Peanut Butter Cookies - GF/DF

I have been meaning to post this recipe for quite some time now and since I've thought about it several times I thought I had already taken care of it. Apparently not because when I tried to find the recipe on my blog rather than in my cookbook it wasn't here! My apologies for not sharing this sooner.

I think these are one of Hubby's favorite cookies because he likes to eat them. I like to eat all cookies so I guess that means all are my favorite. They are bound to be good because when I took them to a neighborhood BBQ they were all gobbled up. Ha! People DO like gluten free dairy free food!

 

Peanut Butter Cookies - Gluten and Dairy Free

Adapted from Better Homes & Gardens New Cook Book

1/2 C Earth Balance or butter if you can have it

1/2 C Peanut butter

1/2 C sugar

1/2 C brown sugar

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t baking powder

1 egg

1/2 t vanilla

1 1/4 C GF flour mix

1/2 t xanthan gum

sugar for rolling (about 1/2 C)

Preheat oven to 375 F.

In a mixer blend the butter and peanut butter until a bit fluffy. Add the sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, and baking powder until combined. Add the egg and vanilla combining well then add the flour and xanthan gum.

If the dough is hard to handle you can chill it in the refrigerator for an hour but I don't usually need to do that.

Roll the dough into a 1" ball then roll in the sugar to coat it and place on a cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. If you want a thicker cookie leave as is (this is my personal favorite) or you can flatten the dough with a fork making a criss-cross pattern. Bake for about 8 minutes and allow them to sit for a minute before transferring to a cooling rack.

Nicole's Banana Chocolate Chip Cookes - Egg Free

My friend Nicole (Hi!) gave me a batch of these delicious and moist cookies along with the recipe. I will admit I ate most of them, it was an addictive "I just can't stop eating them" sort of thing and it keeps happening everytime I make them. But afterall they do have bananas in them so they're healthy, right?

These are so easy to whip together and they are soft and moist. They are egg free which I didn't realize until I had mixed the dough and they turn out spectacular. It reminds me of a banana bread cookie, yum! The dough will be very wet but it's OK they keep their shape well on the cookie sheet. Give them a try and see if you can only have one.

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

From Nicole

2 ripe mashed bananas

1/4 C olive oil

1/4 C honey or maple syrup

1/2 t vanilla

1 C gluten free rolled oats

2/3 C brown rice flour, or your favorite flour

1/4 t baking soda

1/2 C unsweetened coconut

pinch of salt

1/2 C chocolate chips, I used the Enjoy Life Chocolate Chunks*

Preheat your oven to 350 F.

In a bowl mix all of the ingredients. Place on a cookie sheet and abke for 15 minutes. They are great straight out of the oven.

*The dairy free chocolate chunks are at Rosauer's Huckleberry Market

Gingersnap Cookie Sandwiches

I've been baking a lot lately and I need to stop. It's not doing me any favors on the scale since I have a hard time resisting cookies, especially these.


They are too good but you have got to try them. The cookies are soft and chewy while the filling is creamed perfection. Give these gingersnap sandwiches a try but don't blame me for the results on the scale.

Rhubarb Cookies

It took me a couple tries to get these cookies just right. The first time I tried them they were dry but this time was perfection. These cookies aren't too sweet and the tart from the rhubarb is a nice surprise. They are a hit in my house and if you like rhubarb they are worth a try.



Rhubarb Cookies
Adapted from Allrecipes


1 C shortening
1 1/2 C brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
3 C GF flour*
1 t xanthan gum
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 C diced rhubarb
1/2 C shredded coconut


Preheat your oven to 350 F.

In a mixing bowl cream together the shortening and brown sugar. Add the eggs beating well. In a seperate bowl sift together the flour, xanthan gum, baking soda, and salt. Slowly add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture.

Add the rhubarb and coconut and mix well. On a greased baking sheet scoop the dough about 2 inches apart and bake for 10 minutes or until the edges are starting to brown. Allow to cool for a couple minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

*For the flour I used Jill's mix at Hey That Tastes Good. 1 C white rice flour, 1 C brown rice flour, 1/3 C tapioca starch, 2/3 C potato starch.



