I have a new gluten-free cookie to share with you today.  I’ve been on a gluten-free cookie kick lately and I owe all of that to my new favorite blog Gluten-Free Goddess.  I’ve tried her Banana Cookies (but added chocolate), they are one of my new favorite cookies, and I can’t forget the Quinoa Chocolate Chip Cookieswhich are right up there on the top.  I’m quite smitten to all of Karina’s gluten-free cookies.  She is quite the expert when it comes to gluten-free baking and I loved every single recipe I have tried from her site.  Including these Chocolate Chunk Cookies that are heavenly when they are warm and gooey.  They make you feel warm and fuzzy all over.  They make you want to curl up and eat every last one of them while reading a book or watching a good book.  Of course that’s why I froze half the batch so I wouldn’t do that.  When I have that sweet tooth calling my name I reach inside my freezer pop one in the microwave for a little bit and out it comes and a smile is suddenly on my face.  And when I’m done I often question if a second one is in need.  I’m soon interrupted by two little girls wondering what I’m eating and my little dream land of chocolate cookies is soon a distant memory.  That is until I have my next sweet tooth attack.

Seriously you have to try these!  And those who question that a gluten-free cookie can taste good, please give these a try so you can be proven wrong.  They are a little piece of chocolate yumminess!

Enjoy everyone and have a wonderful Father’s Day weekend!  Anything planned for the dad’s in your life?   

 

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Print Recipe

1/2 cup certified gluten-free oat flour

1/2 cup sorghum flour

1/2 cup brown rice flour

1/2 cup tapioca starch (or potato starch)

1/3 cup organic cocoa powder

2 teaspoons xantham gum

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon baking powder

2/3 cup organic cane sugar

1/3 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup light olive oil

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup almond milk

1/2 cup vegan dark chocolate chunks

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a large bowl whisk together the dry ingredients, oat flour through brown sugar. 

Add in olive oil, vanilla, and almond milk to dry ingredients and stir to incorporate.  As you mix the dough pay close attention to the consistency.  If the dough is dry add more almond milk, a tablespoon at a time, and mix to combine until you achieve a smooth but sturdy cookie dough.  I added about 2 tablespoons to my dough.

Stir chocolate chunks into batter.  The batter will be stiff.

Using a tablespoon scoop, scoop dough onto prepared baking sheet about two-inches apart.  Using palm, gently press down the tops of the cookies.  Only to flatten the dough slightly.  Press a couple additional chocolate chunks into the tops of the cookies, if you like.

Bake in the center of a preheated oven for 15 minutes or until the cookies are set.  They will still be slightly soft in the center.  If you bake two pans at once, rotate the pans half way through baking.

Remove the pans from the oven, and allow the cookies to cool and “set” for a few minutes.  Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Cookies are best stored in an air-tight container and eaten with two days.  I froze most of the cookies and take out of the freezer when my sweet tooth strikes.  I especially love these cookies slightly warm…yummy!

Note: If you don’t have brown rice flour on hand you can substitute quinoa flour. 

Recipe Source: Gluten-Free Goddess

Once again my fruit basket had very ripe banana’s waiting for me to use this weekend.  I was in a loss of what to use them for but knew I wanted something sweet.  This weekend was a busy weekend filled with lots of cleaning and gardening.  Mind you the whole time I’ve been battling the cold my little ones and husband had two weeks prior.  My body decided in the worse possible time to finally give into the germs that surrounded me for weeks.  Running nose and all I still tackled the much needed cleaning and gardening around the house but I also tackled some cooking and baking.  Actually the cooking and baking was the best part about the whole thing.  Again, knowing I wanted something sweet for the ripe bananas I decided to use them for a cookie.  Not just any cookie though a gluten-free and dairy-free cookie.  Are you nervous by those two things….don’t be because I have to tell you these cookies are delicious and I give all credit to Karina from Gluten-Free Goddess where I found the recipe.  I did make changes based off what flours I had in my pantry.  I also used less sugar and added chocolate chunks because after all bananas and chocolate are a perfect match in my opinion.  These cookies are the perfect balance and you would never know they are not only gluten-free but dairy-free too.  They are moist and the bananas give them the perfect amount of sweetness.  Of course the chocolate chunks help too especially when they are right out of the oven and wooey gooey.  My little ones had the wooey gooey chocolate all over them too.  After giving into them begging for one right away I didn’t take long for little hands, face, teeth and everything else covered in chocolate.  And with chocolate covered everything they were laughing at the same time….the little things that make us happy!  Got to love those things! 

Enjoy these cookies, I know we did.  They will be made again.  I’m actually hoping for the banana’s in my fruit basket now to ripen sooner than we can eat them….shhhhh don’t tell anyone. 

OH…Hop on over to the Mommy Page for a GIVEAWAY with Towne & Reese Jewelry!

