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How to Make a Gluten-Free Yule Log

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Gluten-Free Yule Log

You know those recipes you mean to get around to baking? And then you…don’t? That was my relationship with the classic Christmas yule log.

Last year, while I was testing recipes like a mad woman for my new paleo baking book, I thought, “Eh. I’m baking nine recipes today. Why not add another?” So I made a gluten-free yule log. It wasn’t grain-free but it was a flop. Not just a flop. A floppity flop. A big ‘ol FLOP. Then I got busy with the book. The holiday season came and went. And then, funny thing, the entire year came and went. I’m not joking when I say that it feels like just last week, not 12 months ago, that I made the failed yule log.

But here we are. A year later. And, I don’t know about you, but it’s been kind of a rough year, hasn’t it? The news lately has been absolutely dreadful. So if you’re feeling overwhelmed or short of time or just plain tired, don’t make this recipe. It’s not a terribly hard recipe. It’s just involved. You need to make a sponge cake, a fluffy vanilla filling, and a chocolate icing. Oh, and you need to roll the whole thing up. If right now you crave something easy and comforting, I get it. And this isn’t the recipe for your right now. (Give my easy Christmas butter cookies a try if you want easy and comforting.)

If, however, you’re in the mood for a long kitchen project, the type the will drag your attention away from Facebook for a few hours, then, my friend, this is the holiday recipe for you!

Gluten-Free Yule Log: The Cake

The whole affair starts with a simple chocolate sponge cake. After whisking together the dry ingredients, you whip whole eggs until they get light and very thick, similar to how you’d make a meringue. Not to stress you out, but the entire success of the cake depends on whipping the eggs to the correct consistency. To do this, start with room temperature eggs. Add them to the bowl of your mixer and whip for about one minute. Then, in a slow and steady stream, add the granulated sugar. If you don’t have a stand mixer, you’re going to want to use an electric handheld mixer. (Unless you have Thor-style arms. Then go ahead and whip the eggs by hand!)

Once the eggs are light and thick, it’s time to add the flour mixture. With the mixer running on low speed, add the flour mixture one tablespoon at a time. Adding the flour mixture this way allows it to incorporate without deflating the eggs.

Then spread the batter into a pan that you’ve both lined with parchment paper and greased generously. This is not a cake we want sticking to the pan! Actually, that said, we never want a cake sticking to a pan. The reason for both parchment and vegetable oil is because sponge cakes tend to LOVE to stick to a pan. They’re worse than a regular butter cake when it comes to sticking to the pan.

Once the batter is in the pan, it bakes for a few minutes and then…

Gluten-Free Yule Log: The Reckoning (aka The Rolling)

Rolling up a cake like a cigar isn’t something you do everyday. And, let’s face it, the whole thing is a little weird. Imagine the first person to ever look at a cake and say, “IMMA ROLL THAT UP!”

(Of course, the second I wrote that sentence, I actually wondered who did invent the rolled up cake. Turns out, the first written account of a rolled cake occurred in 1852 in Utica, New York. Note: It is not known if the person exclaimed, “IMMA ROLL THAT UP!” before making the cake. )

To roll up a sponge cake you need two things: 1. The courage of your convictions. 2. A warm cake.

I’ll let you attend to number one on the list. We’ll tackle #2 together. After removing the cake from the oven, allow it to cool for three minutes. Set a timer! Three minutes goes by WAY faster than you think it will.

When your timer goes off, flip the cake, in one fast motion, onto a towel that you’ve dusted generously with powdered sugar. If, when you flop the cake onto the towel, it folds onto itself, don’t panic. Quickly pick up the cake and smooth it out. Sponge cakes are surprisingly forgiving. Once the cake is flat on the towel, pull off the parchment paper. Dust the entire cake with powdered sugar and then, working from the longest side, roll up the cake, along with the towel.   After you’ve rolled the cake, place it seam side down on your counter and allow it to cool.

While the cake cools, make the filling and the icing. (See, I told you this was a day-long project!)

Gluten-Free Yule Log: The Filling

Many recipes for yule logs call for a whipped cream filling. Others use vanilla buttercream. I decided that I wanted something a little different in my cake. So I looked to my favorite, slightly over-the-top cake: whoopie pies! That’s right. I filled this baby with a classic snack cake filling. It.was.amazing.

To make the filling, cream butter together with a little powdered sugar. Then add an entire small jar of Marshmallow Fluff. Cream together until it’s bright white and fluffy. Done!

Gluten-Free Yule Log: The Unrolling

Now that you’ve made the filling, it’s time to unroll your cake. First, make sure that cake is totally cool. If the cake still feels warm to the touch, go hang out until it cools. (I don’t recomend making the icing while you wait because the icing is best used as soon as you make it.)

Slowly unroll the cake. Admire it. Then grab a spatula and slather the cake with the filling. Be sure to cover the entire surface of the cake, side to side, edge to edge. Then, using the towel as an aid, lift up the long edge of the cake. Roll the cake, this time WITHOUT the towel, into a log. Once the cake is rolled, run your hands down the log, squeezing gently as you go. This ensures the cake and filling stick together.

Now you need to make a decision. Do you want to leave the log as-is? There’s no shame in that! Or do you want to go for a more traditional log-look? If it’s the former, simply lift the roll onto a large cake platter. If it’s the latter, grab a serrated knife. First, cut off each end of the log. (Cook’s treat! Enjoy those scraps. You’ve worked hard for them!) Then, cut a three-inch piece of cake off the log at a 45-degree angle. Repeat this. Set those slices aside. Sadly, those are not a cook’s treat. We need those slices in a minute.)

Transfer the log to a cake plate.

Gluten-Free Yule Log: The Frosting (or Not)

Uniced Gluten-Free Yule Log
My uniced Yule Log.

Confession: I didn’t want to ice my yule log. Occasionally, and this all depends on the heat of your cake, the humidity, and magic, the powdered sugar that you put on the towel before rolling up the cake kind of melts into the cake. This makes the yule log look like a real log. It’s amazing. If that happens to your cake, go ahead and leave it alone. In fact, if you don’t want to bother with icing at all, no matter what your cake looks like, go ahead and skip this step. (If the powdered sugar didn’t melt into a bark-like look, sprinkle a little extra sugar on the filled and cooled cake and call it a day.)

If you’re like my husband, however, and the thought of an uniced cake feels wrong, then it’s time to make the icing!

For this icing, melt some unsweetened chocolate and add it to a simple buttercream. Warm chocolate + butter can equal melted mess. So after melting the chocolate, allow it to cool for a minute or too. You don’t want it to cool for so long that it thickens; you just want it cool enough not to melt the butter immediately on contact.

As soon as the frosting looks smooth and shiny, spread it on the log. If you want, run the tines of a fork down the log to make it look more log-like.

Then…and this part is KEY…step back and admire your work. Smile at it a little! You did that, yo!

 

Gluten-free yule log on a white platter.
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How to Make a Gluten-Free Yule Log

Be sure to whip the eggs until light and pale yellow. They help give this cake it's wonderfully light texture.
Prep Time 4 hours
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 4 hours 15 minutes
Author GlutenFreeBaking.com

Ingredients

For the Cake

  • 1/2 cup white rice flour (2 ounces; 57 grams)
  • 1/4 cup sweet rice flour (1 ounce; 28 grams)
  • 1/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder (3/4 ounce; 22 grams)
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
  • 5 large eggs, room temperature (about 8 3/4 ounces; 250 grams, out of shell)
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar (5 1/4 ounces; 150 grams)
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Filling

  • 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature (12 tablespoons; 6 ounces; 170 grams)
  • 3/4 cup powdered sugar (2 1/4 ounces; 65 grams)
  • 1 (7 1/2 ounces) jar marshmallow crème (I used Marshmallow Fluff)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Frosting

  • 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened (1 cup; 8 ounces; 226 grams)
  • 4 cups confectioners' sugar (16 ounces; 453 grams)
  • 3-4 tablespoons heavy cream, half and half, or milk (1 1/2 to 2 ounces; 42 to 56 grams)
  • 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate squares, melted
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

  1. Adjust oven rack to middle position. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an 18x13-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray, line the bottom of the pan with a piece of parchment paper, and then lightly spray the paper.
  2. Whisk together white rice flour, sweet rice flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, and xanthan gum in a medium bowl. Set aside.
  3. Whip eggs in a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until thick, about one minute. After one minute, add the granulated sugar in a slow and steady steam. Continue to whip the eggs until they are very thick, about 6 minutes. (This takes about 4 minutes on a stand mixer and up to 8 minutes with a handheld mixer.)

  4. Reduce mixer to low. Add flour mixture, one tablespoon at a time. Mix until just combined. Spread batter evenly into the prepared pan.

  5. Bake until the cake is aromatic and springs back to the touch, about 14 minutes.
  6. While the cake bakes, place a large, clean kitchen towel on your counter. Dust it generously with powdered sugar.
  7. Remove pan from the oven and immediately run a knife around the edges of the pan. Then, carefully, flip the cake out onto the prepared towel. Slowly pull the piece of parchment off the cake.
  8. Starting from the long end, roll the cake into a snug log. Allow the cake to cool for about one hour.
  9. While the cake cools, prepare the filling: In a medium bowl, cream butter until light and fluffy. (Use high speed on a handheld mixer or medium-high speed on a stand mixer.) Add the powdered sugar and beat until combined. Add the marshmallow crème and vanilla extract. Mix until fluffy.
  10. Slowly unroll the cake. Spread filling over the cake, leaving about a 1/2-inch border around the cake. Re-roll the cake (without the towel this time). Using a serrated knife, trim the edges. Discard or eat as a cook's treat. Cut off two slices at a diagonal, about 2 to 3-inches each. Get creative with this! I like them to be different sizes. Set slices aside.
  11. Transfer log to serving platter.
  12. Prepare the frosting: cream together butter and powdered sugar in a large bowl. Add two tablespoons heavy cream. In a slow and steady stream, add the melted chocolate. Beat until smooth. Add one tablespoon heavy cream and vanilla extract. If icing is too thick, add remaining heavy cream. Use at once.
  13. Frost cake with prepared chocolate frosting. Place icing on each slice and stick it to the cake where you'd like. You can place the pieces on either side of the log. Or stick one on top and the other on the side. Frost the slices. Serve.

 

 

Gluten-Free Sweet Potato Latkes

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Gluten Free Sweet Potato Latkes

Ask anyone who makes latkes what they think of their recipe (or their mother’s or grandmother’s recipe) and most will tell you that “it’s the best.” And they’re right. I mean, we’re talking about fried potatoes here. So two years ago when I decided to create sweet potato latkes to celebrate Thanksgivukkah, I didn’t want a recipe that competed with my traditional potato latkes. After all, that recipe is the best, so why mess with it?

I thought about what I loved about latkes—besides everything—and realized that the grated onion, just a supporting player in my regular recipe, would pair really well with sweet potatoes. I jotted down a note to increase the onion. I also wanted the eggs to play a slightly prominent role. Usually I add only enough egg to hold the potatoes and onions together; for this recipe, I decided to add an extra egg or two.

But before I settled on just how much onion and how many eggs to add, I pulled out my grater. As I started grating, I remembered what Ruth, the woman who taught me how to make latkes, once said. “The most important tools for making latkes are strong hands and a kitchen towel.” Ruth would grate her onions and potatoes and then aggressively twist them in a kitchen towel to wring out excess moisture. As she twisted the towel tightly, her hands strained with the effort. Not only were her latkes nice and crisp, but they were dry enough that they didn’t splatter during frying.

