Easy Nutella Chocolate Mousse

With my children away at sleepaway camp for a few weeks, there’s a whole lot of pressure on my husband—to eat. I’m not one of those uber-annoying food bloggers who, like, never ever eats what she makes. I’m not even sure why that’s annoying, since what’s the difference to you if I eat it or if I don’t. But I do eat it. Sometimes, it’s not my favorite, and I keep that to myself for obvious reasons. But mostly I’ll eat anything, anything at all. Here’s the thing, though: I’m only one person. And sometimes I have to make things like this smooth and dreamy, Easy Nutella Chocolate Mousse a few times before I get it just right. My husband eats later than the kids during the week, so he usually gets what’s left. Poor guy. But with the kids away? His cup (and his plate) runneth over.

This is a lot like the chocolate mousse from the Gluten Free Chocolate Mousse Cake that is the cake of my dreams. But, um, it’s Nutella chocolate mousse. Come to think of it, you could use this mousse in place of that one in that cake, and blow everyone’s mind.

Something else this simple chocolate mousse has going for it? Very nice, long refrigerator life. It keeps beautifully in the refrigerator for days and days. So I don’t have to force my husband and my neighbors to eat too much of a very, very good and velvety chocolate thing until the kids come home.

Prep time: 15 minutes       Cook time: none       Yield: About 6 servings

Ingredients

1/4 cup (20 g) unsweetened cocoa powder (Dutch-processed is best, but natural will work, too)

1/2 cup (4 ounces) warm water (about 85°F)

9 ounces dark chocolate, chopped

8 tablespoons (148 g) Nutella chocolate hazelnut spread

2 cups (16 fluid ounces) heavy whipping cream

Whipped cream and chocolate shavings, for serving (optional)

Directions

• In a small bowl, whisk the cocoa powder into the warm water until it dissolves completely. Set it aside. In a small, heat-safe bowl, place the chopped chocolate, and place the bowl over a small saucepan of simmering water, making sure the bowl does not touch the water. Melt the chocolate over the simmering water, stirring occasionally, until smooth.  (Alternatively, you can melt the chocolate in the microwave in short, 30-second bursts, stirring well in between.) Remove the melted chocolate from the heat and add the Nutella and the cocoa powder dissolved in water into it, whisking until smooth. The mixture should be relatively thick but smooth and shiny. Set the bowl aside.

• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, whip the heavy whipping cream on medium-high speed until stiff, but not dry, peaks form. Pour the chocolate mixture into the bowl of whipped cream slowly, carefully folding the ingredients together and taking care not to deflate the whipped cream more than necessary. Fold until no white streaks remain.

• Transfer the mousse to a large pastry bag fitted with a large, plain, open piping tip. Pipe the mousse into small ramekins, jars or a well-greased miniature cheesecake pan. Place in the refrigerator to chill until firm (about 2 hours). Serve chilled, with the (optional) whipped cream and chocolate shavings.

Gluten Free Zucchini Parmesan

I don’t know what it’s like by you this summer, but for us? It’s all zucchini, all the time. Every morning, my husband marches into the kitchen with his very, very local (so chic!) backyard zucchini harvest, and I won’t lie: my heart kind of sinks. I’m hoping for tomatoes, even though I know they’re weeks away still (why do my tomatoes always take so long to turn red?!), and here he is. Again, with the zucchini. I’ve gotten pretty creative over the years with gluten free zucchini recipes, but my kitchen antics always prove no match for summer’s relentless annual bumper crop. I know I know. First world problems. But still. Last week, it was Gluten Free Zucchini Yeast Bread. This week? Gluten Free Zucchini Parmesan. Layer it up, all eggplan-parm-style. Or …

Just enjoy them with some tomato sauce for dipping, just as they are baked. It’s easy! And unlike some zucchini recipes, you use up a ton of your zucchini crop.

You can see (and could have guessed) how easy it is to make zucchini-parm. But what you might not be able to tell from the step by step photos above? In the summertime, my favorite recipe for simple tomato sauce is better than ever because of a secret ingredient: shredded fresh zucchini! To my basic recipe, I add two simple things: a small can of tomato paste, and 2 medium fresh zucchini, pureed. It gives a surprising depth of flavor to the sauce, and, of all things, makes it creamy. Creamy! Amazing.

Oh, zucchini. You are an enigma wrapped in a mystery. Next year, maybe we’ll just grow cucumbers…

Prep time: 20 minutes       Cook time: 15 to 25 minutes       Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

4 medium-sized zucchini or yellow squash, washed and dried well

1/4 cup (35 g) all purpose gluten free flour (I used my Better Than Cup4Cup blend)

2 eggs (120 g, out of shell), beaten with 1/2 cup (4 fluid ounces) milk

2 cups gluten free breadcrumbs

3 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, finely shredded

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

2 cups (16 fluid ounces) tomato sauce

10 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions

• Preheat your oven to 425°F. Line large rimmed baking sheets with unbleached parchment paper and set them aside.

• Slice the zucchini (or yellow squash) into 1/4-inch thick rounds and place them in a large bowl. If you have a mandolin slicer, set it to the largest slicing setting. Add the flour to the bowl of zucchini slices and toss to coat completely, prying open any slices that have stuck together.

• Place the eggs, beaten with milk, in another large, flat bowl. Place the breadcrumbs, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, garlic powder and salt in a large, flat bowl, beside the egg mixture. Place the lined baking sheets next to the breadcrumb mixture. Dip each slice of zucchini in the egg mixture, allow all of the excess egg to drip back into the bowl, and the press both sides into the breadcrumb mixture.  Place each slice on the prepared baking sheets, side by side. Place in the center of the preheated oven and bake until soft to the touch & golden brown, about 15  minutes. The zucchini slices can be enjoyed just like this, with some tomato sauce for dipping.

• To make a more traditional eggplant-parm-type dish, reduce your oven temperature to 350°F. Cover the bottom of a 9-inch x 12-inch baking dish with about 1/2 cup tomato sauce, then place baked zucchini slices on top of the sauce in a single layer, cover each slice with sauce, and top with shredded cheese. Repeat the zucchini slice, tomato sauce then cheese, layering the slices on top of one another, until you reach the top of your dish, finishing with a layer of shredded cheese. Place in the center of the preheated oven and bake for about 10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbling.

