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!

Mini Pumpkin Cakes

Fall is in the air and at the moment it feels great!  I wish we could bottle this temperature for several months!  I saw this recipe posted on Facebook  which lead me to Picky Palate and had to try it.  I do love her blog and have tried many of her recipes.  For the first time ever, I did not have any ice cream in my house, but still wanted to try these.  I just used heavy cream instead.  They turned out really well, which only means that doing it with melted ice cream must be amazing! I also do not have a doughnut pan, so I just made mine in my mini bundt pan.  This recipe made 10 mini pumpkin cakes.  Would definitely double it next time.

Mini Pumpkin Cakes

Ingredients:

3/4 cup GF featherlite flour 

½ tsp xanthan gum

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons canned pumpkin

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons instant vanilla pudding mix

3/4 cup vanilla ice cream (measured before melting) (I used heavy whipping cream)

Glaze:

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup heavy cream (you may need a couple tablespoons more if too thick)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and spray mini bundt pan or doughnut pan with non-stick cooking spray.

2. Place flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, sugar, pumpkin, egg, vanilla and pudding mix into a large mixing bowl.

3. Place ice cream into a microwave safe bowl and heat for 30 seconds or until just barely melted. Pour into mixing bowl and combine with other ingredients until well combined. Scoop batter into prepared doughnut or mini bundt pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until baked through. Remove and let cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan.

4. To prepare the glaze, place powdered sugar and cream into a bowl, whisking to combine. Add more cream if needs thinning out. Dip tops of donuts or mini cakes in glaze and serve!

Makes 9-11 donuts or mini bundt cakes

Chocolate Quinoa Cake

I seriously doubted this recipe when I first came upon it.  I have struggled getting anyone in our household to eat quinoa, let alone in a cake.  It got rave reviews, so I thought what the heck!  It definitely is a process to make, not one you just whip up in an hour.  Having said that, it was a huge hit.  I even took it to a friend to be a taste tester for me.  They had no idea the ingredients, but it was loved by all who ate it.  It is a very rich cake.  One slice hits the spot!  This was a pinterest find that led me here.  I have tried a few of her other recipes and have always been happy with the results!

Chocolate Qunioa Cake

INGREDIENTS:
Cake:
2 cups cooked and cooled quinoa (see note below)
1/3 cup milk
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup butter, melted and cooled
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Frosting:
2 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream
1 1/4 cups semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips ( I actually cut this down to about a 1/4 C and I use milk chocolate chips)

DIRECTIONS:
For the cake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease two 8-inch round cake pans. Line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper.
Combine the milk, eggs and vanilla in a blender or food processor. Process just until combined. Add the cooked quinoa and the butter. Blend well until smooth.
In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the contents from the blender and mix with a wooden spoon or whisk until combined.
Divide the batter evenly between the two pans and bake on a rack in the middle position for 28-30 minutes or until a knife or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and cool for 10 minutes. Invert the cakes onto cooling racks (remove the parchment paper stuck to the bottom of the cakes).
For the frosting, place the chocolate chips in a medium bowl. Heat the whipping cream in a saucepan until it gently simmers. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate chips and let the mixture sit for five minutes. Whisk to combine until it is glossy and smooth. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until completely chilled and cold (2-3 hours). You can speed up this process by placing the bottom of the bowl in an ice water bath and stirring until cool. When fully chilled, use an electric mixer (stand mixer or handheld) to whip the mixture to soft peaks. (This takes at least 10-15 minutes to get thick and stiff)
Place one cake layer upside down on a serving platter or plate. Top with a generous portion (about half) of the whipped frosting, spreading to within 1/2-inch of the edge of the cake (it will press to the edge when the top cake layer is put on).
Gently put the other cake layer upside down on top of the frosted layer. Spread the remaining frosting over the top of the cake. You could definitely frost the sides, too, but I like the more rustic look for this cake - frosting just the middle and top.
Chill the frosted cake in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving to let the frosting set up a bit.

You'll need about 3/4 cup  dry quinoa for 2 cups cooked. Make sure to measure the quinoa for the cake recipe after it is cooked and cooled. Also, make sure to THOROUGHLY rinse the quinoa and cook the quinoa in water not broth.

