Amaretti cookies are one of my favourite easy recipes to use those leftover egg whites after making a batch of lemon curd or lemon bars. These Italian almond cookies store well in an airtight container and they are gluten-free!

Ingredients

Besides egg whites, you only need a few pantry staples to make these gluten-free cookies. Here's what you need:

• sugar—you will need both granulated sugar and icing sugar (powdered sugar) for this recipe. The granulated sugar is used in the dough, mixed with the egg whites to make a meringue and the dry ingredients, and also as a coating before the icing sugar
• egg whites—please weigh your egg whites to make sure you have the right amount. This recipe requires approximately 4 egg whites but going by weight is more accurate and will lead to more consistent results
• salt—I use Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt. If using table salt, add half the amount to avoid making the cookies too salty
• almond extract—use pure almond extract, not artificial. It's usually available in grocery stores with the other extracts. While not essential, the almond extract really brings out that strong almond flavour and aroma that we expect from amaretti cookies
• orange zest—I used the zest of one Navel orange, which yields roughly 2 teaspoons (10 mL) of zest. Feel free to use more or less.

Please see the recipe card for the exact ingredients and quantities.

Substitutions and Variations

Instructions

Italian almond cookies are very easy to make, but it's best to whip the egg whites in a stand mixer to get the best texture.

Step 1—Combine the ground almonds with 100 grams (½ cup) of sugar and the zest of 1 orange with a Danish dough whisk (image 1). Whisk until evenly mixed (image 2).

Step 2—In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the egg whites and salt (image 3). Whisk until frothy, then gradually add 50 grams (¼ cup) of sugar and whip until firm peaks form (image 4). Fold in the ground almond mixture, one-third at a time (image 5) being sure to fully incorporate it before folding in another portion of the dry ingredients (image 6).

Tip: adding salt to the egg whites helps to break up the globular proteins, allowing you to whip them up faster and create more volume more easily.

Step 3—The almond cookie dough will be thick like almond paste (image 7). Use a ¾ ounce scoop to portion out the dough in 24 equal scoops of approximately 22 grams (image 8). I like to portion out all the dough, rolling each scoop into smooth ball (image 9).

Step 3—Place the granulated sugar and icing sugar in separate shallow bowls and start by coating all the balls of dough in granulated sugar to coat (image 10) before coating them in icing sugar (image 11). Coat all the dough in icing sugar (image 12).

Step 3—Place 12 icing sugar-coated portions of dough on each parchment paper-lined sheet pan, staggering them and pressing down each mound slightly to flatten them out (if desired) (image 13). Bake until cracked and set (image 14).

Amaretti Cookie Baking Tips

I tested the recipe without any sugar coating, comparing it to cookies rolled in just granulated sugar, just icing sugar, or rolling first in granulated then icing sugar to show the difference.

Rolling the portioned-out amaretti cookie dough in granulated sugar, followed by icing sugar, is non-negotiable because it creates the most perfect cracked finish and the longest-lasting coating. If you don't roll in any sugar, the cookies don't crack and the surface looks a little more rough. Icing sugar alone is prone to becoming greasy as it absorbs the oils from the almonds. For best results, roll the dough first in granulated sugar, then icing sugar for perfectly cracked amaretti cookies and crinkle cookies.

Whether or not you decide to press the cookies before baking to flatten them out slightly is entirely up to you and the results are very similar, though the shape is different (round versus thick/flat).

Storage

When amaretti cookies are fresh, the day they are baked, they have a crispy exterior and a soft interior. As they sit in an airtight container, the texture will become more soft and chewy, and even throughout, like amaretti morbidi. These can be stored for weeks in a container and improve with age.

Other Crinkle Cookies

I am obsessed with crinkle cookies and the deep cracks that form on the surface. They have such a unique texture! Here are a few more crinkle cookie recipes to try:

If you tried this recipe for orange almond amaretti cookies (or any other recipe on my website), please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!

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Orange Almond Amaretti Cookies

Learn how to make the best orange amaretti cookies with this easy recipe. These gluten-free Italian almond cookies are made with egg whites and ground almonds, and flavoured with lots of orange zest and almond extract for a soft and chewy texture that everybody loves!

Course Dessert

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 17 minutes minutes

Total Time 47 minutes minutes

Servings 24

Calories 109kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• Danish dough whisk
• 6-quart KitchenAid Pro mixer
• ¾ oz scoop
• Sheet pan

Ingredients

• 300 grams ground almonds
• 100 grams granulated sugar
• 10 mL finely grated orange zest equivalent to the zest of one Navel orange
• 105 grams large egg white(s) room temperature
• 0.625 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 50 grams granulated sugar
• 10 mL pure almond extract

For coating

• 40 grams granulated sugar
• 30 grams icing sugar

Metric - US

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C). Line two half sheet pans with parchment paper. Set aside.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the ground almonds, sugar, and orange zest until they are well mixed. Set aside.
• Place the egg whites and the salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whisk until very frothy, then gradually sprinkle in the sugar, a little at a time. Continue whipping until you form a meringue with fairly firm peaks.
• Sprinkle one-third of the ground almond mixture on the meringue and fold it in with a spatula. Repeat with half of the remaining almond mixture, folding it in, then folding in the remainder. You will have a thick almond paste dough that is a little sticky.
• Place the granulated sugar for coating in a shallow bowl, and the icing sugar in a separate shallow bowl.
• Portion out the dough into 24 scoops of approximately 22 grams each (0.77 oz). Roll each into a smooth. ball.
• Roll each ball of almond cookie dough in the granulated sugar to lightly coat it all around, then roll in icing sugar to coat.
• Place 12 cookies per sheet pan.
• Bake the cookies, one sheet pan at a time, until the surface is cracked and set and the bottom begins to brown. This takes approximately 17 minutes in my oven.
• Let cool. Store in an airtight container.

Notes

• Use room-temperature egg whites so that they whip up more easily.
• You can make this recipe with any finely ground nuts, like almonds, pistachios or hazelnuts, or a combination of them.
• You can flavour this cookie with orange zest or lemon zest.
• I like to use a ¾ ounce scoop to portion out the dough.
• Please note that I bake with uncoated aluminum sheet pans that are light in colour. If you are baking this recipe with darker bakeware, you may have to drop the oven temperature to 325 °F (165 °C) to prevent your baked goods from browning too quickly.
• Freshly baked amaretti will have a crunchy exterior and softer interior initially. Then after storage, the textures will become more soft and chewy throughout.
• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
•  

Nutrition

Calories: 109kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 0.4g | Sodium: 20mg | Potassium: 8mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 10g | Calcium: 27mg | Iron: 0.5mg

The post Orange Almond Amaretti Cookies appeared first on The Bake School.

Ingredients

This recipe has a couple more ingredients than the Classic Rice Krispies treats recipe to create a more complex flavour that even adults will love. Here's what you need:

• butter—I like to make Rice Krispies treats with salted butter, but unsalted will also work
• milk powder—it's optional, but powdered milk enhances the flavour of the butter creating a more flavourful brown butter. I used fat-free milk powder for this recipe
• vanilla—use pure vanilla extract for a more refined complex flavour
• salt—I use Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using table salt, add half the amount
• marshmallows—I prefer to use mini marshmallows because I find they melt more easily and faster without overheating them.
• puffed rice cereal—I prefer to use name-brand Rice Krispies, but honestly any brand will work.

Please see the recipe card for the exact ingredients and quantities.

Substitutions and Variations

Instructions

These puffed rice bars are so easy to make! If you've never made it, please read about how to make brown butter before attempting this recipe. Here's how you make perfect Rice Krispie treats every time:

Step 1—Place the butter in a large saucepan (image 1) and melt it on medium heat, continuing to cook it until the milk solids begin to turn golden brown (image 2). The butter will smell nutty at this stage.

Step 2—Add the milk powder (image 3) and continue cooking the mixture on low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture turns a golden brown colour (image 4).

Step 3—Take the pan off the heat and add the vanilla and salt (image 5) and then the marshmallows (image 6). Stir the marshmallows in, which will gradually melt (image 7). Continue stirring until the melted marshmallow and butter mixture is fairly uniform and smooth (image 8).

