Blonde Bean Bunny Brownies

So, the idea popped into my head to do a more grown up non-chocolatey brownie, because I am not overly fond of the brownie. Sue me! I do the chocolate for my boy. With some research on black bean brownies, I decided to do a pseudo-blondie. They were kind of thrown together last minute as my plans for baking last week kept getting thwarted by work. I will say that I am pleased with them, and would only add some white chips and/or dried cranberries to them. Hmmm. I still have a can of beans in the pantry........

Blonde Bean Brownies

70 grams coconut flour

4 ounces melted coconut oil

4 ounces agave nectar

4 ounces white chocolate

2 flax "eggs"

1 can cannellini (white kidney) beans, drained and rinsed

splash of vanilla

1/8 chopped pistachios

Melt coconut oil in a glass measuring cup in the microwave. Add white chocolate and microwave for an additional 90 seconds. Remove and stir until chocolate and oil are mostly combined. Add agave to this mix and then pour into the bowl with the beans. Using a hand held blender, puree the beans and liquid until smooth. Add flax eggs and vanilla, and blend some more. Stir in by hand the flour (my alternate to cocoa) and chopped pistachios. Bake in a greased whoopie pie pan at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes or in a 9 x 11 greased pan for about 35 minutes. Cool completely.

Ratio Rally Cookies

A few weeks ago, my mother and I were discussing what cookies I could make for the cookie walk at our church's Snowflake Jubilee. I have made cookies for this event every year (this is the fourth year), and they rarely sell. Mom suggested a festive shortbread of some sort as she didn't have any shortbread yet. I do love shortbread, and needed something to play with for the ratio rally so I dove in.

The first batch was a by the book (Ratios) ratio of 3:2:1 (flour:fat:sugar) for a chocolate shortbread that was good, but not quite the flakiness that I look for in a shortbread cookie. Mom suggested increasing the butter/fat, and she was right. The new ratio was 3:3:1, and it makes the most heavenly cookie. So heavenly it shouldn't be in my house as I can't resist.

For more recipes from this month's Gluten Free Ratio Rally please go check out Caroline of The G-Spot.

Candy Cane Shortbread

60 grams coconut flour

60 grams white rice flour

30 grams arrowroot starch

60 grams powdered sugar

6 ounces butter, softened

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, and grease a 8x8 or 9x9 with cooking spray. Set aside. In your large mixing bowl (I used a stand mixer), combine flours and sugar. Keep the beater running on low while adding the butter a bit at a time. This is similar to how I make scones. Your batter should look like this....

Pat the batter down in the pan with your hands. It should be as even a thickness as you can manage. Bake for 20-25 minutes. The edges should be starting to turn brown. Don't worry that the dough feels a bit soft to the touch. It will be okay.

Candy Cane "Frosting"

3/4 Cup Andes Peppermint Crunch baking chips

Dump on top of the warm shortbread, and let sit for about 5 minutes. Taking a knife or spatula spread the chips out until they make a lovely variegated frosting.

Let cool for another 15 minutes. Cut into 16 pieces of roughly the same size. Don't eat them all at once!

Ratio Rally Cake

It is that time again! A fabulous group of bloggers taking on the world of ratios, specifically cake! Rhulman's ratio for a sponge cake is fairly basic 1:1:1:1 (egg, sugar, flour, butter). Mine came out almost exactly that ratio! If you want to see other cakes, and I know you do, click on the Rally button above. :)

I started with this recipe from Gingerlemongirl as the push for my cake. Oh, heck. The real impetus as usual was the Monkey. He wanted something with apricots and blueberries. As usual, I tried to oblige him.

In playing with ideas, I decided to keep it sort of white and added in some of my favored coconut flour. I can't seem to stop myself. I created a peach-apricot filling as the peaches were going bad. I am now wondering if it wouldn't be better incorporated into the cake, and then drizzled over the top of the frosting. I will, also, note that I used granulated sugar. Not my first choice, but my Whole Foods has stopped carrying my coconut palm sugar. And I wasn't feeling creative in the sweetener department.

