Gluten Free Shortbread Cookies

These cookies were created for two reasons. First: they are the 12^th post for my holiday “12 Days of Cookies” on my Facebook recipe page (I saved the best ‘til last!)  Second: they are one of my husband’s favourite kinds of cookies, and I thought it would be a nice Christmas gift for him! 

I sweetened them with pure dark Maple syrup, and the flavour, while not quite traditional, is divine!

As for making them grain free, as is more the norm for my baking, that was a struggle. I couldn’t seem to strike the right combo of ingredients. But, when I added in the rice flour (which is still a traditional shortbread ingredient) the whole cookie came together beautifully. Chill the dough thoroughly to make rolling out a breeze!

They do make a very tender cookie, so take care when handling the finished product, as I had a few that broke when I was plating them for a gathering.Let them cool completely before attempting to move them at all...unless you are taste testing of course!!

Gluten Free Shortbread Cookies

1 cup Butter, room temp

½ cup Maple syrup

1 ½ cups Arrowroot flour (plus a bit more for rolling out the dough

1 c white rice flour

Pinch salt

Preheat oven to 350F

Cream the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer until nice and creamy. 

Add the maple syrup and mix until well blended.

Turn mixer off, add flours and salt, turn mixer on low (to avoid a large cloud of dust!!) and mix until it all comes together into a nice dough. 

Do not over-mix!

Shape dough quickly into a disk and refrigerate for 

at least 30 minutes or until firm.

On a lightly  arrowroot or rice floured board or piece of waxed paper, roll out dough into a ¼ inch flat disc. Cut into desired shapes, re-rolling scraps(and chilling if needed) until all is used up.  

Carefully place on parchment lined cookie sheet, prick with fork 

if desired for a more traditional look.

Bake in preheated oven for 12-13 minutes or until they just slightly start to turn brown at the edges.

(You don’t want much colour at all!!)

Carefully remove from pan and let cool on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container on the counter for a few days, or in the freezer for longer storage.

Grain Free Maple Bacon Cookies with Thyme

These grain free lovelies are a palate pleasing combination of sweet and savory. The bacon marries the maple syrup and thyme into a wonderfully different cookie, in a very good way. Use dried thyme if you must, but try to find fresh if you can!  If you don’t have bacon fat, you can sub in a good quality lard, coconut oil or butter, but the bacon fat contributes to the uniqueness of the cookie!

Grain Free Maple Bacon Cookies with Thyme

1 cup almond flour

½ cup arrowroot flour

1 Tbsp coconut flour

½ tsp baking soda

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Pinch of salt

¼ cup dark (grade b or c) maple syrup

¼ cup cooled bacon fat

1 tsp fresh thyme leaves, woody stem and big peices removed, (sub ½ tsp dried thyme)

¼ cup + 2 Tbsp diced precooked bacon, separated.

Preheat oven to 350F

Whisk dry ingredients in medium mixing bowl. Add bacon fat and maple syrup,
 and mix with wooden spoon until well combined.

Fresh thyme has a bigger flavour profile than dried, try and find it if you can!
Luckily I still have some in the garden :)

 Add the fresh thyme and the  ¼ cup diced bacon and mix in well. Dough should be slightly sticky.

Using 2 spoons place approx 1 tbsp cookie dough on pan,

Top with a smidgen of the leftover bacon, pressing down slightly into the top of the dough to secure. 

Bake in preheated oven for 12-13 minutes or until the edges start to brown.
Remove to a wire rack to cool. 

Store any leftovers in the fridge for a few days or freezer for a few months,
if you can keep them that long!

Makes approx 16-18 cookies.

