Chocolate S'mores Cookies: A Guaranteed Hit

I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday season! I know I have. I honestly can't believe it is over already. I am definitely ready for a detox though. My body is going through sugar shock. For someone that doesn't eat a lot of sweets but has an extreme sweet tooth, this time of the year is so difficult for me. It is definitely time for a detox. But for now...we talk cookies! A couple of weeks ago, they had some cookie recipes in the county newspaper. I adapted from a rocky road cookie recipe to make these.

I made these Chocolate S'mores cookies for work and for my family for Christmas day. A hit in both places. I heard repeatedly how good they were. My boss is "super work out guy" and eats VERY healthy and rarely picks up any sweets. When he went back for another cookie, I knew they were delicious. I put them in the work kitchen at 9am and by noon there were only 2 left. These are easily adaptable to be gluten free. However, I think it would be hard to make them egg free unless you could find a good replacement for egg that would go with chocolate. Powdered egg replacer will not work. Maybe a flax seed mix would work, but I wouldn't recommend that unless you have experience with it, which I do not.

The best part about these cookies? You make them with cake mix! You want to use a double fudge or triple fudge mix. Even a devil's food cake mix would work well. To make them gluten free, you just sub in a gluten free chocolate cake mix. Betty Crocker makes a wonderful mix that can be purchased at a regular, non-specialty grocery store.

The recipe:
S'mores Cake Mix Cookies (makes about two dozen cookies)

1 box chocolate fudge cake mix (or gluten free chocolate cake mix)
2 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup mini marshmallows, cut in half
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips (or enjoy life chocolate chips for dairy free)
4 squares graham crackers (gluten free graham crackers can also be used)

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, combine cake mix, oil, and eggs. Mix until well blended. The batter will be very thick.
3. Cut marshmallows in to small pieces (I used kitchen scissors and cut in half). Add marshmallows and chocolate chips to batter. It may be tough to mix. I used a thick wooden spoon to stir. 
4. Break up graham crackers in to small pieces. Sprinkle on top of batter and mix carefully. You can also wait and put a couple of pieces of crackers in cookies after scooped.
5. I recommend a cookie/ice cream scoop to scoop 1 inch balls of dough on to cookie sheet. Roll each ball to make cookies more uniform.

6. Bake cookies on middle rack of oven for approximately 10 minutes. (9-11 minutes) Remove from oven and let cool for a couple of minutes before transferring to cooling rack. Make sure they are cool enough to pick up with spatula without falling apart. A cooling rack will help cookies cool quickly and evenly.

I stored mine in a plastic bag and then inside a Tupperware container. It keeps them moist a lot longer than if they were just sitting on the counter.

If you want an easy recipe that will impress people with how amazing the cookies taste, these are the ones for you! Happy baking! Make sure to comment and let me know if you make these yourself. I would love to know how it went.

Pumpkin: It's That Time of Year!

Pumpkin: pro or con? I think I might be both. I love this time of year because you can find pumpkin flavored EVERYTHING. But I agree with many people that it can get a little ridiculous and overwhelming. There are some pretty random things that they make that are pumpkin flavored. Here are just a few odd ones that I have come across: Pumpkin Spice Kale Chips, Pumpkin Pie Kettle Chips, Pumpkin Pie Chocolate Bark, and Hershey's Kisses Pumpkin Spice. Personally, I like to stick to the classics...bread, pie, cupcakes, cheesecake, and cookies. I will taste some of these other odd creations unless they sound TOO weird (I'm talking to you Pumpkin Spice Kale Chips). 

Last weekend I had planned on making a new recipe of raw vegan pumpkin no bake cheesecake bars for my friends Jenn and Elijah. How yummy does that sound? Unfortunately, the day I was to visit them, I forgot to soak the cashews so no cheesecake for them. (Sorry Elijah!) The next day I woke up with two cans of pumpkin in my cupboard calling my name. So I went to the Internet for an easy gluten free, dairy free, egg free pumpkin bread. I found the perfect recipe! (original recipe here courtesy of dontmesswithmama.com)

Per usual, I made some modifications to make it perfect for me. 

Ingredients

• 1 and 3/4 cups of all-purpose gluten-free flour
• 1 and 1/2 tbsp organic coconut flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp gluten-free baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• Egg replacer equivalent to 2 eggs (I use Ener-G)
• 1 cup baking sugar (you can use coconut sugar or raw organic sugar)
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup organic coconut oil
• 1/3 cup filtered water
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

-Mix all dry ingredients together with a whisk in large bowl.  

-Mix up your egg replacer in a separate container. I prefer to use a whisk for this to get the powder completely mixed with the water.

-Mix all wet ingredients together (make sure coconut oil is in liquid form before mixing. I did not do this and it came out a little lumpy).

-Add egg replacer to wet ingredients mixing well.

-Now incorporate dry ingredients to wet ingredients without over mixing. **You want to make sure it is completely mixed, but if you over mix the batter, the bread can come out a little tough versus soft and moist.

-Scoop batter in to loaf pan that is completely greased (I used dairy free butter in a glass loaf pan and it worked extremely well).

-Place in the oven and bake for 60 min and then test with toothpick. Can be baked for up to 70 min depending on oven.

After removing from the oven, let cool completely before taking out of pan. Gorgeous!

Gluten free baking is an art. This is a fairly easy recipe if you don't over-mix the batter. It came out moist but a little crumbly. Such is gluten free baking. The only thing that the original recipe did not mention is the addition of xanthan gum which helps bind gluten free items. My gluten free flour mix did not have it already in the blend. Next time I would probably add a tad bit of xanthan gum. However, I was surprised at how well this worked without it. So if you are not a fan of gum additions, you could probably leave it out like I did and be just fine. 

So if you are looking for a gluten free, dairy free, egg free recipe for the holidays, this is a great idea! You can add chocolate chips, nuts, or dried cranberries if you so desire. This recipe can also be put in individual size loaf pans or a muffin tin. Baking time would be a lot less, so adjust accordingly.

Happy Baking! Today I made a Gingerbread Paleo Granola. Keep an eye out for that entry soon!