Your Favorite Monthly Blog Post! : June 2017

Chocolate Covered Cheesecake Bites

Yield: 36 bites

The key to easy-to-dip bites is to make sure they’re as cold as possible. If they warm up too much pop them back in the freezer until they’re firm and frozen again.

Ingredients

For the crust:

9 whole graham crackers (i use gluten-free graham crackers from wal-mart or whole foods, but you could probably look up a recipe from scratch)
1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, melted

For the filling:

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar (I use mild honey)
1/4 cup sour cream
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour (I use GF flour mix)
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

For the chocolate coating:

16 ounces semisweet chocolate
4 tablespoons coconut oil (this is essential for easy coating, I've tried butter and it always makes the chocolate seize up, so coconut oil is the way to go!)

Directions

To make crust:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8 by 8-inch square baking dish with parchment paper and coat with oil, or non stick cooking spray.
In a small bowl combine graham cracker crumbs and butter. Press mixture evenly into prepared pan. Bake for 10 minutes, or until light golden and fragrant. Reduce heat to 325°F.

To make filling:

Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and sugar until smooth and fluffy, about 3 minutes. On low speed, add in the sour cream, eggs, vanilla, flour, and salt and beat until just combined. Be careful not to overmix. Pour the batter over the crust and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until cheesecake is slightly puffed and center is set. If the center is slightly jiggly, that’s fine.
Let cool completely on a wire rack. Freeze for 3 hours, or until very cold and firm, or overnight.

To coat in chocolate:

Once frozen, lift cheesecake out of pan and gently peel away foil. Using a sharp knife, cut cheesecake into 36 bite-size squares. If squares become too soft, freeze until chilled again.
Place the chocolate and coconut oil in a double boiler stirring until melted and smooth. Place parchment paper or a silicone baking mat on a baking sheet. Dip cheesecake squares, one at a time, in the melted chocolate. Let the excess drip off and place on prepared sheet. Repeat for all the squares then refrigerate until the chocolate is set. Serve or store the squares in an airtight container in the fridge.

Enjoy

The BEST Gluten-free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes approx 3 dozen

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all purpose gluten-free flour blend ( I use "cup4cup multipurpose flour " from whole foods but any other GF flour mix should work fine! Also a mix of millet and brown rice flour or other mixes should work)
1/2 tsp. xanthan gum (optional: It really helps keep the cookies less crumbly tho)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
4 ounces cream cheese, room temp
3/4 cups unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cup sweetener (If you want your cookies to be sugar free use coconut crystals. I use turbinado sugar sometimes too and that works really well, otherwise just use brown sugar. the sweetener must be dry tho, (not honey, or agave etc...))
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 egg yolks (room temp)
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

In a medium bowl, whisk together gluten-free flour, xanthan, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of your stand mixer, place the cream cheese, then pour melted butter over it. Add sweentener and mix on medium speed for 2 minutes. (I use the paddle attachment on my mixer.)
Add vanilla extract and egg yolks (one at a time) mixing on low-medium speed until well mixed.
Add the flour mixture that you set aside earlier, beating on low until just combined.
Add the chocolate chips and mix on low or by hand, just until mixed thoroughly.
Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate a minimum of 4 hours and up to 4 days.
When you are ready too bake, remove from refrigerator and let sit for about 15 minutes to soften enough for easier scooping.
Preheat oven to 375°.
Line cookie sheets with sheets of parchment paper or silicone liners. Do not spray!
Use a cookie scoop or spoon to scoop even mounds of cookie dough spaced several inches apart. I can get 12 per cookie sheet.
Bake the cookies for 8-9 minutes (depending how well done you want them and how hot your oven is) at 375°. Remove when edges are set and just browning. The centers will look underdone, but will continue cooking as they cool. To ensure you don't overbake, I suggest you bake a few test cookies so you can determine the right baking time for your oven. If you like gooey centers, cook less, if you like crunchier cookies, cook longer.
Let the cookies sit on the cookie sheet for just 2-3 minutes before removing to a cooling rack to finish cooling.

More of May... (whoops)

Well somehow i completly forgot to post some pictures from May, so here they are! We had fun going to a Paris airshow, and playing games at a friends house!