Chocolate Chip Biscotti

As Gerdies biscotti is our best friend in the cookie world. Why? It's naturally vary low in fat which means it tastes the same as it did before we had GERD and we don't need to adapt the recipe, and best of all, it's easy! If hard crunchy biscotti isn't your thing you can always make once-baked biscotti, one of my personal favorites.

Chocolate Chip Biscotti With Less Fat from Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunch Melt-in-Your-Mouth Cookies

1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt (optional)
2 large eggs
1/4 cup plus 2 tbs granulated sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 tbs packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup coarsely chipped walnuts
2/3 cup bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips or chunks

Preheat oven to 300°F.

Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl and whisk together thoroughly.

In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs with the sugar and vanilla until well combined. Mix in the flour. Stir in nuts and chocolate chips. The mixture will be think and gooey.

Scrape the batter onto the lined or greased pan in 2 skinny strips 16 to17 inches long and at least 3 inches apart (feel free to play with shapes, it's more fun that way). Use a spatula to even up the strips.

Back for 35 minutes until firm but springy when pressed with your fingers. Set pan on a rack to cool for at least 15 minutes.

Transfer the loaves to a cutting board. Use a sharp serrated knife to slice the loaves in a diagonal into 1/2-inch slices. If your making once-baked biscotti stop here.
 Stand the cookies up on the unlined baking sheet at least 1/2 in apart. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown. Cook biscotti completely before staking and storing. The  flavor develops and cookies become more tender after 2 or 3 days, and biscotti will remain dry and very crunchy after that. May keep in an airtight container for several weeks.

Pumpkin Spice Bread

Happy Halloween Everyone!

I love Halloween, making the costumes (my brother and I always made our costumes instead of buying them), going trick or treating, the parties, the requisite watching of Nightmare Before Christmas, and this year is my first year handing out candy (I haven't been home before). I love it all! However if you have GERD the candy bit can get tricky, instead of treaty. All the literature I've read says you can have hard candy, or gummy candy, or pretty much non chocolate candy. What's the point in candy if it isn't chocolate?!

Well, I don't have a chocolate or a candy option for you yet, but I do have some mighty fine pumpkin bread.

Recipe very sightly adapted from Fat Free Baking. I'll be referring to this book a lot. Most fat free books consider something to be fat free if it has less than 10 G of fat, but this one hardly gets above 1 G. This recipe for example has 0.4 G of fat, that's comfortable of just about everyone!

1 1/3 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup cooked mashed pumpkin (I used canned pumpkin pie filling and omitted the pumpkin pie spice)

1/2 cup apple or orange juice

1/4 cup chopped pecans (optional) (I used walnuts)

Preheat oven for 350° F.

In an electric mixer combine the flour, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and baking powder, and stir to mix well. Add the pumpkin and apple or orange juice, and stir just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Fold in the nuts if desired.

Coat an 8-x-4 inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray. Spread the mixture evenly in the pan, and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or just until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Remove the bread from the oven, and let sit for 10 minutes. Invert the loaf onto a wire rack, turn right side up, and cool before slicing and serving.

GERD Flair Up

Originally posted on September 20th, 2011

Valkyrie is a Guide Dogs for the Blind puppy in training whom I'm currently raising.

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When I got Valkyrie I was so busy with her that I didn't watch what I ate and I have been paying dearly for it this week. I've been trying to avoid gluten, cow dairy, white rice, white sugar (mostly), and as usual excess fat. This is as hard as it sounds, so I've decided I need a plan for the next time this happens. This will include a special folder with recipes that fit those requirements, freezing foods, and finding products that are useful. Two useful products I've found just recently are Gluteno pretzels, a great snack that is gluten and dairy free, and Newman's Own makes cookies that are also gluten and dairy free.

Yesterday and today I've been feeling better so I think I'm getting back to normal.

And as always I've had great support to get through the hard times.

Free cuddles from a sleeping puppy.

Free cuddles from two doggies; that's even better. :P