Sugar Cookie Squares

Who doesn't love a soft sugar cookie?  I have not found pleasure in trying to 'roll' out sugar cookie dough since going GF, so this is something I put on the back burner.  Then one day, I saw a pin on pinterest called 'Sugar Cookie Bars'.  You just spread the dough out onto a cookie sheet and bake the whole thing at once and then frost, cut and serve!  Well, duh, why didn't I think of that?!  I pulled out my old favorite recipe from back in the day and viola, we have yummy sugar cookies....all shaped like squares!  It was a good day.  The first time I made it using the full recipe and the cookies were like cake thickness.  A bit much for me, so the second time, I halved the recipe and they were much thinner (as pictured below).  So pick what suits your fancy and enjoy!

 Sugar Cookie Squares

½ cup shortening or butter

1 ½ cups sugar

2 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1 tsp. vanilla

½ tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 ½ tsp xanthan gum

3 cups GF flour

Cream together shortening, sugar and eggs.  Add remaining ingredients.  Spread dough out onto greased cookie sheet. (One with sides)  Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes; until light golden brown on top.

Frost with your favorite frosting.  I use Betty Crocker Cream Cheese flavored frosting.

S'mores Pizza Dessert

 I was asked to take dinner into a family tonight.  With all that was going on, it was just easier for me to stop at Papa Murphey's Take-n-Bake and grab them dinner.  I saw that they had a s'mores dessert pizza and I thought to myself, "Wow, that looks amazingly delicious!"  I think I could totally make that GF!  When I got home, I googled s'mores pizza and found several recipes.  I chose one that looked good and ran with it!  It was seriously a hit with my family and the guests we were feeding at our home tonight!  The only thing I would have changed is maybe drizzling a little bit of chocolate syrup over the pizza.  All in all, we will be making this again!  The recipe I went with came from here.

If you only want to make the dessert pizza, then 1/2 a pizza dough recipe would make just that.  Lately we have been doubling the dough recipe  and making two large dinner pizza's with enough dough left over to make a dessert pizza.

S’mores Pizza Dessert

Ingredients:

½ GF Pizza dough recipe (this will make a medium/large size dessert pizza)

1/3 cup Brown Sugar

1/2 cup GF Rolled Oats

2 tablespoons Softened Butter

1/4 cup GF Flour

Mini Marshmallows

Semi-sweet chocolate chips (we like and use milk chocolate!)

Directions:

Prepare crust as you normally would. Spread the dough out on a pizza stone.  In a medium sized bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, and butter with a fork until you have corn meal consistency.  Mix in the rolled oats.  Sprinkle this mixture across your pizza crust liberally. Add chocolate chips onto crust.  Bake pizza crust as directed.

Bake Pizza at 420 degrees for about 12-15 minutes, then add marshmallows and finish cooking for 5-7 minutes.  Remove from oven, slice and serve. 

***Next time I would totally drizzle chocolate syrup over mine before serving.

Chocolate Dipped Banana Popsicle

My sister brought me some Popsicle molds from Ikea when she came to visit, so we did a search for something yummy to make in them.  I am a huge fan of the hand dipped bars at Costco and this was a close second, only difference is the hint of banana flavor.  When dipping the Popsicle in the magic shell, you have to be very quick and you can't double dip it or all the chocolate comes off. 

The recipe came from pinterest.

Chocolate Dipped Banana Popsicles

Ingredients

2 medium sized bananas

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup milk

3 tbsp sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Popsicle Mold

Magic Shell

1/2 cup unsalted chopped peanuts

Instructions

Put bananas, heavy cream, milk, sugar and vanilla in the blender and blend until smooth, about 1 minute. Pour into your popsicle mold and place in freezer.

Once frozen, remove from mold and dip into the chocolate Magic Shell, then quickly sprinkle with chopped nuts. Enjoy right away, or place in plastic bags and store in freezer until ready to enjoy.

Magic Shell

The kids and I REALLY enjoyed this on our banana Popsicle we made this summer!  Super easy.

I found the recipe here.

Magic Shell Chocolate

Ingredients

1/2 cup Coconut Oil

12 oz. Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips

Instructions

In a sauce pan on the stovetop, combine the coconut oil and chocolate chips.

