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holiday breakfast ideas

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Hot Cocoa Waffles :: Gluten Free and Dairy Free!

December 6, 2021

The perfect snowy day breakfast! Cozy hot cocoa waffles made gluten and dairy free with all the yummy hot cocoa flavor!

Hot Cocoa Waffles :: Gluten Free and Dairy Free!

The coziest time of the year!

I’m just about the beachiest beach bum that lives in Michigan. I live for our powdery Lake Michigan shoreline in the warm months of the year, but I truly have Michigander kids. They just love the snow, and will play outside in all kinds of weather. Even though we enjoy a lot of snow here, getting school canceled for snow days are pretty few and far between, so when we do, a cozy breakfast is always on the agenda! We haven’t had any really big snows yet this season, but I thought I’d share a fun snow day breakfast since I think it would also be super fun to serve for Christmas morning too!

Hot Cocoa Waffles :: Gluten Free and Dairy Free!

A new spin on a household staple

Our gluten free protein waffles have become a blog favorite, as they are a staple in our weekend breakfast rotation meal plans, as well as make frequent appearances in my Monday #RGNSchoolLunch posts on Instagram in sandwich form! Last winter, I used that recipe to play around with the idea of a chocolate or “hot cocoa waffle,” and the girls had fun eating them on a few snowy mornings. I picked up this adorable snowflake waffle maker a few weeks ago, and just had to show you how to make this easy, festive breakfast for the kids!

Hot Cocoa Waffles :: Gluten Free and Dairy Free!

The Method :: The eggs

Egg separating is key to any fluffy waffle or pancake. For this recipe, you’ll want to separate your eggs, being very careful not to get any part of the yolk into the bowl that has the egg whites. The egg whites will fluff up the best when there is absolutely zero yolk in the bowl. And that fluffy egg white whip is what magically makes these waffles have the most amazing texture.

Hot Cocoa Waffles :: Gluten Free and Dairy Free!

The Method :: Finishing the Waffle Batter

Once your eggs are separated, and the egg whites are whipped until fluffy, you’ll blend the yolk mixture and combine that with the dry ingredients. After that, fold the fluffy egg whites in, and you’re ready to make waffles! When folding the egg whites into the batter, be very gentle so the egg whites don’t deflate – take your time, and it will eventually be combined!

Hot Cocoa Waffles :: Gluten Free and Dairy Free!

The Method :: Cooking the Waffles

This waffle batter will work on any waffle iron. You don’t need a fancy snowflake waffle iron…but if you have a chance to get one, they sure are cute! It’s a fun way to dress up the waffles in a way that doesn’t take any extra time, or junky ingredients! I have found that for these kind of mini waffle makers, about 1/4 cup of batter is just enough to fill up the iron, and not spill over the edges. My regular waffle maker, this ceramic waffle iron, takes about 1/2 cup of batter for reference. Just cook the waffle batter until the edges are crispy, and transfer to a wire rack while you make the rest.

Hot Cocoa Waffles :: Gluten Free and Dairy Free!

What do they taste like? (How “chocolatey” are these?)

I think these hot cocoa waffles have a mild, kid friendly chocolate taste. If you want a richer chocolate flavor, you can double the cocoa powder – I have done this and love it! When you add more cocoa powder, you tend to need to balance that bitter flavor with more sweetner, so I like to pull it down so that I don’t have to sweeten these much. I would say as is, these are pretty kid friendly. If your kids are used to much sweeter foods, you may want to increase the coconut sugar amount or add a few splashes of maple syrup to the batter mix.

Hot Cocoa Waffles :: Gluten Free and Dairy Free!

Topping ideas!

We love to go with the hot cocoa theme and top these waffles with whipped cream topping. I don’t even put the syrup out on these guys! I do tend to take the short cut of using the So Delicious brand Coconut Whipped Cream, but you can make your own whipped cream so easily. Just pour your coconut cream (or regular cream if you tolerate dairy) into a bowl with a splash of maple syrup and blend until fluffy. Whipped cream is one of my tricks to avoiding the inevitable syrup drowning that ends up happening on waffle or pancake day. I also think that a smear of peanut butter or almond butter tastes amazing. Chocolate and peanut butter – what’s not to love?!

Hot Cocoa Waffles :: Gluten Free and Dairy Free!

Freezer friendly?

