I tried to hold out on the cookie dough truffle craze. I really did. But all the cookie dough recipes floating around blogs these days and now a whole cookie dough cookbook wore me down.

Anyone who’s tried gluten-free baking knows that—while the baked result may be delicious—gluten-free flours make the raw dough taste horrible. That’s a problem for truffles where the whole point is to be eating raw dough. Thankfully, almond flour has virtually no flavor and works perfectly in this recipe.

You can use almond flour or almond meal interchangeably in this recipe. You could even get away with 1 cup of almond butter in a pinch if it’s not too oily.

Gluten-Free Cookie Dough Truffles

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 24 truffles):

For the dough:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups almond flour or almond meal
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips or chocolate shavings

For the coating:

• 1 cup semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
• 2 Tablespoons coconut oil(butter or shortening would work, too)

Method:

1. Cream together the butter, brown and powdered sugars.
2. Mix in the vanilla, salt, and almond flour.
3. Fold the chocolate chips into the batter.
4. Roll ounces of dough into 1-inch balls and put them into the refrigerator or freezer to chill.
5. Melt the chocolate chips for the coating in your microwave or over a burner.
6. Add in the coconut oil and stir until smooth and runny.
7. One by one, dip the chilled dough balls into the melted chocolate and turn them to coat.
8. Place the truffles onto a non-stick surface to cool.
9. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Serve at room temperature.

Now I get what all the fuss is about.

Over the weekend I made Christmas cookies. In May. But really, who’s complaining when there’s cookies involved?

This recipe was actually one of the very last ones I made before I got my first DSLR cameras. Since then I’ve been meaning to make them and take pictures again. I somehow never got around to making them last Christmas so now I’m fixing that mistake.

I had a friend help me make these and take some home afterwards. Clearly one of the best things about Christmas cookies is making many many dozens and giving them away to friends and family(but also keeping a stash for yourself because—hell—you baked them and deserve some cookies, too).

The one special piece of equipment you need to make pizzelles is a pizzelle press. The one I used is made by Cuisinart. You can easily use this recipe to make non-gluten-free pizzelles by substituting regular all purpose flour in for the gluten-free mix in a 1:1 ratio.

Gluten-Free Pizzelles

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 20 pizzelles):

• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup neutral flavored oil
• 2 teaspoons anise extract
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour mix

Method:

• Beat all of the ingredients together in a large bowl until smooth.
• Heat an electric pizzelle maker according to manufacturer’s instructions until it’s ready to cook.
• Take about an ounce of dough and roll it into a smooth ball in between your hands. Place the ball on the center of the pizzelle press, doing the same for both sides if your machine is double sided, and press the cover down.
• Cook for about 45 seconds to a minute or until your pizzelle maker says that the cookies are done.
• Lift the lid and carefully move the cookies to a separate plate to cool using a fork or other tool.
• Repeat until all of the dough is used.
• Store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to a few days.

These are definitely too good to save just for Christmastime. My family’s favorite way of eating them is with a cup of coffee or tea and cream and dipping the edge in to soften right before each bite.

There are few things better than fudge or candy, except maybe fudge that tastes like candy.

Coconut tends to be one of those touchy flavors; people either love it or hate it. Alone I think it’s pretty good—nothing special. Combine it with chocolate and sugar, though, and you’ve got a clear winner. This fudge has a standard chocolate base but with a layer of coconut-white chocolate fudge on top, topped with an almond. If you omit the almonds it’ll taste just like a Mounds bar.