Fresh Gluten Free Tortellini

Let’s be real. I don’t make fresh gluten free tortellini, or any sort of fresh pasta, every day. Who has time for such things?! But every time I do make fresh pasta, I’m struck by a few things that I may as well share with you, since the other real thing is that, of course, I’m looking to convert you if you aren’t inclined to make it yourself:

1. You can do it in stages. You don’t really want to wait too long after making the dough before you shape and cut it, but after that? You can stack it up, wrap it tightly and freeze it for months, even. Just defrost in the refrigerator before using it. You can even shape and fill it, freeze it in a single layer on a baking sheet and then pile it into a zip top freezer bag and stick it in the freezer. Then, boil it right from frozen. 2. It’s quite meditative. Particularly when you’re filling cheese tortellini, it’s a task you can lose yourself in quite easily, and in a very good way. Finally 3. The filling part is definitely something you can train small children fingers to do. Currently, I have no small children at home (all 3 at sleepaway camp for a few weeks), but if I did, you’d better believe all 30 fingers among them (3 children—sorry about the math) would be pressed into tortellini service.

Oh, and one more thing: You can’t do a tortellini search on the Interwebs without finding some tutorial or other about how to shape tortellini, but none of them (until now!) tells you what I believe to be the most important part of tortellini shaping. Here goes: after placing filling in the center of the fresh pasta round and folding the round in half, you have to pinch the shape right in the middle of the filled center before drawing the edges together. You have to! See the step by steps above, and read through the instructions below thoroughly, and then get your hands on some fresh gluten free pasta—and you’ll see just what I mean. Trust me. I’m a professional and stuff.

Prep time: 30 minutes       Cook time: 5 minutes       Yield: About 160 tortellini

Ingredients

Fresh Pasta*
2 1/2 cups + 3 tablespoons (375 g) all purpose gluten free flour (I used Better Batter), plus more for sprinkling

1 teaspoon xanthan gum (omit if your blend already contains it)

45 grams (about 5 tablespoons) Expandex modified tapioca starch**

2 eggs (120 g, out of shell) + 2 egg yolks at room temperature, beaten

1 tablespoon (14 g) extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup lukewarm water, plus more by the quarter-teaspoonful as necessary

**For information on where to find Expandex, please see the Resources page. For information on how to replace Expandex with Ultratex 3, readily available in most countries outside the United States, in the gluten free bread recipes in GFOAS Bakes Bread, scroll to #6 in Resources. I have not yet tested Ultratex 3 in this recipe, but I would recommend trying a mix of 405 grams all purpose gluten free flour + 15 grams Ultratex 3 in place of the blend above. Ultratex 3 is at least 3 times as strong as Expandex.

*For a fresh gluten free pasta recipe that doesn’t use Expandex, please see this post.

Filling
8 ounces low moisture ricotta cheese

10 leaves fresh basil, chopped fine

For serving
2 medium fresh zucchini

1 ounce Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Coarse salt, to taste

Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

Directions

• Make the pasta dough. In a large bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum and Expandex, and whisk to combine well with a separate handheld whisk. Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and add the eggs, olive oil and 1/4 cup warm water, and mix to combine. The dough should come together. If there are any crumbly bits, add more remaining warm water by the quarter-teaspoonful until the dough holds together well when squeezed with your hands. Knead together until the dough is smooth and pliable. If it feels stiff, add a few more drops of water and mix in until pliable. It should be, at most, slightly sticky but mostly just smooth.

• Cut out the pasta. Transfer the dough to a piece of plastic wrap, wrap it tightly and allow it to sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes. The dough will absorb more water and any remaining stickiness should dissipate. Unwrap the dough, divide it in half and return half of it to the plastic wrap and wrap tightly to prevent it from drying out. Place the remaining half of the dough on a very lightly floured surface, sprinkle very lightly with more flour and roll into a rectangle about 1/4-inch thick.* Flip and shift the dough often to prevent it from sticking, sprinkling only very lightly with more flour as necessary to allow movement. Continue to roll out the dough until it is about 1/8-inch thick. Using a 3-inch round cookie or biscuit cutter, cut out rounds of dough. Remove and gather the trimmings, and reroll them as possible. If you sprinkle the dough with too much flour during shaping, you won’t be able to reroll the trimmings. Repeat with the remaining dough.

  *For instructions on how to roll out the dough using a hand-crank pasta machine, please see this post.

• Fill and shape the pasta. Place the filling ingredients in a medium bowl and mix well to combine. Place about 1/4-teaspoon of filling in the center of each round of pasta. Moisten the edges of each round with water in your fingertips, and fold each round in half, sealing in the filling, and making sure to squeeze out any air that might get trapped. Gently pinch the filled pasta in the middle, right in the center of the filling, and bring together the edges, forcing the filled center to further pucker. Moisten and press the edges together to seal. Repeat with the remaining rounds and filling.

• Cook the pasta and prepare for serving. Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a rolling boil. Place the filled and shaped tortellini pasta in the pot and stir to prevent the pasta from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Depending upon the size of your pot, you may have to cook the tortellini in batches to prevent crowding. Boil for about 2 minutes, or until the tortellini float in the pasta water and have become more yellow in color. Using a slotted spoon or spider strainer, remove the cooked tortellini from the pasta water, drizzle lightly with olive oil and toss to coat. To serve over zucchini, trim the zucchini ends and cut into ribbons using a vegetable peeler, and toss the zucchini ribbons with olive oil and coarse salt to taste. Also using a vegetable peeler, shave the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese into ribbons, and toss with the zucchini. Place the cooked tortellini on top of the zucchini and serve immediately.

• Adapted from the Fresh Pasta recipe (page 43) in the book Gluten-Free on a Shoestring (Copyright © 2011) and the Flour Tortillas (page 203) in Gluten-Free on a Shoestring Bakes Bread (Copyright © 2013).

Super Fluffy Gluten Free English Muffins

These super fluffy gluten free English muffins have nooks and crannies that will put Thomas to shame in a hurry. Once they’re cooled and fork-split, they freeze perfectly. And you can even finish them in a toaster oven instead of a traditional oven so your kitchen stays cool. Clearly, they’re a breakfast home run. I started out thinking I was making gluten free English crumpets—those cousins of gluten free English muffins that remind me of sturdier pancakes that are cooked on one side only, until bubbles break through the surface. I started with the recipe for gluten free English Muffins from page 118 of Gluten Free on a Shoestring Bakes Bread (which is adapted from the recipe for English Muffin Bread from page 74), and went from there.

The difference between the dough for crumpets and the dough for English muffins is mostly one of hydration percentages: Crumpet dough is more like pancake batter than any bread dough, English muffin dough seems kind of like how pre-gluten-free-bread-revolution gluten free bread dough—very, very wet (although not quite freely pourable).

So what’s the difference between the English muffins from GFOAS Bakes Bread and these super fluffy English muffins? A few things, but it’s also mostly a matter of hydration. I won’t bore you with more of the details. I hear the devil is in there anyway.

