Oreo Cookies

These were GREAT!! Nice rich chocolaty crunch and smooth vanilla filling. Just like I remember them (granted, it's been over three years since I had a 'real' oreo). In fact, they were better... everything is better extremely fresh. Try to ignore the fact that the filling is basically sugar and Crisco and just enjoy these babies.
I bet these wafers would make GREAT thin mint cookies if covered in melted peppermint-chocolate.
Original recipe from here. She has much better pictures (sorry-- I'm terrible with icing).



Makes ~18 2" diameter sandwich cookies (around 36 chocolate wafers)
15 minutes mixing + ~70 minutes baking + 20 minutes whipping icing and assembling cookies
Preheat 375 F
- large mixing bowl
- wire whisk or electric beater
- cookie sheet lined with Al foil or parchment paper
Easy

INGREDIENTS
Chocolate Wafer
1/2 c. (1 stick) butter or dairy-free alternative
2. Tbsp. vegetable shortening*
1 egg
1.25 c. flour --> (3/4 c. brown rice flour + 1/2 c. Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Baking Flour + 1 heaping tsp. xanthan gum)
1/2 c. cocoa powder*
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 c. white granulated sugar
dash of salt
Vanilla Icing
3 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp. vegetable shortening*
~1.5 c. powdered sugar
~1.5 tsp. vanilla extract

*Crisco is GF, Hershey's cocoa powder is GF,

DIRECTIONS
Chocolate Wafer
0. Place stick of butter on the counter to reach room temperature. Make sure it is very soft before continuing. Preheat oven to 375 F.
1. Mix 1/2 c. butter, 2 Tbsp. shortening and 1 egg in a large bowl with a wire whisk (or electric beater) until well combined. The oils and egg don't have to be whipped or anything, just stirred till a uniform color.
2. Add in the brown rice flour, BRM All Purpose Baking Flour and xanthan gum over the top of the oil/egg mixture. Stir the flours together lightly with a large spoon, then add in the cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Again stir dry ingredients without incorporating the 'wet' below. When it looks consistent, mix deeper to include the wet ingredients. Stir entire contents of bowl; the cocoa will start out light brown, then get a nice dark chocolate look once mixed well with the egg/oils. Continue to mix by hand until no more clumps appear. The dough will be soft and have a shiny chocolate look to it.
3. Pinch off about a teaspoon of dough and roll it into a 1 inch diameter ball. The dough should yield about 36 spheres. Place spheres onto an aluminum foil coated (or parchment paper coated) cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart. Use a level-bottomed drinking glass and squish each ball flat out to about a 2" diameter (around 1/4" thick).
4. Place cookies into the oven and bake for exactly 10 minutes at 375 F. They will come out soft, but will harden after cooling; wait at least a minute to transfer wafers to a cooling sheet. Continue baking; it took me a little over an hour to bake all of the balls-- I placed the waiting dough back into the fridge while cooking.
Vanilla Filling
0. Again, be patient and let the butter fully come to room temperature. Watch a Daily Show or something.
1. Place 3 Tbsp each of butter and shortening in a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until smooth. Add in the powdered sugar, mix by hand until the sugar is not as volatile.
2. Add in the vanilla extract 1/2 tsp. at a time, beating with the mixer after each addition. You are looking for a thick, creamy consistency here-- it IS oreo filling. Basically you want to add vanilla extract until the mixture just turns from 'grainy' to smooth. Compensate for too much liquid with a little more sugar.
3. Beat the filling for 2 to 3 minutes to get it extra creamy.
Assembling
Place around 1 tsp. filling between two chocolate wafers. Press and twist the cookies together to mechanically bind the sandwich. If you want to add more icing, they'll come apart okay to do so. I suggest storing the cookies in the freezer, it makes them hold together better. Serve cold or at room temperature.

Lemon Coolers

These small little cookies ended up crumbly, fat and wonderfully tinged with lemon. Almost like dry, fruity bon-bons. Coat these with tart powdered sugar-- I found them rather novel and very easy.
Original recipe here, but this one is GF.



