Cow Pie Cookies

I know that my Mother would not like the name of these cookies...

but that is just how they look!

:)

They are a crispy cookie that taste like oatmeal - chock full of all sorts of yummy stuff.

Cow Pie Cookies

1 cup rice flour

1 cup tapioca or potato starch

1 tsp xanthan gum

1/2 cup cocoa powder

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 cup melted butter, margarine or lard

4 eggs, lightly beaten

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut (or mixed coconut and nuts like slivered almonds)

2 cups gluten free corn flakes, broken

3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups raisins (or mixed dried fruit: dates, craisins, etc)

~Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

~In a large mixing bowl, combine the first set of dry ingredients (flour, starch, etc.)

~ Add the melted fat, eggs and vanilla. Mix well.

~Stir in the coconut, broken corn flakes, chocolate chips, fruit and nuts (if using).

~Drop tablespoons of batter onto ungreased cookie sheets. Wet the palm of your hand or the bottom of a glass and flatten cookies.

~Bake for about 10 minutes or until set. Makes about 8 dozen 1 1/2" cookies.

Melting Moments

*These cookies are egg free* I will be posting some pictures as soon as I have mine baked. :)

Christmas would not seem like Christmas without these pretty pink and white shortbread cookies as dessert. They are a family tradition from my Grandma Olive. These were always on the table at her house at Christmas. I remember one Christmas when I was about 14: I stayed with my Grandparents for a few days before Christmas to help Grandma prepare. We baked these little cookies together and sat at their oak dining table visiting while we iced them. It was a treat to be the only grandchild there while we worked together, baking, cleaning and decorating: pinning up the felt gingerbread man valance on top of her blue gingham dining room curtains. Oh what blessed things memories are!

Melting Moments

1/2 cup icing sugar

1 cup butter (I will say no substitutes because that is what Grandma said... but we can not eat butter, so I do substitute with Imperial Margarine - maybe coconut oil would work?)

1 cup white rice flour

1/2 cup tapioca starch

1/4 cup potato starch

1/4 cup corn starch

1 tsp xanthan gum

Cream butter and sugar. Add the sifted dry ingredients. Scrape the bowl and mix ingredients until very smooth and light.... about 5 min.. Chill for 20 min. Roll dough into SMALL balls (1/4 of a Tablespoon). Press down with a wet fork to make a flatish-round cookie. Bake at 300 degrees for 15-20 min or until set but not brown. Cool. Sandwich two cookies together with a very light pink vanilla icing (flat sides together).

Chocolate Melting Moments

I know you can't improve upon perfection, but perfection can come in more than one variety: vanilla and chocolate. :)

Make the above recipe, adding 1 square of melted unsweetened chocolate to the batter and increasing the icing sugar to 3/4 cup. Bake a couple of cookies. If they are kind of runny or do not hold their shape, add a Tablespoon or two of potato starch. (I'm sorry this isn't very definite, but this is the way I bake and it has been a year since I made these... when I bake this time, I will take notes and write this out better:-) Bake as above.

To ice, melt some semi-sweet chocolate (can be baker's chocolate or any chocolate bar, etc) adding 1 Tbsp. butter or margarine. Stir while melting and add a little milk or milk substitute if it seems too thick. Put cookies together with the chocolate, propping them so they do not slide apart before they set up.

The Quintessential Gingersnap Cookie

When I tried this recipe (converted from a gluten recipe), I had one goal: to bake a cookie that my husband could not resist.

And that was no easy task... as Steven is not no cookie lover.

He doesn't like chocolate chip (too rich).

He will rarely eat a gingerbread cookie (too "gingery").

Sugar cookies are too sweet.

Snickerdoodles are too bland.

And then there is texture: it should not be hard and crunchy, nor should it be doughy.

That was my challenge... and these Ginger Cookies were my triumph.

They are 100% Hubby approved!

And he is not the only one who has enjoyed them...

Emily from "In His Hands"

THE QUINTESSENTIAL GINGERSNAP COOKIE

3/4 cup butter, shortening or lard

1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup dark molasses (I use unsulferated blackstrap molasses - THE BEST FLAVOR!)

1 1/3 cup rice flour
2/3 cup tapioca starch
1 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves

1/3 cup cinnamon sugar for dipping cookies in

METHOD:

-Preheat oven to 350 F.
-Sift the flour, starch, xanthan gum, soda, salt and spices together to blend evenly.
-Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the egg and molasses and beat until smooth.
-Add the flour mixture and mix thoroughly, until a soft dough forms.
-Use a spoon to scoop a ball of dough, about 1" in diameter. drop the ball into the cinnamon sugar to coat one side. Place the balls, sugar side up on a baking sheet.
-Bake for 9-10 minutes or until the tops are slightly cracked and the edges look firm and slightly browned.

