No-Butter Nutty Rice Crispie Treats aka Avalanche Bars

This week I realized that I had two care packages to send off. One for a friend in Colorado who was an AMAZING host a few weeks ago, and another for the boyfriend’s little sister whose 22nd birthday is next week.

I don’t think I’ve mentioned it yet (as though more than my three faithful friends are reading this), but my part-time job in college was—that’s right—a counter girl at a local gourmet chocolate and sweets shop. Did I eat so much that I would have been the store’s best customer had I actually paid for any of it? Obviously. While it was no good for my morality as an employee (The truth: One does not get sick of chocolate when surrounded by it every day), I spent my days surrounded by caramels, dipped strawberries, truffles and creative concoctions like triple-dipped chocolate pretzels and tiger bark (Don’t. Even. Ask.).

One of my favorite chocolate-shop confections (that I’ve made regularly up through today) is one that we called Avalanche Bars. These nutty treats put a spin on traditional rice crispie squares by filling them with a natural disaster’s worth of marshmallows and mini-chocolate chips, held together by—not butter—peanut butter.

Send these in a care package and the recipient with definitely feel the love—no matter how far they’ve got to travel.

Berry Breakfast Scone Cookies

Scones have been one those gorgeous breakfast pastries that that I’ve had to learn to live without since becoming lactose intolerant. Well, now I can have my digestive health and my scones, too. Inspired by a raspberry scone recipe in the bible of all vegan and gluten-free cookbooks, Babycakes, I decided to whip up a version of the classic pastry sans cream and butter. Since it’s not quite summer, and I didn’t have any fresh berries on hand, I used some organic frozen blueberries and raspberries. Any mixture of fresh or frozen berries would work.

Also, these aren’t technically scones—I decided not to bother with the whole cutting and shaping process. These no-regrets, dairy-free scones look more like cookies, but they have the light and fulfilling texture and fresh flavor of a satisfying morning pastry.

The one rule that you absolutely must, must, MUST stick by: Do not overmix!

Blueberry Streusel-Topped Squares

Baking these fruity bars got me excited the way baking is supposed to—a few relatively easy steps left me with a fresh-tasting, melt-in-your-mouth cookie that looks gorgeous on the plate (though you may not be able to tell this from my sorry photography skills). And that vegan butter I was talking about last week? I’m officially a huge fan. I used it in these cookies and they came out rich and, well—for lack of a better word—buttery, like shortbread is supposed to taste. All it takes is whipping up a single type of dough for the top and bottom layers and cooking up a fruit filling while the crust cooks. Easy as pie. I mean, uh, cookie bars.

Hazelnut Meringue Cookies

I spent last weekend in Eugene, Oregon, and fell in love with the locally grown hazelnuts that they serve on everything. A roasted hazelnut has such a nutty, rich taste that’s unlike any other nut. Obviously, this inspired me to come home and experiment with a hazelnut baked good. I adapted a meringue cookie recipe to make it dairy free by using some vegan butter, which was a first for me. I’ve shied away from using this up until now, but the cookies actually turned out really well in terms of texture. I may just be a vegan butter convert.

The Coffee Cake that Wasn't

Yes, I posted a pretty picture of a beach to distract from the fact that I have no baked good to write about at the moment. (It's Hawaii. Oh, how I wish I was in Hawaii.)

My commitment is to bake two new creations per week. Being someone who responds well to schedules and goals that can be neatly checked off on a list, I obviously planned a second baked good for last week: coffee cake. I scoured recipe books for inspiration and wrote out my own version. I substituted canola oil for the butter (a poor girl’s coconut oil). I created a crumb topping with espresso powder, almond meal, and more canola oil. It was crumbly and sweet, and that’s where I should have stopped.

The tricky part, for me at least, when it comes to gluten- and dairy-free baking is that one slight mis-substitution can throw the whole thing off. Patience is key—testing one substitution at a time to preserve the texture and flavor of the original dish is essential. Patience, unfortunately, isn’t one of my strong suits.

I got excited. My crumb topping tasted so crumbly-coffee-delicious that I got ambitious—why use an egg when I had some applesauce in the fridge that I could sub it out for? That would make the cake vegan. Why use half garbanzo flour and half regular when I could use all garbanzo? (Forget the whole idea about gradually experimenting with it to preserve the texture.) Then I’d have a gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan cake. I tossed in applesauce, agave nectar, garbanzo flour, vanilla, and—hey, why not—some chopped up chocolate for good measure.

