Puppy Chow Candy

You guys will probably think I've lost my mind, posting a back-of-the-box recipe like this. The reason I'm sharing it is because it's quick, easy, and can be made gluten free. And there just might be one or two of you out there who haven't tried it. Sure, it's technically junk food, but it's not all THAT bad. I even made it with coconut oil instead of butter so it's vegan. Points for that, right? Plus, this recipe is very child-friendly, which is ideal for anyone who has young budding chefs eager to help out in the kitchen. Not to mention, it's pretty dang yummy.

For anyone who may not know what Puppy Chow Candy is, it's essentially Chex® cereal mixed with melted chocolate and peanut butter, then sprinkled with powdered sugar. It takes literally 10 minutes to make, and the mess factor is kept to a minimum so cleanup isn't that much of a hassle considering melted chocolate and powdered sugar are involved.

I know the Chex® people have a trademarked name for this recipe, but I like Puppy Chow better than Muddy Buddies®, so that's what I'm calling it. Plus, I don't want to have to keep adding the ® symbol, especially since I'm not even sure if I'm doing it correctly.

Ingredients:

9 cups Rice Chex® (you could actually use any flavor of Chex® cereal, the corn and rice varieties are gluten free)
1 cup chocolate chips (I used 60%, but the original recipe calls for semisweet)
1/2 cup peanut butter (I used the all-natural kind you have to stir)
1/4 cup coconut oil (original recipe calls for butter or margarine)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Measure out the cereal into a large bowl. Then, place the coconut oil, peanut butter, and chocolate chips in a bowl and melt, either in the microwave or using a double boiler. Add in the vanilla extract and stir until smooth.

  

Pour the melted chocolate mixture over the cereal and toss to coat. Once it's all evenly mixed in, put half in a gallon-sized plastic food storage bag with 3/4 cup powdered sugar and shake until the pieces are evenly coated. Repeat with the remaining Puppy Chow and sugar (or, if you have a 2 gallon bag you can fit it all in at once).

  

Spread the Puppy Chow out on sheets of wax paper to cool, and once dry I store mine in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

As I previously mentioned, I consider this is junk food, which is why I call it Puppy Chow Candy, lest anyone think I'm promoting it as a healthy snack. BUT, you can choose to use healthier ingredients, like all-natural peanut butter and high-quality dark chocolate, which at least makes me feel a bit better about it. Also, I'm wondering about the possibility of using maple syrup in the chocolate mixture to add the sweetness instead of coating the pieces with powdered sugar. I'm not sure if that would make it too runny, and if so how to compensate... That's one I'll need to ponder and possibly play around with later. For now, I'm sticking with what I know works. It doesn't last long in this house!

My Five for 2010

Here's a list of my top 5 favorite recipes I've posted this year. I really wanted to do a top 10 of 2010, but I didn't feel that was being selective enough since I lagged most of the year and only shared 23 recipes. These are favorites because they're gluten-free, delicious, and easy to make or worth the effort. If they're somewhat healthier that also counts to their advantage.

Narrowing it down to 10 was no problem, and picking out my top 4 was easy enough, but I really struggled with number 5. I couldn't decide between Chocolate Torte Dressed in Berries, Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cookies, or Gluten-Free Shortbread. I finally settled on the peanut butter cookies, since they're so easy to make and can be considered somewhat healthy. Also, the dough can double as a pie crust.

I really liked the Mini Lemon Tarts I made last week, even if nobody else did. They are a bit time consuming to make if you use a mini muffin pan, but that just means they're more of a special occasion type treat as opposed to a snack to keep on hand. I think they'll get better as I make them more and figure out why my filling didn't set up. I'm putting them in at number 4 since I thought they were yummy, and I see potential for playing around with different fillings.

Number 3 would have to be the Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Tarts. Again, these require a bit of time and effort, but they are so delicious.

The blueberry pie I made (several times) is my second favorite. I love the almond crust, and just thinking about the filling is making my mouth water. I'm looking forward to next summer now.

