Gluten free Oatmeal Cookies with Craisins and Walnuts

As the holidays are upon us, we rush to finish our Christmas shopping and our baking. When a big snowstorm hits us, we await anxiously for it to pass so that we can finish our shopping. Some of us welcome the onset of a snowstorm that might leave us home-bound. On those days, we take out our baking pans and begin experimenting on recipes. That’s how I came up with this Gluten Free Oatmeal Cookie recipe. I had this recipe in my files along with some of my other old recipes that I have kept over the years. This time I wanted to try making them with gluten free flour. I substituted regular flour with King Arthur gluten free all-purpose flour. I added dried cranberries (craisins) and chopped walnuts. The cookies turned out full of flavor, chewy and crunchy. They go well with coffee or tea during an afternoon break, or as a morning treat. Enjoy!

Gluten free Oatmeal Cookies with Craisins and Walnuts

Makes 30 servings approximately 1.4 oz each

½ cup butter + 6 tbsp. butter melted
½ cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar firmly packed
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1½ cups King Arthur gluten free all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
3 cups Quaker oats old fashioned (the ones you cook)
1 cup craisins (dried cranberries)
1 cup walnuts

Preheat oven to 350°F. Melt the butter. Combine the butter with the sugars in a bowl till creamy. Add the eggs and the vanilla and beat well. Combine the gluten free all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together. Add to the mix and blend well. Add the oatmeal, the craisins, and the walnuts. Blend well together.

In a greased cookie sheet or lined with wax paper cookie sheet, drop the dough by 1 tablespoon. I used an ice cream scooper. Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes till the edges are browned. Remove from the oven and wait to cool before removing from the pan.

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1 serving (40.4 g)
Amount Per Serving
Calories 166
Calories from Fat 78
Total Fat 8.7g
Saturated Fat 3.7g
Trans Fat 0.0g
Cholesterol 25mg
Sodium 124mg
Total Carbohydrates 19.7g
Dietary Fiber 1.3g
Sugars 7.2g
Protein 3.1g

Baklava with walnuts and almonds and its History

The History of Baklava

Many will argue about the origins of Baklava. Greeks will attest it’s their own creation. Turks will say that the Greeks claimed it since it was perfected while Greece was under the Ottoman Empire for 400 years. Lebanese will make their own version of baklava by using an array of nuts like pistachios, walnuts, cashews or pine nuts. In other areas, they will use dough with eggs, or plain dough, unlike the “phyllo” dough. Greeks perfected the use of dough by inventing the “phyllo” dough, paper-thin sheets of dough (“phyllo” in Greek means “leaf”). A baklava recipe with the use of syrup with rose water and cardamom and a filling variety of nuts will most likely be from the Arab countries. The use of syrup with cinnamon and cloves with walnuts and almonds filling will be from the Balkan countries.

Even with all these declarations, it is believed that it was the Assyrians who came up with this dessert in 8 B.C. Greek seamen travelling to Mesopotamia, brought it to Athens and eventually they perfected it by developing the “phyllo” dough. Baklava reached the kitchens of the Byzantine Empire until its fall in 1453 A.D. Under the Ottoman Empire, baklava was served to the Pashas and the very rich. Eventually, the dessert reached the western world and was brought to America by Greek immigrants, or as others might say, by Turkish or by Lebanese immigrants. I’d like to believe that it was the Greeks who brought it to the Western world and since the Greeks perfected the paper-thin dough, I’d say it’s more of a Greek origin than any other.

There are areas in Greece that they use olive oil instead of melted butter to make baklava. I remember my mother and grandmother making baklava while I was young and they used clarified butter. The butter was made from pure cow’s milk. The color of the butter was white and not yellow like the butters we see here in the US. The ingredients, of course, were more organic back then.

I’ve seen and tasted many versions of baklava while here in the US. I tried the pistachio filled baklava, baklava drizzled with chocolate, baklava with pecans, but I’m partial to the Greek baklava with walnuts and almonds, or just plain walnuts as I remembered it from my childhood. This version of baklava is the way my mother and grandmother used to make with the only difference that I added the chopped almonds to the filling. I still use butter to brush between the phyllo dough sheets.

This is also a very traditional dessert to make during the Christmas holidays and Easter. With the Christmas holidays upon us, here is my version of Greek Baklava. Enjoy!

