Archives for “Suite of Sweets”

Flourless Sparkling Chocolate Cookies

February 12, 2010 · Filed Under Suite of Sweets, camping, dessert, easy, flourless, gluten free, recipe, treats ·44 Comments

This post is linked to Ellen’s Valentine’s Day roundup at I Am Gluten Free.

Today is the final day of SSS—A Suite of Sweets for Sweethearts. (I know it’s sad, but not to worry . . . we’re never short of treats here at gfe.) Chocolate is often synonymous with Valentine’s Day, and, well, love … quite honestly. Gosh, I can’t imagine why that would be, can you? (Okay, this is one of those times where a sarcasm font would sure come in handy!) I have only included a small amount of chocolate in the SSS roundup so far … the mini chocolate chips in Monday’s recipe—Surprise Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream. So I’m here today to share two lovely chocolate treats.

As you all have figured out, I love to bake. I especially love to bake cookies. Well, we’ve gone all week without a cookie recipe, so let’s fix that right now by giving you a rich, “make-you-fall-in-love” chocolate cookie recipe. I’m not talking about falling in love with another person. I’m talking about falling in love with this cookie. Is it really so wrong to love a cookie? There’s no need to buy a card or send flowers after all. Of course, if someone bakes these cookies and presents them to you for Valentine’s Day, you may actually fall in love with that person, and not the cookies. But, it could be a close call. An important note: The batter has to be refrigerated overnight. I don’t want you to go to make these on Valentine’s Day and find out you have to wait until the next day to enjoy them.

Flourless Sparkling Chocolate Cookies
(Click here for a print version of this recipe.)

8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 tbsp butter, room temperature or softened (but not melted)
2 eggs
1/3 cup granulated sugar (plus more for “decorating”)
3/4 cup ground almonds (I used Honeyville Blanched almond flour)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

Melt chocolate in double boiler and stir in butter.

Beat eggs and add sugar gradually.

Continue beating until eggs are very light. Gently stir into the chocolate-butter mixture.

Add ground almonds, combining well, but gently.

Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Form into 1-inch balls and roll in bowl of granulated sugar as shown.

Place on parchment-lined baking sheets.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until set.

Makes about 3 dozen.

From Canadian Celiac Association (CCA)

Shirley’s Notes: This recipe appears to be an adaptation of Thomas Haas’ (the famous “chocolatier”) Chocolate Sparkle Cookies. His cookies were billed as the world’s best cookie by Saveur magazine a few years back. His original recipe has a few more ingredients as I understand, including gourmet chocolate, honey, and coarse sugar (for rolling). Haas sells his version at his Vancouver gourmet chocolate shop. I’d love to try them one day. But, this version from CCA is simpler and much less expensive to make, and I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

I take these cookies with us when we’re having guests join us to camp on our mountain/river property. The recipe makes 2 – 3 dozen (depending upon how large you make the balls before you bake them). That’s plenty as they fit in a smallish cookie tin and take up less room when packing—always a plus when camping. And, really, folks are extremely satisfied after just eating a few.

Can you tell that I just love doilies? (And, not just for Valentine’s Day. I love all kinds of doilies, for all seasons, and when I taught elementary school, many projects involved doilies. Mr. GFE and I host a big Valentine’s Day party every other year as a gift to ourselves and our friends. Tomorrow would be the night if we were having it. However, this is an “off” year and while I’m grateful that we don’t have to worry about hosting with snow and limited parking, I will miss the anticipation and excitement.

As the bonus recipe, I’m also sharing a chocolate version of the POMerdoodle ice cream recipe. It’s gluten free, dairy free, and refined sugar free. You can view that recipe with more photos here on my Out and About page.

Here’s the complete SSS–Suite of Sweets for Sweethearts roundup:

~Surprise Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

~Cinnamon-Sugar Crusted Almond Popovers

~Perfect Pound Cake

~Pleasing Pecan Pie

~Flourless Sparkling Chocolate Cookies (this post)

~Chocolate POMerdoodle Ice Cream

Off to have one of these Flourless Sparkling Chocolate Cookies to brighten my Valentine’s Day weekend … hope you have a great one!

