Treats

Easy GF S’mores Bars

Food, GF, Treats

If you’re finding yourself dreaming of warmer weather, poolside beverages, and campfires, you’re not alone. My house is at its best during warmer temps and I just can’t wait to enjoy our outdoor entertainment spaces again!

These s’mores bars are the perfect piece of campfire season whenever you need it! No clear skies or warmer temps needed. They’re the perfect s’more for the midwest where it feels like it’s winter nine months of the year!

Ingredients:

  • Package of GF Graham Crackers (I used Pamela’s – you can find at Kroger or Walmart typically!)
  • 3 3/4 Full sized Hershey’s Bars (Feel free to sub a dairy free chocolate like Hu Kitchen or Lily’s for a lower sugar option)
  • 5 ounces mini marshmallows
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 4 tablespoons butter or coconut oil, melted

Procedure:

  1. Preheat oven 350 degrees
  2. Pulse crackers in food processor until they are fine crumbs.
  3. Add sugars and butter to food processor until well-combined.
  4. Press into 9×9 baking dish prepared with parchment paper.
  5. Top with with Hershey’s bars.
  6. Put in oven for 1-2 minutes, you want the bars to be shiny and melty but still in tact!
  7. Top with marshmallows.
  8. Put under broiler for about 1 minute – DO NOT LEAVE YOUR OVEN’S SIDE! Marshmallows should become J U S T golden brown before you pull them out.
  9. The hardest part of this recipe — let them cool completely. If you can’t wait overnight, pop them in the freezer until they’re completely cooled. Trust me! It will keep the mess away and they truly taste better after they are fully cooled.
  10. Cut into bars and enjoy!

Be sure to give these a like, comment, and share with a friend who would love them!

One Bowl Fudgey Gluten Free Brownies

Food, GF, Treats
Gluten Free Brownies

People ask me all the time what they can make for friends or loved ones who are gluten free or have food allergies. I don’t always have good answers, but today I have a good recipe! Everyone loves a pan of delicious fudgey brownies. The babies are better and cheaper than boxed, and come together quickly. Since I’ve started playing with this recipe, a pan hasn’t lasted more than 24 hours in our house!

Whether it’s a small gathering or a potluck, this gluten free option will have lots of takers who may not necessarily be gluten free themselves…you might want to make two batches! These would be the perfect addition to any Easter table this weekend!

Gluten Free Fudge Brownies

Ingredients

1 cup butter or ghee

1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used Guittard 63% Cacao – my FAVE)

1/2 cup cocoa powder (I used Hershey’s 100% Cacao)

3 eggs

1 Cup Sugar

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 cup gluten free 1-1 flour (my favorite is Bob’s Red Mill)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Procedure

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a 9×9 glass baking dish with parchment paper.
  2. Add butter/ghee and chocolate chips to a large microwave safe bowl. Heat for 1.5-2 minutes (keep an eye on it) until butter or ghee is melted and chips are soft.
  3. While butter and chips are still warm, whisk in cocoa powder until combined well. The heat helps bring out the flavor of the cocoa powder and “bloom” sort of like a coffee bloom when brewing pour over style coffee! Basically, it helps to bring out the best flavor of the cocoa powder.
  4. Whisk in sugar, vanilla, and eggs to the mixture. Be sure to whisk well – using the whisk aerates the batter and helps achieve the shiny and occasionally crinkly topping you often see in boxed brownies.
  5. Stir in flour, baking powder, and salt using a wooden spoon or trusty spatula until combined well.
  6. Pour mixture into the prepared baking dish – it will seem less watery than normal brownie batter this is okay!!
  7. Bake for 40 minutes (if using a metal 9×9 pan, bake time will be shorter).
  8. Allow brownies to cool for 20-30 minutes or until completely cooled to allow them to set up a bit.
  9. Serve brownies on their own, in a sundae, or with your favorite chocolate friendly fruit!

Be sure to share your version of these brownies using #biteswithbeth or by tagging @Bethannsbites on Instagram! I love to see what you’re making. Most importantly, show up to your pitch-in meal with THESE babies to delight your GF friend! 🙂 They won’t disappoint and the clean-up is quick!

Cinnamon Rolls (GF DF)

dairy free, Food, GF, Treats
Gluten and dairy free cinnamon rolls

These gluten and dairy free cinnamon rolls have truly been a work of heart. I’ve worked on perfecting this recipe for nearly an entire year! I started working on it when we first locked down for COVID during the second week of March in Texas. This recipe development has traveled across state lines and across three kitchens since we moved this year!