The Decadent Chocolate Chip Cookie

These are crunchy on the outside, soft and chewy in the middle.

These cookies receive rave reviews by all who try them... gluten intolerant or not!

THE DECADENT CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE

1 cup butter (can substitute margarine or lard)

3/4 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar - packed lightly

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups rice flour

1 1/4 cup tapioca starch

1 tsp xanthan gum

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

2 Tbsp hot water

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cream of tartar (optional)

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

METHOD:

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

-Cream the butter and sugars until smooth.

-Beat in the eggs one at a time and them stir in the vanilla.

-Dissolve the baking soda in hot water and add to the batter along with the salt.

-Sift the flour, starch, xanthan gum and cream of tartar together and stir into the batter along with the chocolate chips and nuts (we can not eat nuts so I substitute 1 cup of coconut which tastes great).

-Drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased pans.

-Bake for 9-10 min in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly browned.

-Try not to eat them ALL in one day - I can not be held responsible for your ruined diets or gained pounds. ;)

Oreo-Type Cookies

This is a recipe that I do not make very often. Not because it is not good, but because it requires more than one step :) My daughter, Millie is more ambitious than I and made up a batch with mint icing... Grasshopper Cookies.

They were very tasty, and I wondered again why I don't make them more often... oh ya, I don't like icing cookies...

If you store them in a loosely covered container, they stay crunchy. If you cover them tightly, they get moist (my favorite). Try with mint or vanilla icing... I bet these would make good ice cream cookies, too!

OREO TYPE COOKIES

3/4 cups butter or margarine

1 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cup rice flour

2/3 cups tapioca starch

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/1 tsp salt

1 tsp xanthan gum

1/4 cup milk or milk substitute (I use coconut milk)

METHOD:

-Cream butter or margarine and sugar together. Scrape the bowl and add the egg and vanilla. Mix well.

-Combine all dry ingredients together in a separate bowl and lightly mix together. Add to the creamed mixture alternately with the milk. Mix well - I use the cookie paddle on my upright mixer.

-Chill the dough so is easier to work with.

-Roll out on a tapioca starched board - if dough is still too sticky to work with , kneed in a little tapioca starch. Cut out with a glass or round cookie cutter - Emilie cut out rounds that were almost 2" in diameter. These were plenty big, and you may want to cut smaller ones for daintier cookies.

-Place cookies on baking sheets and bake at 350 degrees for 8-10minutes. Cool on racks.

-Cool cookies before icing and then sandwich two cookies together with the bottoms sides together with mint or vanilla filling.

Mint Filling:

2 cups icing sugar

1/4 cup butter or margarine

1+ Tbsp milk or milk substitute

green food coloring

1 or 2 drops peppermint extract.

Cream the icing sugar and butter or margarine together. Add milk a little at a time until it is a cream, spreadable consistency. Add the peppermint extract and a few drops of green food coloring to get a mild green color. Spread between cookies.

GF Graham Cracker Crumbs

I am including this recipe to go with the last post (Danish Apple Cake) and to go with the next post (Naniamo Bars). But really, these can stand on their own. We have made them into crackers just for snacking - they are very popular with the little ones. We also use the crumbs for pie crusts and sprinkling on ice cream (although I have another favorite for that which I will post later).

You can buy GF crumbs, but they are very expensive. These are quick and easy and taste great. I like to keep some on hand in the freezer for making easy deserts! Enjoy!

GRAHAM CRACKER CRUMBS

1 1/2 cup brown rice flour (white will work fine)

1 cup tapioca starch

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp xanthan gum

1/2 cup butter or margarine

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

METHOD:

Cream the margarine, sugar and vanilla together. Mix the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl and add to the creamed mixture. Blend well. Your mix will now look like course crumbs.

For crumbs: spread the crumb mixture out on a large baking sheet (or two smaller ones) with sides. Just loosely spread them, do not pack them. Bake at 325 degrees for 15 minutes, stirring once after 7 min. Let cool and break up any chunks. Use for dessert recipes or store in the freezer.

For crackers: add about 1/4 cup cold water to the crumb mixture and mix in till blended. Spread the crumbs onto 1 large or 2 small baking sheets with sides. Get out your rolling pin and roll the crumbs to pack them very firmly. Try to make the mixture all the same thickness and pack it well. Score the crackers with a knife. I usually just cut rectangle shapes. Bake the crackers at 325 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Watch that they do not get too dark on the bottom - you may have to bake them in the top 1/4 of the oven. They should be lightly browned. Let them cool and harden and then break them apart and store in a tight container. These work great for GF S'mores. You can melt chocolate and spread it on each cracker first and then just roast marshmallows over the fire to squish in between two chocolate covered crackers :) :) Or they are just great plain as snacks for the kids.