Menu Idea Monday: Homemade Ho Hos

I've been feeling a smidge guilty that the last several recipes in a row that I posted for MIM have all been gluten heavy and unmodifiable. So this week, I'm happy to bring you something that IS easily modifiable and indulgent to boot: Homemade Ho Hos.

I never liked Twinkies growing up, but Ho Hos were great. At least they were until I grew up, read the label and realized they're about two ingredients away from being plastic. So imagine how happy I was to find Cookies & Cupcakes posted a recipe for a homemade version!

(Photo from the original page, as always.)


Opinion:

If you like Ho Hos, you'll love these. I think they'd be fun to do with kids, and the possibilities for variations are endless - colored frosting for the holidays, flavored fillings - use your imagination! If you're cooking for just a few and don't want extra tempting treats laying around, brownie recipes are easy to cut down to small batches. They also freeze well, so you can stash some for later.


My Modifications:

I actually used Chocolate Covered Katie's Jelly Roll for the cake instead of a brownie (I added 1 tbsp of cocoa powder to her recipe). It was quick, had almost no sugar, and made exactly the amount I wanted. It didn't roll quite as neatly as the brownies would have, but it tasted great!




Dietary Mod Friendly?

Guess what? Both brownies and Katie's Jelly Roll (see above) can easily be made gluten free! (Dairy free too.) So can lots of frostings and fillings! You can get away with relatively little sugar in this recipe if you use the Jelly Roll instead of brownies and fill with peanut butter or other low-sugar frosting. So this is pretty flexible and friendly all the way around! :)