Here’s what you need to know about making these muffins: they’re ridiculously easy. Just mix up the dough (with a whisk!), set it to rise for about 30 minutes, mix in the salt and baking powder right before filling English muffin rings (1-inch rings cut from empty aluminum cans work just fine, if you don’t have actual rings) and letting them cook. Finish them in the oven or the toaster oven (or even in the skillet!) and let them cool.

I do have to insist that you split them properly, with a fork, though. Otherwise? No nooks, not to mention crannies. And that’s the whole point here, isn’t it? Stay tuned for traditional English crumpets, but for now I think these will do. :)

Prep time: 10 minutes       Cook time: 15 minutes       Yield: 9 English Muffins

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups (350 g) Gluten Free Bread Flour*

1 tablespoon (12 g) sugar

1 2/3 teaspoon (5 g) instant yeast

1 cup + 2 tablespoons (9 fluid ounces) warm milk (about 95°F)

1 1/4 cups (10 ounces/10 fluid ounces) warm water (about 95°F)

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon (4 g) kosher salt

*BREAD FLOUR NOTES

1. 1 cup (140 g) Gluten Free Bread Flour, as discussed more fully on pages 8 to 10 of GFOAS Bakes Bread, contains 100 grams Mock Better Batter all purpose gluten free flour (or Better Batter itself) + 25 grams whey protein isolate (I use NOW Foods brand) + 15 grams Expandex modified tapioca starch.
2. For a calculator that helps you build the flour using my Mock Better Batter, but without doing any math, please see my Gluten Free Flour page.
3. If you would like to use Ultratex 3 in place of Expandex, please see #6 on my Resources page for instructions.

Directions

• Place the flour, sugar and yeast in a large bowl and whisk to combine well. Add the milk and water, whisking to combine well after each addition. The dough will be very wet, and should have a consistency that is slightly thicker than pancake batter. Cover with oiled plastic wrap and set aside in a warm, draft-free location to rise for about 30 minutes, or until nearly doubled in size. Line two small, rimmed baking sheets with unbleached parchment paper and set them aside. Preheat your oven to 325°F.**

  **To avoid turning on your oven, you can either finish baking the English muffins in a toaster oven preheated to the same temperature, or try covering your skillet once the muffins are on the second side, reducing the heat to low and cooking until the internal temperature of the muffins reaches 195°F.

• Place a 10-inch cast iron skillet over medium heat, or heat a griddle to medium. While the pan or griddle is heating, grease four metal English muffin rings (1-inch rings cut from empty aluminum cans also work well) and place them in the hot pan or griddle. In a separate, small bowl, whisk together the baking powder and salt. Uncover the bowl of dough and mix in the baking powder and salt. Using a spring-loaded ice cream scoop (or two spoons), fill the English muffin rings about three-quarters of the way full with the dough. Allow the muffins to cook for about 5 minutes before using tongs or a spatula to flip the rings with the muffins inside and cooking for another 3 to 5 minutes or until the underside of the muffins is lightly golden brown. Transfer the muffins in the rings to a prepared baking sheet, carefully remove the rings using the tongs, and place in the preheated oven (or toaster oven) to bake until the internal temperature reaches 195°F (about 7 minutes). Alternatively, cover the skillet or griddle until cooked through completely. Repeat with the remaining dough, using more greased muffin rings.

• As soon as the muffins are finished baking or cooking, transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. Split each muffin with a fork by inserting the tines in the center of the muffin along the middle, parallel to the muffin itself, and gently pry open the muffin with your fingers. Serve warm. With butter. Lots of butter.

• Adapted from the recipe for English Muffins on page 118 of Gluten-Free on a Shoestring Bakes Bread.

Gluten Free Apricot Crumble Bars

We were invited over someone’s house for a party last Saturday night (okay we were riding my kid’s coattails since it was a party for the families on her travel softball team, and let’s face it I never really get invited anywhere after sunset and I’d prefer not to spend too much time thinking about why). When you have a gluten free kid and you’re invited to someone else’s house, you have a couple questions to ask yourself: 1. What will I bring for my gluten free kid to eat that is portable and doesn’t need to be heated, really, and still fabulously delicious enough that he will feel proud (and hungry) to eat it? 2. What will I bring so I don’t walk in empty-handed? The answer to Question #1 this time was these Stuffed Gluten Free Soft Breadsticks (and a pasta salad). Easy. Done. The answer to Question #2 was my standard gluten free cookie that everyone in my life at all always requests  (4 dozen of them, in fact) + these gluten free apricot crumble bars. And you know what? The crumble bars went first!

Maybe it’s because apricots in the summertime are just.so.gorgeous. It could also have something to do with the fact that I stood by the dessert table eating one and going on and on about how delicious they were and did you know they only had just a few ingredients and were so so easy to make.

The crust is a simple shortbread (oh so simple!) and the topping is nothing more than shortbread dough with some cinnamon and brown sugar thrown in. The middle? Gorgeous summer apricots that bake up perfectly and would never even dream of making the shortbread soggy or the crumble topping any less perfect.

[Oh, and if you're a long long longtime reader of this blog and you're wondering if this is nearly deja vu all over again, you're right!]

Prep time: 10 minutes       Cook time: 40 minutes       Yield: 16 bars

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups (315 g) all purpose gluten free flour (I used Better Batter)

1 teaspoon xanthan gum (omit if your blend already contains it)

3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

16 tablespoons (224 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup (109 g) packed light brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 pound ripe fresh apricots, rinsed and dried

Directions

• Preheat your oven to 325°F. Line a 9-inch square pan with crisscrossed sheets of unbleached parchment paper, each overhanging two opposite sides. Set the pan aside.

• In a large bowl, place 2 cups (280 g) of the flour, the xanthan gum, granulated sugar and salt, and whisk to combine well. Add the butter, and mix to combine. The mixture should come together as a soft dough. Remove about 3/4 cup (150 g) of the dough and transfer it to a medium-size bowl. Add the brown sugar, cinnamon and the remaining 1/4 cup (35  g) flour to the reserved dough, and mix to combine. This is the crumble topping. Place the bowl of crumble topping in the freezer to chill. Scrape the remaining soft shortbread dough into the prepared square pan, and press into an even layer with well-floured hands. Set the pan aside.

• Slice each of the apricots in half, then remove and discard the pits. With a serrated knife, carefully slice the apricots into wedges, each about 1/4-inch wide, taking care not to bruise or crush the fruit. Lay the apricot slices on top of the shortbread in 4 parallel rows, from one side of the pan to the other, overlapping them slightly in each row. Remove the crumble topping from the freezer, break it up into irregular clumps with a fork, and sprinkle it in an even layer on top of the fruit. Press down on the topping gently but evenly to help the crumble topping adhere to the fruit.

