Happy National Peanut Butter Day!!!

 Celebrate this delicious holiday by enjoying some of our gluten-free peanut butter cookies! For some added sweetness, try dipping them in some melted chocolate and cooling them in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes before you indulge! Happy snacking!!

Craving something sweet???

Satisfy your sweet tooth with this super easy, super delicious Gluten Free Chocolate Ganache & Peanut Butter Tart!!! Yum!

                                 

Chocolate Ganache & Peanut Butter Tart
(Gluten Free of course!)

It may sound fancy to make, but it's actually quite easy, and the results...out of this world delicious!

Ingredients
For the crust:
One bag Aleia's Peanut Butter cookies (12 cookies will be used, you will have some left over!)
1/4 cup of margarine, melted
9 inch tart pan

For the filling:
3/4 cup heavy cream, whipped first and set aside
7 tablespoons cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup your favorite peanut butter
1/4 cup white sugar
1 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the ganache:
3 ounces milk chocolate chips
3 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup plus one tablespoon of heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Make the Crust! 
1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
2. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade, pulse a dozen of Aleia's Peanut Butter cookies into crumbs.
3. Add the melted margarine to the crumbs and pulse together until just combined. Do not over process.
4. Pour the crumbs into the center of your tart pan, making sure to go evenly up the sides.
5. Line the inside of your tart shell with a circle of parchment paper about one inch larger than the tart pan you are using. Cover the parchment with dried beans. This will keep the crust from puffing up while baking.
6. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. The edges of the crust should be a dark golden color.
7. Remove from the oven, carefully pick up the paper and the beans, set the tart aside to cool at room temperature.

Prepare your filling!
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the wire whisk attachment, whip the cream, until soft and light. Scoop out into a small bowl and set aside.
2. Add the cream cheese, peanut butter and sugar to the mixer bowl. Whisk together on medium high speed until incorporated.
3. Lower the speed and add the vanilla extract.
4. Add a couple of tablespoons of the whipped cream until just incorporated. Turn off the mixer and remove the bowl.
5. Fold in the remaining whipped cream until the entire mixture is well blended but still light and airy.
6. Making sure the crust is now cool, scoop the peanut butter filling and drop into the center of the crust. With the back of a spoon, push and smooth the filling so that it spreads evenly within the shell. The filling should be level with the edge of the tart shell.
7. Refrigerate the tart

Prepare the chocolate ganache!
1. Place the semisweet and milk chocolate chips in the bowl of a food processor (we used a mini processor for this part) fitted with the metal blade.
2. Pulse the chocolate to break up into even smaller pieces.
3. In a small saucepan, heat the cream to a boil.
4. Remove from the heat and pour the cream slowly over the chocolate.
5. Add the vanilla extract.
6. Process until smooth, making sure to scrape the sides a few times before pouring out into a small glass bowl to cool at room temperature.

Finish your tart!
1. When the ganache has cooled, pull the tart from the refrigerator.
2. Scoop spoonfuls of ganache into the center of the tart, and spread evenly with the back of a spoon, right to the edges of the shell. Place once more in the refrigerator for at least two hours before serving.
3. When serving, allow 15 minutes at room temperature, transfer the tart onto a pretty plate, and cut with a sharp knife dipped in hot water after each slice. 

Aleia's Introduces a Brand New Website!

Aleia's Gluten Free Foods 

Has a New Home on the Web!

A labor of love for many months, Aleia's is thrilled to introduce to our customers, fans, clients, and the rest of the world, our brand new website, www.aleias.com!  

We feel the website is a beautiful reflection of the passion, commitment and outstanding products that make our company so unique.  We hope you like the new design and find it easy to navigate its pages and obtain all the information you need, quickly and easily. The website provides detailed information on each of our products, as well as brilliant photos, nutritional information, clever recipes, helpful links, a user friendly retail location, and honest testimonials. 

As always, we would love to hear your thoughts as you visit and travel through the site.  In the meantime, we thank you wholeheartedly for being an integral part of Aleia’s growing success and for your ongoing support!  

Simple Answers to Common Questions

What is gluten? Isn't it surprising how many people ask you that question?

Here's our simple answer:
Gluten is the general name for one of the proteins found in wheat, rye and barley. It's the glue that holds together baked goods and pasta. It gives elasticity to dough, helping it to rise and to keep its shape, and often giving the final product a chewy texture.