Absolutely! I have been freezing our original waffle recipe for years, and they are one of my favorite make ahead meals. This hot cocoa spin on the waffle recipe freezes just as well, so go ahead and make them up ahead of time for that holiday brunch, or for the unexpected snow day you might get this February!

Hot Cocoa Waffles :: Gluten Free and Dairy Free!

Let’s talk waffle irons!

I just think the snowflake is so adorable on the snowflake waffle maker, and the size of these mini waffles are so great for little hands. They make really good leftover sandwich breads too! I do have a ceramic waffle iron that is regular sized as well if you are looking for more that size. I have been using that waffle iron for 8 years and it still works great. I like to use this avocado oil spray for the first batch of batter that goes in – I get this at Costco.

Hot Cocoa Waffles :: Gluten Free and Dairy Free!
Print Recipe
5 from 2 votes

Gluten Free Hot Cocoa Waffles

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Separate the eggs into 2 small mixing bowls, being careful to not have any little bit of yolk in the egg whites. If there is anything else in the bowl with the whites, they will not whip fluffy properly. To the egg yolks, add the coconut milk, olive oil, and vanilla extract.
  • Blend the egg whites until fluffy, and then blend the egg yolk mixture until smooth.
  • Put the rest of the ingredients (the dry ingredients) into medium mixing bowl. Add the egg yolk mixture to the dry ingredients, and blend until combined.
  • Gently fold the fluffy, whipped egg whites into the blended batter until just combined – if you over fold/stir, the fluffy egg whites will deflate.
  • Spray your waffle iron with avocado oil spray, and cook according to your waffle iron’s directions. If you are using the “Dash” Mini Snowflake Waffle Iron as pictured above, I have found that about ¼ cup of the batter works perfectly. If you are using a waffle iron like my regularly used, ceramic waffle iron, you’ll use ½ cup of the batter.
  • We like to top our hot cocoa waffles with the So Delicious brand Coconut Whip! There is a coconut whipped topping in a can at Aldi and Trader Joe’s as well. Or you can make your own by whipping coconut cream with maple syrup until fluffy!

Notes

  • You can swap the coconut sugar for maple syrup or honey if you want.
  • The “chocolatey” flavor and sweetness of these waffles is a mild, and kid friendly. If you want a richer chocolate taste, add more cocoa powder. If you need them sweeter, you can add more coconut sugar.
Hot Cocoa Waffles :: Gluten Free and Dairy Free!

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Gluten Free Cranberry Orange Scones

November 21, 2021

These buttery scones have a special cranberry orange twist the whole family will love!

Gluten Free Cranberry Orange Scones

Product links in this post are affiliate links. It does not cost you anything, and helps maintain the free information on this site, as well as answer the questions of “what brand do you use?” Please know I never personally recommend any product I wouldn’t use on my own family.

Holiday season transitions!

And are we ever ready for them! Right around Thanksgiving I get the urge to totally nest in the house and just hibernate for a month! We certainly get outside for as much fresh air as we can, but we also cozy up inside, and enjoy all the traditions of the holidays that we can. Last year we played around with a new cranberry scone recipe for our Christmas brunch, and I just had to share it with you all at the beginning of the holiday season so that you can enjoy it for Thanksgiving day breakfast and also for all of those Christmas brunches!

Gluten Free Cranberry Orange Scones

A classic combination stirred into our household favorite scone recipe

A couple years back, I was able to perfect a fun scone recipe that I lovingly called our FunFetti Birthday scones. Those scones have become quite the household birthday request, and that fall I dressed the scones up for Halloween making a pumpkin scone! This summer, I also used some of our freshly picked summer berries to make a mixed berry scone that was just so much fun. I’m one of those “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” kind of people, and since we love the base scone recipe so much, I decided to make our scones a bit more festive last Christmas brunch with a classic holiday combination – cranberry orange!

Gluten Free Cranberry Orange Scones

The Method :: The Orange “Buttermilk” Mixture (The Wet Ingredients)

You’ll start your scone recipe by whisking up the wet ingredients. Buttermilk has a special way of magically making scones soft but still crispy on the outside, as well as giving them the “fluff” they need without using eggs. We don’t keep milk around here much, so I just make my own “buttermilk” using coconut milk, and it is so easy. Just put a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in a liquid measuring cup, and pour in the coconut milk until you hit the 3/4 cup mark for this recipe. Then you’ll add the juice from an orange or clementine until you hit the 1 cup mark (using 1/4 cup of juice). Whisk this with the vanilla and that is your orange infused buttermilk to fancy up these scones! **Just be sure that you zest your orange or clementines before you juice them! You’ll need the zest later!