You can stop right here and enjoy these delicious cookies after they've cooled or you can take it one step further and frost these babies.



Cream Cheese Frosting

3 oz cream cheese, use Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese if you're DF

1 T butter, use Earth Balance if you're DF

3 t vanilla extract

1 1/2 C powdered sugar

1 drop red food coloring

In a bowl beat the cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and food coloring. Slowly add the powdered sugar and mix until smooth. Spread on top of the cookies and enjoy!

Again with the spacing issues! What is wrong wigh Blogger?

Giant Cookie Pizza - Gluten and Dairy Free

The kids had some friends over for a pizza and movie night this past weekend and I finally tried my hand at a giant cookie. I mean really, what better dessert goes with pizza than a cookie pizza? I was a bit nervous about it baking properly and my conversion to gluten free but the sun must have been shining on me because it worked out, a bit too well if you ask my scale.

I think it was best after it had fully cooled so make it the day ahead and cut just before serving. If you do cut it while the marshmallows are still warm spray your pizza cutter with non-stick cooking spray, it makes life a lot easier.

Giant Cookie Pizza - GF/DF

Adapted from Allrecipes

1/2 C Earth Balance Margarine (butter works if you can have it)

1/2 C peanut butter

1/2 C granulated sugar

1/2 C brown sugar, packed

1 egg

1/2 t vanilla

1/2 t xanthan gum

1 1/2 C gluten free flour, I used Gluten Free Mama's Almond Blend

2 C mini-marshmallows

1 C chocolate chips, gluten and dairy free

Preheat oven to 375 F.

In a mixing bowl combine the margarine, peanut butter, and sugars until fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla mixing thoroughly then add the xanthan gum and flour mixing until combined.

Spread the dough on a greased pizza pan into a 12 inch circle and bake for 12 minutes. Top with the marshmallows and chocolate chips then bake another 8 minutes or until lightly browned. Cut after completely cooled and be sure to share.

Gluten Free/Dairy Free Sugar Cookie Cutouts

To celebrate Valentine's Day I opted for some sugar cookie cutouts and since my life is so exciting I spent Saturday night decorating them. As Hubby said what else would I be doing. He had a good point.

I topped these with a thin layer of my creamy white frosting and decorated them with what I had on hand. Since they're going to day care with the kids I figured I better make them look good. I thought they would be really sweet but they're not, it was a perfect crisp cookie that doesn't over do it on the taste buds.

Sugar Cookie Cutouts

Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook

1/3 C DF margarine (butter works if you can have it)

1/3 C shortening

3/4 C granulated sugar

1 t baking powder

Dash of salt

1 egg

1 t vanilla

2 C GF flour, I used Gluten Free Mama's Almond Blend

1 t xanthan gum

Preheat your oven to 375 F.

Beat the margarine and shortening until combined then add the sugar, baking powder and salt. Once this is combined beat in the egg and vanilla then add the flour and xanthan gum. This dough was really dry and I had to knead it a bit with my hands to get it to come together. If the dough isn't easy to handle you can chill it for a few hours, I didn't have any problems working with it right away.

Take half of the dough and roll it out to about an 1/8" thick on a lightly floured surface. Use your desired cookie cutter and cut out shapes then place them on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 7 to 8 minutes or just until the edges set and the bottoms are lightly browned. I got about 46 cookies out of this.

Gingersnaps

We had some get togethers this past weekend where I was responsible for the dessert and I opted for gingersnaps. I actually made gingersnap sandwich cookies but I don't have a picture of the final product. I wasn't sure if I was happy with it or not but after they sat in the refrigerator overnight I decided I was happy with them.

These are easy and taste delicious, as Nicole (a fellow Gluten Freer) stated they taste like real cookies, score! I flattened the cookies with a fork making a cross-wise pattern. This will result in a flat cookie perfect for making cookie sandwiches. If you like your cookies to be chewier and thick (like I usually do) don't flatten them with a fork before baking.

