Gluten Free Sugar Cookies Recipe

My daughter is becoming happier and happier to help me in the kitchen, especially when she gets to decide  what we are making.  Last month, my daughter requested that we make sugar cookies, because she really wanted to be able to decorate them with frosting and sprinkles.  We had been so busy, that I really did not feel like making the cookies from scratch.  So, I decided to try using Pamela's Baking and Pancake Mix.  

I was pleasantly surprised with the way the cookies turned out.  The dough was easy to roll out using the parchment paper.  The dough held together well.  My kids were able to transfer the pre-cooked cookies from our counter to the cookie sheet without them breaking.  When cooked, the cookies were soft and chewy.  The were sturdy enough to frost, but not too hard.  We are definitely going to be making these again soon with our new Chanukah cookie cutters.  Here is the recipe I used.

   

Gluten Free Sugar Cookie Recipe

1 cup butter (2 sticks), softened
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 3/4 cups Pamela's Baking and Pancake Mix

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar together.  Add egg and vanilla extract and beat together.  Add Pamela's Baking & Pancake Mix and beat until it forms into a dough.  Wrap dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.  (We left it in the fridge for 1 hour, because we had to pick up my son from school.)

When you are ready to make the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Roll out the dough between two pieces of parchment paper until the dough is ~1/2-inch thick. Cut out whatever cookie shapes you like and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet.  Leave space between the cookies, because they will spread.  Bake for approximately 12-15 minutes.  The edges should be light brown.  Let cookies cool slightly and use spatula to remove from cookie sheet.

When the cookies are completely cooled, you can decorate the cookies any way you choose.  I used a store bought vanilla frosting, because that is what my children requested.  Then we decorated the cookies with colored and chocolate sprinkles.  Here are a few samples of what we made.  

I hope you enjoy making these cookies with the people you love.  Enjoy!

<3 Cassidy

Gluten Free Hamantashen

Purim is here, which means that it is time to make Hamantashen!  I have some amazing memories of baking hamantashen with both of my parents.  My mother and I would make the dough, and my father would roll it out on a big wooden cutting board that used to belong to my Great Grandma Bertha.  Then my mother and I would cut out the circles, spoon in the filling, and then pinch the corners together.  My mother always double checked my corners before we put them in the oven.  Now I make hamantashen with my children and my husband.  Plus, I even invite friends over to enjoy in the hamantashen making fun!  I hope that I am helping my children create wonderful memories of their own during this joyous holiday.

Last year I made gluten free hamantashen using this recipe.  These hamantashen were soft, a little chewy, and they were so delicious.  However, the recipe contains rice flour, which I do not use in my baking anymore.  So, I had to re-think how I was going to make hamantashen this year.  I found a couple of different grain free hamantashen recipes, but I liked the one from Comfy Belly the best.  

Gluten Free Hamantashen

2 1/2 cups almond flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
8 tablespoons butter (cold and cut into pieces)
2 rounded tablespoons of honey
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Put all of the ingredients into the food processor.  The food processor disperses the butter in the dough mixture.  Place the dough in a piece of plastic wrap and roll it into a log.  Freeze the dough log for about 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Cover a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Take the dough out of the freezer, and cut the log into about 16 pieces. Take a section of the dough and roll it into a ball.  Then flatten it in between your palms to form a circle.  Place the dough circle on the parchment paper.  Place about a teaspoon of filling* in the middle of the circle.  Fold the dough around the filling into a triangle and pinch the 3 corners together.  The pinching helps keep the hamantashen together when baking.  Repeat for all sections of the dough.

Crack an egg and separate the egg whites from the yolk.  Brush the egg whites onto the edges of the hamantashen.  Bake the hamantashen for about 15 minutes or until they start to brown around the edges.  Let the hamantashen cool, and then they are ready to eat.

*Traditionally, hamantashen are filled with poppyseed filling or a stewed prune filling called lekvar.  My mother always this when we made hamantashen together.  This is her recipe.

