Cheesy Garlic Breadsticks or Knots!

Do you miss pizza? I remember frequenting a popular pizza restaurant and ordering breadsticks as a side. I loved the crispiness of the crust, it was a bit oily but that also made it the perfect appetizer. I mean I gave no thought to how healthy or unhealthy it was

Breadsticks were also popular when liming (hanging out) with a group of of friends at home or out. It was just the perfect amount of indulgence and it was filling, especially if you could not stop at one!

I've taken my love of breadsticks and made a gluten free and vegan version. Plus it's baked so you can say that it's healthier. This breadstick is also garlicky and cheesy, nutritional yeast adds the cheese flavor. I serve it with a basic tomato marinara sauce, of course you can use whatever you like.

You are free to add different seasonings and you can most certainly shape the breadsticks in whatever way you prefer

Hope you enjoy it, your feedback is always welcome!

Cheesy Garlic Breadsticks

Gluten Free and Vegan Cheesy Garlic Breadstick Recipe

Ingredients

½ cup brown rice flour

¼ cup almond flour

¼ tapioca starch

¼ cup potato starch (not potato flour)

½ tsp xanthan gum

1 tsp instant yeast

2 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

½ tbsp nutritional yeast*

¼ tsp of dried basil**

¼ tsp of dried oregano**

dash of cayenne pepper (to taste)

3 - 5 finely chopped garlic gloves (to taste)

½ –1 tsp tomato paste

1 tbsp olive oil

1/3 cup coconut milk (more if needed)

2 tsp vinegar

tapioca starch for rolling out the breadsticks

*nutritional yeast adds a cheesy flavor

**fresh finely chopped basil and oregano can be used

Making the Dough

Mix together the dry ingredients until properly combined. Add in the chopped garlic and mix again

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients all at once. Mix or knead to form a somewhat smooth dough. The dough should be lightly sticky to the touch but firm and easy to handle.

Cover the mixing bowl or wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and set aside to rest for at least 15 minutes. You can also refrigerate the dough for several hours or overnight. The longer rest period enhances the flavor of the dough.

After the rest period continue to Shaping the Dough

If you used a longer rest time, when ready remove the dough from the fridge and allow it to warm up a bit if it is too stiff to work with. There is no need to let it come to room temperature.

Shaping the Dough

Line a tray (12” x 8” at least) with parchment paper and set aside

Prepare a floured surface to make the bread sticks. Since the dough is not very sticky, it should be fairly easy to work with and you should not need a lot of flour to roll it out. You can moisten your hands with oil or water, or dust your hands with some of the tapioca starch to help you handle the dough.

Pinch off a piece of the dough, leaving the remainder of the dough covered while you work. I use about the equivalent of a packed ¼ cup by volume for each piece. You can use more or less, the final size (and shape) of the bread stick is up to you. On the floured surface roll out the dough to your desired thickness, length or shape. I roll each piece into a noodle 1/4” or so in diameter. I fold the noodle in half to form an elongated C shape, then I “braid” it into a corkscrew to 4” – 5” in length . I have also used this dough to make garlic knots. The dough is delicate so use a light hand. Even if it breaks you can reattach the pieces or simply start over, there is no gluten to overwork. Persistence and practice will “win the day”. Place the bread stick on the baking tray, cover with lightly oiled plastic wrap and continue until all the bread sticks have been made. Set the tray aside to allow the bread sticks to rise a bit.

While the bread sticks are proofing, pre-heat your oven to 425F

When the oven is ready and the bread sticks have puffed up a bit (does not have to double in size), place the tray in the oven.

Bake for 12 minutes. The bread sticks are done when they have browned and have pulled away from the parchment paper (if you shake the tray the bread sticks will move around). You may have to adjust your baking time, depending on the size of your bread sticks.

Remove from the oven, allow to cool on a wire rack. Serve warm. If using the same day and within a couple of hours, you can leave the bread sticks on a low keep warm setting in your oven (200F or less and covered with foil).

Best served the same day, otherwise wrap tightly and store in the freezer for an extended period of time

Baked Cheesy Garlic Knots

Chocolate Chip Pistachio Cookies

I always say one of the easiest things to bake gluten free is cookies. I purposely do not get attached to the idea or need to make the best "... cookie recipe ever".

Take these chocolate chip cookies for example. Chilling the cookie dough overnight or longer improves the flavor. There are also methods designed to improve caramelization and texture. These techniques have merit, but when I want cookies right away simplicity is what I go for (some techniques will not work as intended since these cookies do not contain eggs and dairy butter). At any rate the cookies always taste great, absolutely no one has ever commented about technique. I'm happy to do the extra work whenever I feel inclined.

This recipe falls in the keep it simple category. It's the recipe you need for a quick treat. I've used pistachios here but you can easily use another type of nuts, dried fruit or just more chocolate chips.

Happy Baking!

