This week’s blog has been my favorite to date—on the film and baking side. It was 100% what I needed in this crazy time. If you have some flour and eggs lying around, you MUST try the local fare recipe below. It took a bit of time to make, but it’s not like there’s much else going on right now …. 😆
Local Fare
People, this next recipe was a game changer for me and I can’t recommend it enough—especially if you’ve gone gluten and dairy free and have desperately missed the crispy, sweet, egginess of French toast. Kaiserschmarrn is an Austrian shredded pancake dessert, and you need it in your life.
DW: Yes, yes, you most certainly do.
LW: I made a number of substitutions, in part because I had to work with what we had. So here they are:
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LIZ’S CHANGES
Earth Balance vegan butter, one for one replacement
Pamela’s Gluten-free All-Purpose Flour, one for one replacement
Ripple pea protein milk, one for one replacement for regular milk
Dried cranberries soaked in cognac … because we had no raisins or rum
We have a new flour on the blog! It’s been hard to find gluten-free flour at the store and I was nearly out, so I took some serious action to solve the problem. I ordered a 4 lb. bag of Pamela’s All-Purpose Flour from Thrive Market to give it a shot (and ordered 6 lbs. of my go-to gluten-free flour from King Arthur…I may have over-solved the problem).
DW: A risky culinary move forced upon us by circumstances out of our control!
LW: I couldn’t tell any difference in the flour, it worked just as well as King Arthur. This obviously means we’ll need to hold another cookie competition for a side by side comparison!
This was an easy recipe to switch out ingredients and it did not taste like it was gluten or dairy free. It was deliciously sweet and didn’t need anything other than a light dusting of powdered sugar. It is traditionally served with apple sauce, but I forgot. Perhaps next time I’ll remember! One thing’s for sure: I’ll be making this recipe again.
I’ll also note the recipe says it serves four, but I take issue with that.
DW: That’s nonsense!
LW: It served 2.5 Whelans. Honestly, I could have eaten the entire pan myself, because it was that amazing.
Liz-friendly fare
There’s one thing I haven’t really explored since I switched to a gluten and dairy free lifestyle: chocolate chip cookies. I’m not 100% sure why. But now I want to try until I find the perfect recipe, so be prepared for a lot of cookies until I do. (I ordered a ridiculous amount of Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips in preparation too. No regrets about this decision!)
DW: During these difficult times, we find ourselves in strange situations. Some hoard toilet paper or disinfecting wipes. At Sprockets of Fire, it’s chocolate chips.
LW: My definition of the perfect chocolate chip cookie is one that is crisp on the edges, maybe a little bit soft in the center, and has the caramel undertones you get from brown sugar. I chose the crispy chocolate chip cookie recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction to try out first.
The color differences are odd, right? The lighter cookies were not refrigerated and were baked for nine minutes, while the darker cookies were refrigerated for 10–15 minutes and then baked for eight or nine minutes. The darker cookies were much more caramelized in flavor and a bit crisper.
Here are the replacements I made:
LIZ’S CHANGES
Earth Balance vegan butter, one for one replacement
King Arthur’s Gluten-free Flour, one for one replacement
Califia Farms Unsweetened Oat Creamer, one for one replacement for milk
So did I find the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe on the first try? Nope. While the later batches were more crisp than the first, none of them had that crunchy edge I was hoping to find. They also softened as the week passed. They did taste great and disappeared quickly, as cookies do in this house! But I’ll have to find another recipe to try in two weeks. I am not complaining about that. 😊
