Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookie Cups

Do you guys remember when I made that soooper delicious gluten free cookie cake? And I said the one drawback was it was a little bit delicate? Well, I wanted to try the recipe again with a little xanthan gum to see if I could solve that problem. But then it was the holidays and I had a ton of Christmas baking to do. Except, I'm a problem solver.

My mom gives me a list of things to bake every year to give to her coworkers. This year it consisted of Browned Butter Maple Blondies, Zucchini Brownies, and my sort-of famous Cherry Almond Oatmeal Cookies. She puts together a little selection of treats for everyone and I assume it pleases them since she still asks me to do it. But one of her coworkers is gluten free and she only gets the cookies. Don't get me wrong, everyone loves those cookies, but it's gotta be a little sucky when everyone else has all sorts of choices and you've only got the one.

"What about my cookie cake?" I asked. "I want to try making it again and it's gluten free."

My mother had reservations. "But it's a pie. How would I give it out?"

"I could make it into cookie cups." She agreed that sounded like a good idea.

I had all the ingredients to make the cookie cake in my pantry already, I just bought some Reese's to stuff the cookie cups with when I was picking up the ingredients for everything else on my list.

Then I made them with just a couple adjustments, and I had to keep from stuffing all of them in my face they were so good. I managed to keep from eating them all so my mother could give them away as presents, but I made them again to share on ze blog and these are mine-all-mine

These don't taste gluten free at all. In fact, the coconut flour helps make the outside crisp while the inside stays soft and gooey, giving it the ideal cookie cup texture. These aren't delicate the way the cookie cake was, plus they don't have grainy edges like the cookie cake did.

The Reese's on top then gets all melty and biting into it is like an explosion of peanut buttery chocolatey goodness. And just like the cookie cake, these are beyond simple to make. One bowl, one whisk, stuff it with a seasonal Reese's, and you've got a simple and adorable treat perfect for sharing.

Or hoarding. Which is what I plan on doing.

*EDIT: it's been brought to my attention that the seasonal Reese's are not gluten free. However, Reese's cups are GF and actually fit better into the cookie cups. I was just trying to be cute and seasonal. Please always make sure to read the packaging*

Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cups

Yield: 3 dozen cookie cups

Ingredients

2 eggs, lightly beaten

6 tbsp. milk

3 tbsp. butter, melted and cooled to room temperature

1 tbsp. maple syrup

1 tsp. vanilla extract

½ cup packed dark brown sugar

1 cup creamy peanut butter

½ cup coconut flour

1½ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp salt

½ tsp. xanthan gum

1 cup chocolate chips

36 chocolate covered peanut butter candies (like these Reese's hearts), unwrapped and frozen

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Generously grease a mini muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, butter, maple syrup, and vanilla. Add the brown sugar and mix until dissolved. Mix in the peanut butter until smooth. Add the coconut flour, baking powder, salt, and xanthan gum and mix until well incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Add 1 tablespoon of dough to each cavity of the prepared muffin tin, pressing it in lightly with your finger. Bake 8-10 minutes, until the edges start to brown and set. Immediately press the candies into the middle of each cup.

Place the tin on a wire rack to cool for a few minutes before removing the cookies to cool completely. If you want the candies to keep their shape, chill the tin in the refrigerator for 10 minutes before removing the cookie cups.

Note: Seasonal shaped Reese' s candies are not gluten free. See more on the Hershey' s website here

Recipe by Kim

 *Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links*

Grape-Nuts Turkey Burger Sliders with Cranberry Jalapeno Ketchup

Today is a day that many people are going to sit around their television with other people and a lot of food and they are going to yell at the sportsball players on the television.

I'm not sure why they yell at the sportsball players. Maybe it's because they make an awful lot of money considering they play a game for a living. Why does no one pay me millions of dollars to play games? Have you seen the size of my Steam library? I have a lot of games I could play.

The sportsball is confusing, but the food, that's something I can understand. All the good stuff seems to come out this time of year: buffalo wings and cheese dip and burgers and fried fatty goodness.

But January just ended. Literally yesterday. And I'm guessing your New Year's Resolution did not involve more fried fatty goodness in your diet. So why not take the burgers and the finger foods and all that good stuff and make it healthy?

Hear me out: healthy doesn't have to mean bland. Ground turkey is a super lean source of protein that takes flavor really well. And I know you've probably had tasteless hockey pucks before masquerading as turkey burgers, but these sliders are juicy and tasty, and thanks to a super secret ingredient, they're totally satisfying. That secret ingredient: Grape-Nuts cereal. I know, it's totally crazysauce, but it works sort of like stuffing in meatloaf. The Grape-Nuts take a little bath in some non-fat Greek yogurt and Worcestershire sauce, they soak up all that good flavor, and they soften, which in turn helps keep the turkey burgers moist and tasty. Plus it adds whole grains and a ton of nutrients

Then you top it off with this cranberry jalapeno ketchup, which couldn't be simpler to make and has got that whole sweet and spicy thing going on. Ketchup is usually too sweet for me, but the addition of the cranberries helps cut that, and it is so good on top of these burgers

These sliders have the whole food pyramid going on. Meat, vegetables, fruits, dairy, whole grains. They're super easy to make, and they're so good. Add them to your sportsball menu. Your body and tastebuds will thank you.

Grape-Nuts Turkey Burger Sliders
Yield: 12 sliders

Ingredients
For the cranberry jalapeno ketchup:
1/2 cup ketchup 
1/4 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, chopped
2 tbsp. diced canned jalapenos
1 tsp. onion powder

For the burgers:
1/3 cup Grape-Nuts cereal
1/4 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt
1/4 cup diced red onion
1 tbsp. nonfat (skim) milk
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 lb. ground turkey
1 egg
1 tbsp. olive oil

12 slider buns
lettuce
mayonnaise

Directions
In a small bowl, mix together the ketchup ingredients. Cover and refrigerate until use

In a large mixing bowl, mix together the Grape-Nuts, Greek yogurt, red onion, milk, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and garlic powder. Let stand for about 10 minutes, or until the cereal softens. Add the egg and the turkey and mix until well incorporated (do not overmix, or the meat will get tough). Form into 12 equal patties (about 1/4 each)

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the burgers and cook 4-5 minutes per side, until each side is well browned.

Spread a thin layer of mayonnaise on the slider buns, add lettuce, a burger, and top with the prepared ketchup. Serve warm.

Recipe from PostFoods.com

*Disclaimer: I was provided with free samples of Post Grape-Nuts cereal in order to feature this recipe. I was under no obligation to give a positive review, and I receive no further compensation from this post. All opinions remain, as always, my own. This post contains affiliate links*