cookies

Lemon Squares, Very Tasty

I strongly believe in seasonal eating and winter is the season of citrus so more power to the lemon! As mentioned previously, my brother sent me a big box of juicy Meyer lemons from his tree down in Texas. I also believe in making my own treats; truly they are a lot healthier than store made sweets.  I have made lemon meringue pie, lemon shortcake cookies, lemon buttermilk tart and this weekend I made some lemon marmalade. Last night we enjoyed lemon squares, gluten free and very dainty with the special flavor of Meyer lemons.  Of course, you can use the regular lemons available in the store; will be a tad sharper/brighter in flavor but they will work great.  lemon squares 008u

These cookies are very easy to throw together; I made a shortbread cookie style gf press and bake crust and the filling ingredients are whisked together in my mixer and poured into the partially baked crust.  So easy to make and I wanted something light and delicate after all the fancy holiday desserts.  You would never guess they are made without all purpose wheat flour.  Anyone will love them if they are a fan of lemon. Take these to your next gathering, they will be scarped up pretty fast, and you will be seen as a real baker. Best of all you are eating a safe treat that is relatively guilt free; no gluten, no preservatives, not that much sugar compared to a cake and homemade flavor. Score!

Meyer Lemon Squares

 Cookie Tart Crust

1 cup brown rice flour mixture (recipe below)

¼ cup sugar

1 tsp. xanthan gum

5 tbsp. cold butter cut up into 6 or 7 chunks

Directions for crust:

Mix the dry ingredients with a stand mixer, add the butter, blend with the paddle blade until the butter is small pebbles.  Press into an 8 inch square pan, be sure to first spray the pan with cooking spray and sprinkle with rice flour.  Bake 15 minutes in a 350 degree oven.  While it bakes make the filling.

lemon squares 002

Baked cookie crust

Filling

3 large eggs, warm them close to room temperature

¾ cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup Meyer lemon juice

2 tbsp gf flour mix

2 tbsp finely grated Meyer lemon peel

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat eggs until fluffy, add the sugar slowly but steadily, mix, add rest of ingredients, Mix until smooth.

lemon squares 003

Adding the lemon zest.

Pour into crust and bake at 350 degrees for 20-22 min; until set.

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Just out of the oven.

Cool completely and refrigerate if you want to serve them cold. They do not freeze well and only keep about 3 days, if any square are left that long!   I like to sift some powdered sugar on right before serving them. Use a sieve and about 2 tbsp. powdered sugar.  Luscious lemony goodness can be yours with minimal effort.

lemon squares 008

Brown Rice Flour Mix
2 c brown rice flour

2/3 c potato starch

1/3 c tapioca flour

This recipe is from Annalise Roberts; Gluten – Free Baking Classics, a fantastic source for baking gluten free treats, full of recipes just like  your old wheaty friends but so so much safer!

Lemon Shortbread Cookie Bliss

Sometimes you want those fancy, full of stuff kinda cookies and that is fine but occasionally a simple but delicious cookie is the way to go, like shortbread.  Dainty crisp shortbread cookies are great with a cup of tea or coffee.  I hadn’t tried them gluten free until this holiday season.  I now wonder why it took so long.

meyer lemons

I baked lemon ones using Meyer lemon peel but you can use whatever lemons you buy at the grocery store.  Mine were sprinkled with a touch of green colored sugar.  Top yours as you wish or leave them plain.

No forming needed.  You glop the soft dough onto a long piece of plastic wrap, close it and roll on the table to shape.  Chill well and cut the dough into slices, onto the baking sheet and into the oven.  Simple to make and they are perfect for many festive occasions. I can’t wait to try some other variations on these shortbread cookies.

shortbread cookie 001

Lemon Shortbread Cookies

½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature

¼ cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

½ lemon extract

1 tsp. lemon zest

¾ cup brown rice flour mix; recipe below

1/4 cup sweet rice flour

¼ tsp.  xanthan gum

1/8 tsp. salt

Directions:

Beat together the softened butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, add the vanilla, lemon extract, and zest and mix.

Mix flour, xanthan gum in small bowl; add to butter/sugar mix.  Mix until a soft dough is formed.

Place lumps of dough in a line along a big sheet of plastic wrap; from it into a 1 ¼ inch log of dough.  Twist ends shut, smooth into a round long by rolling it on the table top.  Chill it at least an hour; until firm.

Heat oven to 350 degrees, racks to center of oven.  Lightly spray 2 baking sheets with cooking spray.

Slice into ½ to 5/8 inch rounds. Place 1 ½ inch apart on sheet, sprinkle with colored or plain sugar.  Chill in fridge 15 minutes. Bake 12-14 minutes until lightly golden. Mine all took 14-15 minutes.  Let cool on cookie sheet 2-3 minutes so they solidify; transfer to a cookie cooling rack.  Store in airtight cookie jar once cooled.

