Tiny Quinoa Nutbutter Cookies

 These are probably my favorite GF cookie of all time.  The original source was the Ancient Harvest Quinoa Flakes box.  In the last few years, those quinoa flakes have been harder to find and have gotten very expensive.  But, for these cookies, it's well worth the price. 

The last box I bought didn't seem to have the recipe on the box, so here is my variation on it. My modifications: mixed nut butters instead of peanut butter, different sweeteners, real butter, add xanthan gum, weights instead of measures, cookie size, and some changes to directions

Alas, no photo.  Just use your imagination.  They look like.... cookies. 

Ingredients

170 g total of maple syrup, honey, and/or agave (1/2 cup)

68 g organic cane sugar or raw sugar (1/3 cup) Optional: Substitute about 8-10 grams molasses

112 g organic butter (1 stick)

128 g total mix of cashew, almond, and sunflower butters (1/2 cup) 

1 tsp vanilla

140 g brown rice flour (1 cup)  Can substitute part sorghum or other grainy flour

83 g quinoa flakes (3/4 cup)

1 tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt (more if butter is unsalted)

¼ to ½ tsp xanthan gum (optional)

55 g chopped nuts (1/2 cup) (Optional. See notes.)

 

Directions

 Oven: 350 (f)

Yield: About 90 tiny cookies

1.       Beat first 5 ingredients together until creamy.

2.       Combine remaining ingredients except nuts.

3.       Mix creamed and dry ingredients, then fold in nuts.

4.       Chill for about ½ hour or more to make dough easier to work with. 

5.       Line cookie sheets with parchment.

6.       Roll dough into 8 g balls, flatten slightly, and place on cookie sheet about 1” to 1.5” apart.

7.       Bake 350 for 7-10 minutes, until cookies are lightly brown on bottom.

8.       Let cookies sit on cookie sheet for 2 minutes, then move them to racks to cool.

 

Notes & Tips:

·         Pecans are the best nut to use, especially if you use more maple syrup and less honey/agave.

·         Use 1/3 cup each nuts and mini dairy-free chocolate chips.

·         Use 1/4 cup chopped coconut shreds, ¼ cup chopped pecans, and 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips.

·         If you must measure instead of weigh, oil the measuring cup before you put nut butter or honey/agave/maple in it.

·         Weighing the cookie dough makes the cookies a more even size, which helps them bake more evenly.

·         Consider dipping the bottom of the cookie balls in almond meal before putting them on the cookie sheet. Then use a sugared fork to flatten them, as you would peanut butter cookies.

Gluten-free Cranberry Bliss-ish Bars

Often, instead of developing my own recipe, I'll redevelop someone else's. There are already several GF versions of cranberry bliss bars out there, so it's not like the world needs another one. Or, maybe the world does. You can never have too much bliss, right?

I started with Cookin' Diva's glutenacious recipe on Food.com. I took her suggestion to reduce the sugar, and instead of regular white and brown, I used a combo of organic sugar and molasses. I used my new favorite GF blend, Premium Gold. I added a pinch more xanthan gum than was already in the flour, plus a pinch more baking powder than the recipe called for.  Then, to further lower the sugar count as well as the effort, I skipped the melted white chocolate on top and the grated orange rind.

For the bars:

2 sticks very soft butter

188 grams organic sugar

12 grams molasses

3 large eggs

2 tsp orange extract

224 grams Premium Gold flour blend or GF flour blend of choice 

a pinch of xanthan gum (more if your GF blend does not already include it)

1 3/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground ginger

scant 1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup dried cranberries, lightly chopped if not already sliced/chopped

3/4 cup dairy free or regular white chocolate chips

Frosting:

2 ounces vegan or regular cream cheese

18 grams butter

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp orange extract

200-230 grams organic powdered sugar

optional: 2 tsp - 1 tbsp non-dairy creamer or milk

Topping:

Extra dried cranberries, sliced or chopped

Make the bars:

1. Preheat the oven to 350, line a 10X15 jelly roll pan with parchment, then spray the parchment with coconut oil. 
2. Mix butter, sugar, and molasses in stand mixer or with hand mixer until light and fluffy.
3. Add eggs one at a time to incorporate,
4. Add extract.
5. Mix flour blend, xanthan gum, baking powder, ginger, and salt in a small bowl.
6. Add dry ingredients to butter/sugar mixture to incorporate.
7. Fold in cranberries and white chocolate. 
8. Spread evenly in prepared pan and bake for 18-22 minutes, just until edges are lightly browned and toothpick comes out clean. Don't overbake.