Tip: it's very important not to overheat the mixture once you've added the marshmallows. If you overcook them, they will become crunchy and hard, making the Rice Krispies treats hard to bite through.

Step 4—Place the puffed rice cereal in a large bowl (image 9) and add the melted marshmallow mixture (image 10). Stir everything together with a spatula, gently, until combined and evenly mixed (image 11). Fold everything together being sure to lift the Rice Krispies from the bottom of the bowl to the top to ensure they are all coated in marshmallow.

Step 5—Transfer the mixture to a square pan lined with parchment paper (image 12). Press the mixture lightly to even it out from edge to edge (image 13). Let the pan sit for one hour at room temperature until firm (image 14).

Step 6—Lift the Rice Krispie treats out of the pan and set them down on a cutting board to cut them into 16 equal squares (image 16).

Hint: Use a ruler or measuring tape to cut the pan of bars into equal squares after unmoulding them from the pan.

Storage

Store homemade Rice Krispies treats in an airtight container in a cool dry place.

The Secret To Gooey Rice Krispies Treats

If you want soft, chewy, gooey Rice Krispies Treats, turn off the heat of the stove and melt the marshmallows off the heat, using only the residual heat of the pan of melted (browned) butter. This residual heat is sufficient to melt all the marshmallows without overcooking them.

Overcooked marshmallows cause crunchy, overly hard Rice Krispies treats that are hard to bite and chew. This can happen if you keep the pan on the stove and continue to heat the mixture of marshmallows and butter (or heat them too high) which creates a more crunchy, brittle marshmallow texture that isn't very pleasant to bite.

Related

If you'd like to see more gluten-free desserts, try these:

If you tried this recipe for salted brown butter Rice Krispies treats (or any other recipe on my website), please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!

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Salted Brown Butter Rice Krispies Treats

Learn how to make perfect Rice Krispies treats with this easy recipe. These gluten-free puffed rice bars are made with flavourful salted brown butter and marshmallows for the ultimate nostalgic treat that adults and kids enjoy!

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American

Diet Gluten Free

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Set time 1 hour hour

Total Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Servings 16 bars

Calories 156kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• 8x8-inch pan
• GIR spatula

Ingredients

• 115 grams salted butter
• 25 grams nonfat dry milk powder
• 5 mL pure vanilla extract
• 1.25 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 300 grams mini marshmallows
• 160 grams puffed rice cereal I like Kellog's Rice Krispies

Metric - US

Instructions

• Prepare a square 8x8-inch (20x20-cm) pan by lining it with parchment paper in both directions, creating overhangs. You can clip them in place with small binder clips. You can also lightly butter the parchment paper to ensure no sticking. Set aside.
• Place the butter in large saucepan and heat it on medium to melt it and then brown the milk solids.
• Add the milk powder to the browned butter and continue heating on low heat stirring constantly until the additional milk powder turns golden brown.
• Take the pan off the heat and add vanilla, salt, and marshmallows. Stir to melt the marshmallows completely, creating a smooth, even mixture.
• Pour the marshmallow mixture over the Rice Krispies in a very large mixing bowl and fold everything together to combine as evenly as possible. You want all the cereal to be coated in melted marshmallow.
• Immediately transfer the mixture to the prepared pan and press it down from edge to edge to even it out and smooth it out a little. You can do this with the palm of your hand and a piece of parchment or leftover butter wrapper (the marshmallow sticks to the paper a bit, but it's not too bad).
• Let sit for 1 hour to firm up before unmoulding onto a cutting board and cutting into 16 squares. Store in an airtight container.

Notes

• There are a few ways to modify this recipe:
  • Add nut butter: replace half the butter with ½ cup of smooth peanut butter to create peanut butter Rice Krispie treats, adding it after the butter has browned to melt it in.
  • Change the cereal: replace puffed rice with the same weight of puffed wheat or your favourite puffed cereal (like Corn Puffs)
  • Add chocolate: you can fold chocolate chips or chopped Mini Eggs at the end before transferring the mixture to the pan to create Easter Rice Krispies treats
  • Add berries: fold in freeze-dried strawberries or raspberries before transferring to the pan to create berry Rice Krispies treats
  • If using regular table salt, add half the amount to avoid the treats being too salty.
• Use an 8x8x2-inch pan if you can - shorter pans don't necessarily have enough height to accommodate all the Rice Krispies treat mixture.
• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
•  

Nutrition

Calories: 156kcal | Carbohydrates: 25g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 16mg | Sodium: 107mg | Potassium: 43mg | Fiber: 0.2g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 214IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 23mg | Iron: 0.3mg

The post Salted Brown Butter Rice Krispies Treats appeared first on The Bake School.

Combining fruit with almonds in desserts is a classic flavour pairing that I love. Ground almonds are often added to fruit tart crusts, while bitter orange is paired with almonds in chewy orange almond amaretti cookies. Berries and almonds go hand-in-hand in this gorgeous raspberry almond semifreddo, a frozen dessert combining almond-flavoured amaretti cookies with raspberries, and this blackberry almond layer cake (Milk Bar-style).

For this orange cake recipe, the whole orange is used. Just like for most of my marmalade recipes (like this classic orange marmalade recipe made from Navel oranges or three-fruit marmalade), you first have to boil the fruit. This softens the pith and the skin of the fruit so that it will have a better texture when blended to make the cake batter.

The cakes are moist and with a pleasantly coarse texture from the granular ground almonds. My favourite part of this recipe is that it uses the entire orange, peel and all. Just remember to boil the whole fruits (see recipe) to remove the unpleasant bitterness from the citrus. That's the secret to using whole citrus fruit in marmalade and cakes! The syrup I served it with reminds me of bitter-orange marmalade.

What You Need to Make a Gluten-Free Orange Cake

• oranges—use Navel oranges which have a fairly thin skin and no seeds
• eggs—I tested this recipe with large eggs. If you use eggs that are bigger or smaller, results may differ
• sugar—in order to allow the almond and orange flavours shine, use white granulated sugar. Brown sugar or maple sugar would interfere with the delicate flavours of this cake
• ground almond—this cake is gluten-free and grain-free, made with finely ground almonds, which is sometimes called almond flour
• leavening—baking powder helps to open the crumb a little so that the orange cake has a light, spongy texture.

Please see the recipe card for the exact ingredients and quantities.

Substitutions and Variations

• Oranges—I used Navel oranges, which have a thinner skin and no seeds. You can also try clementines. Use the same weight of clementines, check for seeds before processing, and measure the weight of the purée to make sure you don't add too much (or too little). Orange varieties with thicker skin, like some blood oranges and Cara Cara oranges, will have more pith and more bitterness.
• Nuts—I made this cake with ground almonds, but any ground nut will work. Ground hazelnuts would be excellent here, or even pistachios (but this will be more expensive).
• Orange syrup—I made homemade orange syrup as a topping for this cake, but you could also use orange marmalade, warmed to make it more spreadable. Another option would be to top the cake with a ganache glaze before serving.

How to Make a Cake With Whole Oranges

Instead of flour, these orange cakes are made with ground almonds and whole oranges. This would yield a denser cake if it weren't for two things:

• whipping the eggs with the sugar to incorporate air. Remember whipped eggs are an important leavening agent in baking: the eggs trap and stabilize bubbles of air, aerating the batter to reduce density and improve texture. It's the same principle as in this warm-milk cake or the chocolate genoise in this black forest cake
• baking powder acts as a chemical leavener which reacts to release a gas that provides lift to the cake batter as it bakes

By baking these orange cakes with almond meals, you end up with moist orange cakes that are both grain-free and gluten-free! On the other hand, this gluten-free lemon cake is made with mashed potatoes which lends a lot of moisture and softness to the cake. 

Step 1—place the oranges in a pot of cold water (image 1) and boil them for 2 hours until very soft (image 2). You should be able to press your thumb through the orange without much force when they are sufficiently cooked.

Step 2—Chop up the cooled oranges on a cutting board (image 3) then transfer them to a food processor (image 4) and process them into a smooth purée (image 5).

Tip—I like to do the boiling and processing of the oranges the day before I make the cake because these steps are longer.

