Gluten-free, Egg-free Donut Holes!

I don't know about you, but I've become the type of person who, when following a recipe, rarely measures. When I make my own baked goods at home, I rarely measure. I'm an eyeball-er at heart and even when I remind myself to measure for when I want to share a recipe here, I always get caught up in the excitement of creating and forget.

Because of my lack of measuring, the amounts of ingredients in this recipe are guesstimated. I came up with two guidelines to help you while making this though:
1) If the dough is too wet to roll into a ball, add more oats and flour.
2) If the dough is too dry and crumbly, add 1 tbsp of water until it has the right moisture balance in order to roll together

These donuts/donut holes don't taste like Tim Horton's Timbits. They are a bit heavier, denser and they are gluten free. And egg free. Oh, and did I mention that they're baked and not fried! That's another brownie point. Or donut point ;)

Gluten Free Donut Holes

Ingredients(approximately):

125ml Light Sour Cream(half of a 250ml tub)
1 tbsp fancy molasses
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1/4 TSP nutmeg
pinch of ground cloves
small sprinkle of salt
1 TSP ground flax seed
1/4 TSP chia seeds*
2 tbsp water
1 TSP baking powder
1/2 TSP baking soda
2 cups quick cook oats
1/4 cup buckwheat flour*
1 cup brown rice flour

1. Add ground flax and chia seeds to water. Stir once and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, add sour cream, nutmeg, salt, cinnamon, and cloves. Stir with spoon until well mixed.
3. Add baking powder, baking soda, brown sugar, molasses, and water-flax mixture into the spiced sour cream. Stir by hand until the ingredients are well incorporated.
4. Add the oats, rice flour and buckwheat flour. Stir with spoon at first, then it will easier to just get your hands into the mixture. With your hands, mix the dough until there is little to no flour/oats left on the bottom of the bowl. If the dough is too wet and sticking to your hands, add 1/4 cup of brown rice flour and continue to mix it in with your hands. If it's still to wet, add another 1/4cup. If it's too dry, add 1 tbsp of water.
5. With your hands, scoop a small handful of dough into your hands and roll it into a ball. It should be the size of a medium to large marble and look something like the picture down below.

6. Place the donut hole on parchment paper, and make nine more. Cook in the oven at 350F for 10 minutes, or until slightly crispy on the outside but still soft-ish on the inside. These are better slightly uncooked rather than overcooked, which make them much seem heavier, although still yummy.
7. Place cooked donut holes on a wire rack to cool.

TIPS AND IDEAS
- When cooled down, roll the donut holes in a mixture of honey and cinnamon(2 tbsp honey and 1 tsp cinnamon). Place back on wire rack to drip dry.
- Make chocolate donut holes by adding 2 tbsp cocoa and 1 tbsp brown sugar to the mixture before it is rolled out.
- Make donuts by flattening a roll and carefully pressing your thumb through the center. Place the donut on parchment paper and shape it so it has a more defined hole, and is rounded.
-Roll donuts/donut holes in sugar or coconut flakes before baking.
*Instead of using chia seeds, you can up the amount of ground flax to equal 1-1/2 tsp
*You can use all brown rice flour instead of adding buckwheat(I just wanted to use the rest of my buckwheat flour!)

Vegetarian Taco Bean Dip

Although I am no longer vegetarian(I am thinking of going back, but unsure yet) I try to cook meatless dishes several times a week. I am going to a surprise birthday party for my boss today, and thought that I would bring a healthier dish to the potluck. After trying to decide what I could possibly bring, I decided on a bean taco dip. You'll find the recipe below and I'm sure you'll find it just as appealing as we did!

You Will Need:

-1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
-1 tbsp butter or margarine
-1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
-1 jar of mild salsa, or homemade tomato salsa(1.5-2 cups should do)
-1 Jalapeno pepper, sliced(canned, jarred or fresh)
-1 Avocado that is slightly soft to the touch
-1 onion, chopped
-1/2 green pepper, chopped. Put a handful of this to the side for garnish
-1/2 tsp garlic oil OR 2 cloves or garlic chopped
-1 500ml container Sour Cream(yogurt can be used instead for a healthier choice)
-2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
-1 cup Ice Burg lettuce or Romain lettuce chopped(Spinach could also be used)
-1 bag tortilla chips
-1 tsp cayenne pepper
-1 tbsp chili powder
-1 tsp garlic powder
-1.5 tsp onion powder
-1 tsp cumin
-1 tbsp paprika 
-salt and pepper to taste


Place a frying pan on medium heat and add olive oil. When the pan is hot, add onions, green pepper, garlic, 1/2 of the sliced jalapeno and salt. Turn heat down so that it is on the low side of medium and allow the veggies to slowly cook. You do not want them to brown. When the onions are beginning to go translucent, add your black beans and margarine/butter and cook until you can squash them with the back of your spoon. This can take anywhere from 10-20 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of cool water as they cook so that they do not stick to the bottom of the pan. Burnt beans are no fun. When done, set aside to cool.

Cut the avocado in half and remove the pit. Scoop out the fruit and add it to a small bowl along with 1/4 tsp of salt, 1/2 cup of salsa, freshly ground pepper and, if you have it, a splash of lemon or lime juice. Mix this all together with a fork, making it a slight chunky, but spreadable paste. Set in the fridge.

In a large bowl, mix together your spices(cayenne pepper, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, paprika and pepper). Add all the contents of the sour cream to this mixture and stir until the spices are well mixed with sour cream.

Place your bean mixture in a blender for a smooth base to this dip, or leave as it is for a chunkier base. Add the bean mixture to the bottom of your dip bowl. Pour your sour cream on next and spread it so that it evenly covers the beans. Do not press down on this or it will mix everything together. Add your avocado mixture and gentle spread it across the sour cream. Spread the salsa across the avocado mixture and then top with lettuce. Sprinkle as much or as little cheese as you want on top of the lettuce(I use about 2 cups of grated cheese) and top with remaining jalapeno and green pepper.

This is enough to serve a family for a main meal or to bring to a potluck for snacks. Serve with chips!

**Tips**

- You can also top this with sliced black olives or add ground beef to the bean or mock ground beef
- You can add a layer of crunched up chips to this dip
- Try different cheeses and salsa's or beans to mix up the flavors
- If you are crunched for time, you can use canned refried beans, but I don't think they are vegetarian