Vanilla Frosting

I'm back!  I finished my second semester of graduate school and have now recovered and caught up on sleep.  Over the past few months I didn't take a break from cooking or trying out new recipes, but I just didn't have the time or energy to post the recipes here.  But now I'm back to blogging and I'll try to make up for my semester-long absence by sharing some of the recipes that I've been working on over the past few months. 

One recipe that I've been tweaking since the winter is corn-free and dairy-free vanilla frosting.  The two basic ingredients in vanilla frosting are powdered sugar (which usually contains cornstarch) and butter (which obviously contains dairy).  Fortunately, the Trader Joe's near us started carrying powdered sugar that contains tapioca starch instead of cornstarch.  From there I experimented with the rest of the ingredients until I came up with a frosting that the girls think tastes great.  The thing I like about this frosting is that it is so quick and easy to make.  So when I need to take one of the girls to a friend's birthday party, I just pull a chocolate cupcake out of the freezer to defrost (since I bake a batch once in a while and freeze the extras), and then make a little frosting to cover it.  Add some sprinkles and we're ready to go.

Vanilla Frosting
makes frosting to cover 3 to 4 cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup corn-free powdered sugar.  I use Trader Joe's, but Whole Foods also sells some.
• 2 Tbsp. Spectrum organic palm shortening
• 1/8 tsp. vanilla extract.  Use Trader Joe's alcohol-free vanilla extract or another vanilla extract that does not have corn syrup and is preferably alcohol-free, since the alcohol could be derived from corn. Recently I have been using Rodelle Vanilla Flavor alcohol free all natural extract, which I found at Stop and Shop.
• 1/8 tsp. sea salt
• 1 to 1 1/2 tsp. rice milk

Instructions:

Add the powdered sugar, shortening, vanilla, sea salt, and 1 tsp. rice milk to a standing mixer bowl with the whisk attachment in place.  Whisk on medium to medium-fast speed.  If the frosting is too thick and not spreadable enough, add 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. more rice milk until the frosting reaches the right consistency.  Scrape the bowl at least once and whisk thoroughly so that the salt and vanilla are mixed throughout the frosting.  Spread on top of cupcakes immediately. 

Gluten-free Chocolate Cake from a Mix

Over the past few months I have been trying out various gluten-free chocolate cake mixes. Normally I like to make things from scratch, but I wanted to have an option for myself and others when we want something a little easier and less time-consuming. In addition, I wanted to find a way to make a gluten-free dessert without having to buy a lot of specialty ingredients. Of the ones I tried, these three cake mixes fit the bill: Betty Crocker Gluten Free devil's food cake mix, Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free chocolate cake mix, and Cherrybrook Kitchen Gluten Free Dreams chocolate cake mix. All three taste great and come together with just a few ingredients. I found them at local supermarkets, so you should be able to find at least one of these brands wherever you shop.

If you're not making the cake or cupcakes for Michael, you can use store-bought frosting if it is gluten-free and does not contain milk or egg. Many of the Duncan Hines and Betty Crocker frostings have a gluten-free label on them. It's okay if the label says that the frosting "may contain milk ingredients" as a warning. It's also okay if the frosting contains soybean oil. If making the cake for Michael, use my chocolate frosting recipe.

I am including ingredients and instructions below because I had to modify them a bit to make the cakes egg-free and dairy-free. For two of the mixes I substitute banana for the egg, but don't worry that it makes the cupcakes taste like banana. Sabrina doesn't prefer a strong banana flavor and she thinks the cupcakes are great. When making a cake, grease the bottom and sides of the cake pan with canola oil. When making cupcakes, use cupcake liners or grease the muffin tin with canola oil. I find that even the non-stick pans need to be greased so that the cake and cupcakes don't stick.


Betty Crocker Gluten Free Devil's Food Cake Mix
makes one 8" or 9" cake or 12 cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1 package of cake mix
• 1 "flax egg" (3 Tbsp. hot water and 1 Tbsp. flax seed meal)
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp. canola oil (or you could try with just 1/4 cup canola oil)
• 1/2 cup pureed banana (about 1 large ripe banana)
• optional: 1 tsp. vanilla extract. (If making the cake for Michael, use a vanilla extract that does not contain any corn syrup or alcohol. However, the cake tastes great even without the vanilla.)
  

Instructions:

Follow the instructions on the box. For the flax egg, heat the water, stir in the flax seed meal, let sit for several minutes, and then stir again before combining with the other ingredients. For the banana, I recommend pureeing it in a food chopper to make it a smooth consistency and to aerate it a bit. I used about 1/4 cup of batter per cupcake. I used a nonstick muffin tin and baked the cupcakes at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free chocolate cake mix
makes two 8" round cakes or 15-18 cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1 package of cake mix
• 2 "flax eggs" (6 Tbsp. hot water and 2 Tbsp. flax seed meal) OR 1/2 cup pureed banana (about 1 large ripe banana)
  
• 1 cup vanilla rice milk or almond milk (either plain or vanilla)
  
• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp. canola oil (or you could try with just 1/4 cup canola oil)
• 1/3 cup hot water (110 degrees)
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract. If you are making the cake for Michael, use a vanilla extract that does not contain any corn syrup or alcohol. If you use a vanilla-flavored rice milk or almond milk, you can omit the vanilla extract.
  

Instructions:

Follow the instructions on the package, except use canola oil instead of butter. Instead of egg, I have used either 2 "flax eggs" or 1/2 cup pureed banana. Both ingredients work fine. We prefer using the banana, though, because this cake isn't as sweet as most chocolate cakes and the banana helps make it a little sweeter. For the flax egg, heat the water, stir in the flax seed meal, let sit for several minutes, and then stir again before combining with the other ingredients. For the banana, I recommend pureeing it in a food chopper to make it a smooth consistency and to aerate it a bit.

To make 18 cupcakes, use a scant 1/4 cup of batter per cupcake. To make 15 cupcakes, use 1/4 cup of batter. If you make just 15 cupcakes, they will take about 20-22 minutes to bake at 350 degrees. A toothpick poked into the middle of one of the cupcakes will come out with a few crumbs on it even when the cupcakes are done. They will firm up inside as they cool.

Cherrybrook Kitchen Gluten Free Dreams chocolate cake mix
makes a 9" round cake or 12 cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1 package of cake mix
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1 cup cold water
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract. If making the cake for Michael, use a vanilla extract that does not have any corn syrup or alcohol.

Instructions:

Follow the instructions on the package. Use 1/4 cup of batter per cupcake to make 12 cupcakes.

Banana Chocolate Chip Oat Bars

I knew I had to post this recipe when Naomi asked for seconds, and then thirds of these oat bars. Naomi is my pickier eater, the one who won't finish even her chocolate cupcake because she's full or not in the mood to eat any more. Yet this afternoon, and after already eating a bowl of applesauce, she liked the bars so much that she wanted thirds.

I found the original recipe here, but I modified it by cutting it in half and making it gluten-free, dairy-free, and peanut-free. If you can eat wheat, yogurt, or peanut butter, check out the original recipe, but remember when substituting that I halved the recipe to make just an 8"x8" pan of bars.