Makes 50 bite-sized cookies
20 minutes preparing + almost 2 hours baking total
Preheat 330 F
- large mixing bowl
- wire whisk -or- electric beater
- cookie sheet lined with Al foil
- large heavy duty gallon sized ziplock baggie
Easy

INGREDIENTS
1/2 c. + ~3/4 c. powdered sugar
1/3 c. white (granulated) sugar
1/3 c. butter
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1.5 c. GF flour mix --> [1 c. white rice flour + 1/2 c. Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose GF Mix + 1 heaping tsp. xanthan gum]
1.5 tsp. baking powder
zest from 1 fresh lemon
juice from 1 fresh lemon (about 1 Tbsp.)
1 tsp. powdered lemonade drink mix*

*Country Time Lemonade mix I think is GF; I used it and didn't get sick

DIRECTIONS
0. Preheat oven to 330 F. Place the butter on the counter to soften for awhile.
1. Wait till butter is room temperature (soft!) to begin mixing ingredients. In a large bowl, briefly mix the sugars (1/2 c. powdered and 1/3 c. granulated) with the butter, egg , vanilla and salt by hand. Once incorporated, cream together with a wire whisk or electric beater. The mixture should be creamy and consistent, but not fluffy.
2. Add in the GF flour mix and baking powder. Scrub the lemon well and add entire lemon zest into the bowl. Cut the lemon in half and easily squeeze its juice into the bowl, careful to remove renegade seeds.
3. Stir the entire mixture well. As usual, the dough will be thick, so I normally just hand mix it. Stir until the dough is slightly moist and easily forms a ball.
4. Roll dough into small little balls, no bigger than an inch-- I tried for about 3/4". Place balls onto the lined cookie sheet and press each one down slightly with your thumb; not too much. They will spread and puff out a little more in the oven, but you can get them fairly crowded on the sheet with no problems.
5. Before finishing the first batch, pour the remaining 3/4 c. powdered sugar into the heavy-duty plastic bag. Add in some of the powdered lemon drink mix and shake well to mix. Taste.** Add in more sugar or lemon drink if necessary (depends on how tart you want the powder!)
6. Bake for 16 to 20 minutes. They will get slightly tan on the top when done. Remove cookies and let cool for about 1 minute on the sheet. Before they cool ALL the way (they should still be warm, but not burning hot), plop the cookies into the bag and shake well to coat.
7. Continue baking and then coating the cookies. It took me about 5 rounds to finish the whole batch. I ended up just leaving them in the bag, there was enough sugar to go around.

**If you want more adult-like morsels, don't coat them with powdered sugar-- they have a good lemon taste on their own. I did prefer the melt-away lemon tang, though, and I'm in my 20's!

Sugar Cookies with Lemon Buttercream Frosting

My mother would make these for Valentine's day when I was growing up. To this date, I still associate Valentine's day with these cookies. They are light and crisp, but still have some 'body'... even translated over to Gluten free. The lemon icing is wonderful.



Makes 25 huge (~3" diameter) cookies
25 minutes + 3 hours of chilling time + 30 minutes rolling and baking
375 F
- electric beater (or whisk)
- cookie cutters
- rolling pin
Easy

INGREDIENTS
Cookie:
1 c. butter, softened
1.5 c. confectioner's (powdered) sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract*
1 tsp. Almond extract*
2.5 c. flour mix ---> [1.5 c. white rice flour + 1/4 c. potato starch + 1/2 c. tapioca starch + 1/4 c. cornstarch + 3 heaping tsp. xanthan gum] feel free to use your own favorite GF mix
1 tsp. backing soda
1 tsp. cream of tartar*
Lemon Frosting:
1/6 c. room-temperature soft butter
1.5 c. confectioners sugar
3/4 tsp. fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 Tbps. milk (or water, for dairy free)
zest of one lemon (preferably the one you just juiced)
GF food coloring*
*McCormick spices and extracts are GF

DIRECTIONS
Cookies:
0. Set the butter out on the counter to warm. Go watch TV or something while it softens.
1. In a large bowl, mix soft butter, confect sugar, egg, vanilla and almond extracts till smooth. I normally use an electric beater for this, but a wire whisk will work okay.
2. Hand blend in the flour mixture (white rice flour, xanthan gum, tapioca, corn and potato starches), baking soda and cream of tartar to the butter/extract. The dough should be smooth and slightly sticky. Like most GF dough, it will also be dense; I suggest using a strong spoon.
3. Split the dough into two 'lumps'. Cover both with saran wrap and chill for 3+ hours. You want to do this... the dough is horrible to work with if you don't chill it first.
3.50. Heat oven to 375 F.
4. Place half of the cool dough onto a clean countertop and try to press it down a little by hand (it should be fairly hard). Cover the dough with a large piece of saran wrap and roll the dough out with a rolling pin to about 1/8th of an inch thick.
5. Cut the rolled dough into shapes. I like circles.
6. Place on parchment paper and bake 7 to 8 minutes until the cookies are light bown on the edges. Pull out and let cool for a minute or two before scooping them up.
Frosting:
0. Let the cookies TOTALLY COOL before icing them!
1. Blend softened butter, powdered sugar, lemon juice, milk and zest in a bowl until soft.
2. Add in dye. Frost the cooled cookies gererously.

