Gluten-free Cookies

[TheNoodleIncident]

Doing a dinner where one of the guests is gluten free (celiac). I know she would love a great baked dessert, and was thinking cookies, but open to other ideas. I never cook GF, so this is new for me. Anyone got a good recipe? Didn't see anything when I searched, but feel free to redirect me.

Thanks.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Super raisin oaties:

1 C sweet butter (no other - margarine is just nasty in these)

1 C panela or other dark sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 TBSP milk

1/2 C quinua flour

1/2 C rice flour

1/2 TSP baking soda

1/2 TSP baking powder

1 TBSP cinnamon (ground)

1 TSP nutmeg (ground)

1/4 TSP cloves (ground)

1 C quick oats

1/2 C (generous) shredded coconut

1/2 C (generous) seedless raisins

the nuts of your choice

--

1. Cream butter and sugar; add milk, vanilla, and egg, and beat until smoothish (depending on the temperature of your butter, it might be sort of like tiny lumps floating in liquid, this is OK)

2. While the butter is creaming, mix the flours, spices, soda, and baking powder. Once the butter mixture is ready, sift the flours into it.

3. Beat until smooth.

4. Add the oats, coconut, and raisins, and fold until well distributed.

5. Drop by teaspoonfulls onto your greased cookie sheet or non-greased silpat.

6. Top with the nut of your choice - I like hazelnuts.

7. 350 F for 8-10 minutes.

I've also got a gluten-free shortcake recipe, if you're interested....

HOWEVER - ask your friend what stage Celiac she has. Some celiacs can't deal with anything that's been cooked in a kitchen that uses gluten products, and if she's one of them, you should go to a specialty GF bakery and get your dessert there.

[Mjx]

PC's idea sounds really good (I have non-celiac issues with wheat); macarons are another great option.

[TheNoodleIncident]

great, sounds good....anything oat flour based? running a little low on time to shop and happen to be fresh out of quinua and rice flours

and just had another idea - are there any decent GF cinnamon rolls recipes out there? or is that just not possible?

[Panaderia Canadiense]

TNI, you can sub 100% oat flour into that recipe as long as you add 1 tsp of malt powder (ie Ovaltine) or 1/2 tsp of molasses to it to counter the bitterness present in oat flours. You may also have to up the liquid just a hair (think by 1 tsp or so of milk more) to counter the absorbency of the oats - you'll find that they're considerably drier in flour than you might expect.

GF cinnamon rolls are difficult, but not impossible. If this is for dinner tonight, I wouldn't reccommend trying it - the recipes generally require tweaking to adapt to your particular kitchen and the blend of flours you have available....

ETA - liquid adjustment for oat flour use

Edited November 19, 2011 by Panaderia Canadiense (log)

[Beth Wilson]

I took a brownie recipe and used oat flour in it as a substitute with great success.

The recipe called for one cup of all purpose so I used 3/4 cup oat flour and the brownies were fantastic. I did try a 1:1 substitute but it was too oaty tasting and dry....

Just try substituting in your brownie recipe.

[merstar]

Molten chocolate cake/lava cake or a mini flourless chocolate cake - use cornstarch (half the amount) instead of flour.

Flourless peanut butter cookies with a chocolate glaze or chocolate chips. - They're simply peanut butter, sugar, egg, and salt.

[TheNoodleIncident]

Molten chocolate cake/lava cake or a mini flourless chocolate cake - use cornstarch (half the amount) instead of flour

I like this idea - have you tried it before? How does it compare?

[merstar]

Molten chocolate cake/lava cake or a mini flourless chocolate cake - use cornstarch (half the amount) instead of flour

I like this idea - have you tried it before? How does it compare?

Yes I have - many times. I've substituted cornstarch in almost-flourless chocolate cakes, and the results have been fine. For example, if the recipe calls for 3 Tbsp flour, I substitute 1 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch. Of course, you could always make a 100% flourless chocolate cake, but I like the tiny bit of starch to add a little texture.

You could also do a cheesecake or mini-cheesecakes, using the same idea. You could make a nut crust to avoid the gluten.

Edited November 19, 2011 by merstar (log)

[SylviaLovegren]

There are always macaroons, as mentioned, or pavlovas -- baked meringues filled with lemon curd and topped with whipped cream, add some berries or substitute berries for the lemon, or use chocolate cream. Yum.

[TheNoodleIncident]

Lots of good suggestions here - thanks. I think tonight will be the lava cakes since I'm already good at making those, but I see cheesecake and meringue based desserts in our future.

[heidih]

For future you may want to check out the blog Gluten Free Girl and the Chef. I have heard good things about her baked goods.

[azlee]

TNI, you can sub 100% oat flour into that recipe as long as you add 1 tsp of malt powder (ie Ovaltine) or 1/2 tsp of molasses to it to counter the bitterness present in oat flours. You may also have to up the liquid just a hair (think by 1 tsp or so of milk more) to counter the absorbency of the oats - you'll find that they're considerably drier in flour than you might expect.

GF cinnamon rolls are difficult, but not impossible. If this is for dinner tonight, I wouldn't reccommend trying it - the recipes generally require tweaking to adapt to your particular kitchen and the blend of flours you have available....

ETA - liquid adjustment for oat flour use

malt is made from barley which contains gluten

[patti_h]

Yes, if you are avoiding gluten you cannot use malt. Many oats are contaminated with gluten as well. I cannot eat gluten and have struggled to make treats for myself as well as others who cannot eat gluten. There are many good recipes in Cooking for Isaiah by Silvana Nardone. The chocolate chip cookies are awesome and I use her gluten free flour mix all the time. Other favorites are meringues, peanut butter cookies, pignolia cookies, chocolates. There was a very promising recipe for chocolate hazelnut cookies on food 52 but I haven't made it so I cannot vouch for it.

Cheesecake (nut crust), gelato, creme brulee.....I know there are more things I cannot think of right now.

[KarenDW]

I've recently tried the Glutino brand of GF pastry, and it was completely adequate So, you could use that for making a pie or crostata, using tapioca to thicken the filling.

Tiramisu: make "ladyfingers" using rice flour. Or, use those same ladyfingers to make a trifle.

[LucyInAust]

I make these Tahini Pear Cookies:

http://www.applecrumbles.com/2010/06/05/in-the-long-run/

I sometimes grind up the oats to make them more like fine milled cookies ... and I have also replaced part of the oats with besam flour (ran out of oats one evening!). It would be easy to replace the tahini with peanut butter I would think.