Experiments

I had a day off today.  That means I get to rest.  Ya, who am I kidding?  I finished up all the Christmas stuff and then made a large mess in the kitchen experimenting with some cookie ideas.

A friend suggest peanut butter and gum drop cookies.  They turned out well, but nothing special for me.  Chopping up those big gum drops was a pain, but everything went together without a problem.

My wife Dawn came up with an idea: Skor Bits Cookies, but take the Skor bits out (stay with me) and replace them with Red Hots.  Very good.

I got a bag of candy cane bits.  So I took a brownie mix and mixed the candy bits into it.  They basically just melted and sank to the bottom.  8(  Much less mint flavor than I expected.  So I topped the brownies with melted Andes mints.  That worked OK.

What I should have done is just baked the brownies and then made a frosting that was minty and put the candy cane pieces into it.

Then I made Rice Krispie Treats but put mini-chocolate chips and chopped dried cherries in them.  That worked very well.

Finally, I made a recipe for sugar cookie cake.  I de-dairy-ed it by using silken tofu instead of cream cheese.  And used browned butter icing on top.  It turned out OK.  But not as good as I hoped.

Turkey meatloaf with avocado

1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup onions
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 large egg
Salt and pepper
1 lb ground turkey breast
1-2 ripe avocados
8 oz tomato sauce

Mix the ketchup, breadcrumbs, onions, garlic, and basil.  Add turkey and egg.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Put 1/2 of the meat mixture into a bread pan (we use a disposable aluminum one), making a well down the middle.

Cut avocados into pieces and put into the well you made.

Top with the rest of the meat mixture and shape into loaf.

Pour tomato sauce over loaf.

Cover and cook in slow cooker on high for 3 hours.  The meatloaf is done when the internal temp reaches 165F.  (We usually let it go all day while at work.)

Allow meatloaf to rest for 10 minutes before cutting.

Personal Sized Baked Oatmeal with Individual Toppings

Personal Sized Baked Oatmeal with Individual Toppings

Gluten-free

2 egg substitute

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups applesauce, unsweetened

½ cup banana, mashed (about 1 banana)

½ cup honey

5 cups Old Fashioned rolled oats { I used Bob’s Red Mill}

2 tbl coconut flour

1 tbl ground cinnamon

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 ¼ cups almond milk

Toppings: Dried cranberries, blueberries, cherries, butterscotch chips.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix eggs, vanilla, applesauce, banana and honey together in a bowl.

Add in oats, coconut flour, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and mix well with wet ingredients.

Finally pour in milk and combine.

Spray a couple of muffin tins with cooking spray or use cupcake liners. Pour mixture evenly into muffin tin cups.

If using toppings add them onto the tops of muffins now. If using fresh or frozen fruit, drop it right into the batter.

Bake 30 minutes until a toothpick in center comes out clean.

Cool and enjoy or freeze them in gallon freezer bags.

Notes:

• About 150 calories per cup depending on the toppings.
• My attempts make about 22 normal-sized cakes.

The World's Best Chocolate Oatmeal Cake

So I started with the The World's Best Chocolate Oatmeal Cake and did an experiment with it.

I substituted oat flour and coconut flour for the regular flour.  Many times, when I de-gluten-ize a cake recipe, I have an issue with the center not cooking all the way while the outsides are done.  So I used my all-edges brownie pan instead of a standard 9x13 pan.

Then I ditched the boiled frosting and did a simple peanut butter topping.

The result was very good.  Structural integrity was high.  Taste was very good.  There is a slight coconut taste, but more of a "what's what I taste" more than anything.

The World's Best Chocolate Oatmeal Cake - De-gluten-ized

Original recipe from Pinch of Yum, recipe from Mimi’s Grandma

1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 eggs, lightly beaten with fork
1 cup gluten-free oat flour
3/4 cup coconut flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup gluten-free rolled oats
1 3/4 cups boiling water
10 oz bag chocolate chips

1 bag Reese's Peanut Butter Chips
1/2 cup Margarine (1 stick)

Boil the water and add to oatmeal.  Let sit for 10 minutes while you do the rest of the mixing.

Preheat oven to 350.

With an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugars. Add the eggs and mix well.

Add flour, soda, salt and cocoa and mix until just incorporated. The batter will be very thick.

Add softened oats and water to the batter and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips.

Pour into a greased or buttered rectangular 9×13 cake pan.

Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes or until the surface springs back lightly when touched and your house smells amazing. Do not overbake. Let cool completely.

For the frosting, melt the margarine and peanut butter chips over low heat, stirring frequently until melted.  Pour over cake.