Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Pumpkin Bread Recipe

Hey there!

As we move into fall and winter, isn't it lovely to have delicious seasonal treats to enjoy? I adore Starbucks at this time of year. . .
I love pumpkins. Pumpkin pie, pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin muffins, jack-o lanterns, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin scented candles, pumpkin colored nail polish and my favorite: pumpkin bread! Playing around with my original recipe, I came up with a gluten-free version.

Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Pumpkin Bread

3 eggs
3 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 30-ounce can pure pumpkin
1 cup oil
1 cup tapioca flour
1 cup potato flour
1 cup sweet rice flour
1 cup rice flour
1 cup teff or sorghum flour
2 1/2 t xanthan Gum
1 t cinnamon
1 t allspice
1 t cloves
1/2 t nutmeg
1 1/2 t salt
4 t gluten-free baking soda
2 cups chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour* two bread pans. Mix together eggs, sugar, pumpkin and oil. Add the cinnamon, allspice, cloves, nutmeg, salt and baking soda and stir in well. Add the flour and nuts, if desired. Bake for 1 hour (watch and test, it might take longer), then cool for at least 20 minutes before slicing.


>Insert trite parting phrase involving crunching leaves and brisk autumn air here<

~Sophia

Christmas-y stuff and Peanut Butter Cookies

Well I just wanted to say that I hope you're having a good December!
It may look like I've turned this blog into a holiday version, but I've decided to blame my lack of blogging on Christmas presents, so after Christmas I'll probably be updating more.

We've been doing Christmas-y stuff at our house. My little sister made some cookies (her first time!):

This are really special cookies. My little sisters are allergic to most foods. There was a point where the only thing they consumed was a medical drink. That was two years ago, they can eat a lot more now, and are adding on foods regularly. However, their diet has been lacking in sweets, and it's been hard for them living with a sister who loves to bake. Said sister has discovered and altered a peanut butter cookie recipe for them, so now they can eat cookies, and even bake them themselves. Here's the recipe:

Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup Peanut Butter
1 cup Sugar
1 Egg
Sugar for rolling (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350*
2. Oil or parchment paper on baking sheets.
3. Combine ingredients.
4. Drop by tablespoon onto baking sheets. (They won't spread; what you see is what you get : ))
5. Bake for 10 minutes. The cookies should be cracked and pale.
6. Cool completely before serving.

The altered recipe to accommodate peanut and egg allergies:

Allergy Cookies

1 cup Sun butter (or other peanut butter substitute. Sun butter is made from sunflower seeds)
1 cup Sugar
1 egg substitute (1 1/2 T oil, 1 1/2 T water, 1 t baking powder)

The follow steps 1-6 on above recipe.


Recently I had an uncontrollable urge to make carrot cake with fresh garden carrots. My mama read that after a frost carrots get a lot sweeter, so this was a great time to harvest them. After bundling up in old (and odd) clothes, we went out to the carrot bed with trowels. It was raining, it was cold and the carrots were frozen into the ground! They were huge carrots too, like store bought carrots, but they were frozen deep into the ground. Luckily we have strong brother who can turn over hunks of earth in a blink of an eye, so he'd turn over chunks and we'd scurry over and grab the carrots and throw the dirty things into a bowl. We originally planned to harvest a few, but after all the trouble we were taking, we decided to take them all out. This little adventure definitely was a cause for cocoa and cake.


I also made some bread with our new baking stone! Baking stones are awesome, they are designed to imitate clay ovens and unless you line your oven with bricks (some people do) then this is the way to go for artisan type bread. Baking stones are the only product I've seen where the directions say: "WARNING: Handle with care. Do not drop. Product may disintegrate with explosive force. "

Anyway, Merry Christmas! Have a lovely Christmas and enjoy your family, enjoy your freedom and enjoy your life. What a wonderful God we have, that He would choose to give His son to us, to let Him die so He could be with us and give life to us forever.
My favorite Christmas song this year is "Merry Christmas, Here's to Many More" by Relient K. My favorite line is "I look towards the East and see a star/ Jesus Christ, it's blessed my life to know just who you are. You are my hope"

So, I still have a lot to do today before Christmas! I need to make gingerbread men, pies and presents. I also need to tidy up around the house and wash my hair.

Blessings to all,

Sophia