White Cake

100 grams white rice flour

80 grams coconut flour

50 grams arrowroot starch

120 grams granulated sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon guar or xanthan gum

1/4 Cup coconut oil, melted

3/4 Cup + 3 Tablespoons non-dairy milk

2 medium eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 apricots

blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray angel food cake pan and set aside. In a large bowl, mix together coconut oil, milk, eggs and vanilla. In a medium bowl, pour each of the measure flours, baking powder, baking soda and gum. Pour slowly into wet mixture blending until just combined. Pour into prepared pan, and smooth out the top. Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes. Remove from oven and cool in pan.

Apricot-Peach Filling

2 medium peaches

2 small apricots

1/4 Cup powdered sugar

1 Tablespoon non-dairy milk

1 Tablespoon agave nectar

Boil peaches and apricots in water over medium heat. Let cool on cutting board. Remove peels and pits before placing in blender with powdered sugar, milk and agave nectar. Puree until combined and there are no chunks left. Place in an airtight container in the fridge overnight.

White Chocolate Buttercream

2 1/3 Cups powdered sugar

3-4 Tablespoons non-dairy milk

4 Tablespoons unsalted butter or non-dairy substitute

2/3 Cup white chocolate morsels

In a small bowl, melt chocolate and about 1/2 a Tablespoon of butter in the microwave for about a minute. Remove, stir, and microwave for another 30 seconds. Measure out 1 1/2 Cups powdered sugar in mixing bowl. Add white chocolate and butter. Mix well. Add milk a tablespoon at a time alternating with 1/4 Cups of powdered sugar. The frosting should be of a medium consistency.

Assemblage:

While still on the pan insert, slice cake horizontally. Remove top to paper towel and then place bottom on plate. Poke holes in the bottom with a fork. Spread apricot-peach filling over the bottom layer liberally. Let sit, and spread some more. Place top on, and begin frosting. Place your remaining 2 apricots, sliced thinly, in a pretty pattern on top of the cake leaving room for a small mound of blueberries around the mouth of the cake.

Remember since this is a buttercream with fresh fruit it should be refrigerated. Enjoy!

Coconut Scones

I have recently been buying up great quantities of the amazing Almond Joy creamer from International Delights. It is a limited edition, which means that I need to consume as much as possible before it goes away. Right?! Yes, I have an addiction to both coffee and creamer, and this month's Ratio Rally baked good goes perfectly with both. Given my current obsession, it is natural that my brain went immediately to coconut. Coincidentally enough one of my very favorite things in the whole world.

I don't remember the first time I ever had a Mounds or an Almond Joy or even that first taste of sweet coconut. I do remember the first time I had haupia at Camp Paumalu on the island of Oahu. It was the most amazing, melt in your mouth treat I had consumed in a long time. That was 1989. I remember when See's Candies re-introduced the Coconut Special for their anniversary. It was all luscious flaked coconut, honey and dark chocolate. I, also, remember the first time I made a German Chocolate cake for my library school roommate's birthday. It wasn't pretty, and the cooked frosting had odd bits of egg in it. She loved it though. See? I have a thing for coconut.

The first thing I will tell you is that there isn't an official ratio for scones. They aren't really a biscuit (and my biscuit like, slightly doughy versions are going to make lovely pudding), and they aren't really a bread or a Scottish pancake. I had no idea that I would spend 30 minutes researching drop scones in an effort to make something the monkey liked. He wasn't overfond of my first version, which is what you are getting here. They were to mushy, I believe he said. Upon further discussion, he just didn't like the flavor or texture of the curd. Good enough. I tried something else. You aren't getting that recipe as it still needs tweaking, and my grocery bag of ingredients is empty. Maybe another time. Again, he made the suggestion that they would be better with chocolate. What wouldn't be made better with chocolate, really?