Lekvar (prune filling)

2lbs pitted prunes
Water
2 capfuls lemon juice
salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup chopped walnuts
Cherry pie filling
Cinnamon

Put the prunes in a medium saucepan and then submerge the prunes completely under water.  Add 2 cupfuls of lemon juice, salt, and sugar.  Stir together all of the ingredients together.  Then cook the mixture on a medium heat until it looks syrupy (~15-30 minutes).  Combine the stewed prunes in the food processor with the chopped walnuts.  Then mix the stewed prunes with some of the cherry pie filling and cinnamon.

This year I decided not to use lekvar, because not enough people in my family will eat them.  Instead, I filled some with homemade strawberry-rhubarb jam, some with cherry pie filling, and some filled with nutella (my kids' favorite).

I hope that you enjoy making making these with your family and friends.  Enjoy!

-Cassidy

Gluten Free Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies

I hope all of you had a wonderful Valentine's Day.  Usually, my husband and I cook dinner together on Valentine's Day.  Unfortunately, Valentine's Day fell on a Tuesday this year.  The kids have martial arts on Tuesday evenings, so we have leftovers these night.  Since we did not have time to cook dinner, I decided that I would dress up a simple dessert that my whole family would love.  My immediate thought was chocolate chip cookies, so I decided to start there.  I looked through some recent blog posts from Elana's Pantry, and I saw that she had made triple chocolate chip cookies.  That sounded like a great idea, so I quickly decided to make my own triple chocolate chip cookies.  This is my recipe.

Gluten Free Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/2 cups almond flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup shortening
1/4 cup honey
1 egg
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Then cover 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.  If you only have 1 cookie sheet, that will be fine.  You will need to cook these cookies in batches.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the almond flour and cocoa powder.  Stir in the salt and baking soda.  In a medium bowl, cream the shortening and honey together.  Combine the wet and dry ingredients together in the large bowl.  Then add 1 egg to help hold the cookie mixture into a nice dough consistency.  Fold in all of the chocolate chips.  Using a tablespoon, scoop the dough and form into a ball.  Then flatten it onto your palm and place onto the cookie sheet.

Bake the cookies for 7 minutes, until the tops of the cookies are slightly cracked.  Cool and serve.

I made these cookies small for this batch, because they work better for little hands.  You can make them larger if you would prefer, but they will need to cook longer.  These chocolate chip cookies have a cake like consistency.  They are rich, but they are not too sweet.  I hope your family enjoys them as much as mine did.  Enjoy!

Cassidy

Gluten Free Macaroons Recipe

This week I made some scrumptious gluten free coconut macaroons.  This recipe was inspired by Alton Brown from the Food Network.  I  made them for Passover last year, and I had to make a second batch because my friends and family were eating them too quickly.  Since these macaroons caused such a stir, I do not save the recipe just for Passover.  So, when I was invited to a Holiday Cookie Swap, I decided that that was a perfect excuse to make the macaroons.  Unfortunately, the party was canceled because the host's children were sick.  Then I was going to make them when my parents were visiting, but my kids wanted to make a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting for my father's birthday instead.  So, I kept putting the macaroons off.  Then a few days before New Years, I decided that this was the perfect excuse to make them.  They are really easy to make, and they turned out amazingly!  I have also topped them with melted dark chocolate, but I decided not to do that this time.   


Gluten Free Macaroons Recipe


Ingredients:
16 oz sweetened shredded coconut
2 oz sweetened condensed milk
Pinch kosher salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 large egg white, room temperature
5 oz sugar


Place the small deep bowl with a rounded bottom from your stand mixer, along with the whisk attachment, in the freezer for about 15 minutes.  The eggs will whip more easily when the implements are cold.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Combine the coconut with the sweetened condensed milk, salt, and vanilla in a medium mixing bowl.