Shirley
Not just gf, but gfe!

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Tags: chocolate, cookies, easy, GFE, gluten free, peanut butter, recipe, Valentine's Day

Chocolate POMerdoodle Ice Cream

February 12, 2010 · Filed Under Out and About, Slightly Indulgent, Suite of Sweets, Valentine's Day, dairy free, dessert, easy, gluten free, ice cream, pomegranate, raw, recipe, sugar free ·1 Comment

Full disclosure: Last September, I attended BlogHer Food. I paid all my expenses, but I did receive some amazing swag. Included was some Scharffen Berger cocoa. I was not paid to write about Scharffen Berger, but I think their products are excellent. October, I attended the POM Wonderful Blogger Harvest Festival in California—all expenses paid. I was not paid to write this post, but the POM Wonderful product used was given to me. However, I write about POM products because I consider them to be excellent products and, of course, they are gfe compliant.

This post is linked to the Valentine’s Day roundup at Ellen’s I Am Gluten Free and Amy’s weekly roundup, Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays.

Some of you may remember the POMerdoodle Ice Cream that I made last September for the Go Ahead Honey, It’s Gluten Free! blog carnival. Katrina (Gluten-Free Gidget), who greatly enjoys drama and theatrical arts had chosen a Disney theme. I couldn’t settle on a particular Disney movie for my recipe inspiration, so I decided to pay homage to all Disney dogs with a designer dog ice cream. You’re welcome to read the original POMerdoodle post, but basically I added POM Wonderful pomegranate juice to a version of Snickerdoodle ice cream and created the doggie-named POMerdoodle ice cream. Both a fun and delicious creation.

I loved the POMerdoodle flavor as did many others, but I simply had to try a chocolate version. Carrying on with my light-hearted dog theme, I decided to call it Chocolate POMerdoodle (you know … like Chocolate Lab, Chocolate Poodle). Adding just a small amount of cocoa adds richness and depth to this ice cream, particularly if you use a high-quality cocoa. I used Scharffen Berger cocoa, which I’d received in my BlogHer Food swag. I love both that cocoa and POM Wonderful pomegranate juice and I love this ice cream. It’s both gluten free and dairy free. It’s not refined sugar free, but I believe you could skip the brown sugar and simply use 2/3 cup honey or the same amount of agave nectar and end up with an equally delicious, dairy-free ice cream. (I wouldn’t use a one-to-one swap because of the liquid content of honey or agave.)

Chocolate POMerdoodle Ice Cream
(Click here for a print version of this recipe.)

½ cup honey
½ cup light brown sugar
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
2 ½ cups full-fat coconut milk, chilled
½ cup POM Wonderful pomegranate juice
2 ½ to 3 tbsp Scharffen-Berger cocoa (or other good quality cocoa, amount to taste—once mixed in, of course)

Mix all together in a mixing bowl or blender. Add to ice cream maker. Churn about 20 minutes until firm. You may remove ice cream from ice cream maker and store in freezer for additional firmness, if needed.

Recipe by Shirley Braden

If you enjoy the wonderful flavor that POM Wonderful pomegranate juice adds to recipes, you’ll want to check these recipes, too:

–POMerdoodle Ice Cream (pretty pale pink—lovely for Valentine’s Day)

–POM’d Pork

–Reindeer Antlers Punch (it’s the perfect color, but perhaps rename it Cupid’s Punch for Valentine’s Day … just skip the alcohol if serving to children or teetotalers)

Don’t forget to check out all the other SSS entries this week:

–Surprise Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

–Cinnamon-Sugar Crusted Almond Popovers

–Perfect Pound Cake

–Pleasing Pecan Pie

And, if you’re looking for a momentary chocolate overload … pair a Flourless Sparkling Chocolate Cookie with a dish of this ice cream. Happy Valentine’s Day all!

