Ingredients:

• 1 cup gluten-free flour mix
• 1/2 cup cashew nut flour
• 1 cup ground/chopped cashews
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• ½ cup gluten-free chocolate chips
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 2/3 sticks of butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Mix all dry ingredients, excluding chopped nuts and chocolate chips.

3. Add butter and mix.

4. Add nuts and chocolate chips.

5. On a non-greased baking ban, bake 6-7 minutes. Remove and cool at least 5 minutes.

This is the original Toll House recipe, adapted to gluten-free and divided in half. These are really delicious!

Ingredients:

• A heaping 1 3/4 cup rice flour or gluten-free flour mix
• 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 stick butter or non-dairy alternative
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 egg
• 1/2 package gluten-free semi-sweet chocolate chips
• Nuts, optional

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix sugars and butter until creamy.

2. Beat in egg, then add the dry ingredients except chocolate chips and nuts, if using.

3. Once smooth, add chips and nuts, and roll into balls.

4. Flatten slightly.

5. Bake 8-10 minutes.

6. Let cool on cookie sheets.

7. Remove and eat or store in airtight container.

Note: You can replace the egg with egg replacer or applesauce to make them vegan.

Ingredients:

• Fresh cherries
• Strawberry slices or whole
• Apple slices
• Kiwi, cut in half or star shaped halves
• Honeydew, sliced into spears or cubes
• Green grapes
• Dark seedless grapes
• Small plums, sliced

Directions:

1. If you have a three-tiered tray, top each level with a doily. Cut a hole in the middle if it is the correct size or cut a few pieces to fit each level accordingly.

2. Place your fruit in “clumps” of their own category. Arrange the fruit so no two colors are close to each other – it adds contrast and excitement to the arrangement.

3. If you do not have a three-tiered tray, then various platters of shapes and sizes on a table will also look beautiful. You can even add cheeses if you are indoors or have air-conditioning available.

4. Occasionally refresh your platter (and even the doilies) to add new fruit as people munch away.

Stay cool and enjoy your summer!

From Chef Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering

Ingredients:

• 3 squares (3 oz.) unsweetened chocolate or 70% dark chocolate
• 3 cups 2% milk
• 3 tbsp. cornstarch
• ¾ cup sugar
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Directions:

1. Melt chocolate and 2 ½ cups of the milk together in a 6-8 cup microwave safe bowl.

2. Mix together sugar, cornstarch and salt in a separate bowl and stir in remaining ½ cup of milk to make a smooth mix.

3. Whisk milk/sugar mix into milk/chocolate mix.

4. Microwave for three cycles of 2 minutes each, stirring with a whisk in between. Then microwave for three cycles of 1 minute a piece, whisking each time until the mixture is bubbling. Time will vary with power of microwave. The bowl will be hot and heavy, so be careful with lifting in and out to stir and taste test mixture.

5. Remove from microwave and stir in vanilla. Pour into ramekins or martini glasses. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Tips and Alternatives:

I have made this pudding with refrigerated almond milk and with a combination of almond and coconut milks – both with dairy-free and gluten-free semi-sweet chocolate. When using semi-sweet chocolate, I decreased the chocolate to 1/2 cup. I found the flavor to be thinner than with dairy milk and chocolate, but my students were happy.

I have also used the refrigerated gluten-free vanilla and hazelnut creamers. They gave an excellent flavor. I then poured cooked hazelnut chocolate custard into a hazelnut crust following the same recipe as the pecan crust I use for my Chocolate Pecan Indulgence.

From Chef Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering

Ingredients:

• 1 stick of butter (4 oz.), soft at room temperature
• ¼ cup powdered sugar
• 1 ½ tsp. vanilla
• 2 Tbsp. maple syrup, honey or corn syrup
• 1/2 cup Oonagh’s Gluten-Free Flour Mix
• 1 Tbsp. cornstarch
• 3 Tbsp. regular cocoa
• ¼ cup almond meal/almond flour/ground almonds
• 1/8 tsp. xanthan gum
• 1/8 tsp. baking powder
• Salt
• 1-2 cups (4-8 oz.) chopped nuts
• Store-bought caramel sauce (Make sure it’s gluten-free!)
• ¼ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat butter and sugar together until light and creamy, stir in vanilla and mix well.