Of course, those of us with gluten sensitivity know that it can also hide in other places such as "natural flavors," modified food starch, MSG, lecithins, textured vegetable protein, emulsifiers, soy sauce, prescription and over-the-counter drugs, even some vitamins. Did you know that you can even pick up traces of gluten by licking an envelope because the glue might contain wheat?

What are some of the other questions about gluten or celiac that you're most often called upon to answer? We'll do our best to provide simple answers -- and this is a good place for you to share yours.

Gluten Free Tarts Made with Aleia's Gluten Free Almond Horns!

We are always searching for new recipes, and so happy when our fans write to us to share their favorites with us.  Here is one from a fan of our delicious Almond Horn Cookies. 

The recipe makes two easy, super tasty gluten free tarts:

Crust: 
Use one and a half Aleia's Gluten Free Almond Horn cookie for each tart. For two tarts use three almond horns. Crumble the almond horns very finely and mix them in a food processor with enough butter to hold the crumbled horns together. I suggest 2 tbs of butter for three almond horns. Then squeeze the mixture till it holds together. Divide the mixture and press into two tart pans (three and a half inch width) on the sides and bottom leaving room for the ingredients that you chose to put into the tart. Bake in a 320 degree oven until golden brown, about ten minutes.

Filling: 
Let the crusts cool and put in lemon curd or creme anglais (vanilla custard), and put fresh fruit on top; or without the filling melt 2 tbs of raspberry jelly and glaze the bottom of the tart, put on fruit and use the rest to glaze the fruit itself.

Topping: 
Add whipped cream if you wish.

They are so delicious.I'm going right now and make some more.

Best regards,
M. Davis

Thank you Mr. Davis for sharing your creative use of Aleia's Gluten Free Almond Horns! 

Aleia's Gluten Free Introduces a New Cookie!

Aleia's Oatmeal & Golden Raisin Cookie is Here!

Aleia's is ready to launch a new product to market; Aleia's Gluten Free Oatmeal & Golden Raisin Cookies.

The same great qualities you have come to love about  Aleia's products: our all natural ingredients, our handmade quality, the fact that they are made with no preservatives, they are certified gluten-free, kosher, and their delicious taste will all be found in our newest classic cookie: Aleia's Oatmeal & Golden Raisin.

Our oats are certified gluten-free! I am sure many of you have read up on all the controversy surrounding this grain but the bottom line is that numbers don't lie - I am referring to the R5 ELISA test that many gluten-free oat manufactures rely on to prove that there is no gluten proteins within their oats. Someone very wise once said, "Liars always figure, but figures never lie!"

The reason we decided to create this cookie was because of the availability of certified gluten free oats, the benefits of the oat grain in adding fiber to a gluten free diet, and the fact that it is our VP of Sales' favorite cookie!

So it is with great pleasure that we provide a Gluten Free Oatmeal & Golden Raising cookie to the public! Please stay tuned - next week we will be giving away 6 bags to all our lucky followers on Twitter and Facebook who answer our creative questions.

Panzanella Salad! Not your typical Salad!

Have you ever tried a Panzanella Salad?

FYI, I did not even know what it was before I asked Kim, our creator, to help me post a recipe for a spring inspired, crouton utilizing, health/funky salad for our blog. This distinctive Italian dish needs a lesson in being gluten-free; deemed a "bread salad" for its hearty base, our delicious version substitutes the bread with Aleia's Gluten Free Croutons, thus providing a gluten-free foundation for our Panzanella Salad.

Prep time: 15 min.
Inactive Prep Time: 30 min.
Skill Level Needed: Easy!
Serves: 12

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons of olive oil
1 bag of Aleia's Gluten Free Croutons 12 oz. (we make two varieties a Classic and a Parmesan)
2 large, ripe tomatoes, cut into one inch pieces
1 hothouse cucumber, unpeeled, seeded and cut into one inch pieces
1/2 red onion, cut in half and thinly sliced
10 large basil leaves, coarsely chopped

For the Vinaigrette:
1 teaspoon finely minced garlic
3 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
1/2 cup of olive oil
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Whisk together all the ingredients in a small bowl, and set aside.

Directions:
In a large bowl, mix the tomatoes, cucumber, yellow pepper, red onion, and basil. Add the croutons and toss with the vinaigrette. Allow the salad to sit for about a half and hour - this will allow your flavors to party in your bowl and get all blended up! Give the salad one more mix before serving.

If you give this recipe a try and send us a picture and we will be happy to post it! Send your pictures to aleias@sbcglobal.net - put Panzanella Salad in the subject line.