Hers And His

Ok, so I told the illustrator I was going to blog gluten free this month for celiac awareness month. Well, I really planned to, but I developed a recipe that I HAVE to share and well, it has gluten in it. So, in an effort to even things out, I will also blog about something with cheese in it. Hence, hers and his...

This recipe came out of making my roll dough, getting a phone call for a meeting that got bumped up by 3 hours and needing to put off baking. I had already baked a loaf of gluten free bread for the illustrator and since I thought the meeting was going to be right before dinner, I was baking bread for sandwiches, which equals an easy meal. I know...I should just buy it, but you know, that's now how I think.

So, I made the roll recipe and stuck it in the fridge for 8 hours. You don't have to do that for this recipe, but it was nice to know that I could make it and walk away!

By this time, it was way past dinner time and well, I wondered what I could do with the dough for breakfast. I DID NOT want to roll dough out for cinnamon rolls, even if the boys thought that was a good idea.

I got to thinking...I've been craving apple danishes (or apple fritters) for years. Yeah, years! So, I wondered it the dough would work like this. This dough is really easy to work with! I actually did not mind using my hands with it and since it bakes up really soft on the inside...it was perfect for apple danishes!

After the 8 hour chill session in the fridge, I made the danishes and then put them in the fridge overnight...

Proofed them in a warm over in the morning and then baked them off! So easy!

I topped them with a little sugar before I baked them, but I also put a little powder sugar glaze on top of some of them too since the boys asked for it.

I am so excited to try different fruits (and chocolate and peanut butter) with this now! Max was naming the flavors he wants me to try next. Seriously, if you're afraid of yeast breads, this it the dough you should play with. Really, it's very forgiving and so easy to use!

Just a side note, I didn't make them as sweet as regular danishes since I knew the kids wanted glaze on them and I don't like super sweet. So, if you want them sweeter, add more sugar or stevia.

Apple Danish
(makes 9)


3 cups white wheat flour

1 TBSP sugar

2 TBSP NuNaturals Baking Blend (or 2 TBSP sugar)

2 1/2 tsp rapid rise yeast (bread machine yeast)

1/4 tsp baking powder***

1/4 tsp salt (you could add a little more, but I am cutting back on salt)

1 cup warm carbonated water (I used seltzer)***

1 TBSP Flax meal mixed with 3 TBSP hot water

1/4 cup Smart Balance Light, melted (coconut oil would be good here too)

3 drops vanilla NuNatural's Stevia (or another TBSP sugar)

Combine the flour though salt in a mixer (or a bowl) and mix to combine. Add the water, smart balance, flax egg and stevia to the flour mixture. Mix in the mixer for 5 minutes, the dough will come together and then eventually get softer. Spray the top with a little oil, cover with a towel and allow to rise (until doubled in size) for an hour or refrigerate for 8 hours. 

1 medium apple shredded or chopped very small in the food processor

15 drops NuNaturals Vanilla Stevia

1 TBSP brown sugar

1 TBSP lemon juice

After the dough has doubled in size, mix the apple, stevia drops, brown sugar and lemon juice together in a bowl. Punch the dough down and knead for a minute. Next flatten it out with your hand to make enough room to put the filling in the center and fold all four sides over it. Now, this will get a little messy and seem wrong, but keep folding the dough over itself until the apple mixture is distributed all over the dough. It will be completely random and some will fall out, but that's ok. Now make 9 clumps of dough. Take each one and rustically fold it in a circle and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. If any of the apples fall out, just place them on the clumps. Remember this can look messy. That's what makes them easy and gives you the little dimples for the glaze. Once all 9 clumps are done, cover them with a towel or plastic wrap and put it in the fridge over night. 

The next morning, heat your oven to 200 degrees and then turn it off. Proof the danishes in the warm over for 15 minutes.  They should have doubled in size again. Now, pull them out of the oven...

3 TBSP almond milk

2 1/4 tsp sugar

Pour a tsp of almond milk over each one to cover the tops and then sprinkle a 1/4 tsp sugar on each danish. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 25 - 30 minutes or until browned on top. Glaze with powder sugar glaze (1 1/2 - 2 cups powder sugar with a couple TBSP water or almond milk) if you like your danishes extra gooey and sweet. 

***The carbonated water and baking powder help give home baked yeast breads an extra lift and chewiness in my opinion. I highly recommend it.

Now, sausage balls! I promised this recipe almost a year ago and never shared it. I am a horrible blogger! These are gluten free, but not dairy free....however, I think Daiya cheddar would work in these. Since I don't eat them, they get the real thing.

I pack these on trips since it's hard to find quick breakfast options when your out. The illustrator likes them hot or cold, so they are handy in the car or when you are working extremely late at night with an unrealistic deadline...which is what he's doing right now.

Since these are specific to the illustrator, he likes them crispy. He loves when the cheese bubbles and gets slightly brown. That's how I used to like cheese, so I completely understand this.

So, when he gets stressed, this is what he asks for...and since I'm here for him, this is what he gets. Oh and I made a huge batch, you can halve it if you want to, but really if you are feeding more than one stressed out illustrator go for the big batch!

Gluten Free Sausage Balls
(makes 60)

2 lbs sausage
1 1/2 cup Bob's Red Mill Pancake Mix
2 TBSP dried onion (not the powder, the shredded)
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
4 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 water

Mix everything together in a large bowl. Honestly, I use my hands since I can't ever seem to get a spoon to mix it. Make 60 balls and bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes (for crispy) on a parchment lined baking sheet. Make sure to not roll the balls too tightly. I use a small cookie scoop, so really I don't roll them in my hands at all.

Now I need to make those danishes gluten free...I have been asked to get to work on that. We shall see how that turns out. I love a good baking challenge though!

***I don't know why the fonts are different sizes in this post...I can't seem to fix them to make them the same. WEIRD!