Gingersnaps - Gluten free/Dairy free

Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens New CookBook

2 1/4 C GF flour - I used Gluten Free Mama's

1 t xanthan gum

1 C packed brown sugar

3/4 C shortening

1/4 C molasses

2 eggs

4 pieces sugared ginger, chopped

1 t baking soda

1 t ground ginger

1 t ground cinnamon

1/2 t ground cloves

1/4 C granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 375 F.

In a mixing bowl combine 1/2 of the flour, xanthan gum, brown sugar, shortening, molasses, egg, sugared ginger, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves until combined. Add the remaining flour and stir until thoroughly combined.

Shape the dough into 1 inch balls then roll in the granulated sugar. Place about 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes or until the edges are set.

You can stop here and enjoy the cookies as they are or you can make a vanilla filling to make gingersnap cookie sandwiches.

Vanilla filling

1/2 C shortening or Earth Balance (you can use butter here if dairy isn't an issue)

1 3/4 C powdered sugar

1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped out of it

1 T rice milk, or your favorite milk or milk substitute

Whip the shortening or butter in a mixer until smooth. Add half of the powdered sugar and the vanilla bean seeds mixing well. Add the milk again mixing well. Add the remaining powdered sugar mixing until thoroughly combined and if needed you can add more milk to get your desired consistency.

Spread filling onto the bottom of one cookie then sandwich it with another cookie of the same size. Store in the refrigerator until they are ready to be served, I prefer them at room temp so I'd set them out for 30 minutes or more before eating.

Gluten Free & Dairy Free Kringla

My husband's family has Norweigan roots and kringla is a treat I never had until my mother in law introduced me to it. It's also a treat that Hubby loves and last year I had every intention to make it for him but never found the time. Well I finally found the time. I took my MIL's recipe and tweaked it to make it gluten and dairy free. The results were fantastic! My kids had their first tast of kringla and it was hard to get them to stop

For anyone that doesn't know what kringla is, it's a Norweigan sweet bread that is baked into a little pretzel cookie. It has a nice sweetness to it and is fantastic when served warm with butter.

Becky's Kringla - Gluten & Dairy Free

1 1/2 C granulated sugar

1 egg, beaten

2 1/2 C dairy free sour cream (I used Tofutti)

4 C gluten free flour (I used Gluten Free Mama Coconut Blend)

1 1/2 t xanthan gum

2 t soda

1/4 t salt

In a mixer combine sugar, egg, and sour cream. In a separate bowl mix the flour, xanthan gum, soda, and salt. Add the flour mixture into the sugar mixture. It will be very sticky but all is well. Chill in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Divide the dough in half and roll out on a lightly floured surface. Too much flour makes it hard to roll out so don't go too crazy. Roll into a "log" and cut into 1 inch pieces. Take each piece and roll into 7-8 inch pencil-like strips. Form each strip into a pretzel shape, or any other shape you desire, and place on a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes, 12 minutes was perfect for me.

Gluten Free/Dairy Free No-Bake Cookies w/ Quinoa

No-Bake cookies are the cookie of my childhood. I've always loved them and always will. They are a great option when you want something quick and don't want to turn the oven on. I used to help my mom make these cookies all the time but the last few trials have been duds for me. The taste was there but the chocolate would puddle at the bottom of the GF oatmeal mounds and they weren't the prettiest things. That didnt' stop us from eating them but it did get me on a mission to figure out this problem. I'm not sure if it's an elevation issue or if I wasn't boiling the chocolate mixture long enough but whatever the case these were perfection and I added some extra health to it with the quinoa.

No-Bake Cookies
Adapted from a recipe I submitted as a child to our Church's Cook Book


2 C granulated sugar
1/4 C cocoa powder
1/2 C milk - I used rice
1/2 C margarine - Dairy free if needed
1 t vanilla
1 pinch salt
1/2 C peanut butter - crunchy or not, it's your preference
3 C gluten free oats
1 C quinoa flakes


In a medium saucepan over medium heat combine the sugar, cocoa, milk, and margarine. Bring to a rolling boil stirring constantly. Boil at rolling for 2 minutes then remove from heat and add the vanilla, salt, and peanut butter. Stir thoroughly after each addition. Stir in the oatmeal and quinoa flakes then drop onto greased cookie sheets. Allow to cool and enjoy.