Well, what I came out with, despite prolonging the cooking time by 15 minutes (jiggly when poked), and then 15 more minutes (still jiggly when poked), so closely resembled the original dough (albeit with some hardened, brown edges) that I was able to mix it around the pan like it was dough when I finally gave up and took it out.

So, while there was no second recipe posting this week, it’s not for lack of planning or trying. The dough, however, is resting and waiting in a plastic container in my freezer. It will make a reappearance in a crust or crumb topping sometime very soon.

Homemade (Healthier and Yummier) Granola

Since I’m heading off to Oregon this weekend, what more appropriate food to bake and bring along than granola? I never was much of a granola person (too many long, sugar-ridden ingredients in the store-bought stuff), but I was inspired after trying a friend’s homemade version. I lowered the sugar, took out the butter, and can now add granola eating to my list of very hippie-like hobbies.

This is one of my favorite recipes to make because not only can I vary it based on whatever I happen to find lurking in my cupboards, but it’s a cheap and healthy way to shake up breakfast. I make a batch and save it in an airtight plastic container, and eat it mixed with some store-bought cereal and fresh fruit. It would probably make a week’s worth of breakfasts. I say probably because I’m not exactly sure—I can’t manage to keep myself away from it at lunch and around 10 p.m. when the munchies hit, too. It disappears a bit faster around here.

Easter Bunny Cake (Gluten and Dairy Free)

What better way to infuse Easter with some spring festivity than by concocting a cake in the shape of a giant bunny? Granted, my clever guests got a few laughs out of my Easter "pig," but this is a lot easier than it looks. While mine didn't turn out exactly as I imagined, making it was a creative project that left me with a gluten- and dairy-free dessert that had even the non-health conscious eaters returning for seconds. Some tips and advice:

Almond-Pastry Lemon Squares

This being my first post, I think it's safe to say I'm not quite sure where I want to go with this. I absolutely love baking, and I find myself descending into a cloud of sugar in the kitchen at least twice each week (my boyfriend has become quite the baked-goods connoisseur). As for my personal approach to baking: I'm lactose-intolerant and commited to natural, wholesome cooking. That said, I believe in all good things in moderation, and refuse to bake "healthy" baked goods that are the wrong texture and leave you jonesing for sweets more than before you ate them. I like to take recipes and put a healthy, dairy-free twist on them. But you'll also find butter and cream here, along with vegan and gluten-free recipes, too.

Anyway, let's get down to it: my first recipe. The picture, insterted above, taught me lesson number one of being a food blogger: Take prettier pictures. I will try. These are my almond-pastry lemon squares. You could substitute the butter for coconut or another cooking oil to take out the dairy. Since I was making these as a gift, I kept the butter with all its rich goodness in my pastry crust.

My lemons came straight from a tree in the backyard of the boyfriend's parents, but any organic store-bought ones will do (organic since you will be using the zest and don't want pesticide infused bars). I incoporated almond meal into my crust to add some protein and a slightly higher nutrient density. I tried this before using all almond flour and ended up with soggy, buttery-bottomed lemon treats. This ratio worked really well, giving them a nutty flavor that retained the texture and richness of pastry crust.

Almond-Pastry Lemon Squares
1/3 c. butter
1/4 c. confectioner's sugar
3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 c. almond meal
2 eggs
3/4 c. evaporated cane juice (a very unprocessed form of white sugar)
3-4 tsp. lemon zest
3 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 tsp. baking powder
confectioner's sugar (for topping)

1. In an electric mixer, beat the butter on high speed until creamy. Mix in the 1/4 cup of confectioner's sugar until combined. Beat in the flour and almond meal until totally combined (it will be crumbly in texture).
2. Press it firmly onto the bottom of a greased 8x8 baking dish. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes, until it just begins to turn gold around the edges.
3. Meanwhile, in electric mixing bowl, combine eggs, evaporated cane juice, flour (note: almond meal will not work here. Tried that. Not-so-pretty results.), lemon peel and juice, and baking powder. Beat for two minutes at medium speed.
4. Pour filling over crust. Bake 20 minutes more until lightly brown around the edges and the center is set. Cool completely. Use a sifter and dust generously with powdered sugar. Cut into bars.

Well, the computer battery's breathing its final breaths of the night, and I need to get myself in bed. Next time, better and more pictures. Promise.