A better title for this recipe might be “My Boss’ Brownies”

Recently my boss, Dave Kerpen, has been on a healthy eating kick. He asked me if I knew any good gluten-free, sugar-free dessert recipes made with stevia. While gluten-free is nothing new for me, I haven’t done much sugar-free baking before, but since I love making food for other people this seemed like a fun challenge to me.

My first attempt at making sugar-free cookies came out edible but hardly servable; those are sitting in my freezer now for when I need a dessert and have nothing else. My second attempt—these brownies—were amazingly a winner. They aren’t my favorite brownies(those would be almond flour brownies), but they taste incredibly fudgy for something that’s low-fat and without added sugars.

These are sweetened with a combination of date paste and stevia which I find balance out the aftertaste stevia has. There’s also a little added cinnamon to mask the flavors of those. You can buy date paste at some stores or make your own by soaking dates overnight and pureeing them with a food processor and a little water.

Gluten-Free Sugar-Free Brownies

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 25 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 8 brownies):

• 1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons gluten-free all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup date paste
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons stevia powder
• 6 Tablespoons butter, softened
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine all of the ingredients in a medium-sized bowl and mix well until they form a batter.
3. Grease a small loaf pan and scoop the batter in. Spread it out into an even layer.
4. Bake for 25 minutes until the brownies are cooked and set.
5. Remove from the oven and let them cool slightly before slicing.

Turns out peanut butter and caramel comes a close second to coconut and caramel.

Since I was moving and needed to use up all that caramel sauce, I needed something portable that it’d be good in. Well, sandwiches are portable. Cookie sandwiches? Even better.

Peanut butter cookies usually fall into two categories: Chewy and flavorful or soft with just a hint of peanut flavor. Using caramel sauce in place of sugar and butter bridges the gap and makes a cookie that’s very peanut butter(is that even a word?) but also soft at the same time—the kind of cookie that’s perfect for filling.

The ones I filled with straight caramel sauce were a little too loose so the peanut butter acts as a great binder. I’d definitely recommend filling these sandwiches with salted caramel buttercream if you happen to have a recipe for that handy or even vanilla ice cream and an extra drizzle of caramel sauce.

Peanut Butter Caramel Cookie Sandwiches

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 12 sandwiches):

• 1/2 cup + 1 Tablespoon peanut butter, divided
• 1/2 cup + 1/3 cup caramel sauce, divided
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 cup + 2 Tablespoons flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, beat together 1/2 cup peanut butter, 1/2 cup of caramel sauce, sugar, flour, egg, and baking soda until it forms a dough. If the dough’s a little loose add flour by the tablespoon until it won’t stick to your hands.
3. Roll the dough into balls about 1-inch in diameter and place them on a non-stick baking tray.
4. Using a fork, make a criss-cross pattern on the top of each dough ball.
5. Bake for 15 minutes until the cookies have risen and spread.
6. Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool completely.
7. In a small bowl, beat together the remaining peanut butter and caramel sauce.
8. Scoop about 2 teaspoons of the peanut caramel sauce onto the bottom of one cookie and sandwich it with the bottom of an equally-sized cookie.
9. Refrigerate the cookies until the filling has set and it’s time to serve.

When you go to Starbucks there are almost too many decision. First you have to choose a drink, then a size, then a milk, then any other number of questions—what happened to plain old coffee? I’m just kidding; of course you should go with a tall caramel frappuccino with whipped cream.

I tried making this recipe because a friend told me vanilla soy milk makes the coffee taste better. If I didn’t buy the ingredients and make it myself I probably wouldn’t know this was dairy-free at all. The flavor is rich and dark and sweet.

I suggest anywhere from 1/4 cup to 3/4 cup of sugar for this recipe because it depends on the other ingredients you use. If you use a flavored creamer and milk, use less sugar than you would if you use unsweetened varieties. At any point you can grab a spoon and taste how sweet the mix is, but keep in mind that the colder it is the less sweet it will taste.

Dairy-Free Coffee Ice Cream

Prep time: 40 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 8 servings):

• 2 cups soy milk creamer
• 2 cups soy milk
• 3 6oz instant coffee packets
• 1/4-3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Method:

1. Pour 1 cup of soy milk creamer into a large bowl.
2. Add the contents of the instant coffee packets and whisk until they’ve completely dissolved.
3. Add in the rest of the ingredients and continue whisking until the sugar has dissolved.
4. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s directions.
5. Move the ice cream to a safe container and freeze for an additional 2 hours until the ice cream has frozen.
6. Let the ice cream sit at room temperature for 5 minutes to soften before scooping.