Banana Chocolate Chip Oat Bars
makes 12 bars

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup and 2 Tbsp. Bob's Red Mill gluten-free flour mix
• 1 cup gluten-free rolled oats
• 3/4 cup gluten-free crispy brown rice cereal. I use Erewhon brand.
  
• 1/8 tsp. sea salt
• 1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup ripe mashed banana (about 2 small bananas or 1 1/2 medium)
  
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• 1 Tbsp. almond milk
  
• 1 Tbsp. ground flax seed meal. I use Bob's Red Mill brand.
  
• 2 Tbsp. sunflower seed butter
  
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract. Use Trader Joe's alcohol-free vanilla extract or another vanilla extract that does not have corn syrup and is preferably alcohol-free, since the alcohol could be derived from corn. Recently I have been using Rodelle Vanilla Flavor alcohol free all natural extract, which I found at Stop and Shop.
• 1/2 cup dairy-free semi-sweet chocolate chips. I recommend Ghirardelli, Trader Joe's, or Enjoy Life brand.

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8"x8" Pyrex pan with aluminum foil. Lightly grease the foil with canola oil.

In a medium bowl sift the flour through a sieve. Add the oats, crispy rice cereal, sea salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon, and stir to combine. Mash the banana with a fork or using a food chopper. In a small bowl add the mashed banana, honey, almond milk, flax seed meal, sunflower seed butter, and vanilla extract. Stir thoroughly; then pour into the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir until combined. Add the chocolate chips and stir.

Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the edges are brown. Let the bars cool completely, at least 1 hour or more, before cutting them into squares. Once cool they will be much easier to cut and will have nicer edges.

Chocolate Sugar Cookies

In December the girls really wanted to make cookies using the Christmas cookie cutters they got as a present last year. Well, that meant I needed to find a sugar cookie recipe that did not include any eggs or butter, but that still resulted in cookies that tasted and looked like sugar cookies should. I tried a couple of recipes, but they didn't work well with gluten-free flour: they tasted either beany (due to using bean flour) or gritty (due to using rice flour).

I was feeling a little discouraged until I came across a recipe for chocolate sugar cookies. Why hadn't I thought of that before? To be honest, I've never liked regular sugar cookies all that much since they just taste like a lot of sugar. Chocolate sugar cookies sounded so much better. And, fortunately, they tasted a lot better, too. After playing around with the recipe a few times, the girls and I came up with a chocolate sugar cookie that we think any chocolate lover would enjoy. Besides the taste, the other thing I like about these cookies is that the dough doesn't need to be refrigerated before being rolled out and cut into cookies. So you can enjoy eating your cookies much sooner than you could with regular sugar cookies.

My next project (maybe for next December) is to find a recipe for a white or chocolate icing to go on top of the sugar cookies. The challenge will be to find one that does not contain any egg white or butter, but that still hardens like sugar cookie icing is supposed to. We'll see what I'm able to come up with.

Chocolate Sugar Cookies
makes about 18 cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups Bob's Red Mill gluten-free flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa. I use Ghirardelli brand.
• 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon or Starbucks Instant Decaf Via
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/3 cup and 1 Tbsp. canola oil
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract. Use Trader Joe's alcohol-free vanilla extract or another vanilla extract that does not have corn syrup and is preferably alcohol-free, since the alcohol could be derived from corn. Recently I have been using Rodelle Vanilla Flavor alcohol free all natural extract, which I found at Stop and Shop.
• dairy-free semi-sweet chocolate chips. I recommend Ghirardelli, Trader Joe's, or Enjoy Life brand.
• sprinkles -- the girls can have regular sprinkles, but if you want them to be corn-free, at Whole Foods I found India Tree brand sprinkles that are made with cane-sugar crystals.

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa, cinnamon (or instant coffee), sea salt, and baking soda. In a separate small bowl stir together the sugar, applesauce, canola oil, and vanilla. Then pour the liquid ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir to combine.

Spread a large piece of parchment paper on a flat surface. Separate the dough into two evenly-sized balls. Place one of the balls of dough on the parchment paper. With a rolling pin, roll the dough until it is 1/4" thick. (If the dough begins to stick to the rolling pin, sprinkle a little cocoa powder onto the dough and the rolling pin.) The rolled dough should be big enough to make 5 cookies using cookie cutters that are about 3 inches tall and 2 to 3 inches wide. Roll the remaining dough a couple more times to make 4 more cookies.

Place the cut-out cookies onto the baking sheet. Add sprinkles and chocolate chips (or other candies) for decoration. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let the cookies rest on the sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Repeat the procedure with the second ball of dough to make another sheet of cookies.

Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie

Another favorite food I remember from growing up is chocolate pie. For my birthday I used to frequently request chocolate chess pie, and in recent years I've asked my mom to make chocolate pecan pie when I visit for Thanksgiving or Christmas. This Thanksgiving we stayed in New Hampshire, but I still got a craving for chocolate pecan pie. I wanted it enough that I decided to make it myself, but I needed to figure out how to make it dairy-free. That way I could eat as large a piece as I wanted without any ill effects. I found the following recipe for rich chocolate pecan pie, which was already dairy-free and just needed a little modification to make it wheat-free and corn-free as well. I took the pie to our pot-luck Thanksgiving dinner with friends, and I think it was a success since there was only one small piece left to take back home.

I recommend toasting the pecans in the oven because it really enhances the pecan flavor, but you don't have to. If you do, you need to let the pecans cool before mixing them together with the chocolate chips. I failed to think of that the first time I made the pie, and you can imagine what happened to the chocolate chips when they touched the hot pecans. Fortunately, it still tasted great, even if it didn't look quite the same.

Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie
makes 1 9-inch pie

Ingredients for the pie crust:

• Go to this recipe for strawberry rhubarb pie for the ingredients and instructions on how to make the crust.
  

Ingredients for the pie filling:

• 8 ounces (about 2 cups) of raw chopped pecans or pecan quarters. Make sure that the ingredient list just says pecans. Some brands coat their pecans in corn oil.
  
• 1 cup dairy-free semi-sweet chocolate chips. I recommend Ghirardelli, Trader Joe's, or Enjoy Life brand.
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup brown rice syrup. I used Lundberg Sweet Dreams organic brown rice syrup.
  
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract. Use Trader Joe's alcohol-free vanilla extract or another vanilla extract that does not have corn syrup and is preferably alcohol-free, since the alcohol could be derived from corn. Recently I have been using Rodelle Vanilla Flavor alcohol free all natural extract, which I found at Stop and Shop.
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a baking sheet with canola oil. Place the pecans in a single layer on the sheet and put in the preheated oven for 4 to 5 minutes, until the pecans are fragrant. Watch the pecans carefully while they are in the oven so that they don't get scorched. Transfer the pecans to a plate and set them aside to cool.

Increase the oven temperature to 375 degrees. Make the crust following the instructions given here. Make the filling by whisking together the eggs, white sugar, light brown sugar, brown rice syrup, vanilla extract, and sea salt. If your brown rice syrup is cold, it's much easier to work with if you warm it up slightly in the microwave before trying to mix it with the other ingredients. (This is also something I learned the hard way.)

