Almond Joy Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sure wish I shoulda-woulda-coulda tasted one of these cookies.  Okay, I could have, but didn’t.  I made a big batch of these using My Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe—you know—these--

I got this wild idea to make cookies with Almond Joy in them.  It was Kevin’s 40th birthday recently and I surprised him and had many friends over, some that he hasn’t seen for years and some of his favorite people, as well as some of his current friends.  He had no idea.  He just thought we were having our usual celebration of goodies with two of his sisters and their families.  It was such a fun evening and worked better than I thought it would. 

I also made some peanut butter overload cookies using the same recipe, but with lots of peanut buttery add ins, like chopped up Nutter Butter cookies, Reese’s pieces, and peanut butter chips as well as some chocolate chips.  Stay tuned for a post for those cookies!

Kevin loves Almond Joy cookies and likes pretty much anything with coconut, so I knew he’d like these and that others would, too.  

I’ve mentioned and posted before (link above) about my favorite chocolate chip cookies, they are my take on the famous Jacques Torres chocolate chip cookies, I’ve made a few slight changes, but a few things that make those cookies so good is that instead of all purpose flour, they have cake flour and bread flour.  I really think that these flours make all the difference in how the cookies come out, besides using the best chocolate chips you can find (I use Ghirardelli 60% chips, which are bigger and flatter, like the disks of chocolate Jacques uses).  I have had friends and family rave about my chocolate chip cookies for years, so I’m sticking with this recipe.  It’s worth it to me to always have bread and cake flour on hand.  As often as I make these cookies, I decided it was time to try them with other things added to them.  Yep, they turn out perfectly!  So I’m telling you, try the chocolate chip cookie recipe.  Once you do, you’ll never go back to another recipe. ; )

Almond Joy Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

8 ½ ounces cake flour (2 cups minus 2 tablespoons) (lightly spooned into the measuring cup and swept level with a knife)

8 ½ ounces bread flour (1 and 2/3 cups) (lightly spooned and swept)

1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

1 ½ teaspoons coarse salt

2 ½ sticks (1 ¼ cups) unsalted butter, room temperature

10 ounces (1 ¼ cups) light brown sugar

8 ounces (1 cup plus 2 tablespoons) granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

6 ounces (1 cup) dark chocolate chips or chopped chocolate (Ghirardelli 60% cacao chips are what I always use)

11.3 ounces (1 bag of fun size, or the equivalent) of Almond Joy candy bars, roughly chopped

1 cup sweetened, shredded coconut

(I was out of almonds, but would have added some more chopped, toasted ones if I’d had them)

Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl with a wire whisk. Set aside.

In bowl of electric mixer, cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes.  Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.  Then add the vanilla and combine.  Scrape the sides of the bowl. With mixer on low, add dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Put the mix-ins in the bowl and carefully fold together with rubber spatula just until combined.  You don’t want to overmix the candy bars.  Scoop with a 2 ounce (1/4 cup scoop).  You should get 24 scoops.  Put them on a wax paper lined baking sheet.  Cover with foil and freeze (or refrigerate).

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and put the cookies on an air bake sheet, only 5 cookies per sheet.  Bake from frozen for about 12 minutes.  Check the cookies, remove from the oven and with the sides of a metal spatula, if any of the cookies are misshapen and not nicely rounded, push the spatula lightly on to the cookies where they need rounded around the edges.  Decide if they need another minute or two in the oven.  Sometimes I think they do, sometimes they are perfect.  Let them cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes.  Remove to a wire rack to cool until you can’t stand it anymore and have to taste one.  (If you have a convection oven, you can bake 2 or 3 cookie sheets at a time.  Every oven is different, but even though baking on convection you should lower the temperature 25 degrees, I still leave mine at 350 for these.)  Test yours for best results.

These turned out just as I’d hoped they would!

Gluten Free Slow Cooker Apple Crisp

Gluten Free Slow Cooker Apple Crisp

After seeing Mary at Bunny's Warm Oven recently post her Crock Pot Apple Crisp, I NEEDED to make it gluten free so I could have some!  It wasn’t that hard to recreate with gluten free oats and a little gluten free flour.  I changed up a few other things and this made for a delicious treat for days.  I might have even had some for breakfast one day. ; )

There’s nothing quite like the fall aroma of baking apples with cinnamon and nutmeg!  I love that it was slow cooked, which made the smell go on longer.  The apples cooked perfectly to my liking, not too crisp and not too mushy.  Whether you make this with Mary’s version or my gluten free version, you will love it.  Of course all crisps are great with vanilla ice cream, but for me, it was perfect on its own and I didn’t need to make sure I had some ice cream I could eat.