• Place the pan in the center of the preheated oven, and bake for 40 minutes, or until the top is light brown in color and seems set. Remove the pan from the oven and allow to cool completely. Carefully remove the bars from the pan by the overhung parchment paper. With a very sharp knife, slice into 16 equal pieces. The top half of the bars will be moist and will not set up rock hard because of the moisture in the fruit, but will hold together when handled carefully.

Gluten Free Chocolate Frosted Brownies

 There are about as many ways to make brownies as there are ways to make, say, chocolate chip cookies. Thick, thin, fudgy, cakey, you name it. These gluten free chocolate frosted brownies are, well, chocolate frosted with a deep, rich and thick chocolate ganache. It’s true. But what sort of brownie is fit to be beneath such chocolate ganache-style frosting? A slightly cakey, and not overly chocolatey brownie. That’s the kind. “Did she just say “not overly chocolatey”? Indeed I did.

Here’s my thinking: You could make a super fudgy brownie and top it with chocolate frosting. But I submit that it would really just be overkill.

If you’re planning to skip the chocolate frosting, I’d go with those super fudgy gluten free brownies we just talked about (or this Super Fudgy Paleo brownie recipe, even).

But if you’re game for some chocolate ganache-style frosting, the kind that leaves tooth-tracks behind when you take a bite, that is heaven for chocolate lovers, then go with this recipe. The slightly cake-like brownies with the super chocolatey chocolate frosting? A match made in brownie heaven.

Prep time: 10 minutes       Cook time: 22 minutes       Yield: 16 brownies

Ingredients

For the Brownies
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

8 tablespoons (112 g) unsalted butter, chopped

3/4 cup (105 g) all purpose gluten free flour (I used my mock Better Batter)

1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum (omit if your blend already contains it)

3 tablespoons (27 g) cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup (200 g) sugar

2 eggs (120 g, out of shell) at room temperature, beaten

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the Frosting
3/4 cup (6 fluid ounces) heavy whipping cream

9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions

• First, make the brownies. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease and line an 8-inch square pan with criss-crossed sheets of unbleached parchment paper and set it aside.

• In a small, heat-safe bowl, place the chopped chocolate and butter. Place over a small pot of water, making sure the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl. Place the bowl over medium-low heat, bring the water to a simmer, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate and butter are melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

• In a large bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, and sugar, and whisk to combine well. Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the melted chocolate and butter mixture, and mix to combine. Add the eggs and vanilla, mixing to combine after each addition. The mixture should be thick and smooth. Scrape it into the prepared baking pan and spread into an even layer with a moist spatula. Place in the center of the preheated oven and bake until just firm to the touch and a toothpick comes out mostly clean (22 to 25 minutes). Allow to cool completely in the pan.

• When the brownies are nearly cool, prepare the frosting. Place the chopped chocolate in a medium size, heatproof bowl, and set it aside. Place the cream in a small, heavy-bottom saucepan and bring to a simmer. Add the salt and stir to combine. Pour the warm cream over the chopped chocolate and allow to sit until the chocolate begins to melt. Stir until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Set the mixture aside to cool for about 2 minutes before pouring over the cooled brownies, still in the pan, in an even layer. Allow to set at room temperature for about 30 minutes before transferring to the refrigerator. Allow to chill in the refrigerator until firm (about another 30 minutes). Remove from the refrigerator and lift the brownies out of the pan using the parchment paper. Place on a cutting board and slice the brownies into 16 equal squares.

Gluten Free Zucchini Yeast Bread

It’s the dog days of summer. You have zucchini, I have answers. Baking with zucchini can be tricky, because it is just.so.wet. And what’s more, shredded zucchini actually gets more wet as it sits, since it releases its moisture. Put a pin in that, and let’s talk about how the very worst thing you can do to any yeast bread, gluten free or not, is make it too dry. Period. End of sentence. If it’s too dry, it won’t rise. That’s why, in my new bread recipes, we use the scrape and fold kneading method to shape the yeast breads from Gluten-Free on a Shoestring Bakes Bread (and the new gluten free bread recipes that have followed from it) without incorporating too much flour into the dough and mistakenly drying it out. See where I’m going with all of this?

Shredded zucchini is perfect for making soft gluten free sandwich bread! I give you Gluten Free Zucchini Yeast Bread. Since I’m simply desperate to make good use of the daily zucchini that the monster zucchini plants in my husband’s backyard garden, this all just makes good sense to me. And not only does the zucchini add moisture, it adds a certain depth of flavor without actually making the bread taste, well, like zucchini. It’s the wonder vegetable!

Even though this recipe is adapted from Ricotta Bread, one of my favorite sandwich bread recipes from GFOAS Bakes Bread page 70, I still had to make it 4 times before I was fully satisfied with it. I cut back pretty dramatically on the water, and I can’t stress enough that you should consider measuring your water by weight, instead of by volume (see Bread FAQ #21 for instructions). The right moisture balance makes alllll the difference.

Here’s the best news, though: even if you overmeasure the water, the dough may be really tough to handle (like, really hard), but if you don’t care how it’s shaped, it will still bake up just fine. My early attempts at this recipe weren’t quite as pretty, but they still tasted just fine. :)

Prep time: 15 minutes       Cook time: 40 minutes       Yield: 1 loaf gluten free bread

Ingredients

3 1/2 cups (490 g) Gluten Free Bread Flour*, plus more for sprinkling

2 teaspoons (6 g) instant yeast

2 tablespoons (24 g) sugar

2 teaspoons (12 g) kosher salt

7 ounces shredded fresh zucchini (from about 1 medium zucchini)

6 ounces/6 fluid ounces warm water (about 95°F)

4 tablespoons (56 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

*BREAD FLOUR NOTES

1. 1 cup (140 g) Gluten Free Bread Flour, as discussed more fully on pages 8 to 10 of GFOAS Bakes Bread, contains 100 grams Mock Better Batter all purpose gluten free flour (or Better Batter itself) + 25 grams whey protein isolate (I use NOW Foods brand) + 15 grams Expandex modified tapioca starch.
2. For a calculator that helps you build the flour using my Mock Better Batter, but without doing any math, please see my Gluten Free Flour page.
3. If you would like to use Ultratex 3 in place of Expandex, please see #6 on my Resources page for instructions.

