Chocolate Chip Muffins

     It safe to say that breakfast is absolutely my least favorite meal. The only thing  I like about breakfast was anything sweet and chocolate! When I became gluten free, breakfast became a challenge. I thought that all I could eat was eggs and yogurt, and both of those grossed me out (now I love them). After doing some research, I learned that I could still make my favorite breakfast food, and it would not be that much more difficult.

     These muffins were some of the first breakfast food I learned to make gluten free, and they were easy. They were not dense, which a lot of gluten free food is. They tasted so good, I was so happy that I could eat chocolate chip muffins again!

Recipe from: my baking addiction

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups all-purpose flour*
1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2/3 cup whole milk
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners or spray the wells of the pan with non-stick cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugars, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

3. In medium bowl, whisk together melted butter, eggs, milk, and vanilla, mixing until well combined.

4. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the liquid ingredients into the well. Stir until ingredients are just combined - do not over mix the batter. Fold in the chocolate chips.

5. Evenly divide the batter into the prepared muffin pan wells. Bake for 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

6. Remove muffins to a wire rack and cool for at least 5 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

* I used Trader Joe's all-purpose gluten free flour

Milk Chocolate Florentines (Lace Cookies)

     In my family there is nothing that we love more then chocolate and thin, crispy cookies. These cookies are both of those. These addicting cookies are so delicious because they are to super thin crunch cookies held together by smooth chocolate! They are absolutely amazing, not to mention a whole plate full was gone not long after they were baked!

Here is the recipe from: verybestbaking

ingredients

• 2/3 cup butter
• 2 cups quick oats
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup light or dark corn syrup
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 3/4 cups (11.5 oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Milk Chocolate Morsels

• Directions

  PREHEAT oven to 375° F. Line baking sheets with foil. 

  
  

  
  

  MELT butter in medium saucepan; remove from heat. Stir in oats, sugar, flour, corn syrup, milk, vanilla extract and salt; mix well. Drop by level teaspoons, about 3 inches apart, onto foil-lined baking sheets. Spread thinly with rubber spatula.

  
  

  
  

  
  

  BAKE for 6 to 8 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets on wire racks. Peel foil from cookies.

  
  

  
  

  
  

  MICROWAVE morsels in medium, uncovered, microwave-safe bowl on MEDIUM-HIGH (70%) power for 1 minute; STIR. Morsels may retain some of their original shape. If necessary, microwave at additional 10 to 15-second intervals, stirring just until morsels are melted. Spread thin layer of melted chocolate onto flat side of half the cookies. Top withremaining cookies to make sandwiches.

Pumpkin Roll

Fall is my favorite season and I just love pumpkin! I decided to try making a pumpkin roll. It was the first time that I've ever made on of these. I've always been intrigued as to how the cake can be rolled without crumbling. It was actually one of the easiest and fasted cakes I have ever made, not to mention you don't have to worry about trying to make it look pretty because it already is! The cream cheese frosting really adds to the flavor to this cake while keeping it light!

Here is the recipe from BUCHKO at all recipes.com:

CAKE:

3 eggs

1 cup white sugar

2/3 cup canned pumpkin

3/4 cup of flour*

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup chopped walnuts**

confectioner's sugar for dusting

Frosting:

1 cup confectioner's sugar

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons butter, soften

8 ounces cream cheese

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 15x10x1 inch baking pan and line with parchment paper. Grease and flour the paper.
2. In a large bowl, beat eggs on high for five minutes. Gradually add white sugar and pumpkin. Add flour, cinnamon, and baking soda. Spread batter evenly in pan. Sprinkle walnuts evenly on top.
3. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 15 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched. Immediately turn out onto a linen towel dusted with confectioners sugar. Peel off paper and roll cake up in the towel, starting with the short end. Cool.
4. To Make Filling: Mix confectioners sugar, vanilla, butter or margarine, and cream cheese together till smooth.
5. Carefully unroll the cake. Spread filling over cake to within 1 inch of edges. Roll up again. Cover and chill until serving. Dust with additional confectioners' sugar, if desired

* I used Trader Joe's gluten free all purpose flour

**I did not add walnuts

Red Velvet Cupcakes

     I absolutely love red velvet cupcakes. I could always taste the difference between red velvet and chocolate cupcakes but never really knew what the actual difference was. I started researching an found that red velvet uses either butter milk or sour cream which gives it more flavor then just chocolate. It also keeps the cupcakes moist. These cupcakes are full of flavor and are super moist. The cream cheese frosting adds more flavor that makes these cupcakes so irresistible!

Here is the recipe from McCormick:

Serves:

Makes 30 (1 cupcake) servings.

