I try not to bake cookies and cakes except for the occasional gluten-free goody for Dot.
Of course, even if cookies are gluten-free, they still contain carbs, fat and sugar, which fibro and chronic people should generally avoid consuming.
Recently, my son gave me a jar of my favorite lingonberry jam that he got at Ikea. The slightly tart jam is perfect for thumbprint cookies, so I baked a batch of thumbprint cookies using a recipe that I tore out of Parade Magazine a few months ago.
The cookies turned out buttery and yummy, but it was painful having to tell Dot that she couldn't eat them since they contained gluten.
Knowing that eating the cookies would have dire consequences - pain, bloating and trips to the bathroom - Dot just eyed them longingly.
But then I remembered that the special gluten-free flour I bought for Dot's favorite comfort foods, crepes and banana bread, might work for cookies.
My son, by mistake, ate some of the gluten-free banana bread I made and thought it was delicious. Usually, everyone shuns my gluten-free food, assuming that it couldn't possibly taste very good, but sometimes I do prove them wrong.
So for Dot's Valentine treat, I substituted Namaste gluten-free flour in the cookies recipe, and the rest, as they say, is history. Enjoy!
INGREDIENTS
- 2 cups shifted gluten-free flour (used Namaste Foods Perfect Flour Blend)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup butter
- Half cup superfine sugar (used regular white sugar)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- Jam (used Swedish lingonberry jam from IKEA $2.50)
DIRECTIONS
- Sift together flour and salt and set aside. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy and add vanilla and almond extracts. Slowly mix in flour, half cup at a time, until blended. Chill dough for 1 to 2 hours.
- Pre-heat oven to 325°F. Meanwhile, quickly shape into 1-inch balls, and space them 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Make a deep thumbprint in the center of each. Fill in with jam.
- Bake for 15 min. or until cookies are the color of pale sand. Transfer to wire cooling racks.
A 48-oz. bag of Namaste Foods Perfect Flour Blend costs $8.99 at Vitacost.com with standard $4.99 shipping per order. Vitacost sometimes has free shipping as they do now for orders over $49 till Feb 28, 2011.
The flour is $.50 cheaper per bag on Amazon.com but you must buy 6 48-oz. bags for $50.63 with free shipping. I found this the best all-purpose, gluten-free of all I tested with very few disasters. It is also highly rated by buyers getting 4-5 stars. I would give it 5 stars.
I try not to bake cookies and cakes except for the occasional gluten-free goody for Dot.
Of course, even if cookies are gluten-free, they still contain carbs, fat and sugar, which fibro and chronic people should generally avoid consuming.
Recently, my son gave me a jar of my favorite lingonberry jam that he got at Ikea. The slightly tart jam is perfect for thumbprint cookies, so I baked a batch of thumbprint cookies using a recipe that I tore out of Parade Magazine a few months ago.
The cookies turned out buttery and yummy, but it was painful having to tell Dot that she couldn't eat them since they contained gluten.
Knowing that eating the cookies would have dire consequences - pain, bloating and trips to the bathroom - Dot just eyed them longingly.
But then I remembered that the special gluten-free flour I bought for Dot's favorite comfort foods, crepes and banana bread, might work for cookies.
My son, by mistake, ate some of the gluten-free banana bread I made and thought it was delicious. Usually, everyone shuns my gluten-free food, assuming that it couldn't possibly taste very good, but sometimes I do prove them wrong.
So for Dot's Valentine treat, I substituted Namaste gluten-free flour in the cookies recipe, and the rest, as they say, is history. Enjoy!
INGREDIENTS
DIRECTIONS
A 48-oz. bag of Namaste Foods Perfect Flour Blend costs $8.99 at Vitacost.com with standard $4.99 shipping per order. Vitacost sometimes has free shipping as they do now for orders over $49 till Feb 28, 2011.
The flour is $.50 cheaper per bag on Amazon.com but you must buy 6 48-oz. bags for $50.63 with free shipping. I found this the best all-purpose, gluten-free of all I tested with very few disasters. It is also highly rated by buyers getting 4-5 stars. I would give it 5 stars.