Anise Biscotti

"Biscotti" is Italian for "twice-baked". These cookies are baked once as a slab, cut into slices, then, returned to the oven to acquire a crispy exterior. Because they are dry, they are perfect for dunking into coffee. I'm not fond of black liquorice but enjoy these cookies, so don't be scared off by the anise!

The traditional method does not involve either oil or a leavening agent, but I experimented with both when adapting my mother's recipe to be gluten-free. I would leave in the baking powder, but exclude the butter-- turns out the oil makes these just a little too moist (never thought I would say that about GF flours!). Anyway, enjoy, soft or crunchy.



Makes 2 dozen long cookies
20 + 30 + 15 (65 minutes total)
Preheat oven: 350 F
-electric mixer
-large mixing bowl
-large cookie sheet
Easy

INGREDIENTS
[¼ c. butter, softened—optional; makes the cookies softer/moister]
1 c. white granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract*
1 tsp. brandy*, or brandy flavoring
½ of a (1 oz) bottle anise extract*
2 c. leavened GF baking mix (I used Kinnikinnick All Purpose Mix—if you don’t have a pre-made mix, use this: 1.5 c. brown rice flour, ¼ c. potato starch, ¼ c. tapioca starch, 1 tsp. baking powder)
1 heaping tsp. xanthan gum
1 c. chopped walnuts
*All McCormick extracts are GF; Brandy is made without gluten-grains.

DIRECTIONS
1. Place butter into a large mixing bowl. Let it sit and warm up until it’s soft enough to ‘stir’. Beat the soft butter with the white sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, around 2 minutes.
2. Add in the 3 whole eggs to the beaten sugar(&butter). Beat again with mixer until fully combined, around 1 minute. The egg/sugar mixture should be thick and soupy.
3. Add in vanilla, brandy and anise extracts, mixing by hand to fully incorporate.
4. Pour 1 cup GF baking mix into the large bowl; don’t yet stir in the flour. Sprinkle xanthan gum over the top of the flour (as it’s sitting on top of the eggs/sugar); swirl the gum and flour a little bit. Now, carefully mix flour/xanthan gum into the wet ingredients, first by hand, then again with the electric mixer. Dough will be very viscous.
5. Add in the second cup of GF baking mix. This dough is waaay too sticky and dense to mix with an electric beater, so use your arm muscles and ridged spoon. Stir mixture until flour and eggs are well combined.
6. Fold in the chopped walnuts. Dough will look like taffy.
7. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper (you will be very sorry if you don’t line the sheet!!). Spoon dough out onto the parchment paper, spreading it out to form two long ‘loaves’ down the length of the cookie sheet. Each flat loaf of dough should be about 4 inches wide and 1 inch thick.
8. Place cookie sheet into the preheated oven (350 F). Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the cookie loaves are slightly browned on top. Remove sheet from the oven and let the cookies cool for 10 minutes.
9. Cut cookies at a slight angle (makes them longer) across the width of each loaf, forming 1 inch thick ‘candy bar’ cookies. These biscotti are soft enough that you should have no real problems cutting them.
For soft, moist cookies:
Stop now and turn off the oven. Refrigerate the cookies. Serve warm or cold with coffee.
For crunchy-on-the-outside cookies (my favorite):
10. Turn cookies over on their side, displaying the ‘cut’ part up. Return cookies to the hot oven. Bake 10 more minutes on one side, flip, then bake another 5 minutes on the other side. These cookies will be an amber, toasted brown—nice crunchy exterior with a moist center.
11. Once cooled, remove from cookie sheet and refrigerate. Melt semi-sweet chocolate chips and apply to the bottoms of cookies, if desired.

Cookie Dough Layer Brownies

Someday, I will learn how to make lactose-free caramel, so I can concoct a GF version of my mother's caramel brownies. For now I will settle for this treat, which features a layer of brown-sugary goodness sandwiched between rich dark chocolate brownies and a layer of melted chocolate. I don't feel at all deprived.
From Pillsbury's "Best of the Bake Off" Cookbook.



Makes a 9 x 12 pan of bar cookies/brownies
20 + 40 + 10 minutes (plus 2 hours chilling time)
-large mixing bowl
-9 x 12 inch pan
-electric mixer
-spatula
-small pot for melting chocolate
Easy

INGREDIENTS
Middle Cookie Layer:
1/2 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. brown sugar, packed
1/2 c. white sugar
1 tbsp. water
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 c. potato starch
3/4 c. white rice flour (don't use bean flour; this part won't be baked and will retain its 'raw' