Autumn Cookies

I love ginger, in fact whenever we go out for sushi, I eat T's ginger and end up ordering extra...so scrumptious.

These Ginger Cookies are GF Belly's most recent creation and might I add my new favorites!

T loves these Spanish Pannelets, both gluten & dairy-free and chock full of beneficial vitamins & minerals.  Sweet potato is the base, mixed with almonds & coconut.  Traditionally these little round cuties are eaten throughout autumn-winter and in particular on November 1st...All Hallows Day aka. All Saints Day.

Oats & Raisins

Toasted oats and butter, a hint of cinnamon and sweet scents permeate the kitchen.  A comforting combination....oats & raisins. I love this cookie, in fact, if I had to choose just one classic cookie to eat for the rest of my life....I'd choose oatmeal raisin over chocolate chip..Any shape & size, thick & hearty, thin & delicate, crispy, chewy..as long as it involves a combination of oats & raisins.

Our version is already a Gluten Free Belly favorite!  These lacy cuties are on the menu currently for wholesale customers and coming to Seattle-area farmers' markets this January (fingers crossed!).

Cherry Bombs

 

In the midst of recipe testing! T. is enjoying these little beauties and he's named them Cherry Bombs.  The base is pure coconut: Coconut Sugar + Coconut Flour + Coconut Oil + Coconut Milk + Coconut and then there's the cherry.  Loaded with antioxidants, lauric & caprylic acid, also a great source of essential amino acids!  Dare I say, sweets with health benefits!?

Happy New Year!

Peppermint Brownie Cookies!  These GF and dairy-free cookies are versatile, what started out as a simple brownie cookie has transformed into blissful pairings of chocolate and seasonal ingredients.  I created these for the holidays.  A refreshing minty chocolate for the New Year.  A recipe I look forward to sharing with you in cookbook format.

Happy New Year!

Recipe Developing: Chocolate Chip Cookies (Patience is a Virtue), Take 2

I decided on Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free All-Purpose Baking Flour for Take 2 today.  An improvement for sure!  I'm planning on working on my own blend of flours but for now this recipe is quickly becoming a favorite in my kitchen.  So alas, my first of many takes on this classic american cookie.  A recipe that is worthy of sharing with  you all.  Now if you aren't dairy-intolerant go ahead and create this recipe using one stick of softened unsalted butter in place of the butter substitute.  If you try this recipe, I'd love to hear your comments.  One special note, please have patience, this dough must rest in the fridge for 24 hours prior to baking to yield the most decadent texture.

Happy Gluten-Free Baking!

Victoria's Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes 2 dozen (2 tablespoonfuls) 


1 1/2 cups Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free All-Purpose Baking Flour
1 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
4 ounces butter substitute, Spectrum Shortening or Earth Balance Shortening (or whatever butter substitute you like, make sure to leave out the sea salt if your substitute has a high content of sodium)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed, light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
9 ounces chopped, 70% dark chocolate

In a small bowl whisk together flour, xanthan gum, baking soda and sea salt.  Set aside.

Using an electric mixer, cream shortening for a few minutes until light and fluffy.  Add both sugars and set on medium speed for a few minutes until a creamy and fluffy consistency.  Add the egg and vanilla and stir until well mixed.  Add the flour mixture and stir until well mixed, stir in the chopped chocolate.

Now I know this next bit is going to be difficult to do, but if you can muster up the will power it will make all the difference in the consistency of this classic cookie!  Pack the dough in an airtight container and pop into the fridge overnight.  This is an old trick that relaxes the gluten in traditional chocolate chip cookie dough or any cookie dough for that matter, but in this case it is obviously not relaxing the gluten, since this protein is non-existent; what it is doing is distributing the moisture throughout the dough leading to a more tender crumb when baked the following day.  If your inclination is to pop it into the oven now, please know that you will end up with a dry & crumbly texture, although a tasty cookie, but not as tasty as it could be!  Do try having a bit of patience, for the sake of the cookie.

After 24 hours:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Prepare baking sheets with parchment and set aside.
Using a small ice-cream scoop drop cookie dough on prepared baking sheets.  Bake in 350 degree F oven for approximately 16 minutes or until baked through and light golden.

Babycakes' Chips Ahoy!

These little cuties are scrumptious in fact I made a batch of Erin McKenna's gluten-free & dairy-free Chips Ahoy! and a batch of Martha Stewart's gluten laden chocolate chip cookies and the two gluten-tolerant (yes those of us blessed with a  gluten-tolerant belly) chose these cookies over Martha's...how about that?!  

Erin McKenna's Chips Ahoy! cookie is both gluten-free and vegan.  Absolutely perfect for my gluten-free belly! What I love about this cookie is that there is so much more depth and dimension than your classic chocolate chip cookie; typical of gluten-free baking as there are a myriad of grains rather than just one superstar (wheat) stealing the show.  

