Baking Catharsis

I'm still here - in the country, finishing my thesis work.  I have a defense date set and I've been job hunting.  So far so good.  Living here is alternately relaxing and stressful and I've come up with a way to make it less stressful. :)  I've started baking.  Mum, Dad, and the Lil' Sister don't usually eat many sweets, but I seem to need them.  Mum and Dad have subscriptions to 'Food and Wine' 'The Food Network' 'Taste of Home' 'Simple and Delicious'...I've been digging through them to find good sweets to make.  Everything I make has to be gluten free because Mum and Lil' Sister are sensitive to gluten.

So far I've tackled:

Super-Deluxe Rice Crispy Bars - half chocolate and half regular rice crispies with dark chocolate chips.

Chai Cupcakes with a homemade vanilla & spice frosting (Taste of Home recipe) -

Pumpkin Cupcakes with a homemade cream cheese frosting, dusted with ground cinnamon (Taste of Home recipe)-

Pumpkin bars.

Old Fashioned Soft Pumpkin Cookies (verybestbaking.com).

Slow Cooker Apple Pudding Cake (Taste of Home recipe - in the Christmas 2011 book) - so good!  I've made this with and without gluten and it tasted good both times.


Mini Caramel-Apple Cheesecakes (Rachel Ray recipe) - Finicky to make and I had to improvise with the crust because I couldn't use graham crackers.  I also used almonds because we have walnut allergies. (I tried to used pecans, but I burnt them!)

Cinnamon Pumpkin Truffles (Taste of Home recipe).  These did not turn out well.  The middle truffle part was runny and couldn't be rolled.  The only thing I can think of is that the pumpkin was runny, which resulted in a lack of hardening.

Apple Crisp Muffins (Taste of Home recipe) -  I had to do several substitutions and omissions due to allergies or lack of ingredients, but the end result was pretty good.  They make a good fall breakfast treat.

And finally, one I'm especially proud of: Gluten-Free White Bread

I'm proud of this one because I've never been terribly good at making bread.  This dough actually rose and became a properly sized loaf of bread.

To be baked next:
Bones & Blood

Buried Surprise Cupcakes:

Both of these are for a mini Halloween get together.  The cupcakes are especially for Jen's kids. :)