Directions

• In the bowl of your stand mixer, place the flour, yeast and sugar, and use a handheld whisk to combine well. Add the salt and whisk to combine well. Add the shredded zucchini, and mix to coat the zucchini in the dry ingredients. Add the water and butter, and mix on low speed with the dough hook until combined. Raise the mixer speed to medium and knead for about 5 minutes. The dough should be relatively smooth, but the zucchini will make it stickier. Spray a silicone spatula lightly with cooking oil spray, and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl or proofing bucket large enough for the dough to rise to double its size, spray the top of the dough with cooking oil spray, and cover with an oiled piece of plastic wrap (or the oiled top to your proofing bucket). Place the dough in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours and up to 3 days.**

  **Note: If you prefer, you may make and use this dough on the same day. It will not be as easy to handle, and will not rise as smoothly, however. To use the dough the same day it is made, after making the dough, set the covered dough to rise in a warm, draft-free environment to allow it to rise to double its size (about 1 hour). Once it has doubled, place it in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes or until it is chilled. This will make it much easier to handle. Then, continue with the rest of the recipe instructions.

• Preparing the dough for shaping. On baking day, grease a standard loaf pan (approximately 9-inches x 5-inches—mine are 8 1/2-inches x 4 1/2-inches) and set it aside. Turn out the chilled dough onto a lightly floured surface and, using the scrape and fold kneading method and using a very light touch, sprinkle the dough with more flour and knead it lightly, sprinkling with flour when necessary to prevent it from sticking, scrape the dough off the floured surface with a floured bench scraper, then fold it over on itself. Repeat scraping and folding until the dough has become smoother. Do not overwork the dough or you will incorporate too much flour and it will not rise properly. This dough is a bit difficult to handle, as the zucchini continue to release its moisture during the first rise.

• Shaping the dough. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface, and pat the dough into a rectangle about 7 inches long x 5-inches wide. Fold both 7-inch sides of the dough about 2 inches in toward the center, and then roll up the dough from one 5-inch side toward the other until the dough is completed coiled. Roll the dough gently back and forth on the lightly floured surface, to seal the edges. Tuck the short ends slightly under the loaf, if necessary to fit the loaf in the loaf pan. Lift the shaped loaf carefully into the loaf pan, seam side down. Cover the loaf pan with an oiled piece of plastic wrap, and place in a warm, draft-free location until the dough has risen to nearly 1-inch above the lip of the pan (about 1 1/2 hours, but rising time can vary greatly depending upon your kitchen environment).

• About 20 minutes before your dough has finished its final rise, preheat your oven to 350°F. Once the dough has finished rising, remove the plastic wrap and place the pan in the center of the preheated oven. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until the bread reaches an internal temperature of 185°F on an instant-read thermometer. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes in the pan before turning it out onto a wire rack to finish cooling until no longer hot to the touch. Serve immediately.

• Adapted from the recipe for Ricotta Bread on page 70 of Gluten-Free on a Shoestring Bakes Bread.

3-Ingredient Brigadeiros

I can still call these brigadeiros “3-ingredient” even though they have an optional 4th, right? Ah, the joys of being one’s own editor… I first made brigadeiros at home late one night during the week of the photo shoot for my next cookbook, Gluten Free Classic Snacks. My youngest child (and my most frequent hand model, much to the irritation of my other 2 children) was in the final stages of a third grade country project for school, and it was time for my bit: making a traditional Brazilian food to share. It had to be typical, portable, and bite-sized. And for my purposes, it had to be dead simple!

Despite having a crackerjack food stylist for the new book, I was doing all of the prep work (photo shoots are crazy expensive, and my publisher only pays a fraction; the rest comes out of my pocket—or my sweat equity!) and I was already overextended. Enter brigadeiros. If you search around the Internet for recipes, you’ll find plenty. But I needed it to be as simple as can be. Three ingredients were about as many as I could handle, so every ingredient other than chocolate and sweetened condensed milk was negotiable.

There are a couple tricks of the trade. First, keep the flame low low low. Second, keep stirring. The sugar in the sweetened condensed milk burns quite easily. And even if it doesn’t flat-out burn, if it scorches at all, it will clump and leave your candy with a rather unpleasant texture. Plus, take a good look at the texture of the mixture on the right in the above photo. That’s the fudge-like consistency you’re seeking. Just don’t rush it!

As long as you keep stirring, and keep that heat low, you’ll be rewarded with a super simple taste of Brazil. And if your kid ever has a country project and she picks Brazil and works her little heart out and you need to send in a typical, bite-sized recipe, I’ve got you covered. :)

Prep time: 5 minutes       Cook time: 15 minutes       Yield: About 24 candies

Ingredients

1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk

2 tablespoons (1 fluid ounce) heavy whipping cream

3 ounces chocolate, chopped (or chips or disks) (any type of chocolate is fine—sometimes I use milk chocolate, sometimes dark chocolate)

Gluten free sprinkles or nonpareils, for coating (optional)

Directions

• In a medium-size heavy-bottom saucepan, place the sweetened condensed milk and cream. Stirring frequently with a heat-safe spatula, bring the mixture to a simmer over low heat. If you cook over higher heat, the sugar burns easily. Add the chocolate and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture thickens to a fudge-like consistency (about 12 minutes).

• Transfer the mixture to a piece of parchment paper and allow to cool briefly until no longer hot to the touch. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and allow to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes or until firm.

• Unwrap the candy and roll it into balls about 1-inch in diameter. Moisten each brigadeiro with damp hands and roll in sprinkles or nonpareils to coat. Store in a tightly sealed container at room temperature.

Gluten Free New England Hot Dog Buns

When I was testing recipes for  Gluten Free on a Shoestring Bakes Bread, I tried the USA Pans hot dog bun pan (link below in recipe). But since you already needed some special ingredients to join the Gluten Free Bread Revolution, I decided on another method for making proper hot dog buns using the Soft Hamburger Bun dough recipe from page 139 of the book—no special pan needed. But I started getting questions (from you!) about gluten free New England Hot Dog Buns, and, well, I still have that special pan. So I got to work. And you know what? I’m really into them–and you can make the buns with any properly-sized rectangular pan!

The pans can be purchased on amazon.com (link below), but King Arthur Flour also sells it. And I think I’ve even seen it at Kohl’s. What makes the pan special is the molded wells along the bottom. But they do more than separate out 10 rolls (and yes, I tried shaping 10 rolls and then having them rise side-by-side—it wasn’t anything so special). I believe the highest and best use of the wells is to bake a rectangular-shaped bread in the pan and then use the valleys between each well to create a natural middle for each bun. Just read through the directions, and study the step-by-step photos. It’ll all come together.

You do have to be sure to bake the flat top as directed, too, or when you slice halfway through each bun, there won’t be enough structure on the bottom and the bun will split straight through (been there, unfortunately, done that!).

