Easy chocolate chip cookies.

I wanted cookies tonight. I wasn't going to stop til I got them. But I have a headache and I'm exhausted. Being a full time student, full time nurse and mom will do it to you. I was out of baking soda. This was very much a tragedy. Til I realized that pancake mix has leavening in it and I started thinking.

I had recently made cinnamon rolls with my favorite pancake mix, as well as pumpkin bread. This was gonna be awesome!!!

I threw this together based on my chocolate chip cookie recipe, without the egg substitute and gluten free flour, and of course since those are double chocolate cookies, I made other adjustments. Also, I adjusted for what was already added to the pancake mix, and created a recipe.  I decided since I had just made apple butter recently, that I could eliminate an egg and add that.  It usually makes things so moist.

Holy canoli, I wasn't wrong!!

It surprised me that the first time I made them, they were awesome, and I don't want to change anything about it.

Ingredients

1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup palm oil shortening
2 tsp bourbon vanilla
1 egg
2 tbs apple butter
2 cups Immaculate Baking Co. Organic Pancake & Waffle Mix
1 cup whole rolled oats
1 cup Enjoy Life chocolate chunks

Cream brown sugar and palm oil. Add egg, vanilla and apple butter. Continue to blend with hand held or standing mixer. Add pancake mix and oats. Blend on low til well combined, scraping sides of bowl as needed. Fold in chocolate chunks.

Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown on edges.

Enjoy Life adventures.

I woke up a few days ago to a box of Enjoy Life cookies at my door. All pretty in their new packaging. Along with a link to their new recipes page.


Needless to say, we were excited.
We decided we'd make the frozen s'more cookie sandwiches from the site the next day.

As soon as I got home from work, Anth put on his apron and got ready to work.

 He began by spreading out the cookies for me. He was very excited to count out 12 on his own.





Anth added the chocolate chips to the ice cream, and I started spreading the coconut ice cream on the cookies to make sandwiches. We put them on a cookie sheet to freeze and even made 2 sandwiches with the double chocolate cookies (Anth's favorite kind).

Anth ate the rest of the ice cream

Then we waited over night while they froze.














The next day we used a double boiler to melt chocolate chips and palm oil, then dipped half of each sandwich in. They had to freeze for one more hour to set.

Time to enjoy!!

For those of you who don't know Enjoy Life, they are a company who makes foods that are free of the 8 most common allergens. They make these foods for people like Anth and others with multiple food allergies, so they can enjoy eating the foods you and I take for granted. Their foods are all free of peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, gluten, dairy, soy, fish and shellfish.

This dessert, as I made it, is also free of those 8 allergens.

****Of note, the cookies pictured above come in flavors such as double chocolate, chocolate chip, honey graham and sugar crisp. The only one of them that is certified vegan is the sugar crisp. The others are not because of the sugar they contain.


The recipe from the Enjoy Life website is linked above. Mine is below, with a few changes that I made, based on our dietary needs.














S'more Ice Cream Sandwiches
(makes 6 sandwiches)

Sandwich Ingredients
1 pint vanilla bean So Delicious Coconut Milk ice cream, softened
4 T Enjoy Life Semi-Sweet Chocolate Mini Chips
12 Enjoy Life Vanilla Honey Graham Crunchy Cookies

Chocolate Coating Ingredients
¼ C Enjoy Life Semi-Sweet Chocolate Mini Chips
2 t Spectrum Sustainable Palm Oil Shortening


Directions:
1. Mix the Enjoy Life Semi-Sweet Chocolate Mini Chips in with the softened coconut milk ice cream.
2. Scoop about ¼ C onto 6 of the Enjoy Life Vanilla Honey Graham Crunchy Cookies.
3. Top with another cookie.
4. Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet and place in the freezer overnight.


The following day:
1. Melt the ¼ C Enjoy Life Semi-Sweet Chocolate Mini Chips with the 2 t palm oil.
2. Remove the cookie sandwiches from the freezer and dip about half into the chocolate.
3. Place on parchment lined baking sheet in freezer
4. Freeze until relatively firm, about another hour or so, and then cover until ready to eat.

 

Eat Freely.

I have to tell you.  I have a new obsession.  Enjoy Life snacks.  All of them are great, really... But I am pretty obsessed with their new Crunchy Vanilla Honey Graham Cookies.  I am thoroughly addicted.  All the crunchy cookies are good.... But these ones are amazing... I need to stop and just tell you a little more about why their products are so good.  But hold on, I need to eat another cookie first.

Enjoy Life is a company that was founded in 2001 by a man named Scott Mandell.  It is, and always has been, a dedicated nut and gluten free company, but all their products are free of wheat, dairy, soy, peanuts, eggs, tree nuts, fish and shellfish.  Most products they make are also free of potatoes, sulfites, sesame and casein.  They were also the first company EVER to be certified by the Gluten Free Certification Organization.  Do you understand how great this is??!  People who have food allergies can just pick up a box of their snacks and eat them without wondering whether they'll react.  People like me, who breastfeed their allergic babies, can eat whatever they want.. and not wonder how their baby will be later.  It is just a freedom that people don't get when eating products made elsewhere.  I am newly gluten, soy, dairy and egg free and can't find many products that I can eat freely, so Enjoy Life has been such a relief for me.

I recently tried their Chocolate For Baking.  The Megachunks, I tried first, and made the blondie recipe on the box.  I love love loved the chunks themselves, but since having a baby 8 months ago, I've completely lost my brain.  I didn't read the recipe right, I guess.  It called for only 1 cup of the megachunks, but I think I forgot to read the directions.  I added the whole bag and the blondies didn't cook all the way through.  I keep meaning to try them again, but haven't gotten to.  I did try the mini chips and was EXTREMELY satisfied.  I made double chocolate gluten, soy, dairy and egg free cookies and they turned out fantastic!!! The Double Chocolate Granola contains the mini chips, and Oh Em Gee!!  I couldn't get enough of that either!   

I'm so excited that I found this stuff as I was finding out JUST how many allergies my son has.  Seems to me we'll be loyal shoppers for EVER!!

Double Chocolate Cookies, free of most allergens, of course :)

1/3 cup Enjoy Life Mini Chunks
1 cup dairy free butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3 tsp Ener-G Egg Replacer
4 tablespoons water
1/3 cup cocoa powder
2 cups gf flour mix of your choice (I use Namaste Perfect Flour Blend or Brown Rice Flour)
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp baking soda
10 oz bag dairy free chips
Heat choc chips in microwave in 30 second intervals until melted.  Set aside to cool.  Combine egg replacer and water and stir well, set aside.
Combine butter, sugars and vanilla in large bowl. Add egg replacer mixture and mix until fluffy. Add cooled choc chips, mix well.
Add cocoa, flour, xanthan gum and baking soda. Mix until combined.
Fold in chips.
Bake on 350 for 11 or so minutes until tops start to crack.

OMG, I needed a fix!!!!  I got it.  This was AWESOME!!! Also, Gluten free, Soy free, Dairy free and Egg free :)
Enjoy!