Rocky Road Cookies

Mmmm rocky road ice cream. The chocolate. The marshmallows. Oh and who couldn’t forget the sweet crunch of the nuts? Ice cream is a great inspiration of other desserts including cookies! So put down the spoon and have some rocky road with your fingers. Licking the melted marshmallows off your hands is completely expected and totally fine.

Rocky Road Cookies

Adapted from Fifteen Spatulas.

Oooh did I mention this is a FLOURLESS cookie?! YUP! 

Ingredients

• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 2/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 extra large egg whites
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 2.5 ounces toasted almonds
• 1 cup mini marshmallows

1. First, toast almonds if you do not have toasted almonds. To toast almonds, heat oven to 350ºF and place almonds on foil lined baking sheet and bake until golden, about 10 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 350ºF (if you already had toasted almonds) and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.  Set aside.
3. In a large bowl sift powdered sugar and cocoa powder.  Whisk in salt.
4. Add egg whites and vanilla and whisk until combined and batter is smooth.
5. Stir in chocolate chips and almonds.
6. Using a medium size cookie scoop, portion out 12 cookies on each baking sheet.
7. Place 4-5 marshmallows on top of each cookie.
8. Place the baking sheets in the freezer for 5 minutes (or fridge for 10-15 minutes) to chill cookies to prevent them from spreading too much in the oven.
9. Bake cookies for 12-13 minutes.  Allow to cool on the baking sheets for at least 5 minutes and then transfer cookies to wire rack to cool completely.

MMM!! You are welcome chocolate lovers

ENJOY!

Kwegyirba Croffie is a freelance Associate Producer at News 12 Connecticut and a Special Events/Event Planning and Social Media Intern at College Lifestyles (TM). She is a Quinnipiac University alumni and a sister of Alpha Delta Pi. She enjoy cupcakes,Broadway musicals, Forever 21 ,giraffes, peacock feathers, orchids, lillies and anything Disney.

Childhood Favorites – Thin Mints

Oh how we love the girl scouts! Admit it. You know you love them. I was one of them until my freshmen year of college. Thanks to delicious Better Batter Gluten Free batter, you can make your own and give those girl scouts a run for their money. (But donate in another way because the Girl Scouts are amazing)

Thin Mints

Ingredients

For the Cookie:

• 8 ounces organic palm shortening (Earth Balance is great – you can use Crisco if you prefer)
• 4 drops peppermint oil
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup cocoa powder (Hershey’s)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cup Better Batter gluten free flour

For the Chocolate Ganache:

• 12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/4 c organic palm shortening (Earth Balance or Crisco)
• 4 or more drops peppermint oil

1. Preheat your oven to 350ºF. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of your mixer, combine the shortening, sugar, peppermint oil, cocoa, sea salt, and gluten free flour. Beat until smooth.
3. Place in the freezer to chill for about twenty minutes.
4. Lightly flour parchment paper and place the dough on the surface. Flour the dough and roll out to 1/8 inch thickness.
5. Cut into 1 1/2 inch circles with a small cutter. Pierce each cookie several times with a fork. (Just like you would see on a thin mint)
6. Place cookie on lined cookie sheets. Bake at 350ºF for 10 minutes.
7. Place the liners onto cookie racks/wire racks and cool completely. Once cool, take cookies off the sheet to get them ready for dipping!
8. In a double boiler or bowl set over a pan of simmering water, melt the chocolate chips and palm shortening, stirring in enough peppermint oil to make the chocolate nice and minty but VERY careful! Too much peppermint oil will give you a ‘toothpaste’ taste. 4 drops should be good.
9. Let the mixture chill until thickening, but still flowing (about 10 minutes in the fridge, stirring every so often).
10. Using a fork, dip each chocolate wafer into the chocolate-peppermint ganache, hitting the fork gently against the side of the bowl to shake excess off. Place on a clean parchment paper or plate and transfer to the fridge or freezer to set.

MMM! P.S the chocolate ganache is delicious and will work for dipping a bunch of stuff! Chocolate chip cookies, cupcakes, frosting cakes. It’s a great recipe to have on hand!

ENJOY!

Kwegyirba Croffie is a freelance Associate Producer at News 12 Connecticut and a Special Events/Event Planning and Social Media Intern at College Lifestyles (TM). She is a Quinnipiac University alumni and a sister of Alpha Delta Pi. She enjoy cupcakes,Broadway musicals, Forever 21 ,giraffes, peacock feathers, orchids, lillies and anything Disney.

 

Peanut Butter Oatmeal

I had this oatmeal this morning and it was delicious! It’s very easy to make. Oatmeal is a great vehicle to add flavor and texture.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal

It is almost like a peanut butter pudding. If you would like, you don’t have to put it in the blender. But to make it smooth, definitely blend away.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup rolled oats (gluten free of course)
• 1 cup milk of choice (rice is my favorite but coconut is also really good. Almond, soy whatever you would like)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• a dash cinnamon
• a dash of nutmeg
• 1/2 a banana (a nice ripe banana is better of course)
• 2 tablespoona peanut butter
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Sugar to sweeten (if you prefer – I like sugar in my oatmeal)
• optional: chocolate chips or raisins or both if you would like

1. Cook the oats, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and milk on your stove. What I do is put the milk in, then the oats
2. Meanwhile, blend the peanut butter and banana.
3. Add vanilla, sugar, and the cooked oats to the blender and re-blend.
4. Serve a big bowl and top with the rest of the banana.

I hope you enjoy!

Valentine’s Day Cookie Dough Bites

How doesn’t love cookie dough? Exactly! But unfortunately, you can’t eat raw dough. Yea I know we all occasionally sneak some raw dough into our mouths when we’re making cookies, but you really shouldn’t!!

These cookie dough bites are perfect for the dough eaters of the world (whether they are out in the open about it or not). These are great because they are bite size and made without eggs!

Valentine’s Day Cookie Dough Bites 

Ingredients

• 1 cup salted vegan butter, softened
• 1½ cups packed light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups gluten free flour
• 6 ounces gluten free miniature chocolate chips
• 1 bar gluten free white chocolate
• red food coloring

1. Cream vegan butter and sugar together.
2. Add remaining ingredients and mix well — use your hands to get it together the best.
3. Roll into 1-inch balls.
4. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Dip in chocolate, drizzle with chocolate or eat as is — equally delicious no matter what!
5. Melt bar of white chocolate and drip in red food coloring until the you reach the desired color.
6. Drizzle over cookie dough bite
7. Let stand at room temperature for about 10 minutes before serving.
8. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator.

Pop the in your mouth one by one or serve with your favorite dessert! These will definitely be addictive and you’ll want them again and again, NOT just for Valentine’s Day!

ENJOY! :-*