I want to begin this by thanking each and everyone of you who actually read this blog. It might sound silly, but I can't tell you how much it means to me to have "readers." I never ceased to be amazed that, according to Google analytics, you actually exist. I don't know who all of you are but I love you.
Please, please know that I appreciate every single one of you and the time you take from your busy lives reading about my homemade adventures and (often only semi-coherent) ramblings and reminiscences. You all are awesome. And I am truly humbled by your existence. I mean it.
Alright, so onto this post. It has been really hard for me to accept that I can't just eat whatever I want. I don't just mean in terms of quantity although THANK YOU, 30-something metabolism, for letting me learn that one the hard way.
What I'm talking about this time is more in terms of ingredients. Specifically, being challenged to create a delicious dietary life without all-purpose flour and its many relatives...bulgur, wheat berries, and many packaged things. (Pasta, I'm talking to you. And you, crackers. And you, Acme Bread. And croissants. UGH. I looooove croissants.)
But maybe I was meant to be this way. To paraphrase Lady Gaga, maybe I was "born this way". I'm a purist. Always have been. Since birth, I've loved and prioritized the freshest, most whole ingredients, almost instinctively. I'm not a picky eater in the classic sense...I've always been adventurous in the food department. It's not the food itself, but the freshness and the quality of the ingredients that have forever mattered to me. Always. Maybe GMO wheat and I were never meant to get along. Philosophically, we're just not on the same page.
Nevertheless, it is somewhat difficult for me to admit to you, aloud (or whatever the "aloud" equivalent of typing is), that I used a mix in making these cookies. To be fair, it was a gluten-free flour blend. But still. I do NOT bake from a box. I never have. That Cake Doctor lady has her niche and that's just fine, but that's not me. Not who I am. I've got "from scratch" written all over me.
All of that said, I'm excited about these cookies. Really and truly excited. Not just because they are gluten-free but also because I fed them to a bunch of people (science-experiment-style), who, in my view, can eat whatever they want and you know what? They loved them, too. And I think you will as well.
Kate's (Gluten-Free!) Salted Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
Adapted from this recipe
Makes up to 4 dozen, depending on how much raw cookie dough you pilfer in the process.
 |
| Prepping ingredients. By the way, I have been using my own homemade vanilla extract and so far, so good! Here's the recipe. |
Ingredients
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups gluten-free flour blend (I used Better Batter for this particular endeavor but you can sub an equal amount of regular all-purpose flour
1/2 cup oat flour (for info on how to make this, see here)
2 cups rolled organic (gluten-free) oats
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli bittersweet chips and chopped them up since they are huge)
Maldon sea salt or kosher salt
 |
| Chopped gigantic bittersweet chocolate chips |
Directions
1. In a stand mixer (or using a hand-mixer), cream the butter.
Add the brown sugar, white sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon.
 |
| Creamed butter, adding sugars, baking powder, cinnamon. |
Combine at a medium speed until the mixture has a crumbly texture. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix again until combined.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and transfer to the refrigerator to chill the dough for an hour. NOTE: This is important. If you do not do this, your cookies will spread all over the cookies sheet and you will be sad.
3. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. When the oven is hot, drop the cold cookie dough, using a tablespoon or cookie dough scooper, onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
Sprinkle the tops of the dough with sea salt or kosher salt. Do not skimp on this front. There's no salt in the dough, so you really need to be pretty liberal here.
Bake for 13-15 minutes until the edges are golden brown but the center is still kind of soft. The cookie should still be soft to the touch so carefully transfer them to a cooling rack. (If you bake on parchment, as I do, you can just slide the whole sheet off the pan onto the rack, which is a method I highly recommend.)
Serve to people without dietary restrictions and don't be amazed at their responses! These cookies are delicious!
 |
| Cookies as seen at our Point Bonita picnic. |
1 comment:
ummmm... where is the "box" part of this? The flour blend? Sorry, you don't know "box." This looks very made from scratch to me.
Post a Comment