And be smart, like I wasn’t always (learn from my mistakes!)—serve these with the standard-size hot dogs. They fit perfectly in the center of the bun!

Prep time: 15 minutes       Cook time: 15 minutes       Yield: 9 hot dog buns

Ingredients

1 recipe Soft Gluten Free Hamburger Bun dough from GFOAS Bakes Bread (as reprinted here) or Gluten Free Texas Roadhouse-Style Roll dough

15-inch x 6-inch x 1.5-inch baking pan (like this USA Pans New England Hot Dog Pan) (affiliate link), or other similar-sized rectangular baking pan

2 tablespoons (28 g) unsalted butter, melted

9 cooked standard-size hot dogs, for serving (the extra-thick hot dogs are too thick for these buns)

Directions

• Prepare the bread dough according to the recipe instructions. Whether you decide to work with the dough the same day as you make it or not, be sure to chill the dough before shaping.

• On baking day, grease the baking pan well and set it aside. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and, using the scrape and fold kneading method and a very light touch, sprinkle the dough with more flour and knead it lightly, sprinkling with flour when necessary to prevent it from sticking, scraping the dough off the floured surface with a floured bench scraper, then folding it over on itself. Repeat scraping and folding until the dough has become smoother. Do not overwork the dough or you will incorporate too much flour and it will not rise properly.

• Shaping the buns + the final rise. Place a lightly oiled piece of unbleached parchment paper on top of a large portable cutting board, and place the dough on top of the paper. Sprinkle the top lightly with flour. Roll out the dough into a rectangle a bit smaller than the baking pan you are using (ideally, 14-inches x 5-inches). It should be about 3/4-inch thick. Invert the prepared baking pan on top of the dough to cover it, and quickly turn over the cutting board and baking pan together to invert the dough into the pan. Shake the pan back and forth a bit to distribute it evenly in the pan. Cover the baking pan with lightly oiled plastic wrap, and place in a warm, draft-free location until nearly doubled in size (about 1 1/2 hours). It should nearly reach the top of the baking pan.

• Baking the buns. About 25 minutes before the buns have finished rising, preheat your oven to 350°F. Once the dough has finished rising, remove the plastic wrap, place the baking pan in the preheated oven, and bake for about 10 minutes.  Turn the heat down to 325°F, and remove the buns from the oven. The top of the dough will be relatively pale. Brush the top of the dough with the melted butter and invert the dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Return the baking sheet to the oven and bake until the internal temperature of the buns reaches about 185° (another 3 to 5 minutes).

• Slicing and serving the buns. Remove the bread from the oven and transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely. Once the bread is cool, place it on a cutting board, flat side down. With a bread knife, slice the bread into buns in the following manner. If using the USA Pans hot dog bun pan, the there will be 9 valleys in the dough. Each of these valleys will be the center of a bun. Slice the dough widthwise in 9 places, each halfway between two valleys (see photo). Then, slice off the ends that are making the two end buns too large on one side and slice each bun in the center about halfway down to create a space for a hot dog. If not using the USA Pans hot dog bun pan, slice the rectangle into 10 equal-sized buns. Then, slice each bun in the center about halfway down to create a space for a hot dog. Place a cooked hot dog in each bun, and serve.

Gluten Free Oatmeal Lace Cookies

Even after all these years of blogging (over 5!), and all these gluten free oatmeal cookies, I just can’t believe that I never shared a recipe for gluten free oatmeal lace cookies with you. Light, delicate and simple, they’re the perfect cookie to enjoy with a tall glass of iced tea on a hot summer day!

They’re so ridiculously simple, but like all of the simplest recipes, the right ingredients in the right proportions are key—and so is chilling the dough before you bake it. I have tried these cookies in every possible way, and I have only had true, repeatable success in this one particular way. I have made them both with and without all purpose gluten free flour (yes, you definitely need it!), with less butter and with more, with oat flour and without (definitely without!).

So if you’d like to play with the recipe, please feel free! But proceed with caution. :)

Prep time: 10 minutes       Cook time: 10 minutes       Yield: About 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients

2 cups (200 g) certified gluten free old-fashioned rolled oats

1/2 cup (70 g) all purpose gluten free flour (I used Better Batter)

1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum (omit if your blend already contains it)

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar

16 tablespoons (224 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 egg (60 g, out of shell) at room temperature, beaten

Directions

• Preheat your oven to 325°F. Line rimmed baking sheets with unbleached parchment paper and set them aside.

• In a large bowl, place the oats, flour, xanthan gum, salt and sugar, and whisk to combine well. Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the butter, vanilla and egg, mixing to combine after each addition. The dough will be quite soft. Place the dough by the heaping teaspoonful about 2-inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Place in the refrigerator until the dough is firm (about 10 minutes—if you’re in a rush, use the freezer). Remove from the refrigerator and roll each mound of dough into a ball and flatten into a 1/2-inch disk, still 2-inches apart from one another.

• Place in the center of the preheated oven and bake until the cookies are browned around the edges and set in the center (about 10 minutes). Allow to cool on the baking sheet until firm. It isn’t possible to move them when they first come out of the oven.

Gluten Free Cannoli

Regular cannoli are special. You need cannoli forms (readily found online or at any large kitchen supply store), and there’s no shortcut to rolling out the dough. But they’re a labor of love. Gluten free cannoli are even more special. They’re the very sort of pastry you probably thought you’d never have again, now that you’re gluten free (kind of like the “Rye” Bread on page 101 of  GFOAS Bakes Bread and Taco Bell Chalupas). In my ongoing quest to prove, once and for all, that if they can make it with gluten, we can make it without, may I present … gluten free cannoli that are just like you remember.

They’re light and flaky, and they shatter when you bite into them. Just like they’re s’posed to.

Traditionally made with Marsala wine, I provide a couple alternatives (including one that is alcohol-free) that work quite well. You will need cannoli forms, though, even if you only buy one set of 4. I have a few sets of 4, and they’re all made by Ateco. Unless one of you has a suggestion for something more ordinary to use in their place during frying. Let us know in the comments if you do!

My favorite cannoli were always the ones with mini chips in the filling. Since I won’t be there when you make these, I won’t heckle you if you leave out the chips. If I were there, I’d sneak a couple chips into mine, though. They just make the whole cannoli so … delicious and perfect. I bet you have your own ideas about what makes the perfect filling, so feel free to modify that however you like. Cheers to making alllllll your old favorites safely gluten free!

