Gluten Free Goodies to Spice Up Your Holidays!
The literal icing on the cake to our stay at The Inn at Langley was the insanely delicious and decadent, complimentary breakfast prepared by Amanda Leisle. I pride myself for being a breakfast connoisseur, and Amanda's creations blew me away. From the homemade granola, to the wild rice salad, to the lightest and fluffiest quiche I have ever met. We didn't stop there, the baked goods were also phenomenal. And, good news if you have a gluten intolerance - everything was gluten free!
Amanda was kind enough to share two of her recipes with me and I have already wowed friends and family with her Monster Cookies and Dark Chocolate Fig Cake....
Monster Cookies
- 1/2 cup - softened butter
- 1 cup - sugar
- 1 cup- packed brown sugar
- 1.5 cups - peanut butter
- 3 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 4.5 quick cooking oats
- 3/4 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup raisins (optional - I don't like raisins)
- 1/2 a large bag of M&Ms
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In large bowl cream butter, peanut butter, and sugars together until creamy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add vanilla extract, baking soda, and salt. Stir in oats until well combined. Fold in chocolate chips, M&Ms, and raisins if you are going with raisins.
Drop 1/2 cup full onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (I didn't have any, so just greased the baking sheet). Bake for 12 - 15 minutes until edges start to turn golden. Cool on baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling (I also didn't have a wire rack and they turned out fine).
Dark Chocolate Fig Cake
- 1.5 sticks unsalted butter
- 8 oz good dark chocolate in pieces
- 6 large eggs, beaten
- 1.5 cups of sugar
- 1 cup ground almonds
- 1 cup flour
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 2 tsp baking powder
- pinch salt
- 2 cups ripe fresh figs, chopped coarsley
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Generously grease and flour at 9" spring form pan (I just used a regular 9' round pan)
In a saucepan, over low-medium heat, melt butter. When butter is melted add chocolate and stir until incorporated. Set aside to cool slightly. While the butter/chocolate mix is cooling whip together the sugar and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Add the vanilla and mix well. Add the remaining ingredients (except for figs) and mix well. Fold in figs. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes. Top should be set and cake firm to touch. Don't over bake - the center should be moist and fudgey, slightly undercooked. Cool, and remove side of pan. Dust with powdered sugar. This cake is best after several hours of cooling....