Is That Gluten Free?

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This is probably the most delicious dessert bar I have tasted In my lifetime…I probably ate the whole thing within two or three days 😁. It has an amazing gooey caramel layer and a chocolate layer with a nice oatmeal crust on top. Not to mention its so easy to make that It’s practically effortless.

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 cup butter (melted)
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup gluten free all purpose is baking flour
• 1 cup oats I used Bob’s Red Mill gluten free rolled oats
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 package of Kraft Caramels (36 squares)
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS: preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and add in the melted butter. It should be slightly crumbly but the crust will hold together in the pan! Split the crust into two halves.

Grease an 8×8 square glass pan with butter and press one half of the crust into the bottom of the pan to form the first layer of the bar.

Place the pan into the oven and allow the bottom crust to bake for 10 minutes.

While the crust is baking, place the caramel squares (make sure the plastic wrapping is off all of them) and the heavy whipping cream in a small pot and allow the caramels to melt down and combine completely with the cream. Make sure you are constantly stirring this as it can easily burn! As soon as the caramel sauce/filling is completely combined and smooth, take the pot off of the stove.

To put together the Caramelitas, simply spread the chocolate chips evenly across the bottom crust that was just taken out of the over. After that pour the caramel over the top of the chocolate chips making sure to scrape the sides of the pot with a spatula to get all of the filling in. Let this rest for a few minutes to let everything spread and even out. With the second half of the crust, simply crumble the rest evenly on top of the caramel without pressing down on the Caramelitas ( the top is meant to be crumbly and you don’t want to disturb the beautiful layers).

Put this in the oven for about 20 minutes.

Allow the Caramelitas to cool overnight. The caramel takes a long time to set and the bars won’t be able to stick together until everything is completely cooled. It will take hours to cool!!! I covered the pan with some tin foil and they were perfect to cut in the morning!

Although it may seem complicated to make just reading this, these Caramelitas are actually very easy to put together and don’t take that long to prepare! Waiting for them to cool is probably the hardest part of the whole expierience so I would suggest just leaving them to cool overnight.

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I just made this amazing creation on a whim Saturday night! The cupcakes came out wonderfully light and fluffy. I honestly had no issues making the actual cake but the frosting I used from another recipes came out slightly too sweet so I altered some of the proportions and It came out much better when I tried again! Enjoy 🙂

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups gluten free all purpose baking flour
• 1/4 cup of Hershey unsweetened cocoa
• 1 tsp of salt
•  1/2 cup of softened unsalted butter
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbs of red liquid food coloring (not gel)
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp of vanilla
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 tbs of apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp baking soda

Marshmallow buttercream:

• 1 3/4 cups powdered  sugar
• 6.5 ounces of marshmallow fluff (about 5/8 of a regular jar)
• 1 cup of unsalted softened butter

DIRECTIONS:

Pre-heat the over to 350 degrees.

First combine the flour and cocoa powder  in a large bowl. Then mix the butter and granulated sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed untill it is creamy and then mixin the eggs at high speed untill the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the food coloring and vanilla. The color will look more pinkish than red but do not fret! The cupcakes will darken in color as they bake and the cocoa and buttermilk will give the cupcakes a more red tint.

On medium speed alternate mixing in the flour and cocoa mixture with the buttermilk into the butter mixture. It will be pretty thick and will thicken even more as you mix. It all should combine together in the end!

On low speed beat in the baking soda and vinegar. When you pour both in you hear a nice sizzle (Gotta love those acid-base reactions…oh how I love Chemistry). The carbon dioxide gas released makes the cupcakes extra fluffy!!!

Add the salt into the batter and then line the cupcakes tins with cupcake liners. Fill the cupcake tins with batter until they are about 2/3 of the way full. This recipe makes 24 cupcakes.

Place the cupcakes in the oven and allow them to bake for about 22 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.

To make the marshmallow buttercream empty the amount of marshmallow buttercream you want to use into a large bowl ( I used about 5/8 of the jar but you can use more or less) and beat in the softend butter on high speed with an electric mixer until completely combined. Then mix in the powdered sugar on high speed until combined.

When the cupcakes have cooled, you can either pipe the frosting on with a pastry bag or, for a more rustic look, you can just frost the cupcakes with a knife.

The cupcakes came out super fluffy and the red color was perfect. I hones lulu would not change anything about this recipe. The frosting can be overly sweet so a little goes a long way with frosting the cupcakes but other than that these are pure bliss!

