Peanut Butter Bars (Gluten Free)

Peanut Butter Bars are always a hit.  I've been making them since I was in high school, and there's never been a time when they weren't VERY well received.

This time around, I made them gluten-free so that I wouldn't leave out the gluten-free people that they would be shared with.  My recipe usually includes graham cracker crumbs.  I subbed in cashew meal and coconut flour instead.  If you want to make them the regular way, just replace the same amount of graham cracker crumbs back in.

What you need:

Base:
1 cup peanut butter
3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened
scant cup EACH cashew meal (or almond) and coconut flour
2+ cups powdered sugar

Ganache Topping:
8 ounces chocolate chips or bittersweet chocolate *see note
4 ounces heavy cream


Mix together peanut butter and butter until smooth.  Stir in the cashew meal and coconut flour.  Add the powdered sugar and stir until the mixture becomes a thick mass.  It WILL be very crumbly at first, but stick with it and it will form a dough-like mass.  Pat this into a deep-sided container (I actually used two smaller Pyrex containers this time, but a 11 x 7 inch pan works perfectly.  I've also done 13 x 9, but you will have thinner bars).

Now, for the ganache topping:  Melt the chocolate and the heavy cream together over a double broiler (place a metal bowl on top of a sauce pan with water in it to make your own double broiler).  Once smoothly mixed, pour over the top of the peanut butter mixture.  Refrigerate for an hour or two before cutting into bars.  Keep refrigerated.

Enjoy!



*I usually get Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips- cheaper than the bars of bittersweet, but nicer quality than regular chocolate chips.  I was stuck with Tollhouse this time around, which works fine.

Chocolate Chip (M&M) Blondies

It's already the 19th of December and I had yet to do any holiday baking until today.  Various factors involved there, but one of the big ones is the size of my kitchen here in New York.  And the size of the oven, which does not accommodate the baking sheet I brought with me.  But I bought a smaller one yesterday, and came up with a plan to tackle the rest of the size issue: bar cookies!  I love doing fancier cookies at Christmas, but with a kitchen my size (and the fact that I didn't bring my cookie press or cookie cutters to Brooklyn) making them seemed like more of a hassle than it was worth.  Bar cookies are super easy and a time saver.  Mix it up, spread it out, bake, and done!  No rolling or shaping, or even plopping drops down.  I added Christmas M&Ms and a ganache drizzle to make them a little more festive.

What you need:

1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 coconut oil, melted (or just use more butter)
2 cups brown sugar (I used the natural brown sugar that is more granular, but regular would be fine)
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
1/4 Frangelico( hazelnut liquor) or amaretto (or omit and add a little less flour)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups flour (I used white whole wheat flour)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips or mini M&Ms

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  In a large mixing bowl, mix together the butter, coconut oil, and brown sugar.  Add the eggs and egg yolk.  Mix well.  Stir in the Frangelico and vanilla.  Add the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Stir until the flour is mixed in.  Add the M&Ms or chocolate chips and stir.  Spread in a nonstick or greased baking sheet with low sides (mine was 10"x15"... you can use a 13"x9" pan or 11"x14" pan... increase the baking time for the 13"x9" pan).  Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until lightly golden.

Cut into bars and serve!  If you want, drizzle ganache on top to spiff it up (recipe below).



Ganache (optional):
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/4 heavy cream

Melt the chocolate chips and cream together in a double boiler (place a metal or pyrex bowl on top of a pan filled with water... bring water to a boil.  Chocolate chips and cream go in the top bowl).  That's it!

Chocolate Chip PUMPKIN Cookies

It's Fall and everyone is obsessing over pumpkin.  Every time I walk into Trader Joe's, I'm bombarded by the displays of delicious pumpkin everything.  Now that it's mid-October, I'm was being to feel left out of the fun since I had yet to bake/make anything pumpkin.

Luckily, I have a little niece in need of a Halloween care package.   So I'm making these, making a card, and I got some Halloween stickers to send her.  Working on achieving favorite aunt status. ;-)

These cookies have a whole can of pumpkin in them!  So you don't have to worry about using the remainder of the can, which is neat and tidy.  I didn't want them to be super cakey though, which is why I used the egg yolks instead of only whole eggs (Full disclosure: I actually had planned on using ONLY yolks, but forgot and dropped the whole first egg in.  These turned out well, so it works.  Feel free to try with just three yolks though and see how that turns out!)

