Gluten-Free Ratio Rally Does Shortbread Cookies!

Logo designed by Anile Prakash

I've been really, *really* MIA on the Gluten-Free Ratio Rally lately. And with so many things going on, I've also missed posting the challenges each month even when I'm not participating. I'm sorry.

So, I'm catching up now. (I'll continue to post updates on occasion until I'm all caught up - and hopefully participating again at some point!) This is the challenge from APRIL - and it's delicious. Who doesn't love shortbread cookies?

The host of the shortbread cookie challenge was Meaghan over at the Wicked Good Vegan. Check out her host post of gin and tonic cookies - as well as the other yummy recipes the other participants baked up for you!

If you aren't familiar with the Gluten-Free Ratio Rally, I have a rally page here where I link to all the challenges I participated in, as well as host posts to those I didn't.

• Heather at Discovering the Extraordinary made Buckwheat Shortbread Cookies with lemon curd
• Jonathan at The Canary Files made Black Sesame Teff Shortbread Cookies
• Mary Fran at Franny Cakes made Gluten-Free Jammie Dodgers
• Meg at Gluten-Free Boulangerie made Lemon Bars with Lemon Shortbread Crust
• Morri at Meals with Morri made Earl Grey Shortbread
• Rebecca at Salts Kitchen made Rosemary, Lemon, and Toasted Pecan Shortbread and Espresso and Bittersweet Chocolate Chunk Shortbread

Pecan Macaroons

Did you all have a wonderful holiday season? I sure hope you did! As must be evident from the lack of treats posted that I truly hoped to have for you before Christmas, I took some much-needed down time and relaxed with my family.

I didn't make even a quarter of the goodies I normally make this time of year, but I did make some pecan macaroons. This is my grandmother's famous recipe (famous among our family and friends, anyway - and probably far beyond!) and I just couldn't not make them when she sent 3 cups of finely ground pecans in our Christmas package. I have an amazing grandmother. :)

The recipe is super-easy, and these morsels of heaven are downright addicting. So, while I was taking it easy and enjoying taking photos of our WHITE CHRISTMAS (yay! day and eve were blanketed in snow ...) and my husband, daughters and dogs enjoying the fun, we did get to munch on some macaroons.

I don't know how my grandmother seems to get a perfect batch of macaroons every time they go in and come out of the oven, but I know several factors are involved. Mine don't ever act like hers each time. My first cookies in the oven came out like perfect heavenly pillows just like hers, with crispy exteriors. The second and third were spread out and chewy (but equally delicious!) and the rest came out like pillows again. To help, make sure your cookie sheets cool off completely between batches and use parchment paper for ease in removing.

Projected prep time: 15 minutes; Projected baked time: 7-9 minutes
(Printable Recipe)

3 large egg whites
1 1/3 cups sugar
1/3 tsp. cream of tartar
1/3 tsp. pure almond extract
3 cups finely ground pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. If using a gas oven, bake on top rack. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper for ease in removal.

Chop pecans in food processor until finely ground.

Blend cream of tartar in egg whites while beating at low speed, then increase speed to whip up. While beating, gradually add sugar and almond extract.

Carefully fold in finely ground pecans ...

Drop by teaspoonful onto prepared sheets. If you drop larger portions, it will affect the baking time and how they come out.

Bake at 350 degrees for 7-9 minutes or until beginning to brown around edges. You might want to check at 6 minutes depending on your oven. You DO NOT want them to brown very much at all on the bottom or they will taste like they burned.

Cool on cookie sheets a few minutes before removing to wire racks to finish cooling. Store in airtight container between layers of wax paper.

Enjoy!

Cardamom Date Cookies

How many batches of cookies have you made for the holiday season so far? Let me tell you a little secret: This is my first batch.

Normally in the past, I've made quite a few tasty holiday treats at this point in the season and I didn't think this year would be any different. So far, however, it has been one busy thing after another. That's why I was quite grateful that this month's Gluten-Free Ratio Rally challenge was cookies. It's given me the kick I needed to put my mind in the holiday baking mood.

Logo designed by Anile Prakash

A big thank you to Caroline over at the G-Spot Revolution for being our host this month and choosing cookies as our challenge. Be sure to head over to check out her delicious double chocolate chip peppermint cookies. (Oh. Yum.) Caroline also has the links to all the other amazing cookies the rally participants baked up this month.

