5 Ingredient Gluten Free Apple Crumble

    Okay, okay, you got me...there are technically a handful of blueberries and vanilla ice cream added in my picture. While they are absolutely delicious paired with apples, they aren't necessary. If you have them, add them!

    If you've done any amount of gluten free baking you know that almost nothing has less than 10 ingredients. All purpose flour no longer involves picking up a $2 bag at the grocer, it involves sifting and mixing a blend of several different flours to create some sort of substitute that be used in your baking. I'm so over it! I hate that there is now a tupperware in my pantry that contains at least 10 different kinds of g.f. flours... 10!

    Before we went gluten free I can remember offering to make some gluten free cupcakes for some friends of ours. "This shouldn't be hard," I thought.  Wrong! Making them from a mix involved spending $6 per batch,  making them from scratch meant getting an education! 

This is not that kind of recipe! This is easy as pie...but really it's crumble. It's the perfect dessert for company,  or when you need to bring something to cheer up a friend, or when you're just in the mood for some comforting dessert.

 

INGREDIENTS

1/2 c gluten free oats
1/4 c melted (salted) butter
1/2 c brown sugar
2 tbsp coconut flour
1 can of g.f. apple pie filling.
(I got mine at dollar tree and it doesn't contain any gluten ingredients)

 

Heat oven to 350.  Open can of apple pie filling and place in a 8x8 dish. In a medium sized mixing bowl combine melted butter with coconut flour, then add brown sugar and oats.  Top apples evenly with mixture and bake for 20 minutes.  That's it! Serve warm with some ice cream or even a heaping dollop of whipped topping. 

The 110 calorie Frappe

This summer's Starbucks Frappuccino Happy Hour left me used to getting a cold creamy coffee fix for cheap. Alas, it didn't last forever. Good thing I've figured out how to make something just as delicious, not to mention low calorie, for cheaper than a half price Frappuccino.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Introducing exhibit A: found of all places at the 99 cent store.

This instant espresso powder will keep your ratio of liquid down so that you don't end up with a slushy, unsatifying watered down mess.

My second weapon is my ninja blender. It handles ice like a pro, and I find it does an even better job when I use the individual jar, making a Frappe for 1.

Lastly, you'll need some refrigerated liquid coffee creamer and some almond milk(or milk of your choice. Sometimes I add a teaspoon of chocolate chips and a dollop of whipped cream to the mix, just for good measure.

 

 

Ingredients:

3/4 c light almond milk
1 c ice
2 t instant espresso powder
3 T sugar free flavored coffee creamer
Optional addins: I tsp. Nutella or peanut butter,  chocolate chips, etc.  ***Warning***this will probably put you over the 110 calorie mark.

Directions: Place all ingredients in your blender jar(No need to dissolve espresso in water). Blend until smooth. Enjoy!

Black and Tan Cupcake

I don't know what it was...maybe the baby that I'm brewing...but after months of not wanting much to do with anything sweet or chocolaty, or coffee like I finally got the craving for a cupcake...and the hubby quickly agreed. I gathered the things in my pantry, quickly realizing I wouldn't be able to make anything that included vanilla extract. I'm fresh out, and there's no way I'm going to the grocery store in this crazy rainy weather we are having. I doctored up a German Chocolate Cake mix with some extra cocoa powder and some coffee flavors, and then I began mixing the frosting. Truthfully, I thought this was going to be a frosting disaster...all good frosting contains vanilla extract right?  But to my surprise my improvisations resulted in this rich decadent goodness. So much goodness that I couldn't bear to part with the leftovers. You could decorate these cupcakes with pretty chocolate curls or caramel drizzle...but I kind liked out simple they were to make...and to frost. No piping bag, just the back of a tablespoon and a big bowl of frosting.

Black and Tan Cupcakes
1 box of German chocolate or other chocolate cake mix
1/2 c. vegetable oil (or the amount called for in the cake mix)
3 eggs
2 tbsp espresso liquor
1/3 c. chilled coffee or espresso
*Remaining amount of water called for on your cake mix.
6 oz cream cheese softened
1 stick of butter
2 tbsp espresso liquor
2 tbsp of caramel topping
1 pinch of sea salt
2-3 c. of confectioner's sugar

For the Cake:
Dump the box of cake mix in your mixer bowl along with the eggs and oil. Get out your measuring cup and measure out 2 tbsp. of espresso liquor and 1/3 c. of coffee. Fill that same cup with enough water to measure out what your box of cake mix calls for. I hope that makes sense...basically your substituting some of the water for coffee and espresso liquor...not adding to that amount. Also add 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder. Turn on your mixer and beat until smooth. Fill cupcake tins (or cake pans) with batter about 2/3 c. full and bake according to box directions.