My recipe says the dough can be kept in the fridge for a week or in freezer for up to two months.  It made about 32 cookies. They went fast!

They are delicate; if left out in the air unsealed they will get soggy and loose their crisp, delicate texture.

To make them plain leave out the lemon extract and zest and add another ½ tsp. vanilla.

Brown Rice Flour Mix base mix
2 c brown rice flour

2/3 c potato starch

1/3 c tapioca flour

This recipe is out of Annalise G. Robert’s great cookbook: Gluten Free Baking Classics, second edition.

Cowboy Cookies to Crush On!

My freezer is empty of cookies.  This is Not good.  Cookie baking was a priority for this week.  I saw this recipe a while ago on a favorite website; Gluten-Free on a Shoestring.  I saved it and made a mental note to put it at the top of my “gotta bake sweets” list.  Tonight I finally had time to throw it together.  These cookies are created just like that; dump and blend and then there is a bit of stickiness in the shaping of them but no matter, just wash those sticky fingers and hands before you put on the oven gloves!

I revised her recipe just a bit.  I like to use all dark brown sugar, I added walnuts, less vanilla and one batch I didn’t have quite enough Better Batter flour mix so I used a brown rice flour mix for the last ½ cup.   I sometimes don’t bother to beat the eggs; added them one at a time though. I got the coconut chips at Freys Better Foods here in Hellertown, on sale this week!

coconut chips

Cowboy cookies have been around a long time.  Popular with cowboys I assume! I have provided the recipe revised by it was published by Nicole Hunn in her fabulous blog, a great resource for gf baked goods.

They are sturdy and yummy.  The flavor is a mixture of semi-sweet chocolate chips, cinnamon, brown sugar and oats with a healthy dose of butter.  Totally. nummy. good.

cowboy cookie

I never heard of them before my first batch although apparently they have been around for decades. I read today that Laura Bush baked a version of them in her smack down with another First Lady wanna be.  Whatever.  They are hearty and really big so I am guessing they might well be from Texas!

cowboy cookies

My batch made 24 cookies, the recipe said 20….  So mine were a tad smaller than suggested but still really large.  I ended up baking mine for 14 minutes so I suggest you do likewise.  If you bake them one sheet at a time they should be done in 12 minutes but I would rather bake 2 sheets simultaneously.  Some of the sets of six cookies were done on the parchment paper and one sheet was just on a cooking sprayed non stick cookie sheet.  Both ways worked fine.  They spread some but not a lot; leave some space between them.

I plan to freeze most of them so they last a bit.  I am guessing success will be my ability to pull one of these big boys out of the freezer and snack down after work next week!

Cowboy Cookies, GF

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all purpose gluten free flour (Better Batter works great)

1/2 tsp xanthan gum (omit if your blend already contains it) *BB does!

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp kosher salt

8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats

1 1/2 cups coconut chips

2/3 cup chopped walnuts

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 eggs at room temperature, beaten

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat your oven to 325°F. Line rimmed baking sheets with unbleached parchment paper and set them aside.

In a large bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt, and whisk to combine well.

Place about 1 teaspoon of the dry ingredients in a separate, small bowl and add the chocolate chips to the bowl. Toss to coat the chips, and set the bowl aside.

To the large bowl, add the granulated sugar and the brown sugar and whisk to combine, working out any lumps in the brown sugar. Add the oats and coconut chips and mix to combine. Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the butter, eggs and vanilla, mixing to combine. Add the chips and reserved dry ingredients, and mix until the chips are evenly distributed throughout. If necessary to bring the dough together, knead it with your hands. Divide the dough into 20 pieces, each about 2 ounces. Roll each into a ball and place about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Flatten each ball into disk about 1/4-inch thick with your palm or a big spatula.

Place the baking sheets in the center of the preheated oven, two at a time, and bake until lightly golden brown all over (about 14 minutes). Remove from the oven and allow them to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes or until firm before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy these fat and tasty big cookies; no one will ever guess they are gluten free!

Postscript: these freaking cookies are addictive! They are subtly flavored by the combination of the above named ingredients.  My grandson loves them too.  He and I shared 2 this evening. I ate another one after I took him home.  Trust me, they are the bomb!

Post script: I made a new batch today.  Note to self; follow recipe exactly and they are even better….  I make sure to beat the eggs first before pouring them on top of the softened butter and the vanilla.  I also remembered to add the chips last and watch them closely in the oven.  This batch is so  yummy I had to put most of them in the freezer to keep myself from eating more cookies.  Perfect warm out of the oven.  OMG: I am in love with these cowboys!