Posted by Bryna Bear aka Gluten Free Baking Bear
These cookies are tender, delicious and they just melt in your mouth. They can be made Dairy Free or Vegan
with delightful results. I adapted this recipe from a regular wheat version
that I have used for over thirty years.
I have also seen the same recipe called Mexican Wedding Cakes and Snow
Balls.
I usually make these at Christmas time; it is one of the many cookies I make
during the holidays to enjoy with cocoa and to give as gifts. I make these occasionally during the
year at my wife’s request. She
does not have a sweet tooth, but cannot resist these cookies.
GLUTEN FREE
RUSSIAN TEA CAKES
Makes about 30.
Makes about 30.
Ingredients
1 cup
|
Unsalted Butter (soft).
For Dairy Free or Vegan use ½ cup Vegan Margarine (such as
Earth Balance Buttery Spread) and ½ cup of plain Shortening (that is not
hydrogenated such as Spectrum Shortening)
and omit
salt
in recipe.
|
½ cup
|
Sifted Powdered Sugar (I use organic unrefined confectioner's sugar so it
has a more natural sweetness)
|
1 tsp.
|
Vanilla
|
1 ¼ cup
|
Sorghum Flour
|
½ cup
|
Tapioca Flour
|
½ cup
|
Chickpea or Chickpea/Fava Flour
|
½ tsp.
|
Xanthan or Guar Gum
|
¼ tsp.
|
Salt
|
¾ cup
|
Walnuts - finely chopped
|
2 cup
|
Sifted Powdered Sugar to roll baked cookies in
|
Directions
In a large bowl add Butter and ½ cup of Powdered Sugar and
mix well.
Add Vanilla and Salt and blend well.
Add Flours and Xanthan or Guar gum and mix until well
blended.
Mix in nuts.
Roll into 1” balls. I use a small scoop that measures 1" across to measure out equal sized portions and then roll them into balls. Place balls on tray and refrigerate for 3-4 hours. If you are short on time you can put them in the freezer for an hour or so until they are cold and very firm.
When ready to bake cookies:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Place balls of dough 2” apart on a baking sheet lined with
parchment paper or silpat.
Bake 10-12 minutes until set, but not brown.
Wait 5-7 minutes to let the cookies cool a bit. Hot cookies will break apart if touched or moved. While cookies are still warm sift powdered sugar over them. Then gently pick them up and move them on top of some of the sifted sugar on the pan so that the bottoms gets coated too. Place on a rack to cool completely.
These will keep well in wax paper lined tins for about a
month (if there are any left). I
have frozen the baked cookies and thawed them when ready to eat them. They were just as good as when fresh
baked. I have also frozen the
dough balls in a plastic bag and baked them fresh at a later time when I wanted to have them.
I made these and they are flat. Ever happen to you. They taste great! I wonder if it's from the coconut butter.
ReplyDeleteHi Katie,
ReplyDeleteThank you for trying my recipe and for taking the time to write a comment.
I don't usually get really flat cookies. It may be that the type of fat I use has more of a firm texture than coconut butter.
The cookies might hold their shape better with coconut butter if you freeze the balls of dough and then bake them while still frozen.
I recently tried a new vegan shortening by Spectrum that is "butter" flavored. It adds great flavor to baked goods. Maybe using some of this with the coconut butter might help to keep the cookie's shape.