The Best Chocolate Cookies in the Universe

Note: sandwiching with mint chocolate chip ice cream only makes the best even better.

Best in the Universe? --prove me wrong, I DARE YOU.

They're fudgey, chewy, soft, gooey, crinkley, sweet, and delicious.  (And grain-free, gluten-free, sugar-free, dairy-free, of course.)

Recipe can easily be doubled for twice the aweseomeness.

Adapted from the 2013 Washington Post Christmas cookie section.


THE RECIPE:

Prep:
- toast 2 3/4 c chopped walnuts:  spread them on a baking sheet and place in a 350 degree oven, shaking sheet occassionally, for 8-10 minutes.  Watch carefully to make sure you don't burn them.

- separate 4 large eggs, saving the whites **

- powder 3 cups coconut sugar:  I used a magic bullet blender for this, powdering small amounts at a time.  A Vitamix could probably handle all of it at once and save considerable time.  I put ~1/2 c at a time in the bullet with a pinch of tapioca or potato starch each time, and blended until powdered. Adding starch helps create the 'powdered' consistency.

- locate parchment paper or silicone baking mats to line cookie sheets before dropping cookies.

- heat oven to 350 degrees

[** save those yolks and make some Gluten Free Pasta!! It's no coincidence that a double cookie recipe takes 8 whites, and a double spinach-pasta recipe takes 8 yolks..... :) ]


THE ACTUAL RECIPE:

1/2 c plus 3 tbs cocoa powwder
3 c powdered sugar
pinch of salt
2 3/4 c walnuts, toasted
4 large egg whites, at room temperature
1 tbs vanilla

Combine the cocoa powder, powdered sugar, salt, and walnuts - beat on low for 1 minutes.

With the mixer running, slowly add the egg whites and vanilla.  Beat on medium for 3 minutes, until the mixture has thickened slightly and looks lumpy. Do not over-mix, or the eggwhites will over-thicken.

Use a 2-ounce cookie/ice cream scoop (or let's be honest... a normal spoon) to scoop that batter onto the LINED cookie sheets.  Space cookies about 3 inches apart.

After placing cookies in the oven, immediately reduce temperature to 320.  Bake 15-20 minutes, rotating pans font to back and top to bottom halfway through. (note... this entire step is optional, but is included in the original recipe, and would probably would help for optimal results.)

Pull parchment paper with cookies onto a cooling rack and cool completely before moving cookies.

Eat and enjoy!

Pumpkin Madness!

Pumpkin snickerdoodles!

A new post? Shocking, right-- seeing as I've been completely AWOL for a very long time.... sorry about that. This week I got caught up in the fall pumpkin-everything craze!  It started with pumpkin snickerdoodles and then progressed to pumpkin-sauce pasta. I still have some pumpkin left in the can... so there may be some pumpkin pancakes in store for tomorrow morning.

I still have been being food-lazy, so I mainly used other peoples' recipes for these creations.  I made the pumpkin snickerdoodles using the awesome recipe on The Nourishing Gourmet.  They are definitely some of my favorite cookies ever!! The pumpkin gives them a delightfully fluffy texture.

In the recipe, I used coconut sugar for the sweetener.  For gluten-free flour, I used 1 cup millet flour, and 1 cup of mixed garbanzo flour and brown rice flower.  I also threw in about 1/4 or 1/2 tsp guar gum for good measure.  I also added Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips to half of the batter...... but those do have cane sugar in them. (I was feeling adventurous!)  I love the combination of pumpkin and chocolate, but these cookies were so good they barely needed the addition.

Pumpkin (sauce) pasta

Now, for the pasta, I cooked up some gluten-free brown rice penne and twisty things (don't know the proper pasta-name!) and whipped up some pumpkin sauce with the left-over canned pumpkin.

I really just made the sauce by taste, and followed the basic seasonings listed here. The base was pumpkin, olive oil, almond milk, and pasta water.  The seasonings were salt, pepper, sage, onion powder, garlic powder, nutmeg, and cinnamon.  It ended up having a great blend of savory taste, plus the implied sweetness of the touch of cinnamon.  Definitely also a winning creation.

Happy fall! Now the big question.... what are you being for Halloween???

Apple Cider Donuts with Apple Cider Syrup

MmmMMmm... pre glazed.

