Chocolate Chocolate-Chip Cookies

So yesterday I decided to "pretend" to be "domestic" again.

Don't get me wrong...I actually really do love all things "domestic." Cooking, cleaning, baking, laundry...it all gets me sorta high. (just don't show me an iron...I refuse to iron. Jeremy does the ironing around here....for real)

However, I just haven't had TIME lately to do many of those things.

This weekend, however...this weekend was a catch-up weekend. It was the first weekend we had been HOME since early March. Seriously.

So, among many, MANY other things...yesterday I baked!

I adapted a "new" (new to me) recipe from my 1000 Gluten-Free Recipes book (By Carol Fenster)....Double Chocolate Chip Cookies. What I did was inspired by her recipe, but I tweaked it, slightly. The result? AMAZINGLY delicious. Jeremy likes them, too! :) The cookies are totally soft and cake-like. Delectable, really! :)

Recipe....
Chocolate Chocolate-Chip Cookies
(the recipe in Carole's book is "Double Chocolate Chip Cookies)

3/4 cup Land O' Lakes butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free flour blend
1/2 cup tapioca flour
3/4 cup sweet white rice flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
sprinkling of salt
1 pkg (minus a few that prematurely made it to my mouth...haha!) chocolate chips

(as always, make sure that all of the ingredients you use are GF!!)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Place baking mat on a baking sheet.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and both sugars with an electric mixer on low speed until very smooth (approximately one minute). Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Gradually add the flours, cocoa, xanthan gum, baking soda, and salt. Continue beating on low speed just until blended. The batter will be rather thick. Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop 1 1/2 inch balls of dough at least 2 inches apart on the baking sheet.

Bake 13 minutes. Cool on baking sheet, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Voila! They are soooo yummy, esp. when still warm and served with a glass of milk!

ENJOY!

Awesome Christmas Gift--Namaste Baking Mixes!

Happy New Year!! Maybe I'll write more this year...and maybe I won't ;). We'll see!

I did, though, want to share about an awesome Christmas gift I received from my mother- and father-in-law: a gift certificate for Namaste food!

I used up the gift certificate shortly after Christmas and received the big box of food last week. I ordered a cookbook (it uses their mixes with a variety of added ingredients...some really great suggestions!), bread mix, brownie mix (I've had this one before...it's great!!), blondie mix, pizza crust mix, sugar-free muffin mix, pancake/waffle mix, and cookie mix. I made the blondies last night for a small dinner party we had with a couple of friends. They tasted pretty yummy! Oh a whim, I added some crushed pecans to the batter, and sprinkled some more crushed pecans and brown sugar on top. Success! :) (I just ate a leftover one a few minutes ago ;)).

I would highly recommend checking out the Namaste website....they have a ton of great products. They also have many of their products available here in Bloomington at Naturally Yours. I've also tried their Biscuit/Pie Crust mix (used it to make a great pie crust for pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving, to rave reviews from my father-in-law ;)), and their Taco Pasta (comes with pasta and a seasoning packet; I added tomato soup and ground beef to it for a yummy dinner!). I have truly loved all of their products! :)

Namaste's website says, among other things, "...Our facility contains no wheat, gluten, corn, soy, potato, dairy or nuts. It is our attempt to try to eliminate any chance of cross-contamination so you can enjoy Namaste Foods products worry-free...." Awesome!! :) :)

Yummy yummy cake balls!

Ok, ok, I have been absent from the blogging world for like 2.5 months....WOW! Guess I've been busy ;). Maybe "being a better blogger" will make its way onto my "new year's resolution" list...and maybe it won't. We'll see! ;)

Anyway, in more exciting news....here's a fun new GF "recipe"!!

Yeah, so...."cake balls" doesn't sound overly eloquent ;)....but these little guys are mighty tasty! I must give credit where credit is due, I got the idea here...at MckMama's blog (a fabulously entertaining blog I peruse regularly).

Here's MckMama's entry about her "cake ball" extravaganza (she stuck sucker sticks in them, made pretty-colored frosting, and named them "snow pops"....a little more eloquent ;)). MckMama's Snow Pops. THAT is where I got the idea for my own variation!

I am going to a party tonight (a going-away party for a co-worker/friend who recently got a different job) and wanted to have some kind of yummy chocolate-y GF treat to bring! Based on the aforementioned idea from MckMama's blog, I decided to make some GF cake balls....



**{Please note} My idea of baking/cooking/food preparation in general is often throwing random quantities of random crap together. I inherited the wonderful gift of "eyeballing" something I am making/baking/cooking from my mother who also seldom measures (aside from the obvious baked goods that naturally require more precise measurements).


