We're going to make everything winter-themed to celebrate! And watch lots of Teen Mom!
Peppermint-Patty Cupcakes
Peppermint Glaze Chocolate Pudding Pie
Warm Chocolate Pudding Pies
and lord knows this does not a real meal make, so for real nourishment, a baked mac and cheese.
Peppermint-Patty Cupcakes
Cupcakes:
4 ozs unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 3/4 c Rice Flour Mix
1/4 c unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 c canola oil
1 1/2 c milk
2 c granulated sugar
Mint Topping:
4 c confectioners sugar
1/2 c light corn syrup
1/4 c vegetable shortening
2 tsp peppermint extract
Chocolate Glaze:
8 oz chopped bittersweet chocolate
1/4 c light corn syrup
1 1/4 tbsp unsalted butter
Preheat oven to 350 F.
In small sauce pan, melt chocolate over low heat. Melt slowly, stirring constantly. Set aside to let cool.
In medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and soda, salt xanthan gum. Whisk.
In separate bowl, combine milk and oil. Whisk, lightly.
In electric mixer, beat eggs and butter on medium (~5 minutes) until light and fluffy.
Blend in chocolate and vanilla.
Add 1/2 of wet ingredients at low speed, blend, add 1/2 of dry ingredients.
Repeat until all ingredients are combined.
Grease or paper-cup your cupcake trays, bake for 18-20 minutes. Let cool for another 15 before adding toppings.
For Frosting, beat confectioners sugar, corn syrup, shortening and peppermint extract until a tight paste forms. Gather into ball, wrap in wax paper and roll out piecemeal into roughly 5"x5" pieces 1/2" thick. cut through piece with cup or jar top. Set the patty atop the cupcake.
Next, for the creamy glaze, melt chocolate on stovetop. Microwave corn syrup and butter for 45 seconds, remove, whisk to combine, then add chocolate and let cool for several minutes. After topping, let set in chill setting for 20 minutes.
Peppermint Glaze Chocolate Pudding Pie
This could also be called 'mishap pie'-- we were writing out the grocery list and decided to try our hands at a gluten-free conversion for my favorite childhood cookie: The Thin Mint! I was a girl scout, and they wait until now, the most bitter, relentless time of year, to send young girls to wait in grocery store parking lots and sell these things. But today was about Kell on Earth, and cotton pajamas, and not being in the shit! So we pulled a fantastic shortbread recipe, made it chocolate, made it GF, rolled it up and put it in the fridge, and after 2 hours it still hadn't collected. Here's what we did with it:
The cookie recipe is:
1/2 c unsalted butter
1/2 c granulated sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3/4 c rice flour mix
1/4 c cocoa powder
1/4 tsp xanthan gum
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 c mini chocolate chips
and the would-be mint glaze:
8 oz chocolate, semi-sweet
2 tsp mint extract
milk, eyeballed
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and creamy.
Add vanilla, mix well.
Add flours, cocoa powder, xanthan gum and salt;
Mix until a soft dough is formed.
Mix in chocolate chips.
Gather dough onto wax paper and form into log-like shape. Wrap in wax paper and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
But that's where things went wrong, right? It was too crumbly. So we tamped it into a greased, glass pie plate and popped it in at 275 F for ~20 minutes.
While it was baking we whipped up some non-cooking chocolate pudding, boxed.
Then we melted the chocolate, added the mint extract, thinned it with perhaps a tablespoon of milk, and let it cool a bit before emptying it into the pie crust.
The crust and peppermint layer cooled for about 45 minutes, and then we added the pudding and let it set in the fridge for about an hour.
I just tasted it, and it's a freaking thin mint pie. It kind-of looks like hell, but it's tough to make pudding look formal. But the taste is unreal.
Warm Chocolate Pudding Pies
These I'm leaving for Rosie and Roland to enjoy together while I'm out of town this weekend! She'll have to report on how they are...we've been waiting to make them forever, the recipe's been sitting in our book since we began it.
1 1/2 oz chopped semi-sweet chocolate
1/2 oz unsweetened chocolate
1 tsp softened butter
+ 3 tbsp
3 tbsp sugar
1 large egg
3 tbsp rice flour mix
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
Lightly butter 2 ceramic ramekins
Melt chocolate in small sauce pan over low heat, stirring until melted.
Remove from heat and stir in 3 tbsp of butter and sugar until smooth.
Add eggs, flour, cocoa powder and baking powder.
Beat in electric mixer until pale and very thick (~5 min)
Place in ramekins, cover in plastic, and freeze for 3 hours.
Whenever you want 'em, preheat oven to 375
Bake 10 to 11 minutes until edges are set and the middle is shiny.
....Now, you KNOW all of this wasn't enough for us. As soon as we started getting together what we needed, I started grating cheese, because with this dish, the armwork is the hardest part.
Rosie and I have made this so many times, I can't overstate what a great snack it is. The original recipe is my grandmother's, so I can't share the whole, exact thing, but I'll give you all the important parts.
Baked Mac & Cheese
We used gluten-free elbows, the only appropriate pasta for mac and cheese. Thrown in a quart of boiling water for about a minute and then removed from heat and let sit, covered, for 10 minutes.
While the pasta is cooking, in a medium pot, on very low heat, melt 3 tbsp of butter. When butter is melted, whisk in 2 heaping tablespoons of rice flour mix. Then whisk in about a tablespoon of milk. One handful at a time, add in 12-14 ozs, grated, of sharp cheddar, and follow each handful with a tablespoon or so of non-fat-free milk. When all ingredients are a thick, cheesy cream, remove from heat.
After straining pasta, add in 1 tbsp of butter to keep pasta from sticking. Then stir in 1 c peas. Pour in 1/2 of the cheese sauce. Stir together in oven-safe ceramic baking dish, then add other 1/2 of cheese sauce on top. Top with extra cheese and corn flake bread crumbs
Bake at 350 F for ~35 minutes, or until edges are boiling.
Let cool before eating.
This is a mac and cheese that you simply CANNOT beat.
