Recipes

Pull Apart Oat Rolls

by Crystal on March 15, 2013

Guest post from Brigette Shevy

In my opinion, not many things in the food realm are better than homemade bread. It can take an average weeknight dinner into the gourmet category, and these rolls are no exception!

This is a simple, healthy dinner roll recipe that my family really enjoys… and I love how quickly they can be whipped up, thanks to the help of my faithful bread machine.

This recipe makes a large 9″x13″ pan of 24 rolls, but that isn’t a problem at my house considering how fast they disappear! If you can’t eat them all at once, you’ll be happy to know that they freeze well and reheat beautifully.

The addition of oatmeal and whole wheat flour gives these tall, fluffy rolls a hearty boost! I sometimes substitute wheat germ or wheat bran in place of some of the whole wheat flour for a little different twist.

If you love homemade bread, but don’t have a lot of time to spend in the kitchen – this recipe is for you!

Recipe for Pull Apart Oat Rolls

Makes 24

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 ¼ cups hot water
  • 3 Tablespoons butter, cubed
  • 2 Tablespoons honey
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • 1 ½ teaspoons salt
  • 1 ½ cups quick oats
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 packages instant active yeast (1 ½ Tablespoons)
  • Melted butter for tops of baked rolls

DIRECTIONS:

Combine all ingredients in a 2-lb bread machine in the order listed. Run the dough cycle (if your machine has an option of dough cycles, choose the “short” one).

Roll into 24 balls (if dough is too sticky, flour your hands and/or add extra flour as needed) and place in a greased 9″x13″ pan. Let rise 30-45 minutes.

Bake 350 degrees for 18-22 minutes, or until golden brown (cover with foil if necessary the last few minutes to prevent overbrowning).

Brush tops of warm rolls with melted butter immediately. Serve warm with butter.


These rolls are the perfect accompaniment to just about any meal.

Brigette is a full-time wife and mother who is blessed with three amazing bundles of energy (ages 6, 4, and 2). She enjoys music, experimenting in the kitchen, homeschooling her children, finding great deals, long-distance running, and anything chocolate.

{ 101 comments }

Spaghizza Recipe

by Crystal on March 01, 2013

Guest post from Brigette Shevy

This budget-friendly, freezable recipe is a favorite at our house! It’s a unique twist on pizza and spaghetti that’s simple to put together and can be made up ahead of time. I often serve this when we have company with small children… and it always goes over well.

When I got married, I was given a copy of the family cookbook from my husband’s family – with all kinds of relatives contributing their favorites. This is my version of a recipe I discovered in that collection. It’s an easy recipe to be creative with. Try using different cheese combinations, switching out the spaghetti noodles for another kind of pasta, or adding your favorite pizza toppings in place of the pepperoni. I’ve also made this with brown rice pasta to make it gluten-free. It just depends on what you like – and what you have on hand.

Since I started having my children take turns planning and helping me make dinner on Friday evenings, Spaghizza shows up quite regularly at our dinner table on Friday night.
If you’re looking for a new recipe that’s made from staple ingredients, is simple to make, and picky-eater-appealing… here you go!

Spaghizza

Makes 8 servings

INGREDIENTS:

  • 8 ounces spaghetti noodles
  • 3 eggs
  • ¼ cup milk
  • ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
  • 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper
  • 2 ½ cups spaghetti sauce (one 23.5 ounce jar)
  • 8-12 ounces (2-3 cups) shredded cheese (all mozzarella, or a mixture of your favorite pizza-friendly cheeses)
  • 3.5 ounce package sliced pepperoni or any of your favorite pizza toppings

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cook the spaghetti noodles according to the package directions until al dente. Rinse immediately in cold water until cool and drain well.

In a medium-size bowl, whisk eggs and milk. Add parmesan cheese and seasonings.

Toss in spaghetti noodles and transfer to a greased 9×13 pan (you can also use 2 8×8 pans, if you want to freeze one for later).

Pour the spaghetti sauce on top of noodles. Top with approximately half of the pepperoni. Sprinkle the shredded cheese on top of the pepperoni and top with remaining pepperoni. Sprinkle with additional parmesan cheese if desired.

Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting.

Brigette is a full-time wife and mother who is blessed with three amazing bundles of energy (ages 6, 4, and 2). She enjoys music, experimenting in the kitchen, homeschooling her children, finding great deals, long-distance running, and anything chocolate.