This recipe is the perfect thing to whip up with the cold temps and snowy weather that seems to be sweeping most of the nation. The first time I ever learned to make cinnamon rolls from scratch, my Grandma Schuman shared her recipe for cream cheese cinnamon rolls over the phone. It was one of the years we had a bad snow and school was canceled for weeks. We lost power at some point, and warmed cinnamon rolls on my dad’s wood stove in the “summer kitchen.”

If you’re not familiar with a “summer kitchen” they’re common in older homes like my parents’ and were used in the summer for canning and preserving so the heat of the process didn’t increase the temperature in the main part of the home during the already hot and humid midwestern summer.

Ingredients

Dough

  • 1/2 cup butter, melted (use ghee for completely dairy free!)
  • 1 1/4 cups almond milk, warmed slightly to activate the yeast
  • 1 package gf yeast
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
  • 2 eggs + 1 yolk of an egg
  • 1 teaspoon good quality vanilla (I love HEB double strength vanilla if you’re located in TX!)
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon xanthan gum if your flour does not have it already added*
  • 4 cups gluten free flour (I recommend Bob’s Red Mill one-to-one in the blue bag)
  • Additional flour for rolling out

Filling

  • 1 stick butter, cubed (you can use 1.5 sticks if you want the extra ooey gooeyness like Cinnabon!)
  • 1 cup pecans
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon

Icing

  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 tablespoons melted butter (ghee for completely dairy free!)
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 4 tablespoons almond milk

Procedure

  1. Preheat oven to 350*
  2. Warm almond milk to about 100* – you don’t want it to be too hot or it may burn the yeast instead of activating.
  3. Stir packet of yeast into warmed milk, it will foam just slightly.
  4. Add sugar, eggs, butter, and apple cider vinegar to the mixture, whisking until smooth.
  5. Gradually add and incorporate gluten free flour stirring until a dough forms. Smooth the mixture into a ball and allow dough to rise in a warm location for an hour. (Note: gf flour will not rise quite as much as you’d expect regular wheat flour to, but you’ll still see an increase!)
  6. While dough is in final stages of rising, add all ingredients for the filling to a food processor. Pulse or process until the mixture is small crumbles.
  7. On a lightly floured surface (dough will be stickier than traditional dough – it may be beneficial to roll it out on floured parchment paper), roll out dough until it is approximately 1/2 inch thick in the shape of a rectangle.
  8. Add filling evenly to the dough and carefully roll into a log shape. Have patience – gf baked goods do not maneuver as easily as regular dough!
  9. Cut into 10-12 even slices and place in a parchment lined pan.
  10. Bake for about 40 minutes at 350* until rolls are lightly golden brown.
  11. Stir together all ingredients for icing and top warm cinnamon rolls with the icing. It’s best to do this while rolls are still warm or hot so it will get perfectly melty and delicious!

Serve warm to the ones you love. Bonus points if you serve with milk or coffee and scrambled eggs – please balance the sweet with some protein, people!! 🙂

Please share this recipe with someone who would love it as much as my family has for the year!

Pumpkin Streusel Bars

dairy free, Food, GF, Treats

I’ve been working on these pumpkin streusel bars since September! They’re GOOD good! Life has been a little crazy so they’re coming at you just in time to maybe make it for Thanksgiving Dinner…or a Black Friday socially distant online shopping trip. Either way, you’ll want them in your BELLY this week!!

Ingredients

Crust:

  • 1 cup melted butter or ghee for truly dairy free!
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups Bob’s Red Mill GF Flour (the one I use is linked) if you’re not GF regular flour works fine!
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Filling:

  • 2 eggs
  • 15 oz can pure pumpkin puree
  • 2/3 cup dairy free milk or original Nutpods
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1.5 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Streusel Topping:

  • 1 cup oats
  • 2/3 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup Bob’s Red Mill GF Flour
  • 1/2 cup melted butter
  • 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Optional but delicious, Icing:

  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1-1.5 Tablespoons dairy free milk or Original Nutpods
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Procedure:

  1. In a large bowl, stir melted butter, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, salt, and GF flour until well combined and crumbly. Press into a 9×13 pan (I used a metal cake pan – if using glass your baking time will be longer!) prepared with parchment paper and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes until lightly golden brown.
  2. While crust is baking, stir all filling ingredients: eggs, pumpkin puree, dairy free milk, sugar, pumpkin spice, and vanilla extract until smooth in a large bowl.
  3. In a medium bowl, combine streusel topping ingredients: oats, brown sugar, gf flour, melted butter, and chopped pecans. The mixture should be crumbly and form small balls.
  4. Pour filling over the prepared crust topping with streusel crumbles until well covered. Bake for another 35-40 minutes at 350.
  5. Allow to cool and serve with coffee for dessert, snack…or breakfast if you’re feeling it!

