Category Archives: 6. Baking

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Our Adventures In Baking ~ Gluten-Free Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies

My wife recently made a batch of ‘Gluten-Free Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies’ from a recipe called ‘Rice Flour Jam Cookies | Thumbprint Cookies | Gluten Free Recipe’ she found online at ‘Kurry Leaves dot net’ ~ and they were excellent!

She used almond extract instead of vanilla extract, and seedless raspberry jam instead of strawberry jam in her cookies, and they tasted delicious.  She baked them for 14 minutes at 350 deg F, and next time she’ll try the vanilla and strawberry combination ~ enjoy! ☼ 🙂

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Our Adventures In Baking ~ Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Snowball Cookies

I made a batch of ‘Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Snowball Cookies’ as part of my Christmas baking this year, based on a recipe called ‘Chocolate Chip Snowball Cookies’ my wife found online at ‘Crazy For Crust dot com’ ~ and what a treat they are!  Chocolate chip mini-morsels suspended within delicate snowball cookies dusted in powder sugar!

I made these cookies using half gluten-free flour and half oat flour, and couldn’t be happier with how they tasted and turned out.  This recipe made 44 cookies using a small 1″ cookie scoop, baked at 350 deg F for 12 minutes ~ enjoy! ☼ 🙂

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Our Adventures In Baking ~ Gluten-Free Butter Swirl Shortbread Cookies

I made these ‘Gluten-Free Butter Swirl Shortbread Cookies’ the other day, based on a recipe for ‘Butter Swirl Shortbread Cookies’ my wife found on ‘Fifteen Spatulas dot com’ ~ and they’re delicious!

This recipe made 44 cookies, baked at 350 deg F for 12 minutes.  These cookies have a wonderful buttery shortbread flavor that melts on your tongue, and for this batch I used half gluten-free flour and half oat flour ~ enjoy! ☼ 🙂

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Our Adventures In Baking ~ Gluten-Free Oat Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies

Yesterday I made ‘Gluten-Free Oat Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies’ to finish up the remaining Hershey’s Kisses I had left in the pantry ~ and the cookies turned out perfectly ~ delicious and nutritious!

After making a standard recipe the day before for ‘Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies,’ I decided to mix things up and use my favorite gluten-free cookie combination of oats, peanut butter and chocolate, and created my own recipe in the process.

I like to incorporate oats into most of my recipes as long as it isn’t a cake that has to rise very high, as oats are hearty, heart-healthy and a perfect match for gluten-free recipes.

Combine together in order:

1/3 cup of sugar

1/3 cup of light brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon Pure Maple Syrup

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1.5 cups of oat flour (I pulse my own rolled oats in the food processor)

Once everything was combined together, I placed the mixing bowl in the refrigerator for 5 minutes as the dough was a bit sticky to start with, but it firmed up nicely by the time I finished portioning out the cookie dough.

I used a small 1″ cookie scoop to portion out the cookie dough, baked them at 350 deg F for 10 minutes, and inserted the Hershey’s Kisses right after taking the cookies out of the oven.  This recipe made 40, 2″ cookies ~ enjoy! ☼ 🙂

 

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Our Adventures In Baking ~ Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies

I’ve always loved Peanut Butter Blossom cookies made with Hershey’s Kisses, and this morning I made a batch of Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Blossoms from a recipe that my wife found on ‘Hersheys dot com’ ~ and they’re delicious!

The only thing I left off the recipe was rolling the dough balls in sugar before baking, as I don’t need the extra sugar coating.  I used a 1″ cookie scoop to portion out my cookie dough, which made 29 individual cookies that were baked for 10 minutes at 350 deg F ~ enjoy! ☼ 🙂

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Our Adventures In Baking ~ Gluten-Free Spritzgebäck Christmas Cookies

We enjoy German Christmas cookies during Advent and the Christmas season, and one of our favorite cookies is Spritzgebäck – a crisp shortbread type cookie that’s traditionally topped with melted chocolate on just a portion of the cookie’s top surface.  Honestly, these cookies are wonderful any time of the year, with or without the melted chocolate.  These simple cookies allow the individual flavors of butter, sugar, eggs, flour and chocolate (when used) to express themselves individually, without competing or being overpowered by icing.

This was my first attempt at making a gluten-free Spritzgebäck, so I only made half a recipe as an experiment, and didn’t opt for the melted chocolate.  While my first ever piping technique needs some artistic work and practice, these Spritzgebäck cookies turned out perfectly – with a delicious traditional Spritzgebäck flavor, a nice golden color, and a sharp snap when broken – just what the holidays call for! 🙂

You can easily find photos of Spritzgebäck online, and lots of traditional German recipes to follow – just look for something that suits your fancy – or use ours.  My wife’s recipe used for these cookies is a traditional family recipe from Germany, and while I made only half a recipe this morning, you can easily double it to make a larger batch.