If you aren't familiar with the Gluten-Free Ratio Rally, check out my rally page where I include all of my rally recipes as well as the very first rally post by Shauna Ahern of Gluten-Free Girl. Ratios and using weights have given me freedom in the kitchen I never imagined possible.

I began with Michael Ruhlman's suggestions for cookie dough ratios as I decided what kind of cookie I wanted to make for this challenge. I knew I needed something simple this time around that wouldn't take a long time to make, or (hopefully) take too many trials. Ruhlman's basic 1:2:3 cookie dough ratio suggests 1 part sugar: 2 parts fat: 3 parts flour. I wanted to make a drop cookie, however, and he suggests equal parts of sugar, fat and flour for drop cookies, with the addition of an egg.and some baking powder.

I was concerned that the gluten-free flours would create a dough that spread too much if I used an equal amount of butter, so I cut back on that just a little. I also used molasses as part of the sugar because I thought it might moisten the stickier flours a little more and help bind them with the rest of the ingredients. Using the egg as the starter 2 oz. in the ratio, my ratio ended up being 1:3:4:4 -- 1 part egg: 3 parts fat: 4 parts sugar: 4 parts flour. (2 oz. egg: 6 oz. butter: 8 oz. sugar: 8 oz. flour)

These certainly aren't a cookie that I traditionally make this time of year - I've never even tasted a cookie with these exact flavor combinations before - but the flavors were stuck in my head and I had to try them in this cookie. The whole family agreed the cookies are delicious - and the warmth and smell of the cardamom certainly fits into the season. The only thing I might change if I made them again is try adding more dates. Not too many more, but a few. This ended up being a cookie that spread a lot and were slightly crispy on the outside and a little chewy on the inside. The different sugars help with this.

Projected prep time: 10-15 minutes; Projected bake time: 7-9 minutes
(Printable Recipe)
1 large egg
6 oz. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 oz. (29 grams) organic pure cane sugar
2 oz. (57 grams) molasses
5 oz. (143 grams) pure dark brown cane sugar
2 oz. (57 grams) sweet rice flour
2 oz. (57 grams) tapioca starch
2 oz. (57 grams) sorghum flour
2 oz. (57 grams) brown rice flour
1/2 tsp. aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla
1/2 tsp. ground cardamom
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 cup (2 1/4 oz. or 62 grams) chopped dates (best to chop them yourself unless you wash any extra ingredients off dates bought already chopped)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Sift flours together with baking powder, salt and spices.

Cream together butter and sugars. Add molasses, then add egg and mix together thoroughly.

Gradually add dry ingredients and mix well. Let stand a few minutes to moisten the flours. Fold dates into the dough.

Drop dough by tablespoon balls (a cookie scoop works well for this, especially as the dough isn't stiff enough to roll into balls) onto ungreased cookie sheets. Leave sufficient room for spreading - they will spread quite a bit.

Bake 7-9 minutes, or until cookies are browning on edges and mostly or completely cooked in center.

Let cookies cool on pans for several minutes before transferring to wire racks to finish cooling. They are a little crumbly when hot, but they are no longer crumbly when cool.

I hope you enjoy these as much as we did! If you don't have a scale yet and find all those numbers daunting, I can assure you that it's easier than measuring by cup - and less messy. And I just happen to be giving away a scale and a copy of Ruhlman's Ratio cookbook until noon (CST) today on my anniversary blog post - so hurry!

Please be sure and stop by Caroline's blog to see all the incredible cookies the rally participants baked up for you this season - thanks again, Caroline!

Oatmeal Cream Pies

My children have never eaten a Little Debbie oatmeal creme pie. (I don't think they are missing much.) Come to think of it, I really don't think they ever tasted that great to me. They were just a novelty for me - until I was buying food for myself - because they had that creamy filling.

These? These are good.

They came about as an accident the other day when I was trying to come up with a better oatmeal raisin cookie recipe. (This particular recipe was inspired by the one Marjorie Standish provides in Keep Cooking the Maine Way.) These won in the taste department, but failed in the texture department. I wanted a good, stout yet soft, chewy cookie that was much thicker. These came out on the thinner side and are incredibly soft. They are nice and flat, and perfect to make those cream pies with.