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After going apple picking at look out farm in the fall, I was inspired to bake an apple pie! Apple pie is one of my all time favorite fall desserts but I feel like it can be delicious at any time of year!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 bag of gluten free Bob’s Red Mill pie crust flour
• 8 medium Cortland apples (other types work well)
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• zest from 1 lemon
• 1 tbs lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp of cinnamon
• 1/8 cup of milk
• pinch of salt

PREPARING CRUST: Prepare the crust according to the instruction on the flour, split the dough into two. flatten one half into a disk and refrigerate. Roll out the second half to fit into a 9 inch round pie pan. Place the second half into the pie pan and refrigerate.

PREPARING THE APPLES: Core and peel all eight apples and slice them into very thin slices( you can slice them thinker if you like crunchier apples in your pie). Combine the apples, lemon juice, lemon zest, sugar, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl, making sure every apple is coated completely. If you prefer the taste of nutmeg, you can replace a 1/4 tsp of cinnamon with a 1/4 tsp of nutmeg.

PUTTING THE PIE TOGETHER: Remove the two pie crust halves from the fridge. Put the apple mixture into the dough lined pie pan. Then, roll out the second half of the pie crust so it is 1/2 inch larger in diameter than the pan. Lay the pie dough over the top of the pan and the filling, tucking under the excess crust under the crust that lines the pan. Crimp the edges of the crust with a fork, then cut four slits on the center of the top crust.Next, brush the top of the crust with egg whites and sprinkle with some sugar.

BAKING: Place the apple pie on a cookie sheet and bake in the over for 1 hour at 400 degrees or until the crust is golden brown. Cool the pie before serving!

When I baked this pie i had trouble transferring the top crust to the pan. If this happens, i would suggest rolling out your dough thicker or placing the dough in the freezer for a few minutes so it becomes less sticky. The filling of this pie was delicious but I would suggest cutting your apples thicker so they have more of a crunch! I’m not a huge fan of very soggy apple pie filling…It tastes so much more fresh with a nice crunch! Enjoy!!

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These are the first French macarons I ever made. One, because the filling requires no effort to make, and two It was the first recipe for macarons I ever read about online. I get some inspiration for my recipes from other sites but I usually make these recipes my own by messing with the proportions of the ingredients so they work to my liking. Since this was the first macaron recipe I ever tried, they did not come out perfect. My cookies ended up slightly burnt and the food coloring faded . After many tries I have been able to perfect my cookies and this first attempt for me was just an experience I learned from. These were the macarons that started my obsession, and I have to admit they are so delicious and I can see why they sparked my passion for baking macarons :).

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
• 1 cup of almond flour or almond meal
• 3 room temp egg whites
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• pinch of salt
• 1/4 superfine sugar ( can be made by food processing granulated sugar)
• 6 drops of red gel food coloring
• 1/2 tsp of almond extract
• 4 baking sheets
• a sieve
• parchment paper
• large pastry bag
• 1 Jar of seedless raspberry jam

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat your oven to 300 and line 3 of the 4 baking sheets with parchment paper. Measure the powdered sugar and almond meal by pressing down on them in a measuring cup. Move to a medium size bowl. Sift the mixture into a large bowl using your sieve and pressing down with a metal spoon to pass through as much of the mixture as possible. Only about a tablespoon or two of ground almond should remain. If more than that is left in your sieve, continue to press down The mixture with a metal spoon. Add the salt to the mixture.

Next separate your eggs and add your cream of tartar to your egg whites in a large bowl. Start whipping the egg whites with an electric mixer and gradually increase the speed of the mixer. One the egg whites become frothy,gradually add the superfine sugar into the egg whites. Keep mixing the egg whites until stiff peaks form.

Quickly transfer the whipped egg whites to the almond meal mixture and slowly fold in the egg whites. About 4 or 5 folds in add the almond extract and the food coloring into the batter. Continue to lightly fold the batter until everything is combined and the batter flows off your spatula in a smooth ribbon.

Transfer your batter to a pastry bag and pipe your cookies onto your baking sheets with about a 3/4 inch space between each cookie. The cookies spread out ,so make sure you pipe them no larger than a quarter or dollar coin size. Quickly after piping tap your baking trays on the counter to remove bubbles. Let the cookies rest for 20 minutes.

Double up one tray with another tray and put in the oven for 20 minutes. The doubling up prevents browning on the cookies. You will end up baking these in 3 batches. (60 min baking time total).