For the Frosting:
Whip butter and cream cheese in the bowl of your mixer until it is smooth. Add espresso liquor, caramel, and salt. Beat until incorporated. On slow speed add confectioner's sugar, starting with 2 c. and adding additional sugar if it appears to be too thin. Frosting will have a thick creamy texture, it won't hold shape like a butter cream but should be able to be swirled with the back of a spoon on top of the cupcakes and hold some form.

No Bake Nutella Cheesecake

They warned me about Pinterest and I should have stayed away...but it's so addicting! This recipe caught my eye, or rather a delicious looking picture of this recipe caught my eye on Pinterest and I had to try it. Warning: It's about addicting as Pinterest itself! My pictures don't do this recipe justice...go to the blog My Baking Addiction to see something a bit more beautified :).

I piped melted white chocolate into the shape of hearts onto a
chilled cookie sheet to make these little hearts.

No Bake Nutella Cheesecake
*adapted from My Baking Addiction

Ingredients
12 Oreo cookies
3 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted
1 (8 oz.) package of cream cheese, softened
2/3 c. Nutella
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tablespoons of hazelnut liqueur (Armaretto is also good)
8 oz. of whipping cream, whipped and chilled
Optional garnish of: chocolate shavings, extra whipped cream, chopped hazelnuts, or in my case 1/2 of a chopped hazelnut milk chocolate bar and white chocolate hearts in honor of Valentine's Day.

Place Oreos in a Ziploc bag and crush. Add melted butter and shake to combine. Divide crumb mixture between serving dishes (I used wine glasses) and press to the bottom to make a crust.

In your mixer combine cream cheese, Nutella, & vanilla extract. Beat until smooth. Gently fold in whipped cream until it is fully incorporated.

Pipe or spoon into serving dishes. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Garnish as desired.

It's so easy!

I Scream You Scream We All Scream for... Cookies?

 Looks can be deceiving. And oh so adorable. These little treats are sugar cookies made to look like ice cream. Today I was browsing around looking for Super Bowl recipe ideas when I found this recipe for ice cream scoop sugar cookies. Not very super-bowl oriented...I know, but I just couldn't resist rolling up my sleeves and making these. I experimented a bit with sizes and found that a 1/2 tablespoon rounded measuring spoon made a the perfect size scoop which fit perfectly atop miniature ice cream cones. These cute little creations would be perfect for an April Fool's treat or even a birthday party....or maybe just because you love your kids and you want to make them something fun.

Sugar Cookie Dough

6 c. white flour
3 tsp. baking powder
2 c. margarine or butter
2 c. sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. salt
1 c. semi sweet chocolate chips
For Strawberry Ice Cream:
1 small box of strawberry flavored gelatin
freeze dried strawberries (optional)

For Chocolate Ice Cream:
3 tbsp. cocoa powder
2 tbsp. melted semi sweet chocolate


*Before you begin: You're probably going to want to use a stand mixer for this recipe...the dough is pretty thick and a hand mixer probably won't cut it.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla in your mixer.
In a separate bowl mix flour, baking soda, and salt and slowly add to the wet mixture. It will seem very dry, but let it whip a few minutes and it should come together. If it's still unworkable you can add a very small splash of milk (think teaspoon size) because you'll want this dough to be on the dry side or the cookies won't set up the way they're supposed to.

Divide your dough into thirds. Place 1/3 of the dough into your mixer and add cocoa powder and melted chocolate. The melted chocolate should add enough moisture to help the cocoa powder blend into the dough. Once that is mixed set it aside, clean your mixing bowl and add another third of the  dough. Add the strawberry gelatin and freeze dried strawberries (if using) and run your mixer until your dough is completely pink and gelatin is fully incorporated.  The remaining third of dough will be your vanilla ice cream.

Scoop out dough, (see note below)  making sure to overfill your scoop a bit so as to make an edge that resembles a scoop of ice-cream. Plop your scoops onto a baking sheet about 2 inches apart and press on some sprinkles. Bake 12-14 minutes (you don't want to have browned ice cream) and cool.