My top favorite recipe for 2010 is the Fresh Peach Cobbler. By far. This was a recipe I just kept making while there was an endless supply of Farmers Market peaches.

My top 5 favorite recipes for this year:

1. Fresh Peach Cobbler

 

2. Blueberry Pie

 

3. Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Tarts

4. Mini Lemon Tarts 

5. Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cookies

Gluten Free Banana Ganache Tart With Peanut Butter Cookie Crust

Whew, that's a mouthful, isn't it? You guys remember the peanut butter cookie recipe I posted not too long ago? Well, what I didn't tell you then was that I only baked half the recipe as cookies. The rest I baked in a 8-inch loose-bottomed tart pan, thinking it might make a good crust for the right pie.

All I did was press the cookie dough thinly, yet evenly into the base of a loose-bottom tart pan. If I had enough dough, I would have gone up the sides, but I barely had enough to cover the bottom. I baked it for around 10 minutes. Since the dough was thinner than the cookies I kept my eye on it so it wouldn't burn. It came out of the oven looking fine and smelling awesome.

As I searched the internet looking for a filling, thinking that gluten-free banana cream might be nice on a peanut butter cookie crust, but really wanting to dump a bunch of chocolate all over it, I stumbled upon a recipe for Banana Ganache on the Kitchen Unplugged blog. Only she calls it "Choco-ban-nache" which is a name I love, but won't steal. Her recipe was more traditional, with heavy cream and corn syrup, so I put in my usual substitutions.

Banana Ganche pie filling:

8 ounces chocolate (I had 60% chips in my pantry, so that's what I grabbed.)
1/2 cup coconut milk
2 very ripe bananas, pureed
2 tablespoons maple syrup (I may omit this next time, as the ganache is really sweet.)

Heat coconut milk and maple syrup over medium heat until almost boiling.

Pour over chocolate and stir until thoroughly melted.

It will go all smooth and shiny. Stir in the pureed bananas.

Allow to cool, then chill in refrigerator until a pudding-like consistency. Pour into baked pie crust then return to refrigerator and chill until set.

Slide the bottom of the pan up and out of its ring, there's a pie. Tart. Banana ganache covered giant cookie thingy, whatever.

That's honestly all there is to it, folks. It tastes a lot like my chocolate-dipped frozen bananas, but considering it's essentially the same ingredients in slightly different proportions and arranged differently, I guess that's no shock.

Now, this isn't one to make ahead of time if you want a nice crunchy crust, because it will go soft and cake-like after a day or so. It's still yummy, just more of a brownie-type texture. The banana ganache stays smooth and pudding-like. Feel free to serve with a dollop of... something. I vote for vanilla coconut milk ice cream, but I put that stuff on nearly everything.

Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cookies

I discovered these peanut butter cookies thanks to the Whole Foods Recipes app. That's easily one of my favorite apps, and it's free! I have it on my iPhone, but it may be available for other mobile devices. You can also access these recipes on the website here: Whole Foods Recipes.

Anyway, this recipe is incredibly awesome. Not just because it's for peanut butter cookies, which I love, but also because it takes so few ingredients and is so easy. I can't believe I haven't posted it on here before now. Very much my bad, sorry.

Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cookies:

1 large egg
3/4 cup sugar (I use unbleached whole cane sugar, which is why it's brown.)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon gluten-free vanilla extract

The recipe also calls for 1/3 cup chocolate chips, which is an optional ingredient that I always include because for me chocolate is not optional. But for some crazy reason I didn't include the chocolate chips this time. Temporary insanity or something, I guess.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Beat together the egg, sugar, baking soda, and vanilla with a mixer until well combined.

Add the peanut butter and continue beating until a soft cookie dough consistency.

If you're using the "all natural" kind of peanut butter that has to be refrigerated and stirred, don't over beat the cookie dough or it will become all crumbly and won't stick together. Trust me on this one.

