Chocolate Dipped Mocha Hazelnut Cookies

Chocolate Dipped Mocha Hazelnut Cookies

These Chocolate Dipped Mocha Hazelnut Cookies have the same crunchy chewy texture of a peanut butter cookie with the classic chocolate hazelnut flavors of Nutella and they’re really easy to make.

Chocolate Dipped Mocha Hazelnut Cookies

Prep time: 15 minutes

Bake Time: 10-12 minutes

Servings: 40-50 cookies 

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• ¾  cup sugar 185 grams
• ½  tsp of vanilla
• 1 egg
• ½ cup gluten free flour (I used Bobs Red Mill 1 to 1 flour ... 74 grams by weight)
• 2 ½ cups hazelnut meal (280 grams by weight)
• ½ cup unsweetened cocoa, sifted (40 grams by weight)
• 7 oz dark chocolate (melted, to dip the cookies)

Video Tutorial: 

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 ºF or 175 ºC
2. Stir together the gluten free flour, hazelnut meal and sifted cocoa then set aside.
3. Beat the butter, sugar and vanilla together then add the egg and beat for another 2 to 3 minutes.
4. Add the hazelnut mixture and beat until combined.
5. Chill the dough for 10 to 15 minutes to make it less sticky then roll into 1 inch balls and flatten slightly with a fork.  Once the pan is filled chill the cookies for 10 minutes to prevent spreading then bake them for 10 to 12 minutes.
6. Cool the cookies on the pan for a few minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
7. While they're cooling melt 7 ounces of dark chocolate then dip the bottoms of the cookies into melted chocolate and place them onto a waxed paper lined baking sheet that can be moved to the refrigerator. 
8. Chill for 30 minutes to solidify the chocolate and they're ready.

Pasta with Walnuts

Fettuccine with Walnuts 

Pasta with walnuts is one of those simple dishes that can be made in just 15 minutes.  This is the kind of meal I make for myself when my daughter is insisting she wants chicken fingers and fries and I’m just not in the mood.  This one is all about simplicity.  With just a few simple ingredients it’s easy to make a plate of walnut fettuccine with a luxurious feel that won’t leave you feeling like this is cop-out cooking.  

So when the little one is demanding something relatively simple to make for dinner like hotdogs and beans and I want something else, this is one of my go to meals.  What are some of your favorite dinners that are easy enough to make for one?  

Oh and for the record my tween daughter took one look at this luscious plate of pasta and declared “THAT LOOKS DISGUSTING”.   Oh well.  You can’t please everyone.  I assure you that if you like walnuts this is a wonderful dish.        

Pasta with Walnuts

Prep time: 5 min

Cook time: 10 min

Ingredients for One

• 1 ounce of chopped walnuts
• 1 tbsp butter
• 3 tbsp heavy cream
• 1 clove of sliced garlic
• 3-4 ounces of gluten free fettuccine 
• fresh parsley
• grated Parmigiano Reggiano or Locatelli Romano cheese

Video Tutorial:  

Instructions

1. Cook the fettuccine according to the package instructions and once the pasta is 5 minutes from done make the sauce so that the cooked pasta can be added to the pan at the right time.
2. In a pan that’s large enough to fit the finished pasta add the butter and garlic and allow the garlic to sauté for a minute or two but don’t overcook it or it will get bitter.  (see note 2)
3. Add the cream and some salt and pepper to taste and stir to combine.  
4. Add the cooked pasta and stir to combine.  If the pasta and happens to look too dry as you stir it through the sauce you can loosen it up with a few spoons of the pasta cooking water. 
5. Add the walnuts, grated cheese and parsley and stir to combine then as you serve the pasta twist the fettuccine into a nest on the plate to maintain the heat. 

Notes

1. To add a more complex salinity to the dish, I often add two anchovy fillets to pan and break them up while I’m toasting the garlic.

Gluten Free Banana Blueberry Muffins

Banana Blueberry Muffins - Gluten Free

These delicious Banana Blueberry Muffins are nice fusion between banana bread and blueberry muffins.  They’re my answer to a few overripe bananas on the kitchen table and an abundance of blueberries in the fridge.  They make an awesome snack or quick breakfast in a pinch.  

This a  basic banana bread batter that was given a summer makeover with the addition of fresh blueberries instead of the usual walnuts. And those blueberries also pack an extra boost of antioxidants so you won’t feel guilty when you indulge in these.  Plus when you make a muffin at home it’s much more appropriately sized than those huge ones you get at the coffee shop.  But if you want to overindulge a little, you could always have two.   

