The Baking Beauties » Cookies & Bars

Canada’s First Food Bloggers Conference, Eh?

Jeanine Friesen — Thu, 09 May 2013 12:00:21 +0000

There I was, in a room full of people I didn’t know, save for my benefactors – the two gals from the Manitoba Canola Growers – with whom I had been traveling. I was sure no one knew me as I sat picking out a few familiar faces from the people seated at other tables. They were only familiar because of social media. Either I’d seen their profile pictures on-line, I had read their work, or I may have even had a Twitter conversation with them. But, that was the extent of it. I looked a few tables over and saw Heather Travis, the friendly voice behind Canadian Beef. I knew her, but would she know who I was? The internet is a huge place, and it’s easy to be overlooked.

Later, when I approached Heather to introduce myself I expected a polite handshake and some awkward small-talk, followed by an uncomfortable silence at which time I would quietly excuse myself and return to my own table.

Since she was seated at a table with other sponsors and some of the conference speakers, I was a bit intimidated as I approached her.

“Excuse me, Heather?” I said, tapping on her shoulder.

She turned to face me. “Yes?”

“Hi, I’m Jeanine Friesen, of The Baking Beauties” I said, offering my hand.

“Jeanine!” she said, jumping up and giving me a hug. “It’s so nice to meet you.”

And that’s when I knew that everything was going to be alright that weekend.

For those of you that have been following me for a while, you may remember me mentioning a “My Cookies are the Best” contest, hosted by Manitoba Canola Growers. The contest was open to all members of Food Bloggers of Canada (FBC). The challenge was to create a cookie recipe that uses canola oil. There were going to be two winners, one from Manitoba, and one from elsewhere in Canada. The prize? An all expense paid trip to Hockley Valley to the first ever Food Bloggers of Canada Conference.

I really wanted to attend this convention. When you’re a single-income family, with two kids, blogging conventions just aren’t a part of the budget. But after winning a trip to Toronto last year through Redpath Sugar, I knew the possibility of winning existed, slight as it might seem. So I entered four recipes to increase my chances.

Crisp Gluten-Free Gingersnap Cookies

Gluten-free Turtle Cookies

Gluten-free Sour Cream Sugar Cookies

Chewy Gluten-free Chocolate Chip Cookies

The contest closed November 28, 2012 and I had put it in the back of my mind until the morning of December 3rd, 2012 when, without a cup of coffee to yet touch my lips, I read the following email:

Hi Jeanine and CONGRATULATIONS!! You won a trip to FBC2013 with your Gluten-free sugar cookie recipe!

I had to read it two or three times before it finally sank in – I wasn’t dreaming – I was actually going to have an opportunity to attend the FBC 2013 Conference.

I’ve never been to a conference before and I wasn’t sure what to expect. So I read about the line up of speakers, scoped out who all the sponsors were, and checked out my fellow winner’s blog, Maya’s Kitchen. As the two Canola Grower winners, Maya & I were going to be sharing a room at the conference. After determining that there would be plenty to learn, that the swag would be sweet, and that my roommate was indeed not a psycho (don’t judge, you’d do the same thing), I was set.

Be authentic. Voice your personality. Share your story. – David Leite

FBC2013 was the first held by the Food Bloggers of Canada. Similar conventions have been an annual event in the US for the past number years and by what I’ve heard, they are much bigger events. Not that bigger is necessarily better though. One of the great things about this conference was its small size. There were only about 100 people attending, which made it a very comfortable, intimate setting.

The speakers were all down-to-earth and approachable. They didn’t just stick around for their 45 minute session and then leave. They spent the entire weekend eating, chatting, laughing and learning along with us attendees. They were available all weekend. Now, I haven’t been to a conference before, but I don’t think that is the “norm” for conferences. At times I was literally surrounded by the conference speakers. During David Leite’s session, David was five feet in front of me, Dianne Jacob five feet to the right, and Dana McCauley five feet behind me. I was in the center of all this knowledge and food journalism experience. Amazing.

There were so many great topics covered – photography, bookkeeping, working with brands, making money with blogging – and in such an interesting way, that it’s difficult to say which was the most informative. Sessions were directed at the writing aspect of food blogging, as well as the technical aspects of running a website business. One of my favourite sessions was Recipe Development with Mairlyn Smith, Stephanie Eddy, and Adell Shneer. Mairlyn Smith, with her wit & humour, brought a lot of energy to the Sunday morning session – something we all needed after a few late nights.

It’s just so neat to see how others create their recipes. How they tweak, test, and re-test until they are satisfied. I really appreciated each panel members openness when sharing their process with us. It was great to see how similar my own method is to these professionals. However, they’ve given me a few new ideas that I know will help me with the recipes that I develop in the future.

The food was fabulous. Hockley Valley did a magnificent job catering the event and, for me, there were also plenty of gluten-free items available. They even had gluten-free muffins available during the coffee breaks.