Process......

Get 1 box of GF cake mix (I used Betty Crocker GF yellow cake). Prepare per instructions on the box, cook cake in refrigerator. When cool, cut into chunks and put in food processor. Pulse until cake becomes fine and powder-like (don't over-process, like I did! It may turn into a big ol' lump!)

Prepare 1 box of GF/dairy free/peanut free (because a friend I am eating with tonight cannot have dairy or peanuts) vanilla frosting. (YOU can likely use whatever kind of frosting you'd like. Mckmama suggests cream cheese frosting. Naturally, being a cream cheese lover, I think that sounds phenomenal. However, I opted out of that this time since a friend of mine who will likely be eating these can't do dairy).

Mix frosting and powdery-cake-bits together. I noted that my frosting/cake heap seemed kinda squishy, probably too much so. Mckmama had written that she added some rolled oats to hers to thicken it up. So, I pulverized some GF animal crackers in my handy-dandy food processor and added those to the mix to thicken things up. I think it was a good choice.

Shape into balls (approx 1"-1 1'/2" diameter), put on a cookie sheet/plate that you've lined with wax paper. Put into freezer for a while to harden.

Remove from freezer when they seem sufficiently hard (I waited an hour). Melt some coating for your balls. Mckmama used Hershey's white chocolate (that she colored with food coloring! They are super-cute). I would assume almond bark would also be good. I used Enjoy Life's allergen-free chocolate chips for the aforementioned reasons. I melted them slowly in the microwave and then swirled the balls in the chocolate. After swirling, remove with toothpick and set on wax paper-ed surface to dry.

You could top these little beauties with anything...a swirl of a contrasting colored chocolate/coating, red sprinkles (what I used!), crushed up peppermints (I thought this would be yummy but, frankly, was too lazy to crush them up to try it out), crushed nuts, etc, etc, etc. Just make sure you sprinkle on your topping before the coating is dry!!

ENJOY!!!!

DESSERT!

So, as I previously mentioned, I slaved away ;) for the past 13 months in some classes. Some of the students enrolled in this program traveled from hours away to participate in these classes. During the past 2 Julys, when classes were the most frequent and intense, the students who traveled from far-away-places to be a part of the program "lived" in hotels here in Bloomington (the class also had members up in the Chicago area; students attended whichever location was more convenient for them and we had class via Polycomm, which was kinda annoying). Tuesday night this week was the last night that these students would be staying overnight, so the 8 of us here in Bloomington went out for dinner/drinks together. Amelia, a fun girl I have become friends with, ordered "Gooey Butter Cake" at Baxter's Grill here in town...and they all analyzed it (I couldn't try it, of course) and decided it wasn't gooey at all and wasn't even really that good. So, I googled a recipe for Gooey Butter Cake and adapted it to be GF and made some to bring to class on Wednesday! It appeared to be a hit!
Here's the recipe:

1pkg yellow cake mix (I used Betty Crocker's gluten free yellow cake mix)
1 stick of butter
1 egg
-Mix the dry cake mix with the 1 stick of butter (melted) and 1 egg; press into an ungreased 9x13 pan

Then Cream Together:
1 brick cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
4 cups confectioner's sugar
1 tsp vanilla
-Pour over cake mixture, spreading to the edges. Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 35-40 minutes.

I served it plain...but classmates (who are from the St. Louis area, where apparently this dessert originated) suggested sprinkling powdered sugar on top of the cooled cake, or serving with fruit or a variety of dessert sauces. YUM! Another classmate said that she wondered if brown sugar sprinkled on top would be good...I think that sounds great! Maybe I'll try that next time :)

GF French Toast

So my brother, Dan, and his girlfriend, Laura, stayed with us Saturday night so I made a big breakfast for all of us on Sunday morning. I performed an experiment (risky, I know ;)) that ended up being decently successful. I used slices of my Whole Foods Cinnamon Raisin Bread (kept in the freezer section at Whole Foods and stays in my freezer at home) and dipped it in a mixture I made of 1 egg, 1 cup of milk, and some cinnamon...then cooked each side in a frying pan (I used non-stick pans so I didn't need to add any butter or anything for frying). I served the slices with the obligatory maple syrup...and they were actually pretty good! I'd say it's definitely a viable GF breakfast option...pretty tasty, and really easy! :)

Also, this past week I performed another experiment...gluten free cheesecake brownies. I used a Namaste mix (I hadn't used that brand before; I found it at Naturally Yours here in Bloomington) and prepared it as instructed on the package. After spreading the batter in a 9x13 pan, I mixed 1/2 brick of 1/3 less fat cream cheese with 1 egg and some powdered sugar (maybe approx. 1/2 cup; I just sprinkled some randomly in there ;) That's how I tend to bake/cook!!) until it was well blended. Then, I spread this out in a swirly pattern on top of the brownies. I baked the brownies as directed on the package...and they turned out pretty yummy!