When the pecans have cooled to room temperature, mix them together with the chocolate chips. Spread the pecans and chocolate chips evenly over the bottom of the pie crust. Then pour the filling over the top of the of the pecans and chocolate chips. Cover the edge of the crust with aluminum foil. Place in the oven and bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for 20 more minutes, until the crust is browned and the top of the filling is set.

Let the pie cool for at least 30 minutes before serving. The original recipe suggests making a caramel sauce to go with the pie. I haven't tried making the sauce yet, but it looks like it would be really tasty.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting (Improved)

Last year was my first time attempting egg-free chocolate cupcakes. The cupcakes tasted good, but they crumbled more than I would have liked. This year Sabrina again wanted chocolate cupcakes for her birthday, so I decided to try out a new recipe. I started with a recipe for super easy, super moist chocolate cupcakes, which I tweaked to make wheat-free and corn-free. Voila! The result really was a moist and tasty cupcake that didn't crumble very much either. This is now my go-to cupcake recipe.

If you prefer, you also can use the recipe to make an 8"x8" cake, but you'll need to adjust the baking time. In addition, if you have coffee on hand, you can use 1 cup of hot coffee instead of the water and Starbucks Via. The instant coffee is just easier for us since we're not coffee drinkers.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting (Improved)
makes 12 cupcakes or 1 8x8 cake

Ingredients for the cupcakes:

• 1 cup hot water
• 1/4 cup flax seed meal. (I use Bob's Red Mill brand.)
  
• 1 1/2 cups Bob's Red Mill gluten-free flour
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa (I like the taste of Ghirardelli.)
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt
  
• 1 tsp. Starbucks Via decaf instant coffee
  
• 1 cup granulated white sugar
• 1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp. canola oil
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract. Use Trader Joe's alcohol-free vanilla extract or another vanilla extract that does not have corn syrup and is preferably alcohol-free, since the alcohol could be derived from corn. Recently I have been using Rodelle Vanilla Flavor alcohol free all natural extract, which I found at Stop and Shop.

Ingredients for the frosting:

• 1 cup dairy-free semi-sweet chocolate chips. I recommend Ghirardelli, Trader Joe's, or Enjoy Life brand.
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 2 Tbsp. agave syrup or honey
• 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
  
• pinch of sea salt

Instructions for the cake:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place cupcake liners in a muffin tin. Heat the water in the microwave until it is hot. Stir in the flax seed meal and set aside.

In a medium bowl sift together (pressing through a sieve or using a whisk) the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, sea salt, and instant coffee. In a separate small bowl, add the white sugar, apple cider vinegar, canola oil, vanilla extract, and water and flax seed mixture. Whisk until thoroughly combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Stir until no trace of flour remains.

Pour a level 1/4 cup of batter into each cupcake liner. Place the muffin tin in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the tin from the oven and check to make sure the cupcakes are done using a toothpick: very few if any crumbs should cling to the toothpick when poked into the center of a cupcake. Let the cupcakes cool for a couple of minutes in the muffin tin before removing them to cool fully on a rack.

When the cupcakes have cooled off completely, spread the frosting over them. Add sprinkles, too, if you would like. At Whole Foods I found India Tree brand sprinkles that are made with cane-sugar crystals and are corn-free.

Instructions for the frosting:

Place a small saucepan over low heat. Add the chocolate chips and canola oil to the pan. Stir frequently, until the chocolate chips have just melted. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the agave syrup, vanilla extract, and sea salt.

Pour the liquid from the pan into the bowl of a standing mixer (or another mixing bowl if you use a hand-held mixer). Place the bowl in the refrigerator for 20 minutes so that the liquid cools and thickens slightly. Using the whisk attachment, beat the liquid on medium speed until it lightens in color and thickens to a spreadable consistency. If the liquid does not seem to be thickening, place it in the freezer for 1 to 2 minutes to cool it down further. Then try mixing it again. When the liquid has turned into a frosting consistency, spread the frosting over the cupcakes or cake.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I've been playing with this recipe since the summer, and I think I'm finally going to call it good. I started with the following recipe for gluten-free chocolate chip cookies, but I modified it to suit our taste and to make it corn-free. I'm really happy with how my recipe turned out -- these cookies are amazingly good for not having any butter or egg. What I'm still mulling over is the fact that the cookies are great when they're eaten warm, right out of the oven, but they're not nearly as good the next day. Don't get me wrong, the cookie are still good the second day, but they're not that warm cookie perfection. I need to keep in mind that this is only a flaw if you can't eat all of the cookies in one day. :)

My other quandary has been at what temperature and how long to bake the cookies. I've decided just to leave the decision up to you. If you like the cookies to be a little crunchy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside, then bake them at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes, until just golden brown. If you like your cookies a bit crunchier, then bake them at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. And if you prefer your chocolate chip cookies to be "soft baked," then use just 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar, instead of 1 teaspoon, and bake them at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes.

Chocolate Chip Cookies
makes about 18 cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Bob's Red Mill gluten-free flour
• 1 Tbsp. flax seed meal. I used Bob's Red Mill brand.
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. cream of tartar
• 2 Tbsp. granulated white sugar
• 3 Tbsp. unsweetened applesauce
• 1/4 cup Spectrum organic shortening. I use this palm shortening because we still react a bit to regular shortening, which is made from soybean oil.
  
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract. Use Trader Joe's alcohol-free vanilla extract or another vanilla extract that does not have corn syrup and is preferably alcohol-free, since the alcohol could be derived from corn. Recently I have been using Rodelle Vanilla Flavor alcohol free all natural extract, which I found at Stop and Shop.
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• 2/3 cup dairy-free semi-sweet chocolate chips. The two kinds I use that do not contain milk fat are Trader Joe's semi-sweet chocolate chips and Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (or 375 degrees if you want crunchier cookies). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Sift the flour into a medium bowl. Whisk in the flax seed meal, baking soda, and cream of tartar. Set aside. Into a small bowl add the white sugar, applesauce, shortening, vanilla extract, brown sugar, and sea salt. Whisk these ingredients together until they are thoroughly combined and the mixture has become light and fluffy. Pour the sugar and shortening mixture into the flour mixture and stir until no traces of flour remain. Then stir in the chocolate chips.

Using a cookie scoop (which holds about 1 1/2 Tbsp. of dough), scoop balls of cookie dough and place them on the baking sheet about 2 inches apart. These cookies spread quite a bit, so be sure not to place the balls of dough too close together. I usually bake just 9 cookies per baking sheet. Bake one sheet of cookies at a time for about 10 to 12 minutes, until the cookies are just turning golden brown around the edges. Let the cookies cool for about 3 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire rack.

The cookies are best eaten while still warm. If you have any leftover, place them while still warm in an airtight container. This helps to prevent them from becoming stale.

Sunflower Seed Butter and Maple Cookies

Isn't the color of these cookies awesome? The green inside is due to a chemical reaction of the sunflower seed butter, maple syrup, and baking soda. I think it's great. The flavor of the cookies is great, too. This recipe is based on one in The Allergen-Free Baker's Handbook; however, I modified it to make it corn-free. I've been working on this recipe because the last time I visited my mom, she asked if I had a sunflower seed butter cookie recipe to use up the rest of the jar that she had bought for Sabrina and Naomi's sandwiches. I didn't have a recipe at the time, and I wanted to come up with one before our next visit. So here it is. I really like the combination of the sunflower seed butter, maple syrup, and cinnamon. I added the chocolate chips because a bit of chocolate makes most cookies better. And the cool green color is just a bonus.