Melt together on low until well blended

Drizzle over ice cream and let sit for 30-45 seconds to harden.  Enjoy!!

Store in an air tight container at ROOM TEMPERATURE. (The Magic Shell may harden slightly, but just microwave for a few seconds till it is liquid again.)

Snicker Apple Salad

I remember having this salad years ago and forgetting about it until I saw it on pinterest!  This past weekend we had three gatherings that all required me to bring a side dish.  I decided this would be a good time to bust this out and introduce it to the family.  Let's just say it is so yummy that I tried to convince the kiddos that it was potato salad (because my kids don't like potato salad) so they wouldn't want to eat it all!  The original recipe calls for vanilla pudding, I only had french vanilla, hence the more yellow color.  It has an amazing combination of flavors that are sure to be a hit with your family!

Snicker Apple Salad

Ingredients:

6 regular size Snickers Candy Bar

6 apples (I used Granny Smith)

1 (5 oz.) package Vanilla Instant Pudding ; powder only (I used French Vanilla)

1/2 cup milk

1 (12 oz.) tub cool whip

Caramel ice cream sauce for drizzling on top

Instructions:

Whisk vanilla pudding powder, 1/2 cup milk and cool whip together until well combined.

Chop up apples and Snickers.  Stir chopped apples and Snickers into pudding mixture.  Place in a large bowl and drizzle with caramel ice cream topping.  Chill for at least 1 hour before serving.

Chocolate Cake Waffles

This recipe turned out way better than when I tried it with cookie dough!  I did a search on pinterest for chocolate waffles and came across this recipe.  They turned out well.  They were a little hard to get out of the waffle iron, but with patience and a smile, it all worked out!  Yes those are freeze dried strawberries on top.  They are like candy to the kids and make for a fun, crunchy, sweet topping.

Chocolate Cake Batter Waffles

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup of boiling water

2 cups GF flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp xanthan gum

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup of softened butter

1 cup of sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 large eggs

Whisk together:

1/2 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup of boiling water

Allow to cool to room temperature before using.

Mix together your dry ingredients and set aside:

2 cups GF flour

1 tsp xanthan gum

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Cream together in a new bowl:

1/2 cup of softened butter

1 cup of sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Add 2 large eggs to the butter mixture, stirring between each egg to combine thoroughly.

Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the cocoa water mixture to the butter mixture, stirring until just mixed. Batter may be stored in the refrigerator until needed.

Make up your cake mix, and simply spoon into a preheated waffle iron and cook according to your waffle iron’s own instructions. I found that the same waffle times worked for this cake batter recipe.

Top with your favorite toppings:

Ice cream

Cool Whip

Chocolate or caramel syrup

Fruit

Caramel Pretzel Cookies

If you like a sweet and salty combination, this is it! It's not very often that the kids come home from school to baked cookies, so this was a special treat today.  A sad detail to these cookies is I got so excited about the picture and getting it edited, I forgot about the second batch in the oven and burnt them to a crisp...So we thoroughly enjoyed the 16 cookies from the first batch.  So don't do what I did and get distracted and loose half your cookies!  You know want to go make some. The original recipe came from here.

Caramel Pretzel Cookies

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature

1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp sugar

1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp brown sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 egg

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 cups GF flour (I use featherlite)

¾ tsp xanthan gum

3/4 cup GF stick pretzels, broken into thirds

1/2 cup caramel bits

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cream butter and sugars.  Add vanilla and eggs, mixing until well blended. Scrap the sides of the bowl.

Combine salt, baking soda, xanthan gum and flour.  Gradually add to wet mixture.  Mix until well blended.  Fold in broken pretzels, caramel bits, & chocolate chips with a spatula.

Spoon onto a baking sheet with parchment paper. Bake at 350 degrees for 13-15 minutes (or until golden brown). *Makes around 2 dozen cookies.

Peanut Butter Bars (School lunch style)

Remember those yummy peanut butter bars they used to serve at school lunch?  Found this recipe here and decided to give it a try.  Since my kids have never eaten school lunch, they really didn't know what they were missing out on.  Let's just say that out of a whole cookie sheet and sharing with a few friends, there were no leftovers.  Next I make it, I would like to try freezing a few and see how that works out. 