Many of the sponsors provided us with succulent dishes and plenty of Ontario wine to go with it. I don’t usually drink wine, but figured, where else am I going to have the opportunity to taste such a variety of wines at once? So, I started to accept ‘just a sip’ when the wait-staff came around. Apparently I have been drinking very harsh wines until now, because many of the ones I tasted were actually pretty good.

Most of what I learned was behind-the-scene-knowledge about blogging. But I hope that some things will make their way to the front page. I also hope that, even though I was gifted this great opportunity, it will be you, my readers, who benefit the most from what I’ve learned.

L-R: Our driver, Jenn, Me, Ellen, and Maya

I am extremely thankful for the opportunity provided by the Manitoba Canola Growers. Not only for the Food Bloggers of Canada convention, but the extras they have done to promote me and my blog. Since winning the “My Cookies are the Best” contest, I have had the opportunity to be on CTV Morning Live, got to share my story with the Be Well readers, was interviewed by the Manitoba Co-operator, and most recently received a letter of congratulations from my local Member of Parliament.

The Manitoba Canola Growers have given me some fantastic opportunities to talk to people about a living gluten-free life and to help them realize that it can be a very delicious life. Thank you Ellen and Jenn for making FBC2013 a fabulous weekend.

I tip my hat to Mardi, Melissa, and Ethan, the founders of Food Bloggers of Canada, at doing such a fabulous job organizing this inaugural event for Canadian food bloggers. Thank you!

Disclosure: My travel, conference fees, and other expenses were all paid for by Manitoba Canola Growers. The opinions expressed are completely my own.

Gluten-free White Chocolate and Peppermint Cookies

Jeanine Friesen — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 16:26:34 +0000

I haven’t really ventured into anything ‘minty’ before. My husband is not a fan of mint, and so I never bothered baking with it. But now that the kids are getting older, they are showing a fondness of mint, especially during Christmas season. These cookies combine the mint of a peppermint stick with the smooth, sweetness of white chocolate chips. Delicious, if I do say so myself. Sort of like a seasonal chocolate chip cookie. I think Santa will be pleased to find these waiting for him on Christmas Eve, if there are any left.

Yields 48 cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup potato starch
1/4 cup tapioca flour
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup crushed peppermint candy canes (about 7)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs and vanilla.
Sift all remaining dry ingredients together to mix well.
Stir the dry ingredients into the butter, sugar & egg mixture. Mix in the chocolate chips and crushed candy canes.
Form into small balls (about 1 1/2 tsp each) and place on prepared cookie sheets, leaving 2″ between cookies.
Bake approximately 12 minutes in the preheated oven. For best results, take them out while they are still slightly doughy. Allow cookies to cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheets before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Want more minty goodness? Check out the recipe for my Candy Cane White Hot Chocolate over at Mommy Moment.

Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Jeanine Friesen — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 15:06:50 +0000

These cookies have been around for a while, and are quite popular as well. Plus, they are super simple to make, so if you’re still looking for a special cookie to add to your holiday baking, these can be done fairly quickly. The combination of the slightly salty peanut butter with chocolate is perfect!

Yields 48 cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup brown rice flour
1/3 cup potato starch
1/4 cup tapioca starch
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup softened butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (commercially prepared peanut butter, like Kraft, works best)
1 large egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp milk
48 miniature Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (not minis)
2 Tbsp decorating sprinkles

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Unwrap all the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and place them in the freezer until ready to use.
In a large bowl, whisk together the brown rice flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, xanthan gum, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter, sugars, and peanut butter until smooth and fluffy. Beat in the egg, vanilla, and milk. With the mixer running on low, slowly add in the dry ingredients. Mix until evenly blended.
Roll dough into 48 little balls (about 2 teaspoons per cookie) and place in a mini muffin tin. Bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately press the frozen Reese’s Peanut Butter cup into the middle of the cookie. Return to oven and bake for an additional 2 minutes.
Remove baking pan from the oven and sprinkle the top of the chocolate with Christmas sprinkles (optional). Let the cookies remain in the pan for 3-5 minutes* before carefully lifting them out of the pan with a sharp knife. Allow cookies to cool completely before storing in air-tight containers.

*NOTE: Do NOT let the cookies cool in the pan for longer than 5 minutes or they will begin to stick to the pan and not come out easily. Please learn from my mistakes.

Gluten-free Swirl Cookies

Jeanine Friesen — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 20:24:48 +0000

Yesterday was a major Christmas baking day at my house, and along with that came some experimenting. Each year I have the old favorites that everyone likes to enjoy, as well as all the wonderful recipes I see elsewhere that I want to try to convert to gluten-free. This recipe was one that I saw on Pinterest, and thought – huh, I think I can do that. And I did, quite successfully too, I might add.

You can use any colour for the second colour of cookie, I did a reddish colour, but you could do green, purple, orange – whatever floats your boat. You can also add any gluten-free extract to flavour the coloured dough. I used strawberry extract to give it a little flavour, but you can leave it as it is, if you would like.

The texture of this cookie is similar to a shortbread cookie. It is a dry, crisp, buttery cookie.

