Making Gluten Free Petit Fours

Dairy Free Gluten Free

Chocolate and Cream Cheese

 PETIT FOURS

My first experience with Petit Fours was when I started dating my husband in high school and went to his house around Christmas to be offered one of these adorable little cakes from Swiss Colony, a Christmas tradition in his home.  They were so yummy it was hard to not want to eat the whole box, especially with how much more crazy my sweet tooth was back then.  7-8 years later, our toddler daughter was there, in her Little but poofy Christmas dress, eating the little cakes with such delight. I didn't know if there was anything cuter than that petit little girl eating petit little cakes. But, by the the time she was 4 we had gone gluten free and sadly no more petit fours for us.  Tradition was ruined!  Petit Fours did remain a Christmas tradition for my husband however as his parents still send him a box every Christmas (he's not gluten free). Last year I was determined to make some, as my daughter fondly remembers from when she was 3 how good they were.  I researched how to make petit fours and then attempted to make gluten free petit fours. I made a gluten free chocolate cake and dairy free coconut cream for the filling and dairy free chocolate ganache for the coating.  It was a lot of work, it was a big mess and they were as big as a hostess cupcake and tasted more like a hostess cupcake, so while it was not a complete fail as we still ate them, they were a total mess and not presentable...they were not petit fours.

This week when my husband came home from the office, he had a gold box in his hand and quickly said "don't get mad, my parents sent them to my office but don't worry they aren't that good." What he says to make our daughter feel better when she can't have something he has.  Suddenly I thought of a new way to try making gluten free petit fours and it was very quick and easy, easier than regular petit fours.  I thought of the gluten free ice cream sandwiches we made last summer using Nicole Hunn's recipe from Gluten Free on a Shoestring.  A thin, chocolate wafer/cake that is easy to make and no slicing cake into crumbly thin layers and freezing required!  (Typical part of making petit fours)

What you need:

Ice Cream Sandwich Chocolate Wafer recipe from Gluten Free on a Shoestring (HERE)

Can of pillsbury Cream Cheese Frosting (I read the label and it was dairy free-normally I would make homemade frosting to avoid the extra "ingredients" but I was tired and promised my daughter we would have girl time and make these.)

Ghiridelli Chocolate Semi-Sweet Chips (or other dairy free chocolate chips)

Dairy free milk (almond, coconut or cashew)

(SHHHH!!!....I cheated and bought frosting when I realized it was dairy free!)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325

Make the sandwich cookie dough as directed (here)

Separate chocolate dough into 2 balls.

Place one half on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, top with another piece of parchment paper and roll out into a rectangularish shape just a little over a 1/4 inch thick.  Remove top parchment paper and if you like, trim the edges to make them straight and add the extra dough to the other ball of dough.

Repeat with the other half on another baking sheet.

Score the rolled out dough into roughly 1 inch wide strips.  (My strips were about 1 x 7 inches just depends I how you rolled it out)

Bake in preheated oven according the the sandwich cookie instructions, or until until it lightly springs back. (I ended up doubling the baking time since it was a larger mass since i wasn't cutting out cookie circles *about 14 minutes for me).

Remove from oven and allow cake to cool.

Assemble the cakes!

Using a knife, spread some cream cheese frosting over one long strip of your chocolate cake.

Carefully pick up another strip of cake and lay in on top and then spread that layer with cream cheese frosting and then add one more strip on top of the cream cheese. You now have 3 layers of cake with 2 layers of filling.

Repeat with remaining strips until you can't make any more. If you have excess scraps of cake, just leave those out in a dish for munching.

My fun little helper...she's very involved as she plans to open her own gluten free bakery.

Now that you have some long layered strips of cake and frosting, take a sharp knife and carefully cut them into 1 inch sections creating 1 inch squares.

This looks like a mess but it was all contained within this cookie sheet and the chocolate ganache and sprinkles that fell below were also later picked at and enjoyed ;)

Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper, place a cookie rack over top and then arrange your gluten free petit fours on the cookie rack.

In a double boiler* add a bag of dairy free chocolate chips and 1/4 cup of dairy free milk.  Stir until melted.  You want the chocolate icing to be somewhat running so it's easy to spread over your cakes so if it doesn't drizzle off your spoon, add some more milk until you get the right consistency.

