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Gluten Free Brownie Bottom Pie | Peanut Butter Mousse Filling

By | Published: | Posted In: Pie

This rich and fudgy gluten free brownie bottom pie has a silky no bake peanut butter mousse-like filling, but the brownies are the main event. Fill it with chocolate pudding, pumpkin pie filling, or just a scoop of vanilla ice cream!

Peanut butter mousse filling on top of a brownie crust in a pie plate.

What makes this brownie bottom pie different

There is no shortage of gluten free brownie recipes here on the blog, but this brownie bottom pie is a bit different. To make a proper crust for a pie, it's best for the brownie layer to bake up flat, fudgy and a bit glossy on top.

Our recipe for chewy gluten free brownies would actually come close, but it requires many more ingredients and more steps to get everything just right. The recipe below for the brownie bottom is as easy as can be, and makes the perfect crust for myriad possible fillings.

How to make a gluten free brownie bottom for any pie

To make the brownie bottom, simply melt 1/4 cup chopped butter and 4 ounces of chopped chocolate together until smooth. Allow the mixture to cool a bit so it doesn't heat the other ingredients.

Then, just add some granulated sugar, 2 eggs, vanilla, and salt, and mix until well-combined. The mixture will be smooth and glossy. Add just a bit of all purpose gluten free flour, and you'll have a thickly pourable brownie batter.

Once it's baked (be sure not to overbake!), the brownie bottom must be cooled to room temperature. Use a thin spatula to free it from the sides and bottom of the pie plate, and then you can even refrigerate for days before filling, or even freeze it for months until you need it.

Overhead image of raw brownie batter in pie plate.

The best pie fillings for a brownie bottom

As we approach pie season, I'm super excited to make tons of traditional light and flaky gluten free pie crusts. That is still best for, say, an apple pie of any sort. But a brownie bottom, with no other crust at all, will work for so many other recipes.

Peanut butter filling

I love the simplicity of the silky, mousse-like peanut butter filling we've used here. Peanut butter and chocolate are one of life's most brilliant pairings.

The peanut butter filling is made by beating together cream cheese, peanut butter (the no-stir kind is just the sort that doesn't separate in the jar), and vanilla, then folding in sweetened whipped cream. It sets perfectly in the refrigerator and slices nice and clean.  If you'd like to try another, slightly richer filling, our shortbread crusted peanut butter pie is amazing, too.

Other no bake filling options

This brownie bottom would also make the perfect crust substitute for our clean-slicing no bake chocolate pudding pie, too. Just bake and cool the brownie bottom as described here, then follow the filling instructions in the chocolate pudding pie recipe. Our no bake cheesecake filling would also be the perfect complement to this brownie bottom.

Brownie bottom pumpkin pie

I think this brownie bottom would also work beautifully as a substitute for a crust in our classic gluten free pumpkin pie. Bake the crust for only 10 minutes, not the full 20 until it's fully baked. Then, top with the simple pumpkin pie filling recipe linked just above, and follow the instructions for baking in that recipe. That would be a real holiday show-stopper!

Double the brownie

Try multiplying all of the ingredients in the brownie layer by 1.5 to make a thicker crust. Then, top it with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream and some chocolate sauce.

The recipe ingredients would look like this, and the instructions would remain the same (just increase the baking time to about 25 minutes):

  • 6 tablespoons (84 g) unsalted butter, chopped
  • 6 ounces dark or unsweetened chocolate, chopped
  • 3/4 cup + 3 tablespoons (187 g) granulated sugar
  • 3 eggs (150 g, weighed out of shell) at room temperature, beaten
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • Heaping 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon (80 g) all purpose gluten free flour
A slice of peanut butter pie on a plate with a fork.

Ingredients and substitutions

Dairy-free: The dairy in this recipe is in the brownie bottom and the peanut butter filling. The butter in the brownie bottom should be relatively easy to replace with Earth Balance buttery sticks. Just be sure to use dairy-free chopped chocolate, and you'll have a dairy free brownie bottom.

The peanut butter filling we've made here relies upon cream cheese for creaminess and heavy whipping cream for lightness and lift. I haven't yet found a dairy-free cream cheese that tastes like the real thing, but if you have a favorite, give it a try. For the heavy whipping cream, you can try using chilled coconut cream.

Egg-free: The two eggs in the brownie layer of this recipe are really important for the success of the recipe in general, and to achieve the right texture. Even though there are only two eggs, which I would normally recommend trying to replace with a “chia egg” each (1 tablespoon ground white chia seeds + 1 tablespoon lukewarm water, mixed and allowed to gel), I'm afraid I don't think that would work well here. So sorry!

A closeup piece of brownie bottom pie.
gluten free brownie bottom pie
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Gluten Free Brownie Bottom Pie | Peanut Butter Mousse Filling

Rrich and fudgy gluten free brownie bottom pie with a silky no bake peanut butter mousse-like filling.
Course: Brownies, Pie
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Chilling time: 1 hour
Yield: 8 slices pie
Author: Nicole Hunn

Ingredients

For the brownie layer

  • 4 tablespoons (56 g) unsalted butter chopped
  • 4 ounces dark chocolate chopped
  • ⅜ cup (125 g) granulated sugar
  • 2 (100 g (weighed out of shell)) eggs at room temperature, beaten
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ⅜ cup (53 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend (I used Better Batter; please click thru for full info on appropriate blends)

For the peanut butter filling

  • ¾ cup (6 fluid ounces) heavy cream chilled
  • ½ cup (128 g) smooth no-stir peanut butter
  • 4 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • ⅜ cup (70 g) confectioners’ sugar

Optional toppings

  • Whipped cream chocolate sprinkles or shavings, chocolate sauce

Instructions

  • Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease and/or line a standard 9-inch pie plate and set it aside.

Make the brownie layer.

  • In a medium-size saucepan, place the butter and chocolate and melt over medium heat, stirring until melted and smooth.
  • Remove the pan from the heat and allow the mixture to cool briefly. Once the mixture is no longer very hot to the touch, add the sugar, eggs, then the vanilla and salt, mixing after each addition until smooth. Add the flour, and mix until just combined. The mixture will be very thickly pourable.
  • Pour the brownie batter into the prepared pan and bang on the counter a couple times to break any trapped air bubbles.
  • Place the pan in the preheated oven and bake until the brownie crust no longer glistens in the center, and a toothpick comes out with no more than a few moist crumbs (about 20 minutes). Do not overbake.
  • Let the crust cool completely on a wire rack. Once cool, run a thin spatula carefully along the edge and bottom of the pie to ensure that it isn’t sticking to the pan.

Make the filling.

  • In a medium-size bowl, place the heavy whipping cream and whip with a handheld mixer into stiff peaks.
  • Place the bowl with the whipping cream in the refrigerator to chill. In a large bowl, place the peanut butter, cream cheese, and vanilla, and beat with the handheld mixer on medium-high speed until well-combined.
  • Remove the whipped cream from the refrigerator, add the confectioners’ sugar and fold it into the whipped cream with a wide spatula.
  • Add the sweetened whipped cream to the peanut butter mixture, and beat again until smooth. The filling will be thick but soft.
  • Transfer the filling to the cooled brownie bottom and spread into an even layer. Place the pie in the refrigerator to chill until firm, at least 1 hour.
  • When you’re ready to serve the pie, moisten a butter knife or thin spatula with warm water and, working carefully, run it along the edge of the filling to separate it from the edge of the pan. To slice, slide the pie out of the pan onto a cutting surface, and slice into wedges with a sharp knife.

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This rich and fudgy gluten free brownie bottom pie has a silky no bake peanut butter mousse-like filling, but the brownies are the main event.

Gluten Free Cookie Bars

By | Published: | Posted In: Bars, Cookies

These thick and chewy gluten free cookie bars are the easiest way to bake up everyone's favorite chocolate chip cookies in a single square baking pan.  

These thick and chewy gluten free chocolate chip cookie bars are the easiest way to bake up everyone's favorite chocolate chip cookies in a single square baking pan.

What's the difference between cookie bars, straight-up chocolate chip cookies, and blondies? So glad you asked!

Everyone knows that bars like blondies are baked together in a pan and cookies are baked in individual portions, spaced apart from one another on a baking sheet. But the difference between blondies and cookie bars is a little more subtle (but important!).

Blondies, like brownies, are baked with as little flour as possible. In fact, the flour used is just enough to ensure that the bars hold together once sliced and, well, bitten. 

Cookie bars, like cookies, have enough flour to make them chewy and less dense than brownies. When you make chocolate chip cookies into bars, though, we can use more liquid and make a loose batter that wouldn't be possible if we were baking individual cookies. Plus, we get the convenience of baking them all together in one shot.

These thick and chewy gluten free chocolate chip cookie bars are the easiest way to bake up everyone's favorite chocolate chip cookies in a single square baking pan.

Like our chewy brownies recipe, these cookie bars have a gorgeous thin layer of meringue on top. When you bite into one, that layer shatters and gives way to the most lovely chewy bars. 

To make the bars, first, melt the butter and sugars together in a saucepan. Then, allow that mixture to cool slightly before adding it to well-beaten eggs (+ egg yolk) and vanilla extract.

It's important to beat that mixture really well before adding whisked dry ingredients (gluten free flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt) and then the chocolate chips. 

Combined with the right balance of wet to dry ingredients, and of course the right flour blend, this method creates super thick and chewy gluten free cookie bars. Using half brown sugar and half white granulated sugar, and melting those ingredients together with the butter first, makes for the perfect texture.