2. Add flours, xanthan gum, baking powder, cocoa, syrup and salt. Mix until a soft dough is formed.

3. No need to refrigerate dough. Using a tablespoon, scoop dough into a cereal bowl containing some of the chopped nuts, then transfer to a cookie sheet.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and use a ‘tamp’ (like a mini rolling pin with a ball at each end) to press dough down to make a well in the dough. Return to oven and cook for a further 10 minutes while watching them. They do over cook easily, but you want them totally cooked or they will taste grainy. Remove from oven, press down again with the tamp and leave to cool.

5. Warm the caramel sauce so it is can be easily poured. Spoon or pour ½ tsp. of sauce into each indent in the cookies. Leave to set up or chocolate will melt into warm caramel, instead of sitting on top.

6. Remove cookies from cookie pan and place on chopping board or paper towel. Drizzle with melted chocolate. If you use a small fork you get skinnier drizzles than with a spoon that too often just leaves a blob of chocolate. Leave to cool so chocolate hardens. Store in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature for eating.

Tips & Alternatives:

Bake the cookies in mini muffin cups to keep things neat. This also makes them easier to transfer and serve.

From Chef Oonagh Williams ofRoyal Temptations Catering

I used to love making this with Portugese sweet bread rolls or Challah or Brioche bread. I loved a local Portugese sweet bread roll that I can’t eat now. It is almost impossible to find these breads gluten-free, so I substituted an Udi’s bagel, as it doesn’t disintegrate and doesn’t have any funny taste.

I mix the bread pudding ingredients in a glass bowl/jug, then cover and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, just spray baking dish and then pour in ingredients. This makes it far easier to clean the dish. We find that this is delicious even with fat-free milk and egg substitute. Such a huge saving in calories and still very enjoyable to eat!

Four times the recipe will fit an 8 cup, 8×8 inch casserole dish and will need to cook for about 45 minutes.

Makes 2 servings

Ingredients:

• 1/2 of an Udi’s plain bagel or about 2 oz. of gluten-free Portugese sweet bread, gluten-free challah or gluten-free brioche. Cut into cubes about ½ to 1 inch square
• 1/2 cup (120 ml, 4 fl. oz.) cream/half and half/ or even a fat free substitute (I’ve only used almond milk for the milk and the coconut creamer for cream substitutes)
• 1/4 cup (60 ml, 2 fl. oz.) liquid egg substitute or 1 large egg
• 1/2 tsp. (3 ml) gluten-free vanilla extract (I use Costco’s labeled gluten free)
• Pinch of salt
• 1 Tbsp. (15 ml) sugar or more to taste
• 2 – 4 Tbsp. (30-60 ml) gluten-free mini semi sweet chocolate chips
• Sugar (and sliced almonds) for sprinkling on top

Directions:

1. Stir vanilla, pinch of salt and sugar into milk so sugar starts dissolving.
2. Beat eggs and add to milk mix.
3. Mix bread cubes and chocolate together in greased, small pyrex casserole of 2 cup capacity
4. Pour over milk mixture and allow to stand for about 10 minutes (or covered overnight in fridge) for bread to absorb liquid. Sprinkle very lightly with sugar for a crustier top, plus almonds for visual appeal and some crunch.
5. Stand on a cookie sheet or a skillet (easier to clean sloshing liquid). Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes. The bread pudding should rise like a cake, be light golden brown on top, but still wobble. The middle should not have any “free” liquid sloshing around but should still look moist.

Other Options:

Add a few tsp. of seedless raspberry jam to the middle of the dish for an extra burst of flavor. Don’t put frozen raspberries in center as they really slow down the cooking.

Serve with fresh sliced strawberries, raspberries, peaches, fruit sauce. Some bacon or sausage on the side is really tasty. Or just plain maple syrup.

About Chef Oonagh Williams

Like Chef Oonagh at Gluten Free Cooking with Oonagh on Facebook, where she posts recipes, her appearances on NH ABC WMUR TV, Local and National radio, products she’s tried, where she will be speaking next. Contact Chef Oonagh on Skype for consultations on food for the gluten-free and other food allergy diets. Her gluten-free cookbook, Delicious Gluten Free Cooking has over 200 pages with full color photos. Click the link for photos and a list of all recipes. E-mail at [email protected].