Gingerbread Cookies

The boys wanted gingerbread cookies. I know I made them last year, but I think I used a mix from Gluten Free Pantry. I didn't have that today so I had to go fishing for a recipe that I could "allergenize". I found one that looked promising at Allrecipes. The original recipe is from Colonial Williamsburg. What attracted me to it is that it didn't have any eggs in it, so that was one less ingredient that I would have to replace. The cookies turned out beautifully! They held their shape perfectly and taste very yummy! They are a very old fashion cookie.

Recipe adapted from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients
1. 1 cup of white sugar
2. 2 tsp. of ground ginger
3. 1 tsp. ground nutmeg
4. 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
5. 1/2 tsp. salt
6. 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
7. 1 tsp. xanthan gum
8. 1 cup dairy free margarine, melted
9. 1/2 cup coconut milk
10. 1 cup unsulfured black strap molasses
11. 3/4 tsp. gluten free vanilla
12. 4 cups gluten free flour blend (1 cup Bette Hagman's Gourmet Light Flour Blend, 1 cup Sorghum flour, 1 cup Tapioca flour, 1/2 white rice flour, 1/2 cup arrowroot starch)

extra white rice flour for mixing and potato starch for rolling

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the sugar, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, baking soda and xanthan gum. Mix in the melted margarine, coconut milk, molasses, and vanilla. Stir in the flour, 1 cup at a time, mixing after each addition. The dough should be stiff enough to handle without sticking to the fingers. If necessary, add additional white rice flour to prevent sticking.
3. When dough is smooth, roll between 2 sheets of wax paper or pat (I found patting easier)to 1/4 inch thick. Sprinkle with potato starch to prevent sticking. Cut into shapes and transfer to cookie sheets.
4. Bake for 10-12 minutes in preheated oven. The cookies are done when the top springs back when touched. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks. Decorate as desired.

Chocolate Chip Cookies (Just Like Mom's)

A big ol' pan of allergy friendly yum.

Allergy Friendly Chocolate chip cookies

1. 3/4 cup dairy free margarine, softened
2. 1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
3. 1/3 cup white sugar
4. 1 tsp. gluten free vanilla
5. 1 eggs worth of Ener-G egg replacer
6. 2 1/4 cups gluten free flour blend (I used 1 cup Bette Hagman Gourmet light blend, 1/2 cup sorghum flour, 1/2 cup brown rice flour, and 1/4 cup arrowroot starch)
7. 1 tsp. baking soda
8. 1 tsp. xanthan gum
9. 1 tsp. baking powder
10. 1 tsp. salt
11. 1/2 bag of Enjoy Life chocolate chips and 1/2 bag safe white chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven at 375 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper (and if you're like me and ran out, go to store and get some).
2. In a large bowl, cream margarine and sugar. Gradually add egg replacer and vanilla and continue to mix. Add flour mix, baking soda, xanthan gum, baking powder, and salt. Stir in chocolate chips.
3. Drop tablespoon size cookies 2 inches apart on lined sheet. Bake in oven 6-8 minutes until cookies are lightly browned and are starting to spread. Do not over bake or they will spread too much. Cool on pan for 2 minutes before transferring to wire rack. Enjoy.

These cookies taste like REAL chocolate chip cookies. We'll be adding these to the Christmas cookie list for sure!

Cut Out Cookies

Cut Out Cookies:



Ingredients:
1. 1 cup tapioca flour
2. 1 cup sweet white sorghum flour
3. 1/2 cup white rice flour
4. 2 tsp. xanthan gum
5. 1 1/2 cup of sugar
6. 3 oz. extra firm tofu
7. 1 stick of dairy free margarine
8. 1 1/2 tsp. gluten free vanilla
9. 1 eggs worth of Ener-G egg replacer, prepared
Directions:
1. Mix flours and xanthan gum together in a bowl and set aside
2. Cream together margarine, tofu and sugar
3. Add egg replacer and vanilla and mix thoroughly
4. Add dry flours to sugar mixture and mix on low speed until thoroughly mixed
5. Dough is VERY sticky. Flour hands and all surfaces with arrowroot starch. Either roll dough between 2 sheets of wax paper sprinkled with arrowroot starch or use hands dusted with arrowroot starch to press dough into flat circle. Cut with cookie cutter. Place cut dough on pan lined with parchment paper.
6. Bake in oven on 400 degrees until cookies are lightly browned. Ice and decorate when cooled.
7. Decorate as you like.
Store in airtight container or freeze.
The cookies were a little bland, but the kids loved them. They really held their shaped beautifully. They weren't gourmet, but they did what I needed them to do and they held their shape better than anything I've done so far. My cookie cutter was quite large and I got about 14 cookies out of this batch.

