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!

Peanut Butter Banana Dessert Parfait

So I’m really trying on my carbs… really I am. But boy is it hard. I’m a sucker for desserts. Every evening my sweet tooth gets the best of me. Not to mention, I have all of these items in my pantry and fridge to make all kinds of gluten free baked goods. They might be gluten free, but they are not carb free. So I tried to find me something that was relatively low in carbs but would also satisfy my sweet tooth. This probably won’t be a treat that I get to have a lot, but it was sure good while it lasted! This recipe makes about two servings

 

1 banana, diced
1 Tbsp almond (or peanut) butter
1 small graham cracker square (I used a slightly modified version of my homemade batch – see here!)
1 Tbsp cocoa nibs (or mini chocolate chips)
1 Tbsp yogurt (or whipped cream)

• Put diced banana into a serving bowl (or two small bowls if you separate the servings).
• Crumble graham cracker square over the top of the banana.
• Dab on your almond butter. Sprinkle with cocoa nibs or chips.
• Top with yogurt or whipped cream, if desired.
• Serve immediately – this does not keep well as your bananas will brown quickly!

Gluten Free Graham Crackers

Smores are quite possibly our favorite treat. During the summer, we eat them practically every night. It’s not uncommon to see us “roasting” some in the oven during the winter also.  Going gluten free was a struggle because packaged GF graham crackers are just not the same as good ol’ Honey Maid grahams. Actually, they resemble pretty cardboard. These however are very flavorful and crunchy. I  LOVE the fact that I know what is in them. Anyway – this recipe was my first major GF accomplishment so I very happy to share it with you – enjoy!

 

¾ cup sweet white sorghum flour

½ cup amaranth flour
¼ cup brown rice flour
½ cup tapioca starch
½ cup potato starch
½ cup brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 Tbsp cinnamon
½ tsp xanthan gum
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 cup cold butter or shortening (in pieces) (I like to use ½ c cold soy butter, ½ c coconut oil)
¼ to ½ cup cold water
½ cup honey
2 tsp extract (vanilla, maple & almond are my favorite!)

·         Mix together dry ingredients first. Then cut in cold butter/shortening until you get a crumbly mixture. Unfortunately I have found the easiest way to do this is to use your hands – it’s quicker and much messier.
·         Add in honey and vanilla (or other) extract. Start with adding just ¼ cup of water and mix together. You want to have a nice ball of dough when you get done mixing so gradually add in enough water to get there. I typically use ½ cup and it works fine.
·         Once your dough is the right consistency, divide into three sections.
·         The next step is up to you really. You are going to need to place the finished squares onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. The dough tends to fall apart during transportation if you just try and move by hand. I find the best method is to roll out the dough in between two pieces of parchment paper. Once you get to the desired thickness (1/16-1/8^th of an inch), place the bottom piece of parchment paper with dough onto the baking sheet.
·         Pierce the dough with a fork all over and delicately slice into squares. Repeat with the remaining dough.
·         Bake for 10-15 minutes at 375°F. Makes (roughly) 15 3” square cookies 1/8 inch thick.
o   Note: The baking times of the crackers will depend on the thickness of the dough. It may take a little longer if your dough was rolled into thick squares, or take less time if the crackers are really thin. It all depends on your preference.
o   My kids and I also like to use cookie cutters to cut the crackers into fun shapes.
o   Store these crackers in a sealed container or bag and they keep for about a week.