Sunflower Seed Butter and Maple Cookies
makes about 24 cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Bob's Red Mill gluten-free flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup sunflower seed butter
• 3/4 cup pure maple syrup. I like using grade B because it has more flavor.
• 2 Tbsp. flax seed meal. I use Bob's Red Mill brand.
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract. Use Trader Joe's alcohol-free vanilla extract or another vanilla extract that does not have corn syrup and is preferably alcohol-free, since the alcohol could be derived from corn. Recently I have been using Rodelle Vanilla Flavor alcohol free all natural extract, which I found at Stop and Shop.
• 1/2 cup dairy-free semi-sweet chocolate chips. The two kinds I use that do not contain milk fat are Trader Joe's semi-sweet chocolate chips and Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a small bowl sift the flour, baking soda, and cinnamon. I shake the ingredients through a sieve or stir them using a wire whisk. Measure the sunflower seed butter using solid measuring cups and scrape it into a medium size microwave-safe bowl. If your sunflower seed butter is refrigerated, microwave it for about 30 seconds to warm it up. Measure the maple syrup using a liquid measuring cup. Add the maple syrup, flax seed meal, and vanilla extract to the bowl, and stir. Next stir in the dry ingredients until no trace of flour remains. Then stir in the chocolate chips.

Using a cookie scooper or a tablespoon measuring spoon, scoop the dough and place it on the baking sheet, keeping a couple of inches between scoops of dough. Press down slightly on the balls of dough. If you use a small scooper, then you'll need two baking sheets and the recipe will make about 24 small cookies. Bake the sheets one at a time in the middle of the oven for 10 minutes each. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to continue cooling.

Chocolate Mug Cake

This dessert is for days when you want to have a dessert RIGHT NOW. It's also for days when it's way too hot to turn on the oven, like it was for us last week. The only not-so-quick part about the original recipe was that it called for coffee to enhance the chocolate flavor. We're tea drinkers here, not coffee drinkers, so we don't usually even have coffee beans in the house. Fortunately, I discovered a fast solution when I want to add a bit of coffee flavor to my chocolate dessert. The new Starbucks instant coffee called Via is 100% microground coffee without any corn products added, unlike most other instant coffees. So now, from start to finish, I can have my chocolate cake with a hint of coffee in just 15 minutes. If you are a coffee drinker and usually have some in the house, just use coffee instead of the water in the recipe and omit the instant coffee granules.

Chocolate Mug Cake
serves 2 adults

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp. (or more) dairy-free semi-sweet chocolate chips. The two kinds I use that do not contain milk fat are Trader Joe's semi-sweet chocolate chips and Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips.
• 1/4 cup Bob's Red Mill gluten-free flour
• 2 Tbsp. Ghirardelli unsweetened cocoa
  
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• pinch of sea salt
  
• 1/4 tsp. Starbucks Via Ready Brew instant coffee (optional -- or use 1/2 tsp. if you like a more pronounced coffee flavor)
• 3 1/2 Tbsp. light brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp. unsweetened applesauce
• 2 1/2 Tbsp. water (or coffee)
  
• 1/2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract. Use Trader Joe's alcohol-free vanilla extract or another vanilla extract that does not have corn syrup and is preferably alcohol-free, since the alcohol could be derived from corn. Recently I have been using Rodelle Vanilla Flavor alcohol free all natural extract, which I found at Stop and Shop.

Instructions:

Take 2 mugs or 7-ounce ramekins and sprinkle 1 tablespoon of chocolate chips (or more if you would prefer) in the bottom of each. In a small bowl whisk together the flour, unsweetened cocoa, baking soda, sea salt, and instant coffee. In a separate bowl combine the brown sugar, applesauce, water, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla extract. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ones. Divide the batter evenly into the two mugs. Place the mugs in the microwave and heat on high for 1 minute 10 seconds. Remove the mugs from the microwave and let cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Berry Pudding Cake

I really like pies, especially strawberry rhubarb pie. However, pies require some effort to make and even more waiting time while they bake and cool. Often when I want a dessert, I want it now. . . or at least within an hour of starting to make it. So I was looking for a new dessert that would contain strawberries and rhubarb and be just as tasty as a pie, but that would be much simpler and faster. Then I came across a recipe for berry pudding cake. I tried it, and it's my new favorite berry dessert. Michael liked it well enough that he was willing to help with taste-testing, three times over the past couple of weeks. We had to try the cake with strawberries and rhubarb, just strawberries, and rhubarb and blueberries. I wouldn't want to suggest a berry combination without knowing if it would taste good, right? All three were great, so just use whatever kind of berries is in season, or you can even use frozen berries. I used some blueberries that I had frozen from last summer, and the cake turned out just as good. The original recipe calls for orange zest, but I decided to use lemon since we really like the combination of lemon and fruit.

Berry Pudding Cake
serves 4 adults

Ingredients:

• 2 packed cups of fresh berries (like blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, or sliced strawberries -- for strawberries it equals 16 oz.) OR 1 packed cup of berries and 1 cup of rhubarb (about 1 to 2 stalks, depending on their size)
• 1/2 cup and 1 or 2 Tbsp. granulated white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract. Use Trader Joe's alcohol-free vanilla extract or another vanilla extract that does not have corn syrup and is preferably alcohol-free, since the alcohol could be derived from corn. Recently I have been using Rodelle Vanilla Flavor alcohol free all natural extract, which I found at Stop and Shop.
• zest from 1 lemon
• 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2 cup Bob's Red Mill gluten-free flour
• 1/8 tsp. sea salt
• 1/8 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8x8" Pyrex pan lightly with olive oil. Rinse the berries and rhubarb. If using strawberries, cut the tops off and cut them into slices. If using rhubarb, cut the ends off the stalks, cut the stalks in half length-wise, and then cut them width-wise into 1/4"-wide pieces. (If you cut them thicker than this, they may end up still crunchy at the end of the baking time.) If using tart berries or rhubarb, place all of the fruit in a medium bowl and toss with 1 to 2 tablespoons of sugar. Then transfer the berries to the Pyrex pan and spread evenly over the bottom of the pan.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, and cream of tartar. Zest the lemon and set aside. In a second medium bowl add the sugar, vanilla extract, olive oil, lemon zest, and eggs. Whisk for 1 minute, until the egg mixture is lighter in color and frothy. Then whisk in the flour mixture until just combined. Carefully pour the batter over the fruit. Put the pan in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Let the cake cool for 10 minutes before serving. If you would like, you can serve the cake with powdered sugar. (Most powdered sugar contains corn, so we just ate the cake without it.)

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookie Bites

I've been trying to find simple dessert recipes that don't require too many ingredients. And I needed to use up some ripe bananas sitting on my counter. When I stumbled across the following recipe, I thought it might be just the thing. It was! The cookies turned out great even with my modifications. These cookies are not your typical chewy or crunchy cookie -- instead, they're more like a soft-baked cookie or even a brownie in consistency. And they're close to bite-size, which means you can eat several, and then go back for just one more. Another version I found includes chopped dried dates, which I might try sometime if I remember to buy some dates.