WOW Cookie Dough Review

This is a delicious find from Portland that I have to share with you. WOW gluten free ginger molasses cookie dough that you can keep in your fridge or freezer and use when the craving hits. I didn't expect much from this little package but I had fun with the kids making them. My boy rolled the dough in sugar for me and then I flattened them with a fork before popping them in the oven.

Once these babies came out of the oven we were all in heaven. They were so good and the best part was the little chunks of ginger that were scattered in the cookies, mmm. I'll have to give that a try with some homemade cookies one of these days. We devoured these and my son couldn't get enough.

I haven't seen the dough in Montana but I did see that Oak Street Natural Market carries pre-baked WOW cookies in their freezer section. I'll just cross my fingers and hope we see the dough in our area soon.

Gluten Free Sugar Plum Cookies

To prepare for the small road trip we’ll be taking for Christmas the boy and I made some granola bars, he’s such a great helper in the kitchen until it’s time for cleanup. I was telling him what the different ingredients were that we put in the bars and when I added the buckwheat he informed me that he can’t eat that because it has wheat in it. It was so sweet and I did my best to explain that even though it has the word wheat in it it doesn’t have gluten so it’s safe. The granola bars had GF butterscotch chips, chocolate chips, raisins, and coconut in them. They were delicious and I’m a big fan of the butterscotch.

I saw a sign for sugar plums the other day and not knowing what one is I had to look up some recipes. Most of the recipes include dried fruit but this recipe was the exception and as I looked at the picture and read the recipe it sparked a memory. I don’t know where I’ve had these cookies but I have had them. All I can recollect is I was little and I associate them with a grandmother type figure. I’m not sure if one of my Grandma’s made these or if one of their friends did. After I put them together and took my first bite I knew these were the cookies. Funny how I didn’t even know I missed them until I saw them again.

I will be giving some to my Grandma when we see her over Christmas and I’m hoping my mom or dad will remember them. I want someone else to remember them! My IL’s were over to the house and they ate a few of them (I was pleasantly surprised) but had never had them before. It’s a mystery.

These cookies aren’t the prettiest things in the world and when you’re mixing it together it looks like ground beef. I decided to save you from looking at that picture. They’re very fast and they’re no-bake so it can’t get much easier. I like these a lot. At first they have a little bit of tartness to them but then it’s all sweet, and very sweet at that. My husband said they taste like raspberry zinger’s just without the crème filling.

Gluten Free Sugar Plum No-Bake Cookies
Adapted from All Recipes


1 can (14 oz) of sweetened condensed milk
1 package (3 oz) strawberry flavored gelatin (cherry or raspberry would also be good)
1 ½ C shredded coconut
2 C GF graham cracker crumbs, I used the crumbs from our Gingerbread House
1 package (3 oz) strawberry flavored gelatin
40-ish whole cloves

Pour the milk into a mixing bowl and add 1 package of the gelatin. Stir until it’s dissolved and then add the coconut and GF graham cracker crumbs until a stiff dough forms. Pour the remaining gelatin package into a small bowl. Roll the dough into 1 inch balls and then roll the balls in the gelatin to coat. Place on wax paper and press a whole clove into each cookie to form a stem. This process is pretty messy so to make it a little less messy I used my Pampered Chef small-scoop then dropped the ball directly into the gelatin. Otherwise your hands will be covered in goop. This made 42 cookies for me.

Gluten Free Chocolate Crinkles

For some reason I have been craving chocolate crinkles, I’ve never even made these cookies in my gluten eating days but I just had to have them. I adapted a recipe from Allrecipes and I can’t stop eating these cookies. The kids are all over them too. Usually they take a few bites then are done with cookies but with these the powdered sugar was first licked off by the boy then the cookie was devoured. It’s a winner in my book.