After ensuring that my sweet potatoes and onions were as dry as possible, I sprinkled the mixture with white rice flour, salt, and a generous amount of freshly grated pepper. Then, I added four whisked eggs. The mixture appeared looser than my regular latke recipe but for an eggy latke, it looked about right.

 The latkes fried up nicely. And after a few minutes in the hot oil, I was rewarded with tasty sweet potato latkes that were totally different from my favorite recipe. After eating a few latkes bites, I was sure that this recipe was the best recipe for sweet potato latkes. That’s when I knew I’d found a recipe I’d be making for years to come—even when Hanukkah and Thanksgiving don’t collide.
Gluten-free sweet potato latkes frying.
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Gluten-Free Sweet Potato Latkes

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings 4
Author GlutenFreeBaking.com

Ingredients

  • 1 medium onion peeled
  • 1 pound sweet potatoes peeled (about two large sweet potatoes)
  • 1/2 cup white rice flour (2 ounces; 56 grams)
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 3 large eggs, beaten (about 5 1/4 ounces; 150 grams, out of shell)
  • Vegetable oil for frying
  • Sour cream and applesauce for serving

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 200 °F. Grate onion and sweet potatoes using a food processor fitted with a medium grate, or on the large holes of a box grater. Combine in a medium bowl.
  2. Place half of the onion and potato mixture on a clean kitchen towel. Roll the towel around the mixture and wring the towel to draw out excess moisture. Unroll the towel and transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Repeat with the remaining onion and potatoes
  3. In a small bowl, whisk together the white rice flour, salt, and pepper. Add to the potato mixture and stir to combine. Add the eggs and stir to combine. Line a rimmed baking sheet with several layers of paper towels and set it near the stove but safely away from the burner. Heat 1/4 inch of oil in an 8-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering.
  4. Working in batches, drop the potato mixture into the hot oil by scant 1/4-cups. (The mixture should sizzle when it hits the oil.) Using two forks, flatten each latke a little in the pan. (You almost “pull” the latkes apart to flatten.)
  5. Fry until deep golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Flip with a pancake flipper or spatula and fry an additional 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel–lined baking sheet and keep warm in oven while you cook remaining latkes. Serve with sour cream and apple sauce.

 

No Bake Gluten-Free Chocolate Orange Cookies

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No Bake Chocolate-Dipped Orange Cookies in a stack. One cookie has a bite taken from it.

I love orange-flavored chocolate. In fact, I do a little happy dance when I see those chocolate oranges in the store each holiday season. So I combine chocolate and orange together whenever I can. And sometimes…I don’t have time to bake. Enter: no-bake chocolate orange cookies!

To quote Sandra Lee, these cookies are semi-homemade. To make them, you simply dip store-bought shortbread cookies into chocolate you’ve flavored with pure orange oil. You could bake the shortbread cookies from scratch of course. But since I do a lot of baking, I’m okay with taking the occasional shortcut. Especially when it makes it even easier to get my chocolate and orange fix.

For this recipe I use confectionery coating. Like any ingredient, quality varies greatly from brand to brand. I use Merckens candy coatings because they taste good and are gluten-free and tree nut/peanut-free. If you prefer to use real chocolate, remember to temper it before using.

Variation: Orange is my favorite but I really do like any citrus-flavoring with chocolate. For fun, I occasionally use colored white candy coatings for the cookies: yellow for lemon, light green for lime and, you guessed it, orange for orange. For the lemon cookies, I add a tiny pinch of granulated citric acid. This adds a small bite of tartness to the cookies without making them sour.

No Bake Chocolate-Dipped Orange Cookies.
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No Bake Chocolate Orange Cookies

Variation: Orange is my favorite but I really do like any citrus-flavoring with chocolate. For fun, I occasionally use colored white candy coatings for the cookies: yellow for lemon, light green for lime and, you guessed it, orange for orange. For the lemon cookies, I add a tiny pinch of granulated citric acid. This adds a small bite of tartness to the cookies without making them sour.
Prep Time 20 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 36 cookies
Author GlutenFreeBaking.com

Ingredients

  • 1 pound gluten-free confectionery coating (milk, dark, or white)
  • 1/4 teaspoon pure orange oil NOT orange extract.
  • 36 gluten-free shortbread cookies I use Schar cookies for this recipe.

Instructions

  1. Place confectionery coatings in microwave-safe bowl. Heat on high for 30 seconds. Remove bowl from microwave and stir. (This disperses hot-spots and prevents the coatings from burning.) Repeat, removing coatings from microwave every 30 seconds to stir, until confectionery coatings melt and no lumps remain.

  2. Add orange oil. Stir to combine. Taste. The coatings should taste of orange. If the flavor is light, add more orange oil.
  3. One at a time, dip cookies into candy coating. Using a fork, tap dipped cookie against the side of the bowl to remove excess melted candy. Place dipped cookie onto prepared baking sheet. Repeat. Allow candy to set. If desired, drizzle melted candy coating from a fork over cookies for a drizzle design. Store cookies in an airtight container.

 

Paleo Sugar Cookies

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Paleo sugar cookies are fun and easy to make! The dough needs  to chill for about an hour before baking; so be sure to leave yourself enough time to do this!

 

Baked paleo sugar cookies on a pan with three cookie cutters.

How to Make Paleo Sugar Cookies! 

Let’s discuss something important! Cookies! (said in the voice of the cookie monster, of course.)

Most of the year, the humble gluten-free chocolate chip cookie wins my heart. It’s delicious, easy to make, and contains chocolate. What more could you ask for? Then the calendar flips to December and I don’t care about chocolate chip cookies. I’m all about gluten-free sugar cookies and gingerbread cookies.

My seasonal love of cut out and gingerbread cookies has lead to a bit of a problem. I have an, um, massive cookie cutter collection. Right now, the collection is over 100 cutters and growing. But you know what? Even though I hoard love those cutters, I tend to use my mom’s old copper cutters each Christmas. They’re the ones you see in the photos. And they are the cutters she used when she made holiday cookies. And she didn’t just bake a few cookies each holiday. Oh no!

My mom used to bake dozens and dozens of cookies from the day after Thanksgiving right up to Christmas week. Her cut-out cookies were legendary. Everyone got a package. Her friend? Got a package of cookies. The mailman? Got cookies. The lady who worked at the grocery store who she said hello to each Tuesday? You guessed it. She got cookies. During December my mom’s car always smelled like cookies. It was the best.

So when I set out to create a cut out cookie recipe for my new cookbook, it was my mom’s recipe that served as the inspiration.

To make all those cookies, my mom’s recipe needed to be easy. Her method went something like this: measure out the flour, salt, and baking powder. (These cookies were not gluten-free.) Cream together shortening (Yes, back in the day she used shortening. #NoJudgement) and sugar in a large bowl. Add an egg. Add the flour. Chill. Roll. Bake. Done.

That was it.

The question was: could grain-free sugar cookies be this easy?

(spoiler: yes)

Paleo Sugar Cookies: The Flour

My mom had it easy. She baked with wheat flour. This meant she’d throw a bag of all-purpose flour into her cart at the grocery store, probably buying whatever was on sale, and didn’t give it a second thought. Grain-free baking means we give our “flour” a lot of thought. For these cookies, I knew I wanted to use almond flour. Made from finely ground blanched almonds, almond flour bakes up surprisingly like wheat flour, especially in recipes like cookies or brownies. The thing about almond flour is that it tastes like almonds. This isn’t a bad thing. It just is what it is.

The other thing about almond flour is that, since it’s made from ground almonds, it doesn’t have the soft mouthfeel that grain-based flours bring to recipes. When I tried cut-out cookies made with 100% almond flour, I liked them. They just didn’t taste like cut-out cookies. They were missing the sandy crumb that all good cut-out cookies have.

Enter: tapioca starch.

When you combine an equal amount of tapioca starch with finely ground almond flour, you end up with a dough that’s a dream to work with. It rolls out without breaking, holds the shape you cut with the cookie cutter without spreading into a huge blob during baking, and, the very best part, it tastes like a traditional cut-out cookie. Somehow this cookie tastes buttery without containing a drop of dairy!

So while there are many grain-free cookie recipes that do really well without the addition of starch, this isn’t one of them. For the best taste and texture, pull out that bag of tapioca starch. (Oh, and tapioca starch is sometimes called “tapioca flour.” They’re the same thing. No worries!)

Paleo Sugar Cookies: The Sugar

But the flour and starch can’t do everything on it’s own. It needs some help from our friend sugar.

To our bodies, sugar is sugar. All those claims about some sugars containing extra nutrients are, to me, a little misleading. Sure there are trace nutrients in unrefined sugar, that’s true. However, you’d have to eat so much of those sugars to get any nutritional benefit that you’d make yourself sick, which kind of defeats the purpose.

While our bodies think sugar is sugar, our baking does not. There are two types of sugar in the baking world: dry sugar and liquid sugar. For cookies, dry sugar works best. It doesn’t bring any additional liquid to the dough. And that’s what we want. Cut out cookies don’t benefit from extra moisture. In fact, when a cookie dough is too wet, it spreads during baking.

Like this:

Unicorn sugar cookie spread during baking.
source: imgur.com / Via reddit.com

That right there is what a broken dream looks like. Now that dough might have been too warm, contained too much fat, or used too much liquid sugar. I don’t know because I didn’t make the cookie. But since the water content of honey and maple sugar vary from batch to batch, it’s best to avoid using them for cut-out cookies.

I prefer the taste and look of evaporated cane sugar for my cut-out cookies. It’s light in both flavor and color. But you don’t have to use evaporated cane sugar. You can also use coconut sugar in this recipe. Since coconut sugar is so dark, these cookies look kind of like gingerbread cookies when made with coconut sugar. That’s fine, I just want you to know that before you make them. 🙂

Paleo cut out cookies in the shape of a tree.

Ah, a cookie that holds its shape. That’s what we want!

Paleo Sugar Cookies: The Other Ingredients.

Now that we’ve talked about the two most important ingredients, the flour and sugar, let’s take a quick look at the rest of the ingredients.

Eggs

One egg helps to hold everything together. It also adds flavor and a subtle richness. I haven’t tested this recipe egg-free. If I do, I’ll let you know how it goes!

Coconut Oil or Butter

Since almond flour brings so much fat with it, we only need 1/4 cup of coconut oil or butter. If you are using coconut oil, make sure it’s soft but not melted. Unlike butter or vegetable shortening, coconut oil gets REALLY brittle when cold. It’s hard to cream brittle fat! Here’s what to do: if the coconut oil is cold and hard, warm it gently in the microwave for about 10-15 seconds. Any more than that and the oil melts. We don’t want that! You want the oil soft but not melted. When you cream it together with the sugar, you don’t want any large lumps of coconut oil to remain. If you see any large lumps of coconut oil, reach into the bowl and break them up either with your fingers or a fork.

If your diet includes dairy, use butter in place of the coconut oil. I like to use grass-fed unsalted butter. But any butter will do! Be sure it’s at room temperature before using.

Water

Without gluten to hold things together, the dough needs a little nudge to come together and play nice. Water does the trick! One tablespoon of room temperature water helps bind the ingredients into a dough without causing it to spread.

Vanilla Extract

Vanilla adds flavor. I think it partners so nicely with the almond flavor. If you don’t like flavor of vanilla (gasp!), go ahead and omit it.

Baking Powder

Too much baking powder causes cut out cookies to puff and lose their shape. Too little and you get hard cookies. For these cookies, the “just right” amount is 1/2 teaspoon. Most commercial baking powder contains corn starch. However, it’s easy to make your own! I included a recipe below,

Salt

A little salt helps to enhance the flavor of the cookies. Use recommend table or fine sea salt. Kosher or coarse salt tends to be too coarse for baking.