Melt chocolate chips in a small bowl on medium heat in the microwave for about 20 seconds at a time, stirring in between to make sure it is melted. Dip the top of each cone in a bit of chocolate, and, using the back of a spoon smear some more chocolate onto the bottom of scoops to help them stick to your cones.

Once you've mastered the art of ice-cream scoop cookies why not experiment with other flavors...maybe chocolate or mint chip or peanut butter...the possibilities are endless! Have fun enjoying your sweet treats!
***For this recipe I used miniature ice cream cones and a round measuring 1/2 Tablespoon to make my scoops. You could also use a regular ice cream scoop if you planned on putting these on top of regular ice cream cones. I would suggest baking off 1 or 2 before you do a whole batch to see how large they will be after they've baked...that way you don't end up with ginormous scoops that don't fit on your cones.

Molasses Sugar Cookies

 It's just not Christmas until we've made a batch or two of these delicious spiced cookies. They have a crunchy outside, chewy center, and the aroma of these cookies will fill your house with yummy! They are amazingly simple, keep well, make a wonderful addition to your kid's teacher gifts. That is, if you can hide enough of them from your family to give away. They're also a great cookie for kids to help make as they can help roll the dough into balls and dip them in the colored sugar.

Molasses Sugar Cookies
yield: 6 dozen

Ingredients:


A great gift for friends, neighbors, and teachers in these
cute bags I got from Hobby Lobby.

1 1/2 c. shortening
2 c. white sugar
1/2 c. molasses
2 eggs
4 c. flour
4 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. salt
1 pinch of cardamom (optional)
Christmas colored sugars

Directions:

• Melt shortening in a saucepan and cool. 
• Add to mixer bowl and cream with sugar, eggs, and molasses.
• Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl and slowly add to wet mixture. Mix well.
• Cover and chill in the refrigerator for 3 hours or overnight.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Roll dough into walnut size balls and roll in colored sugar. Place 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes or until tops appear to crackle (see picture).
• Cool and store in an airtight container.

            

Nutritional Information

Molasses Sugar Cookies

Servings Per Recipe: 72
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 93

• Total Fat: 4.5g
• Cholesterol: 6mg
• Sodium: 105mg
• Total Carbs: 12.7g
• Dietary Fiber: 0.2g
• Protein: 0.9g

VIEW DETAILED NUTRITION

About: Nutrition Info

Peppermint Brownies

Decorating for Christmas got me in the mood to bake something special for dessert tonight. I got this crazy idea to whip up some peppermint flavored buttercream icing and spread it over a batch of brownies. Then I remembered the Hershey's Candy Cane Kisses that I had hiding in my cupboard. Voila! So simple and so fancy I think I might make these for Christmas.

Candy Cane Brownies
for the brownies:
1 box of your favorite brownie mix

for the frosting:
1/4 c. butter
2-21/2 c. powdered sugar
1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
3/4 tsp of peppermint extract
2-3 tbsp. of milk
15 unwrapped Hershey's Candy Cane Kisses

Directions:
Prepare brownies according to package directions. Cool completely.

In the meantime prepare the frosting. Cream butter in mixer until fluffy. Gradually add in powdered sugar, extracts, and milk and whip on medium speed until combined.

Spread frosting onto cooled brownies. Lightly chop the kisses and sprinkle over the top.  Enjoy!

Pumpkin Spiced Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

You've got to try these! I decided I needed a "fall" themed cupcake and found this awesome Pumpkin Cupcake recipe from Martha Stewart. Because they were a "test batch" of sorts, I quartered the recipe and made these in my miniature cupcake pan, perfect for a bite size treat. I'm definitely going to whip these up again for Halloween. The remaining minis in my refrigerator are definitely going to work with the hubby tomorrow.The month of October is packed with enough sugar on it's own!


Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
recipe Adapted from Martha Stewart
Makes about 18 regular cupcakes, and approximately 4 dozen minis

2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 c. packed light brown sugar
1 c. granulated sugar
1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 15 oz can pumpkin puree

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Coat pan with non-stick spray or line with paper liners.
In a medium bowl combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. Set aside.

In a large bowl whisk together both sugars, butter, and eggs. Add dry ingredients and whisk until smooth. Whisk in pumpkin puree.

Fill cups about halfway with batter. Bake 20-25 minutes (about 12-15 for miniatures) until tops spring back when touched. Remove to a wire rack and cool completely.

