Alex's Gluten-Free Brownies

These were incredible and she left me the recipe, so I'm taking the liberty of posting it here:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 cup dark chocolate (chunks or chips)

Directions: Preheat the oven to 350 F. Melt butter and cocoa powder in a bowl in the microwave. Add brown sugar, vanilla, and eggs and mix thoroughly. Mix in cornstarch and salt. Add dark chocolate and stir. Pour into a well-greased 8x8 pan and bake for 35 minutes or until a fork comes out clean.

Apple Cinnamon Cupcakes with Streusel

These cupcakes caused my English professor to stop in the middle of a sentence to say "Oh my God." They're that good. I used Cortland apples from the farmer's market, but any crisp, slightly tart variety would be just as good. I recommend slicing the apples by hand rather than grating them, since they tend to disintegrate and produce far too much juice when grated.

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

2 cups sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

4 cups coarsely shredded apples, such as Macintosh (about 1 3/4 pounds)

Streusel Topping:

6 tablespoons cold butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup flour

1 cup coconut

2 tsp. cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 standard muffin tins with paper liners; set aside. Whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside. Put butter and sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Reduce speed to low; mix in apples. Add flour mixture; mix, scraping down sides of bowl as needed, until just combined.

Topping:

Stir together flour, sugar, and cinnamon. Cut in butter with pastry blender, two knives, or fingers. Mix in coconut.

Divide batter among lined cups, filling halfway; sprinkle generously with streusel topping and bake until tops are springy to the touch, 18 to 20 minutes. Remove cupcakes from tins; transfer to a wire rack; let cool. completely.