Gluten-free Gourmand

With Valentine's day coming up, you might be looking for a treat you can make for yourself - or your loved one, if he likes cookies.  But mostly yourself, right?  Most sugar cookie recipes make an ungodly number of cookies, but I for one never need 3 dozen of these guys.  This recipe is pretty easy and makes about a dozen cookies, so you can still fit into your Valentine's day outfit, sort of. Are you a gluten eater, or do you have a different GF flour on your shelf?  Just sub out cup-for-cup the flour that you have for my blend.  This recipe is very forgiving! Easy Sugar Cookies makes 1 dozen cookies With an electric beater or in a stand mixer, cream: 1/4 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter 1/2 cup sugar Cream these together for several minutes.  The blend should lighten and look fluffy.  Add: 1 egg 1/4 tsp vanilla Beat until creamy.  Add: 1 1/4 cup  Deluxe Pastry Flour 1/2 tsp. baking powder 1/4 tsp salt Slowly beat the...

Gluten-free Gingerbread Cookie Recipe These cookies are easy enough to work with that you can do gingerbread people, plain circles, or other shapes. In a medium bowl, mix together: 1.5 C  Deluxe Pastry Flour 1/2 cup teff flour 1 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp xanthan gum (if your pastry mix doesn't already have it) 1/4 tsp salt 3 tsp ginger 1 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp ground cardamon 1/4 tsp ground cloves In a large bowl, beat for 3-3 minutes: 6 tsp softened butter 1/2 cup brown sugar 1 egg Add and beat for another minute or two: 1/3 cup molasses 1 tsp vanilla Stir in the dry ingredients a bit at a time until everything is thoroughly blended.  If the dough is very sticky, add a little more pastry flour one tablespoon at a time and beat or knead it in.  The dough should feel manageable at this point.  Divide it in half and wrap the two dough balls in wax paper.  Let them rest for 2-8 hours at room temperature, o...

I have a new weakness: Pamela's Gluten-free Lemon Shortbread cookies.  These are really tasty!  They are incredibly lemony - I like that.  They're nice and tart.  They have a slightly different texture depending on the batch you get.  I mentioned batch variation as well as cost in a review of Pamela's Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chunk cookies.   If chocolate's not your thing, or if you're just trying to keep your weight up, this lemon shortbread cookie is the gluten-free addiction for you.

I have to confess something.  I have been meaning to write this review for a long time and I'm only doing it today because I wanted to eat a cookie.  My camera was handy so I thought I'd take a few shots of the cookies before I indulged.  Boy, do I feel industrious today! I'll be doing reviews of Pamela's Ginger Cookies and Peanut Butter Cookies in due course - probably on a day when I feel like eating a ginger cookie or a peanut butter cookie. I really like the Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chunk Cookies that Pamela's Products makes.  They are soft, not crunchy - I like that.  The chocolate chunks are big and of a nice-quality chocolate for a packaged cookie.  In fact, I would say that these are better than most packaged cookies you can buy in the store, wheat or no wheat.  The only criticism I have is that they are a little inconsistent from package to package.  The most recent box of cookies I bought was a little drier than usual.  Usuall...

Due to popular demand, I am now revealing my new Pancetta Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. Actually, I only had one vote on the matter in my last post , and it was from a fellow cookie-lover, Jenn from Cinnamon Quill. If you are a vegetarian or vegan, or if you just love chocolate, please go straight to her vegan World Peace Cookie Recipe which looks amazing. If you're really into pancetta , stick around for this post or see my recipe for Pasta Carbonara or Pancetta-wrapped Scallops . As you can probably guess, I'm on a bit of a pancetta kick. While the rest of Portland is devouring bacon by the pound, I'm getting into the more subtle flavor that pancetta lends to a recipe. For something more intense, check out Pete's Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies . He candies the bacon before using. I went a different route with this recipe. I left the pancetta uncooked. Half of it I whipped into the butter to infuse the pancetta flavor throughout the batter. The other half o...