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 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.