Using a spoon or small spatula, carefully spread the chocolate icing over the top of your petit fours, letting it drip down the side.  As it drips down the sides, using a spoon or spatula, carefully spread the chocolate icing over the sides, adding more frosting as needed and letting the excess drip down onto the baking sheet below the petit fours.  They won't all be perfect but as long as you get the tops covered well and most of the sides, that's good enough.  Then top with some sprinkles for added color and decoration and allow chocolate icing to set and then enjoy your easy gluten free dairy free petit fours!  These were much less labor intensive than making sugar cookies!!!! 

As you can see here, this was more of a challenge to make gluten free dairy free petit fours as easy as possible, and have some fun mommy daughter time, not looking for perfection. We had some that we thought looked perfect although most were not, but they all taste the same and they taste VERY yummy!

*to make a double boiler, add an inch or two of water to a small pot, then place a glass Pyrex bowl over top of the pot and boil the water. Place the chocolate and milk in the glass bowl and store as it melts, this produces a smooth ganache.

*usually I like to make everything from scratch, even if it's not "healthy" it's still healthier than using anything from a package with the extra preservatives and ingredients however, as this was an experiment and I wanted it to be as easy as possible, especially if they didn't turn out, I thought a shortcut now and then ain't the worst thing in the world...besides, stress can kill you too! lol!

Gluten Free Black Bottom Banana Bars

Adapted from Taste of Home http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/black-bottom-banana-bars

1/2 c Earth Balance Butter

1 c organic cane sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

3 ripe bananas mashed

1 3/4 c gluten free flour baking blend such as King Arthur

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup cocoa powder (Hershey dark cocoa powder-even better)

Preheat oven to 350

Line a 9x13 with parchment paper or lightly grease.

Cream the butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla in stand mixer.

Add bananas one at a time, mixer will mash them up for you as they mix in.

In separate bow mix gf flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and then add to banana mixture. Stir til just combined.

Separate half on batter into a medium size bow and add 1/4 cocoa powder and stir til combined.  

Spread the chocolate batter over bottom of pan with a spatula.

Spoon the original banana mixture over top and then use a spatula to spread over the chocolate layer.

Sprinkle top with a few chocolate chips if desired.

Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown on top and toothpick comes out clean.

Chocolate Chip Granola Bar Bites

Peanut Butter Protein Packed Cold or Frozen Chocolate Chip Granola Bar Bites or could be called Healthy Frozen Cookie Dough Bites...My family just calls them Cold Granola Balls...whatever you want to call them...it all started during a hot Texas summer in Dallas in an apartment with very inefficient AC.  We lived on homemade granola bars but that one hot summer day I started to make my granola bars as usual and then before I could finish, just couldn't bring myself to turn on the oven.  I thought of the days I would sneak those Spunkmier cookie dough balls from my moms freezer (I think they were a fundraiser and you got a gallon size bucket with scoops of cookie dough you kept in the freezer and had cookies ready to bake at anytime.)  I used my cookie scoop and plopped the granola the bar dough onto a parchment lined cake pan and put it in the freezer...my husband and I were HOOKED!  Now I form them into smaller balls by hand so they are easier for the kids to manage and keep them in the fridge or freezer.  I love freezing them and then throwing in a ziplock bag or small container when we go on hikes because they are full of protein and keep everyone going.

These are so awesome to have year round but especially great in the summertime when we crave something cold yet filling to keep us going.  These make a great protein packed breakfast on the go instead of a bowl of hot oatmeal or when you're in a hurry. Throw them in a picnic cooler and bring to the pool or lake for a great snack to keep energized and feeling satisfied instead of snacking on chips and popsicles.

After 8 years since my first time making homemade granola bars and playing around with it, here is my Cold Granola Ball Recipe.