Take the bowl and whisk attachment out of the freezer and place on the mixer stand.  Beat the egg whites first at a slow speed and then gradually move up to medium until the eggs are foamy.

I have found that if you bring the eggs to room temperature, you will get more volume when beating the egg whites.  Egg whites can be brought to room temperature by setting the eggs out on the counter for at least 30 minutes in advance of your preparation.  

Gradually add the sugar and continue to whip the eggs whites until medium peaks are formed.  Do not overbeat them, they will liquify again.  When egg whites are perfectly whipped, they remain stable, even if you tip the bowl upside down.

Gently fold the egg white into the coconut mixture.  Scoop tablespoon-sized mounds onto a parchment lines cookie sheet.  I baked the cookies in a convection oven for 15-20 minutes until lightly browned.  If you are not using a convection oven, I would recommend baking the cookies for 20-25 minutes.  Once you take them out of the oven, immediately take the parchment paper off the cookie sheet.  Leave the cookies on the parchment paper, because they will solidify as they cool.

These macaroons are amazing by themselves, but if you would like to fancy them up a bit you can top them with chocolate.  I have used 12 ounces semisweet or dark chocolate chips and 1 ounce vegetable shortening.  First you need to fill a 4 quart pot with enough water to come 2 inches up the side.  Put this on a medium heat and bring it to a simmer.  Combine the chocolate chips and shortening in a small glass bowl that can set in the pot without touching the water.  Stir occasionally until the chocolate is melted, and then remove it from the heat.  Dip the tops of the cooled macaroons in the chocolate mixture and place back on the parchment paper to set.  It takes about 30 minutes for the chocolate to set.  Either way you choose to make them, I hope that your family and friends will enjoy these as much as mine.


Wishing everyone a happy and healthy New Year!  Enjoy!

-Cassidy

Black and White Cookie Recipe

My parents are coming to visit, and we are getting ready.  We have been cleaning, shopping, and planning.  I have been looking for ideas for what I am going to cook when my parents are here.  One of the things that I get to do when my parents come is that my husband and I get to cook together.  My parents play spend time with the grandchildren, and my husband and I get to create together with few interruptions.  The kids have a tendency to need something the minute we start cooking dinner.

One of the things I love to make is dessert.  Elana's Pantry inspired me with a post about her favorite Christmas cookies.  I saw her black and white cookies and I just had to make them, but with a little twist.  Here is my recipe:

Black and White Cookies

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups almond flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup grapeseed oil

1 tbsp pure vanilla extract

~1 cup chocolate chips

Vanilla icing

Combine almond flour and salt in a large bowl, and put it off to the side.  In a small bowl, combine grapeseed oil, honey, and vanilla extract.  Pour the wet ingredients into the big bowl with the dry ingredients and combine into a dough consistency.  Put dough in the freezer for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place dough in between 2 sheets of parchment paper, and roll out dough to 1/4 inch thick.  I used my kids' 2 inch plastic cup to cut out the cookies, but anything that has a 2 inch diameter will work.  Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet.  When the cookie sheet is full, place it in the oven for 5-7 minutes.  Bake until the edges are browned.  The amount of time needed depends on the thickness of your cookies, thicker cookies equal longer baking time.  Cool the cookies for at least 30 minutes.

Put the chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl.  Cook the chocolate chips in 1 minute increments, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate is melted.  Spread the chocolate on half of each cookie and set the cookies on the parchment paper to cool.  Once the chocolate has hardened, spread vanilla icing on the other half.  Place on a platter and serve.  It should make about 24 cookies.

We tried the cookies today, and they turned out great!  My parents really liked them.  The center of the cookie was soft and chewy, which is the consistency that I like my cookies.  The cookie was not overly sweet, so the frosting added to the sweetness factor, but it did not overpower it.  The cookies tasted very similar to the ones I had when I was younger.  I was really pleased with the result.  I hope you will feel the same way when you try them in your kitchen.  Enjoy!


~Cassidy