Cheesecake Crumble Pie

I have been highly absent from Daring Baker challenges due to work, baby, and difficulty converting to gluten free.  However, this month I thought looked like fun and would be a good conversion.  For the month of November Krista & Nicole of “Two Cups of Sugar.” challenged us to make our own version of cheesecake crumble pie.  Too late in the month, I realized that there was a savory option, which I think my family would REALLY enjoy.  But, I decided to make this for my contribution for THanksgiving dessert.  David wanted strawberry version.  I used a gluten free pie crust mix that I had purchased on clearance.  Then to convert the crumble, I just used gluten free flour instead of regular flour.  It turned out really good.  The biggest issue I had was that by the time the first 15 minutes were gone, the top had crusted over and there wasn't anywhere for the crumble to stick; so, I had to break the top of the cheesecake.  The flavor was great and David really liked it.  My favorite part was the crumble.  Of course, I've always had a weakness for crumble! :-)

Cheesecake Crumble Pie
Pie crust:
Preheat oven to 425°F.  Prepare desired pie crust recipe.  Refrigerate for 30 minutes.  Lightly flour working area and roll out dough to fit 1 - 2” / 2.5 - 5cm larger than the pie pan. Gently place in pie pan and fold under excess dough. Prick the dough several times with a small knife or fork and fill with beans, baking weights or an 8” / 20cm cake pan to help keep shape during baking. Bake for 9 minutes.

CheeseCake:
Ingredients
16 oz / 450g cream cheese
¾ cup / 150g white sugar
½ tsp grated lemon zest
¼ tsp vanilla
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
¼ cup / 60ml heavy cream
Directions:
Have all the ingredients at room temperature. Preheat oven to 500°F / 260°C / Gas Mark 10.
Beat cream cheese in a large bowl until smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides and add sugar gradually while beating until smooth (about 1 - 2 minutes).  Beat in vanilla, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition.  Beat in eggs on at a time until incorporated.  On low speed, beat in heavy cream. Pour half of the filling into prepared crust then top with desired fruit, chocolate, etc.

Put the remaining cheesecake batter on top, then place into oven.  Bake for 15 minutes at 500°F.  Meanwhile, make crumble.

Ingredients
1 cup scooped and levelled / 140g all-purpose (plain) flour
½ cup / 75g rolled oats
1 cup / 200g white sugar (if you don’t want this to be overly sweet you can cut the white sugar in half)
⅔ cup / 135g brown sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp salt
½ cup / 1 stick / 113g cold unsalted butter
Directions:
Mix all dry ingredients together in small mixing bowl. Add butter and crumble together until it resembles a coarse meal (pea-sized).

Top cheesecake with crumble after the initial 15 minutes and return to oven at reduced temperature of 200°F / 95°C / Gas Mark lower than 1/2 and bake for 1 hour more. Turn the oven off, prop the door ajar with the handle of a wooden spoon, and let the cake cool in the oven for 30 minutes.  Then cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours before serving. Enjoy!

Cherry turnovers -Gluten free

Early on in September, I made David some cherry turnovers.  He really misses poptarts being gluten free.  I can't say that I'm sad we don't have those around the house but I do like to indulge him...

so I made these.  I think he mostly had them for dessert but you could consider them like a big pop tart.

 The filling was really good with fresh cherries!  The dough had cinnamon in it, which made it so much better than just regular dough.  It wasn't the easiest of doughs to work with but I made do.

Gluten-Free Sweet Cherry Turnovers from The Best of this Life

(original recipe says serves 4 but I got more like 6-8)

Dough

1 1/2 cup white rice flour

1/4 cup oat flour

1/4 cup almond flour

1/4 cup of sugar

1/2 cup butter (right out of the fridge)

2 eggs

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp vanilla

6 Tbsp of cool water

In a large bowl mix all flours, sugar & cinnamon together. Cut the butter up and work it into the flour. Beat two eggs, add in the vanilla and water – mix into the flour mixture.  Keep working the dough until all is well blended and you have a nice tender consistency.  Remove from the bowl and form a rectangle – place in the refrigerator for about an hour.