These thick and chewy gluten free chocolate chip cookie bars are the easiest way to bake up everyone's favorite chocolate chip cookies in a single square baking pan.

If you'd prefer to make bars that aren't quite as thick, and maybe even cut them into sticks, you can bake the same cookie dough in a jelly roll pan. A quarter sheet pan is a rimmed baking sheet that measures 9-inches x 13-inches x 1-inch.

A jelly roll pan is slightly larger, measuring 10-inches x 15-inches x 1-inch. Those extra few square inches make a big difference in providing the cookie dough with enough space to bake without overflowing the pan. 

Since the batter will be better exposed to the heat of the oven in a jelly roll pan, you'll need less baking time. Instead of 40 minutes at 325°F, thinner bars will bake in about 30 minutes. Similar to cheesecake, the bars are done when they no longer jiggle much in the center.

These thick and chewy gluten free chocolate chip cookie bars are the easiest way to bake up everyone's favorite chocolate chip cookies in a single square baking pan.

To replace the butter in this recipe, I would try half (4 tablespoons) Earth Balance buttery sticks and half (4 tablespoons) Spectrum brand nonhydrogenated vegetable shortening. Or, if you have it available to you, Melt brand vegan butter typically works great as a butter substitute in baking. 

There are two whole eggs in this recipe and one egg yolk. The two whole eggs may be able to be replaced with one “chia egg” each (1 tablespoon ground white chia seeds + 1 tablespoon lukewarm water, mixed and allowed to gel). Without the eggs, you'll miss out on the crinkly brownie-style top, though.

The egg yolk, which helps to add richness and tenderness to the bars, is a bit harder to replace. You can try another tablespoon of unsalted butter or even a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. Feel free to experiment!

The cornstarch in these cookies adds tenderness. If you can’t have corn, try replacing the cornstarch with an equal amount, by weight, of arrowroot or potato starch. 

These thick and chewy gluten free chocolate chip cookie bars are the easiest way to bake up everyone's favorite chocolate chip cookies in a single square baking pan.
gluten free cookie bars one bar on plate
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Gluten Free Cookie Bars Recipe

These thick and chewy gluten free cookie bars are the easiest way to bake up everyone's favorite chocolate chip cookies in a single square baking pan.
Course: Bars, Dessert
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Yield: 9 cookie bars
Author: Nicole Hunn

Equipment

  • Handheld or stand mixer

Ingredients

  • 1 ¼ cups (175 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend (I used Better Batter; click thru for appropriate blends)
  • ½ teaspoon xanthan gum (omit if your blend already contains it)
  • ¼ cup (36 g) cornstarch
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 8 tablespoons (112 g) unsalted butter chopped
  • ⅝ cup (125 g) granulated sugar
  • ⅝ cup (136 g) packed light brown sugar
  • 2 (100 g (weighed out of shell)) eggs at room temperature
  • 1 (25 g) egg yolk at room temperature
  • ¾ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

  • Preheat your oven to 325°F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with nonstick aluminum foil, or regular heavy-duty aluminum foil and spray it with nonstick cooking spray. Set the pan aside.
  • In a small bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt, and whisk to combine well. Set the bowl aside.
  • In a medium-size, heavy-bottom saucepan, place the chopped butter, granulated sugar, and light brown sugar.
  • Place the saucepan over medium-low heat and, stirring occasionally to prevent burning, melt the butter and sugar and bring to a gentle simmer.
  • Remove the pan from the heat and set it aside to cool until no longer hot to the touch. You can immerse the bottom of the pan in some ice water, but take care not to let the water splash up into the pan and don’t cool so much that the butter resolidifies.
  • In a large bowl, place the eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla, and beat with a handheld mixer until foamy and lighter in color (about a minute).
  • Add the cooled butter and sugar mixture, and beat very well until the mixture falls off the beaters in ribbons (about 3 minutes).
  • Add the flour mixture to the bowl, stir until the streaks of flour disappear, then beat briefly to ensure that everything is combined. The mixture will be thickly pourable and very sticky.
  • Add all but about 1 ounce of the chocolate chips, and mix until the chips are evenly distributed throughout the cookie dough.
  • Transfer the cookie dough to the prepared baking pan, and shake and spread it into an even layer in the pan.
  • Scatter the remaining chocolate chips evenly over the top, and place the pan in the center of the preheated oven.
  • Bake for about 40 minutes, or until the top no longer glistens or jiggles at all. Remove the pan from the oven.
  • Allow the bars to cool in the pan at room temperature for at least 10 minutes before placing them, still in the pan, in the refrigerator to chill until firm to the touch.
  • Remove the cooled bars from the pan by holding onto the foil. Slice into 9 equal pieces, and serve.

Nutrition

Calories: 415kcal | Carbohydrates: 58g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Cholesterol: 86mg | Sodium: 293mg | Potassium: 148mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 36g | Vitamin A: 402IU | Calcium: 36mg | Iron: 2mg

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These thick and chewy gluten free chocolate chip cookie bars are the easiest way to bake up everyone's favorite chocolate chip cookies in a single square baking pan. #glutenfreerecipes #gf #cookies #bars

Nutella Monster Cookies

By | Published: | Posted In: Cookies, Desserts

These Nutella monster cookies aren't quite like a classic gluten free chocolate chip cookie. Instead, they're like a cross between a nut butter cookie and an oatmeal cookie. Made with Nutella instead of the traditional peanut butter, they're a truly special treat.

These gluten free Nutella monster cookies are like a cross between a nut butter cookie and an oatmeal cookie. Made with Nutella instead of the traditional peanut butter, they're a truly special treat.

What makes these Nutella monster cookies special?

Classic gluten free monster cookies are made with peanut butter and oats, and no traditional flour. They're big, thick, and chewy and packed chocolate chips and M&Ms (which are gluten free in the U.S.). 

I've been baking more and more with oat flour, like in our oat flour brownies, so I know how useful it can be. Unlike most monster cookie recipes, our monster cookies are made with a combination of old-fashioned rolled oats, plus oats ground into flour.

That's what makes the biggest difference, and gives us more of a traditional thick and chewy cookie texture in these amazing Nutella monster cookies.

These gluten free Nutella monster cookies are like a cross between a nut butter cookie and an oatmeal cookie. Made with Nutella instead of the traditional peanut butter, they're a truly special treat.

How baking with Nutella is different

These hazelnut-flavored Nutella monster cookies aren't made just by swapping Nutella for peanut butter in our original recipe. In a fit of hopefulness, I tried that, and the cookies spread into unintentional lace cookies.

Nutella is a nut butter hazelnut spread, but it simply doesn't behave in baking the same way that peanut butter does. It's a much thinner, even stickier spread. 

The major difference in constitution between peanut butter and Nutella is that Nutella has a lot more sugar than even the most sugary jar of peanut butter. Sometimes, I can simply cut back on the sugar in a peanut butter recipe, and everything works out quite well. Like it did with our 3-ingredient Nutella brownies. 

These gluten free Nutella monster cookies are like a cross between a nut butter cookie and an oatmeal cookie. Made with Nutella instead of the traditional peanut butter, they're a truly special treat.

What else is different about this recipe?

Other times, it just doesn't work—like here. Instead, I had to add more oat flour, use granulated instead of brown sugar, and cut down on the sugar overall.

Since I couldn't use as much Nutella as I would have liked, adding some cocoa powder really helped deepen the flavor without changing the texture.

It was all worth it, though, since these Nutella monster cookies are rich with chocolate-hazelnut flavor. They're also still crisp outside and chewy inside, like the original.

These gluten free Nutella monster cookies are like a cross between a nut butter cookie and an oatmeal cookie. Made with Nutella instead of the traditional peanut butter, they're a truly special treat.

Are M&Ms really gluten free?

As long as I've been baking gluten free (since 2004!), most M&Ms chocolate candies have been reliably gluten free. Sure, there are some unsafe varieties like the crispy M&Ms (made with crisp rice cereal that isn't GF) and the pretzel M&Ms which are made with, well, pretzels. 

But other than those outliers, plain, peanut, peanut butter, caramel and most of the other M&Ms candies are gluten free—in the U.S. I've learned that, sadly, in Australia (and maybe some other countries?), M&Ms are not gluten free.

That is terrible news just in general since being able to buy a package of M&Ms at the grocery or convenience store has always been a fun, normal thing for my gluten free son. 

If you can't buy gluten free M&Ms, do you have Sixlets available? As far as I know, they're gluten free everywhere.

If you can't find a candy-coated chocolate candy at all, you can simply use more chocolate chips. Or try another variety of chip in place of the M&Ms. 

These gluten free Nutella monster cookies are like a cross between a nut butter cookie and an oatmeal cookie. Made with Nutella instead of the traditional peanut butter, they're a truly special treat.

Dairy free

The only dairy in these cookies is from the unsalted butter and the M&Ms chocolate candies. In place of the M&Ms, try using more semi-sweet chocolate chips (and of course make sure they're dairy-free!).

In place of the butter, try Melt brand vegan butter or Spectrum brand butter-flavored nonhydrogenated vegetable shortening. I don't recommend using Earth Balance buttery sticks since they have a ton of moisture.

In place of Nutella, try using Nicciolata brand Dairy Free Organic Hazelnut & Cocoa Spread. I've purchased it before on Vitacost.com, but if you search around you can find it in a few different places.

They make a dairy-containing spread, too. If you order it, be sure you've selected the right one. 

Egg free

In place of each of the two eggs in this recipe, try 1 “chia egg” (1 tablespoon ground white chia seeds + 1 tablespoon lukewarm water, mixed and allowed to gel). I haven't tried this recipe egg-free, though, so you'll have to experiment. 