Step 3—Combine the eggs and granulated sugar in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (image 6) and whip them until pale and thick (image 7) before adding the orange purée (image 8). Whisk until smooth (image 9).

Tip: Make sure the orange purée has cooled before mixing it with the eggs.

Step 4—Whisk the almond flour with the baking powder (image 10). I like to use a Danish dough whisk for this. Add the ground almonds to the mixer bowl (image 11) and whisk them in. The batter will be thick but airy (image 12).

Step 5—Transfer the cake batter to a buttered springform pan lined with parchment (image 13) and smooth it from edge to edge with a mini offset spatula (image 14). Bake until deeply browned on the edges and golden on the surface (image 15).

Tip: This cake takes a long time to bake because of the high moisture of the oranges. The edges will be quite brown and pull away from the sides of the pan when the cake is baked. A cake tester inserted in the middle will come out clean and the cake will feel airy but set on the surface.

Step 6—While the cake cools, make the syrup by combining the orange juice, orange zest, granulated sugar, and alcohol (if using) in a small saucepan (image 16). Bring the mixture to a boil, ensuring all the sugar is dissolved and boil for 2–3 minutes. Let cool completely.

Step 7—Once the cake and the syrup have cooled, you can brush the surface of the cake with a thin layer of syrup (image 18), saving the rest for drizzling on the slices of cake as you serve them.

Serving Suggestions

I served this orange cake with the homemade orange syrup described in the recipe card, but you could also skip the syrup and serve this cake plain or with orange marmalade. You could also opt for a chocolate ganache glaze instead or even serve it with ice cream.

Orange Almond Cake Baking FAQs

More Citrus Recipes

Citrus gets many of us through the winter, here are a few other citrus recipes to brighten your spirits:

If you tried this recipe for the best orange almond cake (or any other recipe on my website), please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!

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Gluten-Free Orange Almond Cake

Learn how to make the best gluten-free orange almond cake with this easy recipe made with whole oranges that are boiled and processed into a smooth purée. This simple cake is served with an orange syrup.

Course Dessert

Cuisine French

Prep Time 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Boiling time 2 hours hours

Total Time 3 hours hours 25 minutes minutes

Servings 12

Calories 272kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• Food processor
• 9-in springform

Ingredients

For the orange almond cake

• 350 grams navel oranges washed thoroughly
• 4 large egg(s) room temperature
• 200 grams granulated sugar
• 300 grams ground almonds
• 5 mL baking powder

For the orange syrup

• 60 mL navel orange juice
• 15 mL orange zest
• 78 grams granulated sugar
• 10 mL lemon juice optional
• 15 mL orange liqueur like Triple Sec or brandy/cognac, optional

Metric - US

Instructions

To make the orange almond cake

• Preheat the oven to 350°F (175 °C). Prepare the pan(s) you are using by generously greasing them (if gluten is not an issue, baking spray works well). To make 24 mini cakes, use a mini muffin pan like this one on Amazon. For a 9-inch (23-cm) cake pan (like this one on Amazon), line the bottom of the springform pan with parchment for easy unmolding after greasing. Set the pan(s) aside for later.
• Place the two oranges in a large saucepan, cover with cold water, and bring it to a boil. Boil the whole oranges for 2 full hours. The skins will soften and the fruit begin to collapse slightly. You can easily press your thumb through the skin and the fruit when they are fully boiled.
• Drain the oranges and refresh them under cold water to quickly cool them.
• Coarsely chop the oranges and remove any seeds. Place the chopped oranges in a food processor and process them until they become a smooth purée and there are no more chunks. Measure out 275–300 grams (9¾–10½ ounces).
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs and sugar on medium-high speed until they are light, thick, and pale. This takes 5 minutes or more.
• Add the orange purée (up to 300 grams or 10½ ounces) and whisk it in.
• In a separate bowl, whisk the ground almonds and baking powder, then add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl of cake batter and whisk it in. Continue folding until all the ingredients are incorporated.
• Fill the prepared pan(s) with the cake batter, smoothing it from edge to edge.
• Bake until a cake tester poked in the centre comes out clean. Be sure to bake until the edges are dark golden brown. A 9-inch cake will take up to an hour while smaller muffins take 30–40 minutes.
• Let the pans cool 15 minutes on a rack before carefully unmolding the cakes.

To make the orange syrup

• Place the orange juice, orange zest, sugar, lemon juice, and orange liqueur (or brandy) in a small saucepan
• Bring to a boil and simmer for 2–3 minutes. The syrup will thicken mroe as it cools.
• To serve, drizzle the sauce over the cake.

Notes

• Substitutions and variations:
  • Oranges—I used Navel oranges, which have a thinner skin and no seeds. You can also try clementines. Use the same weight of clementines, check for seeds before processing, and measure the weight of the purée to make sure you don't add too much (or too little). Orange varieties with thicker skin, like some blood oranges and Cara Cara oranges, will have more pith and more bitterness.
  • Nuts—I made this cake with ground almonds, but any ground nut will work. Ground hazelnuts would be excellent here, or even pistachios (but this will be more expensive).
  • Orange syrup—I made homemade orange syrup as a topping for this cake, but you could also use orange marmalade, warmed to make it more spreadable. Another option would be to top the cake with a ganache glaze before serving. You can also serve this cake with ice cream or lightly-sweetened whipped cream.
• You can bake this recipe in a large springform pan (like a 9-inch springform) or in mini muffin pans. This recipe makes 24 mini cakes.

Nutrition

Calories: 272kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 55mg | Sodium: 22mg | Potassium: 131mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 28g | Vitamin A: 180IU | Vitamin C: 24mg | Calcium: 97mg | Iron: 1mg

The post Orange Almond Cake (Gluten-Free + Grain-Free) appeared first on The Bake School.

When I worked on this recipe, I wanted a simpler chocolate cake than the typical chocolate layer cake with berries. I was aiming for a single-layer chocolate cake that is quite similar to a flourless chocolate cake of sorts but with a little (buckwheat) flour added to the mix. The buckwheat flour in this recipe not only gives this chocolate cake more flavour, it also helps give the inside of the chocolate cake a little more structure so that, when you underbake it just like you would a real flourless chocolate cake, the cake sinks and settles, but not too much, so it doesn't become overly dense like some other recipes.

What You Need to Make This Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake

The beauty of fallen chocolate cake recipes like this is you likely have most (or all) the ingredients you need in your pantry and fridge. Here's what you need:

• butter—I bake with unsalted butter. If using salted, you may want to adjust the amount of salt you add
• chocolate—I baked this cake with a dark chocolate that is bittersweet (70 % cocoa solids). The flavour and sweetness of the chocolate will have an impact on the sweetness of the cake so use a chocolate you like! The major ingredient is chocolate, which means you MUST use the best dark chocolate for baking because it provides both flavour, structure, and texture to this dessert. For this recipe, I used Cacao Barry Ocoa 70% dark chocolate, which is a professional quality dark chocolate that you can buy in IGA grocery stores in Quebec and online from Vanilla Food Company
• eggs—I always bake with large eggs. If you use smaller or larger eggs, this may have an impact on the texture of the final dessert
• sugar—I used granulated sugar because I find this gives the best volume when whipping the eggs.
• flour—I used gluten-free buckwheat flour. As you can see it is a whole-grain flour, unbleached
• ground almonds—you can use either ground blanched almonds or unblanched. This doesn't matter
• salt—I bake with Diamond Crystal Fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the cake may be too salty.

Please see the recipe card for the exact ingredients and quantities.

How to Make a Chocolate Cake With Buckwheat Flour

Step 1—Begin by combining the chocolate and butter in a bowl above a pan of gently simmering water (image 1). Let it all melt together, stirring often, until smooth and glossy (image 2). Set it aside to cool slightly while you whisk together the dry ingredients in a separate bowl (image 3).

Step 2—Place the eggs in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (image 4) and whisk them until frothy before slowly drizzling in the granulated sugar (image 5). Continue whipping until the mixture is very light in colour, creamy, and ribbony (it forms a ribbon when dripped onto the surface as in image 6).

