THE BEST GLUTEN FREE OATMEAL COOKIES - EASILY MADE VEGAN OR DAIRY FREE

Posted by Bryna Bear aka Gluten Free Baking Bear

     These Oatmeal Cookies are the best I’ve ever had.  Texture wise, they are a perfect balance between crispy and soft.  Flavor wise, they are irresistible. These cookies are easy to make and toddler approved.  I made them vegan so my son could eat them.  I can only imagine that they would taste even better made with butter and eggs.

     I converted a recipe that I found on line into a GF version, I also decreased the sugar a bit.  I used the quick oats instead of the old fashioned ones.  I find the GF Bob’s Red Mill brand of old fashioned oats (which is easily available where I live) to be rolled too thickly.  I love the taste of oats, but when they are rolled  very thick the oats do not cook enough in the allotted time of the recipe.  Then I feel the not quite cooked enough toughness of each individual rolled oat which detracts from my oatmeal cake and cookie eating experience, so I use the quick oats. I remember old fashioned oats as being rolled thinner and having a soft and undetectable texture wise when eating them in baked goods.  I just bought some Trader Joe’s GF Old Fashioned Oats.  I will see if these work better in baking.

     It is important to soak the raisins before baking with them so that they stay soft and moist after being baked.  I scooped out the batter and then flattened each scoop of dough with a fork, like you would with peanut butter cookies.

     I hope that you enjoy these wonderful cookies!

  THE BEST GLUTEN FREE OATMEAL COOKIES

Makes about 2 dozen cookies

INGREDIENTS 

½ cup	Raisins - unsulphured
¾ cup	Sorghum Flour
¼ cup	Tapioca Flour
2 Tbs.	Chickpea Flour
2 Tbs.	Coconut Flour (or chickpea flour)
½ tsp.	Xanthan Gum
½ tsp.	Himalayan Sea Salt
1 tsp.	Baking Soda
½ tsp.	Cinnamon
½ cup	Unsalted Butter For Dairy Free or Vegan use 4 Tbs. of Non-Hydrogenated Shortening (I used Spectrum) & 4 Tbs. of DF/Vegan Stick Margarine (I used Earthbalance)
6 Tbs.	Brown Sugar (I used organic)
6 Tbs.	Sugar (I used evaporated cane juice crystals.)
1 large + ¼ cup	Egg + Water ( 1 large egg + ¼ cup Water) Egg Free/Vegan - Combine 1  ½ Tbs. ground flax seed + 4 ½ Tbs. water and let sit a few minutes until it thickens.
1 tsp.	Vanilla Extract (When not using butter I use ½ tsp. Vanilla Extract + ½ tsp. Butter Vanilla Emulsion by LorAnn.)
1 cup	Oats - I used quick cooking oats.
6 Tbs.	Chopped Pecans or Walnuts (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1)    Preheat the oven to 350℉.  Prepare baking sheets by lining them with parchment paper or silpat liners.  Set aside.

2)    In a small bowl add raisins and cover with boiling water.  Set aside.

3)    In a medium bowl add the flours, bakings soda, salt, cinnamon and xanthan gum.  Mix well with a whisk and set aside.

4)    In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the sugars and butter or margarine/shortening until light.

5)    Add the eggs+water (or flax eggs) and vanilla and mix well.

6)    Add the flour mixture and combine well.

7)    Drain the excess water from the raisins and add the raisins to the dough.  Add the nuts and oats also.  Mix by hand until combined well.

Cookie Dough, ready to bake.

8)    Scoop out the dough by heaping teaspoons onto the prepared baking sheets.  Leave about 2” of space between cookies.

Dough scooped out in mounds onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet.

9)    With a fork, flatten the mounds of dough into rounds.

Mounds of dough after being flattened with a fork.

10) Bake for 10-12 minutes until lightly browned.

Bottoms of baked cookies.

THE BEST GLUTEN FREE OATMEAL COOKIES Makes about 2 dozen cookies GlutenFreeBakingBear.com INGREDIENTS ½ cup Raisins - unsulphured ¾ cup Sorghum Flour ¼ cup Tapioca Flour 2 Tbs. Chickpea Flour 2 Tbs. Coconut Flour (or chickpea flour) ½ tsp. Xanthan Gum ½ tsp. Himalayan Sea Salt 1 tsp. Baking Soda ½ tsp. Cinnamon ½ cup Unsalted Butter For Dairy Free or Vegan use 4 Tbs. of Non-Hydrogenated Shortening (I used Spectrum) & 4 Tbs. of DF/Vegan Stick Margarine (I used Earthbalance) 6 Tbs. Brown Sugar (I used organic) 6 Tbs. Sugar (I used evaporated cane juice crystals.) 1 large + ¼ cup Egg + Water ( 1 large egg + ¼ cup Water) Egg Free/Vegan - Combine 1 ½ Tbs. ground flax seed + 4 ½ Tbs. water and let sit a few minutes until it thickens. 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract (When not using butter I use ½ tsp. Vanilla Extract + ½ tsp. Butter Vanilla Emulsion by LorAnn.) 1 cup Oats - I used quick cooking oats. 6 Tbs. Chopped Pecans or Walnuts (optional) DIRECTIONS 1) Preheat the oven to 350℉. Prepare baking sheets by lining them with parchment paper or silpat liners. Set aside. 2) In a small bowl add raisins and cover with boiling water. Set aside. 3) In a medium bowl add the flours, bakings soda, salt, cinnamon and xanthan gum. Mix well with a whisk and set aside. 4) In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the sugars and butter or margarine/shortening until light. 5) Add the eggs+water (or flax eggs) and vanilla and mix well. 6) Add the flour mixture and combine well. 7) Drain the excess water from the raisins and add the raisins to the dough. Add the nuts and oats also. Mix by hand until combined well. 8) Scoop out the dough by heaping teaspoons onto the prepared baking sheets. Leave about 2” of space between cookies. 9) With a fork, flatten the mounds of dough into rounds. 10) Bake for 10-12 minutes until lightly browned.

