Gluten-Free Gluttony

My post is a bit late this week because I had to go out of town for a funeral :(

I've seen gluten-free products on the shelf but never paid much attention to them. Recently my father-in-law started a gluten-free diet, so I've been noticing them more. He's found some cereal and bread that fit into his gluten-free diet, but was lamenting that he doesn't have any "goodies" to eat. He had bought a package of wheat-free Newman-O's but apparently they're not gluten-free. Olivia and I wanted to make him some cookies, but all my recipes call for flour. So the other day I bought some gluten-free all-purpose baking flour. I substituted it in one of my favorite cookie recipes and it worked pretty well. The cookies were a little crumbly (no gluten to hold them together!), but they tasted great! By the way, I made some gravy with the gluten-free flour since he was having dinner with us and it made excellent gravy.

There are desserts that are flourless, like custard, ice cream, and fudge. The Healthy Flourless Chocolate Cake recipe I posted earlier is gluten-free. But sometimes you just crave warm cookies and a glass of cold milk. Here are a couple of recipes to get you started.


Nutmeg Meltaways
Taste of Home
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups gluten-free all-purpose baking flour (the original recipe calls for regular flour)
3/4 cup ground almonds (about 3 ounces), toasted
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon ground nutmeg

In a mixing bowl, cream butter, sugar, and vanilla. Gradually add flour; mix well. Stir in almonds. Shape into 1-inch balls; place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 300 degrees for 18-20 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned. Cool on wire racks. Combine confectioners' sugar and nutmeg. Gently roll cooled cookies in sugar mixture.
Note: If using gluten-free flour, the cookies will be VERY fragile. Handle with care!


Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies
(I forgot about this recipe until today.)
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking soda

In a mixing bowl, cream peanut butter and sugar. Add egg and soda and mix for 2 minutes. Roll into walnut-sized balls and place on a buttered cookie sheet. Create a criss-cross pattern with a fork. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on a baking sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.