Homemade Chewy Spiced Chocolate Chip Cookies

The other day, I blogged about a boxed chocolate chip cookie that I spiced up with some cinnamon and Marx Foods Organic Aji Amarillo Peruvian Chile powder . I was thinking that it would be fun to develop my own perfect chewy chocolate chip cookie from scratch. Not only did I finally make the perfect cookie, but I spiced it up again! I am really excited about the final product. Hopefully you are, too!

These cookies are thin, chewy, and soft! We made them last night, and they are still soft today!

Homemade Chewy Spiced Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yield: approx (45) 3" cookies

8 oz unsalted butter, very soft

1/4 cup Sugar

1 1/4 cup Brown Sugar (preferably homemade, recipe follows)

2 Eggs

2 Tbsp Milk

2 Cups Rice Flour

1/4 cup Cornstarch

2 tbsp Potato Starch

1 tsp Xanthan Gum

1 tsp Baking Soda

1 tsp Marx Foods Organic Aji Amarillo Peruvian Chile powder, or to taste

(directions for making chile powder can be found HERE)

3/4 tbsp Cinnamon, or to taste

pinch of Salt

1 1/2 cups Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cream butter and sugars together until the mixture is thick and pale, and the sugar is dissolved. Add the egg one at a time, incorporating one before adding the 2nd. Add the milk. Whisk all of the dry ingredients together in a bowl, and add them into the butter mixture slowly. Once the dough is cohesive, add the chocolate chips. Taste the dough to determine of you would like to add more spice.

Spoon the dough onto baking sheets and bake for 8-10 minutes, or until slightly browned. Allow the cookies to cool on a cooling rack.

If you prefer to omit the spices to have a more traditional cookie, replace them with about 2 tsp of vanilla.

***Please note that pregnant women or the elderly should avoid tasting the raw dough, as it contains raw egg.***

*Homemade brown sugar is really easy to make! Pour about 4 cups of sugar into a food processor, add approx 1 1/2 tbsp blackstrap molasses and buzz the food processor for about 3 minutes, or until all of the sugar is coated and turns brown. Please feel free to add more or less molasses, depending on how dark or strong you want it.

Spiced Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cookies are a very personal thing. Everybody has a favorite cookie. Is it thick or thin? Crispy or soft? Cakey or chewy? What kind of cookie is it? Sugar? Snickerdoodle? Chocolate Chip? I firmly believe that a person's favorite cookie is the one their momma made for them when they were little. I know mine is.

My mom made thin and chewy chocolate chip cookies. I've always loved them. I remember taking bites of them, with the chocolate chips gooing out onto my chin. I loved the slight crispness of the outside, and the tender inside. I loved the brown sugar taste, and the little bit of grit between my teeth that the small amount of white sugar provided. I can still remember the slight tang of baking soda, too.

Unfortunately, the cookies of my past are just that. In my past. I've tried to recreate them..."tried" being the operative word. I haven't found the perfect recipe yet. Every time I try, I end up with a thick, pillowy cookie. My husband loves them....and I hate them.

Enter Betty Crocker. Oh how I love that woman...whoever she is. Within the last few months, Betty Crocker (General Mills) has introduced a selection of gluten free goods. While I haven't yet tried all of the products, I have tried the chocolate chip cookie mix. I know what you are thinking. A mix? Really?....... Yup. It's true. I like it. A lot!

While they're not an exact replica of my momma's cookies, Betty's cookies come awfully close. They don't have the baking soda bite, and they are a bit thinner than the ones of my childhood, but they are beautifully chewy. I really like that.

So, to mix things up tonight, instead of making the cookies as suggested on the package, I decided to get a little crazy. I thought, "why not spice these puppies up?". So I did precisely that.

I have some really nice, organic chiles from Marx Foods. I have quite a few of them, and decided to make some homemade chile powder using the Organic Aji Amarillo Peruvian Chiles. Marx has a step by step instructional page on how to make your own chile powder HERE. These guys are spicy, so be super careful not to inhale the powder...that isn't so much fun! I also used some quality cinnamon in them, which made for a really nice, complex cookie.

