Soft Pretzels....Vegan? I dare you to try!

My family LOVES to eat bread in almost whatever form it comes in.  Before we were eating gluten free, this wasn't a problem. I could whip up a loaf or two or three of delicious whole wheat bread without more than a few thoughts and some attention to rise times.  Now, I've about given up hope of ever making a really good loaf of gluten free bread.

It's okay, though. I've redeemed myself with soft pretzels.  They're January's recipe of the month, because they are our favorite and can be made so many different ways!  Saturday, I'll share my favorite dip for them, which I won't even pretend is healthy, but the men in your life will love you for making it!

If you haven't tried making them from the recipe before, then you should.  Are you wondering how to make them dairy free or even vegan? Wondering if they'd taste just as good if you did?  Let me tell you how!

Make these substitutes:
Milk - Coconut Milk
Butter - Coconut Oil
** You'll want to heat these together in the microwave or on the stovetop just until the oil melts. It'll be hot enough at that point to wake up your yeast.
Eggs - 3Tbsp flax seed meal mixed with 1/2 cup HOT water. Let this sit until it is the consistency of raw egg whites. That usually takes about 5-10 minutes.

Follow the recipe precisely with these substitutes and you'll have vegan soft pretzels that not even your pickiest eater will know are gluten free, much less vegan!

You should definitely try these for hamburgers and open faced cheese sandwichs!

Did you miss the calendar?  Still want the recipes? They're still available here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/213477659/gluten-free-and-allergy-friendly-recipe?

Christmas Break is here!

Or "Now What Will I Feed the Kids?"

I'm sure your kids love chicken nuggets just as much as mine do, and making them allergy friendly always seemed so far out of reach to me.  Then, a friend of mine's husband, shared his secret for making them for his family.  Since then, I've made them a dozen different ways to accomodate a dozen different allergies. I'd like to share some of them here!

Chicken Nuggets to rival Chick-Fil-A :

What you'll need:
1. 1 large chicken breast will feed two hungry kids, prepare accordingly.
2. A pan that is deep enough to fry in and the oil to put in it about 3 inches deep is ideal.
3. 1 cup of flour for every 2 breasts.  What kind of flour? I'm glad you asked. Any that meets your family's allergy needs. Our family prefers a half and half mix of corn flour and corn meal. We've also used GF bread flour and GF Cornbread mix.  Add about 2 tsp of seasoned salt to each cup of flour used.
4. A large bowl of water for soaking the chicken in before breading.  I know, if you don't need to avoid the milk or the egg, then go for it, but water really works just as well and keeps the calorie count down significantly!

Ready to make your kids' day?

1. Cut chicken up into nuggets or strips.
2. Put in water to soak, between 3-5 minutes, any longer and they get waterlogged.
3. Put flour and seasoned salt in a bowl with a tight lid.
4. Turn on the heat under your oil.

5. Move chicken in small quantities to the flour, secure the lid and shake vigorously.
6. Making sure the oil is hot first, put chicken into the hot oil. It takes about 3 minutes/side to cook through a decent nugget and about 4 minutes/side if you make them thick.  Note: Depending on the flour you use, they may or may not brown up much, but they'll be delicious regardless!
7. Move onto a papertowel covered plate or bowl.

Repeat steps 5-7 until you've cooked all your chicken.  Enjoy with your favorite veggies and fruit!

We're having this for dinner tonight. My kids are over the moon. They don't get the breaded nuggets from Chick-Fil-A, so it's a rare treat to get to enjoy these!

What are your kids' favorite foods that you love to make but might need a better recipe for?  Try me. I've got lots of them up my sleeve!

Quality Matters

I'm pretty particular about my baking.  I insist that my baked goods are delicious and fresh for each market day or local delivery.  Freezing dough or already baked cookies is never an option, even if it means burning the midnight oil a few nights a week!

I also use name brand ingredients whenever possible.  I like my food to taste good, have simple ingredients and be easy to acquire.  One of my goals here is to help you find great quality ingredients to use in your baking!

Since January's recipe is the Soft Pretzels rolls, let's start there.  The most unique ingredient in these is a gluten free bread flour mix.  I've tried using a few different flours, but none come close to producing the quality of pretzel that the bread flour mix does.