I keep bacon drippings in an empty jam or mason jar
in the fridge until I have enough to use

Grain Free Coconut Macaroons

Coconut macaroons are one of my favourite cookies. There was a stand at our local Farmers market that sold some lovely ones, 8 to a tray, that I used to pick up every so often when the boys and I would walk there on Saturday mornings. It was always a challenge to get them home intact! I tried many recipes, trying to recreate that delicious mixture of coconut and chocolate. Some were close,(like this one from my old blog in 2009!) but not close enough to end the search. A few years later I found this version from David Lebovitz. It was amazingly close, and got rave reviews whenever I made them. Alas, ingredient wise, because they contained wheat flour, they left my cookie repertoire, but were not forgotten.  It took some tries, (and multiple failures) to re-create it without the wheat, but I finally succeeded! (I even presented a healthier version of this in a cooking class using coconut sugar that was lovely, but this original version still stands as my favourite.) I am surprised that I haven’t posted this before now, as I have been making this version for quite a while! (posting teaser pictures on my Facebook page reminds me of what I have not shared!) That being said, there aren’t a lot of technique pictures with this post. If anyone feels they would help out the recipe, add a request in the comments, and the next time I whip up a batch I will update the recipe with some new pics! 

The two step cooking process is integral to the recipe, and comes directly from the recipe on David Lebovitz’s blog. It definitely makes the cookie and this step cannot be skipped!!

One last thing: the creamed coconut should not be confused or substituted with "coconut cream" which is a completely different thing! My favourite one is from Edward and Sons and comes in a green box (we sell it at Goodness Me, in-store, but not online yet) Coconut butter is very similar and can be substituted in a pinch. 

Grain Free Coconut Macaroons

3 egg whites

1 whole egg

¾ cup organic cane sugar

½ tsp sea salt

2 ½ cups unsweetened shredded coconut (Organic Traditions is the bees knees! )

2 Tbsp arrowroot flour

3 Tbsp almond flour

1/3 cup creamed coconut (or sub. coconut butter, this works well too!)

2 Tbsp honey

Mix all ingredients together in a large heavy bottomed frying pan. (Do not turn on heat yet! Mix well first or your eggs will scramble instead of blending in!!) Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a flat wooden spatula until the mixture starts to stick to the bottom of the pan and the sugars start to caramelize. Remove from heat, scrape into a bowl and chill until easily handle-able.

If you are in a hurry when chilling the
dough, spread it out thinly in a bowl in
the fridge, it will cool in 1/2 the time!

Preheat oven to 350F

Shape in to 1 tbsp sized cookies, and place on a parchment lined pan about an inch apart. ( I use my 1 tbsp Cuisinart measuring spoon as a scoop, because it makes a nice rounded cookie shape. I dip it in water between each scoop and they release well with a firm tap on the cookie sheet.)

Bake for 17-18 minutes or until macaroons start to just nicely brown around the edges. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack.

If desired: Melt 1 ½ cups chocolate chips in a heat proof bowl over simmering water (water should not touch the bottom of the bowl!)  and dip macaroons in chocolate. Chill until chocolate is set.

Keep leftovers in refrigerator, if you have any!

Grain Free Double Chocolate Pecan Cookies (Dairy Free, Gluten Free)

Days by myself don't happen often, and I try to take full advantage of them. "Me" time today included kitchen time interspersed with laundry and housecleaning...not sure where the "me" part came in there, but the clutter and dust bunnies were getting to me...it had to be done!! In between loads of laundry, these cookies were born, and I am very happy with the results. I used a combo of coconut and hempseed flours, which is a bit different than my regular grain free flour mix. Generally I use coconut, arrowroot and chickpea flours as my go-to mix. But, being as many folks don't tolerate arrowroot or bean flours, I wanted to find a substitute that offered some nutritional value, and still tasted good. Hemp brings many things to the table, the biggest two being protein and fibre, which are great additions to a cookie! These would be great to pack in your lunch bag or to throw in your backpack for a mid-hike snack. I would recommend freezing any leftovers after the first day, as with most grain free cookies, their shelf life is shorter than most cookies. The recipe made about 28 cookies, if you want bigger cookies, adjust the cooking time accordingly, as they will take longer to bake. 

