Gluten Free but Gluttonous

Gluten free for many people brings to mind bland and tasteless, a similar connotation that vegan desserts have associated with them. But that's completely untrue. Granted, flavors and textures are not the same when it's a gluten-ful baked good, but GF baking has its own charms and the experimentation is endless.

This little crunchy cookie has its base in almond meal, essential blanched almond ground into flour. Such a concept opens up a whole new can of worms. Almonds, pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts - if you have a food processor or blender, a completely new arsenal of nut flours could be at your fingertips.

I used a store-bought almond meal because that's what I had on hand and wanted to use up, but you could substitute any nut flour you desire.
Chocolate Chip Almond Crunchies

1 cup almond meal (ground almond flour)
1/4 cup granulated sugar (I bet brown sugar would have made them chewier)
1 egg
3 tbls oil/melted butter
a dash of salt
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chocolate chips (milk, semisweet, dark etc)

In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt. Mix lightly. Add the rest of the liquid ingredients and mix until fully incorporated. Add in the chocolate chips. The batter will be more liquidy than the usual cookie batter made with all-purpose flour since there's no gluten.

Preheat the oven to 340 degrees. Line a baking pan and drop teaspoons of batter onto the cookie sheet. These will spread, so place them 1-2 inches apart from one another. Baked for 12-15 minutes or until the edges begin to brown.
They're crispy, not overwhelmingly sweet and have a hint of almond that could be enhanced by using almond extract instead of vanilla. Perhaps the next time I come across almond meal, this will have to be tweaked to become a soft chewy cookie.


**there will be pictures... I promise. :)

Creepy Cookies

The first baked good of any semester must have a story behind it.

This one starts with stories about creeping people out, knocking on doors in the middle of the night and scaring them as they sit alone in their apartment at night. The best part comes when you see someone coming down the path whom you've never encountered before, you watch them go into a previously empty apartment and set down bags of luggage. Now those are the best "victims."

Unaware (ok... not all of them, only the ones who haven't heard of me and my oddball ways), they ask "who is it?" and I respond in a perky voice. Clearly, something is off. The best part is when the door opens and a puzzled face peers from behind the door. =D

I know... perhaps I take too much pleasure in it. But the best time to bake is the midnight hour. And anyone who is awake at that hour deserves a treat, no questions asked. =)

So, to ring in a new semester and welcome the newest members of our Regency family, here's a creepy chocolate cookie for late nights.
Salted Double Chocolate Cookies

8 oz. semisweet chocolate
4 tbs unsalted butter (1/2 stick)
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp fleur de sel (sea salt)
2 eggs
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
12 oz. semisweet chocolate chips or chunks

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two pans with parchment or foil.

In a double boiler, melt the 8 oz of chocolate and butter together until smooth. If you don't have a double boiler, place a heatproof bowl over about an inch of simmering water, making sure the bottom doesn't touch the water.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, fleur de sel and baking powder. Mix until incorporated. Set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, brown sugar and vanilla until thoroughly mixed. Once the chocolate and butter has melted, quickly incorporate the egg mixture into the chocolate mix. Stir to combine and add the dry ingredients. Mix until no more streaks of flour remain.

Stir in the chocolate morsels.Drop tablespoons of dough onto the cookie sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the top is crackly but the cookie is still soft.

It's like a decadent brownie in cookie form. Nom nom nom.

Cookie Monster Cravings

The more I stay up late, the more I feel a need to bake cookies. Not to eat them, only to make them. I suppose that means I'm more a cookie craver than a cookie monster. Sorry for disappointing you, my dear blue furred cookie loving monster. =(

But I think he would be proud. Not only did I use up ingredients that I had in my fridge but the resulting confection was soft and chewy, perfect on its own or with a glass of cold milk in the middle night. So if you're in the Caribbean, have some coconut on hand, haven't quite gotten to the point of rum and don't have any lime, here's a tasty suggestion.

Chewy Coconut Almond Cookies

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp almond extract
1 egg
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2-2 1/2 cups shredded/flaked coconut, sweetened

Cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the egg and almond extract (I ran out of vanilla so I used almond, but either is acceptable and yummy) and mix until combined. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt, sifting the ingredients together before adding to the butter/egg mixture. Stir until mostly combined before adding the coconut. The batter will seem a little dry at first but keep mixing until you get a butterscotch colored cookie dough that smells of coconut and almond.
Preheating the oven to 350 degrees, line a pan with foil or parchment. Form teaspoon sized mounds of batter on the pan; they will spread so have them about 2 inches apart. Bake for 8-10 minutes at 350 (I baked them for 8 min). When you take them out, they'll still be very soft. Let them sit untouched for 5-10 minutes to cool and get a little harder before transferring to a plate.

