National Cookies Month Inspires Gluten Free Options

Wayne shares personal, family and friends’ recipes and creates gluten free alternatives.

October is officially “National Cookie Month”.  I’m not really sure why, but it’s definitely a good excuse to make a batch or two of cookies.  I made some of my old favorites as well as a few requests from some of my facebook fans.  My friend Dave Jupp also saved me a little baking time by donating three varieties of “tiger cookies” to my spread. 

This was also a great opportunity to see if I could modify some recipes to meet the needs of folks with dietary restrictions.  I took two of today’s recipes, Dave’s tiger cookies and my snickerdoodles, and made gluten free versions of both.  Gluten free products, like flour and frosted corn flakes, are becoming more widely available, making it much easer to find alternative ingredients.  Also, many manufacturers are making an extra effort to make it very clear which products do and don’t contain gluten. 

So, with all that in mind, here’s a collection of regular and gluten free cookies with contributions and suggests from Dave Jupp, Michael Arabshian, Ida Waterous, Patti Arnish, Steve Knox, Sally Tantilla and my grandmother.  I’m sure you’ll find a recipe you like.  Or, just make them all and share them as gifts!

Tiger Cookies
courtesy of Dave Jupp

Ingredients

1 cu Butter, softened
1 cu White Sugar
2 lg Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 cu All-Purpose Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
3 cu Sugar-Frosted Corn Flake Cereal, measured before crushing
1 cu Semisweet Chocolate Chips

Method

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla; mix until fluffy. Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into butter mixture. Stir in the crushed cereal. Melt chocolate chips in a bowl over simmering water or in the microwave. Swirl melted chocolate gently into dough, leaving big streaks of chocolate.

Drop cookies by heaping teaspoonfuls onto unprepared cookie sheets. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes. After, baking remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks.

Bonus Tips: For a little different cookie, add your favorite chips to batter. Mint, Peanut Butter or more Chocolate Chips!

Also reserve about 1/2 cup of batter before you stir in melted chocolate. This batter can be placed onto cookies before baking in case batter lump is mostly dark. This will help to make cookie look more marbleized if needed.

Gluten Free Tiger Cookies
adapted from a recipe by Dave Jupp

Ingredients

1 cu Butter, softened
1 cu Cane Sugar
2 lg Eggs
1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract (I use Nielsen Massey Madagascar Bourbon brand)
3 cu Gluten Free All-Purpose Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
3 cu Gluten Free Sugar-Frosted Corn Flake Cereal, measured before crushing
1 cu Semisweet Chocolate Chips (I used Nestle Tollhouse Brand)

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla; mix until fluffy. Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into butter mixture. Stir in the crushed cereal. Melt chocolate chips in a bowl over simmering water or in the microwave. Swirl melted chocolate gently into dough, leaving big streaks of chocolate.

Drop cookies by heaping teaspoonfuls onto unprepared cookie sheets. Bake in the preheated oven for 12 to 14 minutes. After baking, remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks.

You can also try some of the tips listed above with the non gluten-free version.

Gluten Free Snickerdoodles

Ingredients

1/2 cu Butter, softened
3/4 cu Cane Sugar
1 lg Egg
2 cu Gluten Free All-Purpose Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Cream of Tarter
1/4 tsp Salt

Topping

2 tbl Cane Sugar
2 tbl Cinnamon

Method

Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, cream of tarter and salt in a bowl and set aside.  In a separate bowl, or in your mixer, cream together butter and sugar until smooth.  Add egg and continue to blend.  Add dry ingredients and blend until smooth.  Cover mixture with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Mix together sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.  Remove dough from refrigerator.  Form about 1 teaspoon of dough into a ball and roll in sugar cinnamon mixture.  Place on a baking sheet and press down slightly to form a disk.  Repeat with remaining dough.  Bake for 8-10 minutes until lightly golden.

Aunt Dorothy's Ice Cream Kolacky

courtesy of Ida Waterous

Ingredients

1 pint Vanilla Ice Cream
2 cu Butter
4 cu All-Purpose Flour
1/2 cu Fruit Preserves, any flavor (I like the canned ones made for this like apricot.)

Method

Add flour to butter or margarine and crumble in pastry blender. Add ice cream to crumbled mixture and, using dough hooks, work into dough. (If you don't have dough hooks, use your hands. Rubber gloves will help cut down the cold temperature from the ice cream.) When dough is smooth, shape into ball and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Roll dough to about 1/8-inch thickness on a floured surface. Using the rim of a glass dipped in flour, cut out circles. Place on a cookie sheet and make a thumbprint in center of each. Fill thumbprints with 1/2 teaspoon fruit filling.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar when cool. Eat and enjoy!

Southern Whoopie Pies
mint chocolate pies sandwiching a nutmeg sweet potato filling
makes about 80 cakes for 40 whoopie pies


Ingredients

1/2 cu Butter
1 cu Brown Sugar, firmly-packed
1 lg Egg
3 oz Semisweet Chocolate, melted
2 cu All-Purpose Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Salt
1 tsp Mint Extract
1/2 cu Whole Milk

Filling

6 oz Cream Cheese
2 cu Confectioners Sugar
1/2 cu Canned Sweet Potatoes, drained and mashed until smooth
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Mix flour, pbaking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Set aside.  In another bowl, cream butter and brown sugar together until creamy.  Add egg, chocoloate, mint and milk.  Slowling add flour mixture and blend until smooth.  Place teaspoons of batter on a cookie sheet or in mini whoopie pans (I found mine at Crate & Barrel).  Bake for 7- 8 minutes unitl cakes spring back to the touch.  Remove from oven and cool completely.