Gluten Free Slow Cooker Apple Crisp, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

Apple filling:

5-6 large apples, or 8 small-medium sized (I used 5 large organic Fuji apples), peeled, cored and cut into chunks 

1/4 cup organic coconut palm sugar

2 tablespoons raw honey

1 tablespoon non-GMO cornstarch

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Crisp topping:

1 cup gluten free flour blend

1 cup gluten free old fashioned oats

1/3 cup organic light brown cane sugar, lightly packed

1/3 cup organic coconut palm sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

pinch of salt

1/3 cup coconut oil, chilled for a few minutes if it’s not solid

3/4 cup chopped pecans

Put the cut apples in the bowl of a slow cooker.  Add the sugar, honey, cornstarch, spices, lemon juice and vanilla and stir to combine. 

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, oats, sugars, spices and salt.  Work the coconut oil into the mixture, kneading it together with your fingers until it is all well combined.  Stir in the pecans.  Sprinkle the topping mixture evenly over the apples.  With the lid on the slow cooker, cook on high for 2 hours.  Remove the lid and cook for another hour.  Serve warm.  Or cold for breakfast the next day! ; )

So good, even right out of the slow cooker!

Big Fat Delicious Clone of a Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls

I wanted to wish my friend Shelby from The Life and Loves of Grumpy's Honeybunch a Happy Birthday today!  You might recall at the beginning of this month when I participated in my last Secret Recipe Club assignment, I got to make something from Shelby’s blog.   And at that time, I decided to go all out and throughout the month since getting my assignment, instead of making one thing, I cooked and baked from recipes on Shelby's blog and made a dozen things instead of just one.  So I wanted to post another one of those recipes today in her honor. ; ) 

Who can resist a cinnamon roll?  Not my family.  Shelby’s cover photo on her blog are these cinnamon rolls.  It seemed wrong to not make them since they were right there every time I turned to her blog and seemed so right to try these because I knew they would be a big hit here.  While eating them, Sam could be heard saying, “These are the BEST cinnamon rolls ever.”  While that makes me feel a little sad because I already have a tried and true family favorite recipe for cinnamon rolls that I’ve been making forever, these ARE really good.  They look awesome and are huge, which is what makes them most like a Cinnabon roll. 

This Cinnabon clone recipe isn’t too far off from the size of ingredients of mine when I usually halve it.  But the reason they are like a clone is because the recipe only makes eight rolls!  I’ll definitely make these again because the boys all really liked them.  I made a few small changes (I used 2% milk instead of almond milk and butter instead of margarine) to the recipe Shelby posted, so I’ll post mine here. 

Big Fat Delicious Clone of a Cinnabon, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!, adapted from The Life and Loves of Grumpy’s Honeybunch

For the rolls:

1 cup warm milk (I used 2%, you could use any kind you’d like)

2 large eggs, room temperature

1/3 cup butter, melted

4  1/2 cup bread flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2  1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

2  1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

1/3 cup butter, softened

For the icing:

1/4 cup butter, softened

1  1/2 cups powdered sugar

pinch of salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2-3 tablespoons milk

Put the milk, eggs and melted butter in the bowl of a mixer.  With the dough attachment, mix together.  Add the bread flour, salt, sugar and yeast (adding the yeast last).  Let the mixer stir the mixture together on low until all combined into a dough.  With the mixer set to about medium speed, knead the dough for 5 minutes.  Turn off mixer and let the dough stand for 10 minutes.  Turn mixer back on and knead for another 5 minutes.  Put the dough in a bowl that is lightly greased and cover it with plastic wrap.  Let rest in warm place until doubled in size, about an hour.  Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes.

Roll the dough into about a 16-21 inch rectangle.  Spread the dough with the 1/3 cup softened butter.  Sprinkle evenly with brown sugar, then cinnamon.  Roll up dough and cut into 8 rolls.  (I rolled from the short side of the dough, but you could roll the long way and get even bigger rolls.)  Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan.  Cover and let rise until nearly doubled in size, about 30 minutes.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Bake rolls for about 15-20 minutes, until golden brown.  While rolls are baking, beat together 1/4 cup butter, powdered sugar,  salt, vanilla extract and 2 tablespoons of milk.  Add a little more milk until it is the consistency you want.  When the rolls are somewhat cooled, spread the icing over them.  Serve! 

Hope you have a wonderful birthday, Shelby!  I’m sure you will, since you get to be with your boys!

Peach Mango Cinnamon Ice Cream, Dairy Free and Refined Sugar Free

I made this Peach Mango Cinnamon Ice Cream, though it’s dairy free (made with coconut milk) and instead of sugar I used raw honey.  It might not be all that pretty, but it sure is tasty!  I have made peach mango “ice cream” before, but this one is a little different. 