Perfect for the fall.  TRUTH: I ate 48 mini donuts in 3 days.  Pretty easy to make, and the result has a true cake donut crumbly-but-melt-in-your-mouth consistency.  Top them with cinnamon coconut-sugar, or drizzle with home made apple cider syrup.... or both!


 THE RECIPE:

1/3 c brown rice
1/3 c teff flour
1/3 c tapioca Flour
1 c millet flour            (totals 2c GF flour)

1 tsp guar gum
1 tbs baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp nutmeg (or more to taste)
½ tsp cinnamon (or more to taste)

2 tbs applesauce
¾ c apple juice
5 (/7, or scant ¼ tsp) drops apple cider vinegar
3/4 c coconut sugar          
2 tbs agave
2 tbs coconut oil, melted
½ tsp vanilla extract
1 egg

Combine dry ingredients. Combine wet ingredients. Make sure coconut oil is melted—place in hot water bath/heat gently on stove if not. Mix wet into dry.

Preheat donut maker; fill donut wells—DO NOT overfill, these WILL rise well. To top, spray with sprayable coconut oil, then sprinkle with cinnamon+coconut sugar. For a sweeter taste, drizzle with apple cider syrup (and cinnamon-coconut sugar, if desired). The syrup does take away a bit from the delicate donut taste, though - so take your pick!

Apple Cider Syrup:

1 gallon apple cider

First, measure 2.5 cups cider into a large (at least a gallon) pan, and note the liquid level. Add the rest of the cider. Boil for approximately 5 hours, stirring frequently (especially at the end as it thickens), until volume is reduced to 2.5 cups. Pour into sterile (boiled) glass jars for storage. Keep refrigerated. Syrup will thicken as it cools.

Boil it down!

As it begins to thicken (~5 hrs) it will begin to froth! Exciting!

Rainbow Truffles

Orange creme heart.

Purple raspberry.

Truffles galore!

Coconut creme eggs.

Pink strawberry delight-- my favorite!

\
 Naturally flavored, naturally colored, and even featuring tempered chocolate! What is tempered chocolate, and why temper?

Short answer: tempering chocolate allows it to retain its crispness, darkness, and shine. But! it's a tricky process (which I really only half-attempted here! but, it kind of worked!)

Long answer: Tempering is a process that uses temperature to control the crystal structure that develops within a material-- whether it's steel, or chocolate. In the case of chocolate, tempering allows the chef to ensure that only one type of crystals form. Naturally, chocolate can form six different types of crystals-- meaning that the structured array of its molecules can for in six regular patterns. Which of these patterns, or crystal structures, forms is determined by temperature. The most desirable crystal structure for the chocolate chef is most stable when forming around 89 degrees F.

So-- to temper chocolate, when using melted chips? First, melt chips to around 104 F to melt ALL crystal structures that may have previously been present. Next, let chocolate cool slightly and "seed" the mixture with some un-melted chocolate of the same type. The seeding causes the melted chocolate to adopt the crystal structure of the newly added chips-- provided that it doesn't melt again! To prevent the destruction of the desired crystals, do not heat the seeded chocolate over ~89 degrees. (Tricky tricky.)

I semi-did this for my recipe, and it semi-worked! I DID achieve nice, dark, glossy chocolate with a snap- thus, I consider my chocolate tempered. However, as I was making a fair amount of truffles, I had to re-heat my chocolate halfway through, and at that point it got too warm and un-tempered itself. This was evident by the lighter color and softer-shell of my egg-shaped truffles. Additionally, both varieties "sweated" when I stored them in the fridge- an undesirable effect that I'm not sure how to prevent.

Either way, tempered, untempered, chocolate is delicious. I was especially excited about these creations, because they feature natural foods as colorants! Just wait, colored frosting is next.... eventually ;)

THE RECIPE:

Filling Base:

1 c soaked cashews
2 tsp almond milk
1/2 tsp chia seeds, powdered
1 tsp lemon juice
8 drops liquid stevia

Use the following combinations to make the base into different flavors and colors:

Lemon:
1/2 tsp lemon juice
5 drops stevia

Green Banana:
1/4 large banana
1/8 c baby spinach
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp arrowroot powder


Purple Blackberry:
10 blackberries
5 drops chocolate raspberry stevia
1/2 tsp lemon juice

Coconut Creme:
1 tsp coconut oil
tiny dash salt
1 tsp almond milk
2 tbs coconut
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp agave

Pink Strawberry:
2 large strawberries
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp agave
1 crack spoon stevia

Orange:
2.5 tbs cooked sweet potato (~1 inch slice)
1 tsp agave
~7 drops {/ 1/8 tsp) orange extract / or use grated orange peel


To get nicely shaped truffles (like the heart pictured above) freeze fillings in shaped ice-cube trays, or equivalent. I used silicone ice trays that made it easy to remove frozen shapes without having to grease or line them.