Paleo Sugar Cookies: Mixing and Baking

While these cookies are easy to make, they aren’t exactly quick. You need to chill the dough for at least one hour before baking. Freshly made cookie dough is too warm to work with and warm dough=cookies that spread. The dough can chill for more than an hour. In fact, I like to make my cookie dough the night before I plan to bake. If you have the time, I recommend you do the same.

Our friends coconut oil and butter get a little brittle when cold. Actually, coconut oil gets VERY brittle when cold. This means that if you try to roll cold-from-the-fridge dough, it might crack. To avoid this problem, allow the dough to warm up slightly before you roll it out. In most kitchens, 10 minutes does the job. If you live in a warm place, check the dough after five minutes. (Oh, and it the dough gets too warm, it’s also hard to roll. To remedy this, just pop it into the refrigerator for 15 minutes.)

Before rolling out your cookies, sprinkle the counter lightly with tapioca starch and then go ahead and rub some tapioca starch onto your rolling pin. Roll out the dough until it’s about a 1/4-inch thick. And cut with your favorite cutter(s)! To keep the dough from sticking to the cookie cutter, dip it in tapioca starch.

Bake the cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet. (This is my favorite baking sheet.)

That’s it! I promise, the hardest part of these cookies is deciding which cutter to use!

By the way, this recipe comes from my brand new paleo baking book! I’d REALLY appreciate it if you ordered a copy!

Gluten-free cut out cookies in the shape of a star, tree, and round.
4.84 from 12 votes
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Paleo Sugar Cookies

Prep Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings 20 (4-inch) cookies
Author Elizabeth Barbone/ World's Easiest Paleo Baking Book

Ingredients

  • 1 cup finely ground almond flour (4 ounces; 113 grams)
  • 1 cup tapioca starch (4 ounces; 113 grams)
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, homemade or grain-free store-bought
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup evaporated cane juice or coconut sugar (3 ounces; 85 grams)
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil, solid, or unsalted butter, softened (2 ounces; 57 grams)
  • 1 large egg (about 2 ounces; 50 grams out of the shell)
  • 1 tablespoon water (1 ounce; 14 grams)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

  1. Whisk the almond flour, tapioca starch, baking powder, and salt together in a small mixing bowl. Combine the evaporated cane juice and coconut oil in a medium mixing bowl. Use a handheld mixer set on medium speed to beat them until a thick paste forms. If there are any large lumps of coconut oil, stop the mixer and squeeze the paste together with your hand, or break up the lumps with a fork. Add the egg and mix until combined. Stop the mixer and add the dry ingredients, vanilla, and water. Mix until a dough forms.
  2. Turn the dough out onto the counter. Knead gently a few times. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.

  3. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

  4. Allow the dough to sit outside the refrigerator for about 10 minutes. Cut the dough in half and sprinkle your counter with a little tapioca starch. Roll out the dough about 1⁄4-inch thick. Cut into shapes and place on prepared baking sheet about 2 inches apart.
  5. Bake until set and golden brown, about 10 minutes for 4-inch cookies.
  6. Allow the cookies to cool on the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then transfer the cookies directly to the rack to cool completely.
  7. Allow the baking sheet to cool. Reroll scraps and repeat with the remaining dough.

The BEST Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies

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Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies topped with colored sugar on a plate.

This time of year leaves me feeling a little like the Cookie Monster: “Me want cookies!” And I don’t want just any cookie, I want cut-out cookies. I love cookie cutters. I might love them a little too much. My 200-plus cookie cutter collection even boasts an armadillo-shaped cookie cutter.

When I want to make use of my excessive cookie cutter collection I turn again and again to my recipe for basic cut-out cookies. As written, it makes delicate vanilla-scented cookies that strike a nice balance between sweet and buttery. But like most bakers, I like to adjust my recipes from time to time. Happily, this recipe welcomes change! If you crave a more robust flavor, swap brown rice flour and brown sugar for the white rice flour and granulated sugar. Or you can add some lemon zest and oil instead of vanilla extract.

Cookie Variations

  • Flours: Use a different gluten-free flour, such as brown rice flour or sorghum flour. They’ll both provide you with a deeper flavor and color.
  • Sugars: You can replace the granulated sugar with brown, raw, granulated maple or muscovado sugars. Just be sure to avoid using a liquid sugar (like honey or maple syrup).
  • Flavors: Feel free to vary the extract, or add 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon. (I’ve found adding cinnamon is especially nice in batches where I’ve also used brown rice flour and brown sugar.)
  • Dairy-free: Use a solid non-dairy replacement, like shortening or coconut oil. Be sure you use a solid, not liquid, fat replacement.
Gluten-Free Cut out Sugar Cookies on a Plate.
5 from 2 votes
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Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies

Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes
Total Time 37 minutes
Servings 24 cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cups finely ground white rice flour (5 ounces; 142 grams)
  • 1/2 cup cornstarch (2 ounces; 56 grams)
  • 1/4 cup sweet rice flour (1 ounce; 28 grams)
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
  • 10 tablespoons butter, softened (5 ounces; 142 grams)
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar (5 1/4 ounces; 148 grams)
  • 1 large egg (about 1 3/4 ounces; 50 grams)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2-3 teaspoons water if needed

Instructions

  1. In medium mixing bowl, whisk together white rice flour, cornstarch, sweet rice flour, baking powder, salt, and xanthan gum. Set aside. In standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment or large mixing bowl with hand mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium-high speed until a thick paste forms, about 30 seconds. Scrape down bowl.
  2. Add egg and vanilla, turn mixer on to medium speed. Blend until incorporated, about 25 seconds. Turn off mixer and add dry ingredients. Turn mixer to medium-low. Blend until a dough forms, about 30 seconds. Dough might be dry, especially if you are using shortening. If this is the case, add 2-3 teaspoons water.
  3. Pat dough into round. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for two hours.
  4. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove dough from refrigerator. Allow to dough to stand for 10 minutes or until slightly soft. Generously dust countertop with white rice flour. Roll dough out about 1/4-inch thick.
  5. Cut dough into shapes. Place on prepared baking sheet. Bake cookies until edges are golden brown. (Baking time will vary depending on the size of your cookies. My 3-inch trees took about 12 minutes; the 6-inch dachshunds took about 14 minutes. Keep your eye on the first batch of cookies to help you with the timing.)
  6. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool. Repeat with remaining dough. Gluten-free cookie dough can be gathered into a ball and re-rolled. Be sure to bake cookies on cool baking sheet. I usually bake one sheet of cookies at a time. This allows baking sheets to cool between batches.

 

Gluten-Free Gingerbread Cookies

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Gluten-free gingerbread cookies on a piece of parchment paper.

No matter how many carols I hear, cards I send, or gifts I wrap, it doesn’t feel like the holidays until I make gingerbread cookies. And those gingerbread cookies? They need to meet two requirements:

  1. They can’t spread. It’s always disappointing to put cute cut-outs into the oven only to be greeted with weird amoeba-like shapes after baking; I like my gingerbread boys and girls to hold their shape! The combination of brown rice flour, sweet rice flour, and tapioca starch help these guys and gals to retain the shape of the cutter. But we can’t overlook the sugar and butter, two culprits when it comes to spreading. In this recipe, both are kept to a minimum. With the sugar and butter on the light side (at least in relation to 3 cups of flour), you get a sturdy, not-to-sweet cookie. WIN!
  2. They must taste like ginger. Too often gingerbread cookies taste like molasses cookies with the ginger flavor lost to the other spices. If I want a molasses cookie, I’ll make a batch. When I want a gingerbread cookie, I want ginger to be the prominent flavor. But….I don’t want to deal with fresh ginger. I know. I know. Bad baker, right? Eh. More like, “Out of fresh ginger baker.” Using standard powdered ginger not only gives these cookies that ginger taste you’ve come to expect in ginger cookies, it also means that you don’t have to worry about having fresh ginger on hand when you want to make them.

This recipe succeeds on both counts. The dough retains its shape well enough that you can use it to construct a gluten-free gingerbread house. And, thanks to the tablespoon of ground ginger, it’s a tasty, spicy ginger cookie.

Gluten-free gingerbread cookies on parchment paper.
5 from 2 votes
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Gluten-Free Gingerbread Cookies

Prep Time 2 hours
Cook Time 12 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 12 minutes
Servings 16 cookies
Author GlutenFreeBaking.com

Ingredients

  • 2 cups brown rice flour (9 1/2 ounces; 270 grams)
  • 1/2 cup sweet rice flour (2 ounces; 56 grams)
  • 1/2 cup tapioca starch (2 ounces; 56 grams)
  • 1 tablespoon ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground clove
  • 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
  • 10 tablespoons butter, softened (5 ounces; 142 grams)
  • 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar (5 1/2 ounces; 155 grams)
  • 1 large egg (1 3/4 ounce; 50 grams out of shell)
  • 3 tablespoons molasses (2 1/4 ounces; 65 grams)

Instructions

  1. In medium mixing bowl, whisk together brown rice flour, sweet rice flour, tapioca starch, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, baking powder, salt, ground clove, and xanthan gum. Set aside. In bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream together butter and dark brown sugar until a thick paste forms, about 30 seconds. Add egg. Blend until combined. Stop mixer and scrape down bottom and sides of the bowl. Add dry ingredients. Blend until a thick dough forms. Add molasses. Blend until thoroughly combined.
  2. Lightly flour your countertop with brown rice flour. Turn dough out onto counter and pat into a round. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Chill for several hours or overnight.
  3. Preheat oven to 350°F. Remove dough from the refrigerator and allow to stand for five minutes. Divide dough round in half and roll out to 1/4-inch thickness on a generously rice floured countertop. Cut into shapes. Place cookies on parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake until edges are golden brown and aromatic, about 12 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough.
  4. Cool cookies on a wire rack. Decorate as desired. Store cookies in a covered container for up to one week.

 

Gluten-Free Fig Newtons

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Gluten-free fig newton cookies on a brown plate.

Gluten-Free Fig Newtons

Social media is weird. The other day a photo of Fig Newtons, of all things, came across my Facebook feed. A friend captioned it with, My snack says I’m turning into my grandmother! Looking at that photo, I realized that I missed Fig Newtons. The craving caught me a little by surprise because I hadn’t really thought about them since switching to a gluten-free diet. Suddenly enticed, I thought I’d enjoy making my own gluten-free batch.

Honestly, they turned out to be rather tough to replicate.

My first attempt was dreadful. The outer cookie, made of a simple mixture of gluten-free flours and butter, came out like pie crust. It was really flaky instead of tender and cakey.

The filling, which I cooked for several hours, tasted bland. It boggled my mind that a filling made from flavorful figs could be so dull and mild! Yet this filling, made from chopped mission figs, water, and brown sugar, was just that.

 Clearly I needed to rethink the entire recipe.

First up: the cookie. Since Fig Newtons are cakey, I added eggs to the dough, along with a little leavening, which my first batch didn’t contain. For the filling, I went in the opposite direction by not cooking it at all—I simply puréed dried mission figs with a little water and corn syrup.

The second batch turned out much closer to the real deal, but it was still a little off. The cookie felt too fatty and while filling tasted sweet, it still had no real depth.

To address these problems, I reduced the amount of butter in the cookie and replaced half the granulated sugar with dark brown sugar to boost the flavor and add some moisture. I also added a little orange oil, since I remembered Fig Newtons having a subtle citrus note. For the filling, I again puréed the dried figs, but this time I added freshly squeezed lemon juice and a little salt.

