Blondies

Sometimes, just sometimes, things go just the way you want.

I’m really pretty easy to please. (OK, right about now my family is snickering.) Really. I was happy all afternoon because these blondies turned out just like I’d hoped they would. First time out. It’s a beautiful thing.

I admit I was skeptical. I bought pre-mixed glutenfree flour because—OK I’ll say it—it’s easier. When life gets busy and you still want to bake sometimes it has to be easier. That’s all. So, I bought this flour and hadn’t used it and, well, today was the day. It worked. It was good. Yay!

These Blondies are just right. Not too sweet. Not too spicy. Just right.

There are nuts and coconut and glutenfree oats in them, too. Oh, not to mention chocolate chips. Because you know I love chocolate.

Well, just go ahead. Try them. Then you can tell me if you like them…

Blondies

1 ½ cups GF flour (use one with xanthan gum)

¼ cup GF rolled oats

¾ cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup vegetable oil

½ cup applesauce

1 EnerG egg replacer

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla

¼ cup chocolate chips

¼ cup chopped walnuts

¼ cup flaked unsweetened coconut

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Make the faux egg: 1 ½ teaspoons EnerG Egg Replacer plus 2 tablespoons warm water. Mix together and set aside.

Mix the dry ingredients—flour, oats, brown sugar, baking powder and cinnamon—together in a large bowl.

Add the oil, applesauce, vanilla, and egg replacer. Mix by hand until all ingredients are fully incorporated.

Measure out and add the chocolate chips, walnuts, and coconut. Gently mix them in until they are evenly spread through the dough.

Turn it out into a parchment lined 8” x 8” baking dish. If you have some extra chips, walnuts, and coconut sprinkle them on top to decorate the blondies. I also sprinkled some cinnamon sugar on top of that.

Pop the pan in the oven for 25-30 minutes. Leave them in the pan for 10 minutes or so then lift the blondies out (using the parchment) and transfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling.

Slice into 12 bars. Eat within a day or two or freeze.

Note: I used Authentic Foods Gluten-Free Multi Blend Flour

PRINT RECIPE

Fried Green Tomatoes

I’ve been meaning to post this recipe for some time. But, end of the summer activities just seemed to take over my life. I’m not complaining—it was all fun.

We loaded up the truck with clothes, a fridge, and various gear and got my son back to college life. We enjoyed a beautiful Labor Day weekend at the beach and had the pleasure of sharing in the engagement celebration of a young couple who are friends of my niece. We joined neighborhood friends for a Labor Day dinner. The finale—a weekend at Pawleys Island. What a beautiful, serene place with lovely people who were nice enough to share it with us.

My life is not always so wonderfully active. Sometimes it’s just active with work and chores and other must-do type things. You know, just regular life. Now that my wonderful end of the summer whirlwind is over it’s back to normalcy.

I made Fried Green Tomatoes just before all this fun began but never had the time to share the recipe.

We had a bumper crop of tomatoes this year but the weather didn’t permit them to all ripen. So, fried green tomatoes it was. You might think the tomatoes would be hard and tart because that’s how they look. Not to worry—they transform in the frying pan. The heat from the cooking softens them and brings out a subtle tomato flavor.

Hopefully you have a few more on the vine so you can try this. If not, just tag it for next year’s tomatoes. They’re easy, delicious, and different. I think you’ll enjoy them.

Fried Green Tomatoes

2 green tomatoes

½ cup milk substitute (rice, hemp, or soy milk)

1 tablespoon olive oil

¼ cup cornmeal

½ cup gluten free breadcrumbs

½ teaspoon each salt and pepper

¼ teaspoon paprika

1 ½ teaspoons chopped or dry parsley

vegetable and olive oil for frying

Set out two small glass pie plates. Place the milk substitute and olive oil in one and all the dry ingredients—cornmeal, GF breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, paprika and parsley—in the other.

Whisk the “milk” and olive oil together. Then, in the other dish, mix the dry ingredients with a fork.

Heat about ¼ inch vegetable oil in a cast iron frying pan over medium high heat. I like to use canola or grapeseed oil with a few tablespoons of olive oil for taste.

Slice the tomatoes into ¼ inch slices. Dip them first in the “milk”/olive oil mixture and then in the corn flour/breadcrumb mixture coating both sides thoroughly.

Place each round carefully into the hot oil. Fry for a minute or so until one side is brown then gently flip it over and brown the other side. Remove to a paper towel lined plate.

Don’t overcrowd the frying pan and be sure to add more oil if necessary in later batches. If you don’t keep the oil level high enough they will have a tendency burn.

Serve the tomatoes warm.

PRINT RECIPE