EDIT: to get even better, 100% PERFECT shapes (not pictured, yet), chill shaped ice-cube tray (silicone, or greased with coconut oil). Then, generously coat insides of the shaped well with chocolate mixture. Next, scoop filling in, and top with an even coat of chocolate to seal it off. Refreeze. Then, when removed, shapes will be perfectly molded!

Chocolate shell:
1 bag Sunspire Grain-Sweetend Chocolate Chips--> use a double-boiler (or two nested pots) to JUST melt (aka, not over-heat) chips; add:
1/4 c coconut sugar
1 crack spoon stevia
3 tbs coconut oil
seed with ~1/4 c more chocolate chips, stir until smooth; do not over-heat chips, if you want to maintain "tempered" consistency!

Dip frozen filling-shapes into the chocolate, or use a spoon to help coat all sides. Place on waxed paper to set. To make egg shapes, roll semi-frozen filling between fingers to an oval shape, then roll in melted chocolate.

Check out Foodista for more Homemade chocolate truffles!

Homemade Chocolate Truffles

Orange Sweet Rolls: Pillsbury Style

These are one of my favorite things ever! Easy to make in advance, then pop in the oven for a special brunch. I slightly improved the dough from my cinnamon rolls, and topped with a delicious fresh orange glaze.

THE RECIPE:

The Dough:


½ c tapioca flour
½ c potato starch
¾ c arrowroot powder
¼ cup brown rice flour
1/4 c millet flour
½ tsp salt
1 ½ tsp guar gum
2 tsp baking powder            
1 tiny stevia-scoop stevia

3 tbs coconut oil (melted)
2 ½ tbs agave
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs                           --> combine wet ingredients; whisk in egg; add wet to dry


1/4 c almond milk    -->  add milk slowly, until it is dough consistency (a little sticky is ok.)

If dough is too sticky, dust with brown rice flour until it does not stick to your hand/spatula when touched.

--> Tape a sheet of waxed paper down onto a counter/table. Dust with brown rice flour. Place dough in the center, and use a (floured) rolling pin to roll out to ~¼ (or thinner) inch thick rectangle.


Filling:
2 tbs coconut oil (softened)
4 tbs coconut sugar
2 tbs cinnamon
2 tbs agave                        
                   ....or basically any combination of the above ingredients (leaving out the oil works fine too!)

--> Wisk together all ingredients until combined. Use a rubber spatula to spread filling over entire rectangle of dough.

Untape the waxed paper under the sheet of dough. Begin rolling dough “hot-dog style” (AKA, roll the long side, to make a thin, long roll) by lifting the waxed paper and gently coaxing the dough into a tight roll. Since the part of the roll is the tightest, starting it is the trickiest, and after that you can just left the waxed paper and let the log of dough roll on its own.

If making the dough in advance, tape the waxed paper around the log of dough, put plastic wrap around the open ends, and place in the fridge overnight. When ready to bake them, place the roll on a cutting board, and slice into ~1-inch thick rounds. Arrange them evenly spaced in an 8-inch round cake pan. Dough will expand as it cooks, so it's fine if there's extra space in the pan.

Heat oven to 350, and bake for ~30 minutes. Dough will still be soft when it comes out (don't bake until it's hard! 30 minutes max should do it). After removing from the oven, let cool in pan for ~5 minutes (ie, while you make the glaze!).

Glaze:

1 orange
1 tbs agave (preferably "light" agave)
1 tsp ghee, softened
1 tsp chia seeds (to help thicken it)
orange zest (from the rind) to taste (~1/8 tsp)
dash salt (if needed)               ----> puree in blender/food processor (Magic Bullet!)