Chocolate Chip Cookies with Pistachios

Gluten Free and Vegan Chocolate Chip Pistachio Cookie Recipe

Ingredients

(makes 10 – 12 small cookies)

½ cup brown rice flour

¼ cup almond flour

¼ cup potato starch

¼ tsp xanthan gum

1 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

¼ cup coconut palm sugar

1 tbsp coconut oil

¼ cup coconut milk

¼ tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp crushed pistachios

1 oz chocolate chips

Notes

You can use a pre-packaged gluten free flour blend, preferably a “light” blend for cake or pancakes and not a bread mix. Omit the xanthan gum if already in your mix

The coconut palm sugar gives the cookies a nice brown colour and adds a “caramelly” taste to the cookies. You can use regular sugar instead with the following changes to the recipe:

• Sub the baking powder with 1/2 tsp baking soda

• Sub the coconut palm sugar with 3 tbsp brown sugar and 1tbsp white sugar

You can sub the pistachios with any other nut. You can also add more if you wish just adjust the liquid accordingly

Directions

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper

In a mixing bowl add the dry ingredients and stir to combine. Leave out the pistachios and the chocolate chip

Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture. Knead or mix until the dough is slightly sticky but holding together, add a little water or milk at a time if needed. Fold in the pistachios and chocolate chips

Scoop rounds of the dough (about 2 tablespoons in size or as preferred) onto a parchment lined sheet leaving a space between each round. If you find the dough difficult to handle, chill for about 15 minutes before shaping

With wet hands flatten into discs. The cookies do not spread much so flatten to your desired thickness

Chill the tray of cookies in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes

While the tray is in the refrigerator, preheat the oven to 425F

When ready, bake for 8-10 mins until the tops are lightly browned or until the cookies are set

Cool and enjoy! Store in an airtight container on your kitchen counter for up to 5 days (if your kitchen is hot and humid, store in the refrigerator).

Homemade Ravioli (Gluten Free and Vegan)

I really fell in love with pasta as an adult. As a child our pasta dishes were limited to macaroni pie (baked mac & cheese), the occasional lasagna, Chinese styled noodles and spaghetti with meat balls (or meat sauce).

Later on I was introduced to other pasta dishes and even later on I started experimenting with various types of pasta. Pappardelle, gnocchi, cannelloni and ravioli were all somewhat new to me as a young adult.

We also never made homemade pasta. Looking back that seems weird for a family where cooking was a passion and a business.

Fast forward to the present and pasta meals are somewhat of an indulgence for me. I make pasta like comfort food, rich, layered and delicious. I worry less about it being healthy and more about it being satisfying, the kind of satisfying that makes you moan in delight.

This means that sometimes I have to make certain types of pasta from scratch if I want to eat it, like Ravioli. Apart from not being able to readily source it, Ravioli is just better fresh. I can also make whatever filling I fancy.

My recipe here focuses on the ravioli dough. I use quinoa and oat flour because they hold up well when rolling out and when boiling. Qunioa also gives the ravioli a bit of chewiness, which I happen to like. You could also say that using Quinoa and Oat flour makes this ravioli healthier!

I do not use a pasta machine, I roll out the dough with a rolling pin. Once my work surface is liberally dusted with flour I get little trouble making the ravioli.

A word of caution with your filling. Try not to use a chunky filling or a "liquidy" filling. As good as the dough holds up it is still gluten free and also vegan. The dough can tear if handled incorrectly.

All you have to do now is give it a try, enjoy!

Homemade Ravioli

Making Homemade Ravioli

Gluten Free, Vegan Homemade Ravioli Recipe

Ingredients

½ cup oat flour

¼ cup quinoa flour

¼ cup tapioca starch (more for dusting)

¼ tsp salt

½ tsp xanthan gum

½ tsp brown sugar

½ tbsp olive oil

½ cup water

Directions

Make the dough

Combine the dry ingredients

Add the oil and water. Knead or mix to form a firm but not dry dough, adding more water by tablespoon if needed. Once combined use wet hands to press the flour mixture into a rough ball.

Divide the dough into four pieces and knead each to form a ball as smooth as you can make it. Work with oiled or flour dusted hands. Use as much time as needed to work the dough until smooth, you do not have to be worried about overworking the dough. When you are finished with each piece, cover with oiled plastic wrap and set aside for about 30 minutes.

While the dough is resting, prepare your filling of choice and set aside

Roll out the pasta

On a surface sprinkled with tapioca starch carefully roll out the ball into a rectangle about 1/16 – 1/8 inch thickness and 2 ½” width. Keep checking the underside of the dough as you roll out to ensure that it is not sticking to the surface, flip and dust with more flour if needed. Repeat with a second piece of dough (try to roll out the rectangles to about the same size).

Fill the pasta Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil

Using a 2” round biscuit cutter, lightly score circular shapes center and along the length of one rectangle. Drop teaspoonfuls of the filling in the center of each circle. Brush the edges with a little water. Lay the second rectangular sheet over the one with the filling attempting to match up the edges as evenly as possible

Gently smooth out the pasta, working from just around the filling and pushing toward the edges to remove any air bubbles and wrinkles. Use the 2” round biscuit cutter to cut out the ravioli then seal the edges completely

Add ravioli to the boiling water and cook for 5 to 7 minutes or until the ravioli floats to the top. Do not boil too many at once. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain in a colander. If needed you can spread olive oil over the ravioli to prevent them from sticking together

Best served immediately

Notes

The ravioli can be cut into squares or more complex shapes, adjust the width of the rolled out dough and the spacing of the filling accordingly.

The dough can be rolled out between two sheets of plastic wrap. The plastic wrap also helps with handling the sheets of pasta. Use it to pick up and place one sheet of pasta over the other.

To make it easier you can use smaller pieces of dough at a time, just remember to keep unused portions of the dough covered and moist.