Gluten Free Mocha Fudge Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

December 29, 2013 · by ·

cookie-bars

Have I told you lately how much I love cookie bars? Cookie bars make my life easier. They make it so I don’t have to get a cookie scoop or an extra tablespoon dirty. I don’t have to shape anything. I don’t have to roll anything. I place the dough or batter in whatever form, in to a pan. And then I bake. It’s that simple.

Can I tell you about something else that is also amazing and makes my life easier? Prepared Cookie Dough. Gluten Free Pillsbury Cookie Dough. It comes in a tub. Whoa! It’s also amazingly delicious. Everyone who tastes the cookies that come out of this prepared cookie dough can’t believe that it’s gluten free. Pillsbury has also released a few other gluten free options. I can’t wait to try them all.

I know that I just shared some gluten free cookie bars with you made with this same dough. I had to use the dough again though. I needed to see what else could be done with it.

I decided to make another layered cookie bar. I had some sweetened condensed milk in my pantry and I’ve been meaning to make some fudge with it for a while now. I decided to make some mocha fudge to layer on to the chocolate chip cookie layer. I’ve been told that it’s super easy to make fudge using a can of the sweetened condensed milk. And it is easy. And it comes out amazing.

I preheated the oven to 350. Then, I pressed the cookie dough in to a sprayed 9×13 glass baking dish.

pressed-dough

I baked the cookie dough layer in the oven for about 11 minutes, until I saw it begin to brown.

While the cookie layer baked, I made the fudge layer. I heated up the sweetened condensed milk in a heavy pan and mixed it with some chocolate chips. I let everything melt and and incorporate in to each other. I mixed in some instant espresso powder.

Once that mixture was ready, I poured it over the baked chocolate chip cookie layer. Holy deliciousness! I smoothed the fudge layer and sprinkled over some toffee pieces.

pouring-fudge

I made sure the pan was cool and then I placed it in the fridge to cool and set for a few hours. Then I dug in. Amazing! So rich and decadent. And super easy to make. Definitely put this on your next gluten free dessert list!

finished-bars

**This post was sponsored by Pillsbury. The recipe and content are my own. 

Gluten Free Mocha Fudge Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Dessert, Gluten Free
Ingredients
  • 1 tub of Pillsbury Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
  • 1.5 cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
  • 1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
  • 3 tbsp. Instant Espresso Powder
  • 2-3 tbsp. Toffee Bits (optional)
Instructions
  1. Press the cookie dough in to a sprayed 9x13 baking dish.
  2. Bake the cookie dough in the oven for about 11 minutes.
  3. Remove from oven and cool.
  4. While cookie layer bakes, prepare the fudge layer.
  5. In a heavy bottomed saucepan, mix the sweetened condensed milk with the chocolate chips and instant espresso powder. Cook over low heat until everything is melted and mixed together.
  6. Pour mocha mixture over the baked cookie dough.
  7. Sprinkle toffee bits over the mocha fudge mixture. (optional)
  8. Let pan cool.
  9. Place cookie bars in refrigerator to cool and set. Should take 2-3 hours.
  10. Slice and enjoy!

cookie-bars

Filed Under: bars, chocolate, Dessert, Gluten Free, recipes · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Mocha Pound Cake

May 21, 2013 · by ·

I am slowly conquering my fear of baking cakes from scratch.

I am sheepishly admitting here that in the past, I have been known to simply doctor cake mixes in to creations of my own. I had no idea that it was so easy to create a cake of your own. I’ve made a few cupcakes here and there, but by and large I have stuck to Duncan Hines and Betty Crocker.

Until last week.

mocha pound cake

Last week, I made some chocolate brownies from scratch! Whoa! They came together super fast, and actually tasted pretty good! Who knew?

So the other day, when I was working on my chocolate crouton recipe for the Kosher Connection link-up post, I decided to come up with something on my own. I will admit that I did look for a chocolate pound cake at Trader Joe’s. I couldn’t find it. So I made my own. I decided to turn it in to a mocha pound cake. I was so amazed with the results, I had to share the recipe.

Mocha Pound Cake – (adapted from King Arthur)


Ingredients:
1 stick butter, room temperature

1.5 cups sugar

3/4 tsp. salt

2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. baking powder

2 tbsp. instant espresso powder

2 tsp. cinnamon

2/3 cup cocoa

2 tbsp. sour cream

3 large eggs

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup milk

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Coat a loaf pan with cooking spray.

mocha cake batterIn a mixing bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, salt, vanilla, baking powder, espresso powder, cocoa, cinnamon and sour cream.

Beat in the eggs slowly.

Add in the flour and milk. Mix well – so that all the ingredients are combined.

cake batter in panPour the batter in to the loaf pan.

Bake the cake for an hour at 350°F. You may need an additional 5-10 minutes. The cake may be a little moist on top. That’s ok. Let the cake cool in the pan for a bit.

Remove the cake from the pan and let cool further.