School Lunch Peanut Butter Bars

Ingredients:

1 1/2 C GF Flour (featherlite)

1¼ tsp. Salt

½ tsp. Baking Soda

¾ C Butter

¾ C Sugar

¾ C Brown Sugar

1 ½ tsp. Vanilla

1 1/2 C Creamy Peanut Butter (split)

2 Eggs

1 ½ C Quick Oats (I blended mine to make more of a flour like consistency)

¾ tsp xanthan gum

Frosting:

½ C Butter (1 stick)

3 ½ C Powdered Sugar

2 T Cocoa

¼ C Milk (I use whatever I have in the fridge)

1 tsp. Vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small mixing bowl, mix together flour, xanthan gum,baking soda and salt. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter, sugars, 3/4 C peanut butter, eggs and vanilla until light and fluffy. Gradually add dry ingredients, just until incorporated. Then, stir in the oats. Spread onto a greased 11 x 15 Jelly Roll Pan (cookie sheet). Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool for 10 minutes.

The frosting is a two-step process. First, whip the remaining ¾ C Creamy Peanut Butter until it becomes lighter colored and fluffy. Carefully spread the whipped peanut butter over the pan cookie.

Then, add butter to a small sauce pan and melt the butter. Add the milk and cocoa. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly. Heat just until boiling. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Then, gradually add the powdered sugar. Stir until thickened. Pour over the peanut butter and gently spread over the cookie. Cool completely, and slice into bar cookies.

Triple Berry Salad

Looking for a new and tasty treat to serve up on Valentine's Day for your loved ones?  My kids told me that if I posted this to Facebook, they would give it one million likes!  There you have it!  This was a pinterest find...again.  I halved the recipe (which is what is listed below) and was plenty for my family of six.  It could easily be doubled.

Triple Berry Salad

1 ½  lbs. of frozen mixed berries  (slightly thawed out)

8 oz.  Cool Whip

16oz.  of vanilla yogurt

½  3oz. pkg of Cheesecake instant pudding mix

Add the Cool Whip, yogurt and then sprinkle in the pudding mix. Blend with beaters until well mixed.  Stir in slightly thawed berry mix.  Fold gently until blended.  Chill before serving.

*I used 1 ½ C heavy cream instead to make my own ‘Cool Whip’.  Whip cream until it begins to make stiff peaks.  Adding about 2 TB of sugar will help the cream thicken.

Monkey Bread Pull-A-Parts

These were literally gone in fifteen minutes after being pulled out of the oven...they are that good!

Pre-Cooked...You want it to raise double to triple in size...

After being inverted onto a serving platter...oozing with goodness!

Enjoy...

Monkey Bread Pull a Parts

Dough:

1 C scalded milk

¼  C butter

½  C sugar

½  C mashed potatoes (can be leftovers or instant)

¾  tsp salt

2 eggs

3 C GF flour (featherlite)

3 tsp xanthan gum

3 TB of ground flaxseed

Let Proof:

1 TB yeast

1/6 C warm water

½ tsp sugar

Topping:

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 (3.4 ounce) package Cook and Serve Butterscotch pudding mix

1/4 cup white sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 cup melted butter

1.      Mix brown sugar, pudding mix, sugar and cinnamon and set aside (from toppings list).

2.      In microwaveable dish, combine milk and butter and bring to scalding temperature (180 degrees). In separate mixing bowl, combine the seven other ingredients listed up top.  I use yeast that does not to be proofed; therefore I add those three ingredients in with all the above listed.  If you need to proof the yeast, go ahead and once it is all bubbly you can add it the mixing bowl.  Mix on high (about 3 minutes) until dough is well blended.  Spray Bundt pan really well with non-stick spray.  You will want to grease your fingers as well. 

3.      Roll dough into balls the size of a golf ball.  Roll in pudding/sugar mixture and layer in pan. Pour melted butter over first layer. Repeat with the next layer.

4.      When all the dough is gone, sprinkle remaining pudding/sugar mixture over dough in Bundt pan. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 3 hours.  Bake in pre heated oven, 350 degrees, for 20-30 minutes.  Let cool for about ten minutes and then flip out onto a serving platter.   Enjoy the ooey gooey goodness of these delicious rolls!!