Thanksgiving

Review: The Wheatless Gourmet Gluten Free Puff Pastry Sheets

Posted on by prissymuskoka

I was so excited when I saw this product!! Finally Gluten Free Puff pastry?!?! Eeek

So I bought some at our local gluten free specialty bakery. They warned me on purchased, it took some time to get use to when baking but I ignored any warnings – I was sold at gluten free puff pastry.

First reality check is the lovely puff pastry pictures are only suggestions – it’s a frozen log that takes waaaaay longer than the 20 minutes suggested to thaw. I found closer to 40 minutes.

Once ready, set up your area. I put down my parchment, with a sprinkling of Gluten Free Flour. I gently rollout out a square. I hardly modified how it came due to this being the first time.

Ahead of time, I fixed up 2 apples. Threw them in a fry pan with some unsalted butter, a couple of Tablespoons of ground cinnamon, a splash of orange juice, a 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract and a few heaping tablespoons of brown sugar.

I stirred and let them lightly cook for about 15 minutes.

Set aside.

About a tablespoon or so of room temperature cream cheese as a base, on the pastry then put the cooled apple topping on top. Fold over.

I found I was able to make 3 large apple turnovers with one box.

I did use an egg wash to seal the ends and sprinkled sugar on top before placing into a preheated 350F oven.

Cooked for about 40minutes.

Oh. My. God. It tastes light and just like I remember gluten puff pastry to taste like. Delicious.

A nice alternative to making pastry from scratch! It will take getting use to and will be considered a treat but a nice option to have!

**this review was not sponsored**

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Thanksgiving Traditions: Part 2 – Gluten Free Homemade Pie Crust 

Posted on by prissymuskoka

Homemade dough is amazing – no store bought pie crust can touch homemade pie crusts! So when we had to become a gluten free family I wondered how or if we would ever enjoy flaky pie crust again. 

Making gluten free pie dough is frustrating and time consuming. But with practice and experience it is getting better (in the frustration department anyway!) 

If you have never attempted gluten free pie dough before be warned that it isn’t at all like gluten dough – easily falls apart when making the shell and more finicky BUT I promise you once it bakes it will be flaky goodness and no one will realize it’s gluten free or know the pain you had getting it to that point!! 

I follow the TenderFlake pure lard recipe with a couple adjustments – I always found those other GF recipes I could find online too extreme and complex. So my challenge and goal was to use a tried and true family recipe but make it gluten free! 

Gluten free pie dough 

Adapted from the Tender Flake recipe 

1 box (1lb) of Tender Flake Pure Lard

4 1/2 cups of Gluten Free Flour mix (I used 2 cups Bob Red Mill All Purpose, 1 cup Robin Hood GF All Purpose, 1/2 cup coconut flour, 1/2 cup chick pea flour, 1/4 cup brown rice flour & 1/4 cup millet flour) 

2 teaspoon salt 

1 tablespoon Vinegar 

1 lightly beaten egg 

Cold water 

 1) Put the flour in a large bowel and mix in salt 
2) slice up the lard before mixing it in with the flour

   

3) Cut in the lard with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse oatmeal.  

 
4) In a 1 cup measuring cup, combine the vinegar and egg. Add cold water to make 1 cup. Gradually stir liquid into the lard mixture. Mix well. I find the best way to mix it thoroughly is with my hands. If it is still a bit dry, very carefully add a bit more water. The dough should cling together and easily gather into balls. I divide into 6 portions. 

I wrap each one individually with plastic wrap. For the one(s) I will use I put in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes. All others I freeze for next time.  

 

After chilling the dough,  I dust wax paper (on my marble pastrie slab) with gluten free flour. Place your dough ball on top and lightly dust the dough with flour. 

 
Then I place a layer of wax paper on top before I start rolling out the dough! Why dusted wax paper? Trust me – this dough is sticky! The dusted wax paper helps it roll out and won’t be all over your rolling pin! 

After a few rolls very carefully and slowly pull up the top layer of wax paper. Re-dust the dough. If you don’t do this and keep rolling, the dough will be very stuck to the wax paper and you have to start over. 

  
The dough after a few rolls is naturally lightly stuck to the paper. If you need to, lightly dust your fingers to carefully  help hold the dough as your pulling off the wax paper. Sometimes putting the dough back into the fridge and letting the dough cool a bit helps the wax paper release.  

 
When happy with the thickness of your dough, remove the top layer of wax paper. Then put the dough back in the fridge to cool before you flip it into the pie shell (you still have the bottom layer of wax paper on the dough)

To get the bottom layer of wax paper off the dough it is best to chill for at least 10 minutes. Remember the dough is well attached to the wax paper. Dust your fingers with flour. Very carefully and patiently remove the wax paper. I have found its easiest to remove after you have flipped the dough into the pie shell. 

If parts of the dough rip don’t fret. Re chill the dough and mould or add a piece. As the dough becomes warm it is more difficult. Keep chilling if need be.   
Once you are happy with your pie shells I keep them cooling in the fridge while I make my filling.   

I hope you enjoy my tastey, flaky crust!! It’s well worth the fuss! 

Let me know if you try making it and how you made out!! 

Thanksgiving Traditions: Part One – gluten free Pumpkin Squash Pie 

Posted on by prissymuskoka

Fall is a beautiful time in Muskoka – the vibrant colour change of the leaves, the crispness to the air and our Canadian Thanksgiving. It’s a time in Muskoka to celebrate another summer past, closing up of cottages and saying goodbye to tourists for another year. It’s also a time to get together with family and celebrate Thanksgiving. 

I have wonderful memories of making Thanksgiving pies with my grandma and mom. As my grandmother became older and less mobile her job became the overseeing of our production and the taste tester of the filling. 

This recipe is a hit with family and friends. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do! 

Pumpkin Squash Gluten free Pie

2 cups of mashed roasted pumpkin & Hubbard squash combined 

1/2 cup brown sugar 

1 tablespoon Cinnamon spice & pumpkin pie spice

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon salt 

1 tablespoon melted butter 

35% whipping cream 

3 eggs (broken and slightly whipped)

1) Cut the pumpkin and squash in half. Clean out the seeds. Preheat oven to 375. Roast until cooked tender (can easily pierce with a fork)  
2) let roasted squash and pumpkin cool. Scoop out into measuring cup (this allows you to know how many pies you will be making or want to make). Then put into mixing bowl. Mix the squash and pumpkin in the mixing bowl until it’s nice and smooth. 

 

3) Add the brown sugar and salt followed by the liquid ingredients to the mixing bowel while it’s mixing. Add the eggs last (if your squash is still warm you may cook the eggs by accident  – therefore adding the cold cream first may help to cool the mixture down before the eggs are added). 

Then add spices.  Mix well then taste test. If it’s not spicy enough to your liking add a bit more spice.   

4) using a 1 cup measuring cup fill up the pie shells  (Refer to my GF Pie Crust recipe in Part 2 of this post)  

5) cook at 400 for 10minutes. Lower the temperature to 350.  Cook until a butter knife put in the centre of the pie comes out clean. My pies took 50minutes to cook after lowering the temperature but it’s oven and pie size dependent!  

6) Place the cooked pies on a wire rack to cool. 

Serve with fresh whipped cream.   
Enjoy!! 

Let me know how you enjoy this pie recipe! Hopefully it becomes a family favourite for you too!