 

Drop dough with a disher onto baking sheet and use a fork to flatten tops.

Bake for 10 minutes, until set.

Cool briefly on cookie sheet then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

That's it. Super easy, and very yummy.

Elvis Cupcakes

How can I not be totally in love with a blog called Legalize Frostitution? I first heard about the  Cupcake Royale bakery while listening to The Splendid Table. As the Sterns described the Velvet Elvis cupcake, I thought it sounded like a genius idea, only I needed it to be gluten-free.

I had grand plans to make these as healthy as possible by substituting unsalted, pureed garbanzo beans with 1 cup of the flour, using agave nectar or maple syrup instead of sugar, and replacing the butter with coconut oil. Unfortunately, when I made that batch I forgot to add the maple syrup. The inedible result took the fast track to the trash. 

With my only can of unsalted garbanzo beans gone, I had to go with a gluten-free baking mix for round two. I also went ahead and used raw sugar because I was afraid maple syrup would make the batter too runny, and I didn't want another disaster.

I'm much happier with these, but I do apologize for the out of season baking cups. I kinda had to go with what I had on hand for the second batch. And hey, Halloween is only 6 months away. Just around the corner, really.

Banana Cupcakes, adapted from Martha Stewart.

1 1/2 cups gluten-free baking mix of choice

3/4 tsp xanthan gum

3/4 cup raw sugar 

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

1/2 cup coconut oil

3 large, very ripe bananas

2 large eggs

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a standard muffin pan with gold lame baking cups. 

Whisk together the baking mix, xanthan gum, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until well combined. In a blender, puree the bananas with the eggs, vanilla, coconut oil. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir to incorporate, but don't over mix. Spoon into prepared pan while humming "Heartbreak Hotel." 

Bake for 25-30 minutes. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack. Makes 12.

Peanut Butter Icing, adapted from Ina Garten

1 cup powdered sugar (Sorry about this, guys. If I had used agave nectar the icing would have been way to thin.)

1 cup creamy peanut butter (I use the all natural kind that requires stirring up before use.)

1/2 cup coconut oil

3/4 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1/4 tsp salt

Mix together until creamy. I had to refrigerate mine before using to help it firm up. Since I use all natural peanut butter, it was pretty runny. If you use regular peanut butter, then the stabilizers will probably help with icing consistency. 

I iced half of the cupcakes with the peanut butter icing and poured chocolate ganache over top. This was messy. If I decide to do these again I think I'll unwrap the cupcakes, turn them upside down, frost the top, then glaze the whole thing like a petit four. You can tell it took me a few goes to get it right.

With the other half, I waited for the ganache to firm up and then used it as a filling for the cupcakes before icing the tops.

What? You don't believe there's really chocolate filling in there? Very well. O, ye of little faith. Sorry it's blurry. The sky was darkening due to severe weather moving in at the time, so the lighting was all off. Hey, I'll take my excuses anywhere I can find them.

Oh, yeah. I suppose I better tell you how to make the ganache, right? It's the same recipe I used for chocolate truffle filling only I left out the vanilla.

Ganache:

1 cup coconut milk

16 ounces good quality chocolate

Melt chocolate using your method of choice (microwave, double boiler). Add coconut milk and stir until smooth. Allow to cool before using as a glaze, otherwise it will melt the peanut butter icing right off the cupcake tops (read: lesson learned the hard way). If using as a filling, chill it in the refrigerator until it starts to cool and thicken. You'll just have to keep checking on it, but you want it to be the consistency of chocolate pudding, maybe a little bit thicker. 

I think the filled cupcakes look better, but that's a big glob of chocolate ganache filling to bite into! For taste, I prefer the chocolate glazed cupcakes as they're not quite so rich. Next time I think I'll try making them as mini-cupcakes and see what happens.

Want tips on how to fill and frost cupcakes? Check out my Chocolate Cupcakes post. They have Spider-Man baking cups.