Frosting and Topping:

1. Using a hand mixer, mix cream cheese and butter in medium bowl until fluffy. 
2. Add extracts and incorporate.
3. Gradually add sugar, mixing until smooth, light, and fluffy. Add creamer if needed to get a spreadable consistency.
4. Spread frosting over cooled bars, then sprinkle cranberries on top. 
5. Cut into bars or triangles. 

To freeze: Put one layer of bars in the container, then freeze a few minutes to harden the frosting. Put a layer of wax paper on top, then another layer of bars. Repeat until the container is full.  

To serve: Remove frozen bars to a plate, then let thaw for a few minutes. Do not thaw bars while they are stacked in the freezer container. 

 

German Chocolate Quinoa Cookies

I really call these "Oops Cookies".  I accidentally got the nut butter mixture too hot, and the chocolate chips mostly melted. 

Oops! 

Sometimes a thing that initially seems bad can turn out to be surprisingly good.  So maybe I should call them "Redemption Cookies".

But, rule one of putting your cookie recipes on your blog is, "Make the name make sense to others."  So, with flavors of coconut, pecan, and chocolate, maybe it's best to call them German Chocolate Cookies.

Ingredients:

138 grams total of maple syrup, honey, and agave syrup (1/2 cup)
68 grams organic cane sugar (1/2 cup)
1 4-ounce stick of Earth Balance margarine or organic butter
128 grams total of almond butter and cashew butter (1/2 cup)
1 tsp vanilla
140 grams brown rice flour (1 cup)
83 grams quinoa flakes  (3/4 cup)
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt
Scant 1/4 cup chopped pecans
Scant 1/4 cup shredded coconut, chopped
1/3 cup dairy-free miniature chocolate chips (e.g., Enjoy Life)

Directions:

1. Add first 4 ingredients into a medium steel mixing bowl, then place over a pan of simmering water to soften.
2. Mix brown rice flour, quinoa flakes, baking soda, salt, pecans, coconut, and chocolate chips in a small mixing bowl.
3. When nut butter mixture is very warm, add vanilla and stir until everything is smooth.
4. Remove nut butter mixture from heat and stir in the flour mixture.  Combine well.  The chocolate chips will mostly melt. 
5. Place in refrigerator until firm enough to handle (about 30-40 minutes).
6. Roll into small balls (about 12 grams each) and place on lightly greased cookie sheet about 2" apart. 
7. Bake at 350 until lightly browned but still soft in the middle (about 8 minutes)
8. Let rest on cookie sheet for 2 minutes, the place on wire racks to cool.

Makes about 60 cookies.

GF Ginger-Cashew Brownies

These brownies are largely based on Roben Ryberg's rice flour brownies, so they're bound to be delicious and easy.  If you don't have one of her cookbooks, you're missing out.

These brownies are fudgey, spicy, and just gooey enough.

Gluten-free Ginger-Cashew Brownies

 Ingredients
4 ounces organic butter, melted & cooled.
54 g sorghum flour
70 g brown rice flour
200 g organic cane sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp ground ginger
2 eggs, beaten
3-4 Tbsp candied ginger
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (Enjoy Life brand), divided. (Or more.)
1/4 to 1/3 cup chopped cashews
Cinnamon-sugar mixture