Cream Cheese Frosting
1 8 oz. tub cream cheese      
1/2 c (or 1 stick) unsalted butter
2 tsp. vanilla
4 c. powdered sugar

Whip cream cheese and butter until combined and creamy. Add in vanilla and powdered sugar and whip on low speed for 1 minute and on medium-high speed for an addition 3-4 minutes until creamy.

To Decorate:

Tint frosting desired color, I used yellow and red drops to create and orange tint. Pipe onto cupcakes with a frosting bag or a sturdy Ziploc bag with the corner cut off and top each cupcake with a candy corn, or three...:) .

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Bliss

Lately I've been thinking a lot about cupcakes. Maybe that's because Garrison's second birthday is just around the corner and I want to make something special. This week I experimented with chocolate and peanut butter. You can't go wrong with chocolate and peanut butter, especially when you swirl them on top of a pretty little peanut butter cupcake. The recipe comes from one of my favorite recipe blogs, "Our Best Bites." I added my own twist and decided made them miniature, which is how I prefer my cupcakes. The reason: when they're tiny they don't seem so terrible for you, and because I was taking them to a church dinner and I knew they would stretch a bit further this way.  I had to forgo putting a Reese's Miniatures  in the center since these were so small, but I quartered regular size Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and they made a perfect decoration for the top!

Peanut Butter Cup CupcakesRecipe adapted from Our Best Bites
1 white or yellow cake mix.
1 c. sour cream (full-fat or light, but not fat-free)
3 eggs
1/4 cup canola oil
1/8 c. water
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
24 unwrapped mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (omit if making miniature cupcakes)

Chocolate Frosting:
1/4 cup  butter softened
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 pound powdered sugar
3 tablespoons evaporated milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Peanut Butter Frosting:
1/2 c. creamy peanut butter
1/4 c. butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2-3 tablespoons of evaporated milk

Preheat oven to 350. Line 2 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake liners and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine all the cupcake ingredients and beat with mixer on medium-low speed for 30 seconds and make sure to scrape the bowl. Adjust the speed to high and beat for another 3 minutes.
Fill each muffin cup about 1/2 full with batter. Top with an unwrapped Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup (omit this step if you're making miniatures), then fill the muffin cups with the remaining batter. Make sure the Peanut Butter Cups are covered and the cups are about 3/4 full. Bake for 18-22 minutes (for regular size) or 12-14 minutes for miniature,  or until the tops are golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

In the mean time, prepare the frosting. For both flavors combine all the ingredients for each  and whip until light and fluffy. You can add extra milk, a little at a time, if needed. Frost the cupcakes with the *swirled frosting.

*Here's a tip on swirling the frosting, if like me, all you have are basic supplies such as a frosting bag and a star tip. If you don't have even these you can improvise with a large Zip Lock baggie and cut a hole in the bottom, but your swirl may not look as pretty.
- Cut off the tip of the bag (about 3/4 inches, depending on the size of the tip you are using) and put in your tip.
- Hang your frosting bag in the inside of a large glass or tumbler and fold over the sides, this will make it easier to fill.
- Spoon in Peanut Butter frosting, pushing it over to one side of the bag, don't sweat imperfection! Spoon in the Chocolate Frosting to the remaining side of the bag.
- Remove bag from cup and lay on its side, push down the frosting into the base and roll the edge down to close. If only one color is in the very base you can pipe out a bit of the frosting until you begin to see it swirl.

Raspberry Sorbet

I'll be the first in my family to admit that there wasn't much about our move to Southern California that was easy. There were unwelcome delays, rounds of illness, lots of homesickness, and weeks of loneliness. The only bright spot in the process of getting settled here has been the overwhelming blessing of being part of a very awesome church family. This week we packed up the picnic gear and spent our Wednesday evening in fellowship with some of those very awesome people. Someone (I'm embarrassed to say I don't even know who) pulled up in a truck with enough quickly ripening raspberries (and other produce) to bless each and every family with an entire flat! Wow! Obviously we've got to use up these berries quickly, so yesterday I set out to make some fresh raspberry sorbet.
Raspberry Sorbet
slightly adapted from Paula Deen for Food Network
2 c. white sugar
2 c. water
2 fresh mint leaves
2 quarts raspberries
1/4 c. lime juice
1/2 c. light corn syrup

Combine sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and add mint leaves. Simmer for about 3 minutes or until sugar dissolves. Remove mint leaves and cool completely.

In a blender or food processor puree raspberries and lime juice. Press puree through a strainer to remove seeds. If you don't mind a few seeds just leave them in!

