Gluten Free Oatmeal and Quinoa Cookies

The cookies!

My first attempt at baking with gluten free flours was a success! I made these delicious cookies that I took to work and everyone loved (they didn't know they weren't from regular baking practices until after they ate them). I made a box of cookies for my partner and his parents (who are going gluten free as well) and a bag for my freezer, so I can have a cookie whenever I want.

I put a lot of extra things into these cookies. Instead of just using raisins, I used goji berries and chai seeds as well.

Try the recipe out and let me know how it goes. I got the recipe from Wheat Free Mom and made a few adjustments. I also made the cookies quite large so they could be soft in the middle and chewy around the edges.

Recipe:

3 cups of oats (make sure they are wheat free)
1 1/2 cups quinoa flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda (make sure it's aluminum free)
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup softened unsalted butter
2 large eggs
1 cup raisins
1/4 cup goji berries
1/4 cup chia seeds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Measure the oats, quinoa flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg into a bowl. In a separate bowl, beat the butter until light and fluffy about two minutes, add both sugars and beat for about two minutes more.

Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well. Add the oat mixture to the butter mixture and blend until a soft dough forms. Stir in the raisins, etc.


Use a large ice cream scoop to get equal sized cookies. Place cookie dough balls on cookie sheet. Press down with wet hands. Bake 10 minutes.


Cool for a couple of minutes on the pan then transfer to a cooling rack.


Enjoy!

Candy Corn Shortbread

These Halloween shortbread are one of my favourite things to make. I came across the recipe three years ago and have made it every year since. They are light, crisp and buttery. They are perfect to take to work, school or have with tea.

The simple recipe and photo sequence follows

1 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup icing sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
Yellow and orange gel food colouring

In a bowl with a mixer beat butter until fluffy (almost white). Add icing sugar and beat until combined. Stir in flour until smooth, flip out onto a clean surface and kneed with hands until all of the dough sticks together. Cut dough in half. Divide one half into one thirds and two thirds.

Set aside the smallest part of the dough. Tint the largest portion yellow and the other orange. Divide each piece into half. Create a 8.5 inch log with each piece. Place each colour on top of each other to form the candy corn. Wrap each log with plastic wrap and press all of the logs together making a triangle or candy corn shape. Repeat with remaining logs. Put into fridge for 2 - 48 hours. Slice logs into 1/4 inch individual cookies. Bake at 325 degrees for 15 - 20 minutes or until the cookies slightly brown. Makes around 50 cookies.

beating the butter

dough before it's kneaded

splitting dough into proportions

food colours

Coloured dough

stacking logs

wrapping and forming into shape

sliced cookies

baked cookies aka candy corn

Enjoy!

Toronto Bakes for Japan was a success!

Wow, thanks so much Toronto for coming out and supporting Toronto Bakes for Japan.  They raised over their $10,000 goal.  Toronto Bakes for Japan made over half of it on Saturday at Brickworks Farmers Market and the rest on Sunday at Liberty Noodle, The Rivoli, Cafe Diplomatico and Cafe Amaranto.

There was so many awesome baked goods, from butter tarts to brownies, savoury tarts and biscuits, cookies and of course cupcakes.

Here's a little round up of the goodies.

Little Purse cakes from Sweet Things TO

More Sweet Things TO

And More

Bunny Sugar Cookies

Savoury cookies from Fashion Food

Hundreds of Cupcakes from Shastacake

Hello Kitty sugar cookies from my new friend Sam

Gluten Free Macarons

Cake Pops from the  Cake Pop Shoppe

Sushi cake from Alice's Cakes

Tons of other great stuff, of course what I brought.  I made butter tarts, rocky road brownie cupcakes and Hello Kitty and Japan chocolate fudge cupcakes with buttercream icing.

Brownie cupcakes and butter tarts (in the back)

Thanks Toronto,

Peanut Butter, Chocolate chip, Peanut Butter Chip and Reece's Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Cookieeeeees, I love cookies especially when they are gooey inside.  These cookies are the holy grail of peanut butter and chocolate.  They have everything a peanut butter lover needs to satisfy that need.  

Right now Reece's has a limited edition peanut butter cup bar out that is double the weight of the regular three cups.  I have grown to love this bar as I was hard as a die hard fan to wrap my head around not eating the chocolate cups.

I found this recipe from allrecipes.com and made a couple of adjustments to suit my needs.  By the way this recipe makes about three dozen cookies; I made two dozen then froze the rest of the batter.

Recipe:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup peanut butter chips
• 6 chocolate covered peanut butter cups or two bars, cut into chunks

Cream the butter and sugars together.  Add eggs one at a time and add the vanilla. Combine the flour and baking soda and add to the butter mixture.  Add the chips and chunks to the mixture and incorporate with a spatula.

Bake at 350 for around eight minutes, the cookies will look underdone but will crisp up out of the oven.  Keep on the baking sheet for a couple of minutes before moving them to the cooling racks.

We ate them too fast for me to take pictures of the final product but here are some while I was making them.  Try them for yourself, they are worth every ounce of butter.  

All of the mix-ins

dough...mmm!