Oats

Oats can be replaced in baking. Oat flour should be replaced with quinoa flakes and the old-fashioned oats with something called “beaten rice,” but click through the link in the previous sentence for a complete explanation.

I only buy old-fashioned rolled oats, and then grind them in a blender or food processor as finely as possible for oat flour. For quick-cooking oats, I process them very quickly with just a few pulses in a food processor (a blender tends to grind oats into flour completely).

M&Ms

Please see the separate discussion above!

nutella monster cookies
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Nutella Monster Cookies

These chewy Nutella monster cookies cookies are like a cross between a nut butter cookie and an oatmeal cookie.
Course: Cookies, Dessert
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 12 minutes
Yield: 12 cookies
Author: Nicole Hunn

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ cups (180 g) oat flour (gluten free if necessary)
  • 1 ½ cups (150 g) old-fashioned rolled oats (gluten free if necessary)
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ¼ cup (20 g) unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or Dutch-processed)
  • ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
  • 4 tablespoons (54 g) unsalted butter at room temperature
  • ½ cup (148 g) Nutella hazelnut spread
  • 2 (100 g) eggs at room temperature, beaten
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 5 ounces plain M&Ms (gluten free in the U.S.)
  • 5 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

  • Preheat your oven to 325°F. Line rimmed baking sheets with unbleached parchment paper and set them aside.
  • In a large bowl, place the oat flour, oats, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder, and granulated sugar, and whisk and/or mix until well-combined.
  • Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and add the butter, Nutella, eggs, and vanilla, and mix until combined. The cookie dough will be very thick and relatively stiff.
  • Press the mixture down with the back of the mixing spoon to help the cookie dough absorb all of the dry ingredients. Add the M&Ms and chocolate chips, and mix until they’re evenly distributed throughout the cookie dough.
  • Using a spring-loaded ice cream scoop or two spoons, scoop the dough into mounds about 2 1/2 tablespoons each on the prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart from one another.
  • Using wet fingers, press each mound down into a disk about 1/2-inch thick.
  • For thicker cookies, chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes or the freezer for about 5 minutes.
  • Place the baking sheets, one at a time, in the center of the preheated oven and bake until just set in the center (10 to 12 minutes).
  • Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet until firm before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

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These gluten free Nutella monster cookies are like a cross between a nut butter cookie and an oatmeal cookie. Made with Nutella instead of the traditional peanut butter, they're a truly special treat. #glutenfree #Nutella #oatmeal #monster #cookies

Avocado Chocolate Pudding Popsicles

By | Published: | Posted In: No Bake, Puddings, Snacks

This smooth avocado chocolate pudding is made with avocados, cherries, and some brewed decaf coffee, but all you taste is the rich cocoa and melted dark chocolate. Make it into popsicles, or enjoy it by the spoonful! 

Smooth avocado chocolate pudding made with avocados, cherries, and some brewed decaf coffee, but all you taste is the rich cocoa powder and chocolate.

How is this chocolate avocado pudding popsicle recipe different?

This recipe for avocado chocolate pudding is similar to a few others here on the blog. The pudding is amazingly smooth and not-too-sweet.

As pops, there is so much good, rich stuff in there that they don't freeze super hard even when they're solid. You can lick the popsicle, or even have a bite without a shudder!

Eaten by the spoonful, this recipe is most similar to our healthy chocolate chia pudding. Like that pudding, this one is ready to eat the moment it's blended, although it will thicken a bit more once it's chilled. But instead of chia and coconut flour as thickeners, this recipe relies mostly upon avocados. 

Eaten as frozen popsicles, this recipe is most similar to our healthy fudgesicles. That recipe relies mostly upon melted chocolate and coconut cream for thickness. And it can't be eaten as a pudding. It's a thin pour into your popsicle mold, not the thick spooning you do in this recipe.

Finally, if you're looking for a mousse-like experience, try this recipe for Paleo chocolate mousse. It's mostly thickened with coconut cream. I've never tried freezing it in a popsicle mold, but I bet it would be dreamy.

To make this recipe, you really just need to throw all of the ingredients in a blender and let it do its thing. You do not need a high-speed blender to do the trick.

I generally use my Nutri-Bullet but used a bigger Dash blender for the video since it's easier to see what's going on as it blends. The mixture will be very thick, but soft. Just spoon it into lidded containers or into a popsicle mold and you're done.

Smooth avocado chocolate pudding made with avocados, cherries, and some brewed decaf coffee, but all you taste is the rich cocoa powder and chocolate.

Tips and tricks for keeping avocados fresh

Does your family eat a lot of avocados? I'm about as far away from California as you can get and still be in the U.S., so they're expensive where I live. I dream of having an avocado tree in my backyard. ?

When my gluten free son was still a baby and was first healing from previously undiagnosed celiac disease, avocados were one of the few foods he always seemed to love and be able to tolerate well. And he's always loved eating them, thankfully, even now that he's a teenager.

Full of healthy fats and with a beautiful texture that can even mimic butter when you need it to (like in our avocado brownies), they're one of my very favorite fruits for so many reasons.  But if you've ever shelled out cash for an avocado, you know how disappointing it is when they don't stay fresh until you're ready to eat them.

But that almost never happens to me anymore. Here's why.

Smooth avocado chocolate pudding made with avocados, cherries, and some brewed decaf coffee, but all you taste is the rich cocoa powder and chocolate.

Buy your avocados rock hard

First, I never buy an avocado that seems truly perfectly ripe and ready to eat immediately. I rarely take the time to truly inspect fruit in the grocery store, and it's easy to miss a bruised or overripe spot when shopping. 

If you buy unripe avocados, a quick spin in your hand, and you'll know right away if it's anything less than perfect. 

Smooth avocado chocolate pudding made with avocados, cherries, and some brewed decaf coffee, but all you taste is the rich cocoa powder and chocolate.

Ripen avocados on the counter, and then refrigerate them

Second, leave your avocados uncovered and loose on the kitchen counter and allow them to ripen naturally. If you pile them in a bowl, they'll bruise one another as they ripen. Plus, you'll probably miss one at the peak of ripeness.

Give them a light feel once a day or every other day, and the moment they're ripe, either eat and enjoy them or place them, loose, on a shelf in the refrigerator. They'll keep at the perfect stage of ripeness that way for at least a week.

After a few days in the refrigerator, when you peel a ripe avocado, you may find that the color of the pit has transferred to the flesh a bit. Your avocado may not be photo-ready (look closely at the avocados in the recipe video in this post, and you'll see what I mean!), but it will still taste just right.

Smooth avocado chocolate pudding made with avocados, cherries, and some brewed decaf coffee, but all you taste is the rich cocoa powder and chocolate.

Chocolate avocado popsicles: Substitution information

Dairy free chocolate avocado pudding popsicles

This recipe is nearly dairy-free (assuming your dark chocolate is dairy free; if not, choose a dairy free one if necessary). The splash of cream added to the brewed decaffeinated coffee is the only dairy-containing ingredient.

You can easily replace that heavy cream with coconut cream, or even your favorite unsweetened nondairy milk. The cream adds a bit of richness to the pudding (pops), but it's not essential. You could even just use a full 1/2 cup brewed decaffeinated brewed coffee. 

Can you replace the coffee and the cherries in this chocolate pudding?

Any time you're making anything with chocolate, adding some brewed coffee to the recipe can help deepen the chocolate flavor. The same is often true of cherries, like in my friend Mel's chocolate smoothie recipe that we've made so many times I know by heart.

The coffee and cherries in this recipe are particularly important since we don't want our avocado chocolate pudding to taste, well, like avocados. Even if you love the taste of avocados, you don't really want your chocolate pudding to taste like them.

Here, we're using avocados for their texture and health benefits. Not for their taste. 

Avoiding honey in these chocolate avocado pudding pops

If you'd like to make this recipe vegan, follow the instructions above for making it dairy-free, and use maple syrup instead of honey. Keep in mind, though, that maple syrup is generally less sweet and will add a bit of tang to the pudding and pops.

If you're eating this as pudding, the tangy flavor will be more pronounced, but the pudding will still taste pretty sweet. If you're making frozen popsicles, you'll want to add more sweetener since frozen foods generally taste less sweet. 

Smooth avocado chocolate pudding made with avocados, cherries, and some brewed decaf coffee, but all you taste is the rich cocoa powder and chocolate. #glutenfree #gf #avocado #chocolate #summer
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Avocado Chocolate Pudding Popsicles

These smooth, creamy, rich chocolate pops taste like a fudge pop, but they're also secretly made with avocados, cherries, and some brewed decaf coffee. Tasting is believing!
Course: Popsicles, Pudding, Snack
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Freezing time for popsicles: 6 hours
Yield: 6 popsicles
Author: Nicole Hunn

Equipment

  • Small serving containers with lids or popsicle mold
  • Blender

Ingredients

  • 6 ounces pitted cherries thawed if frozen
  • 2 (200 g) medium-sized avocados pitted and peeled
  • ½ cup (168 g) honey
  • ½ cup (4 fluid ounces) total strong brewed decaf coffee with a splash (or more) of heavy cream, plus more if necessary to blend
  • ¼ cup (20 g) unsweetened cocoa powder natural or Dutch-processed
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2 ounces dark chocolate melted

Instructions

  • In a blender, place the cherries, avocados, honey, cream and coffee, cocoa powder, vanilla, and melted chocolate.
  • Cover and blend for about 1 minute or until the mixture begins to move smoothly through the blender.
  • Stop and scrape down the sides of the blender and add a bit more cream by the teaspoonful as necessary to keep the mixture moving.
  • Blend on high speed until as smooth and uniform as possible. The mixture will be thick but soft.

