Giving Gluten-free a Go...Works for Me Wednesday

I'm going to be totally honest with you.  Gluten-free scares me. 

To be more precise, it intimidates the HECK out of me.  Rice flour, tapioca starch, xanthan gum, teff, millet...when I read about these ingredients, I feel like I should apologize for blogging about all-purpose flour.  It's so, ya know, *mundane.* ;)

You're talking to a girl who dips into her flour canister almost daily.  You're talking to a girl whose house is covered in a light dusting of flour.  You're talking to a girl who panics when there are less than 2 bags of all-purpose flour in the house.

You're also talking to a girl who has a friend with Celiac Disease. When she and her family were visiting town a couple of years ago, they popped in for dinner.  Y'all, I was so nervous.  I ended up making ice cream for dessert which was the only thing I could think of that was gluten-free.

So, I was delighted to meet Elana Amsterdam from Elana's Pantry last December at the Girl Hunter Weekend.  Elana is cool, funny, smart, beautiful; you'd like her.  She did not make this ol' all-purpose flour girl feel intimidated. As a matter of fact, she inspired me to break out of my comfort zone. She has 2 cookbooks: Gluten-Free Cupcakes: 50 Irresistible Recipes Made with Almond and Coconut Flour and this one...

The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook

{Now, does that cover make you want to dive into gluten-free baking, or what?!?}

Elana was nice enough to let me share her chocolate chip cookie recipe from the book here on the blog.  The cookies are soft and wonderful with a great texture from the almond flour and big chunks of chocolate throughout.

PS...did you know that all food bloggers must have a stash of baker's twine to tie cookies?  
Really.  It's in the handbook.

I followed the recipe *almost* exactly, except I mistakenly bought the wrong kind of agave nectar (more on that in a minute).

You'll need these ingredients...

....will you please pretend you see vanilla extract in that picture?  Thank you!

 A close-up of almond flour...dontcha wanna reach right in that bag?

Let's get gluten-free, y'all!

Elana's Gluten-free Chocolate Chip Cookies

{adapted and used with permission from The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook}
  *makes 15-16 large cookies*

 2 & 1/2 cups blanched almond flour

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup grapeseed oil

1/2 cup light agave nectar (if you buy the amber, please see my notes below)

1 TBSP vanilla

1/2 cup coarsely chopped dark chocolate (I used Lindt 70%)

Preheat oven to 350.  Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, stir together the almond flour, salt, and baking soda.  

In a separate bowl, whisk together the grapeseed oil, agave nectar, and vanilla extract until thoroughly combined. 

Add the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until combined.

Fold in the chopped chocolate and refrigerate the dough for 20 minutes.

Use a 2 TBSP cookie scoop to scoop the dough onto the prepared cookie sheet.  The cookies will spread, so leave 2 inches between each cookie. 

Bake for about 9 minutes until lightly golden.  Let the cookies cool for 20 minutes on the sheets. Serve warm or remove to wire racks to cool completely.

**If you mistakenly use amber agave like I did, the agave has a distinct deep, molasses flavor when the cookies are warm (they're still yummy). The next day, the amber agave mellows and the cookies are brilliant.  I might have inhaled two this morning...possibly three.  Shh...**

Having some delicious gluten-free recipes up my sleeve?  Works for me!

Thank you, Elana!!!

Desserts for Dudes: Cigar Cookies

These cigars you can allow INSIDE the house.  I promise.

Mr. E is a cigar smoker.  By cigar smoker, I mean twice a month he heads to the backyard and enjoys a cigar.  Then, when he comes in the house and I say, "you smell like cigar," he is always amazed.  "You can smell that?!?"  Well yes, it must be my super sonic olfactory senses. ;)

No matter what you think, or smell, of cigars, they are quite manly.

Perfect for Father's Day.  Perfect for Desserts for Dudes.

These are so easily personalized as well...use the cigar band to work with a color scheme, or add your dude's initial.

And hey...how cute would these be for a new dad to pass out?  I'm pretty sure real cigars are banned from hospital waiting rooms.  Let's give out cookies before those are banned, too.
(I'm looking at you, New York City.)

Alrighty...before we get started, you're going to make some Electric Orange sanding sugar. Yes, make. You'll need:

• AmeriColor Electric Orange food coloring
• white (clear) sanding sugar

Place the sanding sugar in a bowl with a lid.  Add a drop of food coloring.  Shake.

If the food coloring is clumping, press it out with the back of a spoon.  Voila. 


To make the decorated cigar cookies, you'll need:

• cigar-shaped sugar cookies (I used a template.)
• royal icing, tinted with AmeriColor Chocolate Brown, Warm Brown, Electric Orange, Gold, Royal Blue, Super Red
• disposable icing bags
• couplers and tips (#3, #4, #2)
• squeeze bottles
• toothpicks
• gold luster dust
• vodka
• small paintbrushes (2)
• meringue powder
• orange sanding sugar

Use a #3 tip to outline the cigar with chocolate brown icing.

Thin the warm and chocolate brown icings with water, a bit at a time, stirring with a silicone spatula, until it is the consistency of a thick syrup.  You'll want to drop a "ribbon" of icing back into the bowl and have it disappear in a count of "one thousand one, one thousand two." Four is too thick, one is too thin.  Count of 2-3 is good.  Cover with a damp dishcloth and let sit for several minutes.

