Hectic and Crazy Monday

I had plans. Big plans. Plans that involved homemade bagels and biscuits... 

Unfortunately my day has been spent sitting on the phone with tech support with a rep from the homeschool curriculum we use, and ultimately the problem is still not fixed.... I'm waiting for a call back because apparently I am the queen of unbelievably rare problems. 

Long live the queen!!

Wait.  I don't think I mean that. 

There was also a far too significant amount of time spent trying to place an online order using Kohls' cash....holy cow was this difficult!  I know it seems like something any reasonably sane person should be able to do, but I think I have serious online issues. I mean, really. 

So after getting charged 3 (yeah 3!) for the same item and an assortment of other issues I decided I am done with the evil empire that is Kohls. You know, until they have a good sale or something. Because I may have a small addiction. And, lets face it.... they have some good sales... so it's totally justifiable, right?  Right???

And here is the kicker. I was stumped on a forth grade math problem. Now I know math is NOT my strong suit. But it's forth grade. I spent an hour trying to figure out 1 stinking problem with my daughter. All I can say though that it only took 60 minutes and we kicked that problem's butt. Or solved it. Whatever. 

So the point of this vent/ramble is to say that sometimes things don't work out and that's okay. I don't have freshly made gluten free bagels but I do have a big pot of chili simmering with beans not from a can for dinner. And that's just fine. 

I haven't done this in a while.  You know the whole blog thing.  I'm not really sure why, I actually enjoy the whole process.... most of the time anyways.  So when I decided that enough was enough, that my health and my families health, needed to improve I decided, "Why not chronicle the whole thing on the internet."  I mean really, what could go wrong with that plan?

Don't answer that.

So post one, on my "eating better" journey involves doughnuts......  Wait, what?

I know what you're thinking.  I mean, doughnuts don't exactly scream healthy.  And honestly these doughnuts still have fat, and sugar, and lots of delicious goodness going on.  But.  (Yes there's a but).  They are made with 100% real ingredients.  No chemicals that you can't pronounce.  No crazy ingredients.  All real food.  And that is my goal.  Eating real food and finding delicious alternatives to all the store bought chemical laden items that seem to find a way into just about every cupboard in America.

As a side note, 2 of us in my family have Celiac Disease, so everything you see here will also be gluten free.  But I try really hard to make sure all the gluten free food I make could pass for it's gluteny counterpart.

So onto the doughnuts!

Oh yes... the doughnuts.  Doesn't that just make your mouth water?  I mean... come on!  Look at that thing!

So the recipe:

3/4 cup rice flour (I used white just because I had it on hand, brown is fine too)

1/4 cup almond meal

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup melted coconut oil

3/4 cup potato starch

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

6 tablespoons applesauce

1/2 cup hot water

1/4 cup vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

Heat your oven to 325.  Grease a doughnut pan with cooking spray.  This made enough for 18 doughnuts, although the size of the pan may affect the outcome.  I only had 1 pan... so I baked in batches.

Stir together the flours, sugar, potato starch, xanthan, baking powder, and baking soda.  Add in all the rest of the ingredients and stir until combined.  This dough is wetter than you would imagine doughnut batter to be.  Don't worry it cooks up beautifully.

Put 3 tablespoons of batter in each doughnut mold.  Bake 12-15 minutes or until they no longer look wet and are cooked through.  Cool completely before removing from the pan.  I was in a hurry so I put the pan in the freezer so they would cool faster and it worked well.

Glaze, ice, roll in cinnamon and sugar, or dip in chocolate as I did here.

These were amazing.  My little girl hardly ever gets doughnuts, because gluten free doughnuts are hard to find.  She LOVED these.  I put all the extra into the freezer for later.  She is in heaven.  Even my gluten eating husband thought these were terrific.

Let me know if you give them a try.  You won't be disappointed!