I'm still working on getting the oatmeal raisin cookie to a texture perfection I prefer, but these will satisfy in the "incredibly tasty" department for now.

Projected cookie prep time: 15 minutes; Projected bake time: 7-10 minutes; Projected pie prep time: Under 5 minutes
(Printable Recipe)

1 stick unsalted butter
1 stick salted butter
1/2 cup organic pure cane sugar
1 cup packed pure dark brown cane sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. pure vanilla
1 1/2 cups Pamela's bread mix and flour blend (not baking mix)
1 scant tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 cups certified gluten-free rolled oats
1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Filling:
Marshmallow creme or fluff

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream butter, add vanilla.

Gradually add sugar a little at a time, while mixing.

Add egg and beat until light and creamy.

Mix flour together with soda and cinnamon, beat into butter mixture.

Fold in oats, then raisins.

Bake at 350 degrees on ungreased cookie sheets for 7-10 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

For pies, spread a spoonful of marshmallow creme or marshmallow fluff onto the bottom of one cooled cookie, and sandwich the bottom of another cookie on top.

Enjoy!

Meringue Easter Eggs

I'll start out by saying that I'm a sucker for meringues. I love them. There's something almost heavenly about them - they hardly weigh anything and have the most unexpected texture for something so hard. Yum.

These delightful beauties came as a complete accident the other night. I was attempting to make a totally different meringue shape - frogs to be exact - and they ended up looking like aliens. I'm not kidding. So, I had some meringue left over and a little extra oven room and decided that I'd make Easter eggs. I'm glad I did.

Because it was a rush job, I wasn't taking a lot of photos along the way as I usually do. I also didn't have much time to take photos to do the finished product justice (hence the much-doctored above photo - I thought it was festive, anyway).

I adapted this recipe from the "Froggy meringue cookies" recipe out of Jewish Holidays Cookbook a friend recently gave me. Yes, I was trying to make the frogs. It was for Passover (frogs were one of the plagues), which, as I mention in a previous post, I feel is important for us to celebrate along with Easter. The recipe, in the book, however, isn't complete. It leaves out the essential baking time and any instructions after that. Thankfully I knew how much time was needed because, after all, did I mention I love meringues?

Projected prep time: 20-25 minutes; Projected bake time: 2 hours
4 egg whites
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. pure almond extract
Food coloring as desired

Preheat oven to 200 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper. If you have a gas oven, move your racks to the very top.

Have your egg whites at room temperature and beat them in a large bowl until they are foamy and light.

Add the sugar a little bit at a time, about a tablespoon, while continuing to beat the eggs at a medium-high speed. You may need to stop the mixer a couple of times and scrape some sugar down. When all of the sugar has been mixed in, turn the mixer to high and continue to beat until the meringue mixture is shiny and very stiff. Thick peaks will stand stiff when the meringue is ready. You may have to beat for a while to achieve this.

Remove some of the white meringue at this point if you want white piping. Also, you can remove extra to color different colors.

Add flavorings and food coloring to remaining meringue while mixing on low speed, then return to high to incorporate all of it. You may need to scrape some down.

Place meringue in pastry/icing bags or ziplocs with the tip of a corner cut off and with your main color(s), squirt egg-shaped dollops onto the parchment paper about an inch apart. You'll notice in my photos that I didn't give an inch for all of them. It was an accident and yes, they did puff into each other just a little and easily broke off. If you don't want that, put sufficient space between them.

Take your white color or any other color you have for piping and squirt meringue around the edges of each egg and decorate the tops.

Bake (top rack if gas oven) at 200 degrees for about 2 hours, possibly longer depending on the thickness of your cookies. The meringues should be hard all the way through and come right off the parchment paper. If you prefer to have a softer center, bake them for around an hour. The outside will be hard and have a great crunch, but the center will have a fantastic softer and chewy texture.

Cool pans on wire racks and then transfer meringues to an airtight container lined with wax paper. Store at room temperature. You don't want any humidity to be in that container, so make sure they are completely cooled.

Have fun with them! I do plan on making some of these at some point again - maybe not until next Easter, but when I do have new meringue eggs, I will also hopefully have better photos. I'll share them then.