Let glaze sit for a couple minutes to let the chia seeds work their thickening magic. Then, spread over all rolls in the pan.

Dig in and enjoy the anti-pillsbury deliciousness! (no disrespect to my guy the Doughboy)






 


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Raw Tomato Soup

BREAKING NEWS:  I got a magic bullet blender off of craigslist. It is amazing, and I love it, and I have been using it exclusively to make my meals for the last week.

Also, I have been using a ton of raw food recipes from RawOn10. I love how that site provides daily menus, complete with calorie counts! Has been KEY to my pre-Trinidad diet and weight loss plan ;)

Without further ado: I've been making a super easy raw tomato soup for dinner. I eat it cold, so it's kind of a cross between gaspacho and soup-- but since I put in olive oil and garlic and basil, it still has soup-y flavor.

THE RECIPE: (makes one serving)

1 tomato
4 inch piece of celery stalk
4 baby carrots
1-2 tbs basil
salt, pepper, garlic salt, onion, (minimal) red pepper flakes --> all to taste
1 tbs almond milk
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil

Blend it all up! And of course, garnish with celery leaves.

Makes a filling yet light meal-- dang, don't you feel healthy?

Strawberry Coconut Thumbprint Cookies

Soft, chewy, fresh, delicious, and heavenly: everything a cookie should be.

Christmas cookies #1 for 2010. Red strawberries add some color to a holiday cookie tray! Inspiration for these from The Spunky Coconut. I added coconut and fresh strawberries, to make these extra-delicious.

THE RECIPE:

1/2 cup ghee or coconut oil, liquified

6 tbsp honey or agave

1/2 cup applesauce

1 tsp chia seeds, ground

1 tsp vanilla                                      --> beat wet ingredients

2/3 cup tapioca flour

2/3 cup coconut flour, sifted

2/3 cup shredded coconut              --> add dry ingredients

Mix!  Then roll into 1-2 inch balls, flatten slightly, and create an indent in the center. Fill with strawberry filling:

FILLING;

Chopped strawberries  (~ 1/2 cup)

Xylitol           (~1 tsp/to taste)          --> sprinkle on top and mix

Bake at 350 degrees for ~12 minutes.

  Yum!

Holiday Baking: Povitica

Yum! Povitica (pronunciation: poh-vit-teet-sa) is the epitome of our family Christmas baking. Traditionally, it has a cinnamon-walnut filling rolled inside a sub-paper-thin yeast dough. Making povitica is a multi-purpose, all-day operation. The most exceptional moment of the process is when the lump of dough is genttly stretched out so thin that it covers an entire full-sized table. Next, the filling is painted all over, and then the whole thing is rolled up and baked.

Traditional povitica making, for Xmas 2010!

For my version, I used my cinnamon roll dough, and created a almond-agave-coconut oil based filling that was nearly identical to how I remember the genuine filling. Because my dough was still gluten/yeast-free, it does not "stretch" the same way that the real stuff does. However, it does roll out exceptionally well, and rolls thin enough to see the tablecloth through the dough-- which is the landmark "thinness" measurement, in my books.

So; THE RECIPE:

The dough:

½ c tapioca flour
½ c potato starch
¾ c arrowroot powder
¼ cup brown rice flour
½ tsp salt
2 ½ tsp guar gum
¼ tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder                  --> combine dry ingredients

3 tbs coconut oil (melted)
2 ½ tbs agave
1 tsp vanilla
10 drops stevia
1 egg                           --> combine wet ingredients; whisk in egg; add wet to dry

½ c coconut milk         -->  add coconut milk slowly, until it is dough consistency (a little sticky is ok.)

If dough is too sticky, dust with brown rice flour until it does not stick to your hand/spatula when touched

Place a cloth tablecloth (/old sheet) over your table. Dust with flour, then roll out dough on top. 

Using a (floured) rolling pin, you should be able to get dough thin enough to see the tablecloth through it-- the thinner the better!

See through dough = success.

 Next, spread the filling on top, using a rubber scraper. Be generous; it will soak in a bit while cooking:

The Filling:

1 tbs almond butter
2 tbs almond meal
1 tbs cinnamon
1 tbs coconut oil
1 tbs ghee
2 tbs agave nectar (/to taste)
1 tbs rice milk

 Then, lift one side of the tablecloth to roll up the whole sheer of dough. You may need to manually start the initial rolling, but after the first fold it should roll up on its own as you lift the cloth.

