GF Chocolate Cookies with Chocolate Chips

Submitted by: Kathleen
Original source: Gluten-Free Goddess

So I decided to tackle the Gluten-Free Chocolate Cookies with Chocolate Chips out of curiosity. You know, to see if I can even do gluten-free. OK, so I made this recipe my first gluten-free attempt because I need want chocolate. I justify it because all of this stress over what I'm going to feed myself must be alleviated, and I ask you, what better way to do that than with chocolate? Anyway, I got this recipe from the Gluten-Free Goddess who really seems to know her stuff. The recipe she offers is vegan. I like my animal products thankyouverymuch, so I used what I have.

Here is her recipe with my notes of course, because I simply cannot keep my opinions to myself:

Whisk together:
1/2 c. GF buckwheat flour or GF oat flour*
1/2 c. sorghum (jowar) flour**
1/2 c. brown rice flour**
1/2 c. tapioca starch or potato starch (not potato flour)***
1/3 c. cocoa powder
2 t. xanthan gum
1 t. sea salt
2 t. baking powder
1 c. cane sugar
1/3 c. light brown sugar

*I used oat flour. Howver, I haven't ventured out to Whole Foods since I decided to try to deprive my body of wheat, so my oats are not certified GF. But in my research, I learned that oats only contain gluten because of contamination. I figure that isn't as bad as actual gluten in the product, so I gambled and milled my oats into oat flour.

**I cannot find sorghum flour as is the case with many of these very weird ingredients in these GF recipes. The GF Goddess said a good substitute is white or brown rice flour. Since the recipe already calls for brown rice flour, I milled some white rice as a sub for sorghum. As a side note, one of the reasons I abhor the idea of being GF is because of the exhorbitant cost of some of these ingredients. BUT...the fact that I can take a fairly inexpensive staple item like rice and mill it into flour, I guess, somewhat makes up for the fact that I had to dip into my children's college fund to buy a measly 8 oz. bag of xanthan gum.

***Again, I could not find tapioca starch, so I bought tapioca pearls and milled them myself.

Add in:
1/2 c. light olive oil or organic shortening+
1 T. bourbon vanilla extract
1/2 c. vanilla rice milk, coconut milk, or almond milk - more as needed++

+I don't have light olive oil, and I thought regular ol' EVOO might taste too strong. I thought about using coconut oil, but then I figured my kids wouldn't eat that (which may be a good thing - more for me), so I used expeller pressed peanut oil.

++Like I said, I like my cow products. I used raw milk.

As you beat the dough, pay close attention to the consistency. Add more rice milk a tablespoon at a time and beat to combine until you achieve a smooth but sturdy cookie dough. [GF Goddess] added two more tablespoons of rice milk to [her] dough.

Add in:
1/2 c. vegan chocolate chips****

****I may or may not have used at least a cup of chocolate chips. I used Lindt chocolate because it is one brand I know is GMO-free. Plus it's yummy!

Instructions:
Stir in chocolate chips as best you can (the dough is stiff). Divide into 18 equal pieces. Roll into a ball and place on cookie sheet. Flatten slightly with palm of your hand. Bake in the center of a 375 preheated oven for about 15 minutes until the cookies are set. They will still be slightly soft in the center. If you bake two pans at once, rotate the pans halfway through baking. Remove the pans from the oven and allow the cookies to cool and "set" for a few minutes, then use a thin spatula to move the cookies to a wire rack. The cookies will get crisper as they cool.

And the verdict? Well, they are different. But they are still chocolate. They aren't half-bad. Really.

Healthified Cinnabon Clones

Many moons ago on my family blog, I threatened to take on the challenge of healthifying my Christmas morning cinnamon rolls. Well, I didn't get to that project in time for Christmas, but I did make them for our first day of homeschool this morning.

I used my regular recipe from Allrecipes:

Clone of a Cinnabon Cinnamon Roll

DOUGH:
1 c. warm milk (110 degrees)
2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 c. butter, melted
4 1/2 c. flour
1 t. salt
1/2 c. sugar
2 1/2 t. yeast

FILLING:
1 c. packed brown sugar
2 1/2 T. ground cinnamon
1/3 c. butter, softened

FROSTING:
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 c. butter softened
1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
1/2 t. vanilla
1/8 t. salt

Notes on ingredients: I used fresh milled white wheat flour. For the other ingredients, I used organic. I know I don't use the best sugar. There's not a trace of nutrients in organic evaporated cane juice, but at least I am not getting the GMOs that are in most white sugar.

If you forget to take the eggs out to get them to room temperature, just stick them in a bowl with hot water. Let them sit while you prepare the other ingredients, and by the time you need them, they'll be warmed up adequately.

For the frosting, I used homemade cream cheese. It's so easy! We have already discussed making yogurt, so just get out a jar of homemade yogurt. Then strain it through a cloth (I noticed you can just strain store-bought yogurt, but the homemade needs to strain through a cloth). If you strain it for 24 hours, you will have sour cream. If you strain it for 48 hours, ta-da! Cream cheese.

Instructions: (I use a bread machine for this recipe, but you can also make the dough the old-fashioned way.) The original recipe was suited for a bread machine, so the instructions are to place the dough ingredients in the bread machine in the order listed and then follow the bread machine instructions.

After the dough is made, roll out. Spread with the softened butter and then sprinkle with the brown sugar/cinnamon mixture. Roll up and cut into 12 rolls. Place in greased 9x13 baking pan. Let rise for 30 minutes. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes.

More notes: Don't want to have to wake up at the crack of dawn to prepare breakfast? The night before, make the dough, roll it out and cut the rolls. Then place them in your pan and stick in the fridge, covered. The next morning, take the rolls out of the fridge and proof. You can do this in the oven if your oven has a proofing setting. OR just boil a pan of water and place the hot, boiling pot in the bottom of the stove. Without turning it on, put the pan of rolls in the oven. After 30 minutes, bake at 350 as instructed.