Ok, as long as I wrote about 2 success stories, I should confess that approx. 1 1/2 weeks ago I did have a baking failure ;). I wanted to try to make a pound cake (from my 1000 Gluten Free Recipes book) but didn't have eggs...so I substituted banana for the egg (something I had read online was a viable option for people with egg allergies). Well, it may work...but I under baked it and didn't realize it until about 30 minutes after I had removed it from the oven and was cutting a slice for Jeremy (I planned to serve it with vanilla ice cream and strawberries...good thoughts, right?!)...I realized that the center was kind of gooey...in a really odd way. So, I threw it back in the oven for a while ;). Let's just say, it never really recovered ;). I sulked, as is my typical reaction when I fail at something, and left it on the counter for a good two days before throwing it away. What, did I expect that it would miraculously turn into something edible?! ;)

Oh well, 2 for 3 isn't TOO bad, now is it?! ;)

Have a great day! Happy GF eating to you :)

Flourless Chocolate Cake...mmmmmm!!

This week we had a potluck planned for Tuesday over lunch at work....so of course I knew I had to find some kind of new recipe to make! My mom had told me about a recipe for flourless chocolate cake that she had heard on a morning show on ABC I think...and had e-mailed me a link to it. The recipe looked and sounded delicious...and it was by Emeril, so it HAD to be good, right?! :) I gave it a try...here's the recipe for all of you adventurous-sorts out there!!

Flourless Chocolate Cake
(by Rachel and Emeril ;) )
~1 pound semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (I used four bars of Ghiardelli semi-sweet chocolate baking bars)

~1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes, plus 1/2 tablespoon (I used Land O' Lakes, our butter of choice in this house ;), and it was actually the salted variety because that was all we had at the time...and it was fine)

~1/4 cup Kahlua (I am cheap and didn't want to buy a $20 bottle of Kahlua, so I used this Bolthouse Farms Mocha Cappuchino chocolate milk drink I had in my fridge...also worked great!!)

~8 large eggs (organic, of course ;))

~1/4 cup sugar

~1 teaspoon vanilla (be sure it's gluten free!! Some aren't!)

~1/2 teaspoon salt

~Confectioners' sugar or cocoa powder, for garnish (I just used the powdered sugar; I figured there was already plenty of chocolate! ;))

~Fresh raspberries, for garnish (I forgot to get these; so I just had the powdered sugar...it was fine ;) Fruit, though, would make it even prettier!!)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Using 1/2 tablespoon butter grease a 9-inch springform pan and line bottom with a parchment round (I didn't have a round, so I just roughly cut one from my big roll of it!). Cover pan underneath and along sides with foil and set in a roasting pan (I used a cake pan! I don't have a big roasting pan).

Bring a medium saucepan of water to boil. Combine the chocolate, butter, and Kahlua (or chocoalte milk! ;) ) in a metal bowl set over simmering water or in the top of a double boiler (I don't have a double boiler, so I used a medium-sized sauce pan and put a metal bowl on top). Melt the mixture, stirring constantly, until smooth and creamy, about 5 minutes; reserve.

Meanwhile combine eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt in a large bowl and whisk with an electric mixer until frothy and almost doubled in volume, about 5 to 10 minutes (honestly, I probably did closer to 4-5 minutes). Fold 1/3 of egg mixture into chocolate mixture using a rubber spatula. Repeat this process 2 more times until all of egg mixture has been folded into chocolate mixture.

Pour batter into prepared springform pan and place in the roasting pan (I poured it into the prepared pan that was already inside the "roasting pan"/cake pan). Pour enough boiling water into the roasting pan to come about halfway up the sides of the springform pan.

Bake until cake has risen slightly and edges are just beginning to set, about 40-45 minutes. Remove cake from roasting pan and cool on wire rack to room temperature. Remove foil, cover, and refrigerate overnight. Remove cake from refrigerator about 30 minutes before serving. Remove springform pan sides, invert cake onto a large plate, and peel away parchment paper from bottom (this part took a while since I was being careful! The bottom of the springform pan was stuck to the paper, which was stuck to the cake. I bent a fingernail trying to pry them all apart! Be careful!!).