Baklava with walnuts and almonds

Makes 30 servings

8 oz phyllo dough
1 1/2 cups walnuts
1/2 cup almonds
3 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp ground cloves
6 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup butter

30 whole cloves (optional)

MIx together the chopped walnuts, chopped almonds, sugar, cinnamon and ground cloves. Set aside.

Melt the butter. Brush a 12x7.5 pyrex pan with melted butter. Remove one of the two packages of phyllo dough from the box. You can refrigerate or freeze the other package. Open up the phyllo dough and cover it between two clean kitchen towels. Phyllo dough dries quickly, so it is best to keep it covered while working on the baklava. Take a sheet of phyllo dough and lay it on the pan. Brush with melted butter. Continue to layer the pan with approximately 10 sheets of phyllo dough, brushing them in between layers with butter, and extending the ends over the pan (like the Spinach Cheese pie (Spanakotyropita)).

Pour the walnut, almond/sugar mixture and spread evenly. Fold over the extended phyllo dough and layer the rest of the phyllo dough sheets, one by one by brushing in between with butter. Cut diagonally and place it in a preheated 350° oven for 45-50 minutes till golden brown. If desired you can place a whole clove in the middle of each piece before baking.

  Ready for the oven

The syrup

2 cups sugar
2 cups water
1 cinnamon stick
Rind of one lemon

Bring to a boil 2 cups sugar and 2 cups water. Add the cinnamon stick and the lemon rind. Boil for about 5 minutes till is slightly reduced and clear. Remove from heat.  Remove the cinnamon stick.

As soon as the baklava is cooked, take it out of the oven and pour the syrup over baklava while it's still warm. Wait for it to cool and serve.

Ready to serve

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1 serving (49.8 g) approximately 1.8 oz
Amount Per Serving
Calories 148
Calories from Fat 59
Total Fat 6.5g
Saturated Fat 1.4g
Trans Fat 0.0g
Cholesterol 4mg
Sodium 49mg
Total Carbohydrates 21.5g
Dietary Fiber 1.2g
Sugars 16.0g
Protein 2.4g

...or ready to give as a gift!

In case you are wondering why I haven’t updated my blog in 4 months, there is a good reason for it. I was in Greece for the whole summer; something that I wanted to do for a long time. I had been back to Greece other times of the year, but I hadn’t been back there during the summer since 2000. I had forgotten how hot and stifling it can get in the summer months; but it was something that I wanted to do for a long time so I welcomed the heat and the warmth of the bright sun.

We left in the middle of June and returned in the middle of September. It was an anxiety-ridden preparation since we had to take my little shih tzu, Nappy, with us. Papers needed to be prepared for his departure, shots that he had to get and getting to the Secretary of State for signatures so that we can bring him back. Then my preparation for the trip began. What to take, how much can I fit in the suitcase, and what do I need to put in my carry on.

The day arrived and we, along with my Nappy, boarded the plane for Frankfurt, Germany and then to Athens. After 20 long hours of travel (our layover time in Frankfurt was four hours) we all arrived in Athens, safe and sound. As soon as I got off the plane, I took a deep breath and while choking back my tears, I inhaled that distinct smell of warm weather mixed with the smell of pollution, and the occasional smell of pine resin.

We stayed in Athens for a couple of days, then rented a car and drove up to Salonika, the city that I was born. On the way up, we stopped at a seaside restaurant and sat at a table under an umbrella, watching the water crash to the shore, while waiting for our lunch to arrive.

Kamena Vourla beach on the way to Athens.  This seaside town is only 2 hours north of Athens.

You are probably wondering what our lunch consisted off. It was, of course, the traditional gyro with french fries, while my shih tzu had the chicken kabob. (I’m sure the Greeks around me were looking at me funny).

We spent a month and a half in Salonica.

The White Tower in Salonika. 

We visited places that I craved to see, ate foods that I could not get the same taste here in the States (something to do with the produce over there; I think less preservatives) or simply don’t exist, and took pictures. Tons and tons of pictures. We went to the beach and my Nappy came with us. We went to Chalkidiki where all the popular and clean beaches are.

My little shih tzu, Nappy at Kallithea Beach, Chalkidiki

We had our anniversary meal at Ergon Deli at Porto Sani Village - a resort village that operates from April to October. The food was exquisite and the presentation even better. We had fries smothered with different cheeses from other places in Greece, zucchini fritters, taramosalata (carp roe spread mixed with garlic and day old bread) melitzanosalata (grilled eggplant dip) and a beautiful baby arugula salad drenched in balsamic vinaigrette.