The questions start to add up: Where do you buy the flour? How much does it cost? What brand is best?  What's in the flour?

Let me answer those:

1. I buy all my bread flour from www.nuts.com.  It's an online store that sells a very large variety of baking goods.  Of note, they also sell an awesome cake mix that's gluten free. I'll tell you another day how to tweak their instructions to make a cake that no one will believe is gluten free!

2. The more you buy, the cheaper it is!  I buy mine in 25lb increments, and with shipping end up paying about $4.00/pound for it.  On nuts.com, if you buy 200lbs of any combination of things, the shipping is discounted 50%.  Something to note.  It's not terribly pricey and the quality can't be beat!

3. I've tried a variety of flours and have come to really prefer the nuts.com brand the best.  I've tried Bob's Red Mill, Paula's, and a few other lesser known bread mixes.  Nuts.com doesn't use rice, which makes a HUGE difference in a bread product, like pretzels.

4. Nuts.com uses a bean base flour. In a biscuit or pancake, this isn't ideal. However, in a pretzel or sandwich bread, it is ideal.  From nuts.com, it already has xanthan gum in it, which will save you a pretty penny.  It does also contain very small amount of soy lecithin, so if you're allergic to soy, you'll want to avoid this one.  Nuts.com always includes their ingredients on their website.

So, my favorite, go to flour in gluten free baking is this:  http://www.nuts.com/cookingbaking/mixes/bread/homemade-gluten-free.html

Welcome to Tiffany's Kitchen

Welcome to my kitchen, where I primarily nourish my family, laugh with my husband, serve those in need around us, and bake.  I bake a lot.  What most people forget when eating their treats from Tiffany's Kitchen is that everything that comes out it is gluten free and often specifically tailored to additional allergy needs.

Flourless Chocolate Chip Cookie

For 2 years, I have been playing with recipes that I have found online, from friends, and in magazines.  My friends who eat gluten free have been great resources, handy guinea pigs, and happy customers as I have grown my repetoire and developed recipes that are primarily my own.

I'd love to ship my baked goods to those who live all over the coutry and the world, but state laws in Ohio prevent me from doing so.  I do not have a commercial kitchen. I bake solely out of my home kitchen, which means I follow standard cottage industry laws set forth by my state.

Slice of pumpkin pie and my morning crocheting...

 Instead of making all of you fine folk wait for me to get my hands on a commercial kitchen, I've decided to blog my baking adventures.  We'll follow along with a calendar that I have put together with a new recipe each month.  Here on the blog, I'll tell you the best flours to buy, where to get the best prices on those flours, and what flours to avoid for optimum flavor and texture!

Soft Pretzels make amazing hamburger buns...I'll divulge those secrets later!

Do you or a family member have other allergies beyond gluten?  No worries! I've become known around here as the "Allergy Friendly" baker.  I've tackled several allergies, including but not limited to: soy, egg, dairy, rice, pineapple, peanut butter, tree nut, and chocolate.  There are tricks to all of them, and each week, I'll tell you how to tweak that month's recipe to accomodate various allergies and sensitivities.

Disclaimer: All recipes are only as allergy friendly as the ingredients and tools you use and the environment that you bake them in.



What you need to know is this: My standard for gluten free baking is that if someone who regularly eats gluten doesn't love it, then it's not good enough.  Just because you can't have gluten doesn't mean you can't enjoy your food.

So, without further ado. I present the link to Etsy, where you can order a print copy of the calendar to be shipped each Tuesday afternoon or have it directly downloaded via a pdf file.

Digital File Available by clicking here.

The Brownies

Recipes included are: Flourless Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Pancakes, Pumpkin Pie, Swedish Apple Pie, Dinner rolls, Cinnamon Rolls, Brazilian Cheese Rolls, Soft Pretzels, Graham Crackers (that taste amazing and actually crunch!), Pizza Crust, and Brownie Bites (these made me locally known as the Brownie lady!)

I'll post more as the week goes on.  For now, I want to know one thing.



What do you miss most not eating gluten or any other food allergy?  And have you found a happy substitute for it, or should I consider it a challenge?!  I do love a good challenge!