Step 3—Immediately fold the dry ingredients in with a large spatula (image 7) and then the melted chocolate (image 8). The batter will be thick (image 9). Transfer the mixture to a prepared springform pan (image 10).

Tip: Because I wanted a taller chocolate cake, I opted to use an 8-inch springform pan. Make sure to take the time to prepare the cake pan properly: I buttered the pan all over, lined the bottom with parchment paper, and then dusted the sides with buckwheat flour to make sure that this cake would unmould perfectly from the sides, which it did, as you can see in the photos!

Step 4—Make sure the top of the cake is smooth before placing it in the oven (image 11). Bake the cake until it domes on top and begins to pull away from the sides of the pan slightly (image 12). The cake will fall and crack as it cools (image 13). This is normal!

Note: Like with flourless chocolate cakes, it's best to let this cake cool completely and then sit overnight before cutting into it. The cake will sink and settle, and the top will crack a little, and the texture inside of the cake changes as the flavour improves. This recipe makes a great make-ahead dessert. I stored it unwrapped overnight, but feel free to store it under a cake dome. I served this moist chocolate cake with a thick layer of whipped cream and lots of berries. It's the perfect dessert to celebrate summer.

Baking Tip: Volume Without Separating Eggs

A lot of flourless chocolate cake recipes have you separate the whites from the yolks so that you can whip the whites to stiff peaks and fold them into the batter to lighten the mixture. I hate that, and I bet you do too.

Rather than beat the whites separate from the yolks, I opted to make this chocolate cake like I would make a génoise cake, whipping the whole eggs with the sugar until it's at the ribbon stage, a foam so stable, light, and thick that it forms a "ribbon" when drizzled off the beater onto the surface of the whipped mixture. This stable foam is perfect for providing enough rise to this easy gluten-free chocolate cake recipe. No separating of eggs is required!

More Gluten-Free Baking

Check out these other gluten-free baking recipes if you are looking to bake more desserts without gluten without compromising on taste and texture:

If you tried this recipe for the best buckwheat chocolate cake (or any other recipe on my website), please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!

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Gluten-Free Buckwheat Chocolate Cake

This moist buckwheat chocolate cake is topped with whipped cream and fresh strawberries and you won't believe it's gluten-free! The cake is quite similar to a flourless chocolate cake, but made with a little buckwheat flour and ground almond. It's perfect for serving as a single layer cake with summer berries and lots of whipped cream.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 5 minutes minutes

Servings 10

Calories 436kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• 8-in springform
• 5-quart KitchenAid Artisan mixer
• OXO balloon whisk
• Cooling rack

Ingredients

Gluten-free chocolate cake

• 150 grams unsalted butter
• 175 grams dark chocolate (70 % cocoa content)
• 4 large egg(s)
• 150 grams granulated sugar
• 63 grams buckwheat flour
• 75 grams ground almonds
• 1.25 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt

Whipped cream

• 250 mL whipping cream (35 % fat)
• 25 grams icing sugar

Garnish

• 450 grams fresh strawberries

Metric - US

Instructions

Gluten-free chocolate cake

• Preheat the oven to 350ºF (175 °C). Butter the bottom and sides of an 8-inch springform pan, then line the bottom with a round of parchment paper. Use a tablespoon or two of buckwheat flour to flour the buttered sides of the pan. Set the pan aside.
• Melt the butter with the chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Mix until perfectly smooth, glossy, and even. Take the bowl off the heat and let cool slightly.
• Meanwhile, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the eggs with the granulated sugar to the ribbon stage when the mixture is very pale in colour and extremely light in texture. This takes about 10 minutes.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the buckwheat flour, ground almonds, and salt. Fold this dry mixture into the fluffy egg mixture. Then fold in the melted chocolate and butter.
• Pour the batter into the prepared springform pan. Smooth the top and tap the pan to remove any large air pockets.
• Bake the cake for about 45 minutes until the surface is set but the inside is still a little underbaked.
• Let the cake cool for 10 minutes then unmold it onto a plate and let it cool and rest overnight. The cake will crack and settle in this time. That's normal!

Whipped cream

• When you are ready to serve the cake, whip the cold whipping cream in a large bowl. When the whipped cream is still a little soft, add the icing sugar and finish whipping the mixture to form thick whipped cream. Spread the whipped cream over the chocolate cake.

Garnish

• Top the whipped cream layer with a pile of washed berries. Serve immediately.

Notes

• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
• For the dark chocolate, I used Cacao Barry Ocoa 70 % dark chocolate.
• You can serve this cake with whipped cream as written, or ice cream (like this vanilla bean ice cream or this dark chocolate ice cream). This would also be excellent with mint chocolate chip ice cream!

Nutrition

Calories: 436kcal

The post Gluten-Free Buckwheat Chocolate Cake appeared first on The Bake School.

You can take any banana bread recipe and turn it into muffin, baking the batter in muffin pans instead of a loaf cake pan. One banana bread loaf cake will yield about to 12 muffins.

For this gluten-free recipe, we are making banana muffins with oat flour instead of all-purpose. Remember that you can buy oat flour but you can also make it by grinding rolled oats (large flake oats) into a flour in the food processor. This works quite well! You will find more information about this below. And if you’d rather make cookies with your bananas, try these banana oatmeal cookies loaded with toasted nuts and chocolate chips.

Making banana muffins with oats

Ingredients and formula

Banana muffins are made from the same ingredients and follow the same formula as basic banana bread: 115 grams (½ cup) fat (either butter or oil) + 200 grams (1 cup) sugar + 2 large eggs + 2 or 3 mashed bananas + (190–250 grams) 1-½–2 cups all-purpose flour + 1–2 teaspoon chemical leavener + ½ teaspoon salt.

These banana muffins follow that same formula, but with a few changes:

1. For the fat, we are using softened butter because the flavour of butter is better than the flavour of a neutral oil, which doesn't lend any flavour at all. Unsalted or salted works here.
2. For the sugar, we are using dark brown sugar instead of white sugar. Dark brown sugar gives these muffins a richer flavour and a more tender texture.
3. For the flour, we are using oat flour instead of all-purpose flour, which makes these muffins gluten-free and also gives them a very tender, melt-in-your-mouth quality.
4. For the chemical leavener, we are using baking powder because we aren't dealing with any overly acidic baking ingredients here. Sure, ripe bananas are a little acidic, but nowhere near as acidic as sour cream or buttermilk, for example. Baking soda would lead to a lot of browning and a different flavour, while baking powder wouldn't have as much of an impact on flavour or appearance.

How to make oat flour from oats

The recipe for these banana muffins with oats is based on this banana bread without baking soda. The all-purpose flour was simply replaced with oat flour, weight for weight. Oat flour makes these gluten-free banana muffins very tender with a moist crumb.

You can buy oat flour at health food stores and some bulk bin stores. But if you can't find it, you can easily make it in a food processor from oats.

Remember that the conversion from weight to volume or grams to cups for oat flour isn't the same as for oats. This baking conversions chart will help you convert volumes to weights or vice versa.

This recipe calls for 250 grams (2 cups) of oat flour, but 2 cups of large oats only weighs 190 grams. You will actually need to process 2-⅔ cups (250 grams) of large flake oats (or perhaps a little more just to be safe) to get the right volume/weight of oat flour for this recipe.

To make oat flour, I recommend using old-fashioned oats or large flake oats. Do not use minute oats or steel-cut oats. These will yield a different texture and also have a different capacity to absorb water. Minute oats and steel-cut oats are not good baking substitutions in this recipe.

Mixing method for muffins

The muffins are made using the reverse creaming mixing method, which I prefer for fruit muffins. For this method, the dry ingredients, leaveners, salt, and sugar are mixed together in a big bowl, and then the butter is worked into that mixture to form a crumbly mixture resembling coarse wet sand. Then you stir in the liquids.

The reverse creaming method is very similar to the traditional two-bowl muffin method, except in the recipe below, the fat is worked into the dry ingredients.

Making the crumble topping

To make the crumble topping, I reserved a portion of that mixture for later, before adding in the liquid ingredients. This method worked well and allows you to make the crumble topping at the same time as the muffins, speeding up the process and dirtying fewer dishes!