I wanted to make these as "real"/natural as possible but didn't really care about skimping on fat and sugar.  You can definitely sub in regular sugar and all-purpose flour.  If you don't have coconut oil, I think some sort of shortening would be best, texture wise, but you can also just use another 1/2 butter.

What you need:

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup coconut oil

1 1/2 cup organic cane sugar

1 egg

2 egg yolks

1 teaspoon vanilla (or amaretto or whatever sweet liquor you have hanging around... that's what I do when I don't have vanilla or just want to mix up the flavor.  Today was triple sec because I had no other options in the apartment

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin 

3 cups white whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Cream the butter, coconut oil, and sugar together in a mixing bowl.  Add the egg, egg yolks, vanilla, and pumpkin.  Mix well. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Mix and then add the chocolate chips.  Drop by large tablespoons on a lightly greased baking sheet.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.  The very middle of the top should still be slightly wet looking.  It'll dry out as it cools.  Enjoy!

Awesome Apple Bars

This recipe started with my mom's friend, and they've been a family favorite for years now.  I've made a couple slight changes to them (mostly because I have a serious compulsion to not follow any recipe I try).  They are a real crowd-pleaser and sturdy enough to pack up and bring places, such as the sides of sports fields to feed hungry post-game players.  Or serve them hot with a little whipped cream or ice cream.

What you need:

Crust Ingredients:

1 cup chilled butter, cut into 1/2 slices

2 cups flour

1/2 cup powdered sugar

pinch of salt

Filling Ingredients:

3 cups peeled and chopped apple (I used 5 small/medium ones)

1 3/4 cups flour

1 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1-2 teaspoons EACH butterscotch liqueur or creme de cacao (or just use vanilla if that's what you have)

Glaze Ingredients:

2 cups powdered sugar

2-3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2-4 tablespoons milk 

Start by making the crust:

Measure the flour, powdered sugar, and salt into a mixing bowl.  Cut the butter in using a pastry blender until it is evenly distributed and the mixture is crumbly with chunks no bigger than small peas.  Or, if you don't have a pastry blender, use forks or even your hands.  Chill the mixture for 10 minutes in the freezer (and maybe work cutting up those apples while you are doing this).  Heat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  Press crust into two 8x8/ 9x9 pans or one 13x9 pan.  Bake for 15 minutes or until VERY lightly browned.

To make the filling:

Mix all of the filling ingredients together.  Plop evenly on top of the warm crusts.  Reduce oven heat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Bake for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown and apples are cooked through.  If it is getting too brown at any point, cover with aluminum foil for the remaining baking time.  

Glaze:

Mix together glaze ingredients, adding enough milk to make a thick, but completely mixed, glaze.  Pour on top of hot apple bars. 

Let cool for at least 20 minutes before cutting into if you want to have presentable looking bars.  Or just dive in and get 'em while they're hot.  They may slop over a bit, but they'll still be delicious.  I made 32 small-ish bars out of this.  Enjoy!

Almond Christmas Cookies

These get requested every Christmas!  I made up the recipe a few years ago and haven't changed it since.

What you need:

8 ounces almond paste, room temperature
1 cup butter/ margarine ( I usually go with half and half)
1 cup white sugar
3 eggs
3+ cups flour (you may end up adding an extra half cup)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon amaretto
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:
Start by beating the butter/margarine and almond paste until there are no more lumps ( I use a handheld mixer).  Beat in the sugar and the eggs until smooth.  Stir in three cups of flour, the salt, vanilla, and amaretto.  Add extra flour if needed to create a stiff dough.

At this point, you can put the dough in a cookie press or roll into a log to slice and bake.  Either way, refrigerate afterwards for half of an hour or so.  Then either press the cookies or slice and place on a lightly greased or non-stick cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees Farenheit for 7-9 minutes or until the bottom JUST begins to brown.  The top should still be VERY light colored.  Let cool for a couple of minutes and enjoy!