To serve as popsicles.

  • Divide the mixture evenly among 6 to 8 popsicle molds, depending upon size.
  • Shake back and forth into an even layer, and place popsicle sticks in the appropriate places.
  • Place on a rimmed baking sheet and into the freezer to freeze until firm, at least 6 hours.
  • Unmold and serve immediately. Wrap leftover popsicles individually with freezer-safe wrap, and return to the freezer until ready to serve.

To serve as pudding.

  • Alternatively, divide the mixture among 6 small containers with lids, cover, and refrigerate until chilled to your liking.
  • It will thicken slightly when chilled but will be quite thick when just blended as well.

Notes

Nutrition information.
Nutrition information is per popsicle, an estimate only from online calculators that is provided as a courtesy. It should not be relied on under any circumstances.

Nutrition

Calories: 278kcal | Carbohydrates: 40g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 0.003g | Cholesterol: 0.3mg | Sodium: 9mg | Potassium: 536mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 30g | Vitamin A: 120IU | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 25mg | Iron: 2mg

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Smooth avocado chocolate pudding made with avocados, cherries, and some brewed decaf coffee, but all you taste is the rich cocoa powder and chocolate. #glutenfree #gf #avocado #chocolate #summer

White Bean Blondies

By | Published: | Posted In: Bars

White bean blondies, like their black bean brownie cousins, taste nothing like beans but still have all that added nutrition. You will not believe the taste and texture!

How do white bean blondies compare to black bean brownies?

This recipe is adapted from one of the most popular recipes on this blog, our black bean brownies. Even though I'm not active on Instagram, I always check to see if anyone has tagged me in their posts—and so many of you have shouted your love for that recipe in particular. They always turn out, and taste so, so good. 

When you're baking a dessert with beans, you do not want the baked goods to taste anything like beans. Since I've been baking gluten free since 2004, when a garbanzo bean-based gluten free flour blend was everywhere (including in my kitchen), I am super sensitive to anything that tastes like beans. Or even smells like beans when it's raw. 

I can promise you that, like our black bean brownies, these blondies taste nothing like beans. It's harder to mask the taste and smell of beans, though, in a blondie since you don't have cocoa powder or brewed coffee in the recipe. 

The brownie batter in the black bean brownies is much thicker than the batter in this recipe, though. But the blondies are even more stable after they're baked than the brownies, which can be a little extra tender. 

How these blondies get their taste and texture

You still want that slightly chewy brownie texture and that rich taste that isn't just sweet. Here, we owe the texture of these blondies to a combination of the right beans (I find that Great Northern beans work best), eggs, nonfat dry milk, and cornstarch, in all the right amounts.

When I first made the recipe, I used all cornstarch without any milk powder, and I found that both the texture and the taste weren't quite right. The blondies were a bit tangy (too much cornstarch can do that) and were too spongy. 

We owe the taste of these blondies to a combination of brown sugar and plenty of vanilla extract. Plus, Great Northern beans, unlike garbanzo beans, don't have much flavor or aroma to cover. 

How to make white bean blondies

Whenever I make a recipe with cocoa powder, I'm often asked if that ingredient can just be left out or replaced with a “vanilla alternative.” Sadly, there isn't any appropriate substitute for cocoa powder on a one for one basis. But a combination of milk powder, cornstarch, and butter instead of oil helps make this recipe a success.

In this recipe, first, blend drained and rinsed Great Northern beans and eggs until they're very smooth. A blender is preferable, but if you let a food processor work for a while, the beans will smooth out. Instead of oil, we're using butter because it makes for a more flavorful blondie. But since we don't want the butter to be liquid, we aren't blending it with the eggs and beans.

Then, the brown sugar, milk powder, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt are whisked and mixed until well-combined and any lumps of brown sugar are removed. Then, the bean mixture is added, along with room temperature butter and vanilla, and mixed or whisked until very smooth. It will be thin, about the consistency of heavy cream. 

About half of the chocolate chips are added carefully on top of the mixture after it's been transferred to the prepared baking pan. If you add them before, they'll all sink to the bottom since the mixture is too thin for them to be suspended completely until the blondies have begun baking.

After the blondies are baked about halfway, add the remaining chocolate chips and allow the blondies to finish baking. They rise to the perfect chewy and tender texture, with no trace of the white beans that form their base.

Ingredients and substitutions

Dairy-free: Unlike their black bean brownie cousins, these blondies are not naturally dairy-free. They have dairy in the forms of both butter and nonfat dry milk.

The butter can probably be replaced with a vegan butter replacement, like Earth Balance buttery sticks or (my personal favorite) Melt brand vegan butter. The nonfat dry milk can also probably be replaced with dried coconut milk.

I haven't tried this particular recipe with that substitution, but in the past, I've had success with Native Forest brand coconut milk powder. And I've even started seeing the product in my local grocery store, which is great.

Egg-free: Since there are only two eggs, you might have success replacing them with 2 “chia eggs” (1 chia egg is 1 tablespoon ground chia seeds + 1 tablespoon lukewarm water, mixed and allowed to gel). But this recipe is so mysterious, and the batter is so thin, that I'm concerned it won't work. If you give it a try, please report back and let us know how it went!

Corn-free: The cornstarch in this recipe can easily be replaced with potato starch or arrowroot, by weight. The cornstarch helps provide a bit of structure, and helps the batter hold onto the chocolate chips, so it can't just be eliminated without a replacement.

Beans: I have only tested this recipe with Great Northern beans, which are a really mild-tasting but relatively firm white bean. They're perfect for baking.

If you can't find Great Northern beans, you can try making this recipe with white beans, but you may taste the beans in the final blondie (or you might not! I honestly don't know). Just don't try garbanzo beans, because you will smell and taste them!

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White Bean Blondies

These rich and chewy white bean blondies taste nothing like beans but still have all that added nutrition.
Course: Bars
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Yield: 9 bars
Author: Nicole Hunn

Ingredients

  • 1 can (15 ounces) Great Northern Beans drained and rinsed well
  • 2 (100 g) eggs at room temperature
  • ¾ cup (164 g) packed light brown sugar
  • 5 tablespoons (30 g) nonfat dry milk
  • 3 tablespoons (27 g) cornstarch
  • ¾ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 6 tablespoons (84 g) unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

  • Preheat your oven to 325°F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with unbleached parchment paper or nonstick aluminum foil, and set it aside. In a blender or food processor, place the drained and rinsed beans and eggs, and blend until very smooth. Set the mixture aside.
  • In a large bowl, place the brown sugar, nonfat dry milk, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt, and whisk to combine, breaking up any lumps in the brown sugar.
  • To the large bowl, add the beans mixture, butter, and vanilla, and mix until very well-combined. If necessary, whisk vigorously to smooth the mixture, which will be relatively thin.
  • Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan and scatter about half of the chocolate chips gently on top of the batter. They will sink a bit during baking, but shouldn’t fall all the way to the bottom.
  • Place the baking pan in the center of the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes.
  • Open the oven door, gently pull out the rack with the pan on it, and scatter the remaining chocolate chips evenly on top of the blondies as they are baking. Return the rack with the pan on it to the oven, close the door, and continue baking for another 15 to 20 minutes, or until the top is lightly golden brown all over and the blondies spring back when pressed gently in the center.
  • Remove the pan from the oven and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before transferring the blondies, still in the paper or foil, to a wire rack to cool completely.
  • Slice into 9 equal pieces, and serve. Store any leftovers in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for longer storage.

Nutrition

Serving: 1blondie | Calories: 252kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 58mg | Sodium: 144mg | Potassium: 188mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 25g | Vitamin A: 383IU | Vitamin C: 0.3mg | Calcium: 103mg | Iron: 1mg

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White bean blondies, like their black bean brownie cousins, taste nothing like beans but still have all that added nutrition. You will not believe the taste and texture! #glutenfree #gf #beans #brownies #blondies

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Blondies

By | Published: | Posted In: Bars

These chocolate chip cheesecake blondies have the chew of a classic blondie with a hint of the creamy texture of a perfectly baked cheesecake. The perfect alternative to gluten free brownies!

A chocolate chip cheesecake blondie on a small plate

How to make cheesecake blondies

The ingredients in and process of making these layered blondies are simple, but there are two steps. The total baking time is nearly an hour, but most of it is inactive, just waiting for the bars to bake low (300°F) and slow (nearly an hour) in the oven.

Reading through the recipe once entirely before getting to work is a good idea for every recipe. But it's especially important when you're making a layered dessert that is essentially two recipes in one. 

Overhead image of two chocolate chip cheesecake blondies on small plates

First, parbake the crust

The blondie layer is divided into two portions, one on the bottom that makes a crust, and one on top of the cheesecake filling. Since the blondie batter is thick and sticky, it is possible to place one raw blondie layer on the bottom, followed immediately by a cheesecake layer and the remaining blondie batter on top.

I've tried making this recipe just like that, without parbaking the crust by baking it alone for 10 minutes in a 325°F oven. But I find that the cheesecake layer bakes into nothing more than a swirl in all the blondie batter when the recipe is made that way. Plus, you have to bake the cheesecake longer to get it to set properly, so it's less creamy.

When you parbake the crust, it's a thin enough layer that it's mostly set after 10 minutes. Allow it to cool a bit, so the pan is easier to handle, then top it with the cheesecake batter followed by the remaining blondie batter.

Since the blondie batter is relatively thick and sticky, it will combine a bit with the cheesecake batter as you spread it out. The three layers aren't as distinct as they are in, say, rainbow cookies, but the textures are all just right this way. 