Grain Free Double Chocolate Pecan Cookies (Dairy Free, Gluten Free)

1 ripe banana

2 eggs

1/3 cup coconut oil, softened but not melted

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 cup cocoa powder

1/3 cup coconut flour

¼ cup hempseed flour

½ cup coconut sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

½ cup chocolate chips

½ cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350F. Line 2 cookie pans with parchment paper and set aside.

With an immersion blender mix together the banana, eggs, apple cider vinegar and coconut oil until well blended. Add the dry ingredients and with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, mix well until all is well incorporated. Let stand 5 minutes to let the coconut flour absorb the liquid.

Using a tbsp measure, scoop onto prepared pans, leaving a bit of room between cookies for expansion.

Using the flat bottom of a glass or jar, flatten cookies a wee bit. You will probably need to grease the bottom of whatever you use to flatten, as the batter is sticky.

Bake in preheated oven for 13-15 minutes. Carefully remove cookies to a wire rack and cool. Enjoy!

Cranberry Maple Pecan Cookies

When I have a free morning, you're pretty much guaranteed to find me in my kitchen, baking something yummy (well, most of the time the results are yummy....) So, on one dreary Wednesday morning, I set out to bake a few things. I started with two loaves of my Amazing Grain Free Nut Free Banana Bread, (I had a request from my eldest son...he was feeling banana bread deprived again, poor thing :(  I also wanted to take in a treat for my co-workers, as a bunch of us were working late for our annual inventory...banana bread makes every daunting task better!!  While the banana bread was baking, and making my kitchen smell heavenly, I searched for another recipe to make. I remembered my recipe for these Grain  Free Cinnamon Raisin  Cookies, but was out of a few key ingredients (raisins for one!) I did have cranberries, and a bag of pecans, so I used my original recipe as a jumping point, and these cookies were born. Other notable substitutions were swapping out the coconut sugar for maple syrup, and the coconut flour for arrowroot, as the last of both went in the banana bread. The subs worked beautifully, these cookies are as good as the original recipe, if not better! I did increase the baking time a bit from the original recipe to crisp them up a bit more. This also increased the shelf life on them, and they stored at room temperature for 4 days without softening like alot of grain free cookies do.
One of the joys of baking is being able to think outside the proverbial box and not let a lack of ingredients deter you from creating something delicious!!

Cranberry Maple Pecan Cookies

½ cup quinoa flakes

½ cup softened unsalted butter

½ cup maple syrup

1 cup  almond flour

½ tsp baking soda

2 Tbsp arrowroot starch

1 ½ tsp cinnamon

½ tsp salt (omit if your butter is salted)
---------
½ cup dried cranberries (fruit juice sweetened)
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat your oven to 350F

In a cast iron pan, toast the quinoa flakes over medium heat, stirring constantly until the flakes become fragrant, and are just starting to turn a slight golden colour. This will only take a few minutes, and they will burn quite easily, so you will need to pay attention! Remove to a plate to cool.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and the maple syrup until really well combined. (i used my immersion blender to get them to combine well) Add the rest of your dry  ingredients, and mix well, Stir in the cranberries and pecans.

Scoop out onto parchment lined pan in about 1 tbsp spoonfuls. This makes approx 18 cookies.

Bake for 15-16 minutes. or until they are nicely browning around the edges and over the surface of the cookie. 

Let cool  on the pan for 10 minutes before removing to a coloring rack. They will be fragile when still warm, but firm up nicely when completely cooled.

Grain Free Honey Madelines

206 Centennial Crt.
Kitchener, ON Canada
N2B 3X2

1-800-265-2961 
Tel: 519-749-2710 
Fax: 519-749-9617 
info@shopatstop.com

I have a kitchen gadget problem. There, I admit it. It’s out in the open. (Actually, all you have to do is step foot in my kitchen, it’s not a very well kept secret!) Shopping in kitchen stores is probably my favourite addiction, and this past Saturday I found my Nirvana. “S.T.O.P.”  Restaurant Supply in Kitchener Ontario has to be the coolest (and largest) kitchen store I have ever had the (immense) pleasure to visit. This place has everything! My mom and I spent well over an hour wandering their aisles, ogling all of the treasures (Ok ok, I was doing most of the ogling, my mom was laughing at how excited I was about some of the things I found!)

kitchen gadget bliss :)

this spoon is huge!!

