When I think about baking, my first thoughts turn to cookies. Warm, soft cookies! *drool*
What better basic cookie than Snickerdoodles for the festive Christmas Season? I know, I know... better to start with something more basic to get a good understanding of how ingredients work right? Bleah... that's too boring and too slow. *smirk* I'll learn from my mistakes quicker... and hopefully still be able to pinpoint what ingredients need changing. =D
Flipping through multiple online sites, I scribble one Snickerdoodle recipe on the back of a random paper. Hmmmm... but this recipe uses eggs and doesn't look soft enough... I like soft cookies! But wait! Kristy never sticks to the basic recipe because I find that usually they're too sweet, too dry, something is not to my liking. Plus, understanding the basics of what makes a cookie, in this case, gluten-free and vegan, I will hopefully gain a better understanding of the materials I'm using... or so I say. In reality, I'm just impatient and stubborn. *wide grin* I want the cookies _my_ way.
Let's see... More recipes. Some normal, some gluten-free, most aren't dairy-free and egg-free. Alright, now time to combine!
This is what I decided to try:
2 cups blanched almond flour (just bought some through the mail)
(should have added 2-4 Tablespoons of sugar?)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Dash of nutmeg
1/4 cup coconut oil (can use any variety of butter or shortening, will try vegan butter next time)
2 Tablespoon maple syrup (honey or molasses okay)
1 Tablespoon flaxseed in 2 Tablespoons of warm water (can use applesauce or 1 egg)
Cookie coating: 1 Tablespoon cinnamon mixed with 1/2 cup sugar (probably decrease the cinnamon and add some nutmeg?)
Okay! First easy step... mix all the dry ingredients together. Done! That was the no-brainer part. Ummmm, the coconut oil is solid at room temp. I can't remember if it's okay to melt... or does it need to stay solid? I know in pastries and pie crusts, the oil product is solid for flakiness, but cookies need to be soft, not flaky right? I can't remember!!! Drat... but considering the optional substitutes, shortening and butter... all solid products... I should probably keep the coconut oil solid too. *deep sigh* That's a LOT more work. I'll just leave the coconut oil for last.
Let's see... the flaxseed in water mix is coagulating nicely as a thickening agent. Ah, I'll just dump the maple syrup in here. Mix. Mix. Stir. Stir. Dump into the flour mix.
Now I'll deal with the coconut oil. Using a handy butter knife, I hack and chip at the solid coconut oil in the jar. Little bit by little bit, I chisel the solid hunk of oil, eye-balling the amount in my bowl. Hmmmmm, that looks about 1/2 cup, actually if packed, a little less. Oops, I was supposed to put 1/4 cup of the coconut oil? *shrug* What's done is done. It's not like I can put the oil back into the jar.
Mixing with a hand-held mixer, looks like everything's coming together... everything except the lumps of coconut oil! I'll still go with the concept that the the oil shouldn't be melted. So fork and knife it is! The fork to squish and break and mix the coconut oil into smaller particles. The knife to cut and scrape.
Am I there yet? Oh wait, there's a note to put the mix in the fridge before I shape it. Fine. Casually, not bothering to cover my crumbly mix, into the fridge it goes.
30 minutes later:
Alright, I already mixed the cinnamon and sugar. Why do I need a bowl of water? I wrote a note to dip my cookie dough into the water and _then_ into the cinnamon/sugar mix. Why bother with that extra step? Puzzled, I get the water anyways. All the normal Snickerdoodles I've made never needed any water. It's always been a simple shape into a ball, roll into the cinnamon/sugar mix, place onto the cookie pan, squash and bake!
Cookie dough here I come! Out of the fridge... well, everything still looks the same. Using my hands, I start kneading the mixture. Attempting to do my usual dough kneading, I find myself crumbling the mixture instead. Ahhhhh... the dreaded non-gluten and no egg formula. There's no gluten nor egg to really hold the mix together. Gather. Pat. Shape. Carefully, I press the mixture into one cohesive lump. Each time I press too hard, the "dough" crumbles in my hands.
Pinching off enough to make a cookie, I pat and shape the mixture into a ball. Toss. I dump the mixture into the cinnamon/sugar bowl for a nice yummy coating. Or at least, that's what was supposed to happen. Instead, a third of my cookie chips off and nothing really sticks to the cookie dough. Ahhhhh, guess that's what the water's for. Shoulders drooping at the thought of an extra step, I regather my broken cookie, shape it into a ball... but wait, if I squish the cookie ball on the cookie sheet... won't it crumble? Attempting just that, I watch the cookie break and crumble. Bleah, that doesn't look any good at all. Why not just shape the cookie in my hands?
Once again, I gather the cookie mixture in my hands. Roll. Press. Shape. Reform so there are no cracks. Tada! Nice flat circular cookie in it's final ready-to-eat format. Dunk in water. Flip. Dunk. Toss into the cinnamon/sugar mix. Filp again. Hmmmm... not enough sugar... mostly cinnamon sticking to my cookie. Ummmmm... there! I'll sprinkle some cinnamon/sugar mix onto the baking sheet first, lay my coated cookies on the sheet, then pour the rest of my cinnamon/sugar mixture over everything. *smirk* Sounds good right? *drool*
Bake with the oven preheated to 350F. Hmmmm, I wrote 12 minutes on my paper. However, I know I'm never satisfied with the baking time... okay, let's put the cookies in for 15 minutes!
15 minutes later, I stick a chopstick into one cookie. Is it done? Ummmm, the mixture by itself is crumbly and not sticky so I can't tell. Leaving the oven door open, I let the cookies cool for 10 minutes. Tentatively, I grab the edge of the closest cookie. Instant crumblage! Well, this makes it kinda hard to eat. Oh yeah, this is what people mean by no gluten! *sigh* According to the research I've done online, I've gotta let the cookie cool down even more for a cohesive single cookie unit. Bleah... this process takes soooo much more time and care than the regular Snickerdoodle with gluten. Well, this better be worth it!
Future trial: add sugar to the cookie mix for more sweetness. Use less coconut oil or use butter (vegan butter in my case) for a better flavor? Maybe applesause for more moisture? But will it make the cookie too dense?
Lord God, baking is so fun! I don't have a good grasp of the materials I'm using, but at the same time, I'm learning a LOT. Cooking... or rather baking... gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free is a huge challenge, but thank you for all the information on the internet. Thank you for the fun I get to have in mixing new concoctions. =D Lord, you've created so many different ingredients... each with their own flavor, own use and purpose. Wow. I thank you, Lord, for the time and this opportunity to really dig in to a whole new world of baking. Thank you that so far, most of the cooking I've done results in edible and at least decent mixes. So far, the only item I trashed was when attempting to make green onion pancake with the almond flour and water mix... gross!
Father, I ask for continued wisdom as I delve into this new world of baking (and cooking) without gluten, milk-products and eggs. Give me a positive attitude, a heart to keep experimenting and yummy food to eat. Help me also make yummy soft cookies!
In Jesus' name I pray, amen.
Here are some pictures.
 |
| This is my "dough"... so easy to crumble! |
 |
| Already baked and still hot... see how it breaks? I made the snickerdoodle cookies all different sizes and thicknesses to test my future preference and baking time needs. Didn't seem to make a huge difference. *shrug* |
 |
| Carol and Christine using plastic wrap on the table so the dough doesn't stick. Soooo much easier to clean. |
 |
| Look... green onion pancakes that don't puddle! |
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment! *big hugs* --Kristy