The cookie baked beautifully, while the lemon juice and salt boosted the flavor of the filling without competing with the figs. But there was still one problem: the outer cookie tasted too buttery.

Commercial Fig Newtons don’t taste like butter, so for the final batch, I used shortening instead of butter. That simple swap made a big difference. At long last, the cookies tasted just like the Fig Newtons I remembered.

And even though I finally perfected the recipe, I still needed to wait before enjoying them, since both the flavor and texture improve after an overnight rest. Following a technique from Bravetart’s homemade fig newton recipe, I transferred the warm cookies into a sealed container, allowing them to steam slightly. After all that work, I wondered if the fig newtons were worth it. Then I bit into one and got my answer: in this case, there’s nothing better than turning into your grandmother.

Gluten-Free Fig Newtons.
5 from 1 vote
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Gluten-Free Fig Newtons

To ensure the correct consistency for the filling, use dried figs that are soft; if your figs are firm, soak them for five minutes in warm water before making the filling. These cookies are best after an overnight rest, which helps ensure the outer cookie softens and becomes cakey. If you don't want to wait a day, the cookie will be more crunchy, but still delicious.
Prep Time 3 hours
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 3 hours 15 minutes
Servings 24 cookies
Author GlutenFreeBaking.com

Ingredients

For the Cookies

  • 1 1/2 cups brown rice flour, plus more for dusting (7 ounces; 200 grams)
  • 1/2 cup cornstarch (2 ounces; 56 grams)
  • 1/4 cup sweet rice flour (1 ounce; 28 grams)
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
  • 1/2 teaspoon table salt
  • 1/4 cup vegetable shortening (2 ounces; 56 grams)
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar (1 3/4 ounces; 50 grams)
  • 1/4 cup dark brown sugar (2 ounces; 56 grams)
  • 2 large eggs (about 3 1/2 ounces; 100 grams)

For the Filling

  • 14 ounces dried mission figs see note above
  • 1/4 teaspoon orange oil or 1/4 teaspoon finely grated orange zest from 1 orange
  • 1/4 cup water (2 ounces; 56 grams)
  • 3 tablespoons light corn syrup (2 ounces; 56 grams)
  • 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice from 1 lemon (1 ounce; 28 grams)
  • 1/2 teaspoon table salt

Instructions

  1. For the Cookie: In medium mixing bowl, whisk together brown rice flour, cornstarch, sweet rice flour, baking soda, xanthan gum, and salt. In bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat together vegetable shortening, granulated sugar, and brown sugar at medium-high speed until well combined, about 30 seconds. Add eggs, one at a time, and mix at medium speed for 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl, then mix for an additional 15 seconds. With mixer off, add dry ingredients and orange oil, then mix at medium-low speed until a dough forms.
  2. Generously dust work surface with brown rice flour. Turn dough out onto counter and pat into a round. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours or overnight.
  3. Meanwhile, For the Filling: In bowl of food processor, combine figs, water, corn syrup, lemon juice, and salt. Pulse until a thick paste forms. Filling should be thick but yield when pressed with the back of a spoon. If filling is too firm, blend in an additional teaspoon or two of water until it is soft enough to pipe. Transfer filling to a large pastry big fitted with a 1/2-inch round tip.
  4. Preheat oven to 350°F. Remove dough from the refrigerator and cut into six equal pieces. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Set a 12- by 18-inch piece of parchment paper on your work surface. Dust the parchment generously with brown rice flour. Center one of the dough pieces on the parchment and dust generously with brown rice flour. Roll dough into a 10- by 4 1/2-inch strip, using a pizza wheel to trim edges.
  5. Pipe fig filling evenly down the center of the dough strip. Run a thin metal spatula between the dough and parchment to loosen the dough. Fold the dough edges over the filling, pressing down lightly to seal. Lift the dough log off the parchment and transfer, seam side down, to the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough and filling.
  6. Bake fig bars in center of the oven until set and just starting to turn golden brown, about 15 minutes. Remove pan from oven and cut cookies, using a sharp knife, into 2-inch pieces. Allow cookies to cool for 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to a container with a lid, separating layers with pieces of parchment paper. Store for 24 hours before serving.

 

Easy Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies

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Easy Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies

 

Warm sugar cookies used to taunt me. Every day in high school, the cafeteria offered warm sugar and chocolate chip cookies. The chocolate chip cookies I could do without—mom made those at home. But, oh, the sugar cookies. The only sugar cookies made at home were rolled out and cut into shapes. The cafeteria sugar cookies, which I’m sure came frozen in a box, were perfectly round disks coated with granulated sugar. On a good day, they’d be golden brown. On a bad day? They looked pale and greasy. It didn’t matter to me what they looked like, I wanted one. Thanks to my food allergies, however, I couldn’t satisfy my craving. I had to be content just looking at the cookies.

After high school, I didn’t think about the tempting sugar cookies until I passed a cookie display at, of all places, a mini-mart a few years ago. Sitting on the counter was my old high school culinary crush:the sugar-coated sugar cookie. Well, I was done with simply craving it. I wanted a taste. Since I still couldn’t buy the cookie, I headed into the kitchen and created a recipe.

Does this cookie taste anything like the one offered at my high school? I have no idea. For a taste comparison, you’d have to ask someone who actually ate those cookies. But these cookies taste exactly as I imagined those cookies would taste: buttery and sweet with just a hint of vanilla. They might not be as easy to make as plucking frozen dough from a box, but they are darn close. To satisfy the cookie craving high-school me, all I need to do is cream together a few ingredients, roll the dough into balls, coat with sugar, and plop onto a cookie sheet. The best part of these cookies? I don’t have to return to high school to enjoy them!

Stack of gluten-free sugar cookies on a white plate.
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Easy Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies

Prep Time 35 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings 24 cookies
Author GlutenFreeBaking.com

Ingredients

  • 2 cups white rice flour (8 ounces; 226 grams)
  • 1/3 cup cornstarch (1 1/3 ounces; 38 grams)
  • 1/3 cup sweet rice flour (1 1/3 ounces; 38 grams)
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar (12 1/4 ounces; 348 grams)
  • 2 sticks butter, softened (1 cup; 8 ounces; 226 grams)
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs (1 3/4 ounces; 50 grams)
  • Coarse sanding sugar about 1/2 cup

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
  2. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, cream together sugar, butter, and vanilla, about 1 minute.
  3. Add eggs, one at a time, and mix until well combined. Reduce speed to low and add the dry ingredients. Mix for 45 seconds.
  4. Chill dough for 15-20 minutes.
  5. Roll dough, about 2 tablespoons each, into a ball. Roll dough ball into the sanding sugar. (To make this step go faster, I use a cookie scoop.)
  6. Place coated dough ball onto prepared baking sheet. Be sure to space cookies about 2 inches apart. Flatten cookies very slightly with the palm of your hand.
  7. Bake cookies, about 12-15 minutes, or until lightly golden brown.
  8. Remove cookies from the oven and allow to cool for 3 minutes on the baking sheet. After 3 minutes, transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool. Store cookies in an airtight container.

 

Gluten-Free Snickerdoodles

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Gluten-Free Snickerdoodles

Gluten-Free Snickerdoodles: Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

In the cookie world, snickerdoodles are a quiet charmer. Unlike fancy cutouts or “everything but the kitchen sink” cookies they don’t scream for attention. But snickerdoodles also aren’t boring. Thanks to a generous amount of butter, cinnamon, and vanilla, snickerdoodles are packed with flavor. And isn’t that why we love them?

Their classic flavor isn’t the only thing that makes a snickerdoodle a snickerdoodle. They also have a unique texture. And this is where snickerdoodle lovers divide.

I like mine puffy with crisp edges and a soft, almost cake-like center. Others prefer snickerdoodles flat and crisp. What’s a baker to do? Simple—vary your recipe to suit the type of snickerdoodle you love!

For Puffy Gluten-Free Snickerdoodles

Use a mixture of butter and shortening, and a generous amount (1 1/4 teaspoons) of baking powder. The shortening prevents the cookies from spreading too much while the butter creates crisp edges and deep flavor.

For Flat and Crisp Gluten-Free Snickerdoodles

Use all butter and reduce the amount of baking powder to 1/4 teaspoon.

Either way, you’ll have a classic cookie that can be made in minutes using staples you probably already have in your pantry.

Gluten-Free Snickerdoodles on a white platter.
5 from 1 vote
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Gluten-Free Snickerdoodles

This recipe makes puffy gluten-free snickerdoodles. For flat, crisp cookies, follow the variations ingredient variation listed in the recipe.

Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings 24 cookies
Author GlutenFreeBaking.com

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups finely ground white rice flour (6 ounces; 170 grams)
  • 1/2 cup sweet rice flour (2 ounces; 56 grams)
  • 1/2 cup cornstarch (2 ounces; 56 grams)
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder reduce to 1/4 teaspoon for flat, crisp cookies
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 stick unsalted butter, softened (1/2 cup; 4 ounces; 113 grams)
  • 1/4 cup shortening (replace with butter for flat, crisp cookies) (2 ounces; 56 grams)
  • 1 cup granulated sugar (7 ounces; 200 grams)
  • 2 large eggs (3 1/2 ounces; 100 grams)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Cinnamon-Sugar Topping

  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar (1 3/4 ounces; 50 grams)
  • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Instructions

  1. In small mixing bowl, whisk together white rice flour, sweet rice flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt. In large mixing bowl or bowl of stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter, shortening and granulated sugar together until a thick paste forms, about 30 seconds. Add eggs, one at a time. Blend thoroughly between each addition. Stop mixer and scrape down bottom and sides of the bowl. Add vanilla and mix until light and fluffy, about 20 seconds.
  2. Stop mixer. Add dry ingredients. Turn on mixer. Blend until a dough forms. Cover dough and chill for two hours or overnight.
  3. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. In small bowl, combined granulated sugar and ground cinnamon. Roll dough, about 1 tablespoon each, into balls. Roll dough balls into cinnamon sugar mixture and then place on prepared cookie sheet. Cookies will spread. Be sure to space the at least 2-inches apart. (I usually bake 9 cookies per rimmed baking sheet.)
  4. Bake until lightly golden brown and aromatic, about 15 minutes. Remove pan from oven. Allow cookies to cool for three minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.

 

Salted Chocolate Marcona Almond Cookies

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Gluten-Free Chocolate Almond Cookies on a baking sheet.

While munching on a handful of slightly salty marcona almonds recently, I thought, “I need to bake with these.” What the heck took me so long? As a lover of salty-sweet desserts (chocolate-covered pretzels? salted caramel brownies? yes please!), I set out to create cookies with the marcona almonds.

But my favorite salty-sweet desserts are still more sweet than salty, so I needed a cookie that stood up to the almonds without overpowering them or being overpowered by them.

The result: part brownie, part cookie that highlights the salty almonds but is still a dessert in a decidedly rich, chocolate body.

During testing, I made a batch with almond paste in an attempt to boost the almond flavor, but it was too almond-y and the chocolate was lost. (Plus, if you’re allergic to almonds, you can omit the marcona almonds from the recipe. With almond paste, making them almond-free wasn’t an option.)

Gluten-free marcona cookie batter.Thanks to melted butter and chocolate, the dough comes together quickly. (I even whipped up several batches using a fork.) After mixing, the dough resembles brownie batter; so be sure to chill the dough before baking.