Ta-daa!

 Then, fold the long roll into a pan-shaped coil. (Secondary structure?) Place the baking dish upside-down on top of the roll, then use the tablecloth to flip the whole thing into the pan.

Place in the oven, and bake for ~30 minutes at 325. Slice and enjoy!

For a little extra yum, pour extra filling ontop after it comes out of the oven. It doubles as delicious frosting!

Cinnamon Rolls: Pillsbury Style

Get ready for some food porn:

So, every year for holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter) I would wake up to the delicious treat of Pillsbury cinnamon (/orange) rolls. They were fast to make in the morning, just requiring removal from their cylindrical cardboard pop-tube, and arrangement into a round pan. Then we'd pop them in the oven, and in to time we were spreading the accompanying frosting on top, then devouring the entire pan of them.

Well. I haven't eaten one of those in years.
But this time I was determined to not go without.

Thus, I have created the ultimate cinnamon roll recipe. It can be prepared ahead of time, and then the tube of dough can be chopped into individual rolls the morning-of, just like with the old Pillsbury's.

So let's make a list-- or even better-- a VEN DIAGRAM

Figure 1.1: The only difference between my cinnamon rolls and Pillsbury's is that mine are healthy and theirs are not (and make dinosaur noises, apparently)

 Here we go:


THE RECIPE:

The dough:

½ c tapioca flour
½ c potato starch
¾ c arrowroot powder
¼ cup brown rice flour
½ tsp salt
2 ½ tsp guar gum
¼ tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder                  --> combine dry ingredients

3 tbs coconut oil (melted)
2 ½ tbs agave
1 tsp vanilla
10 drops stevia
1 egg                           --> combine wet ingredients; whisk in egg; add wet to dry

½ c coconut milk    -->  add coconut milk slowly, until it is dough consistency (a little sticky is ok.)

If dough is too sticky, dust with brown rice flour until it does not stick to your hand/spatula when touched.

--> Tape a sheet of waxed paper down onto a counter/table. Dust with brown rice flour. Place dough in the center, and use a (floured) rolling pin to roll out to ~¼ inch thick rectangle.



Filling:

2 tbs coconut oil (softened)
2 tbs ghee (soft)
4 tbs coconut sugar
2 tbs cinnamon

--> Wisk together all ingredients until combined. If oils are completely melted, place bowl in freezer for a few minutes until it is a spreadable paste consistency.

Spread filling over entire rectangle of dough.

Untape the waxed paper under the sheet of dough. Begin rolling dough “hot-dog style” (AKA, roll the long side, to make a thin, long roll) by lifting the waxed paper and gently coaxing the dough into a tight roll. Since the part of the roll is the tightest, starting it is the trickiest, and after that you can just left the waxed paper and let the log of dough roll on its own.

This dough gave me ZERO problems, and it rolled up like an AMAZING dream.

I made these the night before I wanted to eat them for breakfast, so at this stage, I just taped the waxed paper around the log of dough, put plastic wrap around the open ends, and stuck it in the fridge overnight. (You probably could freeze them for an extended period of time too.)

Roll of delicious potential, just waiting to be released in the oven!

When you’re ready to cook them, unwrap the log and place roll on cutting board. Slice inch-thick rolls, and place into an 8-inch round cake pan.



Bake in the oven at 375 for ~25 minutes. Meantime, make the glaze!:



Glaze:

1 tbs erythritol (powdered if you have it; I used granular)
1 tbs almond meal
1 tbs coconut milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp vegetable glycerine

--> Whisk together all ingredients. This amount will just-cover pan of rolls; if you want a more substantial covering, double recipe.  And, O.M.G. this stuff takes like Cinnabon. Or rather, it tastes like Cinnabon smells at the mall, because I’ve never actually eaten a Cinnabon.

When rolls come out of the oven--  (they should have just a HINT of golden-ness on top from cooking; they don’t really change colors when done, but should have a firm crust on top to the touch) -- pour glaze over rolls.

Before Baking.

After Baking.

After Baking, with Glaze!

EAT!!! Phen.o.men.AL!!! :):):)

Yum! All gone.