Loved this footed bowl,
but I left it there so I
have a good excuse to
go back :)

Love Love Love
these Weck jars!!

My final purchases, plus an oven temp
thermometer that was already in use!

One of my favourite purchases of the day had to be this Madeline pan. I have wanted one for eons, but since going grain free, it was moved way down on my wish list. Who ever heard of a grain free Madeline?? Enter Pinterest, and a random grain free cookie search, and my itch for the Madeline pan came back with a vengeance. I knew i had to own one, and this little beauty was such a great price, now I kinda wish I had bought 2!!

My first attempt at a grain free version of a Madeline worked beautifully. I used a combo of my fav grain free flours and kept it pretty simple, making a honey version, but I can see alternate-flavour potential written all over this one…citrus, chocolate, espresso, lemon rosemary…I could go on and on and on!  But for now, here is the recipe for the Honey version that is an excellent starter recipe.  So, splurge on a Madeline pan, these little beauties are well worth it! 

Grain Free Honey Madelines

Makes 24 Madelines

 3 eggs, preferably pastured

¼ cup honey

1 tbsp coconut oil, melted

1 tsp vanilla

----------

¾ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

½ cup almond flour

3 Tbsp Chickpea flour

2 Tbsp coconut flour

Preheat oven to 350F. Place rack in middle of oven. Lightly grease Madeline pan and set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, whiz the wet ingredients together with an immersion blender until frothy, about 1 minute. Set aside.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients until well incorporated.

Whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, and mix just until there are no more lumps. Let batter stand 5 minutes to thicken up. Whisk again, making sure it is nice and smooth, and not too thick. A pancake batter consistency is what you are going for. 

Spoon a scant Tbsp of batter into each section of your greased Madeline pan.

Bake on middle rack of preheated oven for 8-10 minutes, or until starting to brown around the edges and are poufy and firm to the touch on top

Remove from oven and flip out onto a clean kitchen towel. (if they don’t release give the pan a firm tap on the counter and they should fall right out. 

Let pan cool completely, repeat process with remaining batter. Let cookies cool and enjoy. 

Dip in Chocolate if desired :) 

(Store any remaining cookies in the fridge or freezer, bringing to room temperature before serving. 

Grain Free Chocolate Macadamia Biscotti

This is one of my favourite grain free cookies. I think I have said that about every grain free cookie that I have made to date, BUT THIS TIME I REALLY MEAN IT! Grain Free Biscotti has an added bonus: they store better than any other grain free cookie I have made. (most need to be stored in the fridge after the first day to have them last, and they lose their crispness fairly quickly).  I have had these in the cookie jar for up to a week at home. They may not be quite as crisp as an authentic biscotti, but for a storable grain free cookie, this is “da bomb!! “

 I originally made these for  the dessert portion of my Grain Free Italian Cooking class that I taught, but ended up subbing in an Orange Walnut Date version instead. It was a tossup for which one to use in the class, but my taste testers chose the Orange Walnut Date version (by only a small margin though! I  promised the class that I would post this recipe soon on the blog, but it meant making another batch, because I hadn't taken a single picture of them. Any excuse for me to make more cookies, lol! 

These ones differ a bit from the other recipe in that they have nut butter in them as well as the nut flours. I have used both almond butter, and sunflower butter in them, it doesn't  make much difference in the end product at all. So use whatever  nut butter you have on hand, just make sure, whichever one you choose, that it is not sweetened.  

Grain Free Chocolate Macadamia Biscotti

2 eggs

2/3 cup nut butter

1/2 cup strongly brewed coffee (or water if desired)

1/3 cup melted coconut oil

2 ½ tsp vanilla

1 cup almond flour

½ cup coconut flour

1/3 cup cacao powder

½ cup sprouted milled Chia- Flax mix (Organic Traditions has a nice mix)

1/3 cup coconut sugar

3 tbsp arrowroot

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

½ cup cacao nibs (or sub chocolate chips)

1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts 

Preheat oven to 375F.