Prep time: 20 minutes       Cook time: 10 minutes       Yield: About 20 shells

Ingredients

For the cannoli shells
2 cups (280 g) all purpose gluten free flour (I used my mock Better Batter), plus more for sprinkling

1 teaspoon xanthan gum (omit if your blend already contains it)

1/4 cup (29 g) confectioners’ sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

3 tablespoons (42 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup (6 fluid ounces) Marsala wine, at room temperature*

Lukewarm water, by the half-teaspoonful as necessary

For the filling
1 1/2 cups (336 g) ricotta cheese

12 ounces mascarpone cheese

1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 cup (4 fluid ounces) heavy whipping cream

3 ounces miniature chocolate chips (optional)

For finishing
Cannoli forms (I purchased mine at a kitchen supply store, but they are readily available online)

Cooking oil spray for greasing the cannoli forms

1 egg white

Oil, for frying

Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

*Possible Substitutions for Marsala: In a pinch, the 3/4 cup Marsala can be replaced with one of the following:

1. 10 tablespoons dry white wine (like Pinot Grigio) plus 2 tablespoons brandy
2. 10 tablespoons white grape juice plus 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar

Directions

• First, make the cannoli shell dough. In a large bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, confectioners’ sugar, cinnamon and salt, and whisk to combine. Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the butter and wine, and mix to combine. The dough should come together. Knead with your hands, adding lukewarm water by the half-teaspoonful as necessary to bring the dough together. It should be a relatively stiff dough, so add the water very judiciously. Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and allow it to sit at room temperature while you make the filling.

• Make the filling. In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or a large bowl with a hand mixer, place the ricotta, mascarpone, sugar, vanilla and salt, and beat on medium speed to combine well. Add the heavy whipping cream, and continue to beat at medium-high speed until the mixture becomes fluffy and thickens (about 2 minutes). Carefully fold in the optional chocolate chips, cover the bowl and place it in the refrigerator to chill.

• Shape the shells and place on the cannoli forms. Unwrap the dough and divide it in half. Cover one half lightly with a moist towel to prevent it from drying out. Place the other piece of dough on a lightly floured surface and roll out a bit more than 1/8-inch thick, dusting lightly with flour as necessary to prevent the dough from sticking to the rolling pin. Cut out circles from the dough about 4-inches in diameter. Dust the circles lightly with flour to prevent sticking and stack them together. Gather and reroll scraps of dough. Repeat with the second half of dough. Spray the cannoli forms with cooking oil spray (to help prevent the dough from sticking to the forms). As you wrap each round of dough around a greased cannoli form, brush the overlapping edges lightly with the egg white to seal. Repeat with as many forms as you have.

• Fry the shells. Place about 3-inches of frying oil in a medium-size, heavy-bottom pot or fryer. Clip a deep-fry/candy thermometer to the side of the pot or fryer, and place the oil over medium-high heat. Bring the oil temperature to 360°F. Place the cannoli shells on the forms, a few at a time, on a spider or in a frying basket in the hot oil, taking care not to crowd the oil. Shake the spider or frying basket back and forth gently to ensure that the shells are not sticking to anything as they fry. The shells should bubble up immediately in the hot oil. Fry until the shells are very lightly golden brown all over (about 2 to 3 minutes per side). As soon as each batch is removed from the fryer, place the shells, still on the form, on a wire rack placed over paper towels to drain (turning each shell, still on the form, to allow any oil inside the form to drip out). Once the form is cool enough to handle, carefully slide the shell off the form and place the shell back on the wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining rounds of dough, reusing the cooled cannoli forms as necessary.

• Finish the cannoli. Once the cannoli shells are cool, remove the filling from the refrigerator and unwrap it. Transfer it to a piping bag fitted with a large open star tip and pipe the filling into each cooled shell, piping from both ends toward the center of the shell. Dust lightly with confectioners’ sugar and serve.

Gluten Free Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Frosting

I was trying to think of what you might like to make this weekend, when it’s not quite summer but doesn’t really feel so much like spring (at least where I live, it tends to go from cold cold cold to hot hot hot and we’re bumping up against hot hot hot already). Strawberries are in full swing, which means that they smell like strawberries,  look like strawberries (red inside and out!) and even  taste like strawberries. I never really tire of baking with this lovely fruit, but baking with fruit does present its own special challenges: it tends to be wet so it upends the moisture balance in baking. The solution this time? Make strawberry syrup! These gluten free strawberry cupcakes with sweet strawberry frosting are naturally pink (completely dye-free!) and undeniably impressive-looking.

You hardly need any sugar to make the strawberry syrup, since the strawberries themselves are really quite sweet right now. You can even use frozen strawberries if they’re not in season where you live—just thaw them first!

I went for the rustic frost on these sweet little cupcakes since it just seemed very back-to-the-earth. But of course you could pipe on the frosting and make it all fancy and stuff.

I couldn’t resist adding another dollop of strawberry syrup on top of each cupcake, since you don’t use all of the syrup in the recipe and it’s just so … pretty (and smells so good!). There are so many more things you can do with the leftover syrup, too: drizzle it on vanilla (or strawberry!) ice cream, whip it into cannoli filling, ooooh or maybe use it to make strawberry milk!

Prep time: 15 minutes       Cook time: 19 minutes       Yield: 15 cupcakes

Ingredients

For the strawberry syrup
1 pound fresh strawberries, hulled and roughly chopped

1/4 cup (50 g) granulated sugar

1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

3 to 4 tablespoons lukewarm water

For the cupcakes
1 3/4 cups (245 g) all purpose gluten free flour (I used my mock Cup4Cup)

3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum (omit if your blend already contains it)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar

8 tablespoons (112 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 egg (60 g, out of shell) plus 1 egg white (30 g) at room temperature, beaten

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/3 cup (2.7 fluid ounces) strawberry syrup, at room temperature

1/3 cup (2.7 fluid ounces) milk, at room temperature

Strawberry Frosting
14 tablespoons (196 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3 1/2 to 4 cups (400 to 460 g) confectioners’ sugar

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

3 tablespoons (1 1/2 fluid ounces) strawberry syrup, at room temperature

Milk by the half-teaspoonful at room temperature, as necessary

Directions

• First, make the strawberry syrup. In a medium-size, heavy-bottom saucepan, place the strawberries, sugar, salt and 3 tablespoons water, and mix to combine. Place over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally and adding the remaining tablespoon of water if necessary to prevent the mixture from burning, until the strawberries are softened and the liquid has reduced by about 1/4. Remove from the heat and place the contents of the saucepan in a blender or food processor and process until smooth. Pass the strawberry syrup through a fine mesh sieve to remove the seeds. Set the syrup aside to cool.

• Make the cupcakes. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease or line the wells of a standard 12-cup muffin tin and set it aside. In a large bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar, and whisk to combine well. Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the butter, egg, egg white, vanilla, strawberry syrup and milk, mixing to combine after each addition until just combined. Fill the prepared wells of the muffin tin about 3/4 of the way full with the batter, and shake into an even layer.Place the muffin tin in the center of the preheated oven and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcakes comes out clean (about 19 minutes). Remove from the oven and and allow to cool in the muffin tin for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

• Make the frosting while the cupcakes are cooling. In the bowl of your stand mixer or a large bowl with a handheld mixer, place the butter and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy (about 4 minutes). Add 3 1/2 cups of the confectioners’ sugar and the salt, and beat on low speed until the sugar is absorbed by the butter. Add the strawberry syrup and beat to combine. The frosting should be light and fluffy, and should hold its shape easily when scooped with a spoon. Add more confectioners’ sugar and/or milk by the half-teaspoonful as necessary to achieve the desired consistency.

• Finish the cupcakes. Once the cupcakes have cooled, frost the cupcakes generously with the frosting, and top with a small dollop of the remaining strawberry syrup.

Gluten Free Stuffed Crust Pizza

You often ask me what I do with everything I bake. Other than feeding them to my husband and 3 always-hungry children (and my husband’s coworkers), here’s how it goes: When you come to my house, you get fed. Period. I’ve got product to move, and you’re gonna help me. When I go places, I tend to bring boxes of the gluten free treats that are always piling up on my kitchen counter and in my freezer. Every once in a while, someone in a food service business tries some of our fabulous gluten free treats and insists that they should be packaged and sold. I always blush a bit, coyly say no-thank-you (I’d rather develop recipes for you!) and feed them more. But lately I’ve been saying this: if someone wanted to help me make and somehow market my Thick-Crust Gluten Free Pizza from  GFOAS Bakes Bread (recipe now right here  on the blog), I’m all in. I’ll find the time! Because the thin crackers that usually get passed off as gluten free “pizza” are making me  crazy.  This is pizza.  That is not. And after 8 tries (yes really 8!), I can tell you how to successfully stuff the crust. Just like Pizza Hut, except better (!).

The first 7 tries, I had increasing degrees of success stuffing the crust of this gorgeous thick crust gluten free pizza. I submit to you that the problems I had were not unique to gluten free pizza. It’s just kind of hard to get cheese to stay in the crust of your homemade pizza. You can put it in there, but it’s the staying part that’ll get ya.

Well, it finally (finally!) really really stayed. It didn’t explode out the back, and it didn’t just pour into the center. The longer you bake it, the more likely a bit of the cheese in the crust is going to sneak into the center a wee bit. But definitely not all of it.

All you have to do is read the instructions carefully all the way through before you begin, stare at the step by step photos for a minute or so, and then go step by step by step, just like I did.

So what’s the secret to stuffed crust pizza success? The cheese in the crust must be grated cheese. I tried using everything from cheese sticks (no good—big explosions in most places) to chopped and matchstick-style cheese (no good – lots of leaking still) before finally realizing that grated cheese was best. The bits of grated cheese have built-in air pockets which prevent it from building up too much steam in the oven, and the steam build-up is what causes the cheese to exit the crust. The other secret? Rolling the crust thicker in the center and thinner at the edge. That way, the stuffed crust isn’t too thick and the center holds. Take that, Pizza Hut!

Prep time: 20 minutes       Cook time: 12 minutes       Yield: 2 stuffed 12-inch pizzas

Ingredients

1 1/2 recipes Thick-Crust Gluten Free Pizza Dough from page 187 of GFOAS Bakes Bread, reprinted here on the blog (just multiply every ingredient in the recipe, yeast and all, at each stage by 1.5)

1 pound (16 ounces) low-moisture mozzarella cheese, grated

2 tablespoons (28 g) extra-virgin olive oil

About 3/4 cup (6 fluid ounces) gluten free tomato sauce (I used this simple tomato sauce, which I make at least once a week)

Fresh basil, for sprinkling

Directions

• Make the pizza dough according to the recipe instructions and place the dough in the refrigerator in a sealed container. Although the pizza dough recipe instructions indicate that the pizza dough should be placed in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours and up to 5 days, if you prefer, you may make and use this dough on the same day. It will not be as easy to handle, however, but you can work with it. To use the dough the same day it is made, be sure to use water that is the proper temperature. Then, after making the dough, cover it and set it to rise in a warm, draft-free environment to nearly double its size (about 1 hour). After it has risen, place it in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes or until it is chilled. This will make it much easier to handle. Then, continue with the rest of the recipe instructions.

• Shape the pizza dough. Place a pizza stone (or overturned rimmed metal baking sheet) on the bottom rack of your oven and preheat the oven to 400°F. On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough until smoother as directed in these General Shaping Tips. Divide the chilled dough into two equal portions, and roll each into a ball. Sprinkle both lightly with flour, and cover one with a moist tea towel so that it doesn’t dry out. Using well-floured hands and a rolling pin, as necessary, pat and roll out the first piece of dough on a lightly floured surface into a 15-inch round, rotating the dough and flouring it frequently, to prevent sticking, as shown in the gluten free pizza shaping video. To make shaping easier, once you have rolled the dough out into about a 6-inch round, transfer it to a lightly oiled piece of unbleached parchment paper. Continue to roll and pat the dough into a 15-inch round, rolling the dough more thinly as you work from the center of the dough to the edges to create a more stable center and an edge that is easier to roll up and over the ring of cheese you are about to create.

• Stuff the crust and assemble the pizza. Sprinkle about 4 ounces of the grated cheese in a narrow ring close to the edge of the dough, leaving about 1/2-inch clean at the very edge (see the photo). Gently pull the very edge of the dough up and over the ring of cheese all around the round of dough, tucking the very edge of the dough under itself to seal in the dough and using the oiled parchment paper to coax the edge of the dough up and over the cheese. You will have to overlap the dough in places. Gently squeeze the stuffed edge to help seal it. Using a pastry brush, brush the entire surface (including the outside of the stuffed crust) of the pizza round sparingly with the olive oil. Spread an even layer of about half of the tomato sauce on top of the pizza right up to the edge of the stuffed crust.

• Bake the pizza. Place the crust, still on its parchment paper, on the hot pizza stone. Bake until the crust is browned underneath and the cheese is melted (about 12 minutes, but time will vary depending upon how crisp you’d like the crust). As soon as the pizza is removed from the oven, sprinkle it with fresh basil. Allow the pizza to set for a few minutes before slicing and serving. Repeat with the second piece of dough.