Meanwhile, combine filing ingredients and refrigerate until ready to use.  Place 1 heaping teaspoon of filling on one cake and top with another.  I refrigerated these until ready to serve.

Spider Cookies
Courtesy Patti Bogdanovich Arnish

Ingredients

1 cu Chocolate Chips
1 cu Butterscotch Chips
2 1/2 cu Chow Mein Noodles
1 cu Spanish Peanuts

Method

Melt the chocolate and butterscotch chips together. Mix in the other ingredients. Drop on wax paper. Cool.

Cowboy Cookies And Oatmeal Scotchies
one recipe split two ways as described by Steve Knox and Sally Tantilla

Ingredients

3/4 cu Butter (1 1/2 sticks)
1/2 cu Light Brown Sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cu Granulated Sugar
2 lg Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 1/2 cu All-Purpose Flour
1 tsp Baking Soad
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Salt
3 cu Old Fashioned Rolled Oats
3/4 cu Chocolate Chips
3/4 cu Butterscotch Chips

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.   Mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and rolled oats in a bowl and set aside.  In a separate bowl, blend together butter and sugars until smooth.  Add eggs and vanilla extract.  Gradually add flour mixture until fully incorporated.  Separate mixture into two equal parts.  Add chocolate chips (cowboy cookies) to one part and butterscotch chips (oatmeal scotchies) to the other.  With each portion of dough, scoop heaping tablespoons onto a baking sheet, separated by about 2”, and bake for 8-10 minutes.

Checkerboard Cookies
chocolate meets orange

Ingredients

3 cu Flour
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 cu Pecans, ground
1 cu Butter, softened
3/4 cu Sugar
2 Eggs, room temperature
1 tsp Vanilla
2 tbl Orange Juice
1 tsp Orange Zest
3 Semi-Sweet Chocolate Squares, melted
1/2 tsp each Yellow & Red Food Coloring

Method

In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and ground pecans.  Set aside.  Separately, cream butter and sugar in a mixing bowl.  Add eggs, one at a time.  Add vanilla, orange juice and orange zest.  Slowly add flour mixture.  Mix well.  Separate dough into two smaller bowls.  Add melted chocolate to one bowl and food coloring to the second.  Mix each well.  Roll out each batch into separate 6 1/2” x 6 1/2” squares about 1/2” thick.  Refrigerate for one hour.

Slice each refrigerated square into 9 strips.  Place three strips on a sheet of plastic wrap, one of the chocolate dough strips sandwiched between two orange strips.  Place two additional layers on top of the first, alternating the colors.  Press the nine strips tightly and wrap in plastic.  Take the remaining 9 strips and repeat the process but begin the first layer with one piece of orange dough sandwiched between two chocolate ones.  Refrigerate the two sets of dough for an additional 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a cookie sheet with either a baking pad or parchment paper.  Slice dough into 1/4” slices.  Place on cookie sheet about 2” apart form each other.  Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until slightly browned.  Remove from oven and allow to cool.


Coconut Oatmeal Macadamia Nut Cookies

my signature cookies

Ingredients

1 cu Unsalted Butter, softened
1 cu Light Brown Sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cu Granulated Sugar
2 Lg Eggs, room temperature
1 tsp Vanilla
2 tsp Honey
2 1/2 cu All Purpose Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
3/4 cu Old-Fashioned Rolled Oats
3/4 cu Shredded Coconut
3/4 cu Macadamia Nuts, coarsely chopped
1/2 cu Whole Macadamia Nuts (about 36)

Method

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla and honey. Mix well.

In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking soda and salt. Add flour mixture to butter mixture in batches, mixing after each addition. Add rolled oats, coconut and chopped macadamia nuts. Mix until combined.

Place rounded tablespoons of the dough on a cookie sheet that is lined with a heat resistant cooking pad (or directly on an ungreased cookie sheet). Lightly pat each dollop to form a disk. Tap a whole macadamia nut into the center of each cookie.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes. Remove and place on a rack to cool completely.

Makes about 36 cookies.

Mama Fannie's Holiday Sand Tarts
my grandmother’s recipe

Ingredients

2 cu All Purpose Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
Pinch of salt
1 cu Pecans Pieces
1 cu Unsalted Butter (2 sticks) plus 2 tbsp, softened
1 cu Powdered Sugar
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
Powdered sugar for coating cookies

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium sized bowl mix flour, baking powder, salt, and pecans. Set aside.

In a larger bowl, blend butter with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Gradually mix in powdered sugar. Add vanilla extract. Add flour mixture in small amounts until combined. If dough is too soft to roll in your hands, refrigerate for an hour before using.  Scoop 1 teaspoon of the dough into your hand. Roll into a ball and place on a cookie sheet. Press down slightly to flatten the bottom.

Bake for about 12 minutes until cookies just start to brown. Remove from oven and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

These cookies are very delicate right out of the oven and can break if you handle them too soon. Let them rest on the cookie sheet for about 5 to 10 minutes before carefully transferring them to a wire rack. Once cookies are completely cooled, drop them in more powdered sugar to fully coat. Shake off excess and serve. The cookies can be stored in an airtight container.

Thanks again for all the help and suggestions.  If you have any questions or comments, please send me an email at wayne@waynesweekend.com or follow me on facebook.
 

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