Shirley
Not just gf, but gfe!

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Tags: brown sugar, chocolate, coconut, easy, gluten free, go ahead honey, pomegranate, recipe, Valentine's Day

Pleasing Pecan Pie—Raw, Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Vegan

February 11, 2010 · Filed Under Suite of Sweets, breakfast, dairy free, dessert, easy, flourless, gluten free, raw, recipe, sugar free, treats, vegan ·23 Comments

This post is linked to Friday Foodie Fix–Pecans.

It’s day 4 of SSS—Suite of Sweets for Sweethearts! When I shared My First Raw Pie I mentioned that one of the other recipes I planned to make later was the raw pecan pie. I like pecan pie a lot. It can be a bit intense though—a jolt of sweetness–so it’s not a pie that I make very often. I did make a crustless version for Thanksgiving that my family loved and a few gfe readers have really enjoyed as well. This raw pecan pie appealed to me because it’s naturally gluten free and dairy free. Plus, it takes its sweetness from dates, and honey, if used, which also makes it refined sugar free. If no sweetener or agave nectar is added, this pie will also be vegan.

Like the first raw pie I made, this one has a great taste. It really pretty much tastes like what you expect a pecan pie to taste like … just not over-the-top sweet. Instead, it’s just sweet enough for my taste. And, once again, I was impressed that I could actually cut this raw pie into slices like a traditional baked pie. A small piece is more than enough, because this pie is delightfully dense and filling, although it doesn’t taste “heavy” in any way. I would have a hard time choosing between this raw version and crustless, baked pecan pie. This pie is healthy enough to eat for breakfast and that’s just what I am going to do! (Incidentally, offering a piece for breakfast may be a way to get your raw food skeptics to give it a try.)

Pecan Pie (Raw, Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Vegan)
(Click here for a print version of this recipe.)

2 cups pecans, divided
2 tsp coconut oil (liquefied)
3 tsp honey, divided
½ cup medjool dates, pitted
cinnamon, a few dashes (to taste)
1/3 cup water (may use less if dates are very fresh and juicy)

Crust

1 cup pecans, frozen
2 tbsp coconut oil (liquefied)
1 tsp honey (optional; agave nectar may be used. I did not use either.)

Filling

1 cup pecans
½ cup medjool dates, pitted
2 tbsp honey (optional; agave nectar may be used; but either sweetener is optional. I did not add either.)
A few dashes of ground cinnamon
1/3 cup water (may use less if dates are very juicy)

For crust:

Place 1 cup of frozen pecans in food processor; process 15 to 30 seconds, until mostly ground. (Should not be finely ground, should have a few small pieces still.)

Add coconut oil and honey (if used). Process a few more seconds until the pecans and coconut oil are blended.

Press into 5-inch pie plate (or similar serving dish).

For filling:

Soak medjool dates in 1/3 cup of water for 10 minutes, stirring after 5 minutes.

Add dates, pecans, and water (after the 10 minutes have passed) to food processor.

Process 15 to 30 seconds or so, slowly adding honey (if used).

Pour filling into crust. Garnish with pecan halves, etc., if desired. Serves 4.

Pie crust adapted from recipe from About.com. Filling adapted from a recipe included in newspaper article attributed to Beth Wood, Creators.com.

Shirley’s Notes: Freezing the pecans is supposed to make them bind better with the shortening to make a more viable crust. I’m not sure if it’s really necessary. I froze my pecan halves fairly quickly by spreading them out on an uncovered cookie sheet in the freezer. However, you can try them without freezing and just process with the coconut oil a shorter amount of time. I liquefied my coconut oil just by having the small amount in a bowl on top of my stove while I baked something else. Melted butter (dairy or non-dairy) can be used instead of coconut oil. (Of course, with the addition of dairy butter, this pie will neither be dairy free nor vegan.) In the filling, ½ cup of raisins and ½ cup pecans can be added instead of 1 cup of pecans. Finally, I used sliced raw almonds and dried cranberries for garnish.