Spicy Chili Chocolate Cookies (gluten-free version)

The spice in these cookies are perfect for the cold days we keep having here in NYC. Have I mentioned that this winter's been a bad one? Oh yeah. I mentioned it here, here, and here. There doesn't seem to be an end in sight.

 

Two weekends ago I made these cookies to share with my fellow running team mates. A group of us cheered on other runners while standing out in the cold.

See how bundled up everyone was? Yeah. It was COLD.

 

But the chili dark chocolate mixed with cayenne pepper and cinnamon had a nice enough kick in it to help warm up whomever ate one (which was most of us.)

 

So, if it's still super cold where you are and winter seems never ending, consider making these cookies. (And if it's not, send warm weather my way and keep this recipe for next fall/winter.)

I used gluten free flour for these cookies and they turned out perfectly fine. Besides that change, I followed everything else called for in the recipe. The recipe can be found here: Completely Delicious

Bake well and prosper!

Pumpkin Donuts

I must be making up for the lack of pumpkin posts on my blog. This is my 2nd pumpkin recipe post on my blog within a month! Aren't y'all lucky!

 

But let's get down to business...these donuts were THE BOMB! What? You don't use the phrase "the bomb" when you are doing business? Hmmm...ok... These donuts were incredibly pleasing. No...that's not the right way to describe them either. Look, if you make them your taste buds will bow down to you in thanks. There. That's about right.

 

I had read all of the comments on this recipe in preparation before I started making the dough. Everyone said that the dough was ridiculously sticky, therefore I was prepared for a mess. So prepared that I used gloves! 

Isnt' that a lovely mess?

 

I conquered that lovely mess and managed to cut out donut shapes.

The dough was sticky but I wasn't scared. I had my eye on the prize.

Frying donuts. It's the best thing to do to donuts (besides eating them).

 

If you want some easy to make (not yeast!), "fall is in the air" spiced-sugar donuts, you should definitely try this recipe.

Pumpkin Donuts (recipe found on Epicurious)

Ingredients for the Donuts

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour (Erika's Extras: you'll need more while rolling out the dough)

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1 cup sugar

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

1 large egg

2 large egg yolks

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon buttermilk

1 cup canned pure pumpkin

Canola oil (for deep-frying) (Erika's Extras: I used vegetable oil)

 

Ingredients for the Powdered Sugar Glaze

2 cups powdered sugar

Whipping cream (Erika's Extras: I used half & half)

 

Ingredients for the Spiced Sugar

1 cup sugar

4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground nutmeg

 

Instructions for donuts
Whisk first 8 ingredients (everything up to the sugar) in a medium bowl to blend. Using an electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl until blended (mixture will be grainy). Beat in egg, then yolks and vanilla. Gradually beat in buttermilk; beat in pumpkin in 4 additions. Using a rubber spatula, fold in dry ingredients in 4 additions, blending gently after each addition. Cover with plastic; chill 3 hours. (Erika's Extras: I put mine in the freezer for ~15 minutes. This worked fine)          

Press out 1/3 of dough on floured surface to 1/2- to 2/3-inch thickness. Using 2 1/2-inch-diameter round cutter, cut out dough rounds. Arrange on sheets. Repeat with remaining dough in 2 more batches. Gather dough scraps. Press out dough and cut out more dough rounds until all dough is used.

Using 1-inch-diameter round cutter, cut out center of each dough round to make doughnuts and doughnut holes. (Erika's Extras: I made about 3 dough rounds and donut holes at a time and then repeated the process.)          

Line 2 baking sheets with several layers of paper towels. Pour oil into large deep skillet to depth of 1 1/2 inches. Attach deep-fry thermometer and heat oil to 365°F to 370°F. Fry doughnut holes in 2 batches until golden brown, turning occasionally, about 2 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels to drain. Fry doughnuts, 3 or 4 at a time, until golden brown, adjusting heat to maintain temperature, about 1 minute per side. Using slotted spoon, transfer doughnuts to paper towels to drain. Cool completely. (Erika's Extras: Really keep your eye on the temperature of the oil. It drops quickly when you put in a lot of the dough.)          

