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!

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.

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.......

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.

I LIKE Green Eggs and Ham!

Green Eggs and Ham 

or in this case bacon

What you'll need

Eggs
Ham/bacon
Blue food coloring
Bowl
Fork
Frying pan
Non-stick spray/vegetable oil
Spatula

Depending on your child's capabilities, you can let them help a lot or a little but this is a fun one for them to make

Place a frying pan on the skillet over high heat, once it gets real hot, reduce to medium heat (I do this so the eggs don't stick to the stainless steel...we don't use non-stick frying pans, they are a no no but you can read more about that at end of post).

Let your child help you crack the eggs on the edge of counter or side of bowl and carefully break the eggs into the bowl.

Let them put a few drops of blue food coloring into the bowl with the eggs.  If you have the wilton food coloring in the little jars, dip the tip of your fork in the food coloring to get just a tiny amount.  Use your fork and stir the eggs up in the bowl, mixing in the food coloring.  (if kids are going to stir the eggs, use a bigger sized bowl so prevent them from spilling over the edge)

Lightly coat the frying pan with oil or cooking spray to prevent sticking.

Pour green eggs into skillet and cook, folding and chopping with the spatula to make scrambled eggs.

When green eggs are cooked, remove from skillet and serve warm.

As for the ham part, you can either take some deli ham and cut into small pieces and stir into the eggs before cooking or you can make a side a bacon like we did.

And DON'T FORGET to read them the book Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss

We got our 4.5 year old Green Eggs and Ham for Christmas and I'll never forget the first time I read it to her that night.  She had no idea what she was in for when it started, and as we got into the book, her eyes widened, filled with delight and she rose up higher and higher on her knees 'till she was no longer laying down but bouncing in her bed as the story went on.  We have to read the book at LEAST two times in a row, then we have to act it out 2 times, taking turns being Sam I Am and the guy who doesn't want the Green Eggs and Ham.  Dr. Seuss has just acquired a new fan...and today she requested Green Eggs and Ham for lunch...and of course I had to be Sam I Am when serving it to her...."You do not like them so you say. Try them! Try them! And you may. Try them and you may, I say."  

I know we are not the first to do this fun activity by any means, but it was our first time and it was fun!!!  I was also thinking after the fact, that you could make this healthier by using spinach puree to color the eggs, I'll have to try that next time and see if they still like Green Eggs and Ham!

 *We have thrown out most of our non-stick cookware.  It has been banned in other countries because it is toxic and carcinogenic. When Mary Anne bought a gerbal for one of her kids, the pet store warned them not to keep the cage near the kitchen when cooking because the fumes from non-stick cookware can kill the animal.  We stick to using stainless steel and cast iron for cooking. For more about that, read my Nutrition and Healthy Cooking posts.  

Pan-Fried Kielbasa and Caramelized Onion Rice Cakes

Pan Fried Kielbasa and Caramelized Onion Rice Cakes

Two nights ago we made stuffed bell peppers and had a bunch of left over rice.  Yesterday we made sliders (mini hamburgers topped with caramelized onions) and we had a bunch of the caramelized onions left over.  I had seen the recipe for pan fried shrimp rice cakes in the Cooking For Isaiah book which gave me this idea, although I made these completely different, that is where I got the idea.  After trying the first batch of fried rice cakes, I decided to add some Tamari to the mixture and that added a really nice touch.

What You'll Need

~ 2 cups cooked rice (we like Jasmine Rice)

~ 1/2 cup chopped Kielbasa

~1/2 cup diced caramelized onions

1/2 tsp salt

little pepper

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1-2 Tablespoons Tamari (a WAY tastier alternative to soy sauce)

Chop up some Kielbasa

Dice up your caramelized onions

to make caramelized onions, just chop up an onion and saute in vegetable oil over med-high till onions turn golden brown, stirring occasionally

Add the Kielbasa, onion, salt, pepper, beaten eggs and tamari to cooked rice and stir together.