And that's it...now enjoy your delicious rolls that taste just like they came from that store in the mall!

Whole Wheat Brownies

Contributed by Kathleen Pierce
Original Source: 100 Days of Real Food

So...my kids LOVED these. I did not. They were so dry and crumbly I really can't call them brownies. But I thought I would go ahead and post the recipe. I'm going to play with it a bit, and maybe some of you like to tinker with recipes as well!

I suppose it would be prudent of me to wait and tweak the recipe and then report it once it's successful, but, folks, I took a picture! So I must use it. And who knows if there will be any ice cream left by the time I remake the brownies. I think there probably won't be. The kids go to bed in T-minus 5 hours, and then I shall be alone with the remaining dairy delight. There will not be any left.

Here's the recipe with my notes along the way (because I can't keep my mouth shut!):

Ingredients:
3/4 c. whole wheat flour (I used fresh milled white whole wheat)
1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa (She recommends Hershey's dark chocolate cocoa. I recommend melting real chocolate. I will use Lindt 70% dark. Lindt is non-GMO; Hershey's is GMO, though I don't think their cocoa powder would have GMO products in it since it is unsweetened and does not have soy.)
1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 c. coconut oil
1/2 c. maple syrup or honey (I used honey as I prefer a honey flavor over a maple syrup flavor.)
1 T. vanilla
1 egg (I would use two as I think an additional egg would make it less crumby, less dry - maybe even just an extra egg yolk as the white tends to dry things out.)
1/4 c. chopped nuts (optional)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9x9 baking dish. (Did you know you can order a misting thingy that you can fill with your own oil instead of using Pam? If you go to Amazon and search "misto", it will bring up a pretty nifty little gadget. Mine is filled with olive oil.)

2. Whisk together dry ingredients.

3. On stove, melt coconut oil with maple syrup or honey and vanilla. (Here's what I intend to do next time: Melt chocolate with coconut oil. Add honey. Remove from heat and add vanilla - you should always remove from heat before adding vanilla; I don't know why she doesn't!)

4. Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Then fold in nuts if you're using them.

5. Pour batter into baking dish and bake for 16-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Basic Ice Cream Base/Vanilla Ice Cream

Contributed by Kathleen Pierce
Original Source: Doughmesstic

3 1/2 cups dairy (milk, cream, mixture of both)
3/4 c. sugar
4 egg yolks
1 t. vanilla

Over medium to low heat, heat dairy to hot but not boiling. In the meantime, beat sugar and egg yolks together. Remove dairy from heat and add vanilla. Temper eggs by adding a spoon full of the hot milk into the eggs, beating constantly. Once incorporated, mix the egg mixture into the heated dairy.

Transfer to a clean mixing bowl and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Ice cream maker: After 2 hours, follow directions for your ice cream maker.

By hand: Place in freezer. Every hour as it freezes and until it freezes, take the mixture out of the freezer and, using a handheld mixer, mix the ice cream. This breaks up ice crystals, resulting in a creamier ice cream.

Notes:
1. You can add mix-ins and other flavors after the ice cream is off the stove and mixed together.

2. To make chocolate ice cream, add chocolate chips to dairy mixture while it's on the stove. Allow chocolate to melt and mix it in.

3. For my dairy, I used 2 cups heavy cream and 1 1/2 cups raw milk. Since the milk is heated, I may forego the raw milk next time as the heat takes away some of the nutritional value anyway. If your store carries it, there is an Organic Valley product - Half and Half from pasture-raised cows - that I would like to try.

Easy Blender Salsa

Contributed by Kathleen Pierce
Original Source: (Pinterest! :-)) Mountain Mama Cooks

This salsa, seriously, is so easy! No cooking necessary, though if you have time, some simmering on the stove would serve to meld those wonderful flavors together even more.

Easy Blender Salsa

Ingredients:

• 1- 14 oz can diced tomatoes
• 1- 10 oz can orginal Rotel
• 1/2 small onion, roughly chopped
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and smashed
• 1/2-1 jalapeno, seeded or not (depends on how spicy you like it)
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• small to medium size handful of cilantro, washed
• juice of 1 lime

Directions:

Put all the ingredients in the base of a food processor or good blender and pulse to combine for 30 seconds or so until all the ingredients are finely chopped and salsa is desired consistency. Taste for seasoning and adjust to taste. Serve with chips or over tacos. (I added in some chunky pieces of onion and some cilantro after blending.)

Taco Seasoning

Contributed by Kathleen Pierce
Original source: Real Food and Health, March 2012 issue

Taco Seasoning Mix

4 T. chili powder
3 T. cumin
3 T. paprika
2 T. onion powder
2 T. garlic powder

Combine all ingredients and shake container to blend. Use two tablespoons to replace a taco seasoning packet. Because this recipe does not include salt, you will then need to salt your dish to taste.

Whole Wheat Tortillas

Contributed by Kathleen Pierce
Original Source: Rhonda Rathbun from high school :-)

Flour Tortillas (makes 12)

Sift together:
4 c. fresh milled white whole wheat flour
2 t. salt

Work in:
3 T. butter
3 T. olive oil

Stir in:
1 c. water

(I combine all of this in my food processor, which makes it a very quick task.)

Use more water if necessary until dough forms a ball. Knead well and divide into 12 equal parts. Roll each into a ball. Let rest for 15 minutes.

Roll out. (If you use oil on the countertop instead of flour, your tortillas remain softer.) I found when rolling that you must get it very thin. To do this, alternate directions and with each direction change, flip the tortilla over.

Fry on ungreased skillet.