Reinvert cake on another large plate or serving platter and garnish with confectioners' sugar or cocoa powder immediately before serving.Yum yum!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I took some photos to put with this blog entry...but I deleted them off my camera accidentally before uploading them onto the computer! DARN it all!!!!

Pumpkin bar recipe

A few posts ago, I mentioned a Thanksgiving dinner get-together we had with our friends Adam and Jami this past Friday night. Well, I thought I'd post the DELICIOUS Pumpkin Bar recipe...since they truly are pretty darn awesome! They are (of course) gluten free, but you'd really never know there was anything "different" about them. Jami made them initially because her mom is allergic to wheat and lots of spices, so she started experimenting with gluten-free flours. She gave me the recipe this past week and I made the bars for dessert for our dinner Friday. Jeremy loved them! That's a true test, because he's not typically overly excited about cake/bar type items. We also shared them with my brother Dan and his girlfriend Laura...and they also enjoyed them! Yahoo! Ok, without further ado, here's the lovely recipe! ;)

Jami and Rachel's Pumpkin Bars

1 small can of pumpkin (not the pie filling; just plain pumpkin)
2 c. sugar
1 c. oil
4 eggs
Mix these first four ingredients together, and then add:
2 c. flour (I used 3/4 c. tapioca flour and 1 1/4 c. Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Baking Mix)
2 t. cinnamon (the recipe doesn't call for it, but I also sprinkled in some nutmeg along with the cinnamon)
1 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
Also, Jami didn't make the bars with xanthan gum and reportedly they were fine...but I added about 1/4 t. xanthan gum

Bake in a 10x15 pan* at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Frost with the following icing recipe when cool.

Icing:
3 1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 t. vanilla
1/2 c. butter
8 oz. cream cheese
(I wanted a thinner icing, so I also added approximately 1 Tablespoon of milk).

These bars are truly awesome....ENJOY!

*I don't have a 10x15 pan...I have a larger sheet cake pan and a smaller bar pan...so I just baked them in a 9x13 cake pan. They were thicker (obviously) than bars typically are, but they were great!

procrastination...

So I am somewhat dreading Thanksgiving this year...because what the heck will I eat?! So, I started rummaging around through other peoples' blogs online...

AWESOME---I want this at my family's Thanksgiving dinner this year!

SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE
6 or 7 cooked mashed sweet potatoes (baked or boiled) selection tip: choose small or medium sweet potatoes with smooth skin and no/few bruises
1/4 cup butter
1 egg
3 or 4 Tablespoons brown sugar
1/2- 3/4 teaspoon vanilla, depending on taste
1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon (optional)
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (fresh is important or you may get a flavor that overwhelms the sweet potatoes- so aim for fresh!)
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
1/2 cup pecan halves for topping
salt to taste
Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a bowl except the egg and the pecan halves (topping). Taste the mixture and adjust your salt and sugar if needed. Stir in egg. Put in casserole dish and top with pecan halves. I like to make some sort of design with the topping, but it is not necessary. Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees or until set.
Make ahead: This sweet potato casserole can be made one day ahead. Just refrigerate and top with plastic wrap. I add my pecan halves before I put it in the oven and add an additional 5-7 minutes to the baking time.
Serves 8-10

Also DELICIOUS-sounding!

FROZEN PUMPKIN PIE
1 quart ice cream (good flavors to use: Praline, Butter Pecan, Cinnamon, Cheesecake, Vanilla, etc) slightly softened
1 16 oz. can cooked pumpkin
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ginger
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups whipping cream
1/2 cup pecan halves for garnish
DIRECTIONS:
Put an 8 inch springform pan in the freezer for at least 30 minutes. Spoon the softened ice cream into the chilled pan, pressing the ice cream into the sides of a pan with a spoon or spreader. Place plastic wrap over the ice cream and press down to form 1/2 inch shell. Freeze for about 2 hours.
In med. saucepan, combine pumpkin, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt over med. high heat. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
In a separate bowl, whip the whipping cream to soft peaks. Fold into pumpkin mixture. Remove the springform pan from the freezer and remove the plastic wrap. Spread pumpkin mixture even over the ice cream crust. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for 3 hours or up to overnight.
When ready to serve, sprinkle pecans over the top.
This may be prepared up to 2 days in advance.
Serves 12

I think I will call my mom tomorrow and see what our Thanksgiving plans are....