Tag Archives: cookies

Food, Gluten Free

Gluten Free Flour Blend

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glutenfreeflourblendOk, originally this was posted on some Utah based Gluten Free site but I can’t find it anywhere. I have just seen different versions of this blend. This is the one I have used and liked so far. A big reason I love so much is that you can pick up almost all the materials (not brown rice flour) at the Asian market for cheap, relative to other gluten free things;).

3 cups white rice flour
3 cups brown rice flour
2 cups potato starch (not flour)
1 cup tapioca starch

I get the white rice flour for 99 cents a pound, potato starch, and tapioca starch for $1.49 a pound (I think) all at the R&N Market at Cedar and Herndon but any local Asian market where you are at should the best prices. Then I got the Bob’s Red Mill Rice Flour Brown, 48-Ounce (Pack of 4) for $21.68 (which is a lot of brown rice flour).

I mixed it together and leave it in a bin!

Food

My 1st GF Baking Project

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For those of you who haven’t heard, NerdDad and I have given up wheat. But I am missing baked goods!!! So I am now searching out cookies and breads and the like!

Luckily my friend Megan at the Gluten-Free Project has gone before me. So this week I made her Gluten Free Oatmeal-Raisin Chip Cookies. They were so good!!! I found the batter a little thinner but they were still yummy! Check it out and let her know that I sent you;).

Food

Bumble Bees

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Aren’t these cute? The kids were delighted with this little treat and it was just assembly.

Ingredients:
Round Cookies
White icing
Blue Coloring
Yellow Coloring
Mini Twix
Large Marshmallows

Process:
Take any round cookie as a base. Here I am using premade lemon sandwich cookies but homemade would work just as well. Then I took a can of premade white icing (though homemade would have worked) and split it. Some I tinted blue like the sky. And some I tinted yellow like bees. Then I iced the cookie in blue and placed a Twix in the middle. I put the yellow icing in a sandwich bag and cut a small whole in the corner. Then just add 3-5 strips on each Twix. Then cut the marshmallows in half and stick them on the sides of the Twix.

And there you have yummy bees!

Food

Sandies

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Yesterday I wanted to make something yummy for dessert but I am out of chocolate chips (Gasp! Shocking I know;). I am trying to use up all my “desserty” pantry ingredients before I buy another big bag of chocolate chips from Costco. My other challenge is that I only have 3 eggs right now. While that would be more than I would need to make the box of brownies or cake mix I have in the pantry. I really don’t like being out of eggs;).

This recipe is super easy and doesn’t call for eggs! My Better Homes and Gardens cookbook calls them Sandies but I could swear that they taste a lot like these cookies I used to get as a kid that I think were Mexican Wedding Cookies. But anyway, they were quick and a big hit with everyone. Not overly sweet but the perfect treat when you want a little something without chocolate.
Ingredients:
1 cup butter
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon water
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
Procedure:
Cream your butter then add your granulated sugar and continue to blend. Then add the water and the vanilla, blend completely. Then blend flour into the mixture in batches. If it get too thick for your mixer, continue by hand (I did everything with my stand mixer). After all the flour is incorporated add the pecans and blend those in too. Scoop balls that are about 1 inch (the smallest of the 3 Pampered Chef scoops) and place on the cookie sheet. Bake at 325 degrees for 19 minutes or until the bottoms just start to turn golden. Remove to a rack to cool completely. Then put cooled cookies into a plastic bag with the powdered sugar and toss. Then eat!
Makes about 3 dozen.

Food

Holiday Discovery!

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Don’t these chocolate hamantaschen look great? Chocolate dough with peanut butter chips as the filling. They were a big hit! I found the recipe over at Aish.com. It served as a great lesson. Sometimes you can find great holiday recipes somewhere other than recipe sites. Look around on religious websites. Sometimes they have great twists on the classic dishes!

Food

Hamantaschen Recipe

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Hamantaschen is a traditional cookie for Purim. It is a 3 corner cookie that traditionally represents Haman’s hat. When I make Hamantaschen they have always been the traditional cookie with Mohn (poppyseed) filing. It is a process because you make the dough, the filing and then assemble.

Cookie Dough
Ingredients:
2 cups ap flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 pinch of salt
1/2 cup sugar
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, cut up
2 eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest

Process:
Sift the dry ingredients (including sugar) together. Work the butter into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender or forks. Then add in the eggs 1 at a time and mix with the pastry blender. Then blend in the lemon peel. Form the dough into a ball, wrap it in parchment paper or plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Filling
Ingredients:

1 cup poppy seeds
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1/2 cup raisins
Process:
Combine the poppy seeds, honey, and milk in a saucepan. Simmer for 10 minutes, stir constantly, and the mixture should thicken. Take off the flame and mix in lemon juice, zest and raisins. Let cool.
Assembly
Ingredients:
dough
filling
1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon of water
Process:
Divide dough into manageable portions and roll out between 2 pieces of parchment paper until it is between 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Then cut the dough out into about 3 inch circles (I use the top of a glass). Then place a teaspoon on filling in the middle. Then pinch the dough around the filling to form a triangular shape. Then brush with egg wash (do this when all of them are formed;). Place on a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
(If I make them for this Purim I will post a picture on this post)

Food

Coconut Pecan Cookies

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I was assigned to bring a dessert to the family Christmas celebration. I knew that brownies, fudge and chocolate chip cookies so I decided to aim at a non-chocolate dessert (gasp! They do exist). This recipe was pretty tasty!

Ingredients:
1/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup butter (can use margarine)
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup chopped pecans

Process:
Cream butter and shortening together. Then add the sugars and baking soda. Blend until combined. (Scrap the sides of the bowl as needed) Then beat in the egg and vanilla. Then blend in the flour in stages until it is all mixed. Then mix in coconut and pecans by hand. Then place dough on cookies sheets by the teaspoon full about 2 inches apart. Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Let the cookies stay on the cookie sheet for a couple of minutes and then move them to cooling racks. Let them cool completely. I put them in an airtight container and they held up great!