 

 

Sweet Cherry Filling

2 loosely filled cups of sweet cherries (pitted & halved)

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup of water

2 Tbsp of tapioca flour

1 tsp cinnamon

Mix all ingredients in a saucepan over high heat.  Bring to boil and then reduce to low heat and simmer. Cook for 12-15 minutes, stirring often so that it doesn’t stick.  Once cooked, remove from heat and allow to cool completely.

 

Assembly:

Separate dough into several pieces.  Roll out into a long rectangle.  Top one half with cherry filling then fold the other half of dough over and seal well with a fork on all side.Place on a baking sheet.  Then place the sheet into an oven preheated to 350.  Bake for 22-25 minutes. Enjoy!! 

Lamingtons - May Daring Baker

For the May challenge Marcellina from Marcellina in Cucina dared us to make Lamingtons. An Australian delicacy that is as tasty as it is elegant.  I was immediately excited about this recipe, because it is already gluten free.  I'm all for any conversion-free challenges!!!  However, I let this one sneak up on me.  In fact, I had almost decided that I wouldn't participate until Kate decided that we should make David a "chocolate cake" this weekend.  My only "problem" was what to dip the lamingtons in.  You see, David doesn't like coconut; so, that wasn't going to work for the coating.  I settled on a few options: rice krispies, crushed chex, almonds, and cookie decorations (for Kate!).

 Kate did a great job of cracking eggs and even had fun guessing and then seeing what color eggs turn when you beat them.  She also thought it was fun to dip the cakes.

 I ended up not dipping them all completely.  The cakes were falling apart when they had that much chocolate icing on them.  I think David has enjoyed them...he had one two nights in a row.  :-)

Traditional Lamingtons
Ingredients:
5 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup (240 ml) (225 gm) (8 oz) castor (superfine) sugar
Pinch salt
1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups (300 ml) (200 gm) (7 oz) cornflour (cornstarch)
1 ½ teaspoons (8 gm) baking powder

1. Preheat oven to moderate 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4.
2. Prepare a 4 ½ cm (1¾ inch) deep, 23cm x 33cm (9”x 13”) baking pan by lining with non-stick paper.
3. In a stand mixer bowl place eggs, sugar and salt. Using the whisk attachment, beat on high for 15 minutes. 

 While the eggs and sugar are beating sift the cornflour and baking powder at least 3 times.  Sift flour mixture over the egg mixture. I like to use a whisk but you can also use a large metal spoon to lightly fold the flour in.

Spread mixture into your prepared pan and smooth out evenly.  Bake in preheated moderate oven for 22-25 minutes. The sponge will rise quite a lot but then settle back down. Don’t be tempted to open the oven to peak. I also warn the family to walk gently past the oven! When baked the sponge will have shrunk very slightly from the sides and should feel springy when pressed gently.  Turn the sponge out immediately onto a wire rack to cool and reverse sponge so as not to mark the top. Allow to cool. It is best to keep the cake for a day before making the Lamingtons as the cake will be easier to handle.

Chocolate icing
Ingredients:
3 ¼ cups (780 ml) (400 gm) (14 oz) icing (powdered) sugar
1/3 cup (80 ml) (40 gm) (1-1/3 oz) cocoa powder
1 tablespoon (15 gm) (15 gm) (½ oz) butter, melted
½ to ¾ cup (120 ml to 180 ml) milk

Sift the icing sugar and cocoa into a heatproof bowl. Stir in the butter and ½ cup milk. Set the bowl over a pan of hot water. Stir until icing is smooth adding more milk to thin the icing if needed. I find I need more than ½ cup but not quite ¾ cup of milk.

To assemble the Lamingtons:
Cut the sponge cake into 24 rectangular pieces – 6 across and 4 down. To be particular you can trim the crusts.  Dip each piece in the chocolate and then dip in your chosen topping.  Place back on wire rack and allow to harden for 2 hours.

