Amazing Chocolate Chip Cookies (that just happen to be gluten-free!)

Since cutting out gluten due to illness this last March, I've been pretty good about avoiding desserts of the containing-flour kind. I hadn't been having too many cravings for my usual favorite desserts because feeling better was pretty satisfying itself . . .  until a few weeks ago. I could NOT stop thinking about chocolate chip cookies! For days all I wanted was a moist and chewy cookie laced with chocolate. Not wanting to feel sick for days, I was on a mission: to create an amazing gluten-free chocolate chip cookie.


Although I do own a large stack of gluten-free cookbooks, I wasn't so much interested in the flat and crumbly looking ones that were mostly vegan. I wanted the real deal. So I did some research on the best chocolate chip cookies and came across this blog. The pictures and description looked so enticing that I decided to tweak the recipe to make it gluten free and came up with this:

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup butter (2 sticks)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup hazelnut flour
1 teaspoon salt
1teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
6 oz high quality chocolate, chopped/shaved

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugars.

Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.



Reduce speed to low and add all flours, baking powder, baking soda, vanilla, and chocolate; mix until well combined.



Refrigerate AT LEAST 24 hours


Scoop by rounded spoonful onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake at 350 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned


Cool slightly on baking sheets before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.


Important things to remember:
1) Good quality chocolate is important for getting the best flavor and covering up that gluten-free metallic aftertaste (I used Scharffen Berger 62% dark)
2) Good quality vanilla is also important to the flavor of the cookie
3) You MUST refrigerate for at least 24 hours (preferably 36) So that your cookie doesn't lose it's shape while baking and remains soft and chewy on the inside. Dough can be wrapped carefully in saran wrap and be kept refrigerated for up to 2 weeks. Just leave out of fridge 5 minutes or so before baking if kept more than 36 hours.


Follow all of these things and you will have yourself a perfectly-golden-brown-chewy-on-the inside-flecked-with-good-chocolate-amazing-cookie!

A Cake for Fall, to Begin

This is my first blog post on my first blog. Ever. So, I'm going to start things off right, with a cake that I made as an ode to fall.

I should start by telling you that I love everything about fall: The weather, the clothes, the food, the leaves, the colors, the holidays. I could go on and on. So, being in Utah for my second "fall" had been extremely difficult until about a week ago when the temperatures dropped from the 80's and the leaves FINALLY began to change color and fall from trees.

This has been a big change from me, living my whole life (until almost 2 years ago) in upstate New York, where September hits and it's time to pull out your sweaters and hit the pumpkin patch with a cup of hot cider in hand. Now that Utah has finally come around as October comes to an end, I thought it would be appropriate to make a cake for my favorite season.

The recipe for this maple pecan cake is adapted from a cupcake recipe from my new favorite cookbook, "Baked Explorations: Classic American Desserts Reinvented." Try it out and I promise you won't be disappointed.

Maple Pecan Cake and Maple Cream Cheese Frosting:

Cake:

3 cups all-purpose flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup salted butter, softened and cut into chunks

3 tablespoons vegetable shortening, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups pure maple syrup

1/2 cup brown sugar

3 egg yolks and 1 whole egg, at room temperature

1 1/4 cup buttermilk

1 cup chopped pecans

Frosting:

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

4 tablespoons corn syrup

1/2 cup salted butter, softened

3 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened

3 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon good quality vanilla

For the cake:

Preheat oven to 335 degrees F. Grease and flour two 8" cake pans.*

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt

In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and shortening until smooth and combined. Turn the mixture to low and stream in the maple syrup. Increase speed to medium and mix until mixture is uniform in color. 

Add egg yolks and egg, one at a time, until incorporated. Scrape down sides of the bowl and paddle. Add half of the flour mixture and mix on low until combined. Stream in the milk. Add the rest of the flour mixture. Scrape bowl and fold in chopped pecans.

Divide batter evenly into pans and bake about 35 minutes, until cake springs back when poked.

*note, if you want to make 2 different-sized tiers, like I did, fill a 6" and 8"cake pan each 2/3 full, decrease temperature to 325 and increase baking time at least 5 minutes.


For the frosting:

Heat brown sugar, maple syrup, 2 tablespoons of butter, and corn syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat and stir occasionally just until it boils. Cool slightly.

Mix softened butter, cream cheese, and vanilla in a bowl fitted with a paddle attachment on medium speed until smooth and well-combined. Scrape down bowl. Decrease speed to low and stream in caramel-maple mixture until uniform in color. Add powdered sugar, once cup at a time and mix until well combined. If you prefer a stiffer frosting, increase the powdered sugar by another cup.

Allow cakes to cool at least an hour before frosting.

Gumpaste fall leaves over marshmallow fondant

Enjoy!!!