I had recently bought some of those fruit pouches, that are perfect for kids lunch boxes.  My boys really like them.  Apparently their favorite is the plain applesauce or applesauce with cinnamon.  But I’ve got some of the other flavors here and there to see what else they might like.

Apparently these Fruit and Veggie ones from Del Monte are not a favorite.  The boys weren’t eating them.  I kept seeing them in the pantry.  They are all real fruit with juice and veggies added.  Peach mango, hmmm?  I checked to see what veggies were in them and it’s just a little pumpkin and carrot juice.  Ding!  These needed to be put to use.  This dairy free ice cream was created using seven pouches.  Here’s the recipe.  Get a box of them and try it out. 

Peach Mango Cinnamon Ice Cream, Dairy Free and Refined Sugar Free, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

7 Del Monte Peach Mango Fruit + Veggie Squeezers (1 Box is 8 pouches, you could use all 8)

1/4 cup raw honey

1 can lite coconut milk (or regular is fine, I just had some lite on hand)

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2-1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (to taste—I added 1/2 teaspoon, but ended up putting in a bit more)

couple pinches of fresh nutmeg

Put all the fruit and veggie mixture from each pouch in a large bowl.  Add the honey and whisk to combine.  Whisk in the coconut milk, then add the almond extract, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg and whisk until all combined.  Pour the mixture into the frozen bowl of an ice cream maker and church according to manufacturer instructions, about 20 minutes.  Serve ice cream soft serve immediately or put in an airtight container in the freezer.  To serve frozen ice cream, let sit on the counter for 15 minutes for easier scooping.

Peach is definitely the dominant flavor in these pouches and in the ice cream.  The cinnamon is a perfect autumn addition.  You’ll love it!

Chocolate Fudge Cookies—Gluten Free

Gluten Free Chocolate Fudge Cookies

Who said gluten free can’t be good?  These cookies, while a bit of a splurge for me, were heavenly and so worth it!  I often change up lots of things in a recipe, like replacing the butter with coconut oil, using coconut sugar for granulated sugar, and using gluten free flour instead of all purpose flour.  This time, since it wasn’t that much butter, I left the butter.  I also used organic cane sugar, which is still a cheat for me, but it made these so good.  I won’t make cookies quite like this very often, but these sure made for a heavenly chocolate treat for a few days when I did make them. 

The recipe I adapted these from is on Anna’s blog, Cookie Madness.  She received the recipe from someone named David who told her these were the best cookies he’s ever had.  They looked so good.  When she mentioned that he told her they were also good gluten free, I knew I had to make them.  So glad I did.  These will be a definite splurge for me when I make them again. 

For the chocolate, which is melted with the butter (and I must say, that sure is a heavenly scent-chocolate and butter melting), I used Enjoy Life chocolate chips, which are dairy, soy and nut free and made with evaporated cane sugar.  So really, these are a healthy treat.  Right?

Chocolate Fudge Cookies, Gluten Free (optional), by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

8 ounces Enjoy Life chocolate chunks (or any chocolate you choose)

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 large eggs

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons organic cane sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

6 tablespoons gluten free flour blend (or all purpose flour)

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips (or any chocolate chips)

1/4 cup pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.  In the top of a double boiler, add the 8 ounces of chocolate and the butter and melt it over simmering water.  (This can also be done in a microwave safe dish in the microwave set at a lower power level, stirring every 30 seconds).  Let the chocolate mixture cool slightly.  Combine the eggs and sugar in the bowl of a mixer and beat until thick and pale.  Add the chocolate mixture and vanilla and beat until well combined.  Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.  Stir it into the chocolate mixture.  Fold in the extra chocolate and nuts.  Let the batter sit until it’s completely cooled, about 15 minutes, but the batter can also be chilled for 30 minutes or so.  Using a medium sized cookie scoop or a tablespoon, put the cookie dough balls onto the baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Let cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before moving them to a wire rack. 

You know you want a bite!

Ann Romney’s Peanut Butter Oat M&M Cookies and My Gluten Free Version of Peanut Butter Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies

Over the weekend I made Ann Romney's M&M Cookies, which I’ve made before (linked here).  I made them for a family get together but I made a few slight changes and wanted to post my version of the recipe.  Though you can find the recipe on my first link here to Family Circle Magazine that has the recipe posted.  As well, you can find the recipe in Ann’s wonderful cookbook, The Romney Family Table.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again—I sure love Ann and her family and all that they stand for in life.  Not to mention, she is an LDS mother of all boys who has MS—we are twins! ; )  Though I would die if my husband ever decided to run for president!