Now go forth and make these banana muffins with oats with the easy recipe below!

Storage

Muffins freeze well once baked. Just let them cool completely, then freeze solid on a sheet pan before you transfer them to an airtight freezer bag to store for a couple of months.

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Banana Muffins With Oats

These banana muffins are made with oat flour and oats, which makes a tender muffin that is also gluten-free!

Course Snack

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 50 minutes minutes

Servings 12

Calories 351kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• OXO balloon whisk
• GIR spatula
• Muffin pan

Ingredients

• 250 grams oat flour or all-purpose flour
• 200 grams dark brown sugar
• 65 grams rolled oats (or large flake oats)
• 10 mL baking powder
• 5 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 5 mL ground cinnamon
• 175 grams unsalted butter cut into cubes and softened at room temperature
• 2 large egg(s) room temperature
• 330 grams mashed banana roughly 3 ripe bananas, approximately 450 grams with peel
• 5 mL pure vanilla extract
• 130 grams pitted dates chopped, or use the same weight of chocolate chips, raisins, chopped nuts, etc.
• 30 mL rolled oats (or large flake oats) more or less because this is a garnish

Metric - US

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 375 °F (190 °C). Line two 6-cup muffin pans with paper liners to make 12 muffins. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, oats, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
• Add the butter, and work it into the dry ingredients to form a crumbly mixture that looks a little like coarse, wet sand.
• Scoop out 60 mL (¼ cup) of this mixture and set it aside as a crumble topping for the muffins.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, mashed banana, and vanilla.
• Mix the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients, scraping the bottom and sides to incorporate everything.
• Fold in the chopped pitted dates.
• Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin pans. Scatter a little of the reserved crumble over each muffin and sprinkle with a few oats.
• Bake for 25–30 minutes, until the edges are a golden brown and a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Notes

• Make sure the bananas are very ripe (black even).
• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
• If you are using frozen bananas for this recipe, please make sure do the following:
  • defrost 4 bananas (instead of 3)
  • peel the bananas and place in a strainer set over a bowl
  • press very gently to squeeze out the liquid
  • place the liquid in a saucepan and boil it down to thicken it, stirring often so that it doesn't burn. Add this banana concentrate to the bananas and proceed with recipe.
• If you want to make a variation on these banana muffins, add any of the following:
  • add 250 mL (1 cup) chocolate chips instead of the chopped dates
  • add 10 mL (2 tsp) ground cardamom
• You can also use a thermometer to check if your cake is done baking and the internal temperature should register around 212 ºF or 100 ºC when it's done.
• If you don't have eggs or are allergic, try this eggless banana bread recipe.
• If you find your banana muffins sink or are gummy, they may be underbaked or the batter was too wet.

Nutrition

Calories: 351kcal | Carbohydrates: 51g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 59mg | Sodium: 184mg | Potassium: 398mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 27g | Vitamin A: 424IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 83mg | Iron: 2mg

The post Banana Muffins with Oats (Gluten-Free) appeared first on The Bake School.

Ingredients

• butter—I used unsalted butter to make these brownies, but if you want to use salted butter, you can, but you may prefer to reduce the salt added to avoid making these too salty
• chocolate—use 70 % dark chocolate to make brownies (bittersweet), not chocolate chips as these have more fat and sugar. I used 70 % dark chocolate Cacao Barry brand
• sugar—I like to bake brownies with granulated sugar. Sometimes I use superfine sugar that dissolves faster and can help get a shinier brownie top
• vanilla—pure vanilla extract is optional but I always add a little to brownies to enhance the flavour of the batter
• eggs—use large eggs (50 grams per egg after cracking)
• flour—I have tested this brownie recipe with regular bleached all-purpose flour and also millet flour for gluten-free brownies. Both work great
• cocoa powder—I tested this recipe with Extra Brute cocoa powder from Cacao Barry, which is a Dutch-processed cocoa powder with a reddish tint and a higher fat content (a little over 20 %). You can use any Dutch-processed cocoa powder but if it has less fat, the texture of these brownies may be more chewy
• salt—I tested this recipe with Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If you use regular table salt, add half the amount
• peanut butter—I used natural smooth peanut butter (the kind that separates), very well mixed (so that the separated peanut oil is incorporated) and warmed slightly to be able to drizzle it.

Please see the recipe card for the exact ingredients and quantities.

Substitutions and Variations

Here are a few ways to vary this recipe

• Salt—I tested this recipe with Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If you use regular table salt, add half the amount. You can also sprinkle a little flaky sea salt on top before baking to give a little salty crunch to these!
• Peanut butter—any peanut butter should work here (whether regular or natural), but I used natural smooth peanut butter (the kind that separates), very well mixed (so that the separated peanut oil is incorporated) and warmed slightly to be able to drizzle it.
• Espresso—you can add a shot of hot espresso to brownie batter to help enhance the chocolate flavour. Use this instead of the vanilla!
• Flour—this recipe works with regular all-purpose flour and also I have tested it with millet flour for a gluten-free version. Both work beautifully. The regular flour leads to a more chewy brownie, whereas the gluten-free version is more fudgy.
• Add-Ins & Extras—you can add peanut butter chips to the brownie batter after mixing, or even mini Reese's Pieces. Use about 175 grams (1 cup).

How to Make Peanut Butter Brownies

These peanut butter brownies start with an easy one-bowl brownie batter that you can make in the bowl you melt the butter and chocolate in!

Step 1: Combine the butter and dark chocolate in a large bowl set over a pan of simmering water (image 1). Gently heat the mixture until it is smooth and glossy, with no lumps (image 2).

Step 2: Whisk in the granulated sugar and vanilla (or espresso if using) (image 3), then whisk in the eggs one at a time (image 4).

Step 3: Sift the cocoa powder if it's lumpy (image 5) then add the dry ingredients to the bowl of brownie batter (image 6). Once mixed, transfer the chocolate brownie batter to a buttered and parchment paper-lined 9x9 brownie pan, smoothing it out from edge to edge with a mini offset spatula (image 7). Drizzle the top with the peanut butter and use the spatula or a butter knife to swirl it gently (image 8). Do not overmix at this stage or you will lose the swirl!

Step 4: Bake the brownies until the surface is set, the edges begin to pull away from the pan, and the inside is still a little fudgy (test with a cake tester) (image 10).

Brownie Baking Tips

When you bake brownies, use a metal pan, which is a better heat conductor, allowing the brownies to bake quickly and cool faster so that they don't overbake. The edges and surface should be set and the centre will still be a little fudgy.

Serving Suggestions

If you want to live your best life, serve these brownies with homemade ice cream! Try this classic vanilla bean ice cream or dark chocolate ice cream. Or chop up the leftover brownies into small pieces to make homemade brownie ice cream!

When cutting brownies that are fudgy, don't use a metal knife because the brownies will stick to it. Instead, use a plastic knife or a plastic bench scraper to make clean cuts. The brownies won't stick to the plastic!

Brownie Baking FAQs

Take this brownie recipe. I did a lot of research, investigating what had been done in the past, observing what the crumb of the brownies on the internet looked like, calculating the ratios of those recipes, calculating the ratios of my personal favourite brownie recipe and the ratios behind these classic peanut butter cookies. I can spend hours researching a recipe and breaking it down to its bare bones to understand it, like a chemist.

Other Brownie Recipes

If you love chocolate brownies and want to get creative, be sure to try these raspberry brownies with white chocolate and the classic walnut brownies, which are a personal favourite of mine.

If you tried this recipe for the best peanut butter brownies (or any other recipe on my website), please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!