Gluten-Free Chocolate Almond Cookie dough on a baking sheet. Topped with almond and kosher salt.

Once it chills for four hours, roll it into balls. I like a single almond pressed into the center of each cookie. If you desire a more robust almond flavor, stud the cookies with several almonds before baking. Sprinkle on a little salt and you’re ready to go!

 

Gluten-Free Chocolate Almond Cookies on a baking sheet.

These cookies spread while baking, leaving a craggy top that holds the salt and almond perfectly!

 

Gluten-Free Chocolate Almond Cookies.
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Salted Chocolate Marcona Almond Cookies

Prep Time 4 hours
Cook Time 12 minutes
Total Time 4 hours 12 minutes
Servings 24 cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 cup 1 cup white rice flour (4 ounces; 113 grams)
  • 1/4 cup cornstarch (2 ounces; 56 grams)
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
  • 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
  • 2 tablespoons butter (1 ounce; 28 grams)
  • 1 cup granulated sugar (7 ounces; 198 grams)
  • 2 large eggs (about 3 1/2 ounces; 100 grams)
  • About 2 dozen marcona almonds skinned and lightly salted for cookie tops
  • Kosher salt for sprinkling

Instructions

  1. In medium mixing bowl, whisk together white rice flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, and xanthan gum. Set aside.
  2. Place chocolate in microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 20 seconds. Remove bowl from microwave and stir. Repeat until chocolate is melted. Or place chocolate into top of double-boiler that is set over hot but not boiling water. Stir chocolate frequently until melted. In a separate small bowl, melt butter. (Butter and chocolate melt at different temperatures. By melting them separately, I'm guaranteed the butter won’t spurt all over the microwave while the chocolate finishes melting.)
  3. In large bowl, stir together melted chocolate and melted butter. Add granulated sugar. Stir to combine until chocolate and butter are thoroughly incorporated. Add eggs. Stir mixture until smooth. Add whisked dry ingredients. Stir until a thick batter forms. Press a piece of plastic wrap directly onto dough. Chill for four hours or overnight.
  4. Preheat oven to 350° F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Scoop dough, about one tablespoon each, and roll into balls. Place dough on prepared baking sheet. Press one marcona almond into the center of dough. (Flat-side down). Sprinkle lightly with kosher salt. Cookies spread during baking. Be sure to space cookies about three-inches apart on baking sheet. Chill remaining dough between batches.
  5. Bake until cookies have a dry, crackled appearance, about 11-13 minutes. Cool on pan for two minutes. Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool.

 

Gluten-Free Lemon Coolers Recipe

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Gluten-Free Lemon Coolers.

Gluten-Free Lemon Coolers: A Recipe for Childhood Nostalgia 

The Schwan’s truck was one of the great mysteries of my childhood. It stopped at my aunt’s house, delivering chips, cakes, and cookies, but why didn’t it ever stop at mine? This baffled me. The most exciting thing delivered to our house was, well nothing as exciting as chips and cookies, let me tell you.

While my cousins happily scarfed down their Schwan’s potato chips, my favorite treat were the powdered sugar-coated lemon shortbread cookies. I don’t remember what Schwan’s technically called them, but now I know these cookies as “lemon coolers.”

This recipe recreates those lemon cookies. Thanks to the lack of a gluten structure, this version is especially tender. And, as with the Schwan’s cookies, you must beware of the powdered sugar dust all over your lips.

Allergen-Free Gluten-Free Lemon Coolers

These cookies are naturally free of eggs and other common allergens. However, they do contain dairy (butter). To make them dairy-free, use a solid dairy-free shortening. When I made the cookies without butter, I worried they’d lack flavor. While the delicate butter flavor was missing, I thought the lemon flavor tasted brighter in the dairy-fee version.

Gluten-Free Lemon Coolers.
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Gluten-Free Lemon Coolers

Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 18 minutes
Total Time 43 minutes
Servings 24 cookies
Author GlutenFreeBaking.com

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups finely ground white rice flour (6 ounces; 170 grams)
  • 1/2 cup sweet rice flour (2 ounces; 56 grams)
  • 1/2 cup tapioca starch (2 ounces; 56 grams)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon xanthan gum
  • 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature (1 cup; 8 ounces; 226 grams)
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar (2 ounces; 56 grams)
  • zest of one lemon, finely chopped
  • 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 4 cups powdered sugar (16 ounces; 453 grams)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 °F. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. In small mixing bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. Set aside. In bowl of stand mixer or medium mixing bowl, cream together butter, 1/2 cup powdered sugar, and lemon zest until a thick paste forms about 30 seconds. (Use medium-high speed on a handheld mixer or medium speed on a stand mixer.) Stop mixer and scrape down bowl. Turn mixer on and cream for another 15 seconds.
  3. Add dry ingredients and mix until dough forms, about twenty seconds. Add lemon juice and mix until combined. Chill dough for twenty minutes.
  4. Scoop dough, about one tablespoon each, and roll into ball. Place dough on baking sheet and press dough ball down slightly. Return remaining dough to refrigerator.

  5. Bake until cookies are set and slightly cracked, about 18-20 minutes. These cookies don't really darken during baking. While cookies are baking, fill an 8x8-inch pan with 4 cups powdered sugar. Set aside

  6. Remove cookies from oven. Allow cookies to set for two minutes. Carefully transfer cookies to the pan of powdered sugar with a spatula. Bury cookies in the sugar and allow to cool.
  7. Repeat with remaining dough. Remove cooled cookies from powdered sugar and shake off excess sugar.

 

How to Make Gluten-Free Stuffing for Thanksgiving

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Gluten-Free Stuffing is easy to make! Follow these simple steps and your stuffing will be the star of your holiday meal.

Gluten-free stuffing in a blue dish.

Ah, stuffing. It always feels like the most personal dish on the Thanksgiving table. If you want to make a gluten-free bread, I’ve got you covered! This recipe makes a classic gluten-free stuffing. But it doesn’t stop there! You can personalize how ever you’d like. Want apples? Sausage? Or my favorite, a chicken liver? Go for it! This gluten-free stuffing is flexible enough to satisfy even the pickiest of eaters!

 

How to Make Gluten-Free Stuffing: Step by Step

Here’s the low down on how to make gluten-free stuffing. Full recipe below. (and lots of explanation in between.)

  1. Bake or buy a loaf of gluten-free bread.
  2. Cut bread into cubes and toast. (Step one and two can be done up to one week before Thanksgiving.)
  3. If using meat, cook the meat thoroughly. Remove the meat from the pan with a slotted spoon, leaving the cooking oil behind.
  4. On Thanksgiving (or the night before), place the toasted bread cubes in a large bowl.
  5. Cook the vegetables and/or fruit. (If you don’t add meat to your stuffing, cook the vegetables in hot oil.)
  6. Stir in the cooked meat, vegetables, dried fruit, and nuts (if using).
  7. Add the broth in stages, allowing the bread to absorb the liquid after each addition.
  8. Transfer the stuffing to a baking pan. Cover pan with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and return pan to the oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes. If you prepared your stuffing the night before Thanksgiving, reheat it before serving until warm in a 325°F oven.

How to Make Gluten-Free Stuffing: Start with Bread

Want to get gluten-free eaters talking? Mention bread. And in gluten-free stuffing, bread plays a pretty crucial role. Yet I don’t want the bread to steal the show. Rather, I like the bread in my stuffing to act as a supporting player. Gluten-free sandwich bread is perfect for the job because, thanks to its mild flavor, it doesn’t mute the flavors of the sausage, vegetables and herbs. Strongly flavored gluten-free breads, especially ones containing bean flours and/or buckwheat flour, often compete for flavor attention in stuffing, sometimes almost overpowering the other ingredients. That said, all gluten-free breads, from store-bought to homemade, multi-grain to white, work well in stuffing. So use a bread you love.

No matter what bread you select, cube and toast it before adding it to the stuffing. Left untoasted, gluten-free bread sort of falls apart, becoming mushy as soon as you add the stock to the recipe. Toasted gluten-free bread, however, behaves almost like wheat-based bread, striking that perfect balance of maintaining some individual cube integrity and slightly melting together—almost like a bread pudding.

To toast bread cubes, simply cut the loaf into thick slices, about a half-inch each, and cut those slices into bite-size cubes. Divide the cubes between two rimmed baking sheets and toast until the cubes are lightly golden brown and completely dry.Moisture is the enemy of bread cubes. If the cubes aren’t completely dry, the bread might get moldy during storage.

To ensure your cubes are dry, break one or two cubes in half. Feel the center. It should be dry, like the surface of a piece of toast. If it’s still damp, return the pan to the oven and toast the cubes a little longer.

And not only does toasting bread affect the texture of the final stuffing, it also affects the flavor. Toasting the bread cubes allows us to get rid of the flavorless moisture the bread contains and then replace that moisture with the flavorful broth we add to the stuffing right before baking.
There’s no need to worry about making your bread cubes the night before (or worse the day of) Thanksgiving. To make your prep easier, toast the bread cubes a few days before Thanksgiving. In fact, I’ve done it up to one week before the big day. Just be sure to allow the bread cubes to cool completely before storing them in a plastic bag.

How to Make Gluten-Free Stuffing: The Vegetables, Sausage, and Other Good Stuff

Time for an honest moment. This recipe isn’t my favorite stuffing recipe. Don’t get me wrong, I love it. Kind of like how I love chocolate cake but if a chocolate chip cookie were available, I’d select the cookie.

You’ll find my absolute favorite stuffing listed in the variations: chicken liver stuffing. Yes, I love chicken liver stuffing. But I know I’m in the minority with my liver-based stuffing love; you should make a stuffing you love, too. Which brings me to vegetables, sausage and other good stuff.

This recipe makes a classic stuffing with sausage and herbs. If you glance at the recipe list and think, “Where are the apples? We always have apples!” or “She’s using sausage? I hate sausage!” Here’s what to do: include ingredients you love. On Thanksgiving your stuffing should taste the way you want it to taste. (Hence my addition of chicken livers.)

How to Make Gluten-Free Stuffing: Broth Makes it Better

Just like selecting a bread you love, use a broth or stock you love. I use store-bought turkey stock. (Gluten often hides in store-bought stocks and broths. Be sure to read labels!) If you prefer homemade stock, use it.

How you add the broth to the stuffing is key. Dumping all the liquid over the bread cubes at once makes the edges of the bread soggy and leaves the center dry. Who wants dry stuffing? To avoid this problem, add the broth in two (or three) additions.

First add two cups of broth to the toasted bread cubes and gently stir the stuffing. After about a minute or so the bread begins to absorb the broth. Once this happens, add an additional cup of stock. Again, allow the bread cubes to absorb all the liquid. Then feel the bread. You want the bread cubes to be damp but not soggy. If the cubes still feel dry, especially in the center, add another cup of stock. The amount of broth needed for the recipe varies from loaf to loaf. Let your bread guide how much stock you add.

Gluten-Free Stuffing Variations: Vegetables and Fruit

Fennel: Add one cup diced fennel. Cook along with the celery.

Leeks: Replace the onions with an equal amount of chopped leeks. (Leeks are milder than onions. If you’d like a more pronounced flavor, increase the amount of leeks to three cups.)

Mushrooms: Slice one pound of mushrooms. Sauté mushrooms in two tablespoons of hot olive oil. Set aside. Add to the stuffing along with the other cooked vegetables.

Apples: Add one cup peeled, diced apples. Cook along with the onions.

Dried Fruit: Add up to 3/4 cup dried fruit, such as dried cranberries, chopped apricots, and chopped figs.