Gluten Free Cranberry Orange Scones
(Stir up the wet ingredients)

The Method :: The Dry Ingredients & Cutting the Butter In

Set your liquid ingredients aside and whisk the dry ingredients next, including the orange zest. Then comes the butter part! Keep the butter in the fridge until you are ready to do this step so that it stays cold. Cut the butter into cubes, and use your pastry cutter or hands to incorporate the fat into the flour. It will not get wet yet – you’ll just see pieces of butter chunks through the flour. You’ll notice in the next few pictures, including after rolling the scone dough out that you can see little piece of butter – that is ok!

Gluten Free Cranberry Orange Scones
(Whisk the dry ingredients)
Gluten Free Cranberry Orange Scones
(Cut the butter in)

The Method :: Finishing the Scone Dough & Rolling it Out

Once you cut the butter into the flour, you’ll add the liquid ingredients you stirred up earlier. You’ll get a shaggy dough that you can start with your rubber scraper, and then finish with your hands by kneading. Flour your counter, and form a disk with the dough. You can roll your scone dough out to 1-2 inches high depending on how high you want your scones to be. Use your hands to form around the outside to make a circle.

Gluten Free Cranberry Orange Scones
(Add the wet ingredients and stir to combine)
Gluten Free Cranberry Orange Scones
(Knead, and then roll out the scone dough)

The Method :: Cutting the Scone Pieces

I like to use a pizza wheel to get the pieces evenly cut, but a knife works just fine here too. I do think a knife might make cutting through the dried cranberries a little tricky and might pull some of them out of position – the pizza cutter rolls right through. Place your scones onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet and you are ready to bake.

Gluten Free Cranberry Orange Scones
(Cut the scones)

The Method :: Baking the Scones

Once you cut your scones, you have a couple options. You can freeze the scone dough here if you are making this in advance. This is the perfect task to get done ahead of time before a holiday brunch or party! Or you can bake them right then! Just a half hour in the oven – keep an eye on them around 20 minutes in case our ovens run differently. You want a golden crust on the outside.

Gluten Free Cranberry Orange Scones

The Method :: The Orange Glaze

Let the cranberry orange scones cool completely before drizzling the glaze. That way it won’t melt into the scones, and instead it will create a fun, hardened glaze drizzle on the top. Whisk the juice from the orange and the powdered sugar to get the consistency you want, and then drizzle. It will take about 20 minutes for the glaze to harden.

Gluten Free Cranberry Orange Scones
Gluten Free Cranberry Orange Scones

Can I make these without butter?

Yes my friends! While butter is obviously incredible (!!), I do know that some friends can’t have the dairy. I have used cold palm shortening before without any issues. I do like to add a pinch more of salt to the dry ingredients when I use the palm shortening since I usually use salted butter for my scones.

Gluten Free Cranberry Orange Scones

Can I use fresh cranberries?

Absolutely! I use dried cranberries because fresh are quite a bit more tart, and the base scone recipe doesn’t have a lot of “sweet” to it. I think if you plan to use fresh cranberries, you might want to bump the sugar up a little in the dough, but if you really enjoy that tart punch, go for it!

Gluten Free Cranberry Orange Scones

Tips for serving at a Christmas Brunch & Freezing Instructions

Hosting a holiday brunch can feel like a lot of steps. But with something like a scone, you really can make a lot ahead of time, and knock one recipe off the list early! The scone dough can be frozen ahead of time. Like weeks in advance even! Just make the recipe to the point where you cut the scones out, and freeze flat on a sheet tray. Then take the frozen triangles and pop them into a freezer bag until you need them. You also can bake the scones and freeze them that way – they do thaw really nicely and still taste good. If you plan to make the scones and not freeze them, you can store them up to 2 days before serving by storing in an air tight container.