1 1/2 c creamy peanut butter

1/2 c brown sugar

1/3 c coconut oil

1/2 c honey

1 Tbsp vanilla (or at least 2 tsp min)

3 cups oats (I use bobs red mill gluten free quick oats or gluten free rolled oats I get through Amazon)

1 cup crushed crispy cereal (such as Rice Chex or Honey Nut Cheerios or GF Crispie Cereal)

1 cup Chocolate Chips (we are dairy free and use Enjoy Life, Kirkland Semi-Sweet or the gold bag by Ghiridelli)

Optional Add Ins

You can add 1/2-1 cup of any other add ins like

1/2 c flax seed

1 c puffed millet

1 c puffed brown rice

1/2-1 c dried fruit like craisins 

1/2-1 c nuts (u would recommend they be finely chopped though if you have barge pieces of things it will be harder to shaped into balls and hold together)

Line a 9x13 inch cake pan with parchment paper or a large plastic food storage container.  If you don't line it and freeze these they can freeze to the container and be hard to remove.

Mix first 5 ingredients together til smooth.

Add in oats, crispy cereal and chocolate chips (and any optional add in if desired) and mix thoroughly.

Scoop out spoonfuls into your hand and form into balls. 

Place into prepared container, cover with plastic wrap, tin foil or container lid and then refrigerate or freeze.  These are yummy to eat frozen or just cold.

Rich Creamy Dairy Free Chocolate Ice Cream

Dairy Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Gelato

It's so nice that there is now a selection of dairy free ice cream other than fruit sorbet, even TCBY carries SILK chocolate ice cream made with almond milk....but honestly, it's still somewhat disappointing.  The SILK dairy free ice cream is not thick and creamy like regular ice cream and it leaves something to be desired.  So here is a recipe for dairy free chocolate ice cream or dairy free chocolate gelato, made with almond milk but much richer and creamier than the story version.  I don't add a ton of peanut butter so the peanut butter flavor is pretty subtle, I just add it to give the ice cream a little extra thickness.

1 cup sugar

4 cups chocolate almond milk

1/4 cup cocoa powder

 6 egg yolks

2 tsp vanilla

2-4 TBsp peanut butter

In a saucepan, add sugar, milk, cocoa powder and egg yolks.  Stir over medium heat until it starts to thicken.  Remove from heat and add peanut butter and vanilla.  

Cover and chill in fridge for a few hours until completely chilled.

Pour mixture into prepared Ice Cream Maker and proceed using your ice cream makers instructions.  Ours comes with a bowl that you freeze for 24 hours ahead of time then just pop it in the ice cream maker, add your ice cream mixture and turn on for about 25-30 minutes.  When Ice cream is done, and you've had enough, store in an airtight container, we also line the top of the ice cream with pastic wrap before putting the lid on the container, it prevents freezer burn.  

We like the Silk and Almond Breeze Chocolate milk both so either one would be yummy.  You could also make this with Original Almond Milk or Coconut Milk and leave out the Cocoa powder for vanilla ice cream and then add your own additions, I'm thinking some Glutino Oreo Cookies for some dairy free gluten free Cookies and Cream Ice Cream! Our last batch we made the Chocolate Gelato version and added in chopped up Glutino Sandwich cookies and we LOVED it...Chocolate Cookies N' Cream!  We went to TCBY a few days later and had the SILK chocolate ice cream and it was just so watery and bland compared to our ice cream.  The secret is making it like Gelato with the egg yolks.  

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookie Bars

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Oatmeal

 Cookie Bars

Gluten Free & Dairy Free

So My aunt posted a healthy paleo recipe for chocolate chip cookie squares on facebook the other day and I really wanted to make them, but when I went to the recipe I didn't have the right ingredients, but at that point I was already craving cookie bars so badly so I made up my own version, they aren't a healthy recipe but they ARE gluten and dairy free :)

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookie Bars
1/2 cup gluten free oats
1/2-1 cup gluten free flour (add more til you are happy with consistency)
(I used a premixed gluten free flour blend that contains xanthan gum, add 1 tsp xanthan gum if your flour blend doesn't have it)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup shortening or palm oil (or butter if you aren't dairy free)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup chocolate chips (I use Ghiradelli, the ones I buy don't have milk in them)

In mixer blend peanut butter,shortening, sugar, egg and vanilla.  Add gluten free oats, gluten free flour blend, baking powder, baking soda, salt and chocolate chips.  Press into a 8x8 inch baking dish and bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes. (baking time may vary as I used the convection setting)

So no these aren't paleo or sugar free or anything awesome like that, but I did add the peanut butter and oatmeal to make them a little more hearty and satisfying :)

Gluten Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Easy Gluten Free Breakfast

Gluten Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Eating Gluten Free and Dairy Free can be a big chore most of the time, it involves a lot of baking and cooking from scratch so it's nice to be able to have short cuts once in a while!  That's why I love the GF DF pancakes at Trader Joes!  They are inexpensive and you just pop them in the toaster and you've got pancakes!  I do have a great pancake recipe that I make often as well that is great but for those mornings I don't feel like making pancakes all morning or before bed and I need a little sweet snack...this is a good fix!