Chilled cookie dough, ready to be sliced.

Yields approximately 45 cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup white rice flour
2/3 cup potato starch (not flour)
1/3 cup tapioca starch
1/4 cup sweet rice flour
1 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar (icing sugar)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) softened unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1 large egg, slightly beaten
1 1/2 tsp gluten-free vanilla extract
1/2 tsp food colouring of your choice (or enough gel colouring to get the desired colour)
1/2 tsp strawberry extract (or any other desired gluten-free extract)
1 Tbsp white rice flour
2/3 cup sprinkles or course sugar

Directions:

In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the flours, starches, xanthan gum, baking powder, salt, confectioners’ sugar, and granulated sugar.
With the paddle attachment, slowly beat in the butter until the dough starts to come together. Add the beaten egg and vanilla and mix until the dough is evenly blended.
Use a scale and weighed all the dough, then placed half of it back into the bowl (or eye ball it, but try to be accurate). To the dough in the bowl, add strawberry extract (or other extract, mint would be wonderful at Christmas as well) and colouring. Add 1 tablespoon rice flour and mix until well blended.
Roll each colour of dough out between sheets of waxed paper, until the dough is a rectangle, measuring approximately 11″ x 9″, and about 1/4″ thick. Remove the top sheet of waxed paper from each piece of dough.
Carefully lift one rectangle, and using the waxed paper to help you, turn it over on top of the other rectangle of dough. Gently rub on the top of the waxed paper, to help the two layers stick together. Use a sharp knife to cut the edges of the dough to make a rectangle, this will make it easier to roll the dough into a log.
If the dough feels too soft, refrigerate it on a baking sheet for 30 minutes. Remove from fridge and allow to become pliable again before attempting to roll up. Carefully roll the dough up along the long side, similar to a cinnamon roll. Try to keep the rolls as tight as possible, or you will have a hole in the middle of your cookies. Continue rolling & running your hands over the dough to ensure it is not cracking. Use the waxed paper to help you roll the dough into a circle.
Place the sprinkles in a baking sheet, and roll the log of cookie dough in the sprinkles, until the entire outside of the dough is coated in the sprinkles.
Tightly wrap cookie dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line your baking sheets with parchment paper.
Remove your cookie dough from the fridge, unwrap, and using a sharp knife, cut into 1/4″ slices. Place slices on prepared baking sheet, leaving 2″ between cookies. Re-wrap and refrigerate dough until you are ready to prepare another pan for baking.
Bake in preheated oven for 13-15 minutes, or until the edges are just slightly golden brown. Allow to cool on cookie sheets for a few minutes before transferring to cooling racks. Allow cookies to cool completely before storing in air-tight containers.

Gluten-free Rolled Sugar Cookies

Jeanine Friesen — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 12:00:07 +0000

It’s that time of year again! Time to start thinking about what kind of goodies will adorn your holiday table. I find it hard to narrow down the number of recipes I use, and some years it ends up being 15 or 20 different types of cookies, candies, and snacks. Each year the variety changes, but there are always a few favorites that the family insists on. Sugar cookies is one of those that is a “must have” every year. It’s also a great recipe to have on hand because by changing the cookie cutters, you can use this recipe year round.

Yields approx. 30 cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp almond extract (optional, but good)
2 tsp gluten-free vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/3 cup white rice flour
2/3 cup tapioca starch
2/3 cup potato starch (not flour)
1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum

Directions:

In the bowl of a stand mixer on medium speed, beat the softened butter and sugar until fully incorporated. Reduce the speed to low and add the extracts and the egg. Mix just until blended.
In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the salt, baking powder, rice flour, tapioca starch, potato starch, and xanthan gum.
With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients, scraping down the bowl as necessary. Mix just until the dough comes together.
Scrape the dough out onto a sheet of plastic wrap, and wrap tightly before refrigerating for at least 1 hour. This will help your butter to solidify and help your cookies to keep their shape while baking.
When you are ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and line your baking sheets with parchment paper.
Working with a quarter of the dough at a time, roll the dough to about 3/8-inch thick between two sheets of plastic wrap, dusting with a small amount of sweet rice flour if necessary. Cut to desired shapes and place on prepared baking sheets, leaving 2-inches between cookies. You can re-roll the scraps until all the dough has been used.
Bake in preheated oven for 8-12 minutes, depending on the size of your cookies. The cookies should just barely be turning brown around the edges, and have just a light brown colour on the bottom of the cookie.
Let cookies sit on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack. Allow cookies to cool completely before decorating with icing or storing in an air-tight container.

Note: This is the Royal Icing recipe I used. It comes from www.sweetopia.net.

Also perfect for your special Valentine.

Spring/Easter Cookies are so cute too!

For great tips on decorating your Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies, be sure to visit Sweetopia.net. Marian has a lot of really great recipes, tutorials, and videos to walk you through your cookie decorating. I had the pleasure of meeting Marian at Canada’s Baking & Sweets Show in September. She is AMAZING at what she does!