Just Like Nilla Wafer Cookies

Just Like Nilla Wafer cookies (The Kid-Friendly Food Allergy Cookbook by Leslie Hammond and Lynne Marie Rominger):

1. 1/2 C margarine, room temp.
2. 1/2 C shortening
3. 1 C sugar
4. 1 eggs worth of Ener-G Egg Replacer
5. 2 tsp gluten free vanilla
6. 1 C white rice flour
7. 1 C potato starch

1. In a mixer cream together the margarine, shortening, and sugar. Beat in Egg Replacer and vanilla. Add the flour and starch and cream for 1 minute. Chill dough in the refrigerator over night (don't skip this step it is very important to helpt he cookies keep shape).
2. Roll dough into 1/2-inch balls. Place on a baking sheet and flatten slightly. Bake in a 375 degree F oven for about 8 minutes. Let sit on baking sheet for 5 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack. Repeat with remaining dough. Store in a covered container.

Tea Cookies

From The Kid-Friendly Food Allergy Cookbook by Leslie Hammond and Lynne Marie Rominger.
Tea Cookies-makes 40
1 C pecans (since we can't do nuts, I subbed 1 C grated chocolate and I used Enjoy Life chocolate chips chopped in a food processor)
1/2 C margarine
1/2 C shortening
2 tsp Ener-G Egg Replacer plus 1 tbs water
1 C gluten free powdered sugar, divided
2 tsp gluten free vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
2 C rice flour
1. In a mixer cream together the butter, shortening, egg replacer, and water. Add 1/2 C powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt. Cream together until smooth. Mix in the rice four and chocolate. Chill dough until firm.
2. With the cold, firm dough make 1- to 3-inch balls. Place them 2 inches apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment or tin-foil. Bake in 350 degree F oven until lightly browned on the sides. Remove the parchment with cookies on it to a flat surface. Let cookies cool completely.
3. Place remaining powdered sugar in a large, deep bowl. Roll each cookie in the sugar. Store, covered, up to 1 week.

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies: from Spark People

I had to tweak the recipe a bit. We can't use peanut butter, so I subbed soy nut butter. We also can't use eggs, so I used Ener-G egg replacer instead. Because the kids aren't on a diet and because, well, they're kids, I increased the amount of sugar too. I'll post the original recipe and put my substitutions in parenthesis.

Ingredients:
1. 1 cup unsalted natural peanut butter (1 Cup of Soy Nut Butter)
2. 1/2 cup Splenda brown sugar [packed] (3/4 Cup of brown sugar - packed)
3. 1/4 cup egg substitute [such as Egg Beaters brand] - (2 Eggs Worth of Ener-G Egg Replacer Prepared)
4. 1/2 tsp (gluten free) vanilla extract
5. 40 pieces semisweet chocolate chips or semisweet chocolate candies (sprinkle in as much Enjoy Life or other safe brand Chocolate Chips as desired)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly spray a cookie sheet with canola oil (or use parchment paper).
2. In a medium size mixing bowl, place the peanut/soy nut butter, brown sugar, egg substitute, and vanilla extract.
3. Stir together well.
4. Using a small scoop, equal to about a rounded measuring teaspoon, drop cookie dough on the prepared cookie sheet.
5. Take a fork and make a criss-cross pattern on each cookie. Add one mini chocolate chip or mini chocolate candy to the top of each cookie.
6. Bake approximately 8 or 9 minutes or until cookie is lightly browned on bottom.
7. Remove cookie sheet from oven and let rest on a cooling rack for 5 minutes before removing cookies to rack to continue cooling. Makes approximately 40 tiny cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Original recipe from http://www.landolakes.com/ (and tweaked a bit)
2 1/4 cups Gluten-Free Flour Blend (see below)
1 teaspoon gluten-free baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
3/4 cup Dairy Free Margarine, softened
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs worth of Ener-G Egg Replacer, prepared
2 teaspoons gluten-free vanilla
1 (12-ounce) package (2 cups) gluten-free semi-sweet chocolate chunks or chips
Directions:
Heat oven to 375°F. Combine flour blend, baking powder, baking soda, salt and xanthan gum in medium bowl. Set aside.

Combine margarine, brown sugar and sugar in large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy. Add egg replacer and vanilla. Continue beating, scraping bowl often, until well mixed.

Reduce speed to low. Beat, gradually adding flour mixture, until well mixed. Stir in chocolate chips by hand.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls, 2 inches apart, onto ungreased or parchment covered cookie sheets. Bake for 9 to 12 minutes or until light golden brown. (DO NOT OVERBAKE.) Let stand 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from cookie sheets.

Gluten-Free Flour Blend: To make Flour Blend, combine 2 cups rice flour, 2/3 cup potato starch and 1/3 cup tapioca flour. Use appropriate amount for recipe; store remainder in container with tight-fitting lid.

This recipe is safe or our allergies, please check to make sure that it is safe for your own. If you can use dairy and eggs, and are gluten free only, click on the Land O Lakes link above for the original recipe.