A Cookie For All Seasons..made with almond meal!

By now, I am sure that most of you who are gluten sensitive or have been diagnosed celiac have discovered how unhealthy many gluten free baked goods are for you! They are just overflowing with high-glycemic, starchy goodness; actually not-so-good!  However, I have been perfecting this basic almond meal cookie recipe (no flour!) for several months and I have found that you can use the basic cookie recipe and modify it to make just about any cookie. 
See recipes below...


Basic Chocolate Chip Cookie Made with
Basic Almond Meal Cookie Recipe

The GREAT Almond Meal Cookie

This chewy and moist cookie provides a foundation for many others. What is great is that there is no flour of any kind, the cookie is also very low on the glycemic index, relatively low fat and high in protein. Here, I have suggested numerous popular cookie options, each based on my basic almond meal cookie recipe.

This one is a KEEPER!

Basic Recipe

1¼ cups almond meal (get at Trader Joes or grind your own)

½ t. baking powder

Pinch of salt

1/3 cup cane sugar

1 egg, beaten

3 T. coconut oil or butter, melted and cooled to room temperature

GF vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375° F.

For whatever cookie rendition you are making, stir together the dry ingredients, then the wet ingredients. Combine both the dry and the wet ingredients together. Chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes or in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Cookie

Use a cookie scoop or make one inch balls by hand and place on an oiled cookie sheet or one that is lined with parchment paper.  You may choose to flatten the cookies slightly with a fork if they are very thick. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until slightly golden around edges.  Remove from oven and allow to cool. They will become more stable as they cool. Makes: About 16 medium-sized cookies.

Variations:

Chocolate chip cookie: add ½ cup nuts, 1/3 cup  bittersweet chocolate chips, 2 T. flaxseed meal, and 1/3 cup GF oatmeal.

Chocolate-chocolate cookie: add ½ cup nuts, 1 T. expresso powder, 1/4 cup cocoa powder, 1/3 cup chocolate chips.

Oatmeal raisin cookie: add ½ cup pecans, 1/3 cup oatmeal, 1/3 cup raisins, replace the cane sugar with brown sugar, and use GF maple extract (optional) in place of vanilla.

Anise seed cookie: add 2 T. flaxseed, 1 T. toasted ground anise seed.

Peanut butter cookie: add 1/3 cup peanut butter in place of the coconut butter in the main recipe and 2 T. flaxseed and ¼ cup of oats.



Toasted Anise Cookie


 














Flourless Chocolate Cake

Adapted from Country Living Magazine, this cake really hits the spot for anyone’s serious chocolate “fix”… without any GF worries.

Cake:
5 large eggs
8-1 ounce bittersweet chocolate squares
⅔ cup almonds, finely ground
½ cup unsalted butter
⅔ cup cane sugar
Chocolate Sauce (optional):
6-1 ounce bittersweet chocolate squares
½ cup heavy GF cream

 
Heat oven to 350°F. Oil an 8 inch spring form pan.

Separate eggs*, placing whites in a medium bowl, and yolks in a large bowl. Bring to room temperature.

In top of double boiler, over hot but not boiling water, heat chocolate and butter, stirring constantly, until melted. Set aside to cool.

With electric mixer on high speed, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Set egg whites aside. Using same beaters, beat egg yolks and sugar until thick and pale yellow, about 5 minutes. Stir almonds and chocolate mixture into yolk mixture. Then gently fold this mixture into the egg whites. Pour batter evenly into pan. Bake until cake springs back when gently touched with fingertip: 25-30 minutes. Cool 10 minutes on wire rack.
Remove ring from spring form pan and let cake cool 10 minutes more on wire rack.

Chocolate Sauce: In top of double boiler, over hot, not boiling, water, heat chocolate and heavy cream, stirring constantly, until melted and well combined. (Any pastry glaze will work also) Let cool slightly, then frost cake with this mixture, after placing it onto serving plate. Let cool.

Notes: * I also prepared this recipe without separating the eggs. Omit this step and it works just fine.

Makes: One layer cake that serves approximately eight. 

This recipe is from my cookbook: "Delicious! The Very Best of Gluten Free and Wheat Free Cooking. For other wonderful recipes, my cookbook is available at:   

http://www.celiacdiseaseinfo.org

http://www.amazon.com/Delicious-Cooking-Collection-Celiacs-Sensitive/dp/0615305709/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1282852260&sr=1-

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie---and gluten free!

Truly Gluten Free Foodie Heaven!

This is really good!

~Recipe is roughly based on Alton Brown’s from Food Network TV~

 

8 ounces unsalted butter
2¼ cups GF flour blend
2 tablespoons tapioca flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 ounces sugar, approximately 1/4 cup

10 ounces light brown sugar; approximately 1 1/4 cups
1 whole egg
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons whole milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
½ cup macadamia nuts, walnuts or pecans

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Melt the butter in a heavy-bottom medium saucepan over low heat. Once melted, pour into a mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flours, salt and baking soda. Set aside.

Add both of the sugars to the bowl with the butter and cream together on medium speed for 1 minute. Add the whole egg, egg yolk, milk and vanilla extract and mix until well combined. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Add the chocolate chips and nuts and stir to combine.

Chill the dough in the refrigerator until firm, approximately 1 hour. Shape the dough into 2-ounce balls and place on parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake for 14 minutes, rotating the pans after 7 minutes for even baking. Remove from the oven and cool the cookies on the pans for 2 minutes. Move the cookies to a wire rack and cool completely.

Makes: Two dozen medium-sized cookies.

For more recipes, check out my cookbook: "Delicious! The Very Best of Gluten Free and Wheat Free Cooking. It is available at:   

http://www.celiacdiseaseinfo.org

http://www.amazon.com/Delicious-Cooking-Collection-Celiacs-Sensitive/dp/0615305709/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1282852260&sr=1-