This recipe is from Cookie Madness. I wanted something easy to make, quick to come together, but tasty, to bring to a potluck. I literally was taking them out of the oven and putting them on the plate as we were going out the door. The recipe is easily doubled. I liked Anna’s idea of using crystallised ginger but wanted to see what they were like plain as well, so I made some of both, half and half. I definitely preferred the ones with ginger on top and though the whole batch was not all eaten when we left, the side with crystallised ginger had only one left and the other side had six or so.

I used the smaller amount of oil, and Anna is correct, they are still good. They are chewy with plenty of flavour. I used the darkest molasses I could find and quinoa flour. Surprisingly, molasses and quinoa flour have similar tastes and went well together, each balancing the other. I think next time I would add freshly grated ginger in addition to the crystallised ginger on top. Cardamom could be interesting or mace.  Thanks again Anna for sharing another great recipe.

Vegan Molasses Cookies

145g (1 cup plus 2 tablespoons) gluten-free flour blend (xanthan gum is not necessary, but won’t hurt if your blend has it. I used quinoa flour, sweet rice flour, and arrowroot starch)

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1/4 teaspoon cloves

1/8 teaspoon salt

100g (1/2 cup) packed brown sugar

90 ml (6 tablespoons) oil (I used 60 ml, 4 tablespoons)

30 ml (2 tablespoons) molasses

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

30 ml (2 tablespoons) unsweetened applesauce, drain on a paper towel then measure (I did not drain my applesauce and it was fine)

sparkly sugar or crystallised ginger for flair

Preheat oven to 165C(325F). In a mixing bowl, combine flour, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt. In a second bowl, combine brown sugar, oil, molasses, vanilla extract, and applesauce.

Add flour mixture to brown sugar mixture and stir until well mixed. Chill the dough in the fridge or freezer until stiff. Using a tablespoon measure, scoop up dough and form into nice mounds. Space the mounds evenly on an ungreased baking sheet and sprinkle tops with sparkly sugar or crystallised ginger. Bake for 13-16 minutes. (Mine took 13 minutes). Let cool for 2 minutes on sheet then transfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling. (I got 26 from a double batch). Enjoy!

This recipe was inspired by Mary Frances’ Gluten Free Cooking School. The ingredients seemed similar to other recipes I have tried and not been satisfied with, but the proportions were slightly different. It was worth a go.

This is good sandwich bread. Whichever recipe Mary Frances played around with for so long, it is a good foundation. My husband, Brian, makes cheese as a hobby. His latest creation was a cream cheese. This was his first attempt and I could see eating all varieties of sandwiches with it. The bread is good on its own, but in a sandwich it brings everything together yet doesn’t dominate.

I used quinoa flour and the taste was not as strong as I thought it would be, much less than the gold cake to my surprise. My guess is again that balancing it with other ingredients helps significantly. Or perhaps I’m just warming up to quinoa after eating it in so many different things.

We do not own a bread machine any longer, so I used Mary Frances’ recommendations for baking in an oven. I let the bread rise in the oven for 15 minutes (preheated to the lowest setting then turned off) until it had climbed up the sides of the tin, then turned up the temperature. Unfortunately, I forgot to turn the oven on, so the bread was left there to spill over the sides. I baked it anyhow, after I realised what had happened, and amazingly, the bread stood up to it.

Sandwich Bread

1 tablespoon active dry yeast

15g (1 tablespoon) honey (for the flavour. You could use something different if you prefer)

350 ml (1 1/2 cups) water (40C (105F) warm to the touch but not too hot)

280g (2 1/2 cups) gluten-free flour blend (I used quinoa flour, sweet rice flour, and arrowroot starch)

2 teaspoons xanthan gum

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs (or 90 ml (6 tablespoons) of water and 13g (2 tablespoons) ground flax seed)

25 ml (1 1/2 tablespoons) oil

1 teaspoon vinegar

Place the yeast in a small bowl. Add the water and gently stir. Add the honey or your preferred sweetener/food for the yeast. If you use local honey, as I did, then there will be some lumps. I like to get my hands in it and mash them out, but you don’t have to. Let this mixture sit.

Combine the flour blend, xanthan gum, and salt in a large mixing bowl.

In a third bowl, whisk the eggs or water and flax seed, oil, and vinegar together until everything is well combined.

