Homemade Pumpkin Pie with Pecan & Walnut Crust and Agave Nectar

I woke up this morning in the mood to bake.  I decided to make homemade pumpkin pie with a gluten free crust made of pecans and walnuts.  I'll start by telling you that although I love to bake, this was my first attempt at a pumpkin pie and I was delighted with the way it turned out!


To begin, you need to make the pie crust.  

Here are the ingredients for the pie crust: 
6 oz. pecans
2 oz. walnuts
3 tbs. softened butter
1 tbs. agave nectar

In a food processor, mix all of the ingredients for the pie crust and pulse until it reaches your desired consistency.  Press down into a 9" pie dish.

After you finish making the crust, preheat the oven to 425 degrees and begin making the pumpkin filling.

Here are the ingredients for the pie filling:
1 can of 100% pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
2 eggs
1 can of evaporated milk
A bit less than 1/2 cup of agave nectar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. cloves

Tip: I used the tsp. of cinnamon and salt but instead of all the other spices,  I used 1 tsp. of Trader Joe's Pumpkin Pie Spice mix.

Combine all of the ingredients for the pie filling in a food processor.

 

Blend the ingredients together and pour into the pie crust.

Bake pie at 425 degrees for 15 minutes then reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for another 45 minutes.  Cool completely and serve.

Yum!

Betty Crocker Gluten Free Brownies

Need a quick dessert to bring to a party or just in the mood for something sweet and chocolatey?  Well, Betty Crocker Gluten Free Brownie Mix might be just the right thing for you.  I am going to a party tonight and need to bring a dessert.  Although I prefer to make something from scratch, today is just too busy to do so.  Instead, I picked up a box of the Betty Crocker Gluten Free Brownie Mix for only $3.99 and decided to give it a whirl!

The instructions on the back of the box were easy, just add 1/4 cup of butter and 2 eggs.  Combine these ingredients with the mix and voila, your brownies are ready to go.  I mixed mine with an electric mixer for about a minute and then did a quick whip around with the spatula.  I then greased the bottom of my pan.  They say you can either use a 8"x8", 9x9", or 11x7" pan.  I would suggest either the 8x8" or the 9x9" pan because to be honest, it did not look like there was enough mix to spread into the larger one.  The 8x8" cooks for 28-31mins., the 9x9" cooks for 26-30 mins., and the 11x7" cooks for 23-26 mins.  Then cool, and enjoy!

To me, these brownies are a bit sweeter than other gluten free brownie mixes but I do like the convenience factor of this product.  Because so many more of my local grocery stores have begun to carry the Betty Crocker Gluten Free foods, and because you only have to add 2 ingredients, I find this mix to be a nice time saver as well.  These brownies do contain chocolate chips so if you prefer plain brownies then I suggest you try a different brand.  These brownies are chewy and sweet and would also taste fantastic if you added nuts.  I would definitely recommend these brownies as a nice, quick, alternative to making them from scratch.

Did you know that Betty Crocker now has four gluten free items in its line of gluten free foods?  They include Brownies, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Yellow Cake, and Devil's Food Cake!  You can get them at most grocery stores or my favorite place to buy gluten free items for less is through Amazon.  Click here to buy the mixes in bulk from Amazon!

Apple Cranberry Pie Recipe

Are you looking for an easy gluten free pie to make for the upcoming holidays?  Well, Trader Joe's has a new gluten free item that looks just fabulous!  It is apple cranberry pie filling and it's only $3.99 per jar.   All you have to do is make a pie crust or, if you have a Whole Foods near you, they have great ready-made frozen gluten-free pie crust.  There are also many other gluten free pie crust mixes made by other brands that would work just fine as well.

However, if you are inclined to make your own crust, here's a fabulous recipe I found on cooking.com.  After deciding on which crust to use, all you have to do is fill the crust with Trader Joe's Apple Cranberry Pie Filling and bake!  Bon Appetit!

INGREDIENTS

1/3 cup brown rice flour

1/3 cup tapioca flour

1/3 cup potato starch

1 tablespoon cornstarch

2 teaspoons sugar

½ teaspoon gluten-free baking powder

1 ½ teaspoon xanthan gum

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup non-hydrogenated shortening or organic unsalted butter

1 large egg

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Sift together rice and tapioca flour, potato and cornstarch, sugar, baking powder, xanthan gum, and salt into a mixing bowl. Cut cold shortening or butter into dry ingredient. Blend with a pastry cutter until butter in incorporated into eh dry ingredients. The dough should hold together when squeezed.  Beat egg with vinegar and mix into dough.  Form dough into a ball with your hands. Add a little tapioca flour if the dough is too sticky.  Roll out the dough between to sheets of wax paper.  The dough should be about 1 1/2 inches larger in diameter than the pie plate.  Peel one sheet of wax paper away from dough. Place pie curst in pan. Remove top sheet of wax paper. Trim excess dough and crimp edges to form a decorative border.  Bake at 350 degrees F. for 10 to 12 minutes. Cool before filling.

 

Lundberg's GF Chips on sale at Raley's

For anyone who has a Raley's grocery store market near them, they have 6 oz. bags of Lundberg's rice chips that are normally $2.39 on sale for $0.99 until November 6th.  They come in various flavors.  At the Raley's near me they had Santa Fe BBQ, Wasabi, Honey Dijon, Pico De Gallo, and Fiesta Lime!  What a deal, go stock up!

Check out P.F. Chang's Gluten Free Menu

Did you know that P.F. Chang's has an extensive gluten free menu?  They have starters, soups, fried rice, sides, entrees, and even dessert that are all gluten free.  They have over 15 gluten free entrees that taste fabulous!  My personal favorite is the Chang's Spicy Chicken.  It is lightly breaded and stir-fried in a sweet sichuan sauce.  Their website even describes it as their version of General Tso's Chicken.  I highly suggest you try it!

The best part is, if you sign up for their email list, you will be sent updates on promotional offers, special discounts, and even new gluten free items that are added to the menu.   For online ordering their promotion codes are often only effective for the email address that the promotion was sent to.  So, I suggest you sign up now!  It will be worth the savings! 

Click here to sign up:
P.F. Chang's Email Sign Up

Snyder's of Hanover Gluten Free Pretzels

On a recent trip to Whole Foods I noticed that the well known pretzel company, Snyder's of Hanover, has started to make gluten free pretzels.  They are fabulous!  After a bit of research, I discovered that they are an extremely new product and are therefore only available in a few stores at this point.  So, check your local natural food store(s) and see if you can find them, you won't be sorry!

About Me

For my first post I found it fitting to tell you a bit about myself.  My name is Alyssa and I am a 34 year old woman who has been living gluten free for the past 8 years.  I live in a small suburb in Northern California with my husband.  I have truly embraced the gluten free lifestyle and my passion has been finding new products and recipes that help me live my best life, gluten free.  

My goal with this blog is to provide a space where I, and all of you, can share everything and anything having to do with living gluten free.  I plan to update you on new products, recipes, restaurants, tools, tips, and any other information needed to live an amazing and fulfilling life, gluten free.