For this recipe, I used less sugar and I added salt.  I also used milk chocolate chips, though her recipes doesn’t say which kind, she probably uses semi-sweet.  The reason I decided to make these cookies was because I had a bag of mini M&Ms to use.  These came out a little thicker than the first time I made them, which is actually what I wanted and worked because I used less sugar.  Sugar melting in a cookie is one of the things that make them spread more.  Everyone who ate the cookies at the family gathering said they were great!  I felt a little jealous that I didn’t get to eat one.

Ann Romney’s Peanut Butter Oat M&M Cookies, adapted by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 cup (not packed) light brown sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1  1/2 cups peanut butter (I used smooth, Ann uses crunchy)

1 tablespoons light corn syrup

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4  1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk chocolate chips

2/3 cup mini M&M’s candies (or regular sized ones)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter, peanut butter, sugars and corn syrup.  Beat until well combined.  Beat in eggs one at a time.  Beat in the vanilla extract.  Add the baking soda, salt and oats and mix until well combined.  Stir in the chocolate chips and M&Ms with a spatula.  Drop dough (with a cookie scoop about 2 tablespoonsful) onto baking sheets leaving about 2 inches between each.  Bake for about 14 minutes, until lightly browned.  Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before moving them to a wire rack to cool completely.  Makes about 3 dozen.

I decided these cookies would and should be made gluten free (after all, they don’t have flour in the first place).  So I made some for me!  I used coconut oil instead of butter.  I also used coconut sugar and a little organic brown cane sugar instead of granulated sugar and brown sugar.  Raw honey replaced the little bit of corn syrup.  Gluten free oats and organic natural peanut butter along with some Enjoy Life chocolate chips rounded out my version.  Yay, they’re good!

Peanut Butter Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies, Gluten Free, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup coconut sugar

1/4 cup organic cane brown sugar

3/4 cup organic natural peanut butter

1/2 tablespoon raw honey

1  1/2 large eggs (for 1/2 an egg, whisk the egg then measure out 2 tablespoons)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2  1/4 cups gluten free old fashioned rolled oats

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips (or chocolate of your choice)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.  In a large bowl, combine the coconut oil, coconut sugar and brown sugar.  Mix together well.  Add the peanut butter and honey.  Stir together until well combined with a spatula. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until well combined.  Fold in the oats, baking soda and salt.  Next fold in the chocolate chips.  Scoop dough onto baking sheets.  Bake for about 12 minutes until golden brown.  Let sit on baking sheet for a few minutes, then move to a wire rack to cool completely.  Makes about 18 cookies.

Happy me!  Happy you if you make either one of these cookies!

Slow Cooker Apple Butter—No Sugar Added

If I wasn’t such a lady, I’d have eaten all 32 ounces of this apple butter by myself.  Who says apple butter has to be for spreading on bread?  I don’t eat bread anyway, or at least I don’t have any gluten free bread right now.  I’m sure it’s delicious on bread, but try not to just spoon too much of it in your mouth straight from the pot.

This couldn’t be any easier to make, the hardest part (though it’s so worth it) is waiting for it to cook in the slow cooker.  That is the main reason most of its cooking time was overnight and while I was gone to my  doctor’s appointment this morning.  Perfection when I returned! And sure smells great!  I’ve made an apple butter before, but also used some pears since I didn’t have enough apples.  So this one is pure apple butter, with no sugar.  It does not need sugar!  Chop the apples—I used my Vidalia Chop Wizard (As Seen On TV, but available in many stores now and only about $20).  Love this thing.  It has two different sizes for chopping.  I chopped these with the smaller one.  Added a little lemon juice, some yummy spices and a little apple juice and let it cook away.

Slow Cooker Easy Apple Butter, No Sugar Added, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

12 apples, your choice, but something like Gala, Braeden, red or yellow delicious, or Fuji, or any combination (if you use Granny Smith apples, you might need sugar), peeled, core removed and chopped

juice of 1 lemon

1  1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1  1/2 cups 100% apple juice

Put all the ingredients into the bowl of a slow cooker, stir together until combined.  Cook on low 12 hours, perfect for overnight.  After about 10 hours (in the morning), blend the apples until smooth (I used a handheld blender right in the slow cooker, but you can carefully transfer the apples to a blender, in batches, too.).  If you don’t blend it too much, you can just call it applesauce, but keep blending until is a super-smooth consistency and it becomes a nice apple butter.  Once blended, you can let it cook another couple hours, but you don’t have to.   Let cool, store in jars in the refrigerator for up to a couple weeks.  Makes 32 ounces (4 half pints, perfect gift giving homemade item).

Applesauce-y

Almost there, blend a little longer.  It will become silky smooth.