By this point the yeast mixture should be well doubled in size and full of bubbles. I was surprised by how long the yeast gets to sit, but gluten-free bread needs all the lift it can get. Pour the two liquid mixtures into the flour mixture. Stir until well combined then pour into a greased 23cm by 13cm (9 by 5 inch) loaf tin. Let the bread rise until it reaches the top of the tin or has doubled in size. (Mine took 15 minutes).

Preheat the oven to 190C (375F). Bake the bread until it has pulled away from the sides of the tin. (Mine took 40 minutes.)

Cool on a rack. If you can’t resist letting it cool, as I often can’t, then slice immediately and eat. Enjoy!

This recipe is from Orangette. Molly says it was inspired by Columbia City Bakery, Seattle WA and adapted from Kathleen Stewart of the Downtown Bakery and Creamery, Healdsburg CA. The second recipe is from Gluten-Free Zing. They say it is adapted from a recipe by Bev Lieven of Milwaukee Coeliac-Sprue Crew. I first found a recipe for doughnut muffins at Home-Ec 101. I will try that recipe but these two sounded more appealing to me.

Molly’s recipe makes more batter and thus more muffins, but GF-Zing’s recipe comes together more quickly. GF-Zing’s recipe could be adapted to be vegan more easily. Leave out the egg, use all caster sugar or maple syrup instead of honey, use shortening or oil instead of butter, and use dairy-free milk. In the pictures, the ones with the white topping are Molly’s and the ones with the brown topping are GF-Zing’s.

Which muffins are better? It’s a tie! Molly’s have a more cakeish texture, which I like, but GF-Zing’s have more flavour. If I added some vanilla extract to Molly’s, then hers would win. In the end, they both are a nice alternative to doughnuts with plenty of doughnut flavour and texture and none of the frying.  Thanks Molly, GF-Zing, and Bev for sharing these good recipes.

Nutmeg Doughnut Muffins

330g (3 cups) gluten-free flour blend (I used teff flour, sweet rice flour, and arrowroot starch)

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

scant 1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

190 ml (3/4 cup plus one tablespoon) whole milk

30 ml (2 tablespoons) buttermilk

170g (6 oz, 3/4 cup) butter, at room temperature

200g (3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons) caster sugar

2 large eggs

Topping:

55-85g (4-6 tablespoons) butter

170-220g (1 1/2-2 cups) icing sugar

Preheat oven to 175C (350F) and set a rack to the middle position.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt, and nutmeg and whisk to mix them thoroughly. Set aside.

Combine the milk and the buttermilk in a measuring cup. Set aside.

Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for a few seconds until the butter is soft and creamy. Add the sugar in a steady stream. Continue beating, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice, until the mixture increases in volume and lightens to pale yellow. It should look light, fluffy, and wonderfully creamy, like icing. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until they are just combined.

By hand, fold in 1/4 of the dry mix into the butter mixture. Add 1/3 of the milk mixture. Continue to add the dry and wet ingredients alternately, ending with dry. Mix until the dough is smooth and well combined but do not overmix.

Divide the mixture between the cups of a muffin tin lined with paper liners. (If you grease the tin instead the muffins will be darker and crispy on the edges.) Molly got 12 muffins, I got 12 muffins. Bake until the muffins are firm to the touch and a skewer comes out clean, about 25 to 32 minutes. Mine took 25 minutes.

When the muffins are cool enough to handle, prepare the topping. Melt the butter and pour the icing sugar into a deep bowl. Using a pastry brush and working one muffin at a time, lightly brush the muffin with butter and then roll it in the icing sugar. Shake off any excess and place the muffins on a rack or serving platter. Enjoy!

Cinnamon-Nutmeg Doughnut Muffins

40g (1/3 cup) caster sugar

170g (1 1/2 cups) gluten-free flour blend

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 xanthan gum (optional)

1 egg (may omit)

60 ml (1/4 cup) honey or maple syrup

120 ml (1/2 cup) buttermilk or dairy-free milk

75g (1/3 cup) melted butter or trans-fat free margarine or 80 ml (1/3 cup) oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping:

115g (1/2 cup) caster sugar

1 teaspoon or more cinnamon

Preheat oven to 190C (375F). Combine dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and mix to moisten. If you are making these vegan, then omit the egg, use maple syrup instead of the honey, trans-fat free shortening or oil instead of butter, and dairy-free milk.