The recipe that I based this off of is from Betty Crocker for Ginger-Lemon scones. I have made it a number of times using the recipe as is and the lemon curd I have linked below. It is wonderful, which is why I wanted to do something similar here. The ratio works out to be 3:1:0.5 (flour:liquid:fat). With my choice of coconut flour, I found myself using twice as much liquid as called for due to its ability to absorb a lot of liquid. This is alright though as others had much success with the 3:2:1 ratio or in my case I still have that .5 fat. That makes them less fattening, right?

Make sure to go and see all the other scone recipes!

Coconut Scones with Pineapple Curd

150 grams coconut flour
90 grams sweet white rice flour
90 grams arrowroot starch
50 grams coconut palm sugar
40 grams flaked coconut
3 teaspoons baking powder
300 ml coconut milk beverage
1/3 Cup butter, chilled
1/4 teaspoon coconut extract

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In mixer bowl, combine flours, starch, sugar, coconut, and baking powder. Cut in the butter slowly by cutting off small rectangular pieces of the butter, and dropping them in while the mixer runs on low. It should resemble a crumbly mixture in the bowl when it is done. Don't over mix. Slowly add in the milk and coconut extract. Mix until well combined, and the dough has formed a ball or is just sticking to the paddle. Divide the dough in half. Roll the first half into a 7 inch round on a greased cookie sheet. Spread 1/4 to 1/2 Cup pineapple curd over the top to within an inch of the edges. Roll the other half of the dough out into a slightly wider circle, and place on top of the curd. Pinch/press the edges together to keep everything looking pretty. Score the top into 8 slices remember to cut short of the curd layer. Bake at 400 for 35-45 minutes. Glaze while warm. Serves 8.

Glaze:

2/3 Cup powdered sugar
3-4 teaspoons coconut milk
1/8 teaspoon coconut extract

Stir all ingredients together until smooth. Drizzle over the tops of warm scones.


Pineapple Curd (based off this Lemon Curd recipe)

240 grams sugar
3 eggs
1/4 Cup butter, melted
4 ounces pineapple puree

Using a handheld blender or small food processor, puree enough pineapple tidbits/chunks/rings to make 4 ounces of liquid. In a medium pan (because a soup pan is to small), whisk your eggs until they are broken up. Stir in the sugar. Add pineapple puree and melted butter. Cook over a medium-low heat, whisking constantly about 15 minutes or until it has thickened. Let it cool in the pan, and then refrigerate overnight.

Note: Ideally, the double boiler method called for in the original recipe is what should be used. I am not in possession of such an item, and my homemade attempts at one often leave me with food on me and the floor.

Coco-Mac Shortbread

About a month ago, I had this idea for a coconut macadamia shortbread. Went looking in my Shortbread cookbook, and decided to alter the peanut butter-molasses recipe. The first attempt was tasty, but you really couldn't taste the macadamia butter as I put it inside the batter. I forced myself to eat the entire batch. I have been pondering what to do to make it better, and decided to make it layered like the one in the book. Very, very tasty! I had planned to put this on a goody tray, but I am not sure it will be making it out of the house.


Coco-Mac Shortbread

1/4 Cup unsalted butter, softened
60 grams brown sugar
2 Teaspoons vanilla extract
40 grams coconut flour
20 grams arrowroot starch
30 grams macadamia nuts, chopped
10 grams flaked coconut
50 grams macadamia butter


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a small pie plate with plastic wrap and set aside. In a medium bowl, cream the butter until it is light and fluffy. Add brown sugar and vanilla extract. Scraped down the sides of the bowl. In a small bowl combine coconut flour and arrowroot starch. Gradually add to larger bowl until just combined.

Press half the dough into the prepared and refrigerate for 10-15 minutes. While it is chilling, chop the macadamia nuts. Mix the macadamia butter, coconut and nuts together in a bowl. Set aside. Remove pie plate from the fridge. Take the first half out of the pan with the plastic wrap. Press other half of the dough into the bottom of the pan. Spread macadamia butter mixture over the bottom layer. Turn out the second half of dough on top. Press it down so that it meets and seals the edge. Bake for about 20 minutes or until slightly golden. Cool. Slice into 8 wedges. Serve.

I know I show it with chocolate sauce, but honestly it is best straight out of the pan!