Chocolate Oreo Cupcakes

This was a super easy treat I made up for my kids 'First Day of School Treat'.  It was a super big hit and they were gone in a flash!

Chocolate Oreo Cupcakes

1 Box of Betty Crocker Devil’s Food Cake Mix (along with listed ingredients)

20-25 GF Oreo’s (I use Glutino’s)

1 16 oz. Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

Directions:

Follow directions on cake mix.  Place cupcake liners in cupcake pan.  Twist the top of an Oreo and place the frosting side up in bottom of the liner.  Reserve all other halves of the Oreo’s for crushing to sprinkle on top of finished cupcakes. Fill each cupcake liner with cake mix until about 2/3 full.  Bake as directed on cake box.

Remove cupcakes from pan and place on a cooling rack.  Crush remaining Oreo cookie halves in a plastic bag. When cooled, frost with frosting and sprinkle with Oreo crumbs.  Store any leftovers in airtight container…if there are any!!

Makes about 16 cupcakes

Chocolate Chip Cookie Balls

A friend of mine shared these with our family on an outing one day.  I didn't think for a second that my kiddos would eat one let alone love them!  They are super easy to make and very tasty.  They curb that sweet tooth desire, but are more on the healthy side!  The original recipe comes from here.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Balls (Lara Bar Copycat)

 2/3 cup pitted dates

A handful of chocolate chips or Sugar-Free Chocolate Chips

1/4 cup cashews (or another nut, like almonds.)

1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

A tiny pinch of salt (can be omitted)

Blend all ingredients together in a food processor or a blender.  Scrape out and knead together with your hands.  Gently fold in chocolate chips.  Roll into tiny little balls and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Freeze for about a half an hour.  Bag up cookie balls in freezer bag and store in freezer until ready to eat. 

Try not to eat the whole bag!

Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble Pie

 Today is Pi day and I wanted to surprise my husband with his favorite pie, Strawberry Rhubarb.  Let's just say that it looks good, smelled amazing while baking and was super delicious!  I scoured the internet for recipes, (I'm a huge visual kind of person, so I was looking for a picture of a pie that looked yummy!).  I found two recipes that looked easy and good and combined them. I did take the easy road and just bought a a GF pie crust and the rhubarb came from our garden that we harvested last year.  Go ahead ans wipe the drool of your face! Happy Pi day!

Saw this somewhere in my search for this recipe...grate the butter instead of cutting cubes.  It blends up so much easier!

That beautiful rhubarb came from our garden!

Pie before going in the oven...

Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble Pie

For the crust:

I used Pillsbury Gluten Free Pastry Dough located in the refrigerated section ( I got mine at Walmart) and followed the directions on the packaging.

For the filling:

1 pound fresh strawberries (washed, dried, and cut into quarters...or halved if small)

1 pound fresh rhubarb (washed, dried and cut into 1/2 inch chunks)

1 cup  sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon vanilla 

1 tablespoon  lemon juice

A pinch of sea salt

For the crisp topping:

1/2 cup butter, cut into chunks (I actually grated mine while it was frozen)

1/4 cup GF flour

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup GF quick oats

1 tsp. cinnamon

1.  Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment or foil and set aside. This is used to catch any spill overs during cooking!
2. Roll out your GF pie crust per directions on the package and place in your 9” pie dish.
3. Chop up your rhubarb into 1/2 inch chunks and cut your strawberries into quarters or halves if on the smaller side. Toss in a bowl with your sugar, cornstarch, vanilla extract, lemon juice and salt. Pour into your 9" pie dish with prepared GF pie crust.

4.  Combine all ingredients for the crumble and mix until well blended.  Pour on top of Rhubarb mixture and place in oven on your pan lined with tin foil.  Bake for 40 minutes.  Remove and serve warm with some vanilla ice cream!

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

I had a friend share one of these with me today and I immediately came home and busted out a batch that was gluten free.  They are super easy, super fast to whip up and they are DELICIOUS!!

The recipe I used is from Williams-Sonoma and all I did was change out the flour to be GF.

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

½ C powdered sugar
1 2/3 C GF flour
1 ¼ tsp xanthan gum
½ C cocoa powder
1 ½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
½ C butter at room temp
1 ¼ C sugar
2 eggs
 ½ tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream together sugar and butter. Add one egg and blend together.  Add second egg and vanilla and blend together. Add dry ingredients except for powdered sugar. Beat on low just till blended.  Roll into 1-2 inch balls and then roll each ball in the powdered sugar.  Place on greased or parchment lined cookie sheet.  Bake @ 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.  Remove from oven and place onto cooling rack for a few minutes and then store in airtight container if there are any leftovers!