Coconut Flour Brownies

My first foray into baking with coconut flour was a rousing success! These brownies are light and fluffy, yet packed with rich chocolate flavor. You actually can't even taste the coconut! Not only is this dessert gluten free, but it can also be made dairy free. Enjoy!

Coconut Flour Brownies
Yield: 9x13 pan

Ingredients

• 1 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2/3 cup coconut oil
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 5 eggs, room temperature
• 2 cups milk chocolate chips, divided

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325°F.
2. In stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, add coconut flour, baking soda, and salt to bowl; set aside.
3. In small saucepan over low heat, melt coconut oil and semisweet chocolate chips.
4. Once completely melted, turn off heat. Add maple syrup and vanilla; mix well.
5. Pour melted chocolate mixture into dry ingredients. Stir until well combined.
6. Add eggs to brownie batter and mix thoroughly.
7. Grease 9x13 pan with nonstick spray.
8. Pour half of brownie batter into prepared pan.
9. Sprinkle top of batter with 1 cup milk chocolate chips.
10. Pour remaining batter over chocolate chip layer.
11. Sprinkle remaining 1 cup milk chocolate chips over top of brownie layer.
12. Bake 35-40 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
13. Let brownies cool before slicing and serving.

Notes

• Feel free to use whichever type of chocolate chips you prefer: semisweet, milk, dark, bittersweet, etc. I like using the combination seen here!
• To make the recipe dairy free, simply use a compliant brand of chocolate chips (such as Enjoy Life). Easy, peasy!
• For a decadent treat, warm brownie in the microwave and top with a scoop of dairy free ice cream. It's heavenly!

Recipe adapted from The Coconut Mama.

Flourless Chocolate Torte

My husband asked me not to make him a birthday cake this year.

Wait a second... what?!

I express my love for others by baking them delicious desserts, especially for birthdays. So I found a clever way around the issue: I baked him a last-day-of-the-spring-semester cake to celebrate the end of his 10th(!) year of teaching. Sneaky, huh? ;)

Flourless Chocolate Torte
Yield: 9" round cake

Ingredients
Cake:

• 1 1/3 cups bittersweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 5 eggs, room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup walnuts, finely chopped

Ganache:

• 1/4 cup almond milk
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Topping:

• finely chopped walnuts, as desired

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease 9" round cake pan with nonstick cooking spray; set aside. (If planning to remove cake from pan before topping with ganache, line bottom with parchment and spray a second time.)
2. Melt bittersweet chocolate and coconut oil in saucepan over low heat. Let cool.
3. Meanwhile, in stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat eggs and sugar at medium speed for 5 minutes. Mix in vanilla and salt.
4. Stir chocolate into egg mixture until well combined. Fold in walnuts.
5. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until set. Let cool. (If parchment was used, remove before making ganache.)
6. Once cake has cooled completely, heat almond milk and semisweet chocolate in saucepan over low heat. Spread ganache evenly over cake and sprinkle with walnuts.
7. Store in refrigerator to keep ganache firm. Remove cake from refrigerator 15-20 minutes before ready to serve. Slice and enjoy!

Unlike most of my recipes which come from online sources, this one actually came in the mail! The realtor who helped us buy our home 10 years ago sends out these fun monthly postcards with various topics related to home ownership. Of course, my favorite ones are about food!

Obviously this mailing was sent out during the holidays, and it's taken me nearly 5 months to get around to making it. But hey, I think I deserve some brownie points (no pun intended) for at least hanging onto the recipe for that long and not losing it in the meantime!

Double Chocolate Chickpea Flour Cookies

Chickpea flour (also known as garbanzo bean flour) is a nutritional powerhouse when it comes to alternative flours for gluten free baking. Not only is it loaded with protein and high in dietary fiber, but chickpea flour is also a good source of iron.

These rich, chocolate cookies are soft and cake-like in the middle with a crisp and chewy edge around the outside. While these cookies might seem like a bit of an indulgence, just remember they offer a host of health-promoting qualities!