Gluten-Free Banana Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Print Recipe

2 ripe bananas, mashed

1/2 cup light olive oil

3 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 tablespoons vanilla almond milk

1 cup gluten-free rolled oats (I used Bob’s Red Mill) 

1 cup sorghum flour

1/3 cup quinoa flour

1/3 cup almond flour

1/3 cup potato starch

1/3 cup gluten-free oat four

1 teaspoon salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon xantham gum

1 cup organic light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 teaspoons Ener-G Egg Replacer

4 tablespoons vanilla almond milk

1/3 cup chopped pecans

4.2 ounces Boom Choco Boom Dark Chocolate Bars, chopped

Instructions:

Mix together mashed bananas, olive oil, vanilla extract and vanilla almond milk.  Let sit for 10 to 15 minutes to allow the the oats to soften.

Meanwhile, whisk together the dry ingredients sorghum flour through cinnamon.  Add banana mixture to dry ingredients and mix to combine.

In a small bowl, mix together the Ener-G egg replacer with almond milk and stir to combine.  Add to the bowl and mix until egg mixture is incorporated into batter.  The dough will be sticky.

Stir in pecans and chocolate chunks.  Refrigerate batter one hour – or more.

Preheat oven to 375.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. 

Remove dough from refrigerator and use ice cream scoop to form cookie rounds.  Place on parchment lined baking sheets.  Bake 15 to 20 minutes rotating pan half way through baking.  I baked mine for 15 minutes, but every oven varies.  They should be lightly golden. 

Remove from oven and gently press down on cookies to flatten them slightly, but only if desired.  Let cool on pan, then using a then spatula, loosen and move them to a wire rack to cool. 

Store in an air-tight container.  These can also be frozen and taken out later to enjoy.  I put half of the cookies in the freezer and half in an air-tight container in the refrigerator and heated them up slightly in the microwave before eating….yummy!

Makes 24 cookies

Recipe adapted from Gluten-Free Goddess

What do you get when you have lots of blueberries in the refrigerator and you have a rainy morning?  Oh….and your kids are quietly watching Cinderella.  You get these Berry Pecan Bars!  Saturday I was going through loads of cooking magazines.  By the way, I have slight obsession with cooking magazines…ask my husband, I have tons!  In attempts to slightly clean my collection I ran across this recipe in one of my Fine Cooking magazines.  It happen to be the perfect option since blueberries were on sale at Whole Foods this weekend.  I made some slight changes from the original recipe.  The original recipe used hazelnuts instead of pecans and it called for all blueberries.  I of course opted for pecans and a mix of blueberries and raspberries.  I opted not to do gluten-free with this recipe but I did use whole grains by using white whole wheat flour for most of the recipe.  These take a little time and love but in the end they are worth it.  Yum!  A nice summer dessert and probably super yummy with a scoop of ice cream.  We didn’t have any in the freezer but if we did I’m sure it would be topping these little bars.  Next time I’ll be sure there is some in the refrigerator. 

Enjoy these little berry treats everyone!!

Berry Pecan Bars

Print Recipe

For Crust and Topping:

1 cup pecans

1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup confectioners’ sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For Filling:

4 cups fresh blueberries, picked over

1 cup fresh raspberries

2/3 cup organic cane sugar

1/3 cup arrowroot (or cornstarch)

2 teaspoon lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions:

Make the Crust and Topping:

Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking pan.  Line the bottom and sides with a sheet of parchment, leaving a few inches of paper hanging over the edges of the two long sides to help remove the finished bars.

Roughly chop 1/2 cup of the pecans.  Set aside.  Put the remaining 1/3 cup pecans in a food processor and process until finely ground; put them in a large bowl.  Add the flours, confectioners’ sugar, cinnamon and baking powder and stir with a fork to blend.  With pastry blender or two knives, cut in the butter until the largest lumps are the size of peas.  Lightly beat the egg and yolk and add all but 2 tablespoons of the egg to the butter-flour mixture.  Add the vanilla and gently toss with your fingertips until the mixture clumps together.  It should be uniformly blended, moist, and crumbly.  If the dough looks dry and floury, mix in a little more beaten egg.

Position rack in center of the oven and heat the oven to 350.  Divide the dough into two portions, one slightly larger than the other.  Using floured fingertips, pat larger portion into the bottom of the prepared pan, pressing firmly, and refrigerate for 15 to 20 minutes.  Cover the remaining portion with plastic and refrigerate as well.

Remove the pan from the fridge and prick with form.  Bake until edges are golden and pastry is dry and light brown, about 20 minutes.  Let cool completely on a wire rack before filling (otherwise, the bars will get soggy).

Make the Filling and Bake:

In a large bowl, combine the berries, sugar, arrowroot, lemon juice, cinnamon, and salt.  Toss gently to thoroughly coat the berries and then scatter the filling onto the cooled crust.  Spread berries in an even layer.  Crumble the reserved dough over the berries; it won’t cover everything.  Bake 25 minutes and then sprinkle on the reserved pecans.  Continue baking until the topping is puffed and golden and the filling is bubbling not only near edges but also close to the center of the pan, another 50 minutes.  Put the pan on a wire rack and let cool completely.  Use the parchment to lift the whole batch out and then cut bars. 

