I find inspiration for recipes everywhere: my imagination, restaurants, delis, friends, family, and bloggers. Just because my family follows a gluten-free diet doesn’t mean I limit my sources to gluten-free sites. Every once in a while, someone will email me to let me know that a recipe I featured or pinned contains gluten. I appreciate the concern and always reassure them that I will make it gluten-free when I prepare it.

Although I started my trek down a gluten-free path 18 years ago, my family didn’t join me until 4 years ago. Over the years, I became very good at creating and discovering recipes that were naturally gluten-free or only needed slight adaptions, so I wasn’t cooking 2 different dinners each night. Since my family now follows a gluten-free diet, I have had lots of fun adapting old family desserts and coming up with new ones.

When I shared my adaptation for Gluten-Free Oatmeal Shortbread, I included links to some of Laura’s other recipes that I was able to easily modify to make gluten-free and I thought I would share my perspective on a few of the entries from last week’s Hearth and Soul Hop so you can see how I look at the variety of recipes that are entered each week. Some of the entrants place a GF by their post so I know it is gluten-free, but I often discover other entries that are naturally gluten-free which is always a delightful surprise. However, I find inspiration even from recipes that are filled with wheat flour:

No Yeast Bread - I love the concept. I will try my basic gluten-free flour mix and if it works, experiment with whole grain gluten-free flours.

Old Fashioned Oatmeal Cake – Can’t wait to try this cake. I will use my basic gluten-free flour mixand I know it will turn out well and my family will hail me as a hero. Later I might experiment with the flavors, other additions, and making it lower in fat. So many possibilities!

Herb Crusted Ribs with Orange Sauce- Hallelujah!  This is one of those megafinds that requires no adaptations! Miz Helen used cornstarch instead of flour. Bless you Miz Helen!

Homemade Ravioli - I’ve wanted to learn how to do this so I can make gluten-free ravioli, so I bookmark this as a resource.

Buttery Zucchini and Garlic and  Chili Lime Sweet Potatoes - Naturally gluten-free – that is why I love fruits and veggies so much!

Shrimp and Spinach Mini Pizzas and Portobella and Kale Pesto Pizza – I can put these toppings on my gluten-free pizza dough.

Cinnamon Toast Muffins- Halleujah! Another megafind that requires no adaptations!

I enjoy reading all of the submissions to the the Hearth and Soul Hop and the Gallery of Favorites each week. I never look at a recipe and see something that I can’t eat, instead I am inspired to look for possibilities. If you are interested in learning more about adapting recipes to make them gluten-free, I have shared my Tips for Adapting Recipes to Make them Gluten-Free at The 21st Century Housewife.

My youngest son does not have much of a sweet tooth, but when he does want sweets he usually wants something with a strong vanilla flavor to it. When we were grocery shopping last week, a salesperson offered us a sample of vanilla bean scones. My son really wanted to try one, but since they contained gluten I told him that we could make scones when we got home. He asked if I could leave out the bean and just make vanilla scones. I was happy to oblige since vanilla beans are quite expensive.

I do not know of any rule that says scones must be dry and crumbly, so I created these scones to be tender and moist. I also made them dairy-free so my oldest son could enjoy them too.

Gluten-Free Vanilla Scones

Yield: 16 servings

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Baking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

1 cup rice flour, plus extra for rolling dough out
3/4 cup tapioca flour
1/4 cup potato starch
1 teaspoon xathan gum
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter or df margarine, cut up
1 egg
1/2 cup milk (I used vanilla almond milk)
4 teaspoons gf vanilla

Topping:

2 tablespoons milk (I used vanilla almond milk)
1 tablespoon sugar

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl.

Cut in butter with a pastry blender or 2 cross cutting forks.

In a small bowl, blend the egg, milk, and vanilla together with a whisk.

Add the liquid to the dry mixture and stir until the liquids are completely incorporated.

Divide the batter in half and form two 1/2″ thick circles on ungreased baking sheet. The dough is very sticky, so you will want to use some rice flour as you roll it out. Then use a pizza cutter to cut each circle into 8 wedges, but do not seperate the dough.

Use a basting brush to brush the tops with milk and then sprinkle with sugar.

Bake for 15 – 20 minutes or until the scones begin to brown. Cool on a wire rack.

I was planning on serving the Vanilla Scones with jam, but my family decided that was not necessary and ate them plain.

This post is linked to Allergy-Free Wednesday a new blog hop hosted by Tessa the Domestic Diva, Gluten Free Pantry, Real Food Allergy Free, The Tasty Alternative, and The Willing Cook.