I chopped up a bit of Theo Chocolate 70% (my go-to chocolate bar for baking) which is vegan and gluten-free!  If you are yearning for classic baked goods, recipes that you have loved since you were a child and have now discovered that you are gluten and dairy-intolerant, I urge you to pickup a copy of McKenna's adorable cookbook, Babycakes Covers the Classics.  This cookie is a favorite in our house.  I think this cookie is much more flavorful the next day and I know gooey-warm-from-the-oven cookies are always preferable but I find these are much tastier once cooled to room temperature.  Mine are much smaller than McKenna's?  She states to drop by the "teaspoonful" which is what I did however mine come out as little drop cookies each time.  They aren't as thin and crispy as the old classic Chips Ahoy! cookies (granted they aren't pumped full of preservatives!)  However, the photo in her cookbook shows a much thinner and larger cookie. I've made this recipe twice and mine never look like hers?  Maybe next time I just need to drop by the tablespoonful...either way they are delicious!

Chips Ahoy!

adapted from Babycakes Covers the Classics by Erin McKenna

Makes 36 cookies

1 1/2 cups oat flour (make sure you pickup a gluten-free oat flour)

1 cup Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose Gluten-Free Baking Flour

1 cup vegan sugar

1/4 cup ground flax meal

1/4 cup arrowroot

1 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons melted refined coconut oil or canola oil

6 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

1 cup vegan gluten-free chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.  Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, sugar, flax meal, arrowroot, xanthan gum, baking soda, and salt. Add the coconut oil, applesauce, and vanilla nd stir with a rubber spatula until a thick dough forms.  Stir in the chocolate chips until evenly distributed.  

Drop the dough by the teaspoonful onto the prepared baking sheets, about 1 1/2 inches apart.  Bake for 7 minutes, rotate the baking sheets, and bake for 7 minutes more, or until the cookies are golden brown and firm.  Let stand on the baking sheets for 15 minutes before eating.

Recipe Developing: Chocolate Chip Cookies, Take 1

I'm experimenting with creating both gluten-free & dairy-free cookies.  This was my first take on the classic chocolate chip cookie.  I have yet to find the perfect blend of flour for cookies; as the texture of non-wheat flours tends to be a bit gritty so far in my testing. What I love about the classic chocolate chip cookie traditionally made with wheat flour and butter is that it melts in your mouth.  There is never any residual grain sticking around.  My first take of this classic was okay, let's just say I have lots of room for improvement!

Next time around I'll need to add more coconut butter and more sugar.  These cookies were a bit too thick for my liking and didn't brown without over-baking.  What did come from this first recipe is a good base for Chocolate Chunk Biscotti.

I only want the best for you and your bellies, therefore once I perfect this recipe I will plan on sharing it with all of you lovely food blog readers!

Babycakes Snickerdoodles

Erin McKenna has done it again. Created an adorable vegan and gluten-free cookbook.  These snickerdoodles are delicate & light.  A little persnickety in the way that they are gorgeous and crispy when they come out of the oven. However, give them an hour or so and they adopt soft bellies.  Still delicious, they just aren't that crisp.

Being that we aren't vegan, I do love using eggs in baked goods.  So I left out the flaxmeal and added one large egg.  Perhaps if I hadn't done just that they would have stayed crisp?  If you like Snickerdoodles or even if you don't (as I've never been a Snickerdoodle lover) you'll surely like these.

Thanks Erin for another lovely book!

Snickerdoodles

adapted from Babycakes Covers the Classics by Erin McKenna

Makes 36

1 1/2 cups plus 1/2 cup sugar

3 tablespoons ground cinnamon

2 cups rice flour

1/4 cup ground flax meal (I used 1 Large egg)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon xanthan gum

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons melted refined coconut oil or canola oil

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.  Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a shallow bowl, whisk together the 1/2 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons of the cinnamon until evenly incorporated.  Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the 1 1/3 cups sugar, the flour, flax meal (or substitute the egg), baking soda, xanthan gum, salt, and the remaining 1 tablespoon of cinnamon.  Add the coconut oil, applesauce, and vanilla and mix with a rubber spatula until a thick dough that resembles wet sand forms.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Working in batches, drop the dough by the teaspoonful into the cinnamon-sugar mixture and roll around to coat the dough all over.  Place on the prepared baking sheets, about 1 inch apart.  Gently press each cookie with  fork to help them spread.  Bake for 7 minutes, rotate the baking sheets, and continue baking for 7 minutes more, or until the cookies are crispy around the edges.  Let stand on the baking sheets for 15 minutes before serving.