Double Chocolate Chickpea Flour Cookies
Yield: 2 dozen

Ingredients
1 cup chickpea flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg, room temperature
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp instant espresso powder (optional)
1 cup semisweet (or bittersweet) chocolate chips

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. In medium bowl, whisk together chickpea flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. In large bowl, whisk together egg, coconut oil, brown sugar, vanilla, and espresso powder, if using, until blended. Add flour mixture, stirring until well combined. Fold in chocolate chips.
4. Roll dough into 1-inch balls. (I used small cookie dough scoop.) Space 2 inches apart on prepared sheet and flatten slightly.
5. Bake 8-10 minutes until edges are set (centers may still look slightly soft). Let cool on sheet for 1 minute, then transfer to wire rack and cool completely.

Recipe adapted from Power Hungry.

Chocolate Volcano Cookies

I love a recipe with a super-short list of ingredients, especially when they are things I keep on hand at all times anyway! So when I ran across this recipe in a magazine I was flipping through, I was able to give it a try right away (e.g. this afternoon) without a special trip to the grocery store.

These cookies are light, airy, and full of chocolate flavor as the chewy texture melts in your mouth!

Chocolate Volcano Cookies
Yield: 2 dozen

Ingredients
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 large egg whites, room temperature
1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips (I used a combination of the two)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. In large bowl, whisk together sugar, cocoa, and salt. Add egg whites and vanilla. Stir until smooth. (Batter will be thick.) Fold in chocolate chips.
3. Lightly coat two large baking sheets with nonstick cooking spray.
4. Using small cookie dough scoop, drop batter on prepared sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. (Cookies will spread as they bake.)
5. Bake 13-15 minutes, until crackly and set. (For best results, cook one pan at a time in center of oven.)
6. Let cool 3 minutes on baking sheet before using metal spatula to transfer cookies to wax paper to cool completely.

Recipe adapted from December 2017 issue of Good Housekeeping magazine.

Raspberry Chocolate Truffle Tart

If you've looked through my recipes, you know that I'm a big fan of Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour because it makes gluten free baking a breeze! You can directly replace the all-purpose flour in any of your favorite recipes with this gluten free baking flour and that's it! No additional ingredients or extra effort necessary. For a busy mom of three like me, that has been a wonderful time saver in the kitchen!

But occasionally I want to try something new... so I did! I picked up a bag of teff flour to give it a try. Teff is a naturally gluten free, ancient grain that is high in fiber, iron, protein, and calcium. Sounded like a winner to me! So when I saw this recipe on the back, I thought I should totally give it a shot. Anything with chocolate has to be good in my book! Apparently everyone at our Thanksgiving gathering thought so, too, because this is all that was left...

Silly me forgot to take a picture of the tart before I set it out on the counter to be served. But I think the near-empty platter speaks volumes as to how much my extended family enjoyed it! Here's a close up of a slice, with the sweet raspberry jam oozing out of the middle...

Raspberry Chocolate Truffle Tart
Yield: 10” tart

Ingredients
Crust:
 2 cups teff flour
 1/2 cup vegetable oil
 1/2 tsp salt
 1/4 cup honey
 2 Tbsp cold water

Filling:
 1 cup raspberry jam (seedless)
 1 cup full fat coconut milk
 1 tsp vanilla
 2 cups bittersweet chocolate

Directions
For crust:
 1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
 2. In large bowl, mix all ingredients together until fully blended. Dough should have crumby appearance. Press mixture into 10” tart tin and bake for 12-15 minutes.
 3. Let crust cool in tin. Cool completely before filling.

For filling:
 4. Spread bottom of cooled tart shell with even layer of jam.
 5. In medium saucepan, heat coconut milk and vanilla over medium heat until it starts to boil. Remove from heat and whisk in chocolate. Make sure chocolate is fully blended and no lumps remain.
 6. Pour still warm chocolate ganache filling over jam layer in tart shell.
 7. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.
 8. Tart will keep in refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Notes
* My tart tin is 11” and the recipe still turned out great!
* Teff pie crust can also be used in 9” pie dish for traditional fruit pies.

Recipe adapted from Pereg Teff Flour (back of package).

Update 2/7/19: I finally made this recipe again and remembered to take a photo of the finished product before slicing into it!