Gluten Free Cranberry Orange Scones
Gluten Free Cranberry Orange Scones
Print Recipe
5 from 1 vote

Gluten Free Cranberry Orange Scones

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup buttermilk or coconut buttermilk to make 3/4 cup of buttermilk, put 1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar in a liquid measuring cup, and fill with full fat milk or coconut milk to the 1 cup line. Stir together and let it sit while you get the rest of the ingredients together
  • 1/4 cup juice from orange or clementine be sure you zest first before juicing to use the zest for a later step
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3 cups Namaste GF Flour Blend fluff the flour before measuring so it isn’t packed down
  • ¼ cup organic pure cane sugar plus a little more for sprinkling the tops of the scones if you wish
  • 2 tsp aluminum free baking powder
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 1 tbsp zest from an orange or clementines this is the zest from 1/2 orange or 2 clementines
  • 8 oz cold butter 2 sticks, cut into cubes
  • 3/4 cup dried cranberries
  • 1/3 cup organic powdered sugar
  • 2-3 tsp juice from an orange or clementine

Instructions

  • Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • Make your buttermilk in a liquid measuring cup first if you don’t have store-bought buttermilk. To the butter milk add 1/4 cup juice from an orange, and the vanilla, and stir to combine. Set this aside for later.
  • In a large mixing bowl, whisk the flour, cane sugar, baking powder, sea salt, and orange zest
  • Use a pastry cutter or your hands to cut the cold butter into the flour. You want to still be able to see small pieces of butter throughout. See the picture above for reference.
  • Stir the dried cranberries into the flour/butter mixture, and then pour the buttermilk/orange/vanilla mixture into the flour/butter/cranberry mixture. Use a rubber scraper to mix. I use the rubber scraper to start, and finish with my hands gently.
  • Flour your counter, turn the dough out onto the floured surface, and gently make a disk with your hands. You can use a rolling pin to gently roll the dough to about 1-2 inches thick, and then use your hands again to shape the disk into a perfect circle.
  • Cut the disk into eighths, and place the triangles onto the parchment paper lined baking sheet. Brush the tops of the scones with a light coating of milk or coconut milk, and sprinkle with a little sugar if you wish.
  • Bake the scones at 375 degrees for 30 minutes until the edges are golden. Cool the scones completely before icing.
  • To make the icing, whisk the powdered sugar and orange juice in a small dish and drizzle over the tops of the cooled scones. The icing will dry and harden within about 20 minutes.

Notes

  • The scones freeze very well! Just cool completely, put the icing on and let it harden, and then freeze them in freezer bags.
Gluten Free Cranberry Orange Scones

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Gluten Free Pumpkin Scones with Brown Sugar Glaze

October 21, 2020

The most perfect buttery scones swirled with sweet pumpkin and warm fall spices!

Gluten Free Pumpkin Scones with Brown Sugar Glaze

Product links in this post are affiliate links. It does not cost you anything, and helps maintain the free information on this site, as well as answer the questions of “what brand do you use?” Please know I never personally recommend any product I wouldn’t use on my own family.

Fall fun, and a new pumpkin breakfast treat!

We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect fall weekend for picking out pumpkins for Halloween! Pretty blue skies, and even a little warmth to the sun had my little Michigander kiddos peeling off their coats despite the crisp 50 degree air! The hayride was filled with anticipation, and when their eyes saw caught a glimpse of the pumpkin patch, you would have thought it was Christmas morning. These fields were packed! The girls will be working on carving their Halloween pumpkins this weekend, so I decided to work on a fun pumpkin scone recipe for them to savor this fun season!

Gluten Free Pumpkin Scones with Brown Sugar Glaze

A birthday treat favorite with a fall twist!

Last spring we created what has become our household birthday breakfast tradition in these Funfetti Birthday Scones. I had a feeling I could use that recipe for just about any scone flavor, so this summer I played around with various summer berries with some successes that I’ll probably share next summer! I fell in love with the warm spices of pumpkin pie in these scones, and they are going to be so perfect for Halloween morning and Thanksgiving brunch!

Gluten Free Pumpkin Scones with Brown Sugar Glaze

The Method :: The Pumpkin Scone Dough

I promise this scone batter is easy to work with and fuss free. Scones used to intimidate me because I’ve had numerous overly dry scones in my life! While the crispy, almost crunchy outside of a scone is a staple texture, one that falls apart in a crumble is not my idea of a great breakfast treat! These scones will gift you with a crispy outside and a super buttery, flaky inside – just perfect with your cup of coffee (or your favorite pumpkin spice latte!). Simply use a fork or pastry cutter to break up the butter into the dry ingredients, and then mix in the wet ingredients until a dough of cookie batter texture forms.