Apple Butter, no sugar added

You will want to dive right in.  I’m planning for some of this to go in these Apple Betty Bars I’m going to make this weekend for a family get together.  But I’m also thinking this would sure make some delicious dairy free apple ice cream, maybe even with caramel (vegan, refined sugar free) swirled in, and some pecans.  Okay, yum!  Deal.  Working on it. 

*Note, the strange discrepancy in colors in the photos is because it’s quite a rainy day here today!  It does look most like the first and last photo here on this post. ; )

Brownie Biscotti (Gluten Free, Dairy Free)

Brownie Biscotti, Gluten Free and Dairy Free

I recently posted about my Secret Recipe Club assignment where I got to make something from Shelby’s blog, The Life and Loves of Grumpy’s Honeybunch.  It was my last Secret Recipe Club assignment as I decided it was time to get out of the club.  I love Shelby!  So for fun, I made as many recipes from her blog as I could during the month, when for club assignments, you really just need to make one thing from that blog during the month.  It was a great month!  I linked all the recipes I made from Shelby’s blog in that post, now one by one over the next month or so, I’ll post the recipes as I made them, because for quite a few of the recipes, I changed things to make them gluten free so I could eat them, along with some other changes.

Up first is the brownie biscotti, which is the first recipe I chose to make from her blog.  Since biscotti is quite a crispy cookie that most people dip in coffee or tea, I’m not sure why I like it so much, but ever since we made the Lenox Almond Biscotti for Tuesdays With Dorie back in 2008, I have loved biscotti.  No dipping necessary.  This brownie biscotti could possibly be a new biscotti favorite, I mean, hello—it’s chocolate!  I loved the added walnuts because I am in the “nuts in brownies camp”.  In this recipes, I changed butter for coconut oil, all purpose flour for gluten free flour and I used organic cane sugar for the sugar, which is still a splurge for me, I plan to try unrefined coconut sugar next time I make this.  It will make me feel even less guilty enjoying these. 

Brownie Biscotti (Gluten Free, Dairy Free), by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

1/2 cup coconut oil

2/3 cup organic cane sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1  3/4 cup gluten free flour blend (with xanthan gum)

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (or pecans)

1 egg yolk, beaten

1 tablespoon water

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line baking sheet with parchment paper.  In a large bowl, whisk together the coconut oil and sugar until well combined.  Whisk in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla.  In a medium sized bowl, combine the gluten free flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.  Whisk together.  Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and stir together with a spatula until all combined.  Mix in the chocolate chips and nuts.

Form dough into either a 12 by 3 inch log or you can do two smaller logs (I divided the dough into two logs about 8 by 2 inches) side by side on baking sheet.  Brush with egg yolk/water mixture.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Cool on baking sheet for 20 minutes.  Using a serrated knife, slice the biscotti log into one inch slices.  Set them on the baking sheet leaving space in between each one and bake for another 20 minutes or until dry.  Cool completely on a wire rack.  Store in an airtight container.

I just might have to go run into the kitchen and make these again right now so I can try out the coconut sugar.  I’d be doing it for all of you……..

Ruttan and Law Family Recipes—The Secret Recipe Club

Big Fat Delicious Clone of a Cinnabon

Guess what?  For this month’s Secret Recipe Club assignment, I FINALLY got one of my favorite blogs and one that I’ve been waiting for well over three years to be assigned.  It has been a party at our house as I have made a ton of recipes from Shelby’s blog, The Life and Loves of Grumpy's Honeybunch.  Going out with a bang here, but I’ve made the decision to not be part of the Secret Recipe Club anymore.  I have been with it from the day Amanda created it more than three years ago.  I have never missed one month.  It has been so fun, such a great time, and I have made some great friends along the way.  I’ve been feeling for a number of  months now that it will be time to move on once I finally get Shelby’s blog.  That has been what has kept me going, the excitement of waiting and wondering when I’ll finally get THE assignment. 

Brownie Biscotti

Shelby, Shelby, Shelby—what a wonderful woman!  We’ve “known” each other (haven’t met in person yet) since way back in about 2008 when we were both involved with Tuesdays With Dorie and baked our way through Dorie Greenspan’s Baking From My Home To Yours in a huge weekly-posting group.  Those were the days, weren’t they?!

Throughout this last month, I have had the fun and pleasure of seeing how many of Shelby’s recipe from her blog I can make.  I have not been disappointed with a single one!  I loved the brownie biscotti and made it gluten free and used organic cane sugar to make myself a treat.  Can’t wait to make them again!

Way back when she posted these unique chocolate chip cookies, I made them.  I looked back through all my photos and my blog and never did put them on the blog.  But I did find where I wrote some notes after making them that Kevin really liked them.  This recipe, that Shelby posted back in 2009, was one she found on a handwritten recipe card that her family believes was from her Grandmother Lottie.  They have no butter and are made with cream instead, which is probably because cows’ milk/cream was more at hand back in those days than butter.  I made these to take to a get together we were having with some friends along with a couple other goodies and they were gobbled up.

