FLOURLESS FUDGE COOKIES

This is a recipe from King Arthur Flour.

• 2 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon espresso powder, optional but good
• 1 cup cocoa powder, Dutch-process (European-style) preferred*
• 3 large egg whites
• 2 teaspoons gluten-free vanilla extract
• *For darker, richer-looking cookies, substitute 1/4 cup black cocoa for 1/4 cup of the Dutch-process cocoa

1) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease two baking sheets. Or line with parchment, and grease the parchment.

2) Stir together all of the ingredients till smooth. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl, and stir again till smooth.

3) Drop the soft, batter-like dough onto the prepared baking sheets in 1 1/2" circles; a tablespoon cookie scoop works well here.

4) Bake the cookies for 8 minutes; they should spread, become somewhat shiny, and develop faintly crackly tops.

5) Remove the cookies from the oven, and allow them to cool right on the pan.

6) Yield: 16 large (3") cookies.

tips from our bakers

• Want to make more, smaller cookies? Drop the dough in 1 1/8" balls (about 2 measuring teaspoonfuls) onto the baking sheets; a level teaspoon cookie scoop works well here. You'll make about forty 2 1/4" cookies.
• Add up to 2 cups of chocolate chips or diced walnuts to the batter. You'll lose the cookies' "no added fat" attribute, but make some very tasty cookies. With 2 cups of add-ins, you'll make about 24 large cookies, or 48 smaller cookies. Note: For larger cookies with add-ins, increase the baking time by 2 minutes, to a total of 10 minutes.
  

SIMPLE COOKIE GLAZE

This cookie glaze is from King Arthur Flour.

• 2 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon milk
• Food coloring (optional)

Mix all of the ingredients together. Stir until smooth; a fork works fine.

2) The glaze should be thick, but soft enough to "settle" when you spread it. If the glaze is too thick, dribble in another teaspoon of milk, 1/2 teaspoon at a time.

3) Add food color, if you like; gel paste food colors are preferable, as they yield vibrant color, and don't alter the liquid/sugar ratio as regular food colors might.

Yield: 2/3 cup glaze.

tips from our bakers

• Be sure you measure accurately here. Too little milk, and the glaze won't spread nicely. Too much milk, and it will be thin, spotty and develop splotches overnight.
• Once the glaze has hardened, you can color on it with foodsafe markers, or you can pipe another color over the top with Royal Icing. You can sprinkle sugar on top of the wet royal icing for a sparkly effect.

CHOCO-COCO PECAN CRISPS

This recipe is from a 1993 Tupperware Cookbook. It makes about 6 dozen cookies.

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup flaked coconut

Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl until blended. Beat in the egg and vanilla.

Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and pecans in small bowl until well blended. Add to the creamed mixture, blending until stiff dough is formed.

Sprinkle the coconut on a work surface. Divide dough into 4 parts. Shape each part into a roll, about 1 1/2-inches in diameter; roll in coconut until thickly coated. Wrap tightly; refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour or up to 2 weeks. (For longer storage, freeze up to 6 weeks.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or leave ungreased.

Cut rolls into 1/8-inch thick slices and place 2-inches apart on the cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 13 minutes or unti firm but not overly browned.

Remove cookies from cookie sheets and cool completely on wire racks.

TRIPLE LAYER COOKIE BARS

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup baking cocoa
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup cold butter
2 eggs

TOPPING:
1 pkg (7-oz) flaked coconut
1 can (14-oz) sweetened condensed milk
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter


In a large bowl, combine the first six ingredients. Cut in butter until crumbly. Beat in eggs. Spread in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan.
Bake at 350° for 8 minutes. Sprinkle coconut over crust; drizzle with milk. Bake 20-25 minutes longer or until lightly browned.
While brownie layer bakes, melt chocolate chips and peanut butter; stir until smooth. Spread over brownies. Cool on wire rack. Cut into bars. 

Yield: 2-3 dozen.

This is a TOH recipe from 1994.
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RED VELVET CHEESECAKE

Here is a recipe for those of you who don't mind putting a little work into your cakes. This yummy recipe is from Grandmother's Kitchen.

For the Cheesecake:
32 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 /4 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs, at room temperature
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

For the Red Velvet Cake:
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
6 tablespoons red food coloring (liquid)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 cup butter, at room temperature
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
5 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons vanilla extract

1. Make the Cheesecake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-inch springform pan and then tightly wrap the outside with heavy duty foil. Put a pot of water (or a tea kettle) on to boil.
2. Using an electric mixer, beat together the cream cheese and sugar at medium speed until completely smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for a minute or so after each addition, and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the heavy cream and vanilla extract, and beat until completely incorporated.