I hope everyone has a safe and Happy Thanksgiving. Sending love and light during this trying holiday season.

Please be sure to share your creations with me on Facebook or Instagram @bethannsbites I love to see what you’re making!

Mocha Pecan Granola

Food, GF, Treats
Mocha Pecan Granola

Chia seed pudding was THE breakfast of 2019 for me. I mastered the recipe and shared it on this post. It’s a favorite of coworkers, sisters, and students of mine as well. It’s creamy, full of healthy fats from the coconut milk, fibrous from the chia seeds, and simply delicious. I typically serve it with blueberries and strawberries or raspberries (depending which one is on sale). Today, I’m sharing a recipe that will take my chia pudding over the edge of deliciousness!

That being said, the granola stands on its own as a snack as well. When I was recipe testing I caught John eating it from the jar on the couch! The chocolate, espresso, and pecans are a trio made in granola heaven. This recipe is so easy to whip up and you’ve probably got most of the ingredients on hand. Give this a try:

Please note: I am a participant in the Amazon Affiliate Program and I may earn a small commission from purchases you make using the links to products in this post. You will not pay more for your purchase by using this link. Your purchase helps me continue to create recipes and health and wellness content for you.

Ingredients

Procedures:

  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees fahrenheit.
  2. Cover a large sheet pan with parchment paper, set aside.
  3. In a large mixing bowl whisk coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla, salt, espresso powder, and cocoa powder until well combined. It will be a dark brown liquid mixture.
  4. Add oats, chocolate chips, and pecans and stir until the mixture is combined well and covered with the liquid evenly. I recommend using a strong silicone spatula to stir.
  5. Pour the mixture onto the prepared sheet pan, Press the mixture down into the pan so it is flat and even across the top. This will help the granola clump up and make nice big chunks as it cools.
  6. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
  7. Allow granola to cool completely – it’s important that you don’t stir the granola until it’s completely cooled to maintain the aforementioned clumps!
  8. You can pop the sheet pan in the freezer or refrigerator to cool more quickly if you desire. This will help with clumps too because the cooling of the coconut oil will bond the granola more tightly.
  9. Once cool, stir the granola and store in an airtight container.
  10. Enjoy by itself as a quick snack, with milk like cereal, or top yogurt or chia pudding with it.

This recipe has quickly become a family favorite! It’s much more cost effective than purchasing granola at the store and there aren’t any funky ingredients lurking on this list. Try it out this week and drop me a comment to let me know what you think!

Healthy-ish Homemade Reese Eggs

Food, GF, Treats, Uncategorized
Healthy-ish Homemade Reese Eggs

Is it even really Easter without Reese’s eggs? If you’d asked me as a kid…or even three years ago as an adult, I probably would have told you no. The cute, festive wrapper, the egg shape – obviously the best of all the giant Reese’s shapes, and the perfect peanut butter to chocolate ratio made those babies perfection. They’re still delicious, I’ll admit, buuuut so not worth the way that the soy, dairy, and sometimes wheat in the Reese’s makes me feel.

On top of icky side effects, it’s quarantine time so we’re going to the store ONLY for essentials. Reese’s eggs – no matter what your heart may tell you at the time – are NOT an essential item. Keep your booty home!! The good news is: I bet you’ve got the ingredients to make these healthier-for-you nutty chocolatey eggs in your pantry RIGHT now. (Note: if you DON’T have ingredients listed – see me on insta or Facebook and I’ll help you find a suitable substitution!)

Ingredients

Okay, the sooner we get started, the sooner you get to enjoy the deliciousness, so let’s dig in!

  • 1 cup peanut butter – you want the good stuff, JUST nuts and salt (I actually used Trader Joe’s Almond Butter because it’s a pandemic and Thrive Market is way behind on orders so no PB in my house!)
  • 3 Tbsp cassava flour – other good subs: coconut flour and almond flour (you’ll need more than 3 Tbsp if using almond)
  • 2 Tbsp pure maple syrup
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 cup chocolate chips
  • 1 Tbsp coconut oil

Procedure:

  1. In a mixing bowl, add nut butter, cassava flour, maple syrup, and salt. Stir until well combined.
  2. Using a cookie scooper, portion out filling then flatten and form into an egg-like shape.
  3. Freeze eggs for 30 minutes or refrigerate overnight.
  4. Melt 1 cup of chocolate chips and 1 tablespoon of coconut oil – I like to use the double boiling method: a glass bowl overtop about 2 cups of water boiling in a saucepan.
  5. Remove chocolate chips from heat and dip the eggs using a fork to flip and cover both sides.
  6. Drop onto wax paper and refrigerate for at least ten minutes or until chocolate sets.
  7. Store in the refrigerator until serving.
You’re looking for eggy shapes – they don’t have to be perfect to be cute!