Cupcakes:

2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, soften
2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1 bottle (1 ounce) McCormick® Red Food Color
2 teaspoon McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract

Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, soften
1/4 (1/2 stick) butter, soften
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 box (16 ounces) confectioner's sugar

Directions:
 Preheat oven to 350°F. For the Cupcakes, mix flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Set aside.

Beat butter and granulated sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in sour cream, milk, food color and vanilla. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until just blended. Do not overbeat. Spoon batter into 30 paper-lined muffin cups, filling each cup 2/3 full.
      
Bake 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted into cupcake comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire rack 5 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely.

For the Frosting, beat cream cheese, butter, sour cream and vanilla in large bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar until smooth. Frost cooled cupcakes with Frosting.

Raspberry Clafoutis

When I first saw this recipe I was a nit intimidated because i have never heard of a clafoutis let alone I didn't even know how to pronounce it! Don't be intimidated like I was! A clafoutis is simple fruit (usually black cherries) baked in a sweet batter. I loved how the tartness of the raspberries balance the sweetness of the batter!  This was delicious!

Here's the recipe:

1. 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2. 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
3. Salt
4. 3 large eggs
5. 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
6. Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
7. 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk
8. 1 1/2 pints raspberries (3 cups)
9. Confectioners' sugar, for dusting
10. Recipe from: Food & Wine

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Butter a 9-inch gratin dish. In a bowl, whisk the flour, sugar and a pinch of salt. Whisk in the eggs, butter and lemon zest until smooth. Add the milk and whisk until light and very smooth, about 3 minutes. Pour the batter into the gratin dish and top with the raspberries.
2. Bake for about 30 minutes, until the clafoutis is set and golden. Let cool slightly. Dust with confectioners' sugar, cut into wedges and serve.

Mini Chocolate souffles

Souffles have always fascinated me, so I decided to give them a shot. Since souffles are very temperamental, I tried starting small by making them in cupcake tin. Although these souffles are small, they have a very rich chocolatey flavor. They are also airy and fluffy. Someday I hope to make a full size souffle!

*These deflate very fast

Here is the recipe:
Chocolate Soufflé Cupcakes
adapted from Smitten Kitchen (Recipe found at foodienextdoor.blogspot.com)

6 ounces (170 g) bittersweet chocolate, chopped
6 tablespoons (86 g) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
heaping 1/4 tsp instant espresso or coffee powder
3 large eggs, separated
6 tbsp (97 g) sugar, divided in half
1/4 tsp salt
Optional: 3 plums, 1 tbsp sugar, and about 1/4 cup rum*

Do ahead of time: Wash and slice the plums into quarters.  Halve these to get chunks of eights.  Combine the sugar, rum, and plums in a small plastic containers and refrigerate.  Allow to "marinate" overnight.  (note: This can also be done with firm, tart apples or pears)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a standard-size cupcake baking pan with 12 paper liners.


In a microwave safe bowl, melt the butter in the microwave for 30 seconds to 1 minute.  Add the chocolate and espresso powder and microwave for two to three 30 second intervals, stirring well between each interval until everything is fully melted and smooth.  At no point should the chocolate get so hot that it steams/bubbles up and is too hot to touch.
Cool to lukewarm, stirring occasionally.

Using a hand mixer (better than a stand mixer, since the volumes are so small) beat the 3 egg yolks and 3 tablespoons sugar in medium bowl until mixture is very thick and pale, about 2 minutes. Briefly beat lukewarm chocolate mixture into the yolk mixture.

Using clean dry beaters, beat egg whites in another medium bowl until soft peaks form. Add the remaining 3 tablespoons sugar and all of the salt, beating until medium-firm peaks form.

Fold whites into chocolate mixture in 3 additions. Divide batter among prepared cups, filling each one-half of the way.  Add a couple pieces of plum.*  Then fill the cup up to three-fourths of the way.

Bake cakes until tops are puffed and dry to the touch, about 15 minutes. Turn off your oven and leave the cupcakes in for another 5 minutes.

Remove the cupcake pan and cool on a cooling rack, where the cupcakes will almost immediately start to fall.
* I didnot add the plums and rum

Dark Chocolate Trail Mix Bites

These little trail mix bites are amazing and they are supper simple! They are so simple that they don't even have a recipe! To makes these all you do is melt dark chocolate chips and spread a little bit to form a circle on parchment paper. Then top the dark chocolate circles with antioxidants rich food such as dried fruits and nuts. Press the the toppings slightly so they stick to the chocolate. Finally let them sit until the chocolate is firm and enjoy! I guarantee that you will love these! 

Here is the link to the website I found them on:

http://undressedskeleton.tumblr.com/post/49054624292