Peach-Blueberry Crisp

I'm very lucky, I don't have an allergies or food sensitivities. I can eat anything (and will, at least once). Luckily for people who do have food troubles, there are a lot of great options and alternatives this day. And lucky for my visiting friend with Celiacs, I am willing to bake her up some Gluten Free. This easy crisp lends itself to that easily, the hardest part for me was keeping everything clean to avoid cross contamination with the non-gluten free things I had baked earlier. This crisp tastes amazing, whether or not you are Gluten Free. Enjoy!

Filling:
3 lbs peaches
1/2 pint of blueberries
3 T. Tapioca starch
1 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of golden brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt

Topping:
1 stick butter, melted
1 cup almond flour
1 cup of rolled oats
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp of cinnamon
1/4 cup golden brown sugar
1/2 cup of almonds, sliced

Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees. Cut peaches into medium thick slices. In a large bowl, mix together the peaches, blueberries, tapioca, sugars, and salt. Let stand while you prepare the topping. In a medium bowl mix together the butter, almond flour, oats, salt, cinnamon, and sugar, until the butter is incorporated and you have a crumbley mixture. Stir in the almonds. Lightly grease a 9 by 13 inch baking dish and pour in the peach mixture, spread so it's even. Cover the peaches with the topping, distributing evenly, most will be covered but there will be some holes. Bake until the fruit is bubbling and the topping is golden brown, about 40-50 minutes. Serve plain or with ice cream, hot or cold.

Happy Eating.

Blueberry Coconut Pie

Usually when I think of Passover desserts I think of stuffing my face with fruit salad and my uncle's wonderful merainge cookies (they are seriously my favorite cookie ever) and avoiding all the other desserts for fear of the matzah-mealy taste. This year there was no reason too, in fact I barely had room on my plate for the cookies (the fruit didn't even cross my mind until I was too full to move). With all the improvements in gluten free baking, Passover simulataneously gets a boost. There were a ton of desserts this year and I would happily eat any of them any time of year (including the chocolate indulgence cookies). I would (and probably will) take this blueberry-coconut pie anywhere, anytime of year (assuming I can get fresh blueberries). It's not Passover good, it's just plain delicious.

Blueberry Coconut Pie:
Crust:
1 10 oz container of coconut macaroons (approx. 20 cookies)
1/2 stick (4 tbsp) of butter, melted
1/2 tsp of salt

Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees. Pulse cookies in a food processor until smooth. Add salt and butter and pulse until incorporated. Press into a 10 inch pie pan to create crust. Bake until edges have lightly browned, about 10 minutes.

Filling:
6 cups of blueberries, divided
1 lemon, juiced and zested
2 tbsp + 1 tsp of minute tapioca
1/2 cup of water, divided
2/3 cups of sugar
1/2 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp of cinnamon

In a large skillet, bring 2 cups of blueberries and 1/4 cup of water to a steady simmer. Add sugar and cook until berries break open and sugar dissolves. Mix tapioca with remaining 1/4 cup of water and add to the blueberries. Mash with a potato masher to break up tapioca and blueberries. Add lemon juice, zest, salt, cinnamon and 3 cups of blueberries. Simmer until the berries have started to break apart. Pour into prepared pie crust and top with remaining cup of fresh blueberries. Refridgerate until chilled or overnight.

Happy Eating.

Chocolate Indulgence Cookies

Passover baking can be tough. You want something to taste good, but their are a lot of restrictions. The highest compliment you can get is, you can't even tell these are for passover. These cookies aren't for passover, they are simply gluten free any time cookies with a little adjustment. So if you are not making them for passover, feel free to use regular powdered sugar and 1 tbsp of cornstarch instead of the tapioca. In making these cookies I learned a very valuable lessen, check ALL your ingredients before baking anything. I was so focused on finding a cornstartch replacement, the I neglicted to check and see what powdered sugar actually is. In case you don't know, it's sugar and cornstarch. Opps. Lucky for you, there is an easy fix to that problem (see below), unfortunetly for me, the cookies were already in the oven when I discovered this. Oh well, live and learn, either way, these cookies are insanely delicious, extremely chocolatey, and highly addictive. Enjoy! And Happy Passover!

Chocolate Indulgence Cookies:
1 1/2 cups of bittersweet chocolate chips, divided
3 large egg whites, room temperature
2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar (kosher for passover*), plus more for dusting cookies
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tbsp + 1 tsp of minute tapioca
1/2 teaspoon salt

*There are a few brands that make this, but if you can't find it, it can be made by blending regular table sugar and either tapioca or potato startch. Blend 1 cup minus 1 tbsp of sugar, with 1 tbsp of potato starch or minute tapioca in a food processor until combined and powdery.

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees and positiona rack in the middle of the oven. Melt 1 cup of chocolate chips in a heat proof bowl, set asside to cool. In a large bowl beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in 1 cup of powdered sugar, mix on high spead until mixture is glossy and the texture of marshmallow cream. Reduce spead to low and mix in remaining sugar, cocoa, tapioca and salt. Using a wooden spoon fold in melted chocolate (should be luke warm). Stir in remaining chocolate chips, the dough will be very thick. Line a cookie sheet with wax paper and spray with non-stick spray. Put some additional powdered sugar in a bowl. Scoop dough by rounded tablespoon and roll into a ball, roll each ball in powdered sugar and place on the cookie. Space cookies about an inch apart. Bake until tops are cracked, about 10 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes on the cookie sheet before removing. Let cool completely before serving (trust me, they taste better this way. Makes about 30 cookies. (adapted from Epicurious)

Happy Eating.