Caramel Chocolate Bars

Y'all, I realized today that I am nearing a whole year behind on posting.  Guess that's what having a five year old, full time job, new house, husband, new baby, church activities, and trying to stay active will do to you.  Ha! 

One random weekend in June, David decided to take on a baking project with Kate.  I think by midway through this is how he felt...

They had a lot of fun, though; and the result was SO good!  It turned out to be a really good recipe for cooking with a preschooler.  Kate enjoyed unwrapping the caramels. 

You could even use it as a counting/math lesson but having them count out the correct number or asking "How many more?" 

They can also help by stirring while the caramel melts (with adult supervision, of course!).

I really love a good, ooey gooey dessert and this definitely qualifies! 

I guess you could even claim that they would help milk supply for a breastfeeding mom with the oats...anything for an excuse to eat dessert, right?!  :-)  Oh, and don't forget to practice your whistling!

Caramel and Chocolate from Averie Cooks

Ingredients:

3/4 cups butter, melted
1 1/2 cups whole rolled oats
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract + 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips
35 caramel squares (or 2 cups caramel sauce)
2/3 cup half-and-half or cream

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F and line an 8 x 8-inch baking pan with aluminum foil, allowing for overhang (do not make this recipe unless you line your pan with foil) and spray the foil down very well with cooking spray. In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter. To the melted butter add the oats, brown sugar, baking soda, one teaspoon vanilla, and stir to combine. Pour just over half the oat-butter mixture (about 60%, eyeball it) into the bottom of the prepared baking pan, spread it evenly with a spatula, and bake for 9-10 minutes. The mixture will bubble up and foam considerably while baking. Watch it closely and the sides will show a bit of browning at about 9-10 minutes. Remove pan from oven and let it rest and cool for 3 minutes, and then sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top in an even layer.

While the mixture is baking, unwrap the caramels and place them in a medium-sized saucepan that's been sprayed with cooking spray. Add the cream to the caramels and melt over medium-high heat, stirring nearly continuously to prevent scorching or boiling. It may take 5 minutes for caramels to completely melt. After mixture has melted, is smooth and combined, turn off the heat and add one teaspoon of vanilla, using caution because the vanilla will likely bubble up a bit, and stir to incorporate.

Pour the melted creamy caramel mixture over the top of the oat mixture that has been topped with chocolate chips. It will be very soupy, this is fine. Take the remaining half (40%) of the oat-butter mixture and sprinkle it as evenly as possible over the top, using a spatula to gently spread the oats within the "caramel soup". Place pan on top of a cookie sheet as a precaution for spill-over and bake for 14-16 minutes more, or until sides of the mixture are beginning to brown (Look closely in order to discern "browning edges" from the overall brown color of the caramel mixture when it's baking; they're very similar but distinct enough to differentiate). Remove pan from the oven and allow it to rest and completely cool on the countertop before attempting to slice the bars (at least two hours) or you can expedite the process by placing the pan in the freezer or refrigerator until sufficiently cool enough to slice (but not frozen).

Enjoy!

Tart Tatin

It has been really hard to do Daring Baker Challenges since Caleb was born.  But this month, I had the perfect opportunity.  We had a dinner party and I wanted to offer a couple of desserts.  I made strawberry pie because we had someone over who is allergic to peanuts, milk, and eggs - my strawberry pie is free of all that!  Then, I decided to make this month's challenge in a gluten free style. 

For the March Daring bakers’ challenge, Korena from Korena in the Kitchen taught us that some treats are best enjoyed upside down. She  challenged us to make a tarte tatin from scratch.  I went with the apple version because David really likes apple pie.  He said he like it but we both though that the apples were too mushy.  I cooked them in the pan until they started to get soft and, I think, I should have probably cooked them about five minutes less.  Also, my apples were really large, so I had some difficulty in using quarters as the recipe instructs, but I made it work.

The dough was actually really fun to work with.  Gluten free doughs are often crumbly and just don't do well.  However, this one actually did improve in "feel" with each turn of the dough. 