I turned my cake into croutons. Check it out here!

mocha pound cake

 

Mocha Pound Cake
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Ingredients
  • 1 stick butter, room temperature
  • 1.5 cups sugar
  • ¾ tsp. salt
  • 2 tsp. vanilla
  • ½ tsp. baking powder
  • 2 tbsp. instant espresso powder
  • 2 tsp. cinnamon
  • ⅔ cup cocoa
  • 2 tbsp. sour cream
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1¼ cups all purpose flour
  • ¾ cup milk
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
  2. Coat a loaf pan with cooking spray.
  3. In a mixing bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, salt, vanilla, baking powder, espresso powder, cocoa, cinnamon and sour cream.
  4. Beat in the eggs slowly.
  5. Add in the flour and milk. Mix well - so that all the ingredients are combined.
  6. Pour the batter in to the loaf pan.
  7. Bake the cake for an hour at 350°F. You may need an additional 5-10 minutes. The cake may be a little moist on top. That's ok. Let the cake cool in the pan for a bit.
  8. Remove the cake from the pan and let cool further.

Filed Under: Dessert · Tagged: , , , , ,

Warm Berry Compote with Mocha Pound Cake Croutons

May 20, 2013 · by ·

Today’s recipe is part of the Kosher Connection link-up. The Kosher Connection is a group of food bloggers who happen to be kosher and are working hard to bring amazing flavors to the kosher community. This month’s link-up theme is croutons.

When I first saw the email, I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical. What can I do with croutons that I haven’t done before? I’ve made soup croutons before, and those were pretty awesome. I like croutons in my salad as well. Those have been done before, and I wanted to do something different. My daughter suggested cotton candy croutons. Not sure that’s workable. It did lead me on a quest for sweet croutons.

berry compote and chocolate cake croutons

I knew my croutons had to include chocolate. I came up with a mocha pound cake recipe that is perfectly suited for croutons. You can use your own favorite chocolate pound cake recipe or even a store-bought chocolate pound cake.

My original intention was to pair the croutons with a warm pudding dish. As I was discussing this dish with my family this morning, a warm compote was recommended. I’ve never made compote before, but I warmed up to the idea. I quickly ran over to my fruit & vegetable market and picked up some berries.

While this recipe has a few steps involved, it is totally worth it. This dessert was amazing. Will definitely make this again.





Warm Berry Compote with Mocha Pound Cake Croutons

berries for compote

Warm Berry Compote
Ingredients:

1 cup strawberries

1 cup raspberries

1 cup blackberries

3/4 sugar

juice of one lemon

1 tsp. corn starch mixed with 1 tsp. water
Directions for the Compote:

Place all of the ingredients, except for the corn starch slurry, in a sauce pan on the stove on medium-high.  Stir everything together until the mixture begins to boil.

Once the mixture is boiling, add in the corn starch mixture.

Turn down the heat and keep cooking and stirring. The berries will begin to disintegrate and the mixture will thicken a bit. Cook the compote on medium low for about 10-15 minutes, stirring every so often. Keep the compote on low until you are ready to serve

 

Chocolate/Mocha Pound Cake Croutons



Ingredients:

chocolate croutons1/2 – prepared and cooled pound cake loaf

baking spray

Directions for the Chocolate Croutons:

Preheat the oven to 350.

Cut up the pound cake in to 1-2 inch squares.

Lay the pound cake pieces on a sprayed baking sheet in a single layer.

Bake in the oven for 5-7 minutes. Flip cake squares over and bake another 4-5 minutes.

Remove from oven and cool slightly. You may notice that the cake croutons seem a bit soft when you pull them out of the oven. They will crisp up as they cool.

Serve the berry compote warm with some vanilla ice cream and the yummy chocolate croutons.  Enjoy!

berry compote with chocolate croutons

Warm Berry Compote
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Ingredients
  • 1 cup strawberries
  • 1 cup raspberries
  • 1 cup blackberries
  • ¾ sugar
  • juice of one lemon
  • 1 tsp. corn starch mixed with 1 tsp. water
Instructions
  1. Place all of the ingredients, except for the corn starch slurry, in a sauce pan on the stove on medium-high. Stir everything together until the mixture begins to boil.
  2. Once the mixture is boiling, add in the corn starch mixture.
  3. Turn down the heat and keep cooking and stirring. The berries will begin to disintegrate and the mixture will thicken a bit. Cook the compote on medium low for about 10-15 minutes, stirring every so often. Keep the compote on low until you are ready to serve.

 
Mocha Poundcake Croutons
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Ingredients
  • ½ - prepared and cooled pound cake loaf
  • baking spray
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350.
  2. Cut up the pound cake in to 1-2 inch squares.
  3. Lay the pound cake pieces on a sprayed baking sheet in a single layer.
  4. Bake in the oven for 5-7 minutes. Flip cake squares over and bake another 4-5 minutes.
  5. Remove from oven and cool slightly. You may notice that the cake croutons seem a bit soft when you pull them out of the oven. They will crisp up as they cool.
  6. Serve the berry compote warm with some vanilla ice cream and the yummy chocolate croutons.
  7. Enjoy!



Filed Under: Dessert · Tagged: , , , , ,
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