5-minute Chocolate Cake, revised!

You may remember the 5-minute chocolate cake I posted back in September. My young friend Legossi wanted to try it for her family, but they have various food allergies, so she modified it and sent me the recipe.



So for those of you who might have gluten, dairy, or egg issues, you'll love this.

Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Egg Free Chocolate Mug Cake

3 Tbsp. Brown Rice flour
1 Tbsp. Tapioca flour
1/4 tsp. Xanthan gum
4 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. baking cocoa
1-1/2 tsp egg replacer
1 Tbsp. Water
3 Tbsp. rice milk
3 Tbsp. oil
3 Tbsp. chocolate chips (optional if you can find dairy free chocolate chips)
a small splash of vanilla extract
1 coffee mug

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add egg, and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil. Mix well. Add chocolate chips (if desired) and vanilla extract. Mix well! Since the ingredients are gluten free, it may require more mixing than the other version of this cake because tapioca flour does not like to be mixed in!

Put in microwave and microwave 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Don't overcook or it'll become very, very chewy.

If you're not allergic to egg, then use a real egg instead of egg replacer because the egg replacer makes it a bit chewier than if it had a real egg in it.

The price of allergies.

Oatmeal, Banana, Peanut Butter, Chocolate Chip Cookies

A mouthful of a name for a cookie, isn't it? I suppose that's what you get when an amateur baker makes up her own cookie recipe. This is a modified/combined recipe from Betty Crocker's basic peanut butter cookies and a chocolate chip banana bar recipe from a unique cookie cookbook.

Oatmeal, Banana, Peanut Butter, Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 C. white sugar
1/2 C. packed brown sugar
1/2 C. shortening
1/2 C. peanut butter (chunky or creamy, whatever you like)
1 egg
3-4 very ripe bananas
Splash of milk
1/2 to 1 C. quick-cooking oatmeal (or 2-3 oatmeal packets, any flavor)
1-1/4 C. flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
Pinch of salt

Combine sugars and egg til creamed (lighter in color and fluffy). Add remaining wet ingredients and mix well. Add dry ingredients. Mix well. Add chocolate chips at the end in whatever amount is demanded by those eating the cookies.



Scoop onto a lightly-sprayed baking sheet (or on parchment paper). Press down ever so slightly. They will only spread a little bit. Bake at 375 for 8-12 minutes, depending on your oven. Place on a cooling rack until cool enough to handle so you can eat them faster. Store in an airtight container.

These are great for lunches because they are so wholesome with the bananas and oatmeal. You could add raisins or nuts too if you (or your little students) like them.

COOKIE TIP: Cookies will continue to cook for a short time after leaving the oven, so pull them from the oven just before they look done. If they look done in the oven, they'll likely be overdone by time you get them off the baking sheet.

5-Minute Chocolate Mug Cake

We have our first new Foo Fan recipe submission! Thank you to Michelle for passing along this little dandy of a treat. I couldn't resist trying it. Who doesn't have five minutes to invest for some chocolate cake love? Nom nom nom...



5-Minute Chocolate Mug Cake

4 Tbsp. flour
4 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. baking cocoa
1 egg
3 Tbsp. milk
3 Tbsp. oil
3 Tbsp. chocolate chips(optional)
a small splash of vanilla extract
1 coffee mug

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add egg, and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil. Mix well. Add chocolate chips (if desired) and vanilla extract. Mix well! [Is your fork getting tired yet?]

Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts. [Here's a site that will convert wattage for your oven.] The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!



Allow to cool a little (the mug WILL be hot), and tip out onto a plate if you like. Then EAT!

Michelle says, "This can serve two if you want to feel slightly more virtuous."

Suggested Experimentations:
* Add more than the necessary chocolate chips
* Swirl in couple Tbsp. raspberry preserves
* Add coconut
* Swirl in chocolate syrup (like for milk)
* Add nuts

For any of these additions, you could simply sprinkle/pour them on top, and they will sink in as the cake bakes.

The Taste Test: This is most definitely a good one if you're in serious need of chocolate fix. I would highly recommend not skimping out on the chocolate chips--in fact, be generous! I'm going to try putting in some raspberry preserves someday in the future. It was a lot of fun to make. Thanks, Michelle!

Chocolate Chip Paradise Knock Off

I had to get this down before it all disappears! Heath and I went to Chili's for dinner a few weeks ago and had this awesome dessert called Chocolate Chip Paradise Pie. As I looked at it, I thought, "Huh, that doesn't look too hard to make..." So the next time we went shopping, I picked up some walnuts (not a staple around here) and got to work.

Start with a basic chocolate chip cookie recipe (minus the chips). This is one from my old Betty Crocker cookbook.

First, cream these ingredients together:
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/3 c. margarine (softened)
1/3 c. shortening
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla

Now add:
1-1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
Mix together until smooth and tasty.

Spread the soft cookie dough out into an 11x7 baking dish. Sprinkle generously with walnuts, then lots of chocolate chips, and finally top it off with a generous helping of shredded sweetened coconut.

Bake at 375 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Oh man, this is even better than buying it at a restaurant!

Trailhead Cookies

In order to get ready for the coming couple weeks, I did some prep-cooking yesterday. I like to make batches of cookie dough and put them in the freezer for later use - cookies anytime! Also, I needed to get some bread dough made for buns and pizza that are on the menu next week.

Here's a fun peanut butter cookie recipe that I modified in order to use up some Trail Mix we had. I'd imagine it would be great for taking with you on hikes as well because it has a lot of protein in it. The original recipe is from my old Betty Crocker cookbook.

1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 c. shortening
1/2 c. peanut butter (either crunchy or smooth - whatever you have)
1 egg
4 Tbsp. milk

Mix all these ingredients until smooth. Then add:

1-1/4 c. all-purpose white or wheat flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt

Mix again until thoroughly combined.

Next, take 1 to 2 cups of any kind of trail mix you have and drop it in a food processor. Add enough chocolate chips and/or yogurt chips to make it worth your time eating these cookies. (You know how much you like. ;o) Process on high until coarsely chopped. Add to your dough. Mix again until combined.

Scoop out balls of dough and flatten just slightly. If you're going to freeze these balls, be sure you do flatten them or they won't spread when you bake them later.

Oven info: 375 degrees for 10 minutes on a sprayed cookie sheet.

Remember, when it comes to cookies, take them out before they "look" done. When they look done in the oven, it's too late - they're gonna burn!