What's baking for the holidays

Pies (Special Order only, sold in stores only)

For those of you have requested pie shells, we will be carrying them in the stores.

9" Chocolate Pecan Pie: $14.50 (see picture on prior post)
9" Dutch Apple Streusel Pie: $14.50 (pictured, egg-free)
9" Pumpkin Mousse Pie: $14.50
9" Pie Shell: $4.95

Customer service: 847.520.0068 ext 4.
Monday-Saturday: 7 am to 5:30 pm
Sunday: 7 am to 2 pm

Chocolate Pecan Pie: Pecan halves, dark chocolate (sugar, chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, vanilla), brown sugar, heavy cream, eggs, butter, vanilla.Contains: eggs, milk, nuts.
Apple Pie: Apples, streusel (brown sugar, butter, certified gluten-free oats, brown rice flour, coconut flour, cinnamon), organic evaporated cane juice, tapioca starch, butter, lemon puree.
Pumpkin Pie: Pumpkin puree, brown sugar, maple syrup, heavy cream, eggs, water, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, allspice, salt, brown rice flour, tapioca starch.Contains: eggs, milk.
Pie Crust: Butter, cream cheese, brown rice flour, potato starch, coconut flour, rice flour, quinoa, xanthum gum, salt. Contains: milk.

Bread, Rolls, Stuffing Cubes (see picture on prior posts)

1-lb Stuffing Cubes: $8.95
3-pack Rice Bran Artisan Rolls: $4.95
2-pack Mini Baguette: $3.95

Ingredients: Water, tapioca starch potato starch, brown rice flour, rice bran, yeast, Sucanat, sea salt, coconut flour, xanthum gum.

GIFT IDEAS

Decorated Sugar Cookies, $2.49 each (see picture on prior post)
A 2-oz sugar cookie decorated with natural colors and no corn syrup!

Ingredients: Organic evaporated cane juice, brown rice flour, unsalted butter, potato starch, eggs, rice flour, almond flour, coconut flour, vanilla extract, xanthum gum, baking powder, seas salt. Contains: eggs, nuts. Icing: Powdered sugar, water, natural color.

Holiday Express, 14 1-oz cookies $12.95 (pictured)
We took our Triple Chips cookie base made with protein-rich quinoa and added dried cranberries, white chocolate and walnuts to create a holiday cookie. There are 14 cookies to a package.

Ingredients: Unsalted butter, brown sugar, quinoa, dried cranberries, walnuts, white chocolate, brown rice flour, eggs, egg whites, organic evaporated cane juice, potato starch, coconut flour, tapioca tarch, honey, vanilla, extract, xanthum gum, baking soda, baking powder, sea salt. Contains: eggs, milk, nuts.

Glazed Cranberry Orange Tea Bread, $7.95 (pictured) Baked in its own mold and finished with a glaze and a ribbon, this bread makes a great gift. Organic cranberries and oranges make a festive combination with just the right amount of sweetness.

Ingredients: Unsalted butter, organic evaporated cane juice, brown rice flour, sour cream, organic cranberries, water, eggs, rice flour, tapioca starch, orange puree, potato starch, quinoa, vanilla extract, sea salt, baking powder, xanthum gum. Glaze: powdered sugar, water, orange puree. Contains: Eggs, milk.

Christmas gluten-free chocolate cakes

Stacey, head baker, has created two Christmas cake designs for your holiday celebration: the Wreath cake and the Poinsietta cake.

To order, call customer service at 847.520.0068 x 4.