Add some vegetable oil (and I likeadd a tablespoon of coconut oil because it has a higher cooking temperature) to a medium size skillet and heat over medium/medium/high heat.  When oil starts to sizzle, use a tablespoon and spoon the mixture into the pan, creating a mound and then use the spoon to flatten out your rice cake a bit. 

Let the rice cake cook for about 2 minutes or until golden brown on bottom and then flip over and repeat til golden brown on both sides. 

Remove from frying pan and set on paper towel covered cooling rack and then start the next batch.

If bits and pieces of rice start to burn in pan after making a few fried rice cakes, try to scrape out the burning pieces with a spoon or just dump out the oil, wipe clean and then start again with fresh oil. 

You could also leave out the Tamari sauce from the recipe and then use the Tamari as dipping sauce when eating.

ENJOY!

Thanksgiving Recap

Hello out there....if anyone is still there!  We are alive over here, however we had family come visit, then went and visited family...pretty much the time between Halloween and Thanksgiving just happened at warp speed.  But we are back and Scrappy Saturdays will be back on this weekend too.
After not posting in so long it's almost hard to know where to start so I thought I'd start with a recap of our Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving day started with these

Gluten-Free Sticky Cinnamon Swirl Pancakes with Maple Frosting

 by Silvana Nardone

 For her other great thanksgiving breakfast menu recipes including this one, visit Silvana's Kitchen!


And our Day Ended with this

Toasted Marshmallow topped Pumpkin Ice Cream Pie with Ginger Snap Cookie Crust from 

 from Silvana's Book Cooking for Isaiah 

(I LOVE LOVE LOVE this gluten free dairy free cookbook!)

Both were super yummy and delicious, along with everything else we had in-between.  My husband cooked the actual meal and did a great job on everything.  I sure am Thankful for such an awesome hubby!!!  And I'm thankful for all the great resources, including Silvana's recipes that make eating gluten and dairy free easy and delicious!  We had company over for Thanksgiving and they said they would have never guessed everything was gluten and dairy free.

I did make ONE thing for the actual meal from a recipe my sister gave me. I made this the night before and I  want to make this everyday, just to make my house smell like this.  Now I'm desperate to find the perfect candle that smells like this...cranberries, apples, vanilla, cinnamon and clove! *I left out the raisins.

homemade cranberry relish

2 cups fresh apple juice

1/2 cup sugar

24 ounces cranberries

2 slightly sweet apples, peeled and diced

1/2 vanilla bean, slit open

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 -2 cloves depending on preference

1/4 cup golden raisins

Combine all the ingredients in a large saucepan. Cook, stirring occasionally, on medium-high heat until the cranberries have popped and everything has begun to gel. Spoon into a casserole dish. Let cool.

This is beautiful and super Yummy!!

Gluten Free Corn Bread Stuffing (also got this recipe from my sister)

Use your favorite GF cornbread mix - (Bobs Red Mill is awesome) or substitute gluten free all purpose baking mix for the flour in any basic corn bread recipe. Mix dough then stir in 1/2 Tbs of dried thyme. Bake according to recipe directions.

Once the cornbread has cooled, cut into cubes and arrange on a baking sheet. Let this sit overnight to dry out and create cornbread crumbs.

Stuffing ingredients:

2 Tbs Olive oil

1/2 onion - chopped

4 cloves garlic - finely chopped or pressed

1-2 stalks celery - chopped

1 apple - peeled and chopped

.75 oz of fresh Rosemary, Thyme and Sage

Vegetable or Chicken stock as needed

Salt and Pepper to taste

In a large pot, saute onion, garlic and celery. Add apple, salt and pepper and herbs, cook stirring frequently over medium heat for 3-4 mins. Lower to med/low heat and add cornbread crumbs, toss to coat with herb mixture. Add vegetable stock to moisten cornbread to desired consistency/texture. Serve warm.