And enjoy eating them! If I don't get another post in before Easter, have a blessed and very happy Easter!

I will be making hot cross buns with my family tomorrow. The last couple of years, I've used Living Without's hot cross buns recipe found here. They are good. However, I've missed the taste and texture of the hot cross buns my mom made for us every Good Friday while I was growing up. Tomorrow I'm attempting my own recipe/adaptation of the one she used. I'm hoping it works out! If it does, I'll share it with you soon. Again, have a happy and blessed Easter!

Rich Roll Cookies

Happy Saint Patrick's Day, everyone!

How do you celebrate this special day? Growing up, it was a given that we would wear green. If we didn't, my mother would be sure to pinch us. She also made green milk (gross!) and green food.

I don't fix green milk, but I do make green pancakes for breakfast. I also like to make green clover cookies. I'm excited to share the recipe with you - because wouldn't you know that I got my luck with this recipe for St. Patrick's Day. It's almost the same recipe (adapted again) as the Classic Christmas cookies, which I am going back to edit this version into it. They are adapted from the Rich Roll Cookies recipe in the Joy of Cooking, 1975 edition, and as I state in the Christmas cookies post, they are excellent for any occasion. This particular ver are exactly how I remember them being before going gluten-free. I top them with a milk glaze recipe, also adapted from Joy of Cooking.

I also like to make "spotted dog" Irish soda bread, which I shared with you yesterday. And, more importantly, I like to read a little of the history behind this day with my children. There are several books out there, but I like the one you see pictured above, Patrick Patron Saint of Ireland by Tomie dePaola.

I don't know a whole lot about my Irish ancestors, but the older I get the more I want to explore the history behind all of my family and the countries and cultures that have influenced who I am today. That includes visiting those countries one day, as well. Until then, we'll have to read what we can and have fun in the kitchen.

And today as we celebrate, let's also remember Japan in our prayers.

Projected prep time: 25 minutes, plus chilling 3 hours; Projected bake time: 6-10 minutes
About 30 cookies (double recipe for more)
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/3 cup organic sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. pure almond extract
1 1/4 cup Pamela's bread mix and flour blend (not the baking mix)
1/8 tsp. salt (optional)

Cream together butter and sugar, then beat in egg and pure almond extract.

Sift together flour blend and salt, then mix into butter mixture until all is incorporated and a smooth dough is formed. Shape into a ball, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about three hours.

Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Take a small amount of dough at a time and roll onto the sheet, then cut into desired shape and remove excess dough. This is how I eventually found success. Trying to transfer this dough is too difficult if you want to keep the exact shape.

Bake (top rack if gas oven) at 350 degrees for 6-10 minutes depending on type of sheet you use. The edges should be getting brown, and the bottom should be brown. These cookies will burn very quickly once they are done, so watch them.

Let stand on sheet for a few minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool.

When completely cooled, top with frosting of choice or milk glaze (my preference).

Milk glaze
Total time: 5 minutes
(This will cover about two dozen cookies, so you'll need to make more if you have a lot of cookies)
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp. milk (warm will dissolve sugar faster)
1/4 tsp. pure vanilla
1/2 tsp. pure almond extract
Coloring if desired

Blend ingredients together and spread glaze over cookies or cake pieces

Transfer to wax or parchment paper lined sheets until glaze is set.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Gluten-Free "Caramel deLites"

I think it was always a hard decision for me (back when I could still eat them) on whether Caramel deLites (a.k.a. Samoas) or Thin Mints (recipe here) were my favorite out of the Girl Scout cookies. I could easily eat an entire sleeve of the Thin Mints in one sitting - and have great memories of doing so with my family when I was younger.

There's something about the caramel and coconut topping, though, that really makes my mouth water. Over the years I would eat them many different ways: Pop an entire one in my mouth, take little bites, scrape the caramel off first, eat the cookie first and save the topping for last ...

I didn't want my girls to go without the same experience just because they can't eat gluten, especially since my oldest is in Girl Scouts now.

I adapted this recipe from this recipe over at Baking Bites. The cookies were very good, but they spread out a little too much for my liking. Next time I'll freeze it first in a log, then slice the batter. I tried this on a different cookie yesterday, nearly the same batter, and it worked well. If I even make individual cookies again. I honestly think next time, I'll spread the batter out into a pan and bake the base for bars, then do topping, cut into squares and coat bottoms/drizzle chocolate individually. I'm about saving time whenever possible!