In a large mixing bowl, blend together the nut butter, eggs, coconut oil, coffee and vanilla with an immersion blender until well combined. Add the rest of your dry ingredients EXCEPT the cacao nibs and the macadamia nuts. Mix well to combine all the ingredients. Your dough will be fairly thick and sticky. Add the nibs and nuts, and mix again to evenly distribute them thru the dough.

Divide your dough in 2 equal pieces and shape into 2 logs on a parchment lined cookie pan. I find forming the logs with my hands slightly wet the best way to shape them. Your logs should measure about an inch high and just about 2 inches wide (ish, just go for a nice even log shape, trying to keep the ends from being too thin or squished)

Cut into 1 inch cookies

Bake your logs in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and lower temperature in oven to 325. Cool cookies on pan for 10 minutes. 

Cut  into cookies with a very sharp knife, approx 1 inch wide( when cutting, use more of a guillotine motion than a  slicing motion, as the cookies may crumble with the back and forth motion) . Stand up on cookie sheets  and bake for another 20-22 minutes until dried and “biscotti” like.  They should be fairly dry to the touch on the cut sides of the cookies.

Remove cookies from pan to a cooling rack and cool before serving.

unbaked dough

These cookies store well at room temperature for approx 1 Week, if they last that long J

once baked dough

Grain Free Cinnamon Raisin Walnut Cookies

I was going to save this recipe for a possible grain free cooking class, but it is so darn good I couldn't wait to share! Toasting the quinoa flakes helps to loose the bitter flavour some associate with quinoa. I have used untoasted as well, and you can skip this step if you like, but the toasted version really is better! 

Soaking the raisins in the hot water and vanilla is a trick I learned years ago. It hydrates the raisins and makes them much more pleasant for "raisin haters"! Again, you can skip this step if you like, but it does add to the cookie!

Grain Free Cinnamon Raisin Walnut Cookies

½ cup raisins

½ cup boiling water

2 tsp vanilla extract

½ cup quinoa flakes

½ cup softened unsalted butter

½ cup coconut sugar

1 cup  almond flour

½ tsp baking soda

2 Tbsp coconut flour

1 ½ tsp cinnamon

½ tsp salt (omit if your butter is salted)

½ tsp vanilla powder (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)

2 Tbsp of the raisin soaking water

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat your oven to 350F

In a cast iron pan, toast the quinoa flakes over medium heat, stirring constantly until the flakes become fragrant, and are just starting to turn a slight golden colour. This will only take a few minutes, and they will burn quite easily, so you will need to pay attention! Remove to a plate to cool.

In a heat proof measuring cup or bowl, soak the raisins in the boiling water and the first amount of vanilla for 15 minutes. You will need to save some of the soaking liquid, for the cookies, so don’t drain it too soon!

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and the coconut sugar until really well combined. Add the rest of your dry  ingredients, and mix well, adding  the 2 Tbsp of the raisin soaking water as well. Drain and discard the rest of the liquid from the raisins, and then stir them into the cookie dough with the walnuts.

Scoop out onto parchment lined pan in about 1 tbsp spoonfuls. Mine made approx 18 2-bite cookies.

Bake for 12 -13 minutes  or until edges are just starting to brown for a chewy cookie, leave in up to an extra 2 minutes for a crispier cookie, but watch closely for the last 2 minutes  as they will burn quickly.

Let cool  on the pan for 10 minutes before removing to a coloring rack. They will be slightly crumbly, but will set up when cool.

Raisin-less batch for Mac, who says
they ruin the cookie :(

Raisin batch for everyone else!

I find these cookies are best the day they are made. Store in the fridge for best results after the first day. I like to freeze the rest in serving sized baggies for an easy snack on the run.