Directions

1. Grease a 9" square pan with coconut oil and heat the toaster (or real) oven to 350.
2. Gently melt butter in a double boiler or a small pan.  Do not microwave.
3. Mix flours, sugar, salt, xanthan, and ginger in a medium mixing bow with a wire whisk.
4. Sprinkle the candied ginger with a little of the flour mixture, then mince finely. You should have about 2 Tbsp when done.  Set aside.
5. Mix the butter and egg into the flour mixture, then stir in the ginger and half the chocolate chips.  The mixture will thick.
6. Dump the brownie mixture into the pan. Dampen your fingers and use them to pat the brownie mixture into the pan. Re-dampen fingers as needed, but don't drown the brownies.
7. Sprinkle remaining chocolate chips and the cashews evenly over the top, then press down a little so they stay put.  Sprinkle with as much cinnamon-sugar as you like, but don't go crazy.
8. Bake about 30-35 minutes, til a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool on wire rack and cut into 12-16 squares. 

 Sorry, no picture.  They look like brownies with slightly toasted cashew pieces on top.

Adventures in Leftover Relish, Part 1

I won't speak of the half turkey Spouse 1.0 and I were left with after our Thanksgiving guests had departed.  That's another story.

Instead, let's talk about cranberry relish.

There are probably at least 100 ideas for using leftover cranberry sauce out there. Many of them say something like, "Pour relish over goat cheese for a lovely appetizer."

Sorry, cranberry sauce over goat cheese is one of the myriad leftovers I'm trying to use up.

Or, "Use it in muffins". Did that. Last year. Didn't like it.

And, all the recipes talk about ways to use up normal cranberry relish.  Well, one of the tubs of leftover relish is kinda normal: Raw cran-apple-orange relish. 

But.

None of the 100 ways to use up leftover cranberry sauce talk about what to do with a tub of leftover cranberry salsa.  Yummy, yummy stuff. But, even Spouse 1.0's love of cranberry salsa can't get it used up before it rots.

So, I was on my own for what to do with my two tubs of leftover relish.

I decided to make jam bars with the tub of cran-apple-orange relish. 

Funny thing about jam bar recipes: When I had absolutely no interest in making jam bars, it seemed like every GF cookbook, magazine, and blog had a GF jam bar recipe.  But, when I went to look through my dozens of cookbooks & mags, and hundreds of printouts from blogs, no jam bar recipe. Except for dear old Roben Ryberg's cookie cookbook.  But, her recipe didn't use oats.  I wanted a jam bar recipe that used oats.

So, I pulled out my trusty, albeit glutenacious, Better Homes cookbook. And, there it was: A nice, oaty bar cookie recipe that was exactly what I was looking for.  Started converting that bad boy to GF. Yeah.

And. I couldn't find the GF oats.  I'd kind of re-arranged and tidied and generally hidden things for Thanksgiving. My GF oats were somewhere underneath and behind who-knows-what. Luckily, the quinoa flakes were handy. So, Quinoa Flake Cran-Apple-Orange Doncha-Just-Relish-Them Jam Bars it is.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cup leftover cran-apple-orange relish
About 1-2 tsp potato starch
100 grams GF blend flour of choice (about 3/4 cup)
28 grams cashew meal or blanched almond meal (about 1/4 cup)
110 grams quinoa flakes (1 cup)
160 grams organic cane sugar (2/3 cup)
3/4 tsp xanthan gum
1/4 tsp baking soda
4 oz butter, softened (1/2 cup)
Optional: 1/4 to 1/3 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 and lightly spritz a 9" square pan with coconut oil spray.
2. Heat relish in a small saucepan until it starts to boil a little. Remove from heat, let partially cool, and sprinkle on the potato starch. Stir and let cool while you do everything else.
3. Make crust by mixing dry ingredients, then working in the butter with your fingertips. 
4. Reserve 1/2 cup lightly packed of the crust mixture.
5. Press remaining crust mixture into the pan.
6. Spread the relish mixture over the crust mixture.
7. Add nuts to the reserved crust mixture, then sprinkle over everything.
8. Bake about 1/2 hour until the top is golden. Cool, cut into bars, and enjoy.

Heavily adapted from the Fruit-filled Oatmeal Bars recipe in Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook, 10th edition.
 

