Thursday, December 5, 2019

Virtual Cookie Exchange Blog Hop



Welcome Melva Loves Scraps and to the final day of the Virtual Cookie Exchange hosted by Carol at Just Let Me Quilt!  If you haven't had a chance to see all of the goodies (recipes) offered by the other bloggers you will want to check out the list of participants at the end of the post.

Who doesn't love Christmas Cookies?!?  Every individual has a favorite and I am here to share one of our family favorites.  It was mentioned in last year's post... Magic Cookie Bars.  The yummy sweetness of the graham cracker crust, sweetened condensed milk, nuts, chocolate candies and coconut is difficult to resist!  

But with the dietary restrictions put in place to improve my thyroid health I have not been able to have them.  SO SAD!

I did find a paleo-GF recipe for them that I tried after the virtual cookie exchange last year.  They did, in fact, turn out very tasty and even passed the "inspection" of the  resident chief cookie monster - he goes by the name of Dave.  Here you go!

GF-Paleo Magic Cookie Bars
INGREDIENTS FOR THE CRUST
3/4 cup blanched almond flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
1 pinch fine sea salt
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup coconut oil,, melted and slightly cooled
1 large egg white

ADDITIONAL INGREDIENTS
1 cup dark chocolate chips, or chunks, divided, plus more for garnish
3/4 cup pecans, roughly chopped
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut, plus more for garnish
2/3 cup homemade caramel sauce**

INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8"x8" square baking pan and set aside.

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the "s" blade, pulse the almond flour, coconut flour, and salt several times, until combined.
Add the maple syrup, oil, and egg white and process until the dough comes together in a ball.
Press into the bottom of the prepared pan to form a firmly-packed layer.
Cover with parchment paper, then weigh the parchment down with rice, dry beans, or pie weights.
Bake for 25 minutes until the edges start to turn golden.
Remove the crust from the oven.
Distribute 3/4 cup of the chocolate over the warm crust. They will melt slightly. (That's ok, and encouraged.)
Sprinkle the chopped pecans evenly over the chocolate layer.
Add the coconut in an even layer over the pecans.
Distribute the remaining 1/4 cup of chocolate chips around the pecans and coconut.
Pour the caramel sauce evenly over the top of the bars, coating all of the exposed chocolate, pecans, and coconut.
Sprinkle additional chocolate chips and coconut over the top of the caramel layer.
Bake for about about 20 minutes, until the caramel has seeped into the bars.
Cool completely before cutting the bars.

2/3 cup coconut (palm) sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 pinch fine sea salt
3/4 cup coconut cream, (5.4 ounce can)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

INSTRUCTIONS
Add the sugar, maple syrup and salt to a small saucepan fitted with a candy thermometer.
Place on the stove and turn the heat to medium.
Stir continuously until the mixture comes to a rolling boil, then reduce the heat slightly to bring the mixture down to a simmer or low boil.
Continue to stir until the mixture reaches 220F. It should take several minutes.
Once the mixture reaches 220F, turn off the heat and stir in the coconut cream until it has melted into the sugar mixture.
Turn the heat back on (medium) and continue to stir until the mixture reaches 210 again.
Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla.


Stir to cool the mixture slightly, then transfer to a heatproof container. Allow to cool to room temperature before serving.

I have since found some GF graham crackers and make the paleo caramel sauce to use in place of the sweetened condensed milk and follow the original recipe...  Note:: I use the Enjoy Life brand of mini chips and unsweetened flaked coconut.  Mmmmm... not as colorful as my original version when I used the red and green holiday candies... but sometimes I have to accept a compromise. 😜








Now that I have the cookies made (two batches - one to share, one for us to keep) I need a way to deliver this deliciousness...  Thus a quick little project that will give you an opportunity to practice some free-motion quilting!






A friend sent a video to me several years ago... 

This quick covered dish carrier is great for using seasonal fabric... 

You can choose your favorite... 

Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, 4th of July...  

the possibilities are endless!

Is there someone on your Christmas list that needs one of these carriers?  Surely at least one!  Maybe it's YOU!  😉

What is your favorite cookie that you would gift with one of these carriers?

Leave a comment... I'd love to hear from you!

Happy Baking and Quilting!