The frozen Trader Joes gluten free pancakes come in packages of 3 so what I like to do is just pop all 3 in the toaster and when they pop up, I spread the first one with peanut butter and sprinkle on some mini chocolate chips, add the 2nd pancake and add another layer of peanut butter and chocolate chips and then add the 3rd pancake with a little more peanut butter and real maple syrup.  It is soooooo yummy!

The mini chocolate chips melt between the pancake layers and mix with the peanut butter and syrup in the best possible way!

Yes.....I have an obsession with chocolate and peanut butter.......

Chocolate Coconut Macaroons - Gluten, Dairy, Egg and Soy Free

Chocolate Coconut Macaroons

Gluten, Dairy, Egg and Soy Free!

This recipe is a combination of 2 great macaroon recipes I have, a gluten free coconut macaroon recipe from The Flying Apron and a RAW chocolate macaroon recipe from my Aunt.  

Preheat oven to 350

In mixing bowl add the following

 6 cups shredded coconut 

(unsweetened if you want it healthier...I used sweeted because that's what I had)

1 cup cocoa powder or raw cacoa powder if you have it

1 cup Maple Syrup (real maple syrup!)

1 cup coconut milk

2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp sea salt

2/3 cup gluten free flour (whatever blend you have or just use rice flour)

Combine all ingredients together until combined.  

Take a cookie scoop and pack with coconut mixture and then release onto parchment paper lined cookie sheet.

Option- Press a raw almond into the top of each cookie, or press a couple straight into the cookie

Bake for about 15 minutes and then let cool completely on cookie sheet.

~My entry into {nifty thrifty sunday}http://www.niftythriftythings.com/ is sponsored by Appliances Online and their Fridges

Crispy Carrot Fries

Crispy Carrot Fries

I came across these Crispy Sweet Potato Fries on Pinterest, but had no sweet potatoes on hand. I actually have very little on hand for dinner side options on this particular day but I had some carrots.  So I'm not sure why but I decided to make Carrot Fries using the method from The Art of Doing Stuff that she used on her sweet potato fries.  

First I peeled and cut up  my carrots into french fries and placed them in a bowl of salt water.

Put some cornstarch in a paper bag, drop the carrot fries in and shake thill they are all coated.

Spread out on a sheet of parchment paper and drizzle with olive oil.

 Bake at 425 for 15 minutes, check if they are crispy enough, if not, bake a few more minutes.

The carrot fries were pretty good, they reminded me of sweet potato fries, in that carrots are also kinda sweet.  I think I would prefer to just have sweet potato fries....or regular fries because I love french fries, BUT if you are looking for something new to do with carrots as a side dish, it definitely was a good alternative and will probably do it again sometime.  Normally we just eat carrot sticks raw or diced up and in a stir fry.  Definitely pop over and check out the crispy sweet potato fries post from The Art of Doing Stuff, her photos are awesome and those sweet potato fries look bomb!  I can't wait to try it next time I get some sweet potatoes!