 Grandmother Lottie's Old Fashioned Chocolate Chip Cookies

I didn’t want to only make treats or desserts from her blog, so I have turned to it for dinner inspiration over the last month.  I made a great chicken recipe weeks ago that was well liked here at my home.  I will not hesitate to make it again.  Just like when Shelby made it, I served it with rice (and for me quinoa).

Chipotle Chicken Skillet

My family LOVES cinnamon rolls, which Shelby has mentioned she can’t resist either.  It only seemed right to make the recipe she has pictured at the front and center of her blog.  These just might replace my cinnamon roll recipe, which I’ve used for years because the boys all really liked them.  How could you not like a giant cinnamon roll that is similar to Cinnabon?!  (Wish I could have had one!)  This recipe, which is similar in size of ingredients to mine, makes EIGHT rolls.  They are huge, and I think I rolled them the wrong way (from the long side of the dough instead of the short side, which would make each roll bigger).

Big Fat Delicious Clone of a Cinnabon

I really enjoyed looking all through Shelby’s blog and ended up having to make another recipe from her family file and settled on these date treats made by her Aunt Helga.  I changed up this recipe for candied date balls so I could eat them (no one else here will eat anything with dates!) and made the recipe with coconut sugar and raw honey instead of sugar and coconut oil instead of butter.  I also used some organic brown rice crisp cereal instead of Rice Krispies.  I enjoyed making some different with unsweetened coconut, chopped walnuts and even adding a little chocolate to some.

Aunt Helga's Candied Date Balls

Another awesome recipe I made were a quick-change version of Shelby’s Peanut Butter Caramel Swirled Brownies.  I had the brownies all ready to make and was getting out the ingredients for the peanut butter caramel, which called for smooth peanut butter and found that we were out.  Staring at me in the cupboard was some nice, smooth Nutella.  So I made the caramel sauce (which came from a Bobby Flay recipe) with Nutella!  After making the caramel and once it cooled, I will have to admit I tasted a little bit, for quality control purposes, you know.  It was good!  The caramel was swirled in to the brownies.  They made for a yummy dessert with ice cream on top.  It seemed necessary to take a bite of the one photographed here, so I can really attest to their deliciousness.  I’m a bad, bad girl, I know. ; ) 

Nutella Caramel Swirled Brownies adapted from Peanut Butter Caramel Swirled Brownies

The 9x13 inch pan of brownies lasted a few days around here.  One of Kevin’s 18 year old nephews was over and had one of the brownies and said they were SO good.  He asked for another.  Then he said I definitely had to make those for the next family get together. 

Nutella Caramel Swirled Brownies with ice cream

Wait, there’s more!  It has been strangely cool and quite rainy for an August in the Utah dessert here, so I was recently in the mood for chili.  Shelby to the rescue!  She has a great, simple White Chicken Chili on her blog!

White Chicken Chili

Another night for dinner, I had some more chicken I wanted to use.  Our dinner that night was Apricot Glazed Grilled Chicken from The Life and Loves of Grumpy’s Honeybunch.  Mmm, it was good!

Apricot Glazed Grilled Chicken

I made the glaze with some apricot jam my friend gave me that was made with agave instead of sugar!  I’m so blessed to have friends that care about my dietary needs.  My dinner included some sauteed sweet potato and portabello mushroom hash and a caprese salad.  Delicious dinner!

I saw Shelby’s post for Spicy Mango Lime Salsa with Pears and just like she said she had to when she saw it posted somewhere and had to make it, I did, too!  I also made homemade tortilla chips.  I made some with flour tortillas (not pictured) and some with corn tortillas, which I loved!  The boys couldn’t eat the flour tortilla chips fast enough and want more soon!  The salsa was supposed to be made with finely chopped red onion, but since I knew I was the one who was going to eat most of it (Kevin doesn’t like fruit in salsa), I left out the onion and added chopped jalapeno instead.  Yum!

Spicy Mango Lime Salsa with Pears and Homemade Corn Tortilla Chips

Are we there yet?  You know, how when you’re on a long trip and the kids complain and ask if we’ve arrived at our destination yet?  I’m almost done.  But aren’t you starving now?  Yeah, get over to Shelby's blog for all these delicious recipes.  Finally, I ended the month recently with another biscotti, which is the same thing I made first when I got my assignment (the brownie biscotti).  Since Shelby is from upstate New York and they love their maple syrup there, I wanted to make something with maple syrup, so I settled on her Maple Walnut Biscotti.  I have simply loved having so many treats this month, a lot of them I have adapted to gluten free and refined sugar free when it was something I wanted to be able to eat, like the biscotti.  I will spend the next month or so sharing individual posts for my adaptations for all these recipes.  For now, all the links to the recipes I used from Shelby are under each photo. 