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookie Bites
makes about 20 to 24 cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 and 1/3 cup Bob's Red Mill gluten-free rolled oats
• 1/4 cup of oats
• 3 Tbsp. flax seed meal. I used Bob's Red Mill brand.
• 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1 cup of mashed ripe banana (about 2 medium bananas)
• 2 Tbsp. canola oil
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract. Use Trader Joe's alcohol-free vanilla extract or another vanilla extract that does not have corn syrup and is preferably alcohol-free, since the alcohol could be derived from corn. Recently I have been using Rodelle Vanilla Flavor alcohol free all natural extract, which I found at Stop and Shop.
• 1/2 cup dairy-free semi-sweet chocolate chips. The two kinds I use that do not contain milk fat are Trader Joe's semi-sweet chocolate chips and Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a food chopper, briefly chop the 1 and 1/3 cup oats and pour them into a large bowl. Add the 1/4 cup of oats to the food chopper and chop them until they are finely ground. Pour the ground oats into the large bowl. Add the flax seed meal, cinnamon, sea salt, and baking soda, and stir all of the dry ingredients to combine.

Peel the bananas and cut them into 1/2-inch wide rounds. Place these banana pieces in the food chopper and chop until the banana is completely pureed. Measure out 1 cup of mashed banana and pour it into a medium bowl. (If your two bananas do not equal 1 cup, you can make up the difference with some unsweetened applesauce.) Add the canola oil and vanilla extract to the bananas and stir to combine.

Pour the banana mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Stir in the chocolate chips. Then place tablespoonfuls onto the baking sheet. (I used a cookie dough scoop, which measures a little more than 1 tablespoon per cookie. The original recipe says to measure about 2 tsp. of dough per cookie.) If you would like, you can press down slightly on the balls of dough.

Bake the cookies for about 14 minutes, until the tops are lightly browned. Remove the sheet from the oven and let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool further.

Banana Brownies (egg-free)

Since it's still been so cold here, I've been craving baked goods. And because chocolate baked goods are the best kind, I decided to experiment with egg-free banana brownies. After some tweaking, I think I like these egg-free brownies even better than the original ones. They are nice and chewy with a great chocolate flavor. This time I sprinkled the chocolate chips on top, but it would also work to stir the chocolate chips into the batter.

Banana Brownies (egg-free)
makes an 8"x8" pan of brownies

Ingredients:

• 4 ounces of unsweetened chocolate
• 3 Tbsp. canola oil
• 3/4 cup granulated white sugar
• 1 Tbsp. ground flax seed meal
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup Bob's Red Mill gluten-free flour
• 1/8 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• 1 cup mashed ripe banana (approximately 2 large bananas)
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips. The two kinds I use that do not contain milk fat are Trader Joe's semi-sweet chocolate chips and Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8"x8" Pyrex pan with aluminum foil and lightly grease the foil with canola oil.

Chop the unsweetened chocolate and place it in a small saucepan over low heat. Add the 3 tablespoons of canola oil to the pan and stir. Stir frequently until the chocolate has melted; then remove the pan from the heat and set aside to cool slightly. In a medium bowl sift the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and sea salt.

Returning to the pan with the melted chocolate, stir in the sugar, flax seed meal, and vanilla. Mash the bananas using a fork or a food chopper and stir the mashed banana into the pot with the chocolate. Pour the chocolate banana mixture into the bowl with the flour and stir just until no traces of flour remain. Fold the chocolate chips into the batter, if desired.

Pour the batter into the Pyrex pan and spread to smooth. If desired, sprinkle chocolate chips over the top of the batter. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the brownies cool in the pan for at least 1 hour before cutting them.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

I've been playing around with a recipe for oatmeal raisin cookies for a while. Michael declared that this version was "perfect," so I decided to stop playing and to post the recipe before I lose track of what I did. I like oatmeal raisin cookies because I can tell myself that I'm eating a dessert that's good for me. It's mostly oats and raisins, right? I also like the fact that the recipe comes together quickly. So when I'm in a cookie mood, I only have to wait about half an hour because I can bite into one. Or maybe two.

These oatmeal cookies are crispy on the outside and slightly chewy on the inside. If you prefer chewier cookies, use just 2 tablespoons of canola oil and add 1 tablespoon of maple syrup. I adapted this recipe for chewy vegan oatmeal raisin cookies.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
makes about 12 cookies

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup Bob's Red Mill Gluten-free rolled oats
• 1/4 cup and 2 Tbsp. Bob's Red Mill Gluten-free flour
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/8 tsp. sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 Tbsp. granulated white sugar
• 2 Tbsp. applesauce
• 1/2 Tbsp. (which is 1 and 1/2 tsp.) ground flax seed meal. I use Bob's Red Mill brand.
• 3 Tbsp. canola oil
• 1/4 cup raisins

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Pour 1/4 cup of the oats into a medium bowl. Take the other 1/2 cup of oats and chop them briefly in a food chopper. Pour the chopped oats into the bowl. Add the flour, baking soda, sea salt, and cinnamon. Stir and set aside.

In a small bowl stir together the brown sugar, white sugar, applesauce, flax seed meal, and canola oil. Then pour the wet ingredients into the medium bowl with the dry ingredients. Stir just until incorporated. Then stir in the raisins.

Place tablespoonfuls of the dough onto the parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown. Let the cookies cool for about 5 minutes on the cookie sheet. Then transfer them to a cooling rack.

Chocolate Chip Maple Brownies

Another food that I find especially comforting in the winter is chocolate. Actually, I think of chocolate more as a food group rather than a single food. And recently I have had a craving for chocolate in the form of brownies. For almost a year now I have been in pursuit of an excellent egg-free brownie. A couple of months ago I stumbled upon a blog posting for egg-free brownies with maple syrup. The recipe looked promising, so I tried it. Eureka! After so many failed attempts at egg-free brownies, finally one that worked! Below is my version of the recipe, modified to make it also free of wheat, corn, and soy.

Chocolate Chip Maple Brownies
makes 16 brownies in an 8"x8" pan

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup rice milk
• 1 Tbsp. and 1 tsp. ground flax seed meal. I use Bob's Red Mill brand.
• 1 cup Bob's Red Mill Gluten-free flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder. I use either Ghirardelli's or Trader Joe's brand.
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
  
• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup. Use grade A maple syrup, unless you want a stronger maple flavor, in which case grade B syrup is fine as well.
  
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract. Use Trader Joe's alcohol-free vanilla extract or another vanilla extract that does not have corn syrup and is preferably alcohol-free, since the alcohol could be derived from corn. Recently I have been using Rodelle Vanilla Flavor alcohol free all natural extract, which I found at Stop and Shop.
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup dairy-free chocolate chips. I used Ghirardelli semi-sweet mini chocolate chips, although you could also use the regular size. Some other dairy-free brands are Trader Joe's and Enjoy Life semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8"x8" Pyrex pan with aluminum foil, using enough so that the foil extends over the edge on two of the sides. (This will make it easier to remove the brownies when they are done.) Lightly grease the bottom and sides of the foil with canola oil. Heat the rice milk in the microwave until it is warm. Stir in the flax seed meal and set aside.