Nuts: Add up to 1/2 cup toasted, chopped nuts, such as walnuts, pecans, or almonds. (Nuts are a common allergen. Before serving, warn guests the stuffing contains nuts.)

Gluten-Free Stuffing Variations: Meat

Sausage: Replace the Italian sausage with another sausage. Chorizo, andouille, or chicken sausage are especially nice.

Chicken Liver: Replace the sausage with ten ounces of chicken liver. Cook the chicken liver in the olive oil, stirring constantly to prevent the liver from sticking to the bottom of the pot.

Ground Beef, Pork, or Veal: Replace the sausage with eight to ten ounces of cooked ground meat.

Bacon: Add four slices of cooked, crumbled bacon. (Or you can omit the sausage if using bacon.) Drain all but two tablespoons of bacon fat from the pot and cook your remaining vegetables in the bacon fat.

Gluten-free stuffing in a blue dish.
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Gluten-Free Stuffing

Classic bread stuffing made gluten-free.
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings 6
Author GlutenFreeBaking.com

Ingredients

  • 1 loaf gluten-free bread cut into bite-size cubes (8-9 cups)
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 4 links sweet Italian sausage, removed from casing and broken into small pieces. (about 10 ounces)
  • 2 cups chopped celery (about 4 large stalks)
  • 2 cups chopped onion (about 1 large onion)
  • 2 tablespoons minced garlic (about four cloves)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground sage
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 4 cups gluten-free turkey, chicken, or vegetable stock, divided (32 ounces; 900 grams)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 325 °F. Divide bread cubes between two large baking sheets. Toast until bread is golden brown and dry, about 30 minutes. Remove pans from oven and allow bread to cool.
  2. Grease a 9x13-inch baking sheet and set aside. Place bread cubes in a large bowl. In a large pot, heat olive oil until shimmering. Add sausage, break apart into small bites with a fork as it cooks. Cook until no pink pieces of sausage remain, about three minutes. Remove the sausage from the oil using a slotted spoon. Place sausage on a plate and set aside.
  3. Add celery. Cook until celery just begins to soften, about two minutes. Stirring frequently. Add onion. Cook for two minutes, continue to stir frequently. Add garlic, herbs, salt, and pepper. Cook until celery and onions are soft and aromatic. Spoon vegetables onto the bread cubes. Add sausage pieces and stir.
  4. Pour about two cups of the broth over the bread. Stir until cubes absorb the broth. This takes a minute. Add an additional cup of broth. Continue to stir until broth is absorbed. If bread seems dry, add final cup of broth. (Bread cubes should be moist but not soggy. It’s okay it the some of the cubes fall apart. This is normal.) Transfer stuffing to prepared pan.
  5. Cover pan with aluminum foil and bake in a 325 °F oven until warm, about 30 minutes. Remove foil and return pan to the oven and bake until golden brown, about five minutes.

 

How to Make Gluten-Free Pie Crust

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Slice of gluten-free pie on a plate.

Pies are great “choose your own adventure” desserts, and you start the adventure by selecting a crust. Today, we’ll talk about traditional pastry-style gluten-free pie crusts and the super easy, crumb crust!

TRADITIONAL GLUTEN-FREE PIE CRUST

When I think of pie, the first crust that comes to mind is a traditional flaky pastry crust. At its heart, this crust is just fat, flour, and liquid. Let’s take a look at each of these components.

THE FLOUR BLEND

Over the years, I’ve experimented with several different flour blends for gluten-free pie crusts. While there are countless blends of flour you can use, I’ve happily settled on a blend of millet, white rice, and sweet rice flours plus a little tapioca starch. I know. It’s three flours and a starch. But it’s worth it, I promise! The millet provides the gluten-free pie crust with flavor, the white rice flour helps hold everything together, our friend sweet rice flour aids in the flakiness, and tapioca starch brings stretch to the party. Woah. That’s a lot, right? It is! By blending these flours you get, dare I say it?, a perfect gluten-free pie crust!

But what if you don’t want to measure out three different flours and a starch? You can use a “cup for cup” flour blend. Each pre-made flour blend works a little differently. Use a blend you already like or bake a test pie to see how it goes. Most gluten-free flour blends will give you a recipe for gluten-free pie crust. If they don’t have a recipe for you, check the ingredients of the flour blend. If it contains a gum, use my recipe starting with the granulated sugar. Simply replace the cup for cup flour for my flours and starches. If the blend doesn’t include gum, add the xanthan gum as directed in the recipe and proceed from there. Easy peasy!

FAT

For a flaky gluten-free pie crust, we need to use a solid fat, like butter, vegetable shortening, or lard. Here’s the thing, there’s no “right” solid fat to use. True story: my mom uses shortening. I prefer butter. And my husband bakes his pies with lard. Each fat brings something different to a pie. Use whichever fat fits your diet and your taste buds!

How Fat Makes Flaky Pie Crusts

Before we talk about different types of fats, let’s talk about what fat does in gluten-free pie crust. When you make a pie crust, you cut cold, solid fat into flour. The flour coats the cold fat. (If you cut fat into flour with your hands, you can feel this happening.) As the pie crust bakes, that fat melts, leaving spaces behind. Those spaces make pie crust flaky. If you use a warm fat or a liquid fat, it blends into the flour, instead of coating it. When the fat is blended into the flour, it’s more like a cookie. The finished texture will be sandy (think shortbread cookies) instead of flaky.

Vegetable Shortening

Makes a really flaky gluten-free pie crust.  Shortening doesn’t have a flavor (unless you buy butter-flavored shortening). This means the flavor of the pie shines. Vegetable shortening, even when cold, remains fairly soft, unlike butter which gets brittle when cold. The texture of vegetable shortening makes it easy to cut into the flour.  In fact, you want to take care not to overwork the fat into the flour. As soon as there are no large pieces of shortening in the flour mixture, stop. You’re done! Even after you chill a vegetable shortening-based pie crust, it remains fairly soft. This is a good thing! Since shortening doesn’t get brittle like butter, a shortening based crust is easy to roll! So if you want a fat that’s easy to work with and makes for a flaky crust, pick vegetable shortening!

Butter

Makes for a really flavorful pie crust. That’s one of the reasons it’s my favorite fat to use. To me, butter=YUM. Unlike vegetable shortening, butter turns brittle when it gets cold. If you try to roll a cold butter-based crust, chances are the pastry will crack and break as you try to roll it. To solve this frustrating problem, let an all-butter crust sit on the counter for about 10 minutes before you roll it out. The butter warms slightly and is easier to roll. Butter also differs from vegetable shortening in the water department. Shortening contains no water; butter contains water, about 19%. For gluten-bakers, this is an issue because water + wheat flour= gluten development. Too much gluten development in a pie crust means a tough crust. We don’t have gluten! (woot!) That means that the additional water won’t turn our crusts tough. Yay! But just because our crust won’t get tough doesnt’ meant that you want to overwork the butter into the flour. Butter has a finicky temperature personality. If it gets too warm, it will melt/blend into the flour. Keep the butter cold when cutting it into the flour and you’re all set!

Lard

Before the advent of vegetable shortening, lard was the fat of choice for pie crusts. It’s easy to understand why! Lard, like vegetable shortening, is easy to work with. It gets cold but not brittle. It also melts at a higher temperature than either butter or vegetable shortening. This means that it keeps those layers of fat and flour separate for a bit longer. During this time, the water in the crust heats up and turns to steam. The steam lifts the layers of fat and flour; then the fat melts, further separating the layers. All of this means you get a really flaky pie crust! Be sure to look for a fresh source for lard. It should not have an “off” or animal aroma. Even today, good lard can be hard to find. If you can’t find a trusted source of fresh lard, use butter or shortening.

XANTHAN GUM

Xanthan gum didn’t make an appearance in my pie crust for a long time. Years ago I tried a crust recipe that contained xanthan gum and it came out gummy. After that I avoided xanthan gum in my crust recipes. The problem with a xanthan gum-free crust is that it was really hard to roll. Jeanne Sauvage, author of Gluten-Free Baking for the Holidays, persuaded me to give xanthan gum another try. I did and haven’t looked back. The xanthan gum adds flexibility to the crust, making it easier to roll and handle.

SALT

Pie crust tastes a little boring. Forgetting the salt makes for a really bland crust!  Since Kosher salt tends to be really coarse, I use table salt for my pie crust recipe.

WATER

Water turns the flour-fat mixture into a dough. As with wheat-based pie crusts, you want to use cold water. Really cold water. This keeps the fat from warming up and melting into the dough. When adding the water, use enough water that the crust holds together but not so much water that the dough becomes wet. An easy way to ensure you don’t add too much water is to add half the water called for in the recipe and stir the dough together with your hands or a wooden spoon. Then add the remaining water, tablespoon by tablespoon, until the dough holds together but isn’t wet.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

Butter cubes being added to food processor.
Food Processors

I love using a food processor to make pie crust. The blades cut the fat into the flour in no time. The only problem with using a food processor is that it’s easy to add too much water to the dough. By the time the food processor blades turn the fat/flour mixture into a dough, it often contains too much water. I think it’s worth the hassle to transfer the dough to a bowl and add the water by hand so you get a feel for the dough and don’t accidentally add too much water.

 
Gluten-free pie crust dough in a purple bowl.
By Hand

If you don’t own a food processor, no problem. Gluten-free pie crust turns out great when made by hand. Simply rub the fat into the dry ingredients using a snapping motion with your fingers. As you work the fat into the flour, lighten the mixture by almost tossing the fat/flour mixture between your hands. Rub the fat into the flour until no large pieces of fat remain. You want the mixture to pass the squeeze test. This means that if you take a fistful of flour in your hand and squeeze, the flour holds together.

If you’re unable to use your hands to cut the fat into the flour, a pastry cutter, or even two knives used in a scissor motion, work well.

CHILL

After making your crust(s), wrap them well in plastic wrap and chill. You want the fat to get cold so it doesn’t melt into the flour when you roll it out. However…I have to mention something. My mom, a master pie baker, doesn’t always chill her dough. I know. I know. Rebel, right? She uses shortening, mixes her pie dough pretty quickly and then rolls it out. Once it’s rolled out, she chills the dough in the pie plate. She finds this saves time and, according to the Mom, it’s a little easier to roll out a just-make pie crust. If you feel confident that your fat hasn’t gotten warm, go ahead and roll out that pie crust. But don’t tell anyone that I said this. Even mentioning rolling out just-made pie dough is heretical in some baking circles.

HOW TO ROLL OUT GLUTEN-FREE PIE CRUST

Since gluten-free crusts lack stretchy gluten, they can sometimes be a pain to roll out. If the crust breaks apart while you roll, stop and check two things. First is the dough too cold? A cold dough, especially dough made with butter, tends to crack and break. Allow your butter-based dough to come to almost room temperature before rolling.

If the dough is at the correct temperature and still breaks, it might be too dry. Thanks to the lack of gluten, a gluten-free pie crust won’t get tough if overmixed. So if the crust feels dry, gather it into a ball, put it back into a mixing bowl and add more water. (Don’t go crazy and add too much water. The dough won’t get tough but the texture will turn from pie crust to cookie dough-like very quickly!)

When the dough is the right texture and temperature, you should be able to roll it around a rolling pin to transfer it to the pie plate. However, I find it a little hard to roll dough around a rolling pin.

To make transferring dough to the pan easy, get out the parchment paper.