GLUTEN FREE SOUR CREAM POUND CAKE

Posted by Bryna Bear aka Gluten Free Baking Bear

     This recipe makes a delicious cake with a great texture that no one will know is gluten free. The pound cake is delightful plain, but is just about perfect with vanilla ice cream and strawberry sauce!  It is exactly as I remember pound cake to be.

     I decided to use a vanilla bean instead of vanilla extract to enhance the flavor of the cake.  In some recipes it doesn’t make much difference which you use, but you can taste the vanilla in this basic cake and it is so good.  Even though I am a chocoholic, I did not even want to use chocolate sauce with this.  I did not want anything to  interfere with my ability to savor the wonderful vanilla flavor of the cake.  Strawberry sauce and vanilla ice cream does not hide the vanilla cake, it kicks it up a notch.

     GLUTEN FREE SOUR CREAM POUND CAKE

INGREDIENTS

¾ cup	Sorghum Flour
5 Tbs.	Tapioca Flour
5 Tbs.	Chickpea Flour
2 Tbs.	Coconut Flour
¾ tsp.	Xanthan Gum
¼ tsp.	Baking Soda
½ tsp.	Sea Salt
½ cup/1 stick	Unsalted Butter
1 cup	Sugar
3 large	Eggs
1 whole	Vanilla Bean - cut open and use only the seeds scraped from inside. (or 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract)
½ cup/4 oz.	Sour Cream

    

DIRECTIONS

1)     Preheat oven to 350℉.  Prepare a 9 x 5 loaf pan by lightly greasing it with butter and then lining it with parchment paper. Have a baking sheet on hand also (the loaf will bake on the baking sheet to keep the bottom from browning too much).  Set aside.

Loaf pan greased and lined with parchment paper.

2)     In a small bowl add all the flours, xanthan gum, baking soda and salt.  Whisk together until well mixed.  Set aside.

Dry ingredients.

3)    In the bowl of a stand mixer or a large bowl, add the sugar and butter and cream together until pale and fluffy.

Butter & sugar creamed together until pale.

4)    Add the eggs, one at a time, beating in well after each addition. Add the vanilla and mix.

Batter after mixing in the first egg.

Batter after all the eggs are mixed in with the vanilla bean seeds ready to mix in.

5)    Add half of the flour and mix in.

Half the flour ready to be mixed into the batter.

6)    Add all of the sour cream and mix in.

The sour cream ready to be mixed in.

7)    Add the remaining flour and mix in by hand until well blended.

The batter after all the ingredients are mixed in.

8)    Spoon batter into the prepared pan.

Raw batter in the prepared pan.

9)    Place the loaf pan on top of a baking sheet and put in the center of the preheated oven. Bake for 45-60 minutes.  The cake is done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or when the center springs back when lightly pressed with a finger. (It took 45 minutes in my oven.)  If the cake starts to brown too much, cover loosely with foil for the rest of the baking time.  For more even baking, turn the cake around half way through the baking time. 

10) Cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then use the parchment paper to lift the cake onto a rack to cool completely.  I left the paper under the cake while cooling on the rack to prevent rack marks on the bottom.

Baked pound cake cooling on a rack.

GLUTEN FREE SOUR CREAM POUND CAKE INGREDIENTS ¾ cup Sorghum Flour 5 Tbs. Tapioca Flour 5 Tbs. Chickpea Flour 2 Tbs. Coconut Flour ¾ tsp. Xanthan Gum ¼ tsp. Baking Soda ½ tsp. Sea Salt ½ cup/1 stick Unsalted Butter 1 cup Sugar 3 large Eggs 1 whole Vanilla Bean - cut open and use only the seeds scraped from inside. (or 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract) ½ cup/4 oz. Sour Cream DIRECTIONS 1) Preheat oven to 350℉. Prepare a 9 x 5 loaf pan by lightly greasing it with butter and then lining it with parchment paper. Have a baking sheet on hand also (the loaf will bake on the baking sheet to keep the bottom from browning too much). Set aside. 2) In a small bowl add all the flours, xanthan gum, baking soda and salt. Whisk together until well mixed. Set aside. 3) In the bowl of a stand mixer or a large bowl, add the sugar and butter and cream together until pale and fluffy. 4) Add the eggs, one at a time, beating in well after each addition. 5) Add half of the flour and mix in. 6) Add all of the sour cream and mix in. 7) Add the remaining flour and mix in by hand until well blended. 8) Spoon batter into the prepared pan. 9) Place the loaf pan on top of a baking sheet and put in the center of the preheated oven. Bake for 45-60 minutes. The cake is done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or when the center springs back when lightly pressed with a finger. (It took 45 minutes in my oven.) If the cake starts to brown too much, cover loosely with foil for the rest of the baking time. For more even baking, turn the cake around half way through the baking time. 10) Cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then use the parchment paper to lift the cake onto a rack to cool completely. I left the paper under the cake while cooling on the rack to prevent rack marks on the bottom.