Homemade Potato Chips

Homemade Potato Chips

Oven Baked Dill Pickle Chips

I'm a potato freak...I can't believe it's taken me this long to make homemade potato chips as it's something I've always wanted to do.  I actually attempted to do it way back in grade 8 or 9 when I lived in Regina, SK but  I hadn't discovered parchment paper and it ended up with me scraping inedible potato crisps from the baking sheet all night...actually, maybe that failed attempt is why it has taken me so long to try again...it was incredibly disappointing (hey it was a lot of work slicing up those potatoes for a lazy teenager!).  Anyways...if you don't believe me on the being a potato freak statement earlier, when I was younger, I used to tell me family that when I grew up and got married I was going to live on a potato farm in Idaho with a cow for milk (used to be a milkaholic as well) and then I would have everything I need (except chocolate). (way to dream big Candace...lol)

Well, it's been on my mind to make some potato chips for forever since it's my favorite snack (I LOVE anything kettle brand esp. the cracked black pepper, and LAYS Dill Pickle.)  Growing up in Canada, my favorite flavors were Old Dutch's Dill Pickle Chips and All Dressed.  When I was in college and LAYS finally came out with Dill Pickle, I pretty much forced everyone to try them because I was SO happy to have that flavor in my life again and wanted to make everyone else like them so they would buy them too to prevent them from being discontinued.

So....I made Oven Baked Dill Pickle Chips.  I know the homemade potato chips have been done all over the place...but being a potato freak, my blog wouldn't be complete without a blog post about it. (reference is Pinterest search oven baked potato chips, there are tons and pretty much all the same).

Preheat oven to 400 (I did 425 but I will do 400 next time)

Thinly slice russet potatoes and soak in salt water
drain potatoes and pat dry

toss in bowl with olive oil to coat

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper
spread out potato slices in a single layer

Generously season with Archer Farms Sea Salt and Vinegar popcorn topping (from super target in the popcorn section) and Dill Weed. (or with whatever seasoning you choose-Kosher Salt, Black Pepper, Seasoning Salt, Garlic Salt, Onion Powder and Salt...etc.)

Place in oven for 15 minutes, then flip the potato chips over and bake 7-10 more minutes or until crisp.

Remove chips to paper towel or cooling rack to cool off



Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Chocolate Easter Eggs

Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Eggs

gluten free and dairy free

For Easter this year, we had to make our own chocolate treats to avoid gluten and dairy.  I saw multiple blogs that had made peanut butter chocolate eggs but I've made peanut butter balls before and wasn't interested in the 1 cup peanut butter to 3 cups powdered sugar recipe.  I then looked up "chocolate chip peanut butter balls" and found this video on youtube for raw vegan peanut butter balls and that kind of inspired me to create these.

Chocolate Covered Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Balls (Eggs)

Peanut Butter (I use Natural Jif or Skippy)

Raw Almonds

Ghiradelli semi-sweet chocolate chips

honey

vanilla

a little powdered sugar (optional)

There are no exact measurements, you just add dry ingredients until you get the dough the to right consistency for being able to roll into balls.

In a food processor (this is a mini one) grind up your almonds to make almond meal, leaving some small bits intact as in the photo below.

 In a large bowl (or kitchenaid mixer if you have one) add a bunch of peanut butter.  This is probably around 1 1/2 cups or so...doesn't really matter.

 Add a tsp of vanilla and a tablespoon or so of honey, then add in all your almond meal and mix together.

After adding all the almond meal, it wasn't quite thick enough and since I didn't feel like grinding up more almonds (my cheap processor is going to make me go deaf!) I just turned to mixer on low speed and slowly added a little powdered sugar until it formed into a ball, it didn't take very much at all....maybe a 1/4 cup?  And you could leave out the powdered sugar and just add more almond meal for a healthy snack.

Roll into small balls (or ovals to make easter eggs) and place on a tray or plate, cover with plastic wrap and set in freezer.  You can enjoy these just like this, they are not too sweet but still a super yummy treat.  You'll satisfy your sweet tooth without feeling sick after because the peanut butter is decently sweet and that little bit of honey adds some sweetness as well.

 To take these a step further...and it's worth it...add a cup of your chocolate chips to a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 1 minute, stir, then microwave at 30 second intervals stirring each time until smooth.  Using a fork, roll your chocolate chip peanut butter balls in the melted chocolate and then set back in the tray.

Once they are all covered, set in the freezer again to harden the chocolate.  We just kept ours in the freezer and ate them cold because they were so yummy like that, kind of like eating frozen cookie dough but better, and they were still soft, not too hard from being frozen.

My husband is not big into sweets but he was totally into these and my daughter was obsessed with them as well, so I was pretty excited with how yummy they turned out without having to use anywhere near as much sugar as traditional peanut butter balls.