{ 40 comments }

Homemade Freezer Biscuits Recipe

by Crystal on February 27, 2013

Say goodbye forever to canned biscuits. This recipe is a winner. It’s quick, easy, inexpensive, and so practical. Best of all, you control what ingredients go in it, unlike canned biscuits that you buy at the store.

My little biscuit-making helper!

Homemade Freezer Biscuits

  • 4 cups flour
  • 2 Tablespoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup shortening, butter, or coconut oil (I used all coconut oil in the last batch and it worked well, but they did taste a little coconut-y.)
  • 1 3/4 cup milk

Mix dry ingredients together. Add in the shortening or butter and mix until crumbly. (If you have one, you can use a KitchenAid or food processor to save time and effort). Add in the milk and mix until a ball forms.

Roll out onto a floured surface and cut into biscuits.

To Freeze: Freeze on a cookie sheet for 1-2 hours. Then remove and place in a airtight freezer bag.

To Bake: Pull the desired number of biscuits out and let thaw for 30 minutes to an hour. Bake at 450 degrees for 8-12 minutes. You can bake them straight from the freezer but they won’t rise much.

Makes 24 biscuits. Recipe adapted slightly from Favorite Freezer Foods.

{ 93 comments }

Apple Butter Muffins

by Crystal on February 21, 2013

I found this Oatmeal Applesauce Muffin recipe online recently and knew I had to try it. Since I was out of applesauce, I used apple butter.

I tweaked a few other things and wasn’t sure how it would turn out, but we ended up loving these. I froze some of them and reheated them today and they were still delicious.

If you don’t have apple butter on hand, I’m sure you could use applesauce. But we thought the apple butter gave these a rich flavor.

Apple Butter Muffins

  • 1 cup rolled oats
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup apple butter (I used this delicious homemade apple butter recipe.)
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup raw sugar (or brown sugar)
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/4 cup raisins, optional

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Mix together oats, milk, apple butter, and eggs.

Whisk together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Stir in raisins.

Spoon muffin mixture into greased muffin pan. Sprinkle tops of muffin batter with sugar. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until done.

Makes one dozen muffins. Freezer-friendly.

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Easy Whole Wheat Muffins

by Crystal on February 15, 2013

Guest post from Brigette Shevy

My family loves these simple muffins!

They consist of only a few staple ingredients, making them extremely frugal and easy to make. They are also a lifesaver for those day-before-grocery-shopping emergencies where you really need something else to serve with dinner, but your cupboards are almost empty (of course, we’ve never had any of those moments at my house. Ha!). Or when you have you realize you have milk about to expire and are looking for a way to use it up.

Just for the record, I also make this recipe when my pantry is fully stocked and my milk isn’t close to expiring – because they’re good.

These muffins are surprisingly moist, even though they don’t have any oil or butter in them. So for those of you trying to watch your fat intake, use low-fat buttermilk, and this recipe can be your new best friend. If you’re not watching your fat, feel free to slather them with butter or coconut oil like some of us do around here.

They are relatively healthy without tasting like it (I LOVE those kinds of recipes!). I adjust the amount of sugar depending on what I am serving them for. For breakfast, we prefer them sweeter. If you’re using them to go along with your dinner, I would suggest decreasing the sugar.

This recipe came from a dear older lady at my husband’s childhood church. She has since gone to be with the Lord, but her legacy and her recipes live on.

The last time I made these, my six-year old said: “Mom, I wish you would make these muffins every single day for the rest of my life!” If your family likes this recipe half as much as she does – it will still be a winner!

Easy Whole Wheat Muffins


Makes 18 muffins

INGREDIENTS:

  • ½ – 1 cup sugar (Depending on your taste preference. I never use a full cup.)
  • 1 egg
  • 2 cups buttermilk*
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 1 cup white flour (you can substitute additional whole wheat if you prefer)
  • ½ teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Beat the egg and sugar together. In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients together. Add to the egg mixture, alternating with the buttermilk, until combined. Put in greased muffin tins and bake 15-20 minutes.

These can be stored in a Ziploc bag at room temperature for 1-2 days (make sure they are completely cooled before putting them in the bags). If storing for longer than that, keep them in the refrigerator or freezer.

*I almost always use homemade buttermilk: I put 2 tablespoons of lemon juice or vinegar in a 2-cup measuring container, and fill the rest with milk.

Brigette is a full-time wife and mother who is blessed with three amazing bundles of energy (ages 6, 4, and 2). She enjoys music, experimenting in the kitchen, homeschooling her children, finding great deals, long-distance running, and anything chocolate.