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Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies

Learn how to make the best chocolate peanut butter brownies with this easy recipe. These one-bowl brownies are gluten-free, made with dark chocolate, cocoa powder, and millet flour, and feature a swirl of natural peanut butter for a decadent chocolate brownie that everybody loves!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 50 minutes minutes

Servings 16

Calories 223kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• 9x9-inch pan
• Mini offset
• OXO balloon whisk
• Cake tester

Ingredients

• 115 grams unsalted butter
• 115 grams dark chocolate (70 % cocoa content) chopped
• 250 grams granulated sugar
• 2.5 mL pure vanilla extract
• 3 large egg(s)
• 95 grams millet flour
• 45 grams Cacao Barry extra brute cocoa powder
• 2.5 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 80 grams all natural, unsweetened smooth peanut butter slightly warmed

Metric - US

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C). Butter a 9x9 brownie pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. Set aside for later.
• In a large bowl set over a pot of simmering water, melt the butter and dark chocolate together until smooth and glossy.
• Take the pan off the heat, and whisk in the sugar and vanilla.
• Add the eggs, one at a time, stirring well with each addition, then sift in the millet flour and the cocoa, and add the salt. Stir well.
• Transfer the batter to the prepared pan, smoothing it out from edge-to-edge.
• Drizzle the peanut butter on top. You can use a butter knife to swirl it slightly but don't overmix it!
• Bake the peanut butter brownies for about 30 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the middle of it comes out mostly clean and the edges are set.
• Let cool completely before cutting.
• To neatly cut these fudgy brownies into squares, use a plastic knife or a plastic bench scraper (my preferred tool).

Notes

Here are some notes and variations for this recipe:

• Salt—I tested this recipe with Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If you use regular table salt, add half the amount. You can also sprinkle a little flaky sea salt on top before baking to give a little salty crunch to these!
• Peanut butter—any peanut butter should work here (whether regular or natural), but I used natural smooth peanut butter (the kind that separates), very well mixed (so that the separated peanut oil is incorporated) and warmed slightly to a pouring consistency so you can drizzle it. If you leave natural peanut butter at room temperature for 30–40 minutes, it should be the right consistency.
• Espresso—you can add a shot of hot espresso to brownie batter to help enhance the chocolate flavour. Use this instead of the vanilla!
• Flour—this recipe works with regular all-purpose flour and also I have tested it with millet flour for a gluten-free version. Both work beautifully. The regular flour leads to a more chewy brownie, whereas the gluten-free version is more fudgy.
• Add-Ins & Extras—you can add peanut butter chips to the brownie batter after mixing, or even mini Reese's Pieces. Use about 175 grams (1 cup).
• Bakeware—please bake these in a metal brownie pan, not a glass baking pan for the best brownie texture.
• Baking time—make sure to bake your brownies just enough, but not too much. I like to bake them until the edges and surface are set. This took about 30 minutes in my oven.

Nutrition

Calories: 223kcal | Carbohydrates: 25g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 46mg | Sodium: 91mg | Potassium: 148mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 18g | Vitamin A: 227IU | Calcium: 19mg | Iron: 2mg

The post Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies (Gluten-Free) appeared first on The Bake School.

I simply could not feature The Macaroon Bible on my blog without sharing at least one macaroon recipe from the book. I chose to share this particular macaroon recipe because of its name, "stoopid macaroons," which are fully loaded coconut macaroons, inspired by compost cookies and compost pound cake.

These macaroons are pretty fun because they have bits of pretzel sticks, potato chips (the crinkle-cut kind is recommended by the author), and Crispy Crunch chocolate bar (instead of Butterfinger). Being Canadian, I have seen commercials about Butterfinger Bars (on Amazon), but never actually eaten one. I'm not even sure if they sell Butterfinger bars in Canada. I certainly couldn't find them at my local grocery stores, which is why I substituted it with the Canadian chocolate bar, Crispy Crunch. I think they should be very similar in taste and texture.

Since Dan Cohen suggested the option of drizzling the macaroons with melted chocolate, I listened because as my mom put it, if there's an opportunity to cover a cookie with melted chocolate, just do it.

These macaroons are crispy on the outside, and chewy on the inside. The dominant flavour is still coconut, with little bursts of saltiness and peanut from the add-ins. The chocolate drizzled on top really cuts the sweetness of these, and the combination of coconut and dark chocolate is always a happy one. All in all, these are yummy. And I agree with Dan Cohen, if you are a purist like we are, you will still enjoy these a lot, even if the thought of adding crushed potato chips and bits of a peanuty chocolate bar seems absolutely preposterous. Just make them and see for yourself.

Now here's the recipe for the "Stoopid macaroons" from The Macaroon Bible (available on Amazon), which I converted to grams for all us metric people.

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Macaroons

These macaroons are crispy on the outside, and chewy on the inside. The dominant flavour is still coconut, with little bursts of salty peanut flavour and chocolate.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Total Time 45 minutes minutes

Servings 24

Calories 125kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Ingredients

• 298 grams sweetened condensed milk
• 2.5 mL pure vanilla extract
• 283 grams sweetened shredded coconut
• 57 grams pretzel sticks
• 57 grams crinkle-cut potato chips I used Ruffles
• ⅔ Crispy Crunch bar or ½ a Butterfinger
• 2 large egg white(s)
• 1.25 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 60 grams dark chocolate (70 % cocoa content)

Metric - US

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C). Line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper.
• In a big bowl, stir together the sweetened condensed milk and the vanilla, then add in the coconut, pretzel sticks, potato chips, and chopped butterfinger bar. Set aside.
• Beat the egg whites with the salt in a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until stiff peaks form.
• Fold the egg whites into the coconut mixture (do this gradually as the coconut mixture is very heavy).
• With wet hands or wet spoons, dollop golf ball-sized scoops of the macaroon batter onto the parchment lined baking sheet. Wet spoons/hands between every scoop. You should get about 22 to 24 scoops out of the batter.
• Start checking the macaroons around 20 minutes, but they will probably bake for about 25 minutes, until they are bottom turns a dark golden brown and the tops too. They taste better when they are a little on the darker side.
• Cool the macaroons on the pan for 2 minutes before carefully peeling them off the parchment and transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Melt the dark chocolate in the microwave on medium power, stirring every so often. Drizzle over the tops of the macaroons and let set before enjoying, if you can wait that long.

Notes

• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
• For this recipe, I used Cacao Barry Mexique chocolate. You can also use Ocoa from Cacao Barry, a 70% dark chocolate.

Nutrition

Calories: 125kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.001g | Cholesterol: 4mg | Sodium: 106mg | Potassium: 113mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 34IU | Vitamin C: 0.5mg | Calcium: 40mg | Iron: 1mg

Please note that I was happy to receive this book from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing, but my opinion about this book is still my own.

The post Chocolate-Dipped Macaroons appeared first on The Bake School.

Sure, you could substitute gluten-free flour mixes for all-purpose flour in the classic peanut butter cookie recipe or in your favourite giant peanut butter cookies under most circumstances, but that's not what this recipe is about! This recipe is about simplifying the cookie to the most basic ingredients that *most* people will have in their cupboards and their fridges, without a trip to the store.

I tested this small-batch nut butter cookie recipe with all-natural peanut butter, almond butter and even tahini (sesame butter) and sunflower seed butter to show that these flourless cookies can be made with any all-natural nut butter or seed butter you have. And since you make this recipe by hand with just a bowl and a spoon, it's a great activity to do with kids!

Why Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies Work

Developing a flourless cookie is tricky, given that the role of flour in baking is so important. You can't just omit the flour and expect a cookie recipe to perform as usual. This is where ground nuts and nut butters come in handy.

Nuts are a combination of fat, fibre, and protein, so smooth nut butters can actually replace both the flour and the butter in a cookie recipe by providing structure and fat to cookies.

Ingredients

The best part about making peanut butter cookies is you probably have everything you need:

• peanut butter—I prefer to use all-natural peanut butter for these cookies made from roasted peanuts, but raw peanut butter will also work as well as regular peanut butter.
• sugar—both brown sugar and white sugar work in this recipe.
• egg—use a large egg for these cookies.
• salt—use Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt or use half the amount if using regular table salt. If your peanut butter is salted, omit the salt.
• baking soda—read about baking soda versus baking powder if you aren't sure the difference.

Please see the recipe card for the exact ingredients and quantities.

Substitutions and Variations

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookie Formula

The classic flourless peanut butter cookie recipe formula is 1 cup of peanut butter, 1 cup of sugar, and 1 large egg. This is the recipe published for Kraft regular peanut butter (the no-stir kind that has sugar and salt added, as well as some hydrogenated fats to prevent fat separation).

