until well mixed. Pour into pie shell and bake at 375 for 45-50 minutes or until pie is set and barely jiggles in the center when you wiggle the pie plate. Let pie cool, slice and enjoy.

Most excellent white chocolate orange cupcakes

I wasn't sure my kids would like this or if it would come out right off the bat, but as I was mixing the extracts and the perfume filled the house, I knew. Tasting the batter was a clue, and the cupcakes, a revelation.

The kids were squabbling as they walked in the door, so I threw cupcakes at them (figuratively speaking, of course. I'd never do that to these cupcakes). My daughter said they were awesome, my youngest son, that they were fantastic...then he ate six when I wasn't looking.

My oldest son has decided that he doesn't hate gluten free any more, oh, and can I have another one, mom?

The kids shoved a cupcake at John when he came home, beating me to it. On the third cupcake, he was too full to eat it, so he sat in his recliner and cuddled it, sniffing every couple of minutes. I've never seen him so blissed out on a pastry before. I think he stopped at five.

I had to make a second batch.

The kicker was when I was throwing away some old banana bread muffins (a sad experiment that shows how far I came). He looked at me incrediously, and a little hurt. "Are those more cupcakes? Are you hiding them from me?"

The force is strong with this one. I feel like a GF Yoda.

Adapted from the Nosh on This cookbook, which I'm totally going to buy, because she understands flavor. I had to remove the dairy, added chocolate extract and used real lemon juice instead of lemon extract (because that stuff is really strong) and used my flour blend, which is a great 1:1 stand in.

She has some tasty coconut frosting and flavored syrup that I didn't even attempt, but you should check out the options.

White Chocolate Orange Cupcakes

2 c GF flour, mine or the Nosh blend here

1 1/2 c sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 c canned coconut milk

1 tbsp lemon juice

4 eggs

1/4 c olive or canola oil (mild oils only)

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp orange extract or liqueur

1/2 tsp chocolate extract (you don't want to miss this. oh, boy!)

1. Mix dry stuff. Add wet stuff and mix well. Pour into prepared muffin tins and bake at 350 F until slightly golden and knife comes out clean. 25-30 min in my oven. Don't jiggle the pan or it won't dome nicely. Enjoy!

GF flour mix:

1 c rice

1/2 c brown rice

1/2 c sweet rice

1/2 c toasted bean flour

1 tbsp potato flakes

1/4 tsp pectin

Makes 2 3/4 c mix.

Jennifer's Way book

I borrowed this from my library. I admit I skimmed the first bit, as it details some grim stuff about her being sick. I feel for her, but I wanted the meat of what she did to get better. She tried a lot of stuff, but what worked for her was l-carnitine,because celiac is a starvation disease (can't digest wheat at all) and she was pretty much falling apart at the seams, and she was in rough shape. It talked about how she gave up gluten and got a lot worse when she was off it because her body detoxed, plus she found out she had a bunch more allergies, including a bad one to milk, which is very common with celiacs.

Over all, helpful info for celiacs and the gluten free among us.