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Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake Pie

by Crystal on February 08, 2013

Guest post from Brigette Shevy

This is my go-to favorite Valentine’s Day dessert!

You can serve it anytime of the year, of course, but the combination of rich cream cheese, smooth indulgent chocolate, and tangy red raspberries makes it absolutely perfect for this holiday.

This “cheesecake” is much less intimidating to make than a “real” cheesecake. No worries about it cracking or falling apart. It is super easy to put together, but it looks impressive and always wins rave reviews. Most importantly, it tastes amazing!

My family first discovered this recipe in October of 2000 (I called my mom, the Queen of Numbers, to ask about where this recipe came from – and she passed on that little tid-bit of information!) on the inside of a store-bought Keebler pie crust.

Since then, we have served it countless times (actually, my mom might know how many times… but I forgot to ask!) to probably hundreds of people. We’ve used it for banquets, dinner parties, and even our family Thanksgiving celebrations.

People LOVE it!

Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake Pie

Makes ones 8-inch pie

INGREDIENTS for Cheesecake:

  • 1 (8-inch) store-bought graham cracker crust – chocolate or regular*
  • 1 cup frozen or fresh raspberries
  • 6 ounces cream cheese
  • 1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 egg
  • 3 Tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

INGREDIENTS for Chocolate Glaze:

  • 2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate (I use 1/3 cup chocolate chips)
  • ¼ cup whipping cream (or milk)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Arrange raspberries on the bottom of the crust (if using frozen raspberries, do not thaw; if using fresh, make sure they are not wet).

Beat together cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk until smooth. Beat in egg, lemon juice, and vanilla. Mix well.

Carefully pour on top of the raspberries.

Bake 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes, or just until set. Cool completely.

Melt the semi-sweet chocolate and whipping cream together over low heat, stirring often (I do this in the microwave).

Pour over the cheesecake. Chill several hours before serving.

*NOTE: If making your own graham cracker crust, keep in mind that this recipe is designed for an 8-inch pie pan (and many pie pans are 9-inch). If you use a 9-inch, you will probably have to adjust the cooking time (and obviously, the finished product will be slightly thinner).

What are your favorite Valentine’s Day desserts?

Brigette is a full-time wife and mother who is blessed with three amazing bundles of energy (ages 5, 3 and 1). She enjoys music, experimenting in the kitchen, homeschooling her children, finding great deals, long-distance running, and anything chocolate.

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Oatmeal Pecan Pancakes

by Crystal on February 01, 2013

Guest post from Brigette Shevy

Valentine’s Day is an all-day celebration at our house! My children spend hours making table and wall decorations, writing homemade cards, and dreaming up red-and-pink-themed menus (not all of which are actually usable/edible!).

We like to start the day off with a special breakfast – and these hearty, filling pancakes are always a hit! They are fairly simple to make, but the toasted pecans add that “special” factor. You could even make them heart-shaped if you’re feeling extra ambitious! Serve them with a side of red berries to incorporate the Valentine’s color scheme.

The recipe is adapted from my mother-in-law, and is one my husband especially enjoys. These pancakes are a little bit healthier and a whole lot heartier than traditional pancakes, making them especially yummy during the cold winter months.

For my pancake-loving family, nothing says “I love you” like waking up to a big plate of Oatmeal Pecan Pancakes, served with lots of butter and real maple syrup! 

Oatmeal Pecan Pancakes

Makes 10-12 medium size pancakes

PANCAKE INGREDIENTS: 

  • 1 ½ cups quick oats
  • ½ – ¾ cup whole wheat flour (or all-purpose)
  • 2 Tablespoons powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups buttermilk*
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • ½ – ¾ cup chopped pecans, toasted**

TOPPING INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 Tablespoons powdered sugar
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon

*In place of buttermilk, you can put 2 Tablespoons lemon juice or vinegar in a 2-cup measuring container. Add milk until it gets to the 2-cup line, and let the mixture sit for 5 minutes before using.

**To toast pecans, sprinkle them on a buttered cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Watch them carefully so they don’t overbrown.

DIRECTIONS:

In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the oats, ½ cup flour, powdered sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Whisk in the eggs, buttermilk and vanilla and mix well.

Add additional flour if needed (if using “homemade” buttermilk, you will probably need to add the entire amount of flour). Stir in the toasted pecans.

Cook on a buttered griddle over medium heat. Mix together the topping ingredients. To serve, spread hot pancakes with butter, sprinkle with topping ingredients, and drizzle with warm maple syrup.