The best part about this dessert? It can all be made in the microwave so you can enjoy it any time. OK, maybe that’s not such great news…

Almond Joy Fudge

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 16 servings):

• 1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons semi-sweet or bitter-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons coconut milk
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
• 1/3 cup shredded coconut, sweetened or unsweetened
• 16 almonds

Method:

1. Melt the chocolate chips in a microwave or over the stove.
2. Mix into the melted chocolate 2 Tablespoons of butter, 3 Tablespoons of coconut milk, and 1/4 cup of sifted powdered sugar until the chocolate is smooth.
3. Pour the fudge into the bottom of a non-stick 6×6 pan. Put the pan in a refrigerator temporarily to cool the chocolate.
4. Melt the white chocolate using the same method, keeping an eye on it making sure that it doesn’t burn.
5. Mix in the remaining butter, coconut milk, powdered sugar, and coconut until smooth.
6. Take the pan out of the refrigerator and spread the coconut layer on evenly(It won’t be runny but shouldn’t be too solid to spread either).
7. Place each almond about an inch apart in a 4×4 square pattern.
8. Refrigerate the fudge for 20-30 minutes until it’s solid. Cut into 16 squares with an almond at the center of every square and serve cold.

By itself the top layer tastes too much of white chocolate(I wasn’t aware that was even possible) to be like the coconut center of a Mounds Bar. But eaten together the chocolate and coconut fudge taste eerily similar to the candy joy. You might want to use an even larger pan such as 8×8 for flat rectangular pieces of fudge.

And as long as we’re on the topic of coconut and chocolate, recently I updated the recipe page for Homemade Mounds Bars with better pictures and easier to read steps. It’s one of the most pinned dessert recipes I have so I can’t be the only one who thinks they’re amazing.

You know what’s a sign of a good cookie recipe?

When you consider not baking them at all and just eating the batter.

I couldn’t resist trying out this recipe when I saw it online. I mean—peanut butter, peanuts, peanut butter chips, and peanut butter candies? Where can you go wrong? The next time I was at the store I made sure to pick up all the mix-ins; I’m down for any excuse to keep peanut butter chips in the pantry. Always.

To make them gluten-free, I used my favorite and easiest peanut butter cookie batter; there’s no wheat(or even butter!) necessary for these rich, melt-in-your-mouth cookies. I’d recommend if you’re using a non-stir peanut butter to melt it slightly in the microwave before mixing it with the other ingredients.

Quadruple Peanut Cookies(adapted from this recipe)

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 18 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 20 cookies)

• 1 cup peanut butter
• 3/4 cup cane sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup Reese’s Pieces
• 1/4 cup peanut butter chips
• 1/4 cup salted peanuts

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
2. Combine all of the ingredients together evenly into a thick batter.
3. Roll 1 ounce of dough into a ball in your hand and place it on a lined or greased baking tray. Press down on the dough in a criss-cross pattern with a fork gently
4. Bake for 15-18 minutes until the sides are browning.
5. Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool completely before taking them off the baking tray.

These cookies don’t disappoint at all. They’re definitely a must-make for any peanut butter lovers. If you don’t have peanut butter chips, I’m sure chocolate chips would be a great substitution as would chopped Reese’s peanut butter cups for the Reese’s Pieces.

Whenever I get an urge to make cupcakes, I don’t even question what flour I’ll use. Coconut flour by far makes the best and lightest gluten-free cupcakes around.

I’d like to say I chose carob because it’s exotic and unique but honestly I picked up carob powder by mistake one day and never figured out what to do with it before now. Since I’m not the biggest fan of carob, I wanted to add mint to distract the flavor a bit. I think the two balanced well to make a tasty cupcake. Of course you could always sub in cocoa powder for the carob powder and these’d be just as good.

The frosting I used was a mint chocolate buttercream. It wasn’t perfect but not a failure, either. Definitely not paleo like the cupcakes. For a first go at chocolate buttercream, I’d say it was a success, even though my frosting talent has a long way to go.

Mint Carob Cupcakes

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 35 minutes

Ingredients(Makes a dozen cupcakes):

• 3/4 cup cup coconut flour
• 4 eggs
• 2 egg whites
• 6 Tablespoons carob powder
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 cup almond milk(or any other milk)
• 2 teaspoons mint extract

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line 12 cupcake holders with paper liners.
2. Mix together the coconut flour, eggs, egg whites, carob powder, honey, almond milk, and mint extract in a large bowl.
3. Scoop the batter evenly into the cupcake liners. Hit the pan against the counter a few times to even the batter and knock out any air bubbles.
4. Bake for 30-35 minutes until the tops are firm to the touch.

They’re really too good to know they’re gluten-free.