Cheesy Crackers & Granola Bars

I love surfing around to the other gluten free bloggers to see what everyone is cooking in their kitchens. I always find so many inspiring things to make for my family. This month the lovely Sea over at The Book of Yum is hosting an Adopt a Gluten Free Blogger Event, a perfect opportunity for me to try out a couple of recipes I've had my eye on at Gluten Free Gobsmacked.

Recently Kate made some delightful animal shaped Cheesy Quinoa Crackers that tempted her and her husband into nibbling. I gave her recipe a whirl and varied it a little bit, since I prefer my quinoa flour blended with other grains. I used a blend of quinoa, amaranth, millet, flaxseed meal and arrowroot starch which was a still a little strong in flavor. I used the flax seed meal as a replacement for the xanthan gum and for extra fiber. I chose to use a block of year old aged English Cheddar I picked up at Whole Foods and some Neufchatel cheese, it was a perfect mate for the stronger flavored flour blend. I made some with my small animal cracker cutters and some cut in parallelograms. What did my family think? My husband and I thought they were delicious and could lure you into nibbling far too many. My son thought they were okay, however my daughter didn't get a chance to try them due to her dairy allergy.



That takes me to the second recipe I tried from Kate's blog, Peanut Butter Granola Bars. I needed to have something for my daughter to try out that was dairy free. She likes peanut butter and will gladly eat a peanut butter and strawberry jam sandwich, but her real love is peanut butter and chocolate. After getting her approval on this recipe, we mixed together all her favorite cereals, seeds, nuts and dried fruit. I used agave syrup instead of the honey that Kate used. My daughter thought the granola bars were wonderful and wants me to include some Enjoy Life! dairy free chocolate chips in the next batch I make. The rest of us thought these bars were wonderful. My husband and I enjoyed some for breakfast while he had his morning coffee and I had my Rooibos tea.

To see Kate's full recipes follow the links above for the Cheesy Crackers and Peanut Butter Granola Bars. While you are there take some time to browse around and see her other gluten free recipes.