Ergon Deli meal at Sani Resort.  You can find more about Sani Resort in the following link:

 http://www.sani-resort.com/en_GB/sani-marina/dining-and-bars

At the beginning of August we began our second leg of the trip – our way to Chios island. We drove back to Athens, took the ferry boat and arrived in Chios on a Sunday afternoon. The island was busy with tourists from all over Europe and Turkey. The sun was bright and the sky was so blue you’d think a painter decided to take the blue color in the palette and paint it.

The Mills in the city of Chios

The whole time we were there, we were hoping for a cloud to pass by and conceal the sun for a few minutes. Unfortunately, no (or should I say “fortunately” for us?). We accepted it and enjoyed it, because we knew back home we’d have plenty of cloudy days.

While at our stay in Greece we tasted everything we could get our hands on. From gyro and their cheesy fries,

Cheesy fries and gyro!

 to gelato ice cream,

They have the most delicious mini ice creams.  The perfect size to satisfy a sweet craving!

and their syrupy sweets,

Syrupy sweets!

to fried calamari and grilled octopus, fresh caught the same day (I’m sorry but I forgot to take a picture of that meal;  I was too absorbed digging into it.) We walked to most places even in the heat. The island had a breeze all the time and it felt good even if it were hot.

The three months went by and we had to come back. I came back refreshed, with new ideas for creating recipes for my website. I’m not sure if they will taste as good as the ones I had over there; but I will definitely try to recreate the tastes and flavors. I learned how to make a St. Fanourios cake that is celebrated on August 27th. And smyrneika soutzoukakia (ground pork or beef sausages from Smyrna – thus the word smyrneika). And I perfected my spinach pie by adding more greens (horta)[1] to it. Going back was another extraordinary experience; and even though I’ve been back to Greece numerous times every time I go back is an added appreciation of how beautiful that country is.

Stay tuned for new recipes. In the meantime, enjoy the pictures while I prepare to post my take on melitzanosalata (eggplant dip).






[1]Greens or Horta are the collard greens, mustard greens, dandelions, dark green endives. All these are used, along with spinach, in spinach pie or just by themselves to make hortopita – a medley of greens into a pie.

Parmesan Crusted Chicken with a Greek Twist

I first made this recipe when my sister in law was visiting from Greece.  We were both watching the TV commercial about the Hellman's Parmesan crusted chicken and thought we should try it.  The first time I made it I downloaded the recipe from the Hellman's website.  It turned out good, but not the way I would have liked it.  I had to put some Greek flair in it.  So I made it again and added my own Greek twist. The original recipe only has  4 ingredients in it: the chicken, the Parmesan, the bread crumbs, and the mayo.  I substituted the Parmesan cheese with fresh grated Romano cheese, added grey poupon and lemon juice, plain bread crumbs on some of the chicken breasts and gluten free breadcrumbs at another, since my daughter is on a gluten free diet.  It's any easy dish to make and goes well with rice and a spinach/romaine salad on the side.  Enjoy!

Makes 6 servings (appr. 6 oz. each)

1/4 cup  Hellman's Mayonnaise made with Canola oil

2 oz. Romano cheese

1 3/4 lbs. boneless chicken breasts (about 4 chicken breasts)

4 tsp. bread crumbs

1 tbsp. grey poupon mustard

1 tbsp. lemon juice

Salt and pepper to taste

Mix the mayo with the mustard and lemon juice; sprinkle with salt and pepper and mix well.  Spread it over the chicken breasts.  Top with the bread crumbs, the shredded cheese and bake at 425 degree oven for ½ hour till chicken is done.  (The mayonnaise topping keeps the chicken nice and moist and not dry).

Note: you can mix the shredded cheese with the mayonnaise mixture.  I skipped that step and sprinkled the cheese on top the breadcrumbs.  Either way it tastes good. 

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1 serving (158.3 g)

Amount Per Serving

Calories 357

Calories from Fat 172

Total Fat 19.1g

Saturated Fat 5.7g

Cholesterol 131mg

Sodium 359mg

Total Carbohydrates 1.5g

Dietary Fiber 0.1g

Sugars 0.2g

Protein 41.5g