Lightly fill muffin tins lined with paper liners. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake for 15-20 minutes. GF-Zing says they got 11 muffins. I got 9. (Bev’s original recipe had 150g (2/3 cup) caster sugar, 120 ml (1/2 cup) milk instead of buttermilk, no honey, and 225g (1 cup) of caster sugar in the topping). I found GF-Zing’s amount of topping to be just enough. Any more and it would be sugar crumbling everywhere.

Casein-Free Option:

Substitute your favourite dairy-free milk (such as almond milk, hemp milk, coconut milk, rice milk, or soy milk) or goat’s milk for the milk and buttermilk. Use trans-fat free shortening, oil, or ghee instead of the melted butter. You can leave out the melted butter topping for the muffins or use ghee instead. The icing sugar will still stick if you don’t use ghee, just not so much, so putting on the topping just after they come out of the oven will help.

This recipe is from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody. Peabody says she adapted it from several sources: Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herme by Dorie Greenspan, Baking at Home With the Culinary Institute of America, and The French Pastry Chef. It has been on my list for quite some time and I am glad I finally got around to making it. It has a large number of steps but I was pleasantly surprised by how quickly it all came together, so don’t be scared away by the directions. (No, run, run! Be afraid, be very afraid!).

The pastry cream and chocolate glaze recipes made enough for two batches of the choux pastry but I found myself out of eggs after the first batch. I thought this would be perfect to try out an egg-free version. However, though many sell vegan eclairs, there are not many recipes available at all. The one I found, from :-0 at Yahoo Answers, which came from Mame at Vegweb, used Ener-G egg replacer, of which I have none of in the house, so I went looking for egg replacer alternatives. After finding out that there are many egg replacers available but none that suit choux pastry, I finally decided on the one that I thought most likely to work, from The Cooking Inn.

The vegan eclairs turned out better than I expected. I used oil and mine exuded a bit of oil, I believe because there were no eggs to emulsify. Adding less oil might help. I waited nervously as they baked, and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw them puffing up. They are a tad more dense than the non-vegan version but good. My egg replacer worked just fine. As with the non-vegan eclairs, it is important to watch these when baking. They can burn easily, more easily than the non-vegan version. They take longer to puff up but they make it in the end. The pictures above and below the vegan pate a choux recipe are of the vegan eclairs.

From reading Kelly’s post over at Celiac Chicks, it is easy to make dairy-free eclairs. Her recipe is adapted from The Gluten-Free Gourmet by Bette Hagman. You could use shortening instead of oil as well. The pastry cream recipe below can easily be adapted, just use a non-dairy milk, oil or shortening instead of butter, and leave out the egg. Since it is a pudding and uses cornflour (corn starch) or arrowroot starch, it will still thicken. For the diplomat cream you could use whipped coconut cream. The coconut cream recipe I included is from Charlene in Bakespace’s Global Cookbook. For the chocolate glaze, non-dairy milk and oil or shortening again.  Thanks Peabody, Kelly, and Charlene for sharing these great recipes.

If you prefer a plain eclair and/or plain pastry cream, just omit the cocoa from the pate a choux and the chocolate from the pastry cream. You could add vanilla to the pastry cream at the end instead or in addition. You don’t need to make the pastry cream into diplomat cream. The chocolate sauce is probably not entirely necessary in the chocolate glaze and it would be rather thin to stand up as a glaze on its own. Of course you could always fill these with your favourite creamy pudding or even plain whipped cream or coconut cream. They are pillows of puffy, creamy heaven.

Double Chocolate Eclairs

Pate a Choux

207 ml (7 ounces) water

1/2 teaspoon salt

78g (5 1/2 tablespoons) butter or shortening or 125 ml (1/2 cup) oil

140g (1 1/4 cups) gluten-free flour blend (xanthan gum is not necessary)

5 extra large eggs

7g (1 tablespoon) cocoa powder (I used 15g (2 tablespoons))

Boil water, salt, cocoa, and butter in a saucepan. Add flour and stir, stirring constantly until the mixture gets hot and uniform in consistency. Transfer mixture to an electric mixer with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed for 2-3 minutes until mixture is cool.

Mix on low and add the eggs, one at a time. After the addition of each egg, wait until the mixture absorbs it and becomes completely smooth again. Using a pastry bag, dispense the choux paste onto a parchment-lined or nonstick baking tray. Alternatively, you may use two spoons to form eclair shapes or simply drop spoonfuls to form puffs.