Maple Walnut Biscotti

Shelby dipped her biscotti in a white chocolate glaze, I added some Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips to some of mine.  I’m not a coffee or tea drinker and don’t dip my biscotti in anything, but sure love it!

This Sunday night for dinner, I planned ahead and made one more recipe from Shelby’s blog—Pot Roast and Onions.  While I don’t like onions, my family does and I knew I’d be okay putting an onion in the slow cooker with a roast.  Loved this simple recipe and the gravy it made.  When it comes time to eat, my family is not happy to wait for pictures, so I got them all eating, then snapped this quick one of my dinner.  (They had mashed potatoes, but I don’t eat potatoes anymore, so I had a sweet potato.)

Shelby's Pot Roast

Is it over?  I mean this “era” in my blog life of being part of the Secret Recipe Club?  Let me just say that I’ve sure been torn from one day to the next, even one hour to the next throughout this last month.  I will still be checking in on reveal days as much as I can.  One of the reasons I feel like it’s time to let it go is because I just can’t seem to get around to as many blogs as I’d like and it doesn’t seem fair.  I’ll definitely still be here in food blog land, so never fear!  Peace out!  And we will meet someday, Shelby, my sista from another mista!

An InLinkz Link-up

“Raw” Brownies with Walnuts (Grain Free, Vegan, Sugar Free)

These “raw” brownies are so easy to make and have just a few ingredients but they taste so good.  I don’t even think someone who doesn’t know they are grain free, have no added sugar and are vegan would realize that they are such, nor would they realize they are made with dates.  A great, healthy treat—I’m so happy to have things like this when I make full fat, high sugar treats for others and just want a little something for myself.  I don’t think real treats are bad now and then, but for now, I’ve given up sugar and gluten and THIS is just the kind of thing I love.  You will, too!

I’ve made similar things before, like these Chocolate Hazelnut Bombs or these Almond Joy Fudge Bars.  Even these Healthy Fudge Brownie Bites are more like these “brownies”, but they have honey added as well.  Today’s “Raw” Brownies just have dates, nuts, and cocoa as the main ingredients.  Easier and I think I like them more.  I’ll have to make both and do a taste test (that’s really just my way of having to make more treats for myself). ; ) 

“Raw” Brownies, (Grain Free, Refined Sugar Free, Vegan) by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

1  1/4 cup pitted dates

1 cup raw cashews, chopped (I like cashews for the base as they don’t have a distinct flavor, but these would make great brownies with other nuts, too)

5 tablespoons raw cacao powder (or cocoa powder)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

pinch of salt

1/2 cup walnuts, roughly chopped—optional

1 tablespoon Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips (or other chocolate of your choosing)—optional

Line a 9x5 inch bread pan with nonstick foil.  Place the dates in a glass bowl and cover with boiling water.  Let stand 10 minutes.  Drain the dates (reserving the liquid) and pat them dry.  Roughly chop them (always do this to check for pits!).  Put the cashews in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until finely chopped.  Add the dates and pulse a few times.  Add the cocoa powder and salt.  Process until all is finely ground and well combined.  May take a minute or two until you get the consistency you want.  Add the walnuts and pulse just a few times so they are left as big pieces.  Spoon all of the mixture out of the processor, scraping the the bowl.  The mixture is a bit sticky, but try not to eat it all before you press it into the pan.  Put it in the pan and before you press it all down evenly, sprinkle on the chocolate chips.  Refrigerate for an hour.  Cut into 16 pieces.  Store in refrigerator in an airtight container.

These are perfectly chocolaty, I love brownies with nuts, and there is no extra sweetness needed, they would even still be great without the walnuts and extra chocolate chips.  I can’t wait to run out of these and make some more—I have quite the stash of dates and nuts to use up!

These would be great with any other nuts, pecans especially, but I am partial to walnuts in brownies.  I think I’ll try them with peanuts soon, too, and get that great peanut butter chocolate combo. 

Have you seen enough photos?  I must end this post, because every time I see more, I want to grab another one.  Make these.  The end. 

Blueberry Lemon Bundt Cake (Gluten Free)—Secret Recipe Club

I really like this Blueberry Lemon Bundt Cake that I made from my Secret Recipe Club assignment for this month!  Even better, I love that I made it gluten free and with some other substitutions all on my own.  This may not seem like that big of a deal, but for me in my new adventures in to a gluten free life as well as refined sugar free, I was really happy with how this turned out (and scared it wouldn’t).  Win!