Spritzgebäck Recipe:

– 125 grams butter

– 125 grams sugar

– 1 egg

– 1 package of vanilla sugar (We use a Dr. Oetker .32 oz/9 grams package, or use vanilla extract instead)

– 125 grams ‘Gluten-Free 1 for 1 flour’

– 125 grams oat flour (I pulse my own oat flour from rolled oats in the food processor)

Combine together in order: butter, sugar, egg, vanilla sugar and gluten-free flour.  The dough will be stiff to begin with, but will loosen up a bit when piped.  You can also form the cookies with a cookie mill instead.  I baked these Spritzgebäck for 17 minutes in a 350 degree F oven, and the recipe made 48, 2″ and 3″ cookies.  Enjoy! ☼ 🙂

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Our Adventures In Baking ~ Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pie Crumb Bars

I’m a great fan of pumpkin pie in the fall, and as it turns out, I like these ‘Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pie Crumb Bars’ even better than a traditional pumpkin pie – in fact, I love them! 🙂

My wife found the recipe on ‘Cooking Classy dot com’ for ‘Pumpkin Pie Crumb Bars’ and while the recipe isn’t gluten-free, she simply substituted gluten-free flour for the regular flour the recipe called for.  In this case, she used ‘1 for 1 gluten-free flour’ and oat flour in equal measures where flour was called for in the recipe.

The secret to these crumb bars is that there is a hearty oat based crust supporting the pumpkin pie filling, and a delightful crumb topping above it.  As a pumpkin pie lover from day one, my vote is to enjoy these gluten-free versions of ‘Pumpkin Pie Crumb Bars’ in the future ~ they’re the best – enjoy! ☼ 🙂

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Our Adventures In Baking ~ Gluten-Free Vanilla Snowball Cookies

This year I made gluten-free versions of our favorite German Vanille Hoernchen or Vanilla Crescent cookies as Vanilla Snowball cookies instead ~ and they’re absolutely delicious!

We use a traditional German recipe for making our Vanille Hoernchen (just Google Vanille Hoernchen or Vanilla Crescents), and all we did was substitute Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten Free Baking Flour for the regular flour called for in the recipe.  I used a small cookie scoop to make 48, 2″ cookies and carefully coated them in a bowl of powdered sugar while still warm.

With a fresh dusting of powdered sugar when served, my vanilla snowballs will be ‘picture perfect’ Christmas treats ~ enjoy! ☼ 🙂

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Our Adventures In Baking – Gluten-Free Slow Cooker Chocolate, Oat and Peanut Butter Cookies

I made a terrific batch of chocolate drop cookies I call ‘Gluten-Free Slow Cooker Chocolate, Oat and Peanut Butter Cookies,’ that my wife found at ’12 Tomatoes dot com’ called ‘Slow Cooker Chocolate Cookies.’ This was an easy recipe to follow, and the results were just as advertised ~ perfect for the holidays!

I set the slow cooker on low heat, and my recommendation is to check the chocolate for reaching the boiling point before the minimum cooking time has expired, as you can’t see the chocolate boiling underneath the oats without probing the mixture to check.  The only alteration I made to this recipe was that I used ‘super chunky’ peanut butter when the recipe called for smooth, but I like the addition of nuts in these cookies.

You could just as easily add chopped walnuts with smooth peanut butter, or add some flaked coconut if you like.  I used a small cookie scoop in portioning out my cookies, and it made 50, 1.5″ cookies. Either way, it’s an easy and scrumptious recipe ~ enjoy! ☼ 🙂

 

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Our Adventures In Baking ~ Gluten-Free Caramel-Apple Upside-Down Cake

To finish off the weekend, my wife made a ‘Gluten-Free Caramel-Apple Upside-Down Cake’ based on a recipe called ‘Caramel-Apple Upside-Down Cake’ found on ‘Betty Crocker dot com.’

She substituted the flour called for in the recipe with ‘Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-Free Flour’ and the recipe turned out wonderfully ~ and another keeper!  This was the same flour she used to make a roux for both soups she made this weekend, which worked perfectly and made both soups gluten-free as well.

I kept up with doing all the dishes over the weekend, but it was well worth it for sampling both soups and this delicious cake ~ enjoy! ☼ 🙂