GF Cheese Stars & Quesadillas… GF After School Snacks, Part 2
Gluten Free Cheese Stars... a crispy, salty treat!
You can turn gluten free tortillas into a great after school snack with these easy recipes. I suggest using either a rice or corn based tortilla. Or, you could use a homemade gluten free flat bread (such as my favorite from blogger Kate Chan’s Gluten Free Gobsmacked site recipe for Sandwich Wraps) if you have that on hand. For the star shaped crisps, you will need two star-shaped cookie cutters, one slightly smaller than the other. Or any simple shape will do!
Gluten Free Cheese Stars
Ingredients:
- Gluten Free Tortillas (Rice, Corn or Flat Bread)
- Cheese Slices (This works best with provolone or cheddar, but you can use an alternative cheese. In the picture above, I used Galaxy brand Vegan Rice Cheddar slices. While they do not really “melt” like cow’s based cheese, the slices work just fine and “meld” to the tortillas perfectly!)
- Olive Oil
- Sea Salt, Paprika, or Chile Powder (optional)
Method:
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or tin foil.
- Using the larger cookie cutter, cut out stars from the tortillas. It’s easy for kids to do if you have them use a rolling pin to roll back and forth (firmly and slowly) over the cutter placed on top of the tortilla.
- Brush lightly with olive oil and transfer to prepared cookie sheet.
- Use the smaller cookie cutter to cut out an equal number of cheese stars from the cheese slices and place them atop the tortilla ones.
- Bake the stars for 8-10 minutes or so until the cheese melts. Remove from the oven and sprinkle the stars with salt, chili powder or paprika and let them cool before serving. They will crisp up even more as they cool.
You can also make a sweet variation of these stars by omitting the cheese and sprinkling the tortilla shapes with cinnamon sugar. It makes a really great treat and reminds me of crispy, fried wonton’s that some asian restaurants serve as an appetizer!
Gluten Free Quesadillas are even easier! You can have these tasty “pick-me-up” snacks ready in under 10 minutes with just a few ingredients. I like using leftovers such as grilled chicken or taco meat for filling to give a bit more protein power.
Easy GF Quesadillas, warm and satisfying after a long day at school!
Gluten Free Quesadillas
Ingredients:
- 2 Corn tortillas per quesadilla
- Shredded Cheese (You can use any cheese you prefer, such as mozzarella, cheddar, colby jack – I would not use a really hard cheese like parmesan though. This works just as great with dairy alternative cheeses.)
- Optional: grilled chicken cubes, diced and cooked hot dogs, diced green peppers or onions, pepperoni slices, black olives, pineapple tidbits, etc.
- Heat a dry, non-stick skillet or griddle over medium heat.
- Place one tortilla per quesadilla on the hot pan. Sprinkle the shredded cheese over the top of the tortilla, being careful to keep the cheese on the tortilla. Add any optional ingredients you wish and a little more shredded cheese on top of that.
- Top with the second tortilla and press with a spatula or the palm of your hand (careful not to burn your fingers!). While the bottom tortilla heats up, the cheese will begin to melt and the top tortilla will stay in place.
- After a few minutes, check to see if some of the cheese has melted. When it has, use the spatula to flip the tortilla over to warm the top side and melt the cheese the rest of the way. The tortilla you placed on the pan first will appear smaller than the second one! This is normal. After flipping, the second tortilla will also crisp and shrink in size a bit to make your quesadilla uniform on both sides.
- Cook the quesadilla on the second side for a few minutes and then transfer to a cutting board. Slice into 4 triangles and serve alone or with salsa for dipping.
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