Bake at 220C (425F) until they have puffed and gotten some colour, then reduce the heat to 170C (350F) until they dry out inside. Do not underbake or they will fall flat. Cut one open to check the inside for wetness, before removing from the oven, if you are not sure if they are done. It takes longer than you would think. Mine took 15 minutes to puff up and 20 minutes to dry out. Watch them carefully. I got 12 eclairs. Peabody says the recipe makes 25 to 30 small puffs or 8 to 10 large eclairs.

Vegan Pate a Choux

110g (1 cup) gluten-free flour blend (xanthan gum is not necessary but won’t hurt if your blend has it)

5g (2 teaspoons) caster sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar or baking powder

7g (1 tablespoon) cocoa powder (I used 15g (2 tablespoons))

30g (2 tablespoons) shortening or 30 ml (2 tablespoons) of oil

250 ml (1 cup) non-dairy milk (I used water)

equivalent of 4 eggs, 2 tablespoons Ener-G egg replacer whipped until stiff with 80 ml (1/3 cup) water

(I used:

15 ml (1 tablespoon) oil

15 ml (1 tablespoon) vinegar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cornflour (corn starch) or arrowroot starch

enough carbonated water (plain soda water) to equal 60 ml (1/4 cup)

Combine, oil, vinegar, baking powder, cornflour (corn starch) or arrowroot starch and water in a medium bowl to allow mixture room to expand. Whisk together. )

Prepare Ener-G egg replacer, if using. Stir together flour, vegan sugar, salt, cream of tartar, and cocoa. In a saucepan, bring the non-dairy milk or water and shortening or oil to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat for a moment and prepare alternative egg replacer, if using. Add the flour mixture all at once, return to heat, and reduce the heat to low. Stir constantly until the dough forms a ball that pulls away from the sides and the spoon and is smooth. Working quickly, remove from heat and add the egg replacer in thirds, beating well after each addition until the dough is glossy, smooth, and pulls away from the sides.

Using a pastry bag, dispense the choux paste onto a parchment-lined or nonstick baking tray. Alternatively, you may use two spoons to form eclair shapes or simply drop spoonfuls to form puffs. Mame says she made 20 small puffs. I got 10 eclairs from my batch.

Bake at 205C (400F) for 10 minutes, then lower the heat to 170C (350F) for another 10 minutes. Turn oven off and allow to cool, with door slightly ajar, for another 20 minutes. Allow to cool completely on racks before serving or filling.

Chocolate Pastry Cream

475 ml (2 cups) whole milk or non-dairy milk

2 large egg yolks (may omit)

85g (6 tablespoons) caster sugar

25g (3 tablespoons) cornflour (corn starch) or arrowroot starch

200g (7 ounces) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

35g (2 1/2 tablespoons) butter or shortening or 40 ml (2 1/2 tablespoons) oil

Fill a large bowl with ice and water. Set aside a smaller bowl that can hold the finished pastry cream and be placed in the ice bath. In a small saucepan, bring the milk to a boil. Meanwhile, if you are using eggs, whisk the yolks, sugar, and cornflour (corn starch) or arrowroot starch together in a medium saucepan. Continue whisking as you slowly add a quarter of the hot milk into the yolks. Still whisking, pour the rest of the liquid in a steady stream into the tempered yolks. If you are not using eggs, then whisk the sugar and cornflour (corn starch) or arrowroot starch together in a medium saucepan. Slowly add the hot milk, continuing to whisk to prevent lumps, until all the milk is added.

Strain the mixture into the saucepan, place over medium heat, and whisking vigourously and without stop, bring the mixture to a boil. Keep the mixture at the boil, mixing energetically, for 1-2 minutes. Still over heat, stir in the chocolate, then remove from heat and scrape the pastry cream into the small bowl. (I skipped the straining step, as my pastry cream was not lumpy.)

Set the bowl into the ice-water bath and, stirring frequently so that the mixture remains smooth, cool the pastry cream to 60C (140F), as measured on an instant-read thermometer. Remove the pastry cream from the ice-water bath and stir in the butter, shortening, or oil in three or four additions. Return the pastry cream to the ice-water bath and keep it there, stirring off and on until it is completely cool.