In a medium bowl sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, cream of tartar, and sea salt using a sieve or flour sifter. Then stir the ingredients with a spoon to make sure that they are thoroughly combined.

In a small bowl combine the brown sugar and rice milk with flax seed meal. Heat the maple syrup until it is warm, and add it to the bowl. Then pour in the canola oil and vanilla extract. Stir all of the wet ingredients together.

Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Stir just until all traces of dry ingredients are gone. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread smooth with a spatula. Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top of the batter; then place the pan in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Place the pan on a wire rack to cool. Let the brownies cool in the pan for 30 minutes. Then grab hold of the foil to remove the brownies and the foil lining from the pan. Place the foil, with the brownies still in it, on the cooling rack and let the brownies continue to cool for another hour and 30 minutes. Then transfer the brownies and foil to a cutting board. Cut the brownies using a table knife. (A sharper knife tends to tear the brownies.)

I know from personal experience that it's very difficult to wait the full 2 hours before cutting the brownies, but they will crumble less and look much better if you do. If you don't care how the brownies look when they're cut, go ahead and dig in after just 30 minutes.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting

If last year's challenge for Sabrina's birthday was to make a cake without any wheat, corn, or dairy, then this year's challenge was to make a cake that also did not have any eggs. It took me several tries, but the girls didn't mind eating the trial versions, even if they didn't turn out quite right. I started with a Cook's Illustrated recipe for vegan chocolate cake and an award-winning recipe for vegan chocolate cupcakes. Unfortunately, these recipes didn't work as well using gluten-free flour. However, with a bit of tweaking, I came up with a version that turns out just right. For the frosting I started with a recipe for vegan chocolate frosting, which I adapted based on the ingredients I had on hand.

We had these cupcakes at Naomi's birthday party and at Sabrina's school party for her birthday. Needless to say, we've had a lot of cupcakes over the past month. I thought I might get tired of them, but not yet. Now I just need to think of a reason to make some more.


Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting
makes 12 cupcakes or 1 cake (in an 8"x8" pan or a 9" round cake pan)

Ingredients for the cupcakes:

• 1 cup unsweetened vanilla rice milk. I use either Trader Joe's or Rice Dream brand.
• 2 Tbsp. ground flax seed meal. I used Bob's Red Mill brand.
  
• 1 1/2 cups Bob's Red Mill Gluten-free flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa. I use Ghirardelli's.
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 3/4 cup granulated white sugar
• 1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract. Use Trader Joe's alcohol-free vanilla extract or another vanilla extract that does not have corn syrup and is preferably alcohol-free, since the alcohol could be derived from corn. Recently I have been using Rodelle Vanilla Flavor alcohol free all natural extract, which I found at Stop and Shop.
• 6 Tbsp. canola oil

Ingredients for the frosting:

• 1/2 cup dairy-free semi-sweet chocolate chips. I recommend Ghirardelli, Trader Joe's, or Enjoy Life brand.
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 Tbsp. agave syrup or honey
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract. Use Trader Joe's alcohol-free vanilla extract or another vanilla extract that does not have corn syrup and is preferably alcohol-free, since the alcohol could be derived from corn. Recently I have been using Rodelle Vanilla Flavor alcohol free all natural extract, which I found at Stop and Shop.
• pinch of sea salt

Instructions for the cake:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease an 8"x8" Pyrex pan, a 9"x9" cake pan, or 12 cups of a muffin tin with canola oil. If you would like to use cupcake liners, just grease the top of the muffin tin, so that any batter that rises above the liners does not stick to the muffin tin.

Heat 1/3 cup of the rice milk in the microwave until warm. Stir in the flax seed meal and set aside. In a large bowl sift the flour, cocoa powder, sea salt, and baking soda by stirring them with a large whisk. Make a hole in the middle of the dry ingredients and then set the bowl aside.

Warm the remaining 2/3 cup of rice milk. In a medium bowl stir together the granulated sugar and warmed rice milk so that the sugar starts to dissolve. Then whisk in the apple cider vinegar, vanilla extract, and canola oil. Finally stir in the flax seed meal and rice milk mixture.

Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir just until the flour mixture has disappeared. Scoop the batter into the cake pan or muffin tin and bake for 15 minutes. If making cupcakes, let them cool for a couple of minutes before removing them from the muffin tin. Let the cake or cupcakes cool completely before spreading on the frosting.

Instructions for the frosting:

Place a small saucepan over low heat. Add the chocolate chips and canola oil to the pan. Stir frequently, until the chocolate chips have just melted. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the agave syrup, vanilla extract, and sea salt.

Place the pan in the refrigerator for 20 minutes so that the liquid cools and thickens slightly. Then pour the liquid into the bowl of a standing mixer. Using the whisk attachment, beat the liquid on medium speed until it lightens in color and thickens to a spreadable consistency. Spread the frosting over the cake or cupcakes.

Double Chocolate Cookies

I like chocolate chip cookies. Yet even more than that I like double chocolate cookies, which are chocolate cookies with chocolate chips. If you couldn't tell, I have a thing about chocolate. The more the better, really. My rationalization for figuring out how to make wheat-free, dairy-free, soy-free, and egg-free double chocolate cookies right now is that my old cookie standby doesn't work anymore for our family. I used to make peanut butter cookies all the time, but then Naomi was diagnosed with a peanut allergy. So I tried making sunflower seed butter cookies, but they just don't taste quite the same, and Michael doesn't prefer them. And if you take out the egg, they really aren't at all like the chewy peanut butter cookies I used to make. Therefore, since peanut butter cookies don't work for us right now, I had to come up with a double chocolate cookie recipe instead.

My recipe is adapted from a recipe for chewy vegan chocolate chocolate chip cookies. What I like about these cookies, besides the chocolate, is that they are very easy and quick to make. From the time you start to the time that the cookies have cooled and are ready to be eaten is not more than 30 minutes. Be warned: in addition to being easy to make, these cookies are rather addictive. I only bake 12 at a time because otherwise I eat way too many.

Double Chocolate Cookies
makes as many cookies as you want

Ingredients for 12 cookies:

• 2 Tbsp. rice milk
• 1/2 Tbsp. Bob's Red Mill ground flax seed meal
• 1/2 cup Bob's Red Mill Gluten-free flour
• 3 Tbsp. Ghirardelli unsweetened cocoa
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/8 tsp. sea salt
• 3 Tbsp. granulated white sugar
• 3 Tbsp. light brown sugar
• 3 Tbsp. canola oil
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract. Use Trader Joe's alcohol-free vanilla extract or another vanilla extract that does not have corn syrup and is preferably alcohol-free, since the alcohol could be derived from corn. Recently I have been using Rodelle Vanilla Flavor alcohol free all natural extract, which I found at Stop and Shop.
• 1/4 cup dairy-free chocolate chips. I recommend Ghirardelli, Trader Joe's, or Enjoy Life semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Ingredients for 24 cookies:

• 1/4 cup rice milk
• 1 Tbsp. Bob's Red Mill ground flax seed meal
• 1 cup Bob's Red Mill Gluten-free flour
• 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp. Ghirardelli unsweetened cocoa
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• 1/3 cup granulated white sugar
• 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp. canola oil
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract. Use Trader Joe's alcohol-free vanilla extract or another vanilla extract that does not have corn syrup and is preferably alcohol-free, since the alcohol could be derived from corn. Recently I have been using Rodelle Vanilla Flavor alcohol free all natural extract, which I found at Stop and Shop.
• 1/2 cup dairy-free chocolate chips. I recommend Ghirardelli, Trader Joe's, or Enjoy Life semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Heat the rice milk in the microwave and then stir in the flax seed meal.