Crust baked in a square pan

Bake the bars low and slow (“water bath” optional)

One of the most common ways of baking a cheesecake evenly, without any cracks in the surface, is to bake it in a bain-marie, or a water bath. Placing the cake pan in a larger pan with water that climbs about halfway up the sides of the cake pan keeps the cake from baking too quickly on the outside and keeps the temperature surrounding the cheesecake constant. 

I used to go through that sort of trouble baking cheesecakes and it was such a pain since cheesecake is typically baked in a springform pan, which isn't watertight. I graduated to adding a pan of water to the oven positioned on the rack below the cheesecake and gave myself permission to shrug off any cracks.

Then, finally, I learned that the main cause of cracks in a classic cheesecake is overbeaten eggs. So now I beat the cream cheese, sugar, salt, and vanilla until very light and fluffy. But once I add the egg, the mixture is beaten only to combine, no more.

I do still recommend adding a separate pan of water to the oven. These cheesecake blondies are most tender and chewy when they bake in a moist environment. 

A stack of cheesecake blondies pictured from the side

Ingredients and substitutions

Dairy

This is a tough one since I don't know of any proper substitute for traditional cream cheese in cheesecake. You can try using your favorite nondairy cream cheese in place of the cream cheese, and possibly adding another egg white to help the cheesecake set up in the oven.

In place of the butter in the blondie layer, you can use Melt vegan butter (my favorite butter substitute) or half Spectrum nonhydrogenated vegetable shortening + half Earth Balance buttery sticks. And be sure to use nondairy miniature chocolate chips.

Eggs

There are two whole eggs and one egg white in the blondie layer, and one whole egg in the cheesecake layer. I'm afraid that's just too many eggs to expect to replace with egg substitutes.

cheesecake blondies
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Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Blondies

These chocolate chip cheesecake blondies have the chew of a blonde brownie with a hint of the creamy texture of a perfectly baked cheesecake.
Course: Bars
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Yield: 9 bars
Author: Nicole Hunn

Ingredients

For the blondie layer

  • 1 ⅓ cups (187 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend (I used Better Batter; please click thru for full info on appropriate blends)
  • ½ teaspoon xanthan gum (omit if your blend already contains it)
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 ¼ cups (273 g) packed light brown sugar
  • 8 tablespoons (112 g) unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 2 (100 g (weighed out of shell)) eggs at room temperature, beaten
  • 1 (25 g) egg white at room temperature, beaten
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

For the cheesecake layer

  • 8 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
  • ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
  • ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 (50 g (weighed out of shell)) egg at room temperature
  • 4 ounces miniature chocolate chips

Instructions

  • Preheat your oven to 325°F. Line a 9-inch square baking pan with greased aluminum foil and set it aside.

Make the blondie layer.

  • In a large bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, salt and baking soda, and whisk to combine well. Add the brown sugar, and mix to combine and break up any lumps in the brown sugar.
  • Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients, add the butter, eggs and egg white, and vanilla, and mix to combine. The batter will be very thick and relatively sticky.
  • Transfer about half of the batter to the prepared baking pan, and spread it into an even layer with a moistened knife or spatula. Place the pan in the center of the preheated oven, and bake for 10 minutes.
  • The crust should be mostly set. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool briefly while you make the cheesecake layer.
  • Reduce the oven temperature to 300°F, and place a pan filled with room temperature tap water on a rack in the bottom position in the oven.

Make the cheesecake layer.

  • In a large, clean bowl, place the cream cheese and beat until light and fluffy.
  • Add the granulated sugar, vanilla, and salt, and beat again until very well-combined. Add the egg, and beat again until just combined.
  • Add most of the chocolate chips, reserving a few to sprinkle on top, and fold into the cheesecake batter with a separate spatula until they’re evenly distributed throughout the batter.

Aseemble and bake.

  • Pour the cheesecake layer on top of the parbaked blondie layer in the baking pan, and spread into an even layer with a spatula.
  • Scoop the remaining blondie batter in dollops all around the top of the cheesecake layer.
  • Spread the blondie batter as evenly as you can over the top of the cheesecake batter. The layers will likely mix a bit, which is fine.
  • Sprinkle a few more mini chips on the very top.
  • Place the pan in the center or top of the 300°F oven (with the pan of water on the bottom) and bake for about 50 minutes or until the top appears set and doesn’t jiggle easily when shaken lightly from side to side. The top will not be completely firm to the touch.
  • Remove the pan from the oven and allow the blondies to cool completely in the pan. Once cool, remove the blondies from the pan and slice into 9 equal pieces with a sharp, wet knife.
  • Serve chilled or at room temperature. Wrap tightly and freeze any leftovers.

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Overhead image of stack of cheesecake blondies
Side image of cheesecake blondies in a stack of 3
Cheesecake blondies in a falling over stack

Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies | Made with Gluten Free Flour

By | Published: | Posted In: Cookies, Desserts

These incredibly easy gluten free peanut butter cookies with gluten free flour are made simply with plenty of peanut butter and brown sugar for the thick and chewy cookie you'll make again and again.

These thick and chewy gluten free peanut butter chocolate chip cookies are made with plenty of peanut butter and brown sugar.

This isn't a recipe for naturally gluten free cookies, made flourless or with ground oats like gluten free monster cookies. And they're not just gluten free chocolate chip cookies with added peanut butter. These are thick and chewy gluten free peanut butter cookies, crisp around the edges and chewy in the center.

They taste homemade, and aren't made to mimic a packaged cookie. In fact, they're the type of cookie you'd make if you were new to gluten free baking, but were ready to bake with an all purpose gluten free flour blend.

Be sure to follow the link in the recipe below to the page linked in the all purpose gluten free flour ingredient. There are many flour blends available on to buy, but they aren't all created equal.

In fact, many of the most common blends, like King Arthur Flour blend and Bob's Red Mill blend, have gritty rice flours and unbalanced ingredients. They won't create that classic gluten free peanut butter cookie you miss.

These thick and chewy gluten free peanut butter chocolate chip cookies are made with plenty of peanut butter and brown sugar.

Peanut butter cookies made with gluten free flour

If you've ever made any gluten free baked goods before, unless they were flourless, they most likely called for an all purpose gluten free flour. These gluten free peanut butter cookies are made with gluten free flour, which is a blend of different flours that mimics the function of conventional all purpose flour.

Unlike our flourless peanut butter cookies, this recipe makes a your standard thick and chewy cookie, much like a chocolate chip cookies—but with a deep peanut flavor. It's slightly crisp on the very edges, and you taste the peanut butter, brown sugar, vanilla, and chocolate chips the most.

The all purpose gluten free flour blend is made mostly with rice flour, and it has no real taste or obvious texture. That rice flour blend behaves just like all purpose wheat flour would in a similar recipe.

These thick and chewy gluten free peanut butter chocolate chip cookies are made with plenty of peanut butter and brown sugar.

Baking gluten free with peanut butter

What is “no stir” peanut butter?

This recipe, like nearly all of my recipes for baking with peanut butter, calls for a “no stir” smooth peanut butter. “No stir” just refers to the kind of jarred peanut butter that doesn't require you to stir it to reincorporate the peanut oils that have separated from the rest of the nut butter.

Most conventional brands of peanut butter are no-stir unless they're truly “natural” peanut butter that is made with nothing more than peanuts and salt. That kind tastes great but behaves very differently in baking. 

peanut butter cookie dough in an ice cream scooper

Is peanut butter gluten free?

As we discussed in detail in our recipe for plain flourless peanut butter cookies, most brands of commerical peanut butter are naturally gluten free. Some brands, like Jif, will label its peanut butter (and other products) “gluten free” if it fit the U.S. definition of “gluten free,” but may have been prepared on manufacturing equipment that has been shared with gluten-containing products. 

Most types of Skippy peanut butter are gluten free, except for those that contain other ingredients. That's the brand that I buy the most.

The safest peanut butter brands only make gluten free varieties, like Peanut Butter & Co., but they're pricey. I don't recommend making your own peanut butter for baking, since the oils in homemade peanut butter tend to separate.

Peanut butter cookie dough balls on tray

Can you replace peanut butter with Nutella?

You can't replace peanut butter with Nutella in a baking recipe (or Nutella with peanut butter). I've tried! But I've been doing some switching back and forth between baking with peanut butter and baking with Nutella and I think I've cracked the code.

Nutella is nut butter, but it has lots more sugar in it than even any commercial peanut butter (part of its charm, no doubt). We made 3 ingredient Nutella brownies, and they were a complete failure when I attempted to replace Nutella with peanut butter. The oil from the peanut butter separated during baking and the result went right into the compost heap.

I bet you could do something similar in this recipe by reducing the brown sugar in this recipe by at least half and replacing the peanut butter with about 3/4 cup of Nutella. It would take some experimentation, but I think it would be worth it!

These thick and chewy gluten free peanut butter chocolate chip cookies are made with plenty of peanut butter and brown sugar.

Dairy

The only real dairy in these cookies is the butter. If you'd like to replace the butter, try using half (4 tablespoons) Earth Balance buttery sticks and half (4 tablespoons) Spectrum brand nonhydrogenated vegetable shortening.

In my experience, that combination mimics the behavior of butter in cooking-baking best. Be sure to use dairy-free chocolate chips, too. 

Eggs

There are two eggs in this recipe, which is the upper limit for replacing eggs with “chia eggs” (each “chia egg” is 1 tablespoon ground white chia seeds mixed with 1 tablespoon water and allowed to gel). I haven't tried that substitute here, though, so I'm not sure how well it would work. 