Diplomat Cream

7g (2 1/4 teaspoons) powdered unflavoured gelatine or agar-agar

60 ml (1/4 cup) water

1/2 of the pastry cream

250 ml (1 cup) cream or 1 coconut cream recipe

Sprinkle the gelatine, if using, over the water in a small bowl and stir to break up any clumps. Let the gelatine soften in the water for 2 minutes. Heat the softened gelatine over simmering water or in a microwave for about 20 seconds on low power until the granules melt and the mixture is clear. For agar-agar, bring the water to a boil, sprinkle the agar-agar over the top and stir until dissolved. Stir the gelatine or agar-agar into the pastry cream by hand until blended.

Whip the cream until it holds a medium peak or prepare the coconut cream. By hand, fold the whipped cream or coconut cream into the pastry cream in 2 or 3 additions, folding just until evenly blended.

Coconut Cream

1 400 ml (14 oz) tin coconut milk, chilled overnight

30g (2 tablespoons) caster sugar (original used 15g (2 tablespoons) icing sugar)

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Chill a mixing bowl and beaters. Open the chilled coconut milk and spoon the cream from the top, avoiding the thin liquid underneath. If you don’t, then your cream will not set properly. Beat the coconut cream in the chilled bowl until stiff peaks form. Beat in the icing sugar and vanilla extract.

Chocolate Sauce

125g (4 1/2 ounces) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

250 ml (1 cup) water

120 ml (1/2 cup) cream, coconut milk, or other non-dairy milk

75g (1/3 cup) caster sugar

Place all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon, until the mixture thickens slightly and coats the back of the spoon. Be patient–this can take 10 to 15 minutes and shouldn’t be rushed. This is the part of the process that seemed to take the longest for me.

Chocolate Glaze

120 ml (1/2 cup) cream, coconut milk, or other non-dairy milk

100g (3 1/2 ounces) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

20g (4 teaspoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature, or shortening, or 20 ml (4 teaspoons) oil

105 ml (7 tablespoons) chocolate sauce

In a small saucepan, bring the cream or milk to a boil over medium heat. Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the chocolate, bit by bit, stirring the mixture gently. Measure the temperature of the mixture with an instant-read thermometer: it should be 60C (140F). If it is too cool, warm it and remove from heat as soon as it reaches the proper temperature. If the mixture is too hot, let it cool to 60C (140F).

Stirring gently, blend in the butter, piece by piece, or the shortening or oil. Take the temperature of the glaze. It should be between 35C (95F) and 60C (140F) for prime pourability. If the glaze is too cold, it can be warmed in a hot water bath or microwave at low setting.

To Assemble:

Slice the eclairs horizontally in half. Set the bottoms aside and put the tops on a rack over a sheet of parchment. Spread the glaze over the tops. Allow the tops to set.

Pipe or spoon the chocolate diplomat cream into the eclair bottoms. You can do this as you wait for the tops to set. Place the tops over the filled bottoms, jiggling the tops to settle them, and serve the eclairs as soon as possible. Enjoy! If they don’t all get eaten in one sitting, as mine didn’t, they do fine stored overnight, the filling just shrinks a bit.

Casein-Free Option:

The vegan pate a choux is casein-free. To make the first pate a choux recipe casein-free, substitute trans-fat free shortening or oil for the butter. For the chocolate pastry cream, use your favourite dairy-free milk (such as hemp milk, rice milk, almond milk, coconut milk, or soy milk) or goat’s milk instead of the whole milk and substitute trans-fat free shortening, oil, or ghee for the butter. You could leave the butter out of the pastry cream as well. It would not be quite as rich, but plenty rich enough. If you wish to make the pastry cream into diplomat cream, use coconut cream instead of the whipped cream. For the chocolate sauce, use your favourite dairy-free milk or goat’s milk, or you could leave out the milk and it will still be tasty. For the chocolate glaze, substitute trans-fat free shortening, oil, or ghee for the butter and dairy-free milk or goat’s milk for the cream.

This is another recipe from Cookie Madness. Anna made hers with blackberries, but I used frozen peaches and dried cranberries. I used butter in my pie crust, but if you replaced the butter in the crust and filling, then you could make this casein free and vegan. Pies, especially the crust, tend to work well with butter replacements such as shortening anyhow.

The pie crust recipe is from one of my grandmothers (minus the gluten-free variation of course). I don’t know where she found it, but the original had shortening. This pie is different but delicious. It reminds me more of breakfast than dessert. It would be good with different fruits as well.  Thanks Anna for sharing a very interesting recipe.