In a medium bowl combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. In a separate smaller bowl mix together the white sugar, brown sugar, canola oil, vanilla, and the rice milk and flax seed mixture. Stir the liquid ingredients together until completely combined. Then make a hole in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour in the liquid ingredients. Stir just until you don't see any more dry bits. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Then take a teaspoon and scoop rounded teaspoonfuls onto the parchment paper, leaving about two inches between each scoop of dough. Bake for 10 minutes. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. If you have any cookies left after they have cooled completely, place them in an airtight container.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I think Southern Living is now my favorite magazine. Why? Because the August 2010 issue contained a recipe for egg-free cookies, which I adapted to make the best chocolate chip cookies that I have managed to make with gluten-free flour and without butter. My previous attempts at gluten-free dairy-free chocolate chip cookies all turned into one large crunchy blob on the cookie sheet. Even when I refrigerated the dough to make sure that it was cold before baking, it still oozed into a dough monster once I put the round balls of dough in the oven.

I got so frustrated that I gave up trying to make chocolate chip cookies. Until I saw this recipe. Why did this recipe inspire me to try again? Because it contained an ingredient that I had never seen before in a cookie recipe: alcohol. I don't know much about food chemical reactions, but something in the alcohol caused the balls of dough to turn into perfectly shaped cookies. On top of that, the cookies were nice and chewy and didn't fall apart when we bit into them. What more could you ask for in a chocolate chip cookie?

My one caveat is that using the amount of alcohol called for in the original recipe gave the cookies a slightly odd, alcoholic flavor, so I modified the recipe to use half the original amount of alcohol. Even with half of the alcohol called for, the cookies still held together wonderfully, and they tasted great, too. The original recipe called for coffee liqueur, but I used rum because liqueurs can contain corn products.

Chocolate Chip Cookies
makes 18 cookies

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp. hot water
• 1/2 Tbsp. ground flax seed meal. I use Bob's Red Mill brand of flax seed meal.
  
• 1/2 cup Spectrum Organic shortening
• 3 Tbsp. granulated white sugar
• 3 Tbsp. light brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp. Bacardi Original Puerto Rican rum
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract. Use Trader Joe's alcohol-free vanilla extract or another vanilla extract that does not have corn syrup and is preferably alcohol-free, since the alcohol could be derived from corn. Recently I have been using Rodelle Vanilla Flavor alcohol free all natural extract, which I found at Stop and Shop.
• 1 1/3 cups Bob's Red Mill Gluten-free flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/8 tsp. sea salt
• 1/2 cup dairy-free chocolate chips. I recommend Ghirardelli, Trader Joe's, or Enjoy Life semi-sweet chocolate chips.
  

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Heat 2 Tbsp. of water in a cup and then add the ground flax seed meal and stir.

In the bowl of a Kitchen Aid mixer (or a large bowl if you are using a hand-held mixer) add the shortening. Turn the mixer on low speed and add the white sugar and brown sugar gradually, one tablespoon at a time, while keeping the mixer on low speed. Then pour the rum and vanilla extract into the mixing bowl and continue to mix on low speed until blended.

In a separate small bowl combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Then take the cup of water and flax seed meal and pour it into the bowl with the creamed sugar and liquids. Mix on low speed until combined. Add the flour mixture to the rest of the ingredients and mix on low until well blended. Then fold in the chocolate chips using a spatula.

Place tablespoonfuls of cookie dough onto the baking sheet, leaving a couple of inches between each ball of dough. Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, until they are golden. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 3 minutes before transferring them onto a wire rack to finish cooling.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

This post is long overdue, but I am finishing it anyway because I want to remember exactly how I made this strawberry rhubarb pie. Every spring for the past few years I have make at least one strawberry rhubarb pie, because I love the flavors of strawberry and rhubarb together. Some years I have more success than others, and I think that this year's pie is worth repeating. I actually made strawberry rhubarb pie twice this year, and can you believe that I forgot to take a picture of it both times? I'd like to blame the lack of a picture on the fact that the pie gets eaten so quickly. But, I do realize that I could have taken a picture of my own piece before digging in.

The first time I made the pie this year was for Michael's birthday in June. I learned the hard way that the rhubarb needs to be cut quite thin, otherwise the pieces of rhubarb don't get soft as quickly as the strawberry and you end up with crunchy rhubarb in your pie. And you don't want crunchy pie. The other thing I discovered is that if I baked the pie long enough to soften the thickly-cut rhubarb, the juices bubbled over and made a mess all over the bottom of my oven. Because I wanted to try to learn from my mistakes, and because I just really like strawberry rhubarb pie, I made it again when my sister Stacy and her husband Dave came to visit us over the July 4th weekend. This time the pie turned out just as I had hoped, and it was gone in about 24 hours.

Here are a couple of additional tips I've learned from experience. First, making a pie crust using gluten-free flour is an exciting endeavor (or, as Michael might prefer to say, an unbelievably frustrating endeavor). Gluten-free pie dough is very fragile and tends to break easily, so try to let go of your preconceptions of what the perfect pie crust should be like. It's normal to need to perform some minor surgery on the pie dough once it's in the pie plate. The second tip is to give yourself lots of time to make this pie. It takes quite a while to make the crust and to mix up the filling and the crumb topping. Then it takes even longer to bake the pie, and a while longer to let the pie cool. I would budget at least 3 hours for the whole process the first time you're making the pie.

Lastly, the crust for this pie was inspired by a recipe in Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook. The filling was based on the following recipe for strawberry rhubarb pie. And the crumb topping was based on a recipe in the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook as well as the following crisp recipe.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
makes 1 9-inch pie

Ingredients for the pie crust:

• 1 1/4 cups Bob's Red Mill Gluten-free flour
• 1 Tbsp. granulated white sugar
  
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• 1/3 cup Spectrum Organic shortening
• 5 Tbsp. ice water

Ingredients for the pie filling:

• 1 lb. strawberries
• 1 lb. rhubarb
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• 1/4 cup quick-cooking tapioca

Ingredients for the crumb topping:

• 1/2 cup Bob's Red Mill Gluten-free flour
• 1/2 cup Bob's Red Mill Gluten-free oats OR 1/2 cup chopped pecans (make sure that the pecans are not coated in corn oil)
• 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar (I'm not sure which amount I like better.)
  