I hope your family loves these delicious pancakes as much as we do!

Brigette is a full-time wife and mother who is blessed with three amazing bundles of energy (ages 5, 3 and 1). She enjoys music, experimenting in the kitchen, homeschooling her children, finding great deals, long-distance running, and anything chocolate.

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How to Get Three Meals from One Chicken

by Crystal on January 24, 2013

Guest post from Katie of Kitchen Stewardship

There’s no arguing with the fact that a whole chicken is just about the most frugal meat you can buy. But is it a waste to pay for all those bones?

Won’t your family eat more meat if you serve a whole chicken than if you serve a casserole with a few cut-up chicken breasts? Plus, how often can you serve roast chicken? You’d get tired of it once a week. Right?

Actually, I respectfully disagree. I think a whole chicken is the best meat purchase there is, even if it’s not on sale (gasp!).

Keep reading to learn how I get three meals plus leftovers plus ingredients for even more meals, all from one chicken – and I’m not going to roast it at all.

Meal #1: Chicken & Veggie Stir Fry

I’m no butcher, and I’ve never learned the trick of cutting up a whole chicken into chicken parts. All those bones!

But I do “harvest” the meat from my whole birds sometimes. I use kitchen scissors and hack away at the breast, snipping out bite-sized pieces that are perfect for a stir fry or pasta dish. It’s not pretty – don’t worry, I’m not including photos – but it works, and it doesn’t take all that long because I’m not seeking perfection. I just get some meat out for dinner number one.

It’s titled “Veggie & Chicken Stir Fry” because I don’t have a whole chicken breast for each person, so I make sure I’ve got lots of nourishing vegetables to round out the meal, and some cooked brown rice to go with it.

I always used to follow a recipe when I made stir fry, but now I just follow a pattern:

1. Cook chicken in a little bit of sesame or olive oil over medium-low heat until no pink is left in the center. Season it while stir frying with salt, pepper, and spices that sound good that day. I love to mix up ginger, cumin, sometimes curry and often a dash of cayenne. Sometimes I just use simple Italian seasoning and garlic powder.

2. Remove the chicken to a plate – you don’t want it to get tough.

3. Add veggies, starting with the ones that take longest to cook and cutting the others while the first ones are in the pan: onions and bell peppers, then carrots and broccoli stems, then pea pods and broccoli tops. If I have zucchini or some greens, like spinach or kale, those go in near the end. A stir fry is a great way to use up the veggies that are about to go bad in your crisper drawer, so it’s a money-saving meal because you don’t throw the money you already spent on groceries into the garbage.

4. Season the veggies in the same way as the chicken, then add the chicken back in to heat it up for the last few minutes.

5. Serve over rice with a soy sauce (I buy ones that don’t have any high fructose corn syrup in them).

Meal #2: Chicken Rice Soup

After I “harvest” that bit of breast meat, I put the rest of the whole chicken into a big old pot, cover it with cold water and a little vinegar, and let it sit for an hour. Then I bring it to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook it all night long on low.

After lunch, I’ll add onions, celery, carrots, and garlic for another hour to finish off the homemade bone broth, and for dinner that night, we’ll have a simple chicken rice soup – in the same pot the stock was just in, because I hate doing dishes!

We usually end up using about half the broth and two cups of chicken, which leaves me with 4-8 cups more broth to stock my freezer and at least another two cups chicken for the next night’s meal.

Meal #3: Chicken with Rice and Green Beans

This dish is a new family favorite that couldn’t be simpler.

I reverse engineered it from a casserole recipe that called for chicken breasts, onion soup mix, instant rice, and lots of butter. I kept the butter and ditched everything else, remaking the processed part of the meal into a whole foods recipe that I feel great about putting on the table.

Because I know my weekly menu plan in advance, I would have made a double batch of rice with the stir fry two nights ago. And since there’s already cooked chicken from the stock-making endeavor in the fridge, I can put together this recipe in less than half an hour, with only 5-10 minutes active work time!

