Gluten-Free Muffins and a Natural Phenomenon

This summer, my family and I witnessed thousands of migrating Vaux swifts flying into a chimney in Healdsburg for the night. The sight was truly spectacular and I was gratified that the gluten-free birdwatching treat I brought along went over very well with the whole family! Unfortunately the pictures of my siblings together were hit-and-miss (it's hard to coordinate 4 kids all smiling at once!) but this little guy had some sweet pictures that were too cute not to include in this post!

Birdwatching is better with a sweet treat.

The birds began to form a funnel in the sky, in front of a gorgeous sunset.

The sheer numbers were astounding.

The thousands of swifts all bedded down for the night in this small chimney.

 These gluten-free muffins were a happy kitchen accident that I whipped up right before leaving for the swifts. The flavors are earthy and autumnal and I love the texture of the sorghum and brown rice flours in the final product.

Gluten-Free Cardamom Apple Muffins~ makes 12 muffins
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 apple, peeled and diced
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cardamom
1 egg
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup almond milk (any kind of milk will do)
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1 cup brown rice flour

Preheat the oven to 350F. Prepare a muffin tin with cupcake papers and spray the edges of the pan lightly with oil to prevent any "muffin tops" from sticking. In a medium mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugars. Add the vanilla, apple, spices and egg and mix. In another bowl, mix together the remaining dry ingredients and add them to the wet mixture. Fill the muffin cups about 2/3-3/4 of the way full and bake for about 15-20 minutes or until baked through. The tops may be quite dark, but keep checking with a skewer or cake tester before removing them. Serve warm.

Rainbow Sparkle Cookies

Amani and I just made these rainbow sparkle cookies for him to take to his little preschool tomorrow!
The recipe is from the Family Fun cookbook, which you can find in my books section! It has a lot of great, simple recipes.
I let Amani help me make them and (with washed hands), he rolled the balls of dough in the sprinkles and violently pounded them down onto the cookie sheet. It was very cute (:

I know he looks a little evil, but he would only stay still for a split second, it's the only one I got that's not 100% blurry! He's still kind of in motion though. But I had to get a picture of my chef!

Rainbow Sparkle Cookies
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tartar
Rainbow sprinkles

Whip the butter until fluffy, then cream with sugar. Add the egg and incorporate. Add vanilla. Mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and add to the wet ingredients in thirds, mixing inbetween.
Let chill for about 30-45 minutes. You could do longer, but we did fine just letting it cool and solidify a bit. Remove from fridge and roll into balls a little larger than gumballs. Pour the sprinkles into a bowl and roll each ball in them. Pat each ball onto a greased cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes at 350F. They won't really get golden, but they will not be doughy.
Voila! Enjoy with a friend ( : Happy Holidays!

Busy Day: Building,Breaking Dawn and Macarons!

Today, Jordan helped my dad fix an old chicken coop. He was so cute all bundled up! Amani helped too!

Cutie

I took an AWESOME macaron class. We made creme de cassis macarons with blueberry buttercream, coconut macarons with rum creme, mint macarons with dark chocolate ganache and sesame macarons with white chocolate ganache!

I made sweet treats for my friends and we went and saw Breaking Dawn! I made lion and lamb gingerbread cookies, cherry thimble meringues,mini caramel bread puddings and Jacob's cinnamon brownies.

Popcorn Balls and Halloween Fun!

Mmm yummy...want to make your Halloween sweeter? Like you need anymore sugar on Halloween, I know but guess what? I found a recipe that uses honey instead of corn syrup, so it's really healthy if you think about it (;
This recipe is on The Red Mountain Post website, by the Skinny Gourmet
You will need:

Roughly 8 cups popped, plain popcorn (don't get butter-flavored or salted)

1 slight cup honey
½ cup white sugar
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup water
1 1/2 tbs salted butter
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

Makes 8-10 medium popcorn balls.

Directions

Combine honey, white sugar, brown sugar, water, and salt in saucepan. Place over low heat, stirring until mixture begins to boil. Add butter. Stir and add vanilla just as the mixture begins to thicken. Cook to firm ball stage (248 degrees). 

Pour over popcorn and stir until all of the popcorn is coated. Wait for it to cool slightly, then compress with your hands. It might help to coat your hands with some butter,oil, or dip your hands in cold water. My boyfriend just squished them with a lot of force and they stuck, but I needed the water (:

Drizzle with chocolate and let cool. Store wrapped individually in plastic wrap at room temperature.

Olivia also made some pumpkin seeds:

Pumpkin Seeds

Wash the seeds and the pulp under water, to help separate the seeds. Olivia used a colander to strain the water out.

Then, we oiled a cookie sheet and heated the oven to 400 degrees F. She put a little salt on the seeds and I finished them up when she went to bed. Bake the seeds until golden, then use a spatula, spoon or tongs to move them around and let them get baked on both sides. Remove when dark and crispy and salt to taste. I've been grabbing handfuls all night, I can't even stop, they are the perfect snack!

Hard at work!

Sweet sisters

Macy

punkins!

Amani, looking serious

Me, Jordan, Max and Avonlea

My Pumpkin, Mr. Cupcake

Happy Halloween!