Gluten Free Pumpkin Scones with Brown Sugar Glaze

The Method :: Rolling & Cutting the Pumpkin Scone Dough

Once you’ve kneaded your pumpkin scone dough, you can flour your rolling surface and create a disk. Roll your disk out to about 1 inch or so, and then make sure the edges are smooth using your hands to form it into a perfect circle. I like to use my pizza wheel to cut the disk into eighths.

Gluten Free Pumpkin Scones with Brown Sugar Glaze
Gluten Free Pumpkin Scones with Brown Sugar Glaze

The Method :: Baking the Scones

Before you bake off your scones, you can sprinkle the tops with a bit of sugar if you are feeling sassy enough 🙂 You’ll want to completely cool your scones before moving on to the fun part – the brown sugar glaze!

Gluten Free Pumpkin Scones with Brown Sugar Glaze

The Method :: The Brown Sugar Glaze

Once the scones have cooled, you’ll whisk the glaze ingredients in a small dish and then let the kids have at it with the drizzle! It doesn’t have to be perfect and they will feel so proud to make their own swirly glaze designs!

Gluten Free Pumpkin Scones with Brown Sugar Glaze

How mild is the pumpkin pie spice?

Your home is going smell amazing while these scones are baking! If you love the aroma of pumpkin pie, you will be wanting to bake these off every weekend! I felt like the pumpkin pie spice flavor was very mild – in fact my non-pumpkin anything husband tried a slice of the scone and really liked it. That said you could swap the pumpkin pie spice for cinnamon if you think that might go over better.

Gluten Free Pumpkin Scones with Brown Sugar Glaze

Tips and swaps for the Brown Sugar Glaze

While we simply adore the dark brown sugar flavor that a full teaspoon of molasses gives, I understand that some may find that strong. If you prefer a milder, light brown sugar taste, just use half of a teaspoon. I also think that the glaze would be amazing as a Cinnamon Glaze! Leave the molasses out and sprinkle in some cinnamon if you think your crew would love that! The glaze drizzles so nicely and then will harden on the scone within about 20 minutes.

Gluten Free Pumpkin Scones with Brown Sugar Glaze

Freezer Friendly

Scones freeze so nicely! You can either freeze the scone dough, or you can bake the scones off and freeze them that way. I prefer to freeze them without the glaze, and then just glaze them when they thaw out, but you could glaze and freeze. This makes for a very nice make ahead breakfast or brunch idea for Thanksgiving – make the scones days in advance for your company, and you won’t have to bake them on Thanksgiving morning!

Gluten Free Pumpkin Scones with Brown Sugar Glaze
Print Recipe
5 from 1 vote

Gluten Free Pumpkin Scones with Brown Sugar Glaze

Ingredients

For the Pumpkin Scones:

For the Brown Sugar Glaze:

Instructions

  • Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • Whisk the coconut milk, pumpkin puree, molasses, vanilla, and vinegar until smooth. I use my 2 cup Pyrex liquid measuring cup so that I can just measure the coconut milk and pumpkin right in the cup, add the molasses and vinegar, and whisk. Set this mixture aside.
  • In a large mixing bowl, whisk the flour, cane sugar, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, and sea salt.
  • Use a pastry cutter or a fork to cut the cold butter into the flour. You want to still be able to see small pieces of butter throughout.
  • Pour the coconut milk/pumpkin mixture into the flour/butter mixture and use a rubber scraper to mix. I use the rubber scraper to start, and finish with my hands.
  • Flour your counter, and knead the dough a few times. Make a disk with your hands, roll the dough to about 1 inch thick, and then use your hands again to shape the disk into a perfect circle.
  • Cut the disk into eighths, and place the triangles onto the parchment paper lined baking sheet. (At this point, you can brush the tops of the scones with a light coating of milk or coconut milk, and sprinkle with a little sugar if you wish.)
  • Bake the scones at 375 degrees for 30 minutes until the edges are golden. Cool the scones completely before drizzling the glaze on top.
  • To make the brown sugar glaze, whisk the powdered sugar, molasses, and milk in a small dish and drizzle over the tops of the cooled scones. The glaze will dry and harden within about 20 minutes.
Gluten Free Pumpkin Scones with Brown Sugar Glaze

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