Corn

The cornstarch in this recipe is used to lighten up the all purpose gluten free flour blend and make chewier cookies. In place of cornstarch, you can try using arrowroot powder.

Another note about cornstarch: If you're already using a higher-starch all purpose gluten free flour blend like Cup4Cup, replace the cornstarch with additional all purpose gluten free flour. 

Peanut butter

If you need to make this recipe peanut-free, you can replace the peanut butter with an equal amount of smooth, no-stir smooth almond butter (Barney Butter is a favorite brand) or cashew butter.

Peanut butter chocolate chip cookies on white paper on a blue tray
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Gluten Free Chocolate Chpi Peanut Butter Cookies

These rich, thick gluten free peanut butter chocolate chip cookies are made with gluten free flour, plenty of peanut butter, and brown sugar.
Course: Cookies
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Yield: 16 cookies
Author: Nicole Hunn

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ cups (210 g) all purpose gluten-free flour blend (I used Better Batter; please click thru for full info on appropriate blends)
  • ¾ teaspoon xanthan gum (omit if your blend already contains it)
  • ¼ cup (36 g) cornstarch
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
  • ½ cup (109 g) packed light brown sugar
  • ½ cup (128 g) smooth no-stir gluten free peanut butter
  • 8 tablespoons (112 g) unsalted butter melted and cooled
  • 2 (100 g (weighed out of shell)) eggs at room temperature, beaten
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

  • Preheat your oven to 325°F. Line rimmed baking sheets with unbleached parchment paper and set them aside.
  • In a large bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, cornstarch, salt, baking soda, and granulated sugar, and whisk to combine well. Add the brown sugar, and whisk to combine again, working out any lumps. Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the peanut butter, butter mixture, eggs, and vanilla, and mix to combine. The dough will be thick but very soft. Add the chocolate chips, reserving a few. Mix until the chips are evenly distributed throughout the dough.
  • Scoop the dough into portions about 1 1/2 tablespoons in volume. Roll each piece of dough into a ball and then flatten into a disk about 1/2-inch thick. Place on the prepared baking sheets at least 2 inches apart from one another, since the cookies will spread during baking. For slightly thicker cookies, chill the shaped dough until it’s mostly firm to the touch (about 10 minutes in the freezer).
  • Place the baking sheets, one at a time, in the center of the preheated oven and bake until set and lightly golden brown all over (about 15 minutes). Remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes on the baking sheet or until firm before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

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Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies raw in a bowl and baked on a tray
These thick and chewy gluten free peanut butter chocolate chip cookies are made with plenty of peanut butter and brown sugar. #glutenfree #cookies #peanutbutter

Homemade Master Larabar Recipe

By | Published: | Posted In: Bars, No Bake, Snacks

This master Larabar recipe will show you how to make some raw nuts, pitted dates, and some coconut oil into almost any flavor of the packaged energy snack. Takes only minutes!

This master Larabar recipe is the secret to making your favorite bars at home with whatever flavors you like, in just minutes. The perfect gluten free snacks!

Why make a homemade Larabar?

Larabars are gluten free, and they're sold everywhere. They're a great grab-and-go snack and they're packed with lots of good fat and simple ingredients. So why would you want to make them at home?

The first reason to make them at home is always flavor. You can customize them any way you'd like, and can just use their flavors as a jumping-off point. 

The second reason to make them at home is that, well, they're better this way. My version is less sweet than the original since I imagine I use fewer dates and more nuts. I think a third reason might be cost, especially if you buy your ingredients in bulk, but I haven't done the math so I can't be 100% sure. 

We've made two of these recipes before (here's the peanut butter chocolate chip recipe; here's the chocolate coconut chew), but that was way back in 2014. Since then, I've played with flavors many times. The peanut butter chocolate chip is my perennial favorite, but the varieties really are endless. 

This master Larabar recipe is the secret to making your favorite bars at home with whatever flavors you like, in just minutes. The perfect gluten free snacks!

How to make homemade Larabars

I began these Larabar copycat recipes the same way I begin every copycat recipe: with the manufacturer's ingredient list. Larabar makes it super easy on their website by listing the ingredients with a photo of each. It's like they want me to do this (except I know they don't). 

There are only 4 main ingredients in each of these Larabar recipes: nuts, dates, coconut oil, and some sort of mix-in. At least half of them must be included in some form, but you can still swap one flavor for another.

Basically, you're just pulsing the nuts into crumbs, and then adding dates, melted coconut oil and a mix-in like chocolate chips, coconut flakes, or even more nuts and seeds if you like. 

Melted chocolate is also a really great way to add chocolate flavor and structure to the finished bars. For the brownie variety in the recipe below, there are three types of chocolate: melted chocolate, chocolate chips, and cocoa powder. To help the cocoa powder incorporate easily into the mixture without overprocessing, just mix it into the coconut oil first. 

This master Larabar recipe is the secret to making your favorite bars at home with whatever flavors you like, in just minutes. The perfect gluten free snacks!

Raw or roasted nuts

The first non-negotiable ingredient in every homemade Larabar recipe is nuts. You can make granola bars without nuts, and you can make homemade protein bars without nuts. If you're nut-free, I'd recommend trying one of those recipes.

Nuts provide most of the structure of a homemade (or store-bought) Larabar. You can substitute any nut for any other nut, within reason, although I'd recommend avoiding all salted nuts. It's better to control the salt in your bars by using it as a separate ingredient. 

Among the nuts that I've swapped in all of the Larabar variations that I've made and loved are: raw almonds, raw cashews, pistachio nut meats, raw walnuts, and raw pecans (pecans and walnuts are a softer nut, though, so avoid using only those nuts or your bars will be more fragile). 

You can save money ?on nuts by purchasing nut “pieces” rather than whole nuts. We're just processing them in a food processor anyway. You won't save money, though, by buying ground nuts. Nut pieces are cheaper, though, since they're kind of the odds and ends of the manufacturing process. 

Be sure only to process the nuts until they resemble coarse crumbs, as directed in the recipe. If you overprocess them, you'll have nut butter before you know it!

This master Larabar recipe is the secret to making your favorite bars at home with whatever flavors you like, in just minutes. The perfect gluten free snacks!

Dates

Like nuts, dates are essential to making Larabars. They're sticky and sweet, and they do a lot of work in these bars.

Other dried fruits, like raisins or dried apricots, just don't have the same structure as dates. If you used them to make bars, they'd probably be too soft. 

You can use Medjool dates, which are the type that I generally use for one reason and one reason alone: they're sold for a great price at my local Trader Joe's. In fact, I can buy all of the ingredients (except for the miniature chocolate chips) to make these bars at TJ's. 

You can also use Deglet Noor dates, which are lighter in color and less sweet. Dates do tend to dry out over time, and that can make it more difficult to process them in your food processor. 

To remove their pits, just slice them in half gently, without cutting all the way through, and they'll offer up their pits. If your dates have dried and become at all stiff, just pit them and soak them in hot water for a couple of minutes. Squeeze them out before adding them to the food processor.

This master Larabar recipe is the secret to making your favorite bars at home with whatever flavors you like, in just minutes. The perfect gluten free snacks!

Coconut oil

You can replace the virgin coconut oil in any of my homemade Larabar recipes with Spectrum brand nonhydrogenated vegetable shortening. You need a neutral fat that is solid at room temperature, and those are the two fats that I know get the job done.

If you don't like coconut flavor, first, don't make the chocolate coconut chew variety below. And use triple filtered coconut oil, which has no coconut odor at all.

Cacao butter, which we use to make homemade white chocolate, can also be used, but it's super expensive. If you're down, so am I, moneybags. ?

This master Larabar recipe is the secret to making your favorite bars at home with whatever flavors you like, in just minutes. The perfect gluten free snacks!

Mix-Ins

In the 3 varieties below, the mix-ins we used are miniature chocolate chips, regular-sized chocolate chips that are processed in the mixture, and coconut chips. You really can use any sort of mix-in you like, though.

Mix-ins are mostly to add texture and visual interest to bars. Even adding coarsely chopped nuts would add a different texture. Avoid using regular sized chocolate chips without processing them at all, since you'll have a hard time slicing them into bars.

stack of 6 homemade lara bars on brown paper
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Homemade Master Larabar Recipe

This master Larabar recipe is the secret to making your favorite energy bars with whatever flavors you like. The perfect gf snacks!
Course: Bars
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 0 minutes
Chilling time: 30 minutes
Yield: 12 bars per version
Author: Nicole Hunn

Equipment

  • food processor

Ingredients

For the peanut butter chocolate chip version

  • 3 cups (345 g) roasted unsalted peanuts
  • ½ pound (8 ounces) Medjool (or Deglet Noor) dates pitted
  • 4 tablespoons (56 g) virgin coconut oil melted
  • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 3 ounces miniature chocolate chips

For the chocolate coconut chew version

  • 2 cups (230 g) raw almonds
  • ½ pound (8 ounces) Medjool (or Deglet Noor) dates pitted
  • 4 tablespoons (56 g) virgin coconut oil melted
  • 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate melted
  • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 ½ cups (60 g) raw coconut flakes

For the chocolate chip brownie version

  • 2 cups (230 g) raw almonds
  • ¾ cup (86 g) raw walnuts
  • 4 tablespoons (56 g) virgin coconut oil melted
  • 3 tablespoons (15 g) unsweetened cocoa powder (Dutch-processed preferred but natural works, too)
  • ½ pound (8 ounces) Medjool (or Deglet Noor) dates pitted
  • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate melted
  • 2 ounces chocolate chips (any kind)

Instructions

  • Line an 8-inch square baking pan with unbleached parchment paper, making sure the paper overhangs the pan on all sides. Set the pan aside.