Spiced Chocolate Chip Cookies

Betty Crocker Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix

1 stick of softened Butter

1 large Egg

splash of gluten free Vanilla

2 pinches of Marx Foods Organic Aji Amarillo Peruvian Chile powder

a few shakes of good quality Cinnamon

Method:

Follow the instructions on the cookie mix box. Add in the chile powder and cinnamon to taste. Taste the dough before adding too much spice, and add slowly, mixing and tasting again after each addition to make sure you don't go overboard. I like to have an immediate taste of cinnamon, with the slight burn and flavor of chiles after the initial taste. Bake the cookies according to the instructions on the box, however I do like to take the cookies out a minute or two early, so they stay softer. Be aware that the chile flavor tends to get stronger after baking.

Make sure to allow the cookies to cool on a cooling rack to firm up.

Eat, eat, eat! You can share too, if you want :)

Graham Crackers

So my husband and I went camping a couple of weekends ago, and of course needed S'mores makins. We have a store nearby that sells delicious gluten free graham crackers, but they are darn expensive. Like almost a dollar per cracker. Since these crackers are not gold plated, I've decided I'd better make my own from now on.


The crackers I make are super tasty, and they look just like regular graham crackers! They are just a bit thicker (puffier) and I think have a softer, cakier texture than the glutenous store bought ones. I love them, and so does my husband! When you make these, you are welcome to sprinkle some cinnamon sugar on top or whatever!

These s'mores have chocolate, marshmallows, ice cream and peanut butter!
SO GOOD!!!

Gluten Free Graham Crackers

2 1/4 C Flour Mix
3/4 tsp Xanthan Gum
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 C packed Brown Sugar
Pinch Salt

7 Tbsp cubed Butter (must be butter-no margarine, and must be cold)

3 Tbsp Honey
1 tsp Vanilla
3-4 Tbsp cold Water

Mix together the dry ingredients, and using your fingers, work the butter in. The butter should end up being about pea sized or a bit smaller, just as if you were making pie dough. Add the liquid ingredients, and mix until you have a ball of dough. The dough will seem dry, but if you think it is too dry, then you can add a bit more water, 1 Tbsp at a time. Gather the dough into a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least one hour, up to a day. This will allow the butter to chill, and the dough to absorb more moisture.

Preheat your oven to 325*.

Roll out the dough by placing it on a silpat or parchment paper the size of the baking sheet pan you will use. Lay plastic wrap over the top of the dough and roll it out to about 1/8"to 1/4". The plastic wrap over the dough will allow you to roll out the dough without sticking to your rolling pin. Try to roll the dough into a rectangle to fit your sheet pan.

Place the dough, still on the silpat or parchment paper, onto your baking sheet. Score the dough into squares with a plastic knife, so as to not cut through your silpat. If you want to add cinnamon sugar, now is the time to do so.

Bake your crackers for about 12-15 minutes, until they start turning a golden color. Once out of the oven and cooled a bit, break the crackers apart following your scored lines. Once cool, if you notice that they are still too soft, and you want them crunchier, you can put them back in the oven to toast a bit, similar to making biscotti. Watch them closely, so you don't burn them!

Voila! Graham Crackers!

Arepa BBQ Sandwich

During the summertime, my craving for BBQ sandwiches increases. This is my first summer eating gluten free, so it has been an adventure trying to convert all of my favorite recipes. I knew what I wanted, but was not feeling up to making sandwich buns. Enter the Arepa. This little puff of corn goodness is so easy to make, and is more than satisfactory in place of a bun. I used the same technique to make the Arepas that Shauna taught us, so I will not re-post a recipe for that, since she has done such a good job on it. The only change I made was instead of cooking them on a skillet or flat top first and then baking them in the oven, I just lightly oiled the outsides and popped them straight into the oven on a baking sheet. Super simple. I baked them for maybe 20 minutes...pretty much the time it took me to cook up the BBQ pork.