• 6”, 3-layer, 2 fillings, $20.95 (serves 4-8)
• 10”, 2-layer, 1 filling, $34.95 (serves 9-13)
• Quarter sheet, 2-layer, 1 filling, $39.95 (serves 14-24
• Half sheet, 2-layer, 1 filling, $69.95 (serves 27-47
• Full sheet, 2-layer, 1 filling, $117.95 (serves 54-94)

Order Monday....Pick-up Thursday
Order Tuesday....Pick-up Friday
Order Wednesday....Pick-up Saturday
Order Thursday....Pick-up Sunday
Order Friday....Pick-up Tuesday
Order Saturday....Pick-up Tuesday
Order Sunday....Pick-up Wednesday

Amazing Chocolate Pecan Pie

When Kurt and I were in Ireland in September biking the Dingle peninsula, we stopped at a gas station/convenience store. Smack in front of the door was a rack of Green & Black's chocolate bars and a special: buy two very large bars of dark chocolate and get a discount on their chocolate cookbook. At a gas station. Sold! Luckily I always travel with panniers on my bike. I love Ireland.

I adapted this recipe to gluten-free and changed a few ingredients in the pie filling. It's super simple to make and terrific to eat.

Chocolate Pecan Pie
makes one 9" pie

1 Deerfields gluten-free pie crust

Blind bake chilled pie crust at 350 degrees for 7 minutes. Let cool.

Filling

10 oz premium dark chocolate, minimum 60% cocoa solids, chopped
2 oz butter, melted and cooled
8 oz (1 1/2 cups) brown sugar
9 oz heavy cream
3 large eggs, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
12 oz pecan halves, roughly chopped in half again

Melt chocolate over a double boiler of barely simmering water. Mix together brown sugar, heavy cream, eggs, butter and vanilla. Stir in melted chocolate. Add pecans. Pour into the par baked pie shell. Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes. Check pie crust at 30 minutes and cover with foil if browning too much.

We'll be offering this Chocolate Pecan Pie for the holidays (special order only). Call customer service at 847.520.0068 ext 4 to reserve your pie. For home bakers, Deerfield, Buffalo Grove and Schaumburg stores will be carrying frozen gluten-free pie shells.

Wow your family and guests. Serve them pie. This pie.

Deerfields gluten-free flour mix makes yummy decorated sugar cookies

Stacey, our new head baker at Deerfields Gluten Free, has been busy creating and decorating gluten-free sugar cookies for the holidays. We use only natural colors to decorate and there is no corn syrup in our icing. We package these cookies individually and sell them for $2.49 ea.

For those of you who want to bake at home, we created a gluten-free flour mix to make sugar cookies and it's a snap -- no rolling out dough required. If you want to roll out the dough for cut-outs, flatten the dough into a disk, wrap and chill. Roll out dough between plastic wrap.

What you'll need on hand is 3 eggs, 2 tsp. vanilla, 8 oz of butter or non-dairy substitute like Earth Balance, and 2 cups of sugar (we use organic sugar). Add one bag of "Quick Mix," Deerfields' gluten-free flour mix. Use an ice-cream scoop to portion out the dough and flatten with a 3" diameter glass or object (dip in sugar to avoid sticking). Pop them in a 350 degree oven for 12-15 minutes. Yield: 23 2-oz cookies. Let cool and decorate with a powdered sugar icing (powdered sugar, water, natural color and, if you like, vanilla, lemon or orange extract). Cookies freeze well. Note: Flour mix contains almond meal.

Here's what one of our customers, Bonnie, said about Quick Mix:

I finally got around to making gluten-free sugar button cookies this weekend. I used your flour mix, and they turned out wonderful! I have been trying without success for three years to make a good sugar cookie and couldn't believe how good yours turned out! I followed your directions precisely with chilling and using a glass to push down the dough. The only thing I did extra was use a smaller glass to cut off the rough edges of raw cookie dough. They're all packed in my freezer ready for Thanksgiving and XMAS and frosting. I know my daughter and Granddaughter will be thrilled to not only have the gluten-free apple pie but cookies as well! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Our Quick Mix sells for $4.95 and is online at www.DeerfieldsGlutenFree.com.