For the peanut butter chocolate chip version

  • In a food processor fitted with a steel blade, process the peanuts until small crumbs form (about 20 seconds).
  • Add the dates, melted coconut oil, and salt, and pulse about 4 times or until the mixture forms wet clumps and holds together well when pressed in your palm.
  • Add the miniature chocolate chips to the mixture and mix with a spoon until the chips are evenly distributed throughout.
  • Transfer the entire mixture to the prepared baking pan and spread it into an even layer.
  • Cover the top with another sheet of parchment and press the mixture firmly into one even, compressed layer.
  • Place the baking pan in the refrigerator to chill for at least 30 minutes or until firm.

For the chocolate coconut chew version

  • In a food processor fitted with a steel blade, process the almonds until small crumbs form (about 20 seconds).
  • Add the dates, melted coconut oil, melted chocolate, and salt, and pulse about 4 times or until the mixture forms wet clumps and holds together well when pressed in your palm.
  • Add the coconut flakes to the mixture and pulse quickly and briefly (about twice) until the flakes are about 1/4 of their original size.
  • Transfer the entire mixture to the prepared baking pan and spread it into an even layer.
  • Cover the top with another sheet of parchment and press the mixture firmly into one even, compressed layer.
  • Place the baking pan in the refrigerator to chill for at least 30 minutes or until firm.

For the chocolate chip brownie version

  • In a food processor fitted with a steel blade, process the almonds and walnuts until small crumbs form (about 20 seconds).
  • In a small bowl with the melted coconut oil, add the cocoa powder and mix until well-combined.
  • To the bowl of the food processor with the nut crumbs, add the oil and cocoa powder mixture, the dates, salt, and melted chocolate, and pulse about 4 times or until the mixture forms wet clumps and holds together well when pressed in your palm.
  • Add the chocolate chips to the mixture and pulse 2 to 3 times to break up the chips a bit and evenly distribute them throughout.
  • Transfer the entire mixture to the prepared baking pan and spread it into an even layer.
  • Cover the top with another sheet of parchment and press the mixture firmly into one even, compressed layer.
  • Place the baking pan in the refrigerator to chill for at least 30 minutes or until firm.

To finish (for all 3 versions)

  • Once firm, remove the bars from the pan by the overhung parchment paper and place on a cutting board.
  • Slice into 12 equal rectangles with a large, sharp knife.
  • Store the bars, individually wrapped in plastic or just piled into a sealed container, in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

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This master Larabar recipe is the secret to making your favorite bars at home with whatever flavors you like, in just minutes. The perfect gluten free snacks!

Soft Gluten Free Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies

By | Published: | Posted In: Cookies, Desserts, Easter, Frosting/Icing, Holiday season recipes

Soft and tender gluten free cream cheese sugar cookies with slightly firm Lofthouse-style frosting. Basically, they're the perfect cookie.

Soft and tender gluten free cream cheese Soft and tender gluten free cream cheese cutout sugar cookies with slightly firm Lofthouse-style frosting. Basically, they're the perfect cookie.

What makes a great cutout sugar cookie?

A proper cutout sugar cookie rolls out smoothly and easily and can take any shape. It doesn't spread at all during baking, which can ruin the shape in a hurry.

Because we already have a perfect recipe for Lofthouse-style gluten free soft frosted sugar cookies, it might seem like we're all set for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter and everything in between.

And then you see these soft gluten free cream cheese cutout sugar cookies. And you know.

Soft and tender gluten free cream cheese cutout sugar cookies with slightly firm Lofthouse-style frosting. Basically, they're the perfect cookie.

What does cream cheese add to these gluten free sugar cookies?

The cream cheese in the cookie dough makes these a wee bit more tender than our original cutout sugar cookies, but the real difference is in the taste. They roll out just as easily as our “originals.” But the cream cheese flavor in both the cookies themselves and the frosting is just something special.

When I first gave these cookies to my children, I didn't really say anything about them. They just were all, “sugar cookies!!” and dug in. I expected them to assume they were eating the originals, which they have done dozens of times. And then my son said it:

“Mom? Are these, like, cheesecake cookies or something?” Bingo, young man. Bingo.

Soft and tender gluten free cream cheese cutout sugar cookies with slightly firm Lofthouse-style frosting. Basically, they're the perfect cookie.

Cheesecake, I clearly love you

Anything with cream cheese tastes something like cheesecake, I guess. But especially since a classic cheesecake has little more than cream cheese, sugar, eggs, and vanilla, and so do these cookies, they're nearly a cheesecake in cookie form.

Since we just made mini cheesecake cookie cups, these cookies might seem a bit like overkill. Not only can these cookies contain their cheesecake essence right in the cutout cookie itself, but they can be cut into any shape, and covered with royal icing for any celebration.

Cream cheese sugar cookies on a plate one with a bite taken

About that Lofthouse-style frosting on these gf sugar cookies

When I first made this frosting, I made it with 8 ounces of cream cheese and no butter. More recently, I've switched to 4 tablespoons (56 g) of unsalted butter and 4 ounces of cream cheese.

I find that the frosting is a bit more stable that way. It also makes the recipe simpler overall since you need one 8 tablespoon-stick (112 g) of unsalted butter total and one 8-ounce package of cream cheese total.

Whatever you do, don't leave out the salt, since any frosting without salt will just taste too sweet. It's easiest to make if you have a stand mixer, but of course, a simple hand mixer will do. Just use a large bowl so you can beat the frosting until it's thick and smooth.

Soft and tender gluten free cream cheese sugar cookies with slightly firm Lofthouse-style frosting. Basically, they're the perfect cookie.

Gluten free cream cheese sugar cookies: Ingredients and substitutions

Gluten free dairy free cream cheese sugar cookies

If you can't have dairy, you might want to consider making our recipe for conventional cutout sugar cookies instead since cream cheese is nearly impossible to replace successfully with a dairy-free alternative. I even have a chocolate cutout sugar cookie version.

But if you'd like to go ahead and try to make this recipe, here are my best guesses for how to go about it:

Cream cheese sugar cookies with icing in a tall stack

To make these cutout cookies dairy-free, you'll need to replace both the butter and the cream cheese in this recipe. I have tried many dairy-free versions of cream cheese, and although Daiya is my favorite brand, it still has something of a strange aftertaste that becomes more pronounced the more of it you use.

For that reason, I'd recommend replacing the butter and cream cheese with the following: 3 ounces dairy-free cream cheese substitute + 3 tablespoons (36 g) Spectrum nonhydrogenated vegetable shortening + 4 tablespoons (56 g) vegan butter (Melt brand is my current favorite, but Earth Balance buttery sticks are fine, too). To make the frosting dairy-free, I'd make the same adjustments as I recommended for the cookie dough.

Gluten free egg free cream cheese sugar cookies

Since there is only 1 egg in this recipe, I think it should be able to be made egg-free by using 1 “chia egg” in its place (1 tablespoon ground chia seeds + 1 tablespoon lukewarm water, mixed and allowed to gel).

Since these are cutout cookies and the texture of the dough matters a lot, you might want to try using a boiled flax egg, like we did in our vegan black bean brownies recipe.

The frosting calls for some meringue powder, which helps it harden as it sets, much like the Lofthouse cookies you find in the grocery store in those plastic clamshell boxes. Without the meringue powder, it will not harden as it sets, though, so the cookies cannot be stacked on one another without the meringue powder in the frosting.

If you don't have meringue powder, simply add more confectioners' sugar by the tablespoonful, beating well, until the frosting thickens enough that it holds its shape well when scooped.

Gluten free cream cheese sugar cookies without cornstarch

At first glance, it seems like these cookies are naturally corn-free. But conventional confectioners' sugar has cornstarch added to it to help keep it from clumping. There are corn-free brands of confectioners' sugar, though.

If you can't find corn-free confectioners' sugar, you can make your own confectioners' sugar from granulated sugar and a starch. In place of the cornstarch that is called for in that recipe, I'd use arrowroot to make it corn-free.


Cream Cheese sugar cookie closeup of a bite

How to make the best gluten free cream cheese sugar cookies

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Soft Gluten Free Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies

These gluten free cream cheese sugar cookies have all the taste of cheesecake in a neat cutout sugar cookie, with plenty of fluffy but stable cream cheese frosting. Just like Lofthouse, but better!
Course: Cookies, Dessert
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Yield: 18 cookies
Author: Nicole Hunn

Equipment

  • Stand mixer or handheld mixer

Ingredients

For the cookies

  • 2 cups (280 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend (I like Better Batter here; click through for details)
  • 1 teaspoon xanthan gum omit if your blend already contains it
  • ¾ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
  • 5 tablespoons (36 g) confectioners’ sugar
  • 4 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
  • 4 tablespoons (56 g) unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 1 (50 g (weighed out of shell)) egg at room temperature, beaten
  • ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the frosting

  • 4 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
  • 4 tablespoons (56 g) unsalted butter at room temperature
  • ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2 teaspoons meringue powder LorAnn brand is gluten free
  • 4 cups (460 g) confectioners’ sugar

Instructions

Make the cookies.

  • Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line rimmed baking sheets with unbleached parchment paper and set them aside.
  • In a large bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, salt, granulated sugar and confectioners’ sugar and whisk to combine well.
  • In a separate bowl, place the cream cheese, butter, egg and vanilla, and mix to combine well. Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the cream cheese mixture.
  • Mix to combine, and then knead it together with your hands until a smooth dough forms.
  • Place the dough between two sheets of unbleached parchment paper and roll out a bit less than 1/3-inch thick. Using a 2 1/2-inch round cookie cutter, cut out rounds of dough and place them about 1-inch apart on the prepared baking sheets.
  • Place the baking sheet in the center of the preheated oven and bake set in the center and just beginning to brown on the edges, about 10 minutes.
  • Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Make the frosting.

  • In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or a large bowl with a handheld mixer, place the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla, and mix on medium speed until combined.
  • Turn the speed to high and mix until creamy. Add the salt, meringue powder and about 3 1/2 cups of confectioners’ sugar. Mix slowly until the sugar is incorporated.
  • Turn the mixer up to high and beat until it becomes uniformly thick. Add the rest of the confectioners’ sugar if necessary to thicken the frosting.
  • Once the cookies are completely cool, pipe or spoon a generous amount of frosting onto the top of each in whatever pattern you like.
  • Allow to set at room temperature until the frosting hardens and is firm to a light touch. Store any leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature.

Notes

Originally published on the blog in 2015. How-to video and some photos new; many photos original; frosting recipe altered very slightly.

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Soft and tender gluten free cream cheese cutout sugar cookies with slightly firm Lofthouse-style frosting. Basically, they're the perfect cookie.Cream cheese sugar cookies closeup with a bite taken and stack of cookiesSoft and tender gluten free cream cheese sugar cookies with slightly firm Lofthouse-style frosting. Basically, they're the perfect cookie. #glutenfree #gf #cheesecake #Lofthouse

Mini Cheesecake Cookie Cups

By | Published: | Posted In: Cookies, Holiday season recipes

A soft graham cracker crust with the simplest cheesecake filling makes these cheesecake cookie cups the perfect cookie plate surprise.

A soft graham cracker crust with the simplest cheesecake filling makes these cheesecake cookie cups the perfect cookie plate surprise.

Especially during the holiday season, I crave everything with cinnamon and other warm spices. Bonus points for cookies with molasses in them, like graham crackers and our super soft chocolate ginger molasses cookies.

Nothing goes with those spices better than cheesecake, but I've got cookie gift boxes to fill and cheesecake just doesn't travel. I remember years ago making soft graham cracker cookies to make copycat moon pies, and they were a huge hit. One local parent actually asks me about them nearly every time I see him. For real.

A soft graham cracker crust with the simplest cheesecake filling makes these cheesecake cookie cups the perfect cookie plate surprise.

Why bake them in a muffin tin?

I started out making almost these exact cookies but as thumbprints. You can actually bake the cheesecake filling right in the middle of the thumbprints, and it does work.

But you just can't get enough cheesecake filling in there to satisfy. Instead of thumbprints, though, I was sure I could bake these cheesecake cookie cups with a deeper well, and bake a true cheesecake filling together with the cookie dough.

A soft graham cracker crust with the simplest cheesecake filling makes these cheesecake cookie cups the perfect cookie plate surprise.

I learned long ago how to make a cookie recipe into cookie cups. I baked them empty and fill them with no-bake cheesecake or whipped cream and berries soon before serving. They make such an impressive presentation but are super easy once you get the technique.

The beauty of baking these in a muffin tin is that the cheesecake filling and the cookie dough rise together in the oven. I use very little leavening in the cookie dough and only an egg yolk in the filling instead of a whole egg. That helps the cookies keep their shape and form. And the filling is deep enough to actually taste like cheesecake.

You don't want someone to bite into one of these cookie cups and say, “Tastes great. What did you say was in the center?”

A soft graham cracker crust with the simplest cheesecake filling makes these cheesecake cookie cups the perfect cookie plate surprise.

What is the dough like to work with?

This cookie dough is not dry, but it's not wet, either. The ingredients are balanced just right, which makes it especially important that you bake by weight, not volume (and use one of my recommended all purpose gluten free flour blends). 

When you mix the dough, it will stay in wet crumbs until you knead it together with your hands. In that way it's similar to our gluten free cookies. Trust the process, though. There are no mistakes in the recipe. 

A soft graham cracker crust with the simplest cheesecake filling makes these cheesecake cookie cups the perfect cookie plate surprise.

A word about mini muffin tins

We talked about miniature muffin tins when we made our two bite gluten free brownies, but it bears repeating here. They are not all created equal. 

You can use any miniature muffin tin to make these cheesecake cookie cups. You can even shape them similarly to how you would using the muffin tin, and bake them (filled) on a baking sheet (they will flatten a bit, though).

A soft graham cracker crust with the simplest cheesecake filling makes these cheesecake cookie cups the perfect cookie plate surprise.

But you'll have the best luck with these if you can make them in a miniature muffin tin with relatively deep wells and gently sloped walls (not entirely vertical). I usually use a USA Pans brand miniature muffin tin, but I just bought some “Good Cooks” brand that I'm kind of hopeful about (You know the brand you often find in grocery stores? I really like it!).

My current favorite standard muffin tin is a nonstick pan made by Wilton that isn't too dark and isn't too light. I'm tempted to try their miniature muffin tin, but it's not like anyone is begging me for mini muffin tin recommendations so it's hard to justify yet another tin!

A soft graham cracker crust with the simplest cheesecake filling makes these cheesecake cookie cups the perfect cookie plate surprise.

Ingredients and substitutions

I've got good news and bad news about substitutions, but mostly bad news. ?Let's jump right in.

Dairy-free: First, the good news is that you can make the cookie cup portion of this recipe dairy-free by replacing the unsalted butter with half (56 g) Earth Balance Buttery Sticks and half (56 g) nonhydrogenated vegetable shortening. You could probably also try using all Melt brand vegan butter. It's worth experimenting.

The cheesecake filling is an entirely different story. Cheesecake is the third rail of dairy-free baking. I've tried soooooo many recipes and variations of recipes, and absolutely nothing has tasted like actual cheesecake to me.

Absolutely none of the dairy-free cream cheeses taste authentic to me. I've tried them all. I've also tried cashew-based dairy-free cheesecake fillings. Some taste pretty good, but they're just not cheesecake to me. I'm so sorry to disappoint!

Egg-free: This is a hurdle, too. Both the cookie cups and the cheesecake filling call for egg yolks. Egg whites can often be replaced by aquafaba, and whole eggs with a “chia egg.” But egg yolks are hard. I've never had much luck. If you have a favorite egg-free egg yolk substitute, please let us know in the comments!

gluten free cheesecake cookie cups
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Mini Cheesecake Cookie Cups

These gluten free cheesecake cookie have a soft graham cracker crust with the simplest cheesecake filling and a chocolate drizzle.
Course: Cookies, Dessert
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 12 minutes
Chilling time: 1 hour
Yield: 30 cookies
Author: Nicole Hunn

Ingredients

For the cheesecake filling.

  • 4 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
  • 6 tablespoons (75 g) granulated sugar
  • ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 (25 g) egg yolk at room temperature

For the cookie cups.

  • 2 ⅔ cups (375 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend (I used Better Batter; please click thru for full info on appropriate blend)
  • 1 ½ teaspoons xanthan gum (omit if your blend already contains it)
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ⅓ cup (67 g) granulated sugar
  • ⅔ cup (145 g) packed light brown sugar
  • 8 tablespoons (112 g) unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 3 tablespoons (63 g) honey
  • 2 tablespoons (42 g) unsulphured molasses
  • ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2 (50 g) eggs yolks at room temperature
  • Lukewarm water by the half-teaspoonful as necessary
  • Melted chocolate for drizzling (optional)

Instructions

  • Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease the wells of a 24-well miniature muffin tin and set it aside.

Make the filling.

  • In a medium-size bowl, place the cream cheese, sugar, and salt, and beat with a handheld mixer (or a whisk, vigorously) until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolk and whisk by hand until just combined. Cover the filling and set it aside.

Make the cookie dough.

  • In a large bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, salt, and granulated sugar, and whisk to combine well. Add the brown sugar and mix, breaking up any lumps.
  • Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and add the butter, honey, molasses, vanilla, and egg yolks, and mix to combine.
  • The dough should come together and be thick but soft. If necessary to bring the cookie dough together cohesively, knead in some lukewarm water by the half teaspoonful.

Shape & fill the cookie dough.

  • Scoop the dough into portions about 2 teaspoonfuls each, roll each mound of dough into a ball between your palms, and place in the center of each of the prepared wells of the miniature muffin tin.
  • With a clean index finger, press a hole into the center of each ball of dough. Using your index finger and thumb, pinch the dough to thin the sides and press them toward the edges and bottom of the muffin well.
  • Using a small spring-loaded ice cream scoop or two spoons, fill each of the wells about 3/4 of the way full with the cheesecake filling.
  • Repeat with the remaining balls of dough and cheesecake filling. You will need to repeat the process with about 6 more wells of the muffin tin in a second round.

Bake the cookies.

  • Place the muffin tin in the center of the preheated oven and bake until the cookie cups are just beginning to brown around the edges and the filling is mostly set (about 12 minutes). Do not overbake.
  • Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for at least 10 minutes or until firm.
  • To remove the cookie cups from the muffin tin, twist them in the wells to loosen them, then pry them out with a toothpick inserted gently on the side of the cookie cups.
  • Chill the cookie cups until the filling is firm, about 1 hour. Drizzle lightly with melted chocolate, if desired.
  • These cookies can be frozen in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet, then piled into a freezer-safe zip-top bag for longer storage.

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A soft graham cracker crust with the simplest cheesecake filling makes these cheesecake cookie cups the perfect cookie plate surprise. #glutenfree #cookies #Christmas #cheesecake

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