First, cut two pieces of parchment paper into 12- by 18-inch pieces. Dust one piece of parchment with rice flour and place the pie dough in the center of the paper. Coat the pastry with a generous dusting of rice flour and cover with another piece of parchment. Roll out the dough and gently peel off the top piece of parchment. Flip a pie plate onto the center of the rolled dough and slide one hand between the bottom piece of parchment and the counter. Place your other hand firmly on the pie plate. Then, in one swift motion, flip the pie plate over. Press the dough into the pan and then, gently and slowly, peel away the parchment. If any of the dough cracks, press it back together with your hands. If you’re making a double crust pie, repeat this step and set aside the second piece of pastry until needed. To top your pie, quickly flip the rolled out crust onto the filled pie. Trim the edges and crimp the two crusts together with your hands or with a fork.

That’s it! Now the hardest part…what are you going to fill that pie crust with?

Slice of gluten-free pie.
4.25 from 4 votes
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Classic Gluten-Free Pie Crust (Single Crust)

This recipe makes one single crust pie shell for a 9-inch pie.
Prep Time 20 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Author GlutenFreeBaking.com

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup millet flour (2 1/4 ounces; 64 grams)
  • 1/2 cup finely ground white rice flour (2 ounces; 54 grams)
  • 1/3 cup sweet rice flour (1 1/3 ounces; 38 grams)
  • 1/3 cup tapioca starch (1 1/3 ounces; 38 grams)
  • 1 teaspoons granulated sugar optional
  • 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, shortening, or lard, cold (1/3 cup; 2 1/2 ounces; 73 grams)
  • 2 to 5 tablespoons cold water (1 to 2 1/2 ounces; 28 to 70 grams)
  • 1/2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar or white vinegar (1/2 ounce; 14 grams)

Instructions

  1. Food Processor Directions: Combine millet flour, white rice flour, sweet rice flour, tapioca starch, xanthan gum, and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to combine. Add butter. Pulse until no large pieces of butter remain. Transfer to a mixing bowl. Stir in half the water. Add remaining water tablespoon by tablespoon until a dough holds together. (go to step three)
  2. To Make By Hand: Whisk together millet flour, white rice flour, sweet rice flour, tapioca starch, granulated sugar, xanthan gum, and salt in a large bowl. Cut in butter using a pastry cutter or with your hands using a snapping motion. Stir in vinegar and 2 tablespoons water. Mix. If dough doesn't hold together, add remaining water, one tablespoon at a time.
  3. Pat dough into a round and wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Chill for 30 minutes or up to 4 days.
  4. When you're ready to make a pie, remove the dough from the refrigerator. If your dough contains butter, allow the dough to sit on the counter for about five minutes. If you try to roll it right out of the refrigerator, the it will crack due to the cold butter. If your dough contains shortening, you can roll it right away.
  5. Place a piece of parchment paper on your counter. Dust it generously with white rice flour. Roll dough out to about 11-inches. Invert a 9-inch pie pan in the center of the dough. Slide your hand under the parchment paper. (Between the parchment and your counter.) Place your other hand on the bottom of the pie plate. In one swift motion, flip the crust and pie plate. Press dough into pan. Slowly pull parchment away from the dough.
  6. Trim edges of the dough with a sharp knife. Chill pie crust for 10 minutes before filling. Use as recipe directs.
  7. If recipe directs to "pre-bake" your crust, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prick dough all over with a fork. Bake until lightly golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Gluten-Free American Chop Suey (aka ‘Goulash’)

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From American Chop Suey to Goulash to Pasta ‘N Beef, this dish is an American Classic! Use gluten-free pasta shells and lean ground beef for an easy and delicious weeknight meal.

Gluten-Free Goulash in a pan. Topped with melted cheese and sauce.

Gluten-Free Goulash (aka Gluten-Free American Chop Suey)

Years ago when I mentioned to my husband that I planned to make goulash for dinner, he thought I was making stew. Instead, I put a very American casserole on the table. The conversation that followed went something like this:

“What’s this?”

“It’s goulash.”

“No…no, it isn’t. It’s like a homemade version of, I don’t know, Hamburger Helper.”

Ah, culinary misunderstandings. As long as they don’t involve an allergen that could kill me, they’re usually funny and often enlightening. In the case of our goulash misunderstanding, Greg assumed I would be making the classic Hungarian stew and had never heard the macaroni and beef casserole I made referred to as goulash. I’m still not sure why the pasta and beef casserole I made is referred to as goulash. At first I thought it was a regional reference; however, I’ve met people from all over the country that call this casserole goulash.

Then I wrote about the recipe for my SeriousEats.com column. In the comments, people told me that they know this dish as “American Chop Suey.” Others know it as, “Johnny Marzetti” and one person mentioned the name, “Slumgum.” I have to admit, slumgum was a new one to me!

No matter what you call it, this is a recipe for easy comfort food. Simply combine cooked gluten-free pasta (I like to use elbow macaroni but anything works) with cooked ground beef and tomato sauce. Top the whole thing with a little grated cheddar and in about 20 minutes, dinner is ready.

One little warning for the recipe, don’t overcook the pasta. Gluten-free pasta turns mushy when overcooked. To avoid this, check the pasta while it cooks. You want it to be a bit firm when you add it to the sauce. It finishes cooking in the oven. And, like most pasta dishes, this recipe welcomes creativity. Add some additional chopped vegetables and cook them along with the onions and garlic or swap the Cheddar for a different cheese. However you make it, you’ll end up with a casserole that’s delicious but definitely not a stew. Just ask my husband.

Gluten-Free Goulash in pan.
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Gluten-Free American Chop Suey (aka Goulash)

This dish goes by many different names, Goulash, American Chop Suey, and more! No matter what you call it, this simple combination of macaroni, tomato sauce, and ground beef is delicious.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings 4 -5
Author GlutenFreeBaking.com

Ingredients

  • Nonstick cooking spray
  • Salt
  • 1 pound gluten-free elbow macaroni
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped
  • 1 pound 93% extra-lean ground beef
  • 1 clove garlic, minced or put through a garlic press
  • 1 (28 ounce) can tomato sauce (I used Hunt's tomato sauce.)
  • 6 ounces cheddar cheese, grated (about 1 1/2 cups)

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Lightly spray a 13 by 9-inch baking dish (or a large oven-proof dish) with nonstick cooking spray.
  2. Fill a large pot three-quarters full with water. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Set a colander in the sink for draining the pasta. When the water reaches a boil, add 1 tablespoon salt and the pasta. Stir with a wooden spoon for about 30 seconds, then stir occasionally while the pasta cooks.
  3. In a large nonstick frying pan, heat the oil over high heat until hot and shimmering but not smoking. Add the onion. Cook, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon, until the onion is soft, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until soft and aromatic.
  4. Add the ground beef and cook, breaking up the clumps with a wooden spoon or heatproof spatula, until thoroughly cooked and browned, about four minutes. If desired, remove and discard any excess fat.
  5. Stir three-quarters of the tomato sauce into the beef. Lower the heat to low. (This is a good time to check the pasta if you haven’t already.)
  6. After about 10 minutes of boiling, check the pasta for doneness. Drain the pasta in the colander and return it to the cooking pot.
  7. Add the meat sauce to the pasta and stir with a wooden spoon to combine. Pour into the prepared baking dish. Top with the remaining tomato sauce and sprinkle evenly with the cheese.
  8. Bake until the cheese is golden brown and the sauce is bubbling, about 15 minutes.

Sweet Potato Casserole Waffles

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Sweet Potato Casserole Waffles with mini marshmallows and syrup on a plate.

With all the turkey and side dish talk around Thanksgiving, breakfast often gets overlooked. Yet with a house full of guests on a holiday weekend, it’s fun to serve something special for breakfast.

In addition to eggs and bacon, I like to whip up a batch of these sweet potato and corn waffles the day after Thanksgiving. The flavorful waffles echo the traditional flavors of Thanksgiving without tasting like leftovers. (Enough leftover-munching happens throughout the day!)

For even easier waffle-making, mix up the dry ingredients a few days before guests arrive. Then on Thanksgiving, roast a few extra sweet potatoes. This way, when you’re ready to make waffles, you only need to add milk, eggs, and oil. And if you don’t like sweet potatoes or don’t have extra on hand, replace them with canned pumpkin.

You can even toss some mini-marshmallows on top of the waffles right before serving. It’s a fun take on the classic sweet potato casserole, a dish that never finds its way onto my Thanksgiving table.

 

Sweet Potato Casserole Waffles with mini marshmallows and syrup on a plate.
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Sweet Potato Casserole Waffles

Sweet potato note: For the sweet potato puree, roast one large sweet potato in its skin in a 350°F oven. Allow to cool. Cut and remove flesh. Stir with a fork until smooth. Pumpkin alternative: If you don't want to roast sweet potatoes, replace the one cup of sweet potato puree with one cup of canned pumpkin filling.
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 8 minutes
Total Time 28 minutes
Servings 4
Author GlutenFreeBaking.com

Ingredients

  • 1 cup gluten-free corn flour (5 ounces; 142 grams)
  • 1/2 cup sorghum flour (2 1/2 ounces; 70 grams)
  • 1/2 cup cornstarch (2 ounces; 56 grams)
  • 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar (1 ounce; 26 grams)
  • 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
  • 1 1/4 cups milk or dairy-free milk replacement (10 ounces; 283 grams)
  • 1 cup sweet potato puree see note above
  • 2 large eggs (about 3 1/2 ounces; 100 grams)
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil (1 3/4 ounces; 50 grams)
  • maple syrup butter, and marshmallows for serving, optional

Instructions

  1. Preheat waffle iron and lightly grease with non-stick cooking spray. In large mixing bowl, whisk together cornflour, sorghum flour, cornstarch, dark brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, salt, and xanthan gum. In medium mixing bowl, whisk together milk, sweet potato puree, eggs, and vegetable oil until smooth.
  2. Pour wet ingredients over dry ingredients, whisk until smooth. You can use a handheld (balloon) whisk for this or an electric mixer. Ladle batter into preheated waffle iron according to manufacturer's instructions. Cook waffles until crisp. Hold finished waffles in a warm oven while you cook remaining batches.

 

Pre-Order the World’s Easiest Paleo Baking Book and Get a FREE Bonus Chapter!

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World's Easiest Paleo Baking Book cover.
This post contains affiliate links. If you use the links to purchase a book, GlutenFreeBaking.com earns a commission.

Eeeeep! Hey guys!  I’m so excited/proud/nervous to share today’s news with you! If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you know that my third cookbook comes out soon.

How soon, Elizabeth? 

Thanks for asking! The World’s Easiest Paleo Baking arrives on January 7, 2016.  That’s…(counts on fingers)….two short months from now! (Two?!?! gulp I can’t believe it!)

Right now, you can pre-order the book from your favorite bookseller. If you place a pre-order, I’ll send you a FREE bonus chapter as a thank you! Included in the bonus chapter are copycat recipes for all your favorite classic treats — all made grain-free and dairy-free, of course!

Recipes Included in the Bonus Chapter

Paleo cream cake, doughnuts, cupcakes, and sandwich cookies.
photographs copyright 2015 Elizabeth Barbone
  • Hostess® Powdered Donettes®
  • Entenmanns® Blueberry Little Bites
  • Hostess® Twinkies®
  • Hostess® Chocolate CupCakes
  • Pepperidge Farm® Milano® Cookies
  • Thin Mints® Girl Scout Cookies
  • Almond Joy®/Mounds Bars®
  • York® Peppermint Patty
  • Marshmallow Fluff®
  • Starbucks™ Frappuccino®

Yup! You can make all of those classic treats without grains or dairy! Can you believe it?!

How to get your FREE “Copycat Classics” Chapter! 