Melva


Don't forget to check out all of the recipes and projects shared this week!
December 2nd

December 3rd

December 4th

December 5th

December 6th

Plan to join me for a fun sew along that will feature vintage Kansas City Star quilt blocks!


Linking with:

UFO Busting at Tish’s Wonderland
Sunday Stash at QuiltPaintCreate
What I Made Monday at Pretty Piney
Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt
Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
Colour & Inspiration at Clever Chameleon Quilting
Mid-week Makers at Quilt Fabrication
Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter

25 comments:

  1. I have made Magic Bars before and love them! I haven't made these for years. They would be a nice addition to my Christmas goodie bags. Thank you for sharing the recipe and for the casserole dish carrier tutorial.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for the recipe, I like magic cookie bars and these look great! Merry Christmas!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your magic cookie bars looks wonderful to me! Anything with coconut and chocolate can't be bad, right? What a cool carrier too--easy, yet cute. Thanks for sharing! Oh, and I think my favorite cookie (right now) is oatmeal chocolate chip with coconut added.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The recipe looks delicious and worth trying...another one for my list! I love the little carriers that are perfect for gift giving. Thank you so much for sharing and hopping with us, Melva! xo

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thank you for the reminder and recipe for Magic Bars!! They are definitely addicting!!! I may be able to gift a bit of the Magic Bars...if I really liked the person!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Those carries look great, yes... in seasonal fabrics. I need a couple of those!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh how I love magic cookie bars. What fun carriers to use and gift for the holidays too!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi Melva! Thanks for the GF recipe. It's so nice to have one that has been tried and recommended - they are hard to find. I will check out your SAL as well. Merry Christmas to you and your family. ~smile~ Roseanne

    ReplyDelete
  9. Your cookie carrier is SO cute! What a nifty idea!! I love that you shared a paleo-GF recipe; so many folks these days have health issues that require special handling, so to speak. It's lovely to be able to offer treats that they can enjoy!! Thank you so much! My cookie specialty is apricot almond thumbprints, which is probably what I'd include in the carrier! :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Merry Christmas!! Just the other day, someone at my quilting group was asking about the casserole carriers. I'm always happy to find a gluten free recipe now that I have a grandson that has a restrictive diet. It's hard to tell a 5 year old that he can't eat the cookies when we are. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thanks so much for the recipe. Love that carrier idea. I would probably put my Crunchy Peanut Bark in them. Thanks so much for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Magic...it is the magic season so the cookies will fit right in. Paleo is plus. Homemade Caramel Sauce sounds like a winner. Thanks for the recipes. Merry Christmas

    ReplyDelete
  13. Really cute carrier, Melva. And thanks for the GF recipe!

    ReplyDelete
  14. This is awesome. I've been reading my way through all these scrumptious sounding cookie recipes knowing that I really should't eat them as I have issues with gluten, dairy and cane sugar. This is one I can eat. Yay!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I have not thought of those cookies in years. Wonderful memories, thank you. Great little carrier thanks for that idea too.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Great idea for the carrier. I am a sucker for raspberry thumbprint cookies.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Thanks so much for this gluten-free recipe. My niece discovered she is gluten-intolerant and I've been trying to convert a lot of our favorite family recipes into ones she can eat, now that she is a newlywed and I'm putting together a recipe book for her. It's been discouraging to see how few I have that are ready to go--and if it's discouraging for me, I can imagine how she feels. So, this helps!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Thanks for sharing your cookie recipe and the carrier is a good gift idea.

    ReplyDelete
  19. The cookies sound wonderful, thank you for the recipe. The covered dish tutorial is also very helpful and cute.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Thank you, Melva, for your version of the magic cookie bar. Sounds good. Who couldn't use a covered dish carrier? My favorite cookie is the Mexican Wedding Cookie.

    ReplyDelete
  21. The cookie bars look delicious, thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Hi Melva, I'm interested in your Pieces From the Past sew-along! I have a large stash of 30s fabrics, so this would be a good activity for me. When will the sew-along begin? How big will the blocks be? Looking forward to sewing with you!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Putting this post into favorites to come back to. I've been wanting to make those covered dish carriers. I'm also interested in the sew alongs.

    ReplyDelete
  24. I could have used that dish cover last weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  25. What a fun blog hop! Thanks for sharing on Wednesday Wait Loss.

    ReplyDelete