Let the cookies completely cool before removing them from the sheets.

RASPBERRY FILLING:

Spread the seedless raspberry jam on one cookies and sandwich with a cookie of similar size. I enjoyed these macarons with my family and they were a crowd favorite :).

When I pulled these macarons out of the oven they were slightly overcooked. The didn’t crack, which was good, but they were a little too browned for my liking! It’s important to check up on the cookies as they bake and to remove them if they begin to brown too much. Layering the baking sheets prevents browning by adding another layer underneath the cookies. Macarons are mostly about presentation, and browning on the cookies can take away from their appeal.

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This is the same basic recipe as the blueberry cheesecake macarons except the filling is very different! Also there is tea in the actual cookie! These macarons actually taste like tea with honey and would be perfect for a tea party! I had so much fun making these. I gave some of these macarons to my teachers for the holidays as well and they all loved them. Gifting macarons is such a cute gift idea especially if you put them in cute mason jars and tie ribbons around them! I would definitely trying this flavor first if you have not made macarons before since It’s extra delicious and it’s not any more challenging than any other flavor.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
• 1 cup of almond flour or almond meal
• 3 room temp egg whites
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• pinch of salt
• 1/4 superfine sugar ( can be made by food processing granulated sugar)
• 4 drops of blue gel food coloring
• 1 stick of butter
• 1 cup of powdered sugar ( for buttercream)
• 3 tablespoons of honey
• 4 drops of yellow food coloring
• 4 tablespoons of Earl Grey Tea ( I used Tazo tea straight from the jar)
• 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
• 4 baking sheets
• a sieve
• parchment paper
• large pastry bag

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat your oven to 300 and line 3 of the 4 baking sheets with parchment paper. Measure the powdered sugar and almond meal by pressing down on them in a measuring cup. Move to a medium size bowl. Sift the mixture into a large bowl using your sieve and pressing down with a metal spoon to pass through as much of the mixture as possible. Only about a tablespoon or two of ground almond should remain. If more than that is left in your sieve, continue to press down The mixture with a metal spoon. Add the salt to the mixture.

Next separate your eggs and add your cream of tartar to your egg whites in a large bowl. Start whipping the egg whites with an electric mixer and gradually increase the speed of the mixer. One the egg whites become frothy,gradually add the superfine sugar into the egg whites. Keep mixing the egg whites until stiff peaks form.

Quickly transfer the whipped egg whites to the almond meal mixture and slowly fold in the egg whites. About 4 or 5 folds in add the vanilla extract and the food coloring into the batter. Continue to lightly fold the batter until everything is combined and the batter flows off your spatula in a smooth ribbon.

Transfer your batter to a pastry bag and pipe your cookies onto your baking sheets with about a 3/4 inch space between each cookie. The cookies spread out ,so make sure you pipe them no larger than a quarter or dollar coin size. Quickly after piping tap your baking trays on the counter to remove bubbles. Let the cookies rest for 20 minutes.

Double up one tray with another tray and put in the oven for 20 minutes. The doubling up prevents browning on the cookies. You will end up baking these in 3 batches. (60 min baking time total).

Let the cookies completely cool before removing them from the sheets.

HONEY BUTTERCREAM FILLING:

you need:

• 1 stick of butter
• 1 cup of powdered sugar
• 3 tablespoons of honey
• 4 drops of yellow gel food coloring

First I creamed the honey with an electric mixer on high speed. Then, I added in the powdered sugar and mixed on high speed until completely combined and creamy. Finally, I added in the honey and food coloring. If you want a stronger honey flavor, you can definitely add more into the butter cream. After I made the buttercream, I paired up cookies of similar size and shape. I then filled one cookie of each pair by piping a decent amount of buttercream in a circle around the cookie. After, I sandwiched the pairs together and viola!

Making these macarons takes up a lot of time, and you can only do them on certain days, since I  find that if it is too humid out the cookies come out cracked! Make sure you have enough time to venture into the crazy world of macarons before you begin making them! I find that the slightest error with these cookies make a huge difference so it is very important to take your time while making these cookies.