The bakery Ovenly in NYC developed a variation on this recipe and published in their book (available on Amazon). Their flourless peanut butter cookie formula is 1-¾ cups peanut butter, 1-¾ cups sugar, and 2 large eggs. Ovenly recommends using Skippy for their recipe, which is also a no-stir peanut butter with sugar, salt, and hydrogenated oil added. Ovenly doesn't recommend using all-natural peanut butter for their recipe.

I used these recipes as inspiration when I worked on this version of peanut butter cookies without flour, testing it with regular and natural peanut butter, as well as almond butter, sesame seed butter (tahini), and sunflower seed butter so that you have a couple of nut-free cookie options.

How to Make Peanut Butter Cookies Without Flour

You can make these gluten-free peanut butter cookies in a bowl with a wooden spoon, but the dough is quite stiff so you may prefer to use an electric hand mixer.

Step 1: Combine the peanut butter with the egg first (image 1) and mix them together until the mixture becomes very thick (image 2). Add the sugar, salt, and baking soda, and stir it in (image 3). I like to switch to a plastic bowl scraper to make mixing this thick cookie dough a little easier (image 4).

Step 2: Scoop the dough using a ¾ ounce disher (image 5). The scoops will weigh 30 grams each. Then, press them down with a fork to flatten them out a little and leave a crisis cross pattern (image 6).

Note: if you are making these cookies with tahini (sesame butter) or regular peanut butter (the kind with sugar), do not press down the scoops of cookie dough with a fork because they spread too much. Also freeze the scoops for 15 minutes before baking them to slow the spread.

Step 3: You should fit eight cookies per half-sheet pan (image 7) and bake them until set (image 8).

Pro Tip: How to Mix a Jar of All-Natural Peanut Butter

It's very important that, when you open a jar of any natural nut butter, you have to mix it very well to get the nut oil combined and evenly distributed with the solids. If your nut butter has too much or too little oil, the cookies will spread too much or end up more dry and crumbly.

There's no denying it: all-natural peanut butter is a real pain to use because the oil separates to the top of the jar as the product sits. This goes for all other natural nut butters, tahini, and nut-free butters made from seeds. You need to stir vigorously to get the nut butter properly mixed and to do so, you have a few options:

1. by hand: roll up your sleeves and stir vigorously for over 5 minutes with a big sturdy spoon. This will be messy if the jar is very full. Sometimes I use a long knife to do the stirring (or the handle of a wooden spoon) to dig up the peanut butter caked onto the bottom of the jar.
2. by gravity: invert the jar and let gravity do the work. This works fairly well, but I still find that it needs to be stirred by hand regardless.
3. using a small appliance: use an immersion blender (hand blender) or an electric hand mixer with one beater directly in the jar to mix the oil with the solids. This works really great, but there's a big risk you lose control. The oil may splash out of the jar at first. Make sure to grip the jar tightly. Otherwise, you may lose control, spilling peanut oil everywhere. Alternatively, transfer the nut butter to a bowl to mix the two layers then transfer it back to the jar.

Once mixed, store nut butter in the fridge, which slows down the separation of the layers. Unfortunately, you will have to stir natural peanut butter every time you use it.

Flourless Cookies Without Peanut Butter: Almond Butter, Sunflower Seed Butter, or Tahini

I also tested this recipe with an all-natural roasted almond butter to make flourless almond butter cookies, tahini to make sesame cookies, and sunflower seed butter to make sunflower seed butter cookies.

Almond butter and sunflower seed butter perform similarly. You can make cookies with either almond or sunflower seed butter exactly as in the instructions, replacing one nut butter with the other. Please note that the colour of the cookies is different. Almond butter made darker brown cookies and sunflower seed butter made cookies with a green tint.

Tahini is more liquidy and the flourless tahini cookies spread more in the oven. For this reason, if you use tahini in this recipe, DO NOT press down the scoops of cookie dough and don't use a fork to make a fork pattern like you would classic peanut butter cookies. Please leave the cookie dough scoops be, as is. I used all-natural tahini from the brand Alkaneter (you can find it on Amazon).

Peanut Butter Cookie FAQs

Don't forget, if for whatever reason, you have extra flourless peanut butter cookies or if they spread too much (or too little) for your liking, you can always chop them up into small pieces and fold them into ice cream to make cookie ice cream!

More Peanut Butter Recipes

Everybody loves peanut butter. If you want to bake more with this star ingredient, try these classic peanut butter cookies (for comparison), peanut butter swirl brownies, or these giant white chocolate peanut butter cookies. You can also turn peanut butter into the most delicious peanut butter frosting to decorate a chocolate cake.

If you tried this recipe for flourless peanut butter cookies (or any other recipe on my website), please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!

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Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

This flourless all-natural peanut butter is very simple and can be made with kids, using just a bowl and a wooden spoon. The recipe also works with all-natural almond butter and tahini

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 16

Calories 132kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• Wooden spoon
• ¾ oz scoop
• Sheet pan

Ingredients

• 255 grams all natural, unsweetened smooth peanut butter or 250 grams all-natural almond butter or 250 grams tahini, room temperature, SEE NOTE
• 1 large egg(s)
• 200 grams light brown sugar
• 5 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt OPTIONAL, if your nut butter has no salt added SEE NOTE (or use 2.5 mL (½ tsp) table salt)
• 1.25 mL baking soda

Metric - US

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 325 °F (165 ºC). Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper
• To a large bowl, add the all-natural peanut butter with the egg. With a wooden spoon, stir vigorously until the mixture forms a thick paste.
• Sprinkle the brown sugar, the salt, and the baking soda over top. Stir very well to evenly distribute the ingredients until you form cookie dough.
• Scoop 30 gram portions of dough and roll each into a ball. Place 8 per cookie sheet, leaving a few inches between each.
• With a fork, press down the dough to form the classic criss cross pattern of peanut butter cookies. Note for tahini, leave the balls of cookie dough as is and DO NOT press down at all!
• Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, for about 15 minutes, until the bottom edges begin to brown lightly.
• Let the cookies cool completely before transferring to store them in a container.

Notes

• "Natural" nut butters tend to separate as they sit, with the solids sticking to the bottom of the container and the oil floating to the top. Make sure to scrape, stir, and shake well before measuring to ensure a good mix of both components. Before measuring out your nut butter, mix it thoroughly and scrape up any ground nuts from the bottom of the jar. Once the jar is well mixed, THEN you can measure it out, but only then!
• If your nut butter already has salt, do not add the salt! For example, I've tested this recipe with an all-natural peanut butter made with sea salt. It is plenty salty and so with this nut butter, I don't add more salt.
• For tahini cookies, DO NOT press down the scoops of dough at all. The tahini dough as is will spread plenty. For other nut butters (peanut butter and almond butter), you need to press down the dough with your palm or a fork to help it along.
• If you find your cookies spread to much, next time, use *slightly* less nut butter: the same recipe works with 220 grams (1 cup–2 tbsp) of nut butter or tahini. I tested it! The cookies spread slightly less!
• Please note these cookies were baked at 325 °F (165 °C), which is 25–50 °F (10 °C) less than most cookies. Otherwise, I found the cookies scorched on the bottom, as you can see in the photo above of natural vs regular peanut butter where the underside of the cookies are quite dark
• Substitutions:
  • replace the egg with a chia egg that is 2.5 tablespoon water + 1 tablespoon ground chia. You can also use ground flax to make a flax egg if you prefer.
  • replace the brown sugar with regular granulated sugar, or a mixture of the two.
  • This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!

Nutrition

Calories: 132kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 10mg | Sodium: 152mg | Potassium: 110mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 15IU | Calcium: 18mg | Iron: 1mg

The post Best Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies (gluten-free) appeared first on The Bake School.

This recipe for gluten-free chocolate chip cookies is adapted from the Bob's Red Mill Everyday Gluten-free Cookbook, available on Amazon & Amazon Canada. Read my Bob's Red Mill Everyday Gluten-free Cookbook review.