I felt that the caramel ended up tasting burned but I had to keep cooking it as it was separated for a while.  Another mishap - I burned my finger.  Smart one here decided to taste the caramel...directly off the whisk.  I allowed it to drip on my finger so I could taste and...hsssss...finger was burnt!  It hurt and STILL has bumps from it.  All in all, it was a fun challenge.  I think David probably prefers my regular apple pie but it was fun to try something different.

Recipe 1: Rough Puff Pastry

Servings: one single pastry crust

Ingredients
1 cup (250 ml) (4½ oz) (125 gm) all-purpose (plain) flour (or gluten free AP flour mix)
2/3 cup (160 ml) (5 oz) (140 gm) unsalted butter, cold
¼ tsp fine salt
¼ cup (60 ml) ice cold water

In a medium bowl, combine the flour and salt. Cut the butter into small cubes and add it to the flour. With a pastry blender (or two table knives) cut in the butter until the mixture in crumbly but even, with pea-sized pieces of butter. Make a well in the middle and pour in the ice cold water. Toss the flour/butter and water together with a fork until the dough starts to clump together.

Turn the dough out onto your work surface – don’t worry if there are still pockets of dry flour. Gently knead and squeeze the mixture a few times just enough to bring it together into a square (a bench scraper is helpful for this). Be careful not to overwork the dough: there should be visible bits of butter and it should still look very rough.

Lightly flour your work surface and rolling pin, and roll the dough out into a rectangle about 10” (25 cm) long. Fold the bottom third of the dough up into the middle, and fold the top third down, like you are folding a letter. This is one fold. Turn the dough a one quarter turn so that one of the open edges is facing you, and roll out again into a 10” (25 cm) rectangle. Fold again - this is the second fold. Repeat the rolling and folding 3 more times, for 5 folds total. Your dough will get smoother and neater looking with each fold (the pictures show the first and fifth folds).

If your kitchen is very warm and the dough gets too soft/sticky to do all the folds at once, chill it in the fridge for 20-30 minutes between folds. After the fifth fold, use your rolling pin to tap the dough into a neat square. Wrap the dough in plastic and chill for a least 1 hour, or overnight.

Recipe 2: Tarte Tatin

Servings: 8-10

Ingredients
6 large or 7-8 medium-sized apples (see “Notes” above for the best type of apple for this dish)
Juice of half a lemon
6 tablespoons (90 ml) (3 oz) (85 gm) unsalted butter (or use salted and skip the salt)
1-1/3 cups (320 ml) (9½ oz) (265 gm) granulated sugar, divided
pinch salt
Rough Puff Pastry, above

Peel the apples and cut them into quarters. Remove the cores in such a way that each apple quarter has a flat inner side: when placed rounded-side-up, it should sit on a flat base. Place the apples in a large bowl and toss with the lemon juice and 1/3 cup (80 ml) (2-1/2 oz) (65 gm) sugar. This will help draw out some of the moisture from the apples and prevent an overly runny caramel. Set aside for 15 minutes.
Preheat the oven to moderately hot 375˚F/190°C/gas mark 5. Melt the butter in a very heavy, 9” or 10” (23 cm or 24 cm) oven-proof saucepan over medium heat, then sprinkle with the remaining 1 cup (240 ml) (7 oz) (200 gm) sugar. Stir with a whisk until the sugar melts and becomes a pale, smooth caramel. The sugar will seem dry and chunky at first, then will start to melt and smooth out. If the butter appears to separate out from the caramel, just keep whisking until it is a cohesive sauce. Remove from the heat.

Discard the liquid that has come out of the apples, then add the apple quarters to the caramel, round side down. They won’t all fit in a single layer at first, but as they cook they will shrink a bit. Cook over medium heat for 15-20 minutes, pressing down gently on the apples with a spoon to cover them in the caramel liquid. Move the apples around the pan gently so that they all cook evenly, trying to keep them round side down. When the apples have shrunk enough to mostly fit in a single layer and are starting to soften but still keep their shape, remove the pan from the heat.


With a wooden spoon, arrange the apples, round side down, in a single layer of concentric circles covering the bottom of the pan. Set aside until the filling stops steaming before covering with pastry.

