Cranberry Nut Jello Recipe

Bakery owner brings gluten-free treats to Dickerson Run

Made-to-order gluten-free baked delights are now available at Lisa's Gluten Free Bakery in Dickerson Run.

Lisa Brower, owner, was diagnosed with celiac sprue disease in 1997. It was a life-changing diagnosis for her because she had been baking since she was 12 years old and very much enjoyed breads, pastries and baked goods.

"I tried product after product that wasn't fit to eat and finally just gave up all the foods I used to love," she said. "The aroma of baked goods was like torture so I even stopped baking for my family. After a few years I tried baking with a gluten-free cookbook, but the food still didn't taste like the food I remembered eating."

Then Brower just got out her old recipe box one day, picked a recipe she was hungry for and rewrote it, using a variety of gluten-free flours. After a few years of blending and tasting, her baked goods began to taste like the wonderful food she remembered. The grit was gone and the flavor was delicious, she said.

Brower knew what it was like to have to give up the baked foods and so, having earned a degree in business marketing and management and confident in her gluten-free recipes she set created the new business in order to share the gluten-free recipes with others.

Gluten-free items cannot contain wheat, barley or rye. The main ingredient Brower uses is xanthan gum, although she also uses others such as gelatin and guar gum. In addition, she created her own flour blend that is in almost everything she makes.

Gluten-free breads, fresh baked by order at Lisa's Gluten Free Bakery are sandwich, Italian, baguette, onion, potato and monkey bread. Buns include hamburger, hot dog, Kaiser, onion, hoagie (plain or herb), dinner roll, buttermilk biscuits, English muffins, croutons and stuffing bread. Pizza dough comes frozen in both balls and flats. Breadstick flavors are cinnamon sugar, plain, garlic and herb. Cookies include peanut butter, peanut butter kiss, chocolate chip, chocolate chunk, chocolate peanut butter chips, oatmeal (no bakes), oatmeal raisin, thumbprints, snicker doodles, snowballs (Russian tea), sugared, sugar cut-outs, sugar spiral, white chocolate, oatmeal cranberry walnut, chocolate-covered cherry cookie, peanut butter cup, filled, nut tassies and bear claws (cinnamon nut roll).

Also available are mini fruit pastries, popovers, brownies and chocolate, orange and pumpkin gobs and apricot and nut rolls. Mini fruit pies include cherry, apple and peach. Cakes and cupcakes and mini cupcakes are available in chocolate, vanilla and red velvet. Choices of specialty cakes and breads are zucchini bread, pumpkin bread and orange-cranberry cake.

Grilled Sweet Potato and Walnut Seitan Sandwich

1. In a large zip-top bag, combine vegetable oil, five spice, nutmeg, salt, and pepper, and squeeze to combine. Place sweet potatoes in the bag and massage in the spices. Allow flavors to seep in for at least 30 minutes, massaging the bag every 10 minutes or so. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Toast walnuts for 8 minutes or until golden, mixing halfway through. Set aside to cool. 2. In a small saucepan, combine the cranberries, water, and red pepper flakes.  Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-high and cook for 15 minutes or until most (but not all) of the liquid is absorbed. Remove cranberries to a cutting board with a slotted spoon, reserving the liquid. In a medium bowl, toss the walnuts with the gluten flour, rosemary, and thyme.  3. Combine the soy sauce and enough of the reserved cooking liquid from the cranberries to make 1/2 cup (if there's not enough liquid from the cranberries to make 1/2 cup, add enough fresh water). Pour liquid mixture over the walnut mixture, and knead vigorously (it may help to use your fists to grind the walnuts into the flour).  Continue kneading until a reasonably smooth dough is formed (the dough is mostly walnuts, and some of them may refuse to join the party).  4. Pour the mixture onto a 24x12” sheet of aluminum foil, and press into a large patty (about 1/2-1" thick by about 8" across). Fold over the long sides of the foil, then lightly crimp in the shorter edges.  Place the package in a steamer, and steam for 45 minutes. Remove from steamer, and allow to cool completely before removing from foil. Meanwhile, roughly chop the cranberries, and add to a small bowl.  Stir in the mustard and set aside. 5. Preheat a grill sprayed with nonstick spray to medium-high heat.  Remove sweet potatoes from zip-top bag, and shake off excess marinade into the bag.  Grill potatoes with the lid closed for 5 minutes without moving. Twist the potatoes 45°, then cook for 5 more minutes.  Meanwhile, baste the potatoes with remaining marinade and close the lid.  Flip the potatoes, cook for 5 more minutes with the lid closed.  6. While the potatoes cook, slice the walnut patty along its median, then 3 more times perpendicular to the first cut to give you 8 pieces.  Cut them open to give you 2 halves. Turn off 1/2 the grill, and line it with a sheet of aluminum foil.

Joyce Lamont's Favorite Minnesota Recipes & Radio Memories

The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook, America's Bestselling Step-by-Step Cookbook, with More Than 1,400 Recipes

A Rich, Deliciously Satisfying Collection of Breakfast Recipes

Taste of the Midwest, 12 States, 101 Recipes, 150 Meals, 8,207 Miles and Millions of Memories

Movable feasts, the history, science, and lore of food