Gluten-Free Chocolate Pecan Cookies
From PBS Kitchen Explorers
Alice Currah of SavorySweetLife.com


These beautiful cookies are gluten-free and fabulous! I love their chewy texture and how simple they were to make. At first I thought it would be too much work but quickly found out that everything came together in no time at all. I didn't have a stainless steel bowl (mine have rubber on the bottom) for heating up the egg mixture so I just used a small saucepan. I think we were able to get about 18 cookies give or take a couple. This recipe is a keeper, two thumbs up (and a snap) from the whole family!


Ingredients

• 1/4 cup sweet rice flour (I used almond flour since I didn't have any rice flour)
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1-1/2 cups of water
• 1 cup toasted pecans, coarsely chopped
• 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
• Parchment paper

  
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and salt together, set aside.

Place bittersweet chocolate chips and butter in a microwave-safe bowl and heat for 1 minute.  Stir the chocolate butter mixture and microwave again for 30 seconds.  Continue to do this until all the chocolate chips have melted and the mixture is smooth, set aside.

In a stainless steel bowl slightly larger than a medium pot, whisk the eggs, sugar, and vanilla thoroughly.

Boil water in a medium pot and reduce heat to a low simmer.

Rest stainless steel bowl with the egg mixture on top of the pot of simmering water.  Make sure the bowl is bigger than the mouth of the pot.Whisk egg mixture until it is lukewarm and then add it to the chocolate mixture, stirring until everything is well combined.

Add the flour mixture, semi-sweet chocolate chips, and pecans to the chocolate mixture.  Your batter will look like thick cake batter.  Don't worry they will bake up nice and look just like "real" cookies!

Scoop dough (it will look very wet and sloppy) into rounded tablespoons on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper 2 inches apart from each other.  Bake for 14 minutes until the surface of the cookies look dry and set.

With the cookies still on the parchment paper, slide them onto racks to cool.  Gently peel the parchment paper back after cookies have cooled for at least 30 minutes (We couldn't wait that long, 15 minutes and our cookies were good to go.)

Chocolate Chip Nutella Cookies with Chickpeas and Walnuts

 
Ingredients

• 3/4 cup of brown sugar
• 3/4 cup of light margarine (I use Earth Balance)
• 2 egg whites (I used 1 whole egg)
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 (15 ounce) can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 Nutella
• 2 cups chocolate chips
• 2 cups flour (I usually do 1/2 whole wheat &1/2 all purpose)
• 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a cookie sheet with cooking spray ( I use parchment paper)
2. Put chickpeas in food processor and process until smooth. Set aside.
3. Beat sugar and margarine together until smooth and fluffy in a large bowl.
4. Beat in egg (or egg whites) and vanilla. Add chickpeas and Nutella. Add flour, oats, baking soda, and salt. Fold in chocolate chips and walnuts.
5. Drop by tablespoon onto cookie sheet.
6. Bake 11 minutes, cool and enjoy!

Happy National Ice Cream Sandwich Day!

Homemade Ice Cream Sandwich Recipe

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 cup sugar
  
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 pints ice cream (any flavor- I used vanilla), softened

1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 15-by-10-inch cookie sheet with cooking spray or use butter; line with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on the two shorter sides.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together butter and sugar until combined; add in egg, vanilla, and salt and whisk again until combined. Add flour and cocoa, and mix just until smooth. Spread in prepared baking pan. Bake until cake edges begin to pull away from the sides, about 10 to 12 minutes. Cool completely in pan.
3. Using paper overhang, lift cake onto a work surface. Halve crosswise. Place one half of cake, flat side down, on a large piece of plastic wrap. Spread with ice cream, then top with remaining half of cake, flat side up. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and freeze until firm, about 2 hours.
4. Cut with knife, wiping off blade after each cut. Wrap individually in plastic wrap and freeze up to 1 week. Enjoy!
   

Notes: next time I think I'll put chocolate sprinkles along the edges. You can also wrap them in parchment paper and tie with string. Looks adorable! It also helps catch any melting ice cream. For some reason the kids thought the parchment paper was the cat's meow. This recipe is a keeper!