They went fast.

Blue Cornmeal Poppyseed Cookies

A while back, I saw a recipe for blue corn poppyseed cookies on the Bob's Red Mill site.  I was so excited to find yet another blue cornmeal cookie recipe that I didn't notice that it was ... a normal flour recipe. Blech.

Every time I leafed through my printouts of cookie recipes, there it was... Blue corn poppyseed cookies. The momentary excitement. The immediate disappointment. Oh, yeah. Gluten. Blech.

In December I finally got around to converting the recipe. I'm gaining confidence in my ability to do that. Sorta.  Trial #1: Use the GF King Arthur flour a friend had sent. Add a half teaspon xanthan gum.

Yeah, I know.  Bob has his own GF blend. Surely he wouldn't approve of my using King Arthur flour in Bob's recipe.  Had Mr. Red Mill have been there, he no doubt would have laughed when the cookies came out buttery, yummy, and... well... kind of powdery. (See, that's what you get for using some other guy's flour.)

So, a couple of weeks ago, it was time to branch out and start using my own flours. Much better.  Still maybe a little powdery, but kind of addicting, nonetheless.


Blue Cornmeal Poppyseed Cookies
(Adapted from Bob's Red Mill)

Dry ingredients

2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt*
1 cup blue cornmeal
1/4 cup brown rice flour
3 TBSP white rice flour (or more brown rice)
1/4 cup potato starch
1/8 cup tapioca starch
3 TBSP almond meal
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1/3 cup poppy seeds

Wet ingredients

1/2 cup cold butter*
3/4 cup raw turbinado sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375(f) and grease cookie sheets.
2. Mix dry ingredients thoroughly in a small mixing bowl.
3. Cream butter and sugar in a medium mixing bowl.
4. Add eggs & vanilla and mix well.
5. Add dry ingredients.
6. Chill dough for at least 1/2 hour.
7. If you're going to make cut out cookies, roll out between sheets of plastic wrap, cut, and place on cookie sheets. Otherwise, just shape into small balls, place on cookie sheets, then flatten.
8. Brush tops of cookies with beaten egg (optional).
9. Bake at 375 for 6-10 minutes, depending on the size of the cookies and type of pan.

* If using salted butter, cut back on the salt to about 1/8 tsp.

The dough can be a bit sticky and tricky to use for rolled and cut cookies.  

GF Ice Box Cookies, Take 1

A couple of weeks ago I was thinking about my dear departed friend Alice.  Alice is the one who introduced me to the joys of cornmeal lemon cookies.

Thoughts of Alice often lead to thoughts of cookies.

This time, my thoughts turned towards ice box cookies.  They had a rounded oblong shape and were fairly thick. Maybe a quarter of an inch or three-eighths. Brown and drab.  I vaguely remembered walnuts.

They weren't my favorites.  Chocolate chip cookies probably held that place of honor back then. What teenage girl can resist chocolate?  My other favorite would have been peanut butter. Or, better yet, peanut butter topped with a Hershey's Kiss.  Creamy white snickerdoodles with their spicy dusting of cinnamon and, of course, sunny yellow cornmeal lemon cookies would have rounded out my top five.

I have no idea why, after all these years, I should develop a yearning for drab, brown icebox cookies. But, I did.

And thus began the quest.

Job one: Find Alice's recipe. Not in my huge stack of recipes dating back to the '70's. But, fortunately, a Modesto friend had the recipe, and she was kind enough to facebook it to me.

Job two: Convert to gluten free. 

Which also means converting from cups to grams -- at least for the flour.  Lots of variation out there on flour weights.  The best guess: 3 cups of flour » 375 grams.

Also, lots of variation out there on proportions. One source said to use 50% starch, 50% grain.  Another said 30% starch, 70% grain.  Yet another recommends up to 10% bean.  Another, up to 10% nut.

I decided to go » 30/70 for a baseline, using tapioca starch, potato starch, sorghum, and brown rice.

The next consideration is xanthan gum. I think the rule of thumb is 1/4 tsp per cup of flour for cookies.