Combine cooled sugar sugar mixture, raspberry puree, and corn syrup. Stir well.

Pour mixture into ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions.

Sorbet will be soft after churning but will firm up after freezing.

As Easy as Pie

   If you're looking for something simple (no measuring required!), refreshing, and delicious I've found your pie! And, have I mentioned that this is low-fat? Use it as an excuse and have some dessert!
    I stumbled upon this yummy recipe yesterday when I was trying to find something to pair with the Mahi Mahi Fish Tacos we were having for dinner. I didn't even read over the recipe, I just put the few ingredients on my list and went to town.  As usual, I spent way to long shopping and was scrambling to make dinner before everyone got really cranky. I didn't even think about dessert again until dinner was completed and dishes were done...but I didn't really need to. It was that easy!

Low-Fat Key Lime Pie
adapted from Epicurious

1 graham cracker crust (store bought or homemade)
1 small box of Lime flavor sugar free gelatin
1/4 c. boiling water
1 8 oz container of fat free whipped topping
4 (6 oz.) key lime pie flavor yogurts
1 lime, zested
Additional whipped topping for garnish (optional)

Stir Lime Gelatin into boiling water until completely dissolved. Whisk in 4 containers of yogurt and whipped topping and mix well. Stir in most of the lime zest, reserving a bit for garnish (optional). Pour mixture into your prepared crust and chill for about 2 hours. Serve with additional whipped topping and garnish with a small lime wedges (optional). Enjoy!

 

Cream Pie with a Kick

A light chocolate cream pie? Honestly, that conjures up memories of store bought graham cracker crusts filled with sugar free instant pudding mix made by a newly married me almost 10 years ago. Sure they were made with love in our tiny little one bedroom apartment, a kitchen built for one (which didn't even have a dishwasher!), but they weren't very tasty. There are 16 recipes for "Healthy Cream Pie" over at  Cooking Light and I plan on testing out several...but this one is like nothing I've ever made before. Its rich and chocolaty with a hint of spice that doesn't over power its sweetness. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did :)

Mexican Chocolate Cream Pie

Adapted from Cooking Light

Total Time: about 4 hours
Servings: 8 slices.

Crust

10 graham cracker sheets

2 tbsp. sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp. salt

2 tbsp egg white

2 tbsp melted butter

cooking spray

Filling

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 1/2 tbsp of coffee liquor 

1 3/4 cups 2% reduced-fat milk

2 ounces dark chocolate, chopped

1 1/2 cups frozen reduced-calorie whipped topping, thawed

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Place graham cracker sheets into a food processor and pulse until fine crumbs form. Reserve 1 tablespoon of crumbs for topping.

Add to processor the sugar, cinnamon, salt, egg white, and butter and pulse until combined.

Press crumb mixture into a 9 inch pie plate coated with cooking spray. Bake at 375 degrees for 9 minutes. Cool completely.

To prepare the filling, combine the sugar, cornstarch, cocoa, salt, cayenne, egg, and egg yolk in a small bowl and stir with a whisk.

Heat milk in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat; cook until milk reaches 180 degrees. Tiny bubbles will form around the edge but do not boil. 

 Slowly add the hot milk to the egg mixture, whisking constantly. Return mixture to the pan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, about 10 minutes or until thick and bubbly. Remove from heat and add coffee liquor and chocolate. Stir until smooth.

Place pan in a large ice-filled bowl for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. When mixture is cooled spoon filling into crust.

Cover with plastic wrap and chill for about 3 hours or until set. Remove plastic wrap, spread whipped topping over the filling and sprinkle with graham cracker crumbs.

Happy Sundae

I got this awesome idea from a recipe booklet included with my last edition of Parenting magazine. These treats are simple and fun...not to mention a great way to impress your friends! The process is very simple. Line a muffin tin with foil cupcake liners. Melt some white chocolate chips. Use the back of a spoon to spread chocolate over the bottom and up the sides of each liner. Freeze, and add a second coat of melted chocolate if the first coat appears too thin. In about 5 minutes you'll be able to pull back the foil and you'll be left with these adorable white chocolate bowls. If you're having company you could easily prepare the bowls and even scoop the ice cream in them ahead of time. Pull them out of the freezer let your guests top with their favorite toppings. I'm sure the folks at Parenting intended these great little treats to be fun for the kiddos...but in our house they are much more appreciated grown-ups! Especially when they are  filled with rich coffee ice cream.