Craving Cookies, Chocolate and a Comfort Book

Cravings in the middle of the night aren't always the best idea... or are they? When cravings include chocolate, the need for baking cookies and reading a comfort book, the soothing power of a soft warm baked good spreads from morning to night, especially when paired with a mug of coffee in the early morning hours following a night of little sleep and too much endocrine physio.

So, searching for a slightly healthy cookie but with all of the trappings of an unhealthy treat, here's a cocoa colored cookie to fulfill those late night cravings.

Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
1/4 cup oil
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
4 cups old-fashioned oats
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1/4 cup water

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars. When combined, add vanilla, the egg, oil (I actually left out the oil, adding perhaps a tablespoon after mixing the wet/dry ingredients together) and water, stirring until incorporated. In a separate bowl, sift together, the flour, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. When mostly combined, add the oats and mix until no large clumps of flour and oats remain.

Preheating the oven to 350 degrees, line and oil a sheet pan. Form tablespoons of cookie dough on the sheet pan, pressing down lightly if you want thinner cookies. Bake for 15 mins at 350 or until done. Makes about 30 cookies.

*Yes, I realize there is no picture this time. =( If they're not gone by the afternoon, perhaps there shall be one. ^_^

O is for Oreo, and my Open mouth

It was a rainy Emancipation Day on the island. It was meant to be... stir-fried noodles, chocolate dipped everything, cream cheese and nachos in an amazing townhouse.

Have I set the scene yet? ^_^

Good. Now imagine... in a fit of controlled crushing, we turned a package of regular Oreos into fine pieces of chocolate crumbles. But it's not the end. The pièce de résistance was the addition of a block of softened cream cheese to tie the entire recipe together. It was no surprise that the first batch of Oreo truffles disappeared in the span of a day (maybe two...) and prompted the purchase of another bag.Why, you ask? Because they're good. Is there any other reason for buying chocolate cookies sandwiching sweet cream in between them?

So, a few days later, in another neurotic compulsion to do something with my hands, I filled a gallon sized ziploc with a 16 oz package of Oreos, half a dozen Ferrero Rocher chocolates and half a dozen Ferrero Rondnoir and proceeded to smash them into bits. I must say, it was quite a satisfying procedure. ^_^ But for those who require a bit more instruction, here's the recipe.

Oreo Truffles
1 - 16.6 oz package of Oreos (regular, mint, fudgies, chocolate, whichever you like)
1 - 8 oz block of cream cheese
a dash of vanilla, mint, almond extract - whatever flavor you like
(If you were feeling a little overwhelmed with the amount of chocolate you have stashed away, like yours truly, a handful of Ferrero Rochers crush up wonderfully)
1 - 12 oz bag of chocolate chips (milk, semi-sweet, dark, white, or any combination)

So taking the entire bag of Oreos, empty the cookies into a gallon sized Ziploc bag and close it. This is your opportunity to work out a bit of that stress you feel. If you're adding in chocolate candies, this is the time to add them in (the hazelnuts in the centers crush up just as easily). If you have more technology at your fingertips, feel free to pulse them into oblivion using your handy-dandy food processor.

Transfer the cookie crumbles into a large bowl and add the block of softened cream cheese. Now taking a fork, your bare hands, (a potato masher works amazingly!) combine everything together. Don't forget to sneak a taste. ^_^ When everything is incorporated, add the extract of your choice if you have it on hand and mix.To form the truffles, take a small ice cream scoop or a tablespoon measure and make a mounding ball, dropping the finished truffle onto a parchment or foil lined sheet pan. Repeat until all of the mixture is used up. Place in the fridge to cool and harden while you melt the chocolate in the microwave or double boiler. The freezer is a quickie way to get the truffles cool and hard enough to dip without falling apart into the melted chocolate. Granted, it just means more for the baker. ;)

Taking the truffles, dip them one by one into the chocolate, coating them completely before returning them to the sheet pan. When all of them have been coated, return to the fridge or freezer until the chocolate has set up again. Then... munch!The hard chocolate coating compliments the soft, melt in your mouth texture of the truffle. Now, I'm a purist and have made chocolate truffles from scratch but there's a time and place for everything and these Oreo truffles balls are perfect for rainy days, mocha colored puppies and good times with friends on a tropical island.