3. Pour the batter into the springform pan; place the springform pan into a larger pan, such as a roasting pan, and pour the boiling water into the larger pan until the water comes about halfway up the side of the springform pan.

4. Bake until the cheesecake edges are set but the middle still jiggles a bit, about 45 to 55 minutes. Turn the oven off, but leave the cheesecake in the oven with the door closed for 1 hour. At this point, remove the cheesecake from the water bath and place the springform pan on a cooling rack to cool to room temperature. Place the cheesecake in the refrigerator until well-chilled, at least 4 hours or overnight.

5. Make the Red Velvet Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 9-inch cake pans. Line the bottoms of the pans with a parchment round, butter the parchment paper, and then flour the pans.

6. On medium-high speed, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Turn the mixer to high and add the eggs one at a time, mixing for about a minute after each addition. Scrape down the bowl and beat until well incorporated.

7. In a separate small bowl, mix together the cocoa powder, vanilla extract and red food coloring to make a thick paste. Add to the batter and mix on medium speed until completely combined. You may need to stop the mixer to scrape the bottom of the bowl, making sure that all the batter gets color.

8. Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add half of the buttermilk. Add half of the flour and mix until combined. Scrape the bowl and repeat the process with the remaining buttermilk and flour. Beat on high until smooth.

9. Again, reduce the mixer speed to low and add the salt, baking soda and vinegar. Turn to high and beat for another couple of minutes until completely combined and smooth.

10. Divide the batter evenly between the two cake pans and bake for about 30 minutes, or until a thin knife or skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes and then remove cakes from the pans and place them on a cooling rack to cool completely.

11. Make the Frosting: Using an electric mixer with the whisk attachment, whip the butter and cream cheese on high speed for about 5 minutes, scraping down the bowl as necessary. Reduce the speed to low and slowly add the powdered sugar until all is incorporated. Add the vanilla and mix to combine. Increase the speed to medium-high and whip for a few minutes until the frosting is light and fluffy, scraping the bowl as necessary.

12. Assemble the Cheesecake: If needed, level the tops of the red velvet cake layers with a serrated knife or cake leveler so that the tops are level and not domed. Next, slice the cheesecake in half horizontally to create two layers. Place one layer of the red velvet cake on your serving plate. Spread a very thin layer of the cream cheese frosting over it (it creates a type of glue so that the layers stick together and don’t slide around). Top that with one layer of the cheesecake, and again top with a very thin layer of frosting. Repeat, adding the second red velvet layer, and then placing the second cheesecake layer on top, with a layer of frosting between them. Using the remaining frosting, cover the cake in frosting and decorate as desired. Refrigerate until ready to serve, and refrigerate any leftovers.

APPLE-CINNAMON MONKEY BREAD

This is a yummy recipe from Pillsbury.

2

cans (17.5 oz each) Pillsbury™ Grands!™ Flaky Supreme refrigerated cinnamon rolls with icing

1

medium tart apple, peeled, chopped

1/2

cup sugar

1 1/2

teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/4

cup butter, melted

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 12-cup fluted tube cake pan with shortening or cooking spray.

Set aside icing tubs from cinnamon rolls. Separate each can of dough into 5 rolls; cut into quarters.

Place apple in small bowl. In another small bowl, mix sugar and cinnamon. Add 1/4 cup sugar mixture to apple; toss to coat. Sprinkle half of apple pieces in pan. Roll half of dough pieces in sugar mixture; place on apples in pan.

Sprinkle with remaining apple pieces. Roll remaining dough pieces in sugar mixture; place on apples. Pour melted butter over top.

Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until golden brown across top. Cool 10 minutes; run knife around edge of pan to loosen. Place heatproof serving plate over pan and turn over; remove pan. Cool 10 minutes longer.

Drizzle reserved icing over top of bread, allowing some to drizzle down sides. Pull apart to serve; serve warm.

ALMOND JOY BROWNIE BITES

• Brownie batter (homemade, from a boxed mix, whatever is your favorite. I used Ghirardelli)
• 4 cups sweetened shredded coconut
• 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
• About 4 dozen almonds
• Chocolate candy melts or almond bark

1. Preheat your oven according to brownie recipe directions and generously spray two mini muffin pans with nonstick spray. Fill cups about 1/2 full with brownie batter and bake according to directions. When brownies are done, place pans on a cooling rack and remove brownies once cooled completely.
2. In a medium bowl, combine coconut and sweetened condensed milk. With clean hands, roll coconut mixture into balls and press onto tops of brownie bites. Press an almond into the top of each. Place brownies in the freezer to harden for about 15 minutes.
3. Melt almond bark or candy melts according to directions. Remove brownies from freezer and dip the tops in the chocolate. Place dipped brownies on a wax paper lined baking sheet and refrigerate until chocolate is set.

Note: This recipe and picture are from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen.