Super Easy Gluten Free Coconut Truffles Recipe

Good morning everyone!  We have a super simple, use-up-the-leftovers treat today!

So I found this wonderful recipe for Coconut Bounty Bites from Steph at Silver Boxes.  They sounded so delicious, I couldn't wait to try them.

Except...

That full bag of coconut I thought I had in my baking cabinet?  Practically gone.  Same for the powdered sugar.

So what's a girl to do?

Improvise with what you've got!

I had a partial can of white frosting in the fridge.  Guess what frosting is made from?  That's right - shortening and powdered sugar.  I had some coconut, but not a lot.  So I used the approximate proportions from Steph's recipe to improvise the little yummies you see above.  And here's how it goes...

SPH Gluten Free Coconut Truffle Recipe

1 cup shredded coconut (use UNSWEETENED - and yes, this time, it does matter)

1 cup white frosting

Mix these two together in a small bowl.  I mashed them together with a fork because my frosting was cold.  Use a cookie scooper or two spoons to scoop out portions and roll into balls.  Then I rolled them in cocoa powder and put a chocolate chip in the top.  Chill before serving.

So let's play with this a little bit, based on what you may or may not have on hand...

Roll them in powdered sugar instead of cocoa powder.  Or roll them in more shredded coconut.  Dip them completely in melted chocolate and top with an almond (sound familiar?).  Use chocolate frosting instead of white.  Need more truffles?  Double or triple your recipe.  Mine made 8 truffles.  Scale the recipe back and make just a few little bites as a secret treat for yourself.

No matter how you make them, MAKE THEM!  Enjoy!

 Recipe linked to Very Good Recipes

Gluten Free Coconut Cookies Recipe - 4 Ways

Quick and simple.  Easy and delicious.  Using up leftovers!

You've seen the Irish Coffee Blondies and the Coconut Brownies.  Here's what to do if you have any leftovers.

SPH Gluten Free Coconut Cookies
1 box Betty Crocker Yellow Cake mix
2 sticks butter, softened
1 egg
not quite 1 cup shredded, tinted coconut
1 teaspoon vanilla or coconut extract (to taste)
Leftover vanilla frosting/glaze
Leftover mocha frosting/glaze

Preheat oven to 350.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Add cake mix to a mixer bowl, and combine with butter til it resembles coarse crumbs.  Beat in egg.  Stir in coconut.  Drop by teaspoonsful (I use a cookie scooper) onto cookie sheets and bake for about 12 minutes. Allow to cool completely.  And warning - they SPREAD, so be extra careful how closely you place these.  Just sayin'.

So now the really fun and creative part - the four ways to fancy up these cookies:

1. You can leave them plain.  The leftover food color from the tint, plus the coconut, plus the extract of your choice will make these really good cookies.  And they will seem oh-so-fancy to whoever happens to lay eyes on them.
2. You can glaze them once, with either the vanilla or the mocha.  That's the cookie on the bottom right.  It was glazed with the vanilla.  See how the glaze sets up differently than regular frosting on a cooled cookie (the white one in the upper left)?  Put a small teaspoonful of frosting on while the cookies are still warm.  Let it get soft, then spread GENTLY.  A small offset spatula or the back of a spoon are your best choices for tools to get this job done.
3. Frost'em.  Let'em cool, then spread them with frosting.
4. Double glazed.  That's the one with the brown zigzags.  You can frost or glaze, then  drizzle with the mocha glaze.  Be sure the mocha is pretty thin so it drizzles well.  Also - another great tip:  be sure when you drizzle that you start a little ways off the cookie.  That way, you won't end up with those big blops.  And yes, that's a technical term...

This is a basic recipe that you can tweak how you want.  Use up whatever goodies you have leftover, like chocolate chips, chopped nuts, different flavors of extract or throw in some Jell-o.  If these aren't green enough for you, add some more food coloring.  After they are frosted or glazed, you could sprinkle them with more coconut or leftover colored sugars, too.  Let your imagination and your leftovers be your guide!

Enjoy!

Gluten Free Coconut Brownie Bars Recipe

Another fun recipe from Fox Valley Today!  These will look great on a platter of St. Patrick's Day treats!

These are the bars in the middle with the green coconut.  Don't they look festive?!

SPH Gluten Free Coconut Brownie Bars
1 box Betty Crocker brownie mix, made according to package directions
EXCEPT
Use coconut extract instead of vanilla.  I used up the last of my homemade, which was about 1 1/2 tablespoons.  You can make your own, too, with this recipe from Alton Brown.

1 can Betty Crocker Rich & Creamy vanilla frosting
1 1/2 teaspoons coconut extract

1 cup coconut, tinted green (sweetened or not won't matter - use what you have on hand)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease/spray a 9x13 pan.  By using such a large pan, this is what makes them into cookie bars, instead of brownies.  Spread batter evenly across bottom of the pan, and bake for about 12-15 minutes.  Check with a skewer - if it comes out clean, they're done.  Allow to cool completely

Meanwhile, beat extract into frosting.  Spread over cooled brownies.  Top with tinted coconut.  Cut into squares, and enjoy!

To tint coconut (and you can do this with any color you want - I just used green for St. Patrick's Day):  In a small glass jar, mix together 1 teaspoon of water and a scant 1/4 teaspoon liquid food color.  You can add more or less, depending on how deep you want the color.  And yes, use the liquid not the paste color if possible.  Way easier!  Put your coconut in a mixing bowl (either choose a metal bowl or a bowl that you don't mind getting stained), then pour water-color mixture in and stir til color is uniformly distributed.  While you are mixing, you can add more color a drop or two at a time, if needed.  Just keep in mind that you can always add color, you can't take it away, so start light and work your way up.  Also, over time the color gets darker as it absorbs and dries.

Tinted coconut is also a great decoration for the top of an Easter cake.  Use it to represent grass, add candy eggs, and maybe even a chocolate bunny!


Recipe linked to Very Good Recipes

Gluten Free Carrot Cupcakes Recipe

Today is National Carrot Day - and what better way to celebrate than with carrot cake!

SPH Gluten Free Carrot Cupcakes
1 Betty Crocker Gluten Free Yellow Cake mix
cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice to taste (I used about 1 1/2 tablespoons because I like mine spicy)
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup buttermilk
1-2 t. vanilla (to taste)
2 c. shredded carrots
8 oz. can crushed pineapple WITH JUICE, undrained
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup raisins (I used yellow raisins because that's what I grabbed first out of the cabinet)
1/2 cup shredded coconut

Frosting
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 can Betty Crocker Rich & Creamy Vanilla frosting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Fill two muffin tins with cupcake liners.

In a large bowl, combine cake mix, spices and brown sugar.  Mix to combine well.  In a separate bowl, beat egg, oil, buttermilk and vanilla together.  Pour into dry ingredients, and beat until well combined and smooth. Stir in remaining ingredients, making sure to combine well.  No one wants clumps of carrots in their cupcakes!  Add batter to muffin tins, filling each one about 2/3 full.  Bake for about 20 minutes, or til skewer inserted in center comes out clean.  Allow to cool.

Make the frosting by beating the cream cheese into the frosting.  Spread or pipe as desired on top of cooled cupcakes.  Eat and enjoy!

Princess and I thought these would also be amazing if you had some sugared pecans broken into bits and sprinkled on the frosting.  Just a thought...

Happy Carrot Day!