• 1/3 cup Spectrum Organic shortening

Instructions for making the crust:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Take a drinking glass and fit it with water and several ice cubes. In a medium bowl, combine the first three ingredients for making the crust: the flour, sugar, and salt. Then cut in the shortening until the pieces are the size of small peas. Pour 5 tablespoons of water onto the mixture one at a time, tossing the mixture so that it becomes moistened all over. Use your hands to form the dough into a ball.

Lay a large dish towel on a flat surface and sprinkle it with some gluten-free flour. Place the dough on the towel and sprinkle the dough with a bit more of the flour. Then gently roll out the dough with a rolling pin until the dough is 3 or 4 inches wider in diameter than the top circumference of the 9-inch pie plate. Sprinkle the dough with more flour at any point in the rolling process if the rolling pin starts to stick to the dough. When the dough has been rolled enough, lay the pie plate face-down on top of the flattened dough. Grab the edges of the dish towel and gently pull them over the bottom of the pie plate (which is right now facing you). Grab the ends of the dish towel with one hand and quickly flip the entire dish towel and pie plate over so that the pie plate is now face up with the pie dough inside it. Gently press the dough into the pie plate and crimp the edges around the top of the pie plate.

To make the pie filling:

Rinse the strawberries and cut the green tops off. Cut the strawberries into 1/4-inch slices and place in a large bowl. Rinse the rhubarb and cut off the ends. Thinly cut the rhubarb into 1/8-inch slices and place in the same bowl. Add the other ingredients for the pie filling to the bowl -- the sugars, lemon juice, salt, and tapioca -- and stir to combine, so that the fruit is coated with remaining ingredients.

To make the crumb topping:

In a small bowl stir together the flour, oats or chopped nuts, and brown sugar. Cut in the shortening, or just use your fingers to combine the shortening with the other ingredients.

To complete the pie:

Pour the pie filling into the unbaked pie crust. Sprinkle the crumb topping evenly over the filling. Cover the entire pie with a piece of aluminum foil and place in the oven for 25 minutes. Remove the aluminum foil from the pie, turn the heat down to 375 degrees, and let the pie bake another 15 minutes. (If your oven tends to run hot, turn the heat down to 350 degrees so that the crumb topping doesn't burn.) Then check to see if the crumb topping is getting brown. If the crumb topping is browned but the pie is not bubbling, put the aluminum foil back over the pie and let it bake for another 10 to 15 minutes, unless the pie is bubbling. Remove the pie from the oven and let it cool on a wire rack for as long as you are able to wait. I actually think the pie tastes even better at room temperature the next day, although my second favorite option is to have the pie while it's still hot with some vanilla coconut-milk ice cream on the side.

Vanilla Creme Brulee

Michael and I were back in New Hampshire on June 23rd, the day of our wedding anniversary. Although we had already celebrated the previous weekend in Virginia, I still wanted to do something special. So I decided to try to make vanilla creme brulee, which is the dessert that Michael usually orders when we go out to a fancy restaurant to eat. There is something lovely about the taste and mouth-feel of rich creamy creme brulee. Michael also enjoys cracking through the hardened melted sugar on top to get to the creme brulee beneath. It's a wonderfully sanctioned reason for playing with one's food.

I had tried to make creme brulee a few years ago, but I couldn't get it to set up and become thick and creamy the way it does in restaurants. However, I was feeling brave, so I decided to try again. This time I consulted several different recipes before trying the following combination of ingredients. It was really pretty easy to make, and I was quite pleased with how it turned out. Since I'm not sure what I could have done wrong before, I think I'm going to blame the oven in our old apartment for my previous failures. And now that I've figured out regular creme brulee, perhaps I will experiment with coconut milk creme brulee next time.

Vanilla Creme Brulee
serves 4


Ingredients:

• 2 cups heavy cream. Look for one that does not have any additives or preservatives that could come from corn. I used Trader Joe's brand, but other organic brands might work.
• 1/4 cup granulated white sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract. Use Trader Joe's alcohol-free vanilla extract or another vanilla extract that does not have corn syrup and is preferably alcohol-free, since the alcohol could be derived from corn. Recently I have been using Rodelle Vanilla Flavor alcohol free all natural extract, which I found at Stop and Shop.
  
• 4 large egg yolks
• 2 tsp. turbinado sugar (aka. Sugar in the Raw) on top of each ramikin

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. In a medium pot heat one and a half quarts of water to boiling. Next place a small pan over medium heat. Add the heavy cream, vanilla extract, and half of the sugar to the small pan and heat until boiling. While the cream mixture is heating, whisk together the egg yolks and the other half of the sugar. After the cream mixture has come to a boil, pour one fourth of the cream mixture into the egg yolks while whisking constantly. Then pour the egg yolk mixture back into the rest of the cream while whisking continually. Pour the liquid evenly among four 7-ounce ramikins.

Place the ramikins in a 9"x13" pan. Pour the one and a half quarts of boiling water into the pan around the ramikins so that the water goes half way up the sides of the ramikins. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven, place the ramikins on a cooling rack, and cool to room temperature. Then place the ramikins in the refrigerator and let them cool for at least two hours. After the creme brulee has cooled thoroughly, sprinkle two teaspoons of turbinado sugar over the top of each ramikin and melt using a kitchen torch or the broiler.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

I love rhubarb. It's too bad that rhubarb doesn't have a longer season because I could eat it for months. There is something about its tartness that just hits the spot and provides such a nice contrast to the sweetness of the brown sugar crisp topping. Last week I made a strawberry rhubarb crisp, and I liked it so much that I had to make another one this week. I based this crisp off of a rhubarb crisp recipe in the New York Times, but I changed a few things to make it work for my family. I've been mulling over the fact that I like rhubarb crisp so much better than apple crisp, I think because even Granny Smith apples aren't quite tart enough for my palate. However, I just remembered that some recipes suggest adding cranberries to the apple crisp, and now I can't wait until fall comes around and I can try it out.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
makes an 8"x8" pan of crisp

Ingredients:

• 1/2 to 3/4 lb. rhubarb (about 3 or 4 long stalks)
• 1 lb. strawberries, stems and leaves cut off
  
• 1/4 cup granulated white sugar
• 1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp. lemon zest
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup Bob's Red Mill Gluten-free flour
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp. sea salt
• 1/2 cup Bob's Red Mill Gluten-free rolled oats
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans. Make sure the pecans are not coated in corn oil. Don't use pecans if making the crisp for Naomi since she may react to them.
• 1/3 cup Spectrum Organic shortening. (We use this shortening, which is dairy-free and soy-free, since Naomi still reacts to soy.)

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease an 8"x8" pan with canola oil. Rinse the rhubarb and strawberries. Cut the rhubarb into 1/4-inch wide pieces and the strawberries into 1-inch wide pieces. Place in a large bowl and sprinkle with the white sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Stir to combine and then pour into the baking pan.

In a medium-size bowl combine the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt, oats, and pecans (if using them). Then add the shortening and cut it in with a couple of knives. Use your fingers to break the shortening up further and to combine it thoroughly with the other ingredients. Then sprinkle the topping over the strawberry and rhubarb mixture.

Place the pan in the oven and bake uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes. When the topping has turned golden and is beginning to brown, cover the pan with aluminum foil and then bake for another 10 to 15 minutes, until the fruit mixture is bubbling and has softened.