  1. Preorder a copy of The World’s Easiest Paleo Baking from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or your favorite local bookseller!
  2. Send a copy of your invoice to PaleoPreOrder@glutenfreebaking.com (Already pre-ordered? No problem! Just forward the invoice to me.)
  3. Wait. I need to confirm your pre-order. This can take up to 48 hours. (I have to check each order. And I work alone!)
  4. Download. After confirming your order, I’ll send you the FREE chapter. It’s a PDF file. (Note: this chapter will not appear in the book. It’s only available electronically.)
  5. Enjoy! Bake your way through the chapter while you wait for your shiny, new copy of the World’s Easiest Paleo Baking Book to arrive on January 7!

As you can guess, cookbooks are a ton of work. A ton. This book really stretched me. Not only did I write an entire baking book without using a single grain or speck of dairy, I took all the photos! Developing recipes and taking photos meant I spent several months tired all the time. 🙂  To make the project even more…interesting (let’s go with interesting) my beloved editor left about a week after I turned in my manuscript. I promise that it wasn’t the manuscript! She went on to another awesome job and I’m happy for her. She was such a champion of this book that it was tough to finish the project without her–even though my new editor is AMAZING.

So, yeah. This book = huge personal growth for me.

And now comes the best part, I get to share it with you!

Here’s just a little of what you’ll find in the World’s Easiest Paleo Baking Book

Paleo bagels, pumpkin pie, birthday cake slice, and chocolate chip cookies.
photographs copyright 2015 Elizabeth Barbone
  • My heart. Seriously. I feel like I stitched part of my baker’s soul into the pages of this book.
  • 90+ grain-free/dairy-free recipes. You get recipes for bagels (Yup! Paleo bagels!), celebration cakes, roll-out cookies, pizza, and much, much more!
  • Photos of each recipe. I love cookbooks that are loaded with photos. You’ll find a photo for each recipe in the book. Woot!
  • Easy recipes. These recipes are ridiculously easy. Got a wooden spoon, mixing bowl, and an oven? You can make most of the recipes! They’re that easy!

Over the next few weeks, I’ll share more about the book. Let me know if you have any questions! I’m happy to answer. Thanks for your support. I appreciate you!

Love,
Elizabeth

PS: Whatcha waitin’ for? Go pre-order so I can send you free recipes! 😉

PPS–The Technical Stuff:

  • The bonus chapter is available only as an electronic PDF file. You will NOT receive a printed version of this chapter.
  • Links included in this post are affiliate links. You click on it, I make a few cents to support the site. (Thank you!)
  • Pre-Order Chapter available only until 1/6/2016.
  • If you’ve read this far, thank you! I’d love it if you helped spread the word about the new book. Please consider sharing this post with your friends!

 

 

 

 

 

How to Make Gluten-Free Green Bean Casserole

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Gluten-free green bean casserole in a white dish.

 

A few years ago, when one of my readers asked me to create a gluten-free green bean casserole, I was excited. Until then, I had never eaten the classic Thanksgiving side. After perfecting the recipe, a funny thing happened: several of my friends revealed themselves to be secret green bean casserole lovers. Now I make this for Thanksgiving every year.

 

Canning the Cans

Created by Campbell’s in 1955, the original recipe uses canned green beans and canned cream of mushroom soup. While de-glutening the recipe, I replaced the canned green beans with frozen because I prefer the texture. (And if fresh green beans had looked good at the market, I would have used those. That said, if you love canned green beans in this dish because that’s how you’ve always made it, use them!)

To make Thanksgiving prep a little easier, you can make the casserole the night before. (Don’t top it with the fried onions the night before or they’ll get soggy.) About 30 minutes before you are ready to serve, heat the casserole in the oven and then top with the freshly fried onions.

 

Chopped onions on cutting board.

What’s green bean casserole without fried onions??? Unlike making batter-dipped onion rings (the kind you’d find on bar menus or frozen), these fried onions are thin strips. To do this, cut your onion in half and then cut each half into strips. Using your fingers, “break” apart the onion slices.

Frying onions for gluten-free green bean casserole.

 

After dusting the onion strips with the flour mixture, drop them into hot oil. You’ll need to divide the onions into batches. If you fry too many onions at one time, the temperature of the oil will drop, making for greasy onion strips. Usually four to five batches of onion strips are best. As you can see, I don’t use a deep fryer. I cast iron skillet is perfect for this job.

 

Fried onions for green bean casserole topping.
The finished onion pieces should be golden brown and crisp. (I am so glad you can’t hear the sound of my nibbling on the other side of the screen. These babies are addictive!)

 

Chopped mushrooms on a white cutting board.

For the mushroom sauce, chop the mushrooms into small, bite-size pieces. These pieces don’t need to be perfect–at all! As you’ll see, the mushrooms get very small and soft.

 

Cooking onion in a pan.

More onions (and garlic too)! Begin the white sauce by sweating onions and garlic together until soft.

Cooking chopped mushrooms for green bean casserole.

Once the onions are soft and aromatic, add the mushrooms. Cook until soft.

White Sauce for gluten-free green bean casserole.

Add the milk and bring to a boil. This is important. Cornstarch needs to come to a boil to fully thicken. If you don’t boil the milk, your casserole will be thin.

Green bean casserole filling in pot.

Add the green beans and spoon the entire mixture into a casserole dish.

Green bean casserole in white dish.

Top with fried onions and cheese. (I snapped this picture before I added the final addition of cheese. Sorry!)

Baked gluten-free green bean casserole in a white dish.

Bake and you’re done!

Chopped onions on cutting board.
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Gluten-Free Green Bean Casserole

Consider doubling the onion part of the recipe if you like to munch on fried onions.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Servings 6
Author GlutenFreeBaking.com

Ingredients

For the Fried Onions

  • 3 tablespoons cornstarch (3/4 ounce; 22 grams)
  • 3 tablespoons white rice flour (3/4 ounce; 22 grams)
  • 1 medium onion sliced into thin strips
  • Vegetable oil for frying

For the Casserole

  • Salt to taste (optional)
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
  • 1 small onion, finely diced
  • 8 ounces white button mushrooms, finely chopped (approximately 3 cups)
  • 1 clove garlic, minced or put through a garlic press
  • 2 cups milk, divided (16 ounces; 453 grams)
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch (1/2 ounce; 14 grams)
  • 1 (16-ounce) bag frozen French-cut green beans, thawed and drained or 16-ounces fresh green beans, cleaned, trimmed, and cooked until tender
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground thyme
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided (3/4 ounce; 22 grams)

Instructions

  1. For the Onions: In a large zip-close bag, combine cornstarch and white rice flour. Add onions and shake bag to combine. Remove onions from bag; shake off any excess flour.
  2. Fill a large heavy-bottomed skillet (cast iron works best) with 1/2 inch of vegetable oil. Heat oil over medium-high heat until hot and shimmering. (To test your oil, drop one onion slice into it. The onion should sizzle when it hits the oil. If it doesn't, the oil is not hot enough.) Fry a handful of onions, about 4- 5 batches, until golden brown and crispy. (Don't crowd the pan while frying.
  3. Remove onions from oil using a slotted spoon. Place on paper towel-lined plate to drain. If desired, season with salt to taste. Repeat with remaining onions.
  4. For the casserole: Preheat oven to 350ºF. In a medium saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high until shimmering. Add onion and garlic. Sauté until soft, stirring frequently. Add mushrooms and remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Cook until mushrooms are soft and tender, stirring frequently, about three minutes.
  5. Add 1 3/4 cups of milk and thyme. Bring to a boil. Once the mixture boils, combine remaining 1/4 cup of milk and two tablespoons cornstarch. Stir vigorously with a fork to combine milk and cornstarch. Quickly whisk in cornstarch. Allow to boil for 45 seconds. Remove from heat. Reduce heat to low. Allow to simmer for three minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.
  6. Add green beans, stir to combine. Pour into a 1 1/2-quart casserole dish. Top with half the grated Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil. Bake for 30 minutes.
  7. Remove foil. Sprinkle fried onions and remaining cheese over the top of casserole. Return to oven until bubbling and lightly golden brown, about seven minutes.

 

Sweet Potato Cheesecake Bars

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Sweet Potato Cheesecake Bars on a white platter.

I love cheesecake but a slice of it, even a slender slice, feels like too much richness after the Thanksgiving meal—especially if I have my eye on a slice of pie. (You have to love a holiday where eating multiple desserts is acceptable and, in some families, encouraged!)

My solution to this “problem”? Cheesecake bars! This way I can enjoy a little taste of cheesecake without feeling as stuffed as the turkey.

Sitting atop a crumb crust, these bars contain equal parts cream cheese and sweet potato puree. The combination makes a smooth and velvety cheesecake with a pronounced, but not overpowering, sweet potato flavor.

You can have fun playing with this recipe, and I’ve included a list of variations below. No matter how you make these bars, they taste best the day after baking. So prepare them the day before the big meal.

Variations

Pecan Sweet Potato Bars. Replace half the ground cookie crumbs with toasted, ground pecans.
Ginger Sweet Potato Bars. Add two tablespoons finely chopped crystallized ginger to the filling.
Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars. Replace sweet potato puree with canned or homemade pumpkin puree.
Coconut-Sweet Potato Bars. Add 1/2 cup flaked coconut to the crust.
Dairy-Free Sweet Potato Bars. Replace the cream cheese with a dairy-free cream.
cheese in the filling. Replace the butter with a dairy-free substitute in the crust.
Reduced-Fat Sweet Potato Bars. Replace the cream cheese with reduced-fat cream cheese.

Sweet Potato Cheesecake Bars on a white platter.
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Gluten-Free Sweet Potato Cheesecake Bars

Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings 16
Author GlutenFreeBaking.com

Ingredients

For the Filling

  • 2 medium about 2 medium sweet potatoes, skin on, washed and scrubbed (about 18 ounces; 510 grams)
  • 16 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 3/4 cup dark brown sugar (5 1/2 ounces; 155 grams)
  • 2 large eggs (about 3 1/2 ounces; 100 grams out of shell)
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the Crust

  • 2 cups gluten-free cookie crumbs (vanilla, graham cracker or gingersnaps all work well.) (8 ounces; 226 grams)
  • 3 tablespoons granulated sugar (3/4 ounces; 22 grams)
  • 6 tablespoons butter, melted (3 ounces; 85 grams)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Pierce sweet potatoes several times with a knife. Roast until flesh yields easily to a knife inserted into the center of the potato. Baking time will vary. Check potatoes after 50 minutes. Reduce oven to 350°F
  2. Remove sweet potatoes from oven and allow to cool. (Potatoes can be roasted the day before you need them. Store cooled, roasted potatoes in the refrigerator.)
  3. Spoon sweet potato flesh into the bowl of a food processor. Discard
  4. potato skins. Process until smooth. Measure 16 ounces (1 3/4 cups) of sweet potato puree into a small bowl. Set aside.
  5. Prepare the crust. In a small bowl, combine cookie crumbs, granulated sugar, and butter. Stir with a fork to combine. Press mixture firmly into the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish.
  6. Bake crust until golden brown. Remove pan from oven and place on a wire rack. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F.
  7. Prepare the filling. In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese and dark brown sugar. Cream until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time. Blend well between each addition. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
  8. Add sweet potato puree, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and vanilla extract. Blend until smooth. Filling will be thick. Spread filling evenly over prepared crust.
  9. Bake cheesecake for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Filling should be set and not jiggle. Remove pan from oven. Place on a wire rack to cool. Once cooled, cover with plastic wrap and chill overnight. Cut into squares.