 

Instructions for powdered sugar glaze
Whisk powdered sugar and 4 tablespoons whipping cream to blend. Whisk in additional cream, 1 teaspoon at a time, to form medium thick glaze. Can be made up to 3 hours ahead. Add donut holes to bowl of spiced sugar and toss to coat. Dip donuts on 1 side in the Powdered Sugar Glaze. Arrange doughnuts, glazed side up, on racks or plates.           

Ingredients for spiced sugar
Whisk all ingredients in medium bowl to blend. Dip plain donuts or glazed donuts in the sugar.

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Pumpkin-Doughnuts-with-Powdered-Sugar-Glaze-and-Spiced-Sugar-Doughnut-Holes-230926#ixzz2hjLfMk8W

 

Bake well and prosper!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake

Wow! This is only my 3rd pumpkin dessert post on my blog. That's less than one a year! It's not that I'm anti-pumpkin. That would be silly! It's just one of those seasonal foods that I forget to use! Like blackberries! (Mental note to self: use blackberries!)

 

Do you ever find yourself at the end of a fruit or veggie season and think, "Oh, whoops! I'll remember to use that ingredient NEXT year...yeah..."? If not then you are a super multi-user of produce (or you have a garden.)

 

Well, I was glad to make a pumpkin dessert just in time for fall. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any pumpkin pie spice at Whole Foods and was about to go home and mix my own spices when I found their winter spice blend. One whiff of this blend and I was in love. I quickly added it to my items to buy and then brought it triumphantly home and made my room mate smell it. He agreed...it smells like the holidays! It was the perfect blend of spices to add to this pumpkin chocolate chip bundt cake.

I must admit that I found this recipe to be quite dense. The amount of ingredients it calls for kept surprising me. THREE cups of flour and TWO cups of sugar?! But seeing I haven't baked with pumpkin in a while, I figured this was the norm.

 

The bundt cake was nice and soft. It doesn't pack a mighty pumpkin flavor so the chocolate chips and spice were a nice pairing to make it more enjoyable. My addition to this recipe is the drizzling of icing on top. It looked rather bare without it.

And WITH the icing it makes the bundt cake look irresistible, don't you think?

 

So, besides baking with pumpkin last week, I also got this cute new boot.

I guess I was running too quickly because I tore my plantar fascia sprinting down 5th Ave at a 5:50 per mile pace. So for now, instead of "the messy chef" you can call me the "hop-a-long chef."

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake (adapted from Barbara Bakes)

Ingredients for cake:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (or use a winter spice blend or make up your own spice blend)

2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup butter, soften

2 cups granulated sugar

3 large eggs

1 can (16 ounce) pumpkin (Erika's Extras: It's worth it to buy the better brand so as to get a better pumpkin flavor)

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (Erika's Extras: I used semi-sweet. I suggest that or dark chocolate.)

Ingredients for glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1-3 tablespoons of heavy whipping cream

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a full size bundt pan.
In a medium bowl, stir the flour, spices, salt, baking soda, and baking powder and set aside.

In a large bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and the sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time mixing well after each addition. Add the pumpkin and mix until combine. Add the dry ingredients mixing just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Bake 50-60 minutes or until a long thin toothpick or thin knife comes out clean.

Cool in pans 5 minutes on a wire rack. After 5 minutes invert onto wire rack. Let cool completely before adding the icing.

 

To make the glaze, sift the powdered sugar into a medium to small bowl. Stir in a tablespoon of heavy whipping cream. Add more cream to get the thickness of glaze that you desire. 

Bake well and prosper!

Gluten-free Spicy Chickpea Brownies

Oh yes...you read correctly. Chickpeas. Brownies. Spice!