Arepa BBQ Sandwich

Technique for Arepas HERE

For the BBQ pork, I just took a pound or so of cubed pork and cooked it up with some sauteed onions, and added my favorite GF bottled BBQ sauce along with some salt, pepper and garlic powder for some extra spice. So easy! I then split the arepas with a thin knife and piled on the pork!! MMM, so tasty!

Lemon Herb Chicken with Vegetable Brown Rice

When times are hard, cooking becomes not only a talent or hobby, but a therapy as well. It allows you to plan and execute an entire meal while forgetting about your worries. All thoughts are on your food. Once complete, there is a certain satisfaction in seeing your food, tasting it and sharing it.

This meal was exactly that for me. Relatively quick to make and super tasty, it allowed me to focus on one goal--making dinner for my family, and to let all of my other stresses and worries aside for a few minutes. To me, cooking is a different world, a respite from life and its challenges. At the end, what a wonderful reward!

Lemon Herb Chicken with Vegetable Brown Rice

This meal is simple to make while also being refreshing on a hot summer's night. The lemon and herbs go beautifully together, while the veggies add a nice crunch. If you wish, you may shred the chicken from the bone and toss it together with the rice.

Chicken:

5 large pieces of bone-in Chicken, breast and thighs

1/4 C Olive Oil

Zest and juice of 1 large Lemon

Herbs: Thyme, Red Pepper Flake, Fresh Basil, Salt and Pepper-all to taste, and a couple shakes of your favorite chicken grill seasoning (optional)

Rice:

1 cup Brown Rice

1 cup Chicken or Veggie Stock

1 cup + 1 Tbsp Water

assorted veggies, I used Carrot, Zucchini and Onion--all diced small

Salt and Pepper to taste

If you have bone-in chicken with the skin still on, you may want to remove the skin. It's your call (I did). Set your chicken on a broiler pan, and broil them about 5 inches away from the heating coil for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown. In a bowl, whisk the oil, lemon zest and juice and herbs/spices together well.

Begin the rice by bringing the liquids together in a medium pot to a boil, then add the rice, lower your temp to medium low and cover with a lid. Once the rice begins to soften, maybe after about 10 minutes, add the veggies to soften with the rice with the lid on. Once finished, stir in the salt and pepper.

Once the chicken is finished broiling, let it rest on the counter for a few minutes, then toss the pieces in the lemon herb sauce. Plate up the chicken over a bed of rice, and using a ladle, drizzle the rest of the lemon herb sauce over each plate.

Cozy up to the one you love, and enjoy the new window air conditioning unit you just bought...hehe!

Indian Rice Pudding

This is one of my favorite recipes. It cooks in a jiffy, so it is perfect for last minute get togethers, yet it is homey enough to be comfort food. Eat it warm or cold, it is a treat for all!

*

*April in Colorado is usually our snowiest month, and this year seems to be no exception. I made this last week when I needed something to warm me up from the wet, heavy, snow-filled nights and again today to cool me off when it hit 65 degrees. *

*Indian Rice Pudding

3 Cups cooked rice (I prefer Jasmine rice)
1 Can (15 oz) Coconut Milk, 1st pressing
3 Cups Milk (I use soy)
1 Cup Sugar (white or brown...or both!)
2 Tbsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Ginger
1 tsp Nutmeg
Splash GF Vanilla
Large handful Currants, Raisins, or other Dried Fruit
Large handful toasted Almonds, slivered
Pinch of Salt



*In a large pot, cook rice according to package directions. Add the rest of the ingredients, and while whisking, heat it to just before a boil. Take it off of the heat while still a bit soupy.


*That's it. No joke. The rice will soak up the rest of the liquid over time.


*Eat it warm-soothing, relaxing, comforting
*Eat it cold-a great breakfast, dessert or midnight snack



*cooks note-change up the qty's of the sugar and spices to go along with your tastes. Use agave instead of sugar or brown rice instead of jasmine! Go crazy!