Makes 12 large bars or 48 bite-size bars

Recipe Adapted from: The Best of Fine Cooking

If you are in a rush and need a semi homemade but oh so easy cookie recipe…I’ve got one!  All you need are few ingredients and little bit of time and you will have a batch of yummy cookies.  You can use a chocolate or yellow cake mix for these cookies too.  So don’t worry if your not a chocolate lover try yellow.  Either way they turn out yummy.  I personally like the chocolate mix because it gives the cookies a little bit of a brownie like texture.  And I’m a brownie lover!  Another thing, I made these gluten, dairy, and soy-free but if you don’t have allergies to these things go ahead and use a regular box of cake mix, butter, and eggs (I’ve listed below where you substitute).  Either way these will still turn out great and it will take only a short time out of your schedule.

To all you wonderful Mom’s out there, I hope you had a very special Mother’s Day!  I hope you were able to spend your day with the ones you love the most!  I know I was very fortunate to spend it with two amazing little girls and a wonderful husband.   

Enjoy the cookies everyone!

Gluten-Free Oat Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

Print Recipe

1/3 cup soy and dairy free butter, softened (or unsalted butter)

1/3 cup coconut oil, softened

1 box (16.4 ounce) gluten-free chocolate cake mix

1/2 cup gluten-free rolled oats

3 teaspoons Ener-G Egg Replacer (or 2 eggs and minus the water)

4 tablespoons warm water

3 tablespoons almond milk (or milk of choice)

2/3 cup non-dairy chocolate chips (or regular)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a small bowl add together the Ener-G Egg Replacer and water and mix thoroughly.

In a large bowl, combine butter, coconut oil, cake mix, oats, egg mixture (or eggs), and milk.  Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until combine.  If dough is still dry, add a tablespoon at a time of milk until dough forms.  Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoons about 2 inches apart onto prepapred baking sheet.  Bake 10 to 15 minutes or until edges are done.  The center of the cookies will still be soft.  You don’t want to over cook.  Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool.  Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Enjoy!!

Happy “Good” Friday everyone!  As I mentioned in my post on Wednesday, this past weekend I spent time recovering from my long trip to Asia for work.  I can’t tell you how great it feels to be back home.  Thanks everyone for warm wishes welcoming me home too.  You guys are awesome!   It’s so nice to be home and back to all the family routines and rituals.  And I’m hoping I’ll be home for awhile….there is talks about an October trip but I have my fingers crossed (and toes) I won’t be a part of that trip.  16 plus days is too long to be away.  Keep your fingers crossed for me too.

I usually spend my weekends in the kitchen but last weekend I spent it mostly sleeping and hanging out with the family with very minor baking or cooking.  I did try to attempt gluten-free cinnamon rolls (twice) but it was a disaster!  If anyone has a gluten-free (dairy and egg free) cinnamon roll recipe to recommend let me know.  I’ve been craving cinnamon rolls lately (my huge weakness).  So as I was saying, I didn’t do much in the kitchen but last night as I was craving something sweet.  I also wanted something the whole house could all have as a snack, so I came up with these little clusters.  These are kind of like a cookie, but kind of not.  It’s basically granola in the shape of a cookie.  They are super easy to make and are a healthy little snack (or dessert) for everyone in the family to enjoy.  And the best part about these little clusters is you can really put whatever you like in them.  Play around with them and have fun.  I placed dried blueberries in mine but cranberries or raisins would be a great alternative.  And if you don’t like nuts, maybe do all dried fruit?  If you do, let me know how they turn out.   And add some flaxseed instead of the nuts too.  Again, have fun with these!  And by the way, these were great in satisfying a sweet tooth!  At least they were for me. And I like to think they were a healthy little treat too.  These are kid approved too.  My 3 year old toddler twins both gave them the “yummy” seal of approval.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter weekend!!  See you back here next week!

Granola Clusters

Print Recipe

1 cup rolled oats (I used gluten-free oats)

1 cup quinoa flakes

1/2 cup mini semi sweet chocolate chips (I used Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips)

1/4 cup dried blueberries (or cranberries)

1/4 cup roasted almonds, chopped

1/4 cup pumpkin seeds

1/4 cup pecans, chopped

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/3 cup honey

1/3 cup maple syrup

1 tablespoon grapeseed oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, set aside.

In a large bowl toss together the oats, quinoa flakes, chocolate chips, blueberries, almonds, pumpkin seeds, pecans, salt and cinnamon.

Place the honey, maple syrup, oil and vanilla in a saucepan over low heat and cook for 1–2 minutes or until runny. Pour over the oat mixture and mix well to combine. Spoon heaped tablespoonfuls onto prepared baking trays. Bake for 35–40 minutes or until golden. Allow to cool completely on trays.

Makes 24 clusters

Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

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