Something hit me when I was browsing TasteSpotting a couple weeks ago: I haven’t had a cookie cake in ages. I decided right then I wanted a cookie cake at my birthday party this year, because clearly I’m 20 going on 12. But then I figured why wait? I could bake a cookie cake for any occasion.

Of course I made mine gluten-free using one of my favorite flours: Almond flour. It also just happens to be dairy-free because I was low on butter that day. The peanut butter helps to act as a binder, makes the cake richer and adds a nutty flavor. You could substitute in almond butter to work around a peanut allergy.

I liked mine slightly under-baked because it kept the inside moist and gooey almost like eating cookie dough. If you like your cookies a little crustier, I would recommend adding a few minutes onto the baking time and watching it carefully.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup almond flour
• 6 Tablespoons cane sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup natural peanut butter
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup water
• 6 Tablespoons chocolate chips

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
2. Mix together the almond flour, sugar, and baking powder.
3. Beat in the eggs, peanut butter, oil, vanilla extract, and water.
4. Gently fold in the chocolate chips.
5. Grease an 8-inch cake pan. Pour the batter in and spread it around the bottom into an even layer.
6. Bake for 20 minutes until the outside is firm and bounces back to the touch.
7. Let cool slightly before cutting in.

I thought this could have used a little more sugar, but that’s probably because I love things sweet. If you’re making this for adults, it’ll be fine the way the recipe is. If you’re making this for little children or me, I would add a 1/4 cup of sugar to the recipe.

I’m not really a fan of Valentine’s Day. There are so many other holidays I’d rather celebrate, like Arbor Day or the Ides of March. But if celebrating means baking and devouring delicious red and black brownies, then I will reluctantly celebrate.

Starbucks used to(or maybe they still do?) sell these terrific fudgy brownies with raspberry sauce artfully swirled in on top and I would get them most days after school. I’d honestly choose raspberries and chocolate over peanut butter and chocolate most days; I think the pairing is that good.

For this recipe, I just used my standard gluten-free brownie recipe and added in the raspberry preserves to elevate it to those Starbucks brownies. If you have a favorite brownie recipe—gluten-free or not—you can always use that and just follow the last couple of steps to add the raspberry in.

Gluten-Free Raspberry Swirl Brownies

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 30-40 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 1 8 x 8 pan):

• 3/4 cup almond flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 4oz baking chocolate
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup raspberry preserves

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix together the almond flour, salt, cocoa powder, and baking powder.
3. Beat in the eggs, sugar, and vanilla until mixed.
4. In a separate bowl, melt together 4 ounces of chocolate along with the butter.
5. Slowly pour the melted chocolate and butter into the batter while whisking until fully incorporated.
6. Pour the batter in a greased 8 x 8 pan.
7. Drop the raspberry preserves on top and swirl around lightly into the batter to cover most but not all of the top(If you want to do this more artfully than I did, put the jam into a plastic bag, cut off one of the corners and squeeze it into lines across the top of the brownies. Then run a knife along the top in lines perpendicular to the jam to create a swirl effect).
8. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick poked into the center comes out clean. Let these cool completely before cutting in.

OK, maybe Valentine’s Day won’t be so bad. So long as I get to eat all the brownies.

This weekend I’m moving back to Providence, which means I’ll be just a short bus ride away from my favorite bakery again. Lord help me, my stomach, and my wallet.

I keep trying to make some of their desserts in my own kitchen to save a little money, and I think I’ve figured out another one. Their rum truffles from what I can tell are a blend of dates, walnuts, cocoa powder, and rum that tastes amazingly close to a “real” chocolaty dessert for something that’s made with whole foods. Since I’ve been kind of on a date ball kick lately, I wanted to see if I could make these, too.

Ps. If you’re ever around Providence you need to get the gluten-free chocolate pound cake that’s lurking in the back. I’m not even a big fan of cake but will happily eat a slice or two of that. It’s high on my list of recipes to recreate right behind this one. All I need is about a dozen taste testers who are willing to eat through a couple failed pound cake attempts.

Semi-Raw Chocolate Rum Truffles

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about a dozen):

• 3/4 cup walnut pieces
• 2 Tablespoons rum
• 8oz pitted dates
• 6 Tablespoons cocoa powder plus more for rolling
• Extra 1/4 cup walnut pieces(optional)

Method:

• Blend 3/4 cup walnut pieces in a food processor until it turns into a smooth, buttery consistency. You can add the rum at the beginning to help the walnuts blend faster.
• Add in the dates and continue processing until the dough sticks to itself and starts forming into a ball.
• Add in the cocoa powder and continue mixing until all of the powder has been worked into the ball.
• Stop the food processor. Add in the extra walnuts if using and work them into the dough using your hands.
• Pour some cocoa powder into a flat-bottom bowl or plate. Break off pieces of the truffle dough and roll them into circles in your hand, rolling them in the cocoa powder afterwards to cover all sides.
• Store at room temperature in an airtight container.

These were good but a little lacking in the rum flavor. Next time I might try extract for a stronger punch of flavor. The originals also look better than mine came out, but isn’t that how it always is?

Last week was my parents’ anniversary. To celebrate I got them a cheesy present and made dessert; it’s what I do. I figured a cake would be a bit much for 3 people so I went with cupcakes using a secret ingredient I picked up last month at the store.

I’ve had coconut flour before but didn’t bake much with it. It’s really high in fiber so it makes a great cake batter. In most paleo recipes I’ve seen using it, the main structure comes from coconut flour and eggs so that’s what I copied.

The texture of these was perfect—very similar to angel food cake. Surprisingly there wasn’t much coconut flavor to them at all. You could swap any extract for vanilla and have a tasty cupcake I would bet. If you wanted to make these strictly paleo, substitute a low-glycemic sweetener like palm sugar in for the cane sugar.

Paleo Vanilla Cupcakes

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients(Makes a dozen cupcakes):

• 1/2 cup plus 2 Tablespoons coconut flour
• 4 eggs
• 2 egg whites
• 1/2 cup cane sugar
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a dozen cupcake holders.
2. Combine all of the ingredients together in a large bowl and mix until it forms an even batter.
3. Scoop equal amounts of the batter into each cupcake well.
4. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the tops are firm to the touch.
5. Remove from the oven. Let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting them.

I cut the recipe in half when I made these and got 6 cupcakes, which was perfect because we’re only 3 people. It’s a really easy recipe that anyone starting out gluten-free baking could do without problem.

If you like this recipe, you might also like paleo chocolate cupcakes.