Remove the pastry from the fridge, roll it out on a lightly floured surface, and trim it into a circle about 1” (25 mm) in diameter larger than your saucepan. Lay it over the filling, tucking in the edges between the apples and the sides of the pan, and cut a few steam vents in the pastry. Place the saucepan on a rimmed baking sheet (just in case the filling decides to bubble over the sides) and place in the preheated moderately hot 375˚F/190°C/gas mark 5 oven. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the pastry is puffed and golden brown, increasing the oven temperature to moderately hot 400˚F/200°C/gas mark 6 during the last 5 – 10 minutes of baking if the pastry isn’t browning properly.

Remove from the oven and let sit just until the caramel stops bubbling. Immediately place a serving platter (slightly larger in diameter than the saucepan) over the pastry. Wearing oven mitts, grab hold of the saucepan and platter and quickly invert everything to unmold the Tatin onto the platter. If any of the apples stick to the pan or come out of place, rearrange them with a spatula. The tarte Tatin can be served warm from the oven or at room temperature. Suggested accompaniments include vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, or crème fraîche.  Enjoy!

Cheesecake for Mother's Day

David is always so sweet to make desserts that I like when it is a special occasion.  Last mother's day, he and Kate set to work making a cheese cake for me. 

They had such a fun time and you could tell that Kate was loving the time with her Daddy...

of course, she loved licking the batter, too!

 The cake was delicious.  There was a funny story to go with it, though.  David had gotten all the ingredients at the grocery store specifically for the cake, so he purchased extra eggs. 

After he finished making the cheesecake and had poured it into the pan, he looked over at the counter and asked "what are those eggs doing out on the counter?"  Ha!  Forgot to put the eggs in the cheesecake...so, we scraped the batter out and beat the eggs in.  It all turned out great! 

David even cooked the blueberries himself. 

Almond Crust
1 cup almond meal
1/2 cup crushed, slivered almonds
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3 Tablespoons melted butter

Preheat oven to 350.  Whisk almond meal, almonds, sugar, baking soda and cinnamon in a bowl.  Stir in butter until moistened.  Pour into a springform pan and press firmly into the bottom.  Bake in oven for about 10 minutes (to set crust).

Blueberry Cheesecake
2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup sour cream
3/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons flour (used gluten free)
4 eggs

Decrease oven temperature to 325.  Beat cream cheese until soft.  Then beat in sour cream, sugar, vanilla and flour.  Beat in eggs one at a time.  Pour the mixture onto the set crust.  Place pan into preheated over and bake for 1 hour or until firm to the touch.

Blueberry Topping
2 cups frozen (or fresh) blueberries
1/8 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch.  

Put all ingredients into a saucepan and cook on the stove on medium high heat until it all thickens.  Pour over the cooked cheesecake and enjoy!

Delicious Gluten Free Brownies!

I typically try to keep David with snacks and desserts.  He can't just go get anything from vending machines these days.  When I saw these brownies I thought they looked so good! I mean, anything with chocolate and peanut butter is gonna be good, right?  Well, they were.  Just look at that fudginess!!! 

They do use almonds as the "flour" but you really cannot tell.  Unfortunately, if you are a nut-free house, you cannot use this recipe.  However, if you can eat nuts, I would highly recommend that you try this brownie.  Also, the coffee just brings out the chocolate flavor...so don't skip it!

Gluten Free Chocolate and Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies from Kitchen Mason
310g Icing Sugar, Sifted
200g Ground Almonds
80g Cocoa Powder, Sifted
Pinch of Salt
1 tsp Coffee Granules, Dissolved in 1 tbsp Cold Water
4 Egg Whites
2 tsp Vanilla Extract

For the Topping
100g Smooth Peanut Butter
35g Milk Chocolate Chips

Preheat the over to 350.  Lightly grease and line the base of an 8x8 baking pan.  In a very large bowl, whisk together the icing sugar, ground almonds, cocoa powder & salt until everything is evenly mixed.  Pour into pan.  Beat the peanut butter until smooth & loose then dot blobs all over the top of the brownie batter.  Run a knife through the batter, swirling the peanut butter around. Lastly, top with a scattering of the milk chocolate chips.

Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 mins until an inserted skewer comes out almost clean.
Allow to sit in the tin for a few minutes then remove & place on a wire rack to cool completely.

Cinnamon Roll Cake

Our Sunday School class typically has breakfast during the class.  Most often, it is not gluten free.  So, whenever I sign up, I take something David can eat.

I will also, sometimes, take something on days when I don't sign up.  Hey!  Any excuse to bake...though that has slowed down a LOT over the last 3 months.  Hopefully, I'll be able to do more as Caleb gets older.  Anyway, I made this cinnamon roll cake back in May.  It was really good and reminded me of a recipe that my mom has made a few times.

Cinnamon Roll Cake from USA Silly Yaks
Cake:
3 c. Gluten Free Flour Mix
1/2 tsp. Xanthan Gum
1/4 tsp.salt
1 c. sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 c. milk
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. butter, melted

Cinnamon Swirl:
1 c. butter, softened
1 c. brown sugar
2 T. Gluten Free Flour Mix
1 T. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350.  Mix everything together except for the butter. Slowly stir in the melted butter. and pour into a greased 9x13 pan.

For the cinnamon swirl, mix all the ingredients together until well combined. Drop evenly over the batter and swirl with a knife. Place pan in oven and bake at 350 for 28-32 minutes.

Glaze:
2 c. powdered sugar
5 Tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix together and pour over cake while still warm.  Enjoy!

Oatmeal Cookies

 For some reason, I feel constrained by the descriptor "gluten free."  I don't feel like I can be as creative.  So, I kind of got stuck doing chocolate chip cookies and peanut butter (because there are lots of flourless versions of that) cookies.  However, one day, David requested oatmeal.  I was surprised but that's what he wanted.  

Now, oats are typically gluten free but I guess can't be guaranteed gluten free due to processing.  We don't buy special oats but Chex now has a gluten free version that, I think, is a little less expensive than your typical gluten free oats.  Anyway, I found this recipe and it turned out great.  They were nice and puffy.  David said they were "really good."  Try them out for yourself!

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies adapted from Mom, What's for Dinner
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cups multipurpose Gluten Free Flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp sea salt
3 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup chocolate chip



Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars on medium speed of electric mixer until creamy.
Add eggs and vanilla an beat until well blended.
Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt and mix well.
Add oats and mix well, if you are choosing to add raisins or chocolate chips, add them now.

Scoop your dough onto a pre-heated baking stone prepared with parchment paper.
Bake 10-12 minutes. 
Makes about 4 dozen.

Chess Bars

So, really all I want to post about is my sweet baby (and I'll do another Caleb post soon) but since I'm way behind on recipes, I suppose I should post another recipe. 

This was made way back in April...when I was still pregnant but didn't look it yet.  WOW!  David likes chocolate and I like chess pie, so I decided to try this recipe for chocolate chess pie...but made it into bars.  It ended up being super sticky and pretty chocolatey...but still tasted good.  I just used my mom's pie recipe, subbing gluten free flour mix.

 Kate helped me and got to use the pastry knife for the first time.  Her little four year old hands were quite coordinated enough to get a good mix but she had fun. You can make this a pie or bars.  if doing bars, simply put into a square cake pan.

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Chess Bars adapted from It's All About a Good Recipe
 

2 eggs
½ cup gluten free flour
½ cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar
¾ cup butter, softened
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

For Pie Crust: 

 1 cup gluten free flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 T water
1/3 cup shortening
Sift flour and salt into bowl. Remove 1/4 cup flour and blend to a paste. Cut shortening into remaining flour until pieces are size of small peas. Add paste to flour mixture. Mix with fork until dough comes together and can be shaped into a ball (this is best done by putting a piece of saran wrap over the bowl, dumping it, and pressing the dough together.) Place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. (Roll out crust to 1/8 inch thick to cover 9-inch pie pan)

Preheat oven to 325.  Prepare crust as above but press into square pan if doing bars. Beat eggs in a mixing bowl on high until foamy.  Beat in flour , white sugar and brown sugar then add softened butter.  It will start to look like a batter, stir in the chocolate chips! Pour into unbaked pie crust and place on a cookie sheet then place in oven. Bake 55-60 minutes. Let cool at least 20 minutes before you slice!