My friend sent me this recipe and I recently had a chance to make it for her. They were met with rave reviews.

 

I enjoyed this gluten free alternative brownie. The texture was very fudgy, which makes sense since they are made with liquidy/mushy chickpeas!

I had one friend say that he could tell that the brownies weren't made from normal ingredients but he would never have guessed chickpeas.

 

That surprise combined with the hint of cayenne pepper make these brownies a keeper for flavor filled gluten-free dessert recipes.

Gluten-free Spicy Chickpea Brownies (adapted from The Hairpin)
Ingredients
2 cups chickpeas
12 ounces of dark/semi sweet organic/fair trade chocolate
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 eggs
½ tablespoon vanilla extract
¾ cup sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder (dark/semi-sweet)
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cayenne
½ teaspoon ginger (ground)
½+ teaspoon cinnamon

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Line a 9x9 brownie pan with parchment paper and lightly spray the paper with  olive oil.
2. Dry chickpeas on a couple of layers of paper towels.
3. Once excess liquid is gone, puree the chickpeas in a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Scrape down the edges and puree until all of it is completely smooth. (Erika's Extras: My puree was still a little chunky and it turned out fine.)
4. In a double boiler, melt chocolate with the olive oil. Add it to the chickpeas and blend until it’s well mixed.
5. Add eggs, vanilla, and sugar and blend. Add the cocoa and spices and blend some more.
6. Pour batter into prepared pan.
8. Bake for about 25 minutes. (Erika's Extras: I baked mine for ~40 minutes. These are hard to overcook.)

Bake well and prosper!

Viennese Chocolate Spice Cookies

It's the most wonderful time of the year! Wait...is it? Is it really the Christmas season? With 17 days to go, I guess it is! It approached quickly and then with all the unseasonably warm weather NYC has had, it hasn't seemed like it SHOULD be Christmas. The cold weather I woke up to this morning definitely helped to reassure me that indeed, it's Christmastime!

The lights that are up and the Christmas decorations in store windows and on houses also help get me in the Christmas spirit.

And the holiday music playing in stores helps.

And the elves making my bed. Wait, what? There are no such things as elves? Well that explains why my bed and room are so messy!

Also, all the goodies showing up at the office has helped get me to believe that Christmas is near.

Need a good cookie to bring in to work? I suggest these Viennese Chocolate Spice Cookies. They can be made crispy or slightly chewy, and the combo of chocolate along with a slight hint of spices makes them perfect for winter.

I hope you are preparing for Christmas and enjoying the season!

Viennese Chocolate Spice Cookies (adapted from One Perfect Bite)

Ingredients:
1-1/2 cups flour, plus additional for dusting the work surface
3/4 cup cocoa powder, preferably Dutch-process
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 ounces cool, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces (1-1/2 sticks)
1 cup sugar
1-1/4 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper, divided use
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1 egg, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:
1) Mix flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl until well combined. Set aside.
2) Using a stand mixer on medium speed, beat butter to soften, about 1 minute. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy. If mixture is gritty beat an additional 2 minutes.
3) Beat in 3/4 teaspoon of pepper and all of allspice. Beat in egg and vanilla extract until smooth. Add in the flour mixture. Scrape down sides of bowl as needed.
4) Lightly dust work surface with flour and turn dough onto it. Roll into a 9-inch log. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate about 3 hours.
5) Position oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven. Preheat to 375 degrees F.
6) Slice log into 1/4 inch-thick slices and place on sheet about 1 inch apart. Bake for 6 minutes then rotate sheets top to bottom and front to back. Bake for 6 more minutes until slightly puffed or springy to touch. Cool for 2 minutes in pans, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
7) Mix confectioners’ sugar and remaining 1/2 teaspoon black pepper in a small bowl. Sift mixture over completely cooled cookies. Yield: 3 dozen cookies.

Bake well and prosper!