Are you intimidated by pie, specifically the crust? I think the crust is the scariest part of the pie for many people. But it doesn’t have to be. 

We have a few resources to help you with your pie making skills such as numerous blog posts and , of course, our pie recipe book “For the Love of Pie.”

Today I present you with a recipe that will help you get you comfortable with the crust; Vanilla Apple Galette. To make this you will want our pie crust recipe!

A galette is a rustic, free-form pie. It is also delicious. It’s also a great last minute dessert (for instance if you find out an hour or two before you have to leave for dinner that you’re bringing dessert). I had everything I needed for this recipe in my pantry already. The prep from start to finish was probably 15-20 minutes and that includes making the crust, coring, and slicing the apples. Even arranging them in an appealing way didn’t take too long. ​

​This is a deceptively simple recipe that makes you look like a master baker and will help you get the hang of pie crust. Because the pie is free-form it’s ok to have raggedy edges and cracks around the edge of your crust. There more you make galettes the more you will get the feel of how pie crust works and likes to be handled.

Let us know how your galette turns out!  ​

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It's no secret, we like blueberries here. We have a whole category devoted to them. You can peruse all of our blueberry recipes, which does include a couple blueberry muffin recipes which are delicious! However, I still like to try new recipes every now and again.

On Saturday PH went to Costco. There was no toilet paper there, but there were blueberries. Our daughter loves blueberries so he bought a case. We have a lot of fruit in the house and I didn't want them to go bad, so I decided to make some blueberry muffins. I found this recipe from Paula Deen.

Who isn't a fan of butter?

So, I decided to try the recipe out with the few tweaks below.

1. ​Gluten free flour: as you know by now, PH can't have gluten. It's been about a year or so now since he went off gluten and he feels so much better. My baking hasn't really caught up yet, but I decided to give it the old college try.

So, to make these blueberry muffins gluten free I just swapped out the regular flour for Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Flour with Xanthan Gum. This is my favorite in baking so far. It's a one to one swap, and hardly affects the texture at all!

2. Flax egg:  we have a lot of eggs in the house, but since I'm pregnant I decided to swap out the egg for flax egg. I like being able to have a little taste of the batter when baking, and when there are no eggs I can still test the batter out. For you. To make flax egg take 1 tablespoon flax seed meal and mix with 2.5 tablespoons water. Stir and let sit for a few minutes before adding it to your recipe. You'll need two flax eggs for this one, so just double it.

3. Brown sugar: We ran out of granulated sugar when making this recipe. I just finished out the measurements using brown sugar. I'm not even sorry because I usually like brown sugar better in baking anyway. I feel like it gives my baked goods a nice depth of flavor that you don't get from regular granulated sugar.

4. Almond milk:  Or any other plant based milk you like.  I swap it out in recipes all the time and have never noticed a difference. Honestly, if you wanted to make the recipe totally vegan just swap out the butter for these Earth Balance buttery sticks and you've got yourself a vegan blueberry muffin!

5. Quantity: Paula's recipe says it makes 12 muffins. Don't believe her. My muffin tins were so full and I had to bake them a little longer to get them to cook all the way. I'd say shoot for 18-24. Or do what I had considered doing in the first place and make extra large muffins. They will still have to cook for a few minutes longer than she says. I just had way too much batter for 12 muffins. I don't know what kind of muffin tins she uses, but this recipe definitely makes more than 12.

And that's it! Follow Paula's recipe exactly, or go off of my tweaks to make them gluten free, and vegetarian (with a vegan option) to change it up a little. These muffins were delicious and I'm happy to add them to our blueberry repertoire!

We have two weekends coming up where I think it is very common for people to make cinnamon rolls. This coming weekend is General Conference for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Members all over the world will be watching the our leaders give talks about our Savior Jesus Christ and His restored church. Many of those people will make cinnamon rolls for breakfast as the watch conference.

The weekend after is Easter, and I feel like cinnamon rolls are another common staple.

My mom shared this sprouted wheat cinnamon roll recipe a couple years ago. It is a delicious and healthier option, but since the recipe includes some regular flour, I wanted to try my hand at a completely gluten free option so my husband could partake in the cinnamon roll goodness.

​This recipe is from King Arthur Flour. They also have a detailed blog post to help you make the recipe. I really love their flours, but I'm not going to lie. Due to the flour shortage everyone is experiencing, we only had Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Flour with xanthan gum.

I followed the recipe very closely however, and they still turned out pretty good. My husband said they tasted like store bought ones, and I'll take that for my first try at gluten free cinnamon rolls.

So, if you are in search of a good gluten free recipe, this is a great one to try!

I only made a light glaze to put on mine, because I wasn't going to go to the trouble of making a cream cheese frosting if they didn't turn out good. Now I have to go search for cream cheese before the weekend comes!

A few tips I wanted to share with you:

Have water nearby when shaping the dough to keep it sticking to you.

Use instant yeast. Everything I've read tells me that instant yeast works much better with gluten free flour. My dough still didn't puff up like normal flour would, but it did get fluffy.

I used large muffin tins so they'd still look more like cinnamon rolls when they came out of the oven.

​You can find the recipe at the link above. Happy baking!

This post contains affiliate links. I will be compensated for purchases made through those links at no additional cost to you. All views expressed are my own. Thank you for your support

    What have I been doing while staying at home during this Corona Virus disaster?  Baking and Cooking!  So far I've baked a big batch of Sprouted Wheat Bread, I've made Corned Beef for St. Patrick's Day and an Avocado Key Lime Pie for dessert (twice)!  Since we had corned beef left over, and because I was baking bread, my mind started working and I thought about Bier Rocks.  If you haven't ever heard of them, they are a free form beef hand pie basically.  They usually have beef, cabbage and onions in them.  The dough is a bread dough.  I got to thinking that a Reuben style Bier Rock would be really good, sans the rye bread, but with sprouted wheat bread instead!  So, I tried it and they are delicious! Here is how I did it.

    When I made my sprouted wheat bread dough, I saved one loaf's worth of dough and wrapped it in waxed paper and plastic wrap in the fridge until the next day.  Then, I gathered my ingredients:

Ingredients:

• Bread Dough (I have used frozen white dough for Bier Rocks in the past!  You can use any dough, I used Sprouted Wheat dough this time.)
• Left over Corned Beef with the potatoes, cabbage and whatever else you cook with yours, like carrots or onions.
• Swiss Cheese slices

    Click on the photos below for directions. 

    As you can tell, Bier Rocks are very free form.  But that is okay.  They are easy to hold and eat without a mess, which is one of their beautiful qualities.  They transport well and taste delicious.  

Corned Beef Bier Rocks

    This recipe is a great way to use up your St. Patrick's Day leftovers!  
    If you are like me and don't have little ones at home to care for and home school, how are you filling your time of social distancing?  I have many home projects to get to, so this time alone can be put to good use.  
     Stay healthy everyone!  Wash your hands and don't let these trying times get you down!  Stay busy, check on your loved ones and keep praying!