Gluten Free Sharpei

One of the things that David misses being gluten free is cookies.  Well, I've taken it upon myself to try and make many different kinds for him.  One of the things I miss with him being gluten free is just making up recipes AND making the best cookies EVER! 

You've seen them before on this blog.  So, I had to try them gluten free.  They definitely aren't the same but they are still very good.  Kate thought they deserved a little inspection while we were making them but I thought they passed. 

Gluten Free Sharpei Cookies
2 sticks (one cup) butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups AP Gluten free flour mix
1 tsp baking soda
1-1.5 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cream butter and sugars together in a mixing bowl until very smooth.  Add egg and vanilla.  Mix together.  Add in the dry ingredients and mix until incorporated.  Stir in the chocolate chips.  Place 2 tablespoon sized balls on the pan.  When pan is filled, place it into the oven.  Bake for 11-12 minutes (will be slightly undercooked).  Remove from pan and immediately squish the outside of the cookies toward the center of the cookie using the backsides of two spoons.  This gives the cookie its "sharpei" appearance.  Allow to cool for 2-3 minutes then remove to cooling rack.  Enjoy!

The Key to Baking Gluten Free Cookies... (HA!)

...is to wear the right head gear!

I have honestly made so many "different' chocolate chip cookies since David went gluten free that I don't really know the actual recipes for all of them, which means they won't all get posted.

 However, this was from a recipe that I pinned.  David liked these pretty well (but I think he liked one I made up recently a little better).  These were of the soft variety, which I know is one of the things David misses.

He occasionally says he misses the soft batch chips a'hoy version.  I think these were pretty close.  Kate did a great job helping and even put a few of the cookies on the pans.

It's still a little hard for her to squeeze the scooper but she put great effort into it.  Who couldn't with a sticker on her forehead?!  :-)

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies From Nerd Family
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups White Rice Flour
1/2 cup Brown Rice Flour
1/4 cup Cornstarch
3/4 cup (or 1 1/2 sticks) Softened Butter
1/4 cup White Sugar
3/4 cup Brown Sugar (packed)
2 Eggs
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
 2 cups Chocolate Chips

Preheat over to 350 degrees.  Cream butter and sugars together. Add eggs 1 at a time, followed by the vanilla. Stir all the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl.  Slowly blend the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients by adding the dry ingredients in small batches. Stir in the chocolate chips. Scoop the dough onto baking stones or pans.  Place the pan into the oven and bake for 12 minutes.  If they spread, you can add a little more flour.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool.  Enjoy!

Nutella Bars

Most of my baking these days is gluten free.  However, sometimes I just NEED to bake regular without worrying about "is this gluten free" or "will this work?"  Usually when I do that, I try to make something that David wouldn't really prefer.  He likes chocolate but I don't think he's a big fan of Nutella, so I decided to make nutella shortbread bars.  Um, can we say YUM!  Unfortunately, something happened and they were VERY crunchy.  David took them to the peds lounge and, despite the firmness, they were still all eaten.  If they heated them a little, it helped with the texture.

Nutella Sugar Cookie Bars from Cookies and Cups

Ingredients

• 1 lb. salted butter room temp
• 1 cup sugar
• 1½ cups powdered sugar
• 2 Tbs vanilla
• 4 cups AP flour
• 1 cup Nutella
  
  Preheat oven to 325. Grease a 9x13 baking dish with butter or cooking spray. Set aside.
  
  Cream butter and sugars.  Add the vanilla and beat until combined. Slowly add the flour into the butter mixture and stir until dough combines together.  Press about one-third of the dough evenly into the pan to form a bottom crust. Wrap remaining dough in plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator.
  
