Well the first night of passover is upon us and even though matzo isn’t the best stuff on earth, I was a little bummed I wouldn’t be able to have any this year. I searched the internet to see if there was a gluten-free matzo though I knew matzo had to be made from 1 of 5 grains so I wasn’t sure there would be any options. Low and behold Gluten Free Oat Matzo! Oat may not be suitable for all wheat allergy or celiac sufferers but it is specially made without any cross contamination of wheat! Yay.

It looks a little funny, and smells ever funnier but it tastes okay. It kinda reminds me of oatmeal, but the oatmeal you eat on a diet. No milk, no sugar, no banana or strawberry flavoring. Just oaty. Butter makes it better. I made it in Matzo Brittle, i.e. I covered it in caramel and chocolate. It’s delicious! That recipe will be provided in a few days .

Oh the box will set you back about $25. Not sure if it’s worth it but the Jew in me said to not be frugal when it comes to Matzo so I bought it.

I got some muffin and scone mix today from whole foods, by a company called Gluten-Free Pantry. I am still learning about this gluten-free thing but baking is one of my most favorite pastimes. I wasn’t sure when I got this mix what it would be like, but thought I would give it a go .

The box of mix was about $4. I also bought some baking chocolate chips to add in. You can add whatever you want into the mix (raisins, nuts or nothing at all).

Ingredients and baking directions:

Entire bag of Muffin and Scone Mix
6 Tbs. softened butter
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 tsp. gluten-free vanilla extract
1 cup milk* (I used nonfat)
1/4 bag chocolate chips or fruit/nuts of choice

*You can make this lactose-free as well by replacing the butter with vegetable oil and fruit juice in place of the milk.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tins with muffin papers. Beat together eggs, butter, and vanilla. Stir in mix and milk. Fold in desired fruits, nuts or chocolate chips. Spoon batter into muffin cups and bake for 16-20 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Turn onto rack. Cool completely.

Verdict: Amazingly delicious, very moist (here I go again with that word), the chocolate chips melted beautifully and the cake tasted like any other cake. Hubs said he would have never know the difference! A+ and a gold star for allowing me the ability to bake!!!

In addition to the Lasagna recipe below, we also made garlic “bread” to complete our Italian meal! I am almost sure any real Italian would throw rocks at us for what we did to said Italian cuisine but I am trying new things here, so throw away!

Ingrediants:
Gluten-Free Pizza Dough (follow directions on the package to mix and form pizza dough)
Butter
Minced Garlic

Roll out the pizza dough and bake until slightly crispy for about 10 minutes (we forgot to do this part first, and I think it’s why our garlic “bread’ ended up the way it did). Remove from over and slather with butter and garlic. Bake again until outer edges of crust are golden brown and dough is totally crisp to the touch.

Verdict: It smelled and looked really amazing. The outer edges that cooked all the way through were yummy. The inside however. Have you ever had a mochi ball? You usually can get them as a topping for frozen yogurt. Yea. They are smushy little rice candies. Let’s just say that our garlic “bread” could have easily been mistaken for garlic mochi’s, which unless accompanied with garlic ice cream at “The Stinking Rose” is a FAIL! F for gluten-free garlic “bread.” You need a lot of work to get your grade up!