• I used dark brown sugar because, though granulated sugar could work, I've learned that chocolate chip cookies made with granulated sugar only taste eggy without the help of that molasses flavour from brown sugar.
• I used softened butter instead of coconut oil, a baking substitution suggested by the author, mostly because my fridge has butter but my pantry doesn't have coconut oil at the moment.

I also tried a few variations, eliminating all the chemical leaveners from the recipe (making a batch without any baking powder or baking soda) to the cookie dough to see if it would be softer: well, it actually just spread more and made a thinner cookie). I tested eliminating the baking powder entirely, but keeping the baking soda (because most chocolate chip cookies don't have baking powder): this made a thicker, more dense cookie. Turns out you need both leaveners for these cookies to work.

These cookies were amazing fresh from the oven and the day they were baked, but after that, they became drier, crisper, and harder by the next morning. If you don't like crisp chocolate chip cookies, portion out the dough into balls and keep them in the freezer and bake the cookies when you want them rather than baking them all ahead. The large flake oats give the cookies some serious chew.

If you do bake a big batch ahead of time, remember that to keep them soft, you can try the same tricks you would use to keep brown sugar fresh and moist:

1. put a marshmallow in the container with the cookies
2. put a slice of bread in the container with the cookies
3. put a slice of apple in the container with the cookies
4. put a hydrated terracotta brown sugar keeper in the container with the cookies

If you aren't baking gluten-free, you can make these thick and chewy chocolate chip cookies or these spelt flour chocolate chip cookies (which are a favourite of mine!).

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Gluten-free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Learn how to make gluten-free chocolate chip cookies with this easy recipe made with oat and millet flour.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 11 minutes minutes

Total Time 31 minutes minutes

Servings 30

Calories 108kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• Wooden spoon
• ¾ oz scoop
• Sheet pan

Ingredients

• 125 grams millet flour
• 90 grams rolled oats (or large flake oats)
• 25 grams tapioca starch
• 45 mL chia seeds ground
• 2.5 mL baking powder
• 1.25 mL baking soda
• 1.25 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 150 grams dark brown sugar
• 78 grams unsalted butter softened
• 2 large egg(s)
• 45 mL pure maple syrup
• 7.5 mL pure vanilla extract
• 135 grams dark chocolate chips

Metric - US

Instructions

• In a medium bowl, whisk together the millet flour, oats, tapioca starch, ground chia, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, mix together the brown sugar with the butter until it is evenly mixed, then add the eggs, one at a time, followed by the maple syrup and vanilla.
• Stir in the flour mixture, then the chocolate chips.
• Cover and chill the dough overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C). Line a couple of baking sheets with parchment.
• Scoop the dough with a tablespoon or ¾ oz scoop (like this one on Amazon), placing the scoops a couple of inches apart as the cookies spread.
• Bake for 11 minutes and let cool on the cookie sheet a couple minutes before transferring as they are delicate when they first come out of the oven.
• These are best eaten the day they are baked (especially when they are warm!).

Notes

• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
• Please note that I bake with uncoated aluminum sheet pans that are light in colour. If you are baking this recipe with darker bakeware, you may have to drop the oven temperature to 325 °F (165 °C) to prevent your baked goods from browning too quickly.

Nutrition

Calories: 108kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 16mg | Sodium: 41mg | Potassium: 76mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 79IU | Calcium: 36mg | Iron: 1mg

The post Gluten-free chocolate chip cookies appeared first on The Bake School.

My favourite cake combination might be cake with lemon curd and berries. It's not hard to make the components, and I've learned over the years that it's best kept simple: a single cake layer topped with a thick layer of lemon curd and a scattering of berries. And you can serve this with more lemon curd on the side for those who can't get enough of it, which is basically everyone.

I urge you to make your own lemon curd because the stuff in the jars just isn't right. In fact, the jarred commercial lemon curds are downright awful if you ask me. They taste artificial and they are often an odd translucent fluorescent yellow colour. Homemade is best in this case!

Special equipment

This cake is impressive because of its height. I baked it in a tall 8-inch springform pan, but you can also put it in a regular 9-inch cake pan and it will work just as well, if not better. The baking is a little faster in a 9-inch cake pan, (taking about 45–50 minutes, instead of over an hour).

To bake this cake, use an 8-inch springform pan and take the time to properly prepare the springform pan for baking. Butter the pan all over and dust it with flour. Line the bottom with parchment paper so that you can get the cake off the springform bottom easily.

I do not lead a gluten-free lifestyle, but I find it interesting to bake gluten-free. If nothing else, it's a challenge, and I think baking with different flours and starch sources is really exciting.

I've baked with chestnut flour to make gluten-free cranberry chestnut financiers, rice flour to make gluten-free pistachio financiers, and a combination of gluten-free whole grain flours to make this gluten-free raspberry cake.

This gluten-free cake has the look of a good cake, the crumb of a good cake, and an impressive mouthfeel. It contains a lot of ground almonds so there is an almond flavour in it that is the perfect setting for a generous layer of lemon curd, and it's made with mashed potatoes (from yellow boiling potatoes). And there's no xanthan gum, which is a bonus for me. For now, I'm sharing with you this recipe, but if you the process for developing a gluten-free cake, you can find the process of how I got to this final recipe for a gluten-free mashed potato cake.

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Gluten-free Lemon Cake with Raspberries

This gluten-free cake has the look of a good cake, the crumb of a good cake, and an impressive mouthfeel. It contains a lot of ground almonds so there is an almond flavour in it that is the perfect setting for a generous layer of lemon curd, and it’s made with mashed potatoes (from yellow boiling potatoes). Also, there’s no xanthan gum, which means it has a better taste and texture.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 40 minutes minutes

Servings 12 slices

Calories 427kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• OXO balloon whisk
• 8-in springform
• 5-quart KitchenAid Artisan mixer
• Cake tester

Ingredients

Lemon curd ingredients

• 100 grams granulated sugar
• 84 mL fresh lemon juice freshly squeezed
• 4 large egg yolk(s)
• 72 grams unsalted butter cut into pieces

Gluten-free lemon cake ingredients

• 150 grams unsalted butter
• 200 grams granulated sugar
• 3 lemons zested
• 4 large egg(s)
• 5 mL pure vanilla extract
• 175 grams ground almonds
• 75 grams sorghum flour
• 250 grams mashed potato packed cup, made from about 400 g yellow potatoes that were peeled, boiled, passed through a ricer and then cooled to room temperature
• 10 mL baking powder

Garnish

• 2 pints fresh raspberries

Metric - US

Instructions

For the lemon curd

• Have a bowl ready with a strainer over top to strain the curd right away at the end of this recipe.
• Combine half the sugar with the lemon juice in a saucepan. Begin to heat it on medium–high heat.
• Meanwhile, beat the yolks with the rest of the sugar til they have lightened in colour.
• When the lemon juice is steamy and just about boiling, dump it onto the light yolk mixture, and whisk to combine to temper the eggs.
• Pour the lemon egg mixture into the saucepan and continue heating, whisking constantly, until it comes to a boil. Boil for 1 minute, whisking non-stop.
• Turn the heat off, and add the butter a piece at a time while still whisking.
• When all the butter is added, strain the mixture into the prepared bowl. Cover with cling film so that it touches the entire surface of the curd.
• Refrigerate overnight.

To make the cake

• Preheat the oven to 350ºF (175 °C). Butter and flour (I used millet flour) a 8-inch (20 cm) springform pan, then line the bottom with a round of parchment. Set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and the sugar with the lemon zest until it is light and fluffy,
• Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed and beating well between each addition.
• Add the vanilla and the ground almonds and beat the mixture again, scraping down as needed.
• Add the sorghum flour, beat again, then finish the cake batter by adding the mashed potatoes and baking powder. Continue mixing in the stand mixer until the batter is well mixed.
• Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 65 minutes until the cake feels firm and a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean.
• Let cool 10 minutes before unmolding onto a wire rack to cool completely.

To assemble the cake

• Peel off the parchment lining from the cake and set it on a cake stand.
• Top with a generous amount of lemon curd (half at least, if not all!) smoothing it over top, and then garnish with fresh raspberries.

Nutrition

Calories: 427kcal

The post Gluten-free lemon cake with raspberries appeared first on The Bake School.