So, the first draft looks something like this:

GF Alice's Ice Box Cookies


60 grams tapioca starch
60 grams potato starch
125 grams sorghum flour
130 grams brown rice flour
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups organic dark brown sugar
1 cup Spectrum organic shortening
1 teaspoon bourbon vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease cookie sheets.

Mix dry ingredients together until well-blended
Cream shortening; add sugar, beaten eggs, vanilla. Add dry to the wet mixture. Add nuts. Mix thoroughly. Make into long rolls about 2" in diameter. Place in refrigerator to chill for a couple of hours.

OK, so these logs look slightly less appetizing than cookie logs should. Carry on... In the end, it's about how the cookies taste, not how looked along the way.

Slice thin and bake in 400 degree oven until lightly browned -- 5 to 10  minutes depending on diameter of your rolls and thickness of your slices.

Results:

A bit disappointing. I quickly realized that when you make your cookies smaller than Alice's, you need to bake them for a shorter period of time.

They spread out a bit more than they should have, and had a bit too much of a caramelized sugar texture.

Having said that, they've gotten pretty positive reviews from folks eating them.  I guess, so long as I don't expect them to be Alice's, they are enjoyable enough.

Next time:

Try a bit more xanthan gum?
Use part organic turbinado rather than dark brown sugar?
Up the flour to 400 grams?
Add a little bean or some other high protein flour?
Use part sweet rice flour for some of the starch?

Definitely Not Hideous

Cornmeal lemon cookies.

Sounds kinda gross, huh?  Especially if you really, truly, completely loathe lemony desserts.

But, my friend Alice's cornmeal cookies were the best.  Lots of crispy buttery sugary goodness, the gritty crunch of cornmeal supplemented by a little walnutty crunch on top.  Just enough lemon zest to give it a little ... zest.  A subtle hint of vanilla to soften the sourness of the lemon.

So, with the new dietary restrictions, was it even worth it to try to replicate Alice's cornmeal cookies?

In my not-so-considered gluten-free experience, G-free flours can be...well... a little gummy. Cakey. They have their own flavor. Or lack thereof.

Alice's cookies call for a mix of shortening and butter. But, I'm not doing hydrogenated shortening these days. Would all butter burn? Be too buttery and thus overpower the cornmeal?

Raw sugar is a lot more coarse than white sugar, and it's a bit more moist. Would that mess with the perfect texture of Alice's cornmeal cookies?

And the cornmeal itself.... Spouse is supposed to avoid white and yellow corn. He can have blue.  But,organic blue cornmeal is significantly more finely ground than normal yellow cornmeal. What if the cookies were too smooth and didn't have any cornmeal grittiness whatsoever?

On top of that, blue is such a misnomer. Blue cornmeal is really lavender-gray. Not exactly a cornmeal lemon cookie color. Would lavender-gray cookies be just too hideous?

But, having experienced relative success with the oaty-oat cookies and the cashew butter ones, I just had to give cornmeal cookies a try.

I'm still enough of a G-free cooking novice that I'm not ready to convert normal recipes.  But, Alice's cornmeal cookies are unusual.  Surely, nobody out there has concocted a G-free cornmeal cookie recipe. Google google google and...

http://glutenfreeislife.wordpress.com/2009/12/15/cookie-a-day-day-11-lemon-cornmeal-cookies/

Woo hoo! 

Except... ginger??? Spouse would love that. But me, not so much. And, while I want him to be able to enjoy the cookies, I'm really the one with the hankering for cornmeal cookies.

I didn't have the specified sorghum flour mix.  So, I used a random combination of brown rice flour, potato starch, and tapioca flour.

With blue cornmeal instead of yellow, raw demerara sugar instead of white.

And, of course, Alice's 1 tsp of vanilla instead of that 1/4 tsp of ginger.

Results:  Heavenly. Absolutely the best cookies -- in fact, the best anything -- I've made since going healthy.  

And, while my cookies were brown instead of the happy pale yellow of Alice's cookies, they were not hideous. Not hideous at all.