Stir gently with a silicone spatula to pop and large air bubbles that have formed.  Pour into squeeze bottles.

Working 6-8 cookies at a time, flood the outlines with warm brown icing.  Use a toothpick to guide to edges and pop large air bubbles.

Going back over the same cookies, drop lines of thinned chocolate brown icing directly on top of the warm brown icing.

Use a #2 tip to pipe the "ash" of the cigar with orange.  Thin the icing as described above and fill in the outline.

Let the cookies dry for at least one hour.

Use a #4 tip to pipe a band on the cigars in gold icing.  Let dry at least 30 minutes.

Flood the blue and red icings as described above.  Flood the gold band centers.

Let the cookies dry for at least one hour. 


Use a #2 tip to add a center detail on the bands.

Let the cookies dry uncovered 6-8 hours or overnight.

The next day, mix a little gold luster dust with a few drops of vodka.  Brush onto the gold piping with a small paintbrush.

Next, mix 1/4 teaspoon meringue powder with 1/4 teaspoon water.  Brush onto the orange areas.  Sprinkle on the sanding sugar over a coffee filter.  Shake off excess.  Use the filter as a funnel to pour back in the bowl.

Light up...I mean, EAT up...your stogie! :)

Desserts for Dudes: Pecan Chewies

You remember my Uncle Mike, right?  Well, every time he visited when we were growing up, my mom would make Pecan Chewies.

So, when Uncle Mike came for a visit this week, I knew immediately what I would be baking.

Pecan Chewies are essentially like mini pecan pies, with a buttery, cream cheese crust, lots of pecans, and a brown sugar filling.  If you really can't get into traditional pecan pie because of the thick layer of goo (*raises hand*), these are for you.  They're goo-free.

The day before Uncle Mike arrived, I made the Pecan Chewies, and purely for quality control purposes, Mr. E, the kiddo and I tested one each.  They were even better than I remembered.
And then Mr. E said...

"I wonder what one of these would be like with a little ice cream?"

Mind. Blown.

We'd never had these with ice cream growing up.  We ran (ok, we drove) to the grocery store, grabbed a pint of Haagen-Dazs vanilla bean, and hurried back home.

With my small cookie scoop, we dished out a little dollop of creamy vanilla bean on a pecan chewie (and took 27 pictures of it).  Oh. Wow. 

Dudes know their desserts, I'm tellin' ya.

With or without the ice cream, I beg you to try these for the men in your life.  Only, be sure to call them Pecan Chewies...if you call them Mini Pecan Pie Tartlettes with a Dollop of Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, I'm pretty sure they become chick food.

Oh!  My girlfriend Teresa from Blooming on Bainbridge has a similar recipe on her blog that makes 75!!!  (This recipe makes 24.)  So, if you're feeding a crowd, be sure to pop over to her recipe!

Pecan Chewies

{adapted from mom}

crust:
3 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1 stick (1/2 cup) salted butter, room temperature
1 cup sifted flour

filling:
2/3 cup chopped pecans
1 egg
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 TBSP salted butter, room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla
dash kosher salt

Preheat oven to 325.

Beat together the cream cheese and butter until combined.  Stir in the sifted flour until it forms a dough.  (This will take several minutes of stirring, but it will come together.)  Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator.

Toast the pecans: Place the pecans on a cookie sheet and bake for 5 minutes.  Remove from the sheet and set aside.

Beat together the egg, brown sugar, butter, vanilla, and salt until smooth.  You may see a few tiny bits of butter; that's ok.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll into 24 balls.

Place the balls in an ungreased mini muffin tin,

...and press the dough into the bottom and sides of the cups.

Divide half of the pecans among the 24 pastry-lined muffin cups.

Use a teaspoon to add in the egg/brown sugar mixture.
{If you get messy like I did, just wipe the pan with a damp paper towel before baking.}

Top with the remaining pecans.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until done.  Cool on a wire rack in the pan for 5 minutes.

 

Remove the pecan chewies from the pan, using a knife to go around the edges if needed, and cool completely on the wire rack.

Serve naked (not you, the chewies) or with a small dollop of ice cream.

It's Desserts for Dudes Month!!!

You know what June is, don't you?  Here at Bake at 350, it's...

Desserts for Dudes month!!!

{the 3rd Annual to be exact}

What IS Desserts for Dudes month?  In honor of the month of Father's Day, I'll highlight some dude-worthy desserts throughout the month. 

To be clear...

1. You need not be a dude to enjoy these desserts.
2. The desserts I have chosen are based on the dudes in my life; your dude's tastes may differ.

Let's highlight some of the favorites from the last two years.

Dude-worthy cookies...

Fried Chicken cookies

Beer & Hot Dog cookies

Deep *Darth* chocolate cookies

Real men eat layered ice cream...

Mocha-Toffee Crunch Terrine

Dude-licious brownies....

 Nutter Butter Brownies with Chocolate-Peanut Butter Ganache

Manly Shortcakes...

Caramel Banana Shortcakes

What would you think about a link-up party at the end of the month?  You can link up a post or picture of one of YOUR dude's favorite desserts.  (No linking back or buttons to post required.)

Do your dudes have a sweet tooth?