Gluten Free Chocolate Crinkles

Adapted from Allrecipes

4-1 oz squares unsweetened chocolate (Hershey's Baking Bar's are dairy free)
½ C shortening (I used Spectrum)
2 C granulated sugar
2 t vanilla extract
4 eggs
2 C GF flour (I used Gluten Free Mama’s Almond blend)
2 t baking powder
1 t xanthan gum
¼ t salt
¾ C powdered sugar

In a small saucepan melt the chocolate and shortening over low heat. Remove from heat and add the sugar and vanilla. Beat the eggs in one at a time. In a mixing bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, xanthan gum, and salt. Stir in the chocolate mixture until thoroughly combined. Chill the dough overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Roll the dough into 1 inch balls and then roll the balls in the powdered sugar to coat. I make sure they are well coated. Place the balls about 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet and bake for 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Let them cool on a wire rack & enjoy!

Gluten Free Molasses Cookies

I have been fretting about turning our Christmas molasses cookie recipe gluten free. I’ve never swapped a cookie recipe on my own and there’s no way we could have Christmas without these cookies so I didn’t have an option. The kids were sick this weekend (again) so I had some extra time at home while we tried to not share our germs and figured it was perfect to try my hand at turning my recipe GF. I did some reading and comparing of cookie recipes I love and came up with a plan. I didn’t expect them to turn out but I was pleasantly surprised that they did. I tried variations in rolling them out and in bake times and below is what I found to work the best. These cookies are soft and yummy and the frosting is a must. The taste is great but they have a tendency to be a bit flaky and cake-like, it’s odd but the frosting helps to distract from its flakiness. I’ve subjected my co-workers to sample the cookies so I can get an objective opinion and the only comment has been that they’re very airy and light and not really like a cookie. My family is happy with them so I guess that’s what matters.

Becky’s Molasses Cookies
Adapted from my Mother-in-laws recipe

1 C molasses
1 C shortening (I used Spectrum)
1 C brown sugar
2 eggs beaten
3 ¼ C + 1/3 C GF flour (I used Gluten Free Mama’s Coconut flour)
1 ¼ t xanthan gum
1 T baking soda dissolved in ¾ C boiling water
1 T cinnamon
1 T cloves
1 T ginger
½ t salt

Sift or whisk together your flour, xanthan gum, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and salt. Cream together the molasses, shortening, and brown sugar. Add the eggs and mix thoroughly. Add the flour mixture and baking soda mixture alternately in three batches starting with the flour. My mixer likes to splash the water mixture so start slow and be careful! Once it’s well mixed put it in the refrigerator overnight to chill.

Once the dough is chilled you can roll it out and cut shapes into it. Preheat your oven to 350 F, I used my convection option so I set the temperature to 325 F. Tear two 15 inch lengths of wax paper and take some of your GF flour and sprinkle it on one length of the wax paper. Put about 1/5th of the dough on the floured paper and then cover it with the second length of wax paper. Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough to about 1/8th inch in thickness then take a cookie cutter and cut out your desired shapes arranging them on a cookie sheet. These fluff up and don’t spread so you can squeeze quite a few on one sheet. I found it easiest to pin one end of the wax paper between my body and the counter top to hold it still while I rolled the dough out. Bake for 9-10 minutes and allow the cookies to cool before removing them from the cookie sheet.

Butter Frosting

2 ½ T softened butter
1 ½ C confectioners sugar
1 ½ T cream
¾ t vanilla

Cream together the butter and sugar. Stir in the cream and vanilla until smooth and it has reached your desired consistency. I find that I always need to add more cream to get it to the consistency I want.

Frost your cookies and enjoy!

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

I wasn’t sure how gluten free Yellowstone would be so I packed enough food to feed an army for a week, I’m really good at overdoing it. To go along with the fruit, vegetables, cheese, and lunch meat I just knew we needed cookies. I made my favorite oatmeal cookies and chocolate chip cookies just for some extra variety and because I like to overdo it. Our gluten eating guests devoured these cookies and then asked for the recipes. You know it’s good when that happens. My dad’s comment on these cookies when he first had them was “These are real cookies. They’re better than anything you could buy and you’d never know they’re gluten free.” That statement is very true so please try these because you will fall out of your seat in ecstasy.

Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from Jill at Hey That Tastes Good

3 ¼ C Gluten Free Mama Almond Flour
1/3 C Teff flour*
1 ½ t xanthan gum
1 ¼ t baking soda
1 ½ t baking powder
1 ½ t salt
2 ½ stick of butter, softened
1 ¼ C brown sugar
1 C granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 T vanilla
1 bag GF chocolate chips
1 bag GF mini chocolate chips**

Sift together the flour, teff (if you’re using this),xanthan gum, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Cream the butter with the sugars until fluffy then beat in the eggs one at a time. Add the vanilla and beat well. Add the flour mixture until combined then add the chocolate chips. Cover and place in the refrigerator for 24-36 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Scoop balls of dough and place on a cookie sheet, I used my Pampered Chef medium scoop. Sprinkle lightly with coarse salt and bake 10-12 minutes. Be sure to wipe any salt off the cookie sheet before putting more dough on it, otherwise you will have very salty cookies. Allow the cookies to cool a bit before placing on a cooling rack. Using my medium scoop I had about 48 cookies from this recipe. The cookies freeze nicely.

*You can substitute the teff flour with your main flour mix. I have made the cookies with and without the teff and both were yummy.

** I love my chocolate chip cookies to be chocolaty but if this is too much for you reduce the chocolate chips by half.

Gluten Free Oatmeal Cookies

We recently went on our first long road trip as a family of four and since food can be an issue I did a lot of baking so we’d have snacks. One treat I made was oatmeal raisin cookies and it was my first GF oatmeal cookie attempt. They turned out OK but were crunchier than I like and they spread a bit more than I wanted. I decided to give it another attempt with Jill Elise’s (the wonderful cook at Hey That Tastes Good) oatmeal sandwich cookie recipe. I was a bit paranoid on the cookies spreading situation so I didn’t add any butter (because butter makes GF cookies spread) and instead I used 1 C of Spectrum shortening. I also substituted Gluten Free Mama’s Almond Flour for Jill’s brown rice flour mix. My first batch didn’t spread at all, not the first time this has happened to me, so I flattened the dough with my hand to help it out. The flavor is delicious and the texture reminded me of gluten filled oatmeal cookies, they were heavenly. This is THE oatmeal cookie recipe, I promise. The next time I made these I used the full stick of butter and I added 1.5 cups of raisins since I like my cookies raisiny. I also like to make up words. This last batch was beyond perfect and they didn’t last long in my household.


Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

1 ½ c Gluten Free Mama Almond flour (or use your favorite)
¾ t xantham gum
½ t salt
½ t baking powder
½ t cinnamon
1 stick of butter softened
½ c shortening
1 ½ c packed brown sugar
½ c white sugar
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
3 c gluten free oatmeal
1 ½ c raisins

Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl and sift or mix well. In another large bowl beat the butter and shortening until smooth then cream in the sugars and beat for 2-3 minutes to get a fluffy look from the mixture. Add in the eggs and vanilla mixing well. Add flour mixture in three parts mixing well with each addition. Add oatmeal then add raisins until incorporated. Bake on a greased cookie sheet for 10-12 minutes at 350F.

The picture I have, sorry it’s not very good, is of the oatmeal cookie sandwiches so if you’d like to give them a try here’s the delicious filling recipe.

Vanilla Filling
½ stick of butter softened
¼ shortening
1 ½ c powdered sugar
2 t vanilla

Mix everything in your mixer beating on high until smooth and fluffy.

You can find certified gluten free oats at Led & Dad’s IGA, I did a happy dance when I saw them there and I hope no one was watching me. I really must be an interesting person to observe when I'm food shopping with all the talking to myself that I do and of course the dancing. You can also get them at Oak Street Natural Market and Rosauer’s Huckleberry Market. I haven’t seen them at the Food Co-op yet and I believe L&D’s has the best price.