Recipe for Chicken with Rice and Green Beans

from Better Than a Box

Ingredients:

  • 1 stick butter
  • 2 medium onions, chopped (about 1-1 ½ cup)
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper
  • ½ teaspoon turmeric
  • ½ teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon parsley
  • ¼ teaspoon celery salt (or seed)
  • 2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 2 cup fresh green beans, cut in 1-inch pieces (about ¾-1 pound), or 2 cups frozen green beans
  • 2 cups shredded cooked chicken
  • 3-4 cups cooked brown rice
  • 1 cups shredded cheese (cheddar, mozzarella, whatever you have on hand, optional)

Directions:

In a cast iron skillet or other heavy-bottomed pot, melt one stick of butter. Sauté the onions over medium to medium-high heat until translucent, at least 10 minutes. This browning step is what will add much of the flavor, so if you have time to cook them 20 minutes, it’s worth the wait. Feel free to cover them to speed the process along.

Add green beans and stir to saute them lightly. Add the garlic, salt, pepper and all the other seasoning to the onions and green beans. Stir around for a minute or two to release the aromas of the herbs, then add the cooked rice and cooked chicken plus optional cheese.

Stir and cook over medium low to heat through, and serve immediately.

Three frugal, simple meals, all from one whole chicken.

If I’m lucky, I might even have another cup or two of chicken to freeze for the future, and remember I already have a few jars of stock ready for another meal.

The best part is yet to come: Did you know you can actually reuse the chicken bones for another batch of stock, and even a third? You should be able to get at least a half gallon of “seconds” broth which is great for white chicken chili, stir fry sauces, and other uses where the broth doesn’t have to be the spotlight, and the “thirds” work for cooking rice, adding to spicy chili, and mixing with “firsts” for any soup.

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Looking for more ideas on simple, frugal, and healthful recipes? My new ebook, Better Than a Box: How to Transform Processed Food Recipes into Whole Foods Favorites, teaches many frugal tips for simplifying real food cooking, like the ones in this post, but in more depth. If you liked the Chicken with Rice and Green Beans recipe, it’s in there, too, with a lot more variations.

Better Than a Box is on sale through Friday, January 25th at 8 a.m. for the launch celebration price of $1.99 or for just $0.99 on Kindle. The PDF download also includes the Kindle and Nook files, as well as free printable recipe cards, a how to cook dry beans printable and a cheat sheet for that chicken stock I mentioned in this post, as well as other handy dandy charts and tips. Regular pricing starts Friday.

Katie Kimball is a mother of three from Michigan who spends a ton of time in the kitchen making real food with whole ingredients and then blogs about her successes and failures at Kitchen Stewardship.

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Freezer Cooking in an Hour: Homemade Freezer Biscuits, Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins, & Twiced Baked Taco Potatoes

by Crystal on January 17, 2013

I had a late start to my Freezer Cooking in an Hour session yesterday because I had some projects I had to finish before dinner. But it all ended up working out — despite the late start!

6:00 p.m. — Started on the Twice-Baked Taco Potatoes. I had already scrubbed and baked the potatoes and made the taco filling earlier in the day, so I sort of cheated there.

But an opportunity to “multi-task” opened up while Kathrynne and Kaitlynn were working independently on a writing project, so I just seized it. And when 6 p.m. rolled around and it was time to start on the potatoes, I was grateful.

6:13 — Jesse gets home. We chat about our days while I finish scooping all the insides of the potatoes out and mashing the filling together. Jesse sends the kids to get their PJs on (we often have them get ready for bed before dinner so that we can just focus on family time during and after dinner and then they can just brush their teeth and go straight to bed).

6:20 — Kaitlynn still had some homeschooling to finish and Jesse said he’d help her with it, so I stopped to show him what she needed to work on. They sat at the kitchen table and read together and worked on her handwriting while I finished up the potatoes. It was fun to have Jesse read Little House on the Prairie while I cooked. Kathrynne couldn’t resist coming in to listen, too.

6:25 — Finally done with the potatoes and I do a quick tidy of the kitchen.

6:30 — My trusty pajama-clad kitchen helper pulls up a chair to make the Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins with me. We practice counting while measuring and dumping the ingredients in.

6:37 — The muffins are ready to go into the oven and just about everyone gathers around to lick the remains of batter from the bowl. I can tell it’s going to be a well-liked recipe!

6:40 — I stop to join in Jesse and Kathrynne’s conversation about whether or not to pull her tooth. The tooth is practically hanging by a thread, but she’s determined not to pull it yet. We have fun teasing her about it.

6:43 — I start in on the Homemade Freezer Biscuits while everyone else sets the table and does a quick pick-up of the house before dinner. The biscuit recipe is so simple and doesn’t make all that many so I’m done fairly quickly and it’s time for dinner. It’s been a busy and productive day and I’m ready to sit down and enjoy some Twice Baked Taco Potatoes for dinner!