My assigned blog this month was Ilona's Kitchen.  Ilona’s blog is full of all kinds of yummy desserts (and some other things, too)!  It was, as usual with Secret Recipe Club, hard to pick what to make.  It seems that Ilona and her family really enjoy cakes of all kinds as there were many to choose from, but I wanted to pay tribute to that by making one of the cakes.  Lo and behold, since it is blueberry season, as soon as I saw her Blueberry Lemon Bundt Cake, I decided that was the cake I needed to make.  Besides, I’ve been buying blueberries by the ton and lately always have some in my fridge.  I’ve decided, while I’m not sure I’ve ever met a fruit I don’t really like, berry season is my favorite—especially raspberries and blueberries!

My next task after deciding to make this cake, was to make it gluten free and use unrefined sugars, so that I could have some of it, too.  Though I don’t go without butter all the time, I also decided to swap the butter in this cake for coconut oil and at the last minute realized I didn’t have any more sour cream, so I used some plain whole fat yogurt in its place.  Lots of changes, but basically, Ilona’s bundt cake and mine could be twins, at least fraternal twins. ;  )

Blueberry Lemon Bundt Cake (Gluten Free), by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

2  1/2 cups gluten free all purpose flour (I used Namaste GF Organic Perfect Flour Blend from Costco)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup coconut oil

1 cup unpacked (150 grams) organic light brown cane sugar

2/3 cup (227 grams) raw honey

4 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup plain yogurt (whole fat)

zest of one large lemon

1 tablespoon lemon juice (save the rest of the juice for a glaze)

2 cups blueberries, washed and set on a towel  in single layer to dry

1/4-1/2 teaspoon powdered sugar

Glaze--

2 tablespoons raw honey

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Brush the insides of a bundt pan with coconut oil, making sure to get all the crevices.  Set aside.  Whisk together in a medium sized bowl the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Set aside.  In an electric mixer, combine the coconut oil, brown sugar and honey.  Beat until combined.  Add eggs and vanilla and beat until combined.  Add the yogurt, lemon zest and juice and mix well.  Add the dry ingredients and mix well just until combined.  Gently fold in the blueberries.  Pour the batter into the bundt pan and spread evenly.  Bake for 60 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool in the pan for about 20 minutes.  Invert cake onto a wire rack (set the rack on top of the cake, then carefully turn it upside down until setting the rack on the counter, the cake should drop right out).  Cool completely.  Dust with powdered sugar.  Make the simple glaze.  Put the honey and lemon juice into a small microwave safe dish.  Microwave for 20 minutes, whisk until well combined.  Let cool.   Drizzle a little bit on servings of cake (I did this instead of drizzling the whole cake at once).

I really like the hit of lemon in this cake from the zest and juice in the cake and the simple honey lemon glaze.  You could glaze the whole cake before serving, and I splurged on 1/4 teaspoon of powdered sugar and dusted the cake, then just put glaze on individual pieces of the cake.  Kevin thinks it would be good with a sugar-laden glaze or whipped cream and I’m sure it probably would, but my way is yummy and better for you.  Even though the cake is gluten free and “different”, usually my family steers clear when I tell them that, but they have been eating the cake.  I love the almost crust-like edges of the cake. 

Check out Ilona’s blog, Ilona's Kitchen for more great recipes!  I actually made another recipe from her blog, it was a last minute salad I needed to take to a ladies church activity.  I loved it.  Again, I made a few changes, but you can find her Spinach and Edamame Salad here.  Ilona’s salad didn’t have blueberries and had pine nuts instead of pecans. 

Spinach Edamame Blueberry Pecan Salad, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

1 (10 ounce) bag of frozen edamame

1 (14 ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed

1/3 cup dried cranberries (I used apple juice sweetened)

1 cup blueberries, washed and dried

1/2 cup pecans, toasted and roughly chopped

1 (5 ounce) bag of baby spinach

juice of 2 lemons (about 1/3 cup)

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper

Cook edamame according to package directions.  Rinse under cold water until cool.  In a large bowl, combine the edamame, chickpeas, dried cranberries, pecans, blueberries and spinach.  In a small bowl, combine the lemon juice, olive oil and salt and pepper.  Whisk until well combined.  Dress the salad just before serving with the lemon dressing a little at a time, tossing between each tablespoonful.  Don’t overdress it.  You could also dress individual servings as well.  (You won’t use all of the dressing, you could probably even halve the dressing recipe but it will be great on other salads.  Store leftover dressing in the refrigerator in a jar.)

Lots of delicious recipes to choose from  on Ilona’s blog!

 

 

An InLinkz Link-up