Projected prep time (without children distractions): 1 hour (this includes topping); Projected bake time: 7-10 minutes
Cookies:
1 c. unsalted butter
1/2 c. organic cane sugar
2 c. (level) plus 2 tbsp. (level) Pamela's bread mix & flour blend (not baking mix)
2 tbsp. (level) potato starch
1/4 tsp. (level) gluten-free, aluminum-free baking powder
1/8 tsp. (level)
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Topping:
3 c. (not packed) shredded coconut
1 bag of Kraft caramels
1/4 tsp.sea salt or kosher salt
3 tbsp. milk
8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips, plus 1 separate tbsp.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (unless you are freezing the dough into a log, as I mention above - it's what I'll do next time).

Combine flour blend together with salt and baking powder, and set aside. Cream butter and sugar together, then add vanilla. Scrape sides to make sure it's all incorporated. Mix in the dry ingredients and continue mixing just until it's incorporated well and is a pliable dough (not crumbly).

Line baking sheets with parchment paper and then roll dough into 1-inch balls, place on sheets and then flatten to approximately 1/4-inch thick with the bottom of a cup (unless you try the log method mentioned above).

I'll show you now how I came to this conclusion. First I wanted to make cookies with holes in them, but I didn't have a tiny round cutter, so I rolled some of the dough flat about 1/4-inch thick and cut into rounds, then used a tiny star cutter:

But when I tried to move each cookie to the pan, the dough wasn't really cooperating. So after moving one cookie (see it deformed below), I wadded up above dough and placed it in my cookie press:

I baked one sheet like this to see how they turned out. They came out so terrible I didn't even take a photo. The problem is the above-mentioned spreading of the cookie. I have remedied this somewhat by making a thicker dough than I originally used in this batch (therefore, these photos). The recipe above is another adapted version, a thicker dough than what I used in these photos and for this batch, but I did try it out in a slightly different flavored cookie yesterday and it worked better. Yesterday I also rolled the dough into a log first, froze it and then sliced them. Since it's a different type of cookie, though, I'm  posting those photos for a different recipe on another day.

So, now your dough is on the sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 7-10 minutes. Check at 7 minutes. You want them to be done, but not overdone. The edges should be starting to brown. They will be a crispy, not soft cookie. If you are using a gas oven, bake on the top rack.

Let the cookies sit for a few minutes on the sheets before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling. They will break apart if you try to move them too soon. They will stay together once they are cool.

While cookies are cooling, line a baking sheet (with sides) with parchment paper and preheat oven to 300 degrees. Spread coconut onto the sheet:

And toast for 20 minutes, removing every 5 minutes to stir it, until coconut is golden brown and crispy. Go ahead and taste it. It's wonderful.

Place unwrapped caramels in a microwave-safe bowl with the salt and milk.

Microwave on high for 3 or 4 minutes (or less if your microwave is melting it faster), and stop every minute to stir, until the caramel can be stirred smooth.

Fold in the toasted coconut.

Spread topping onto cooled cookies (placing back on paper-lined sheets), and microwave the caramel again for a few seconds if it cools off too much to work with.

Let the cookies sit for a while to let the topping harden. Meanwhile, melt the 8 oz. of chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl on high for about a minute and a half to 2 minutes, stopping after the first 45 seconds to stir and every 25 seconds after that.

When you can stir the chocolate smooth, add the 1 tbsp. of chocolate and stir quickly to melt and incorporate. This should help the chocolate set up better after cooling. I forgot to do this, and had to store the cookies in the refrigerator because the chocolate would melt as soon as it was touched.

Spread chocolate onto the bottom of each cookie and return to sheet.

After the bottom of cookies are coated, place remaining chocolate into a piping bag or small ziploc bag with a tiny snip taken out of the corner, and drizzle chocolate over the hardened caramel topping.

Let the chocolate set before serving. You can speed this up by placing the cookies in the refrigerator. Store in airtight container between layers of wax paper after chocolate is set.

And if you'd like to try Thin Mints, here's a recipe for those.

Enjoy!