Chocolate Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies

I'm sure most of you have made no bake cookies at some point in your life.  I know I sure loved them as a kid--actually.  One of the best things about no bake cookies is that they're made up of 

pantry/fridge staples and come together quickly.  Thankfully, it only takes a couple of tweaks to make these gluten and dairy free.

You'll need:

2 Cups Sugar

4 Tablespoons Cocoa Powder

1 Stick (1/2 Cup) Earth Balance

1/2 Cup Unsweetened Original Almond Milk

1 Cup Peanut Butter

1 Tablespoon Vanilla

3 Cups Gluten Free Oatmeal

Waxed Paper or Oil Sprayed Foil

Bring the sugar, cocoa, Earth Balance, and almond milk to a boil in a heavy pan.  Boil for one minute.  Stir in the peanut butter, vanilla, and oatmeal.  Drop, by spoonful, onto the waxed paper or foil.  Let them cool/harden and eat up.

Or, if you're like me, put a bit of the mixture in a bowl or mug for yourself first.  I honestly like eating the warm mixture more than the cookies!

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

For my birthday party a few weeks ago I made a gluten-free vegan pineapple upside down cake.  The texture of a gluten free cake lends itself to this recipe quite well.

Preheat your oven to 350.  

In a 9" round cake pan

Place 1/4 cup Earth Balance

Melt in oven and then remove.

Optional: Stir in a shot of good dark rum.

Sprinkle on 3/4 cup packed brown sugar and 1/4 teaspoon each of ginger and cinnamon.

Place pineapple rings in pan with a maraschino cherry in the center of each.

For the cake :

Mix up your favorite yellow cake recipe (I use Hodgson Mill ) with the following changes:

Instead of eggs, use your favorite egg replacer.

Use juice from the pineapple slices for as much milk in the recipe as it fills.  I use unsweetened original almond milk for the rest.

Replace butter with Earth Balance.

Mix very well and gently pour half of the batter over the topping.  Smooth the batter with a rubber spatula.  Bake in the oven until golden and a toothpick comes out clean.

(Bake the rest of the cake as usual--you can easily freeze it for later consumption.)

Remove from the oven, run a knife between the cake and pan.  Let sit for a few minutes before flipping over onto a cake plate.  Enjoy.

Chocolate Nut Pie - Gluten and Dairy Free

As a native Kentuckian, a certain type of pie holds a special place in both my heart and stomach.  Upon moving north, I've introduced several folks to the pie--even winning a pie contest at a previous employer!  The thing is, I can no longer eat my own pie...  I've changed that though.  Recently my local grocery began carrying the new Pillsbury line of gluten free products.  I was thrilled to notice that the pie dough is also dairy free.  This was the kick I needed to adapt this pie.

For two pies:

Preheat your oven to 350.

You'll need:

One tub of Pillsbury Gluten-Free Pie Crust

One stick of melted Earth Balance

One cup light corn syrup

1/2 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup sugar

4 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons gluten-free flour mix

1 cup (or more) pecans or walnuts

2 cups Enjoy Life chocolate chips and/or chunks

BOURBON

Strawberry Shortcake

With strawberry season in full force, I was craving shortcake.  I use homemade biscuits for my shortcake.  That's the problem though, I don't really use a recipe for my biscuits.  If you have a favorite recipe, it is fairly easy to change to gluten and dairy free.  I replace the flour with King Arthur gluten free flour mix, add in baking powder, salt, xanthan gum, the smallest bit of sugar, some earth balance or shortening, and unsweetened almond milk.  I don't roll out my biscuits as I'm usually only making a few.  Instead I grab a bit of dough and pat it into the desired shape.  Bake at 425 until just golden.

In the meantime, get the rest of your shortcake ingredients ready.  Chop up some strawberries and add a teaspoon or so of sugar.  Mix together and place in the fridge.  

Instead of whipped cream, I used whipped coconut cream made according to the instructions here. 

Stack everything together in your desired order and you're done.