This past weekend I made my signature French Macarons! I created a macaron with a vanilla cookie and blueberry cheesecake filling. If you guys like my recipe make sure to follow my blog! 🙂

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
• 1 cup of almond flour or almond meal
• 3 room temp egg whites
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• pinch of salt
• 1/4 superfine sugar ( can be made by food processing granulated sugar)
• 6 drops of blue gel food coloring
• 6 ounces of  softened cream cheese
• 4 tablespoons of blueberry jam
• 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
• 4 baking sheets
• a sieve
• parchment paper
• large pastry bag

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat your oven to 300 and line 3 of the 4 baking sheets with parchment paper. Measure the powdered sugar and almond meal by pressing down on them in a measuring cup. Move to a medium size bowl. Sift the mixture into a large bowl using your sieve and pressing down with a metal spoon to pass through as much of the mixture as possible. Only about a tablespoon or two of ground almond should remain. If more than that is left in your sieve, continue to press down The mixture with a metal spoon. Add the salt to the mixture.

Next seperate your eggs and add your cream of tartar to your egg whites in a large bowl. Start whipping the egg whites with an electric mixer and gradually increase the speed of the mixer. One the egg whites become forthy,graudually add the superfine sugar into the egg whites. Keep mixing the egg whites until stiff peaks form.

Quickly transfer the whipped egg whites to the almond meal mixture and slowly fold in the egg whites. About 4 or 5 folds in add the vanilla extract and the food coloring into the batter. Continue to lightly fold the batter until everthing is combined and the batter flows off your spatula in a smooth ribbon.

Transfer your batter to a pastry bag and pipe your cookies onto your baking sheets with about a 3/4 inch space between each cookie. The cookies spread out ,so make sure you pipe them no larger than a quarter or dollar coin size. Quickly after piping tap your baking trays on the counter to remove bubbles. Let the cookies rest for 20 minutes.

Double up one tray with another tray and put in the oven for 20 minutes. The doubling up prevents browning on the cookies. You will end up baking these in 3 batches. (60 min baking time total).

Let the cookies completely cool before removing them from the sheets. DO NOT REMOVE THEM WHEN THEY ARE EVEN SLIGHTLY WARM 🙂

Blueberry Cheescake Filling:

Wisk together the cream cheese and the blueberry jam. DO NOT USE PRESERVE. The blueberry pieces will clog your pastry bag. Mix the cream cheese and Jam with an electric mixer until smooth. Fill a pastry bag with the filling and pip a small amount  on one cookies and sandwich with another cookie of similar size. ( Its easier to pair your cookies up before filling them). The cookies can be stored in the fridge for about a week.

These cookies are delicious but are very tedious to make. When I made this flavor, the tops of the macarons came out very cracked! I was very confused on why because I followed my step by step process that has worked for me every time! I soon realized, it was extremely humid and rainy that day, and the humidity can cause cracking on the cookies! I’d suggest to avoid baking macarons on very humid days!

Hey guys!! This is my blog and I’ll be posting my recipes and baked goods every week! I bake french macarons a lot and lots of cookies! All my recipes are gluten free and delicious! I’ll post my recipes and give you guys tips on how to make your cookies perfect and unique. I usually bake on Saturdays and Sundays so I’ll be posting around then!

Over this past Winter break, I ended up doing lots of baking. I made oatmeal apple cookies, french  macarons, double chocolate cupcakes and banana bread! French macarons are a typical endeavor for me but my double chocolate cupcakes were delicious and fun to make! Enjoy this recipe!

Cupcake (yields 16 large cupcakes):

•  1/2 cup of baking cocoa
• 1 cup king arthur  baking mix
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 tablespoons of soften butter or oil
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup of water
•  3 large eggs

preheat the oven to 350 and line two muffin pan with cupcake/muffin liners

whisk all dry ingredients until combined

whisk all wet ingredients ( except water) until  combined.

combine the combined wet and dry ingredients and whisk together until smooth adding water slowly in the process. If the batter isn’t sweet enough for your plate you can add more sugar! I like mine sweet so I added about a 1/4 cup more! I used an ice cream scoop but a muffin scoop works as well. Scoop the batter evenly into all the cupcake liners and put in over for about 18 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.  cool cupcakes completely before frosting.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:

• 6 tablespoons of butter, softened
• 2 2/3 cups of powdered sugar
• 1/2 of baking cocoa
• 1/3 cup of milk
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of vanilla

whisk all ingredients together until creamy and chill in fridge to thicken (makes the frosting easier). When cupcakes are cool and ready to frost fill a large piping bag with the frosting and pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes using a circular motion and slight pressure. I used a used a star tip while piping!

Enjoy!!! 🙂

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