Banana Blueberry Muffins

Prep time: 15 min

Cook time:  24 min

Ingredients

•          2 ripe bananas, mashed
•          ¼ cup butter, melted
•          ¼ cup milk
•          2 eggs
•          1 tsp vanilla
•          1 ½ cups gluten free Bisquick
•          ½ cup brown sugar, firmly packed
•          ½ tsp cinnamon
•          1 cup blueberries
•          TO SPRINKLE ON TOP:
•          ¼ cup sugar
•          ¼ tsp cinnamon
•          coarse decorating sugar (optional for additional sparkle on top)

Video Tutorial:

Instructions

1.    Preheat the oven to 350°F (or 175 °C) and line a muffin pan with 12 paper liners.

2.    Stir together the cinnamon and sugar that will be used to sprinkle on top.

3.    In a large bowl stir together the mashed bananas, melted butter, milk, eggs and vanilla until thoroughly combined then set it aside.  

4.    In another bowl stir together the Bisquick, brown sugar and cinnamon.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and using a rubber spatula stir the wet and dry ingredients together until well combined.  The batter should be pretty thick. 

5.    Stir in the fresh blueberries until they are evenly dispersed throughout the batter then evenly divide the batter among the twelve paper liners. 

6.    Sprinkle each muffin with the cinnamon sugar mixture and bake them for 24 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. 

7.    Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for 5 minutes before removing them to cool completely on a baking rack. 

Notes:  If you’re not following a gluten free diet you can either use regular Bisquick or substitute 1 ½ cups flour, 1 ½ tsp baking powder, ½ tsp baking soda and ½ tsp salt.

No Bake Mini Strawberry Cheesecakes

No Bake Mini Strawberry Cheesecakes 

These No Bake Mini Strawberry Cheesecakes are quite possibly one of the easiest desserts you’ll ever make.  The recipe combines low fat cream cheese, Greek yogurt and strawberry Jello to make a silky strawberry cheesecake filling.  Not counting the water, this is a five ingredient dessert that uses store bought shortbread cookies to make quick work of the crust.  And with all of the calories you saved in the low fat filling you’ll be able to garnish with a little whipped cream and fresh strawberries and still be ahead of the ballgame.  You could also substitute sugar free Jello in the recipe to shave off even more calories. Since this recipe works just as well with all the other jello flavors, you can be quite adventurous with this one.  One of my favorite combos is an orange filling topped with dark chocolate ganache and a chocolate cookie crust.

  

No Bake Mini Strawberry Cheesecakes

Prep time:  15 min

Cook time:  2 min

Ingredients list

•           16 oz light cream cheese, softened
•          7 oz low fat Greek yogurt
•          (1) 3 oz package strawberry Jello
•          1/3 cup water
•          5 oz of gluten free shortbread cookies
•          4 tbsp melted butter

Video Tutorial: 

Instructions

1.  Line a cupcake tin with 12 paper liners.
2.  Place the cookies into a Ziploc bag and crush them with a rolling pin until you have them as fine as you can get them. Stir the crumbs together with the melted butter until you have a damp sandy texture. 
3.   Add a heaping tablespoon of the crust mixture to each of the paper liners and using either the back of a spoon or a small flat bottomed glass to press the crust mixture firmly onto the bottom and slightly up the sides of each cupcake liner then refrigerate to set as you work on the cheesecake batter.
4.   In a large bowl beat together the softened cream cheese and Greek yogurt until it’s well blended and lump free.    
5.   To dissolve the Jello, bring 1/3 cup of water to a boil then turn off the heat and stir in the entire package of Jello mixing for about 2 minutes or until the gelatin is completely dissolved. 
6.    Add the strawberry gelatin mixture to the cream cheese mixture and mix until the cheesecake batter has a uniform pink color.
7.   Evenly divide the mixture among the twelve liners then use the back of a spoon to gently smooth out the tops. 
8.  Cover the pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4-6 hours but overnight is even better. 
9.  Garnish with fresh strawberries and whipped cream or chocolate ganache before serving if you want.  

Notes:  Be sure to combine the cream cheese and Greek yogurt in advance of dissolving the Jello since you’ll want to add the dissolved Jello immediately to the mix before it starts to set up.  This recipe works well with other flavors of Jello so feel free to change it up to suit your own tastes.   

Strawberry Cheesecake with Chocolate Ganache

And here's that same cheesecake with a layer of dark chocolate ganache and a sliced fanned strawberry.  To do this make, sure you've already chilled the cheesecake then melt equal parts of dark chocolate and heavy cream and stir them together until silky and smooth. Spoon it over the top of each cake.  Make sure that the paper liners are still in place.  Slice off the bottom of a strawberry then slice it into thin strips and stand the fanned out strawberry on top while the chocolate is still wet. Chill for about an hour to set the ganache and serve.