Turtle Surprise Brownies

It’s not New Years yet, which means most of us still have a couple more days to indulge before the resolutions take over. So you better try these in the next few days! They are still more healthy than your typical brownie but they do have some extra sugar and calories for the turtle center. I’d trade the taste of these brownies for any number of calories though! They have a gooey, caramel center complete with mixed nuts, sandwiched in between two layers of cakey brownie. Oh so good… This serves about 16

1 package of brownie mix (I like Bob’s Red Mill)

1 cup water

¼ cup applesauce

1 over ripe banana

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup sugar or honey

½ cup butter (I used Earth Balance Dairy free)

1 Tbsp milk

1 cup mixed chopped nuts (I used pecans, peanuts and almonds)

In a large mixing bowl, blend together brownie mix, water, applesauce, banana, oil and vanilla until smooth. In a saucepan, melt butter. Add in sugar, milk and vanilla until boiling. Boil for about 7 minutes or until sugar is complete dissolved. In a greased 9x13 baking pan, spread half of the brownie batter. Sprinkle mixed nuts over batter and pour over caramel sauce evenly. Top with remaining batter. Bake at 350°F for about 25-30 minutes or until brownies are cooked through. 

Chocolate Caramel Dipped Graham Crackers

I am not a huge fan of sugar cookies. They are a LOT of work and I haven’t been able to create a GF recipe that works. Plus I don’t like icing (I know weird). I do love graham crackers though! They too are some work BUT they are very good homemade! This year I decided to do a different take on a cookie cutout and use my graham cracker recipe. I made some homemade caramel sauce (SO good!) and some chocolate sauce to dip the crackers in. They are so delicious! Sprinkle on a little sea salt for even more flavor!

Graham Crackers – see my recipe for GF version here! (cut into shapes or just squares)

Caramel Sauce

1 Tbsp butter (I use Earth Balance DF)

½ cup sugar (I like the dark coconut sugar)

1 tsp almond milk

Chocolate Sauce

2 squares of chocolate baking squares (I used unsweetened natural chocolate)

1 Tbsp honey (if you are using sweetened chocolate, you can leave this out)

1 Tbsp almond milk

•  In a sauce pan, combine caramel sauce ingredients. Bring to a boil stirring constantly until sugar is dissolved. 
• Quickly (and carefully) dip graham crackers into caramel sauce. I find the best way to do this is to use tongs or forks. Place dipped crackers onto a baking sheet lined with wax or parchment paper. Let chill for about 30 minutes. 
• In a sauce pan, combine chocolate sauce ingredients. Bring to a boil stirring constantly until chocolate is melted. Dip caramel coated crackers into chocolate sauce (or you could drizzle the chocolate over the top). 
• Return dipped crackers onto lined baking sheet and let chill for about 20 minutes. Store in a sealed container. 
• NOTE: This caramel sauce is also great over ice cream or for whatever you would use caramel sauce for!

Pumpkin Chai Caramel Cookies

Here’s another OMG moment. Remember my last one?? Here’s a refresher – my Pumpkin Chai Thumbprints. I actually used the same base for this cookie, but instead of putting a Hershey’s Kiss on top, I stuffed them with caramels. In our opinion, these were even better! I don’t think there’s anything else to say about them – just let the cookie do the talking J

¼ cup non-dairy butter

½ cup pumpkin
¼ cup coconut sugar
¼ cup Stevia
¼ cup strong chai tea (I steeped one bag in about ½ cup water for a few minutes)
1 Tbsp milled flaxseed
3 Tbsp water
1 tsp vanilla
¼ cup coconut flour
1 cup rice flour
½ cup white sorghum flour
½ cup tapioca starch
1 tsp xanthan gum
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp dry chai tea blend (I used one half of a tea bag – just cut it open and use!)
10 Kraft Caramels, cut in half to make 20 pieces.

• In a large mixing bowl, mix together butter, pumpkin, sugar and stevia.
• Add in liquid Chai tea, flaxseed, water and vanilla. Blend until well combined.
• Gradually add in remaining dry ingredients. Mix until dough is well blended.
• Using a cookie scoop, make cookie dough balls and add one piece of caramel to the middle. Shape dough around caramel so that it is completely covered. 
• Flatten with your palm and bake at 350°F for about 10-13 minutes or until lightly browned.
• Let cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes. Store in a sealed container.
• NOTE: I chose to make these egg-free so that’s where the flaxseed came in. If you’d rather use an egg, just substitute one egg for the flaxseed and water.
• Also – the Kraft Caramel is a RARE and special treat that we don’t usually have. I made a few of these without them also for myself as they are not on my diet. They still give a nice fall cookie treat for someone to enjoy!

Homemade Twix Bars

I have two favorite candy bars, Twix and Reese’s. Before my health problems, I would buy the bags of the bite size bars for holidays (Easter, Christmas, etc). I always had to buy two bags at least because I knew I would eat one bag before I could give them away. Of course, we don’t have candy at the house now. One day I decided we would have a little cheat day and I would make my own Twix bars. They turned out great! I will also give you a heads up – I will be posting homemade gluten free peanut butter cookies (similar to the Girl Scout Peanut Butter Patties). Those are equally fantastic!

1 package of cookie mix (sugar or shortbread preferably – I used Bob’s Red Mill Shortbread)

¼ cup coconut oil
½ cup applesauce or yogurt
1 large egg
¼ cup water
¾ cup caramel sauce (store bought or made with ½ package of Kraft caramels, melted)
½ cup chocolate chips
1 Tbsp almond milk

• Mix together cookie mix, oil, applesauce, egg and water until mix is well combined and crumbly. It will look very dry – this is fine.
• In a greased 9x13 baking pan, press cookie dough until it covers the bottom of the pan. Try to make the cookie dough as level as possible in the bottom of the pan.
• Bake the cookie dough at 350°F for about 10 minutes or until just slightly browned along edges.
• While your cookie is baking, make your caramel sauce or just warm up over low heat in a saucepan. Once the cookie has finished baking, pour over caramel sauce. Let set for about 20 minutes.
• Melt chocolate chips and almond milk together either over the stove or in microwave according to your chocolate chip package instructions. Pour chocolate sauce over caramel cookie. Let this set for about 20 minutes.
• Cut into pieces and serve. Cover and refrigerate leftovers.
• NOTE: I froze my bars instead of letting them cool for 20 minutes. We also liked eating them cold.
• Also – you can bake your cookies according to package instructions if desired – I just lightened ours up a bit.
• This recipe will cover a 9x13 pan, but we ended up just using a 9x5 bread pan and also made some plain cookies, it all depends on how much you want to make!