Best Gluten Free Coffee Cake Ever

prep: 20 minutes
cook: 45 minutes hour

serves 12

you’ll need…

1 cup chopped pecans

½ cup packed brown sugar

½ cup brewed coffee, chilled

1 8-ounce container sour cream

½ teaspoon vanilla

2 cups gluten free flour

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon gluten free baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1½ cups sugar

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, softened and cut into 1-inch pieces

2 eggs, beaten

½ cup gluten free chocolate chips

let’s get to it…

Place the oven rack in the middle of the oven. Heat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 12-cup Bundt pan.

Combine the pecans and brown sugar together in a small bowl. Spoon half of the mixture into the greased pan; set aside remaining nut mixture.

Whisk the chilled coffee, sour cream and vanilla together in a small bowl; set aside.

Stir the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a medium bowl until blended; set aside.

Beat the sugar and the butter together with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add the beaten eggs. With mixture on medium-low, alternate adding the flour mixture and the sour cream mixture and mix until smooth. Mix in the chocolate chips.

Spoon half of the batter into the greased Bundt pan on top of the nut mixture you sprinkled in earlier. Sprinkle remaining nut mixture on top of the batter. Top with the remaining batter.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool the Best Gluten Free Coffee Cake Ever in the pan for 10 minutes and then loosen the sides with a knife. Invert it onto a wire rack and remove the pan. Cool cake completely before slicing into a little piece of heaven.

Spaghetti Squash with Roasted Red Pepper Alfredo

prep: 20 minutes

cook: 30 minutes

serves 6

you’ll need…

1 spaghetti squash (about 4 pounds), cooked 
3 roasted red peppers, roughly chopped
½ cup heavy whipping cream
1 egg
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 clove garlic, finely minced or pushed through a garlic press
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
½ cup diced red pepper, optional

let’s get to it…

Remove “spaghetti” from inside squash and place in a large bowl and keep warm.

Blend roasted red peppers, whipping cream and egg in a blender until smooth; set aside.

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium low heat. Add minced garlic. Whisk in roasted red pepper cream mixture. Simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. Do not boil!

Stir ½ cup cheese into mixture and simmer for another 1 to 2 minutes.

Pour cream sauce over spaghetti squash and toss gently. Garnish with remaining Parmesan cheese and diced red pepper if using. Serve immediately.

Cherry Pie Ice Cream 

prep: 1 hour
freeze: 4-5 hours

serves 8

for the ice cream you’ll need…
2 cups whole milk, divided
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon conrnstarch
3 tablespoons cream cheese, softened
⅛ teaspoon sea salt
1¼ cups heavy cream
⅔ cup sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 can (21 ounce) cherry pie filling

for the streusel you’ll need…
½ cup light or dark brown sugar
1 cup flour
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ pound (1 stick) butter, chilled and cut into ½-inch cubes

let’s get to it…
Whisk 2 tablespoons milk and the cornstarch in small bowl; set aside. In medium bowl, whisk the cream cheese and salt until smooth; set aside. Fill a large bowl ice and water.
Boil the remaining milk, cream, sugar, corn syrup and vanilla in a large saucepan on medium high heat for 4-minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in the milk and cornstarch mixture. Return to heat and boil for 1 minute until slightly thickened. Remove from heat.
Whisk the hot mixture into the cream cheese until smooth. Pour mixture into a 1-gallon Ziploc freezer bag and seal tightly. Submerge into the ice and water and chill 30 minutes to 45 minutes.
Pour the chilled mixture into a frozen ice cream canister or machine and spin until thick and creamy. When thick and creamy, stir in the cherry pie filling. Spoon ice cream into a storage container, press a piece of parchment paper directly on the ice cream and freeze for at least 4 hours.
Place oven rack in the middle of the oven. Heat oven to 350°F.
Mix the sugar, flour and cinnamon until blended. Quickly rub the butter into the flour mixture with fingers until the mixture looks like coarse sand.
Spread mixture on an ungreased baking sheet. Break up any large pieces. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, stirring occasionally so mixture doesn’t burn. Mixture should be toasted and brown. Cool at least 20 minutes.
Spoon ice cream into individual bowls. Sprinkle with struessel just before serving.

Deep-Dish Strawberry Pie with Chocolate Crust

prep: 40 minutes
bake: 10 minutes
resting: 3 hours

makes one 9-inch pie, 8 servings

you’ll need…
1 package chocolate wafer cookies
1⅓ cup sugar, divided
⅓ cup melted butter
1 lb. strawberries, divided
1 envelope gelatin
¾ cup cold water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
⅛ teaspoon salt
2 egg whites

let’s get to it…
Place oven rack in center of oven. Preheat oven to 350°F.
Crush cookies and ⅓ cup sugar in a food processor. Transfer crumb mixture to a large bowl and add the melted butter. I don’t add the butter to the food processor because it can get clumpy.
Press the crumb mixture into the deep-dish pie pan, including the sides (your crust will be thick). Bake 8 to 10 minutes; remove from oven and set aside to cool.
Remove the stems from the strawberries. Place 12 ounces of the strawberries (about ¾ of all of the strawberries) and ½ cup sugar into a food processor and purée; set aside.
Pour water into a small saucepan and sprinkle on gelatin; soften for 5-minutes. Add remaining ½ cup sugar, lemon juice, and salt to saucepan. Cook on medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring often, until sugar dissolves (don’t boil!). Pour gelatin mixture into a large mixing bowl and let cool for 15 minutes.
Pour strawberry mixture from food processor into cooled gelatin; stir.
Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry. Fold egg whites into strawberry mixture. Pour into baked chocolate piecrust. Use a spatula to remove all the eggs whites from the bowl.
Garnish with remaining 4 ounces of strawberries (you can slice them, or just put them on whole). Chill pie for at least 3 hours.