The Final Tally:

Homemade Freezer Biscuits — Made a dozen. I baked one and was very impressed with this recipe. SO good with homemade Apple Butter — yum! I think I’ll triple it next time around.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins — Made 16 muffins. These were delicious. I used half whole-wheat flour in them and they were still a hit.
Twice Baked Taco Potatoes — I doubled the recipe and it made enough for three dinners for us (including last night’s meal). We may use these for quick snacks/on-the-go lunches, too. Most everyone really liked this recipe.

See more Freezer Cooking in an Hour sessions here.

Did you do any freezer cooking this week? If so, tell us about it!

{ 41 comments }

German Chocolate Cookies — Gluten and Dairy Free

by Crystal on December 18, 2012

Guest post from Michelle of The Willing Cook

Christmastime can affect all of our senses; the smells and tastes of baking cookies, the twinkling of simple white or brightly colored lights, the warmth of a glowing fire.

Nothing says Christmas to me like trays full of brightly decorated sugar cookies, pumpkin rolls, wedding cookies, date bars, plum pudding, gingerbread bars, and on and on. I’m sure that I’m not alone.

Just because you or a loved one has food allergies does not mean that you cannot also enjoy these yummy holiday treats.  You just have to have the right recipe, the safe ingredients, and the will to make something delightful!

I’m coming along side you today to do just that.  I’ve created a German Chocolate Cookie that is free of gluten, dairy, eggs, peanuts, and a few other common allergens.  I promise that you’ll love every single chocolatey, icing-topped bite!  {My husband ate about a dozen of these cookies in the first 24 hours.  He has a lot of willpower to resist foods that make him sick.  But when it comes to allergy-safe foods that are delicious too, he loses all control.  That makes me happy!}

Feel free to leave off the icing if you want.  My son preferred the chocolate wafers over the iced cookies {I’m not sure why any person would not like icing!}.

German Chocolate Cookies

Cookie Ingredients: 

  • 2 eggs or EnerG Egg Replacer (3 tsp powder + 4 Tbsp water)
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 2/3 cup oil
  • 1 Tablespoon allowed milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 3/4 cup oat flour, certified gluten-free (Make your own homemade gf flours.)
  • 3/4 cup tapioca flour
  • 1/2 cup brown rice flour
  • 1/3 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Icing Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup powdered sugar (make corn-free sugar by grinding granulated sugar in a coffee bean grinder)
  • 2 Tablespoon shortening or allowed butter/margarine
  • 2 Tablespoon maple syrup
  • 2 Tablespoon allowed milk
  • 1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
  • 1/4 cup chopped pecans (optional – leave out for treenut allergy)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Whisk egg or egg replacer in a mixing bowl until frothy. Add brown sugar, oil, milk, and vanilla; mix until well combined.

Measure dry ingredients into mixing bowl with wet ingredients; mix until combined. Batter should be thick and pliable. Drop cookie dough by tablespoon onto parchment lined cookie sheet and lightly flatten into 1/4 to 1/2-inch thick cookie shape with a rubber spatula (the shape/size will not change too much while baking).

Bake for 7-9 minutes; cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes, then remove to cooling rack.

To make icing, combine the powdered sugar, shortening/butter, maple syrup, and milk until it forms an icing consistency. Add extra milk if icing is too thick, or extra powdered sugar if icing is too thin. Mix in coconut and pecans (optional). Spread icing on top of baked cookies. Allow icing to harden a little — if you can wait that long. Enjoy!

To Freeze:

Option 1: Make the cookie batter according to the recipe. Form into a log and wrap tightly with parchment paper, then plastic wrap. Place in a freezer bag and freeze. When ready to cook, thaw out batter slightly and slice into cookies. Place on cookie sheet and follow directions above for baking and icing.

Option 2: Form cookie dough balls and flash freeze in a single layer on a cookie sheet for about 30 minutes, then transfer to a freezer bag. When ready to cook, remove desired amount and allow to thaw slightly in order to flatten/form into cookie shape. Bake and ice according to recipe instructions.

I do not recommend freezing icing.

Whip up this allergy-safe recipe for your Christmas festivities and enjoy all the season has to offer!

Michelle is blessed to stay home with her three children (ages 10, 7, and 4), while her husband works to provide. When she’s not experimenting with allergy-friendly meals, she’s blogging about it at The Willing Cook. Through the Willing Cook, her hope is that you gain peace of mind in your kitchen (and your pocket book) and are able to serve those you love who suffer with food allergies.

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