  Bake crust until firm and the edges are a pale golden brown approx 12-14 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cool about 15 minutes. Spread Nutella evenly over crust, about 1/4 inch away from the edge of the crust.  Remove remaining dough from refrigerator and crumble remaining dough on top. Finish baking 20-25 minutes until top is set and lightly golden.  Cool and cut into squares.  Enjoy!

Frozen Surprise Cake

 We are birthday busy in the month of July at our house.  K turned five earlier and David's birthday is tomorrow.  Last weekend we had a Frozen birthday for K.  I had suggested an ice cream cake several months back thinking I'd buy one from Dairy Queen (those cakes were all the rage when I was growing up!) but then when this month's Daring Baker's challenge came up, I figured I'd make one.  For the July Daring Baker’s Challenge, Ruth from The Crafts of Mommyhood challenged us to bake a cake. But not just any cake; she asked us to add in a special surprise for our eyes as well as our taste buds!

I had done lots of pinterest searching and found some fun ideas to do with the outside of the cake and the inside as well.  All in all, this cake was REALLY easy.  I just made two 8-inch cake rounds and dyed each a different "frozen" color. 

Then I placed a half-gallon of ice cream in the other 8-inch cake round and put it in the freezer.  It all went together like this:  cake - ice cream - cake - layer of icing - fondant.  I was really pleased with the outcome.

David did say at one point that we weren't going to do anything creative next year, we were just going to buy everything.  I told him that was fine...he didn't have to do anything creative, I'd do it.  I think that stemmed from trying to find free printables for the other food, which I'll share soon.  I didn't have any....well, only had one break down when I was making the fondant.  I had rolled it out and was trying to transfer it onto the cake. 

Well, it was breaking and I thought "I can lightly roll it and then roll it out over the cake."  Yeah...fondant won't unroll.  It stuck together.  Let's just say, that fontant got a good beating.  Yikes!  I did reroll it and had David help me put it on the cake. 

Then the morning of the party, I put Olaf on top and we had a frozen cake!  It turned out really fun.  Even the inside was colorful and festive.  I didn't get any complaints!  This was such a fun challenge!

Frozen Ice Cream Cake
1 box white cake mix, made to instructions on box
1 half gallon ice cream, your chosen flavor
1/2 can frosting
1 recipe Fondant:

• 1/3 cup softened butter
• 1/3 cup light corn syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar

Slightly thaw ice cream.  Spread into round cake pan and place pan in freezer to solidify.  Bake cake per package instructions.  Divide into two cake pans.  Use you desired color of food coloring (or mixin would be fun too!).  Allow cake to cool.  When ready to assemble, take ice cream out of freezer.  Place on cake layer on a cake plate.  You can protect the plate from future decoration by putting wax or parchment paper under the cake, but sticking out so it can be removed after decoration.  Then place the ice cream layer on top.  To loosen from the pan, turn it upside down (holding it in with a layer of wax paper on top!) and hold the pan under warm water for a few seconds.  this will "melt" the ice cream so that it pops out easily.  Place the ice cream disc on top of the first cake layer.  Then place the second cake layer on top of the ice cream layer.  At this point, you can go ahead and ice or you can place into the freezer to decorate later. 

To make fondant, blend the butter, corn syrup, vanilla and salt on medium speed with a paddle attachment until smooth and well-combined.  Add the powdered sugar all at once, and mix on slow speed, gradually increasing speed to medium until well-combined. The mixture should cling together in the bottom of the bowl and be smooth to the touch.  When done, place in desired food coloring to get the color you desire and mix in with beater (you could use your hands and knead it but then you would have dyed hands, trust me...I know!).  Roll out to appropriate shape about 1/8 of inch thick.  At this point, you are ready to put it on your cake.

Prior to placing fondant on the cake, you need to put a crumb coat of icing.  Put a very thin layer of icing on the cake.  Then cover with your fondant.  It is highly likely that you'll need some help doing this, I did!  Then decorate as desired. Enjoy!