BTW, in mid-October, I was on Chicago's WGN Lunch Break segment showcasing Deerfields' Quick Mix to make decorated pumpkin cookies. It was my television debut. Watch the clip here.

Thanksgiving Menu at Deerfields Gluten-Free!

Gluten-free Thanksgiving Made Easy!
Stuffing cubes, mini baguettes, artisan rolls, and pies will make your Thanksgiving Day a breeze and everyone can enjoy! We have pecan pie, Dutch apple streusel and pumpkin pie. Please order by Thursday, November 20th by calling 847.520.0068 x 2.


Yummy Holiday Pies
Our pecan pie is made without corn syrup. Our apple pie is loaded with apples and topped with a streusel made with certified gluten-free oats. Our pumpkin pie is nicely spiced and not too sweet. Our pie tasters (with wheat-eating taste buds) gave these pies two thumbs up. They especially loved the pie crust.

9" Pecan Pie: $18.50
9" Dutch Apple Streusel Pie: $14.50
9" Pumpkin Pie: $14.50


Bread, Rolls, Stuffing Cubes
Most stuffing cubes are 14 oz; ours are 1-lb and make enough stuffing to feed 8-10 people at least!

1-lb Stuffing Cubes: $8.95
3-pack Rice Bran Artisan Rolls: $4.95
2-pack Mini Baguette: $3.95

Ingredients:

Pecan Pie: Pecans, organic evaporated cane juice, brown sugar, butter, eggs, water, vanilla.

Apple Pie: Apples, streusel (brown sugar, butter, certified gluten-free oats, brown rice flour, coconut flour, cinnamon) sugar, tapioca starch, butter, lemon puree.

Pumpkin Pie: Pumpkin puree, brown sugar, maple syrup, heavy cream, eggs, water, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, allspice, salt, brown rice flour, tapioca starch.

Pie Crust: Butter, cream cheese, brown rice flour, potato starch, coconut flour, rice flour, quinoa, xanthum gum, salt.

Non-dairy Rolls, Baguettes, Stuffing Cubes: Water, tapioca starch potato starch, brown rice flour, rice bran, yeast, Sucanat, sea salt, coconut flour, xanthum gum.

How to Order


Order by Thursday, November 20th. In order for us to plan ahead, all pies and stuffing cubes are special order only. And while you are at it, please order your rolls and/or mini baguettes, so that we don't run out.

Customer service: 847.520.0068 x 2
7:00 a.m to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday
7:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Sunday

Order Pick-up:
Pies and stuffing cubes can be picked up as follows:

Deerfield Store: Tuesday, Nov 25 AFTER 12:00 p.m. only (no morning pick-ups) and Wednesday, Nov 26, 6 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Buffalo Grove Store: Tuesday, Nov 25, 6 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. and Wednesday, Nov 26, 6 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Schaumburg Store: Tuesday, Nov 25, 6 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. and Wednesday, Nov 26, 6 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Deerfields Bakery is closed Thanksgiving Day.

Decorated Cake Orders for the Thanksgiving Holiday
The gluten-free department will be closed Thursday, November 27 through Sunday, November 30. Any special orders for Friday, November 28th MUST be placed by Tuesday, November 25 by . We will NOT be accepting any special orders for pick-up on Saturday, November 29 or Sunday, November 30 or Monday, December 1.

Gluten-free Stuffing

We made some dairy-free bread stuffing cubes. Slicing, dicing, drying and voilà, the end product was worth the effort. A 1-lb package made the beginnings of a large skillet full of stuffing mix that also included carrots, leeks, celery, fresh herbs and chicken broth. I didn't even add eggs or anything else since I just wanted to test the integrity of the bread cubes. The results were delicious. In fact, I used a portion of this pseudo-stuffing to beef up a shepherd's pie. You can email me if you want more information on how to purchase these cubes.

On the cover of ... Baking Buyer

In September, we made the cover of industry magazine, Baking Buyer. You can read the article here. The article begins on page 36.