Try these babies out and let me know what you think of them! Be sure to post to Bites With Beth on Facebook or @bethannsbites on Instagram! Better yet, share it with a friend who you know would love it too!

Grain Free S’Mores Cookies

Food, GF, Treats, Uncategorized

With just 6 days until Valentine’s Day, now is the perfect time to start thinking about ways to treat your sweetie, or your bestie, or maybe your favorite co-worker. Today’s recipe is a little self-serving because I was thinking ways to treat my valentine too!

Grain Free S’mores Cookies

One of John’s favorite flavor combinations is a s’more. We recently ordered the Girl Scout cookie version of a s’more and we were not wishing for some more…it wasn’t our favorite cookie combination by any means. So this year for Valentine’s Day, I’ll be treating John with a big batch of these Grain Free S’mores Cookies by ME rather than the Girl Scouts.

Since John is still currently away for work, the recipe will be new to him (even if he gets a preview of these bad boys online) but they’ve been co-worker and student approved! They’re so easy and quick to whip up, you’ll want to add all of the ingredients to your grocery order…like now!

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups almond flour
  • 1/2 cup cassava flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tbsp maple syrup
  • 2 tbsp melted clarified butter or ghee (coconut oil will also work but I prefer the clarified butter flavor!)
  • 2 tbsp creamy almond butter
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup marshmallows
  • 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (if you’re dairy free I like Enjoy Life!)

Procedure:

  1. In a medium mixing bowl, add both types of flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir until combined.
  2. Add in eggs, maple syrup, melted clarified butter, almond butter, and vanilla extract. Stir until combined well and lumps are gone.
  3. Stir in marshmallows and chocolate chips. Note: Highly recommend using miniature marshallows (usually found by cake and cookie decorating stuff) or cutting your marshmallows into fourths. I simply used my kitchen shears and cut them into fourths before I began mixing because the mini ones were $4 and store brand was $.88 and mama didn’t raise no fool. — The reason for this: if you have larger marshmallow pieces they explode and don’t give you as much of a s’more property but more of the empty tomb Easter roll effect.
  4. Roll dough into balls and flatten slightly before dropping onto a baking sheet prepared with parchment paper.
  5. Bake for 13-15 minutes at 350 degrees.

These bite-sized beauties would pair perfectly with coffee, if you’re like me or a glass of milk, if you’re more like John! Low in added sugar, grain-free, and super delicious! Give these a try this weekend and let me know how you like them.

Tri-color Melon Salad with Lime Glaze

Food, Salads, Treats

One of my favorite things about summer has always been garden fresh food. For as long as I can remember, my dad has planted a large garden near the edge of his yard. I have loads of childhood memories helping my dad and sisters in the garden and even more memories of the tasty fresh food my mom would prepare with our harvest. Despite the fact that raccoons and deer almost always ate the corn we planted and I can’t remember a single successful watermelon, we’d plant them every year in hopes that this year would be different. All summer long we’d enjoy zucchini, tomatoes, cucumbers, and green beans – ugh – the sheer amount of work snapping green beans – with enough left over to share with family and friends. Late in the summer and into the fall, we’d be busy canning and freezing and storing our harvest to tide us over until the next summer.

This recipe features fresh mint from my garden. It is perfect for summer barbecues, 4th of July, and picnics. Eat it right away or let the flavors marinate overnight, either way you are sure to enjoy this light fruit salad.

Ingredients

  • 1 Watermelon
  • 1 Cantaloupe
  • 1 Honeydew Melon
  • 3 Tbsp Fresh Mint slivers

For the glaze:

  • 4 Tbsp honey, melted
  • 3 Tbsp lime juice

Procedure

  1. Wash watermelon, cantaloupe, and honeydew melon well. I recommend using 1 cup of white vinegar in the sink and let the melons bob for a while – spinning them occasionally to reach all sides of the melons.
  2. Slice melons in half, empty the shell using a melon-baller. Combine melon balls into a large bowl.
  3. Melt honey, stir until combined with lime juice in a small bowl or cup.
  4. Top melon balls with glaze and slices of mint – I like to just use kitchen shears to bring out the minty flavor and create a more consistent flavor profile.
  5. Stir to combine.

Drop me a comment below!