Pie Crust

85g (3/4 cup) gluten-free flour blend (I used cornflour (corn starch), teff flour, and sweet rice flour)

55g (1/4 cup) butter or shortening

60 ml (1/4 cup) cold or ice water

Cut the butter into the flour until the bits are the size of small peas. Add water until the mixture comes together to form a ball. Roll out on a floured surface. Makes one 23 cm (9 inch) pie crust.

Cranberry-Peach Oatmeal Pie

1 23 cm (9 inch) pie crust

283g (10 oz) peaches, thinly sliced

120g (1 cup) dried cranberries

135g (2/3 cup) light brown sugar, divided use

45g (3 tablespoons) butter or shortening, softened

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

125 ml (1/2 cup) light corn syrup (I used Lyle’s golden syrup)

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

2 large eggs (I used 13g (2 tablespoons) ground flax seed and 90 ml (6 tablespoons) water

65g (2/3 cup) gluten-free oats

40g (1/3 cup) chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 175C (350F).

Toss peaches with half the brown sugar. Pour the dried cranberries into the pie crust and spread evenly. Top with the sweetened peaches and spread evenly.

In a bowl beat together the butter and the other half of the brown sugar until creamy. Add the vanilla extract, cinnamon, and syrup. Add the ground flax and water, or eggs one by one, and the oatmeal. Pour over fruit. Sprinkle with pecans.

Place pie on a baking tray and bake for 50 minutes. Serve warm or let cool. Enjoy!

Casein-Free Option:

Use trans-fat free shortening in the pie crust instead of butter. You could use lard as well, if you are not vegan. For the pie filling, substitute trans-fat shortening, ghee, applesauce, or prune puree for the butter.

I found this recipe at Free to Eat. Lynn, who is such an admirable example of joy brimming over everywhere making the best of everything, says she found the recipe at Amanda’s Own and adapted it. I must say, though I am not casein, corn, soya, yeast, sulfite, egg, nut, seed, citrus, or chocolate-free, that these are the most delicious gluten-free chocolate chip cookies I have ever had. They even rival some glutenated varieties. I’ve made Lynn’s Lovely Loaf before (delicious as well) but I’ve been skeptical when I’ve read her recipes that they would be good. Well, after making these chocolate chip cookies, all my doubts were gone and I now understand why she says she doesn’t miss anything. These are wonderful.

I used butter instead of shortening and it may have contributed to how long the baking time was. I baked mine for 13 minutes and it took three batches to figure that out. The first batch was underdone and fell apart, the second batch was firm but overdone and too browned for my tastes, the third batch was just right. Is Goldilocks in the kitchen somewhere?

I used a gluten-free flour blend instead of all rice flour: sweet rice flour, tapioca flour, amaranth flour, and arrowroot starch. The arrowroot starch was on recommendation from Sheltie Girl at Gluten A Go Go. Thanks Sheltie Girl, it works a treat!

I didn’t remember until I went to add the sugar that I was out of caster sugar, so I used half brown sugar and half icing sugar. The texture was a bit crumbly, more like shortbread, my guess is from the icing sugar, but if you prefer crumbly then adding a different sugar is easier than changing the balance of liquid to dry ingredients. The taste is just delicious. I would definitely make these again, closer to the original recipe. Thanks again Lynn!

Amanda’s Own Chocolate Chip Cookies

280g (2 1/2 cups) white rice flour (I used gluten-free flour blend)

2 teaspoons xanthan gum

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 teaspoon salt

225g (1 cup) Spectrum palm shortening (I used butter. Not casein-free if you do so.)

340g (1 1/2 cups) caster sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 tablespoons water

2 teaspoons baking powder

3 tablespoons oil

340g (2 cups, 12 oz) chocolate chips

Mix and set aside the white rice flour, xanthan gum, bicarbonate of soda, and salt. In a large bowl mix together the shortening (or butter), sugar, and vanilla. In a small bowl, combine the water, baking powder, and oil. It gets all nice and bubbly! Add this to the shortening/sugar/vanilla mixture. Add the dry mix, then the chocolate chips.

Form into logs and chill, or just cover and chill in the fridge for 2-4 hours. I put mine in the freezer to speed up the process. After dough is quite firm, preheat oven to 190C (375F). Cut slices of dough off the log and place on a baking tray. Bake for 10 minutes. (Mine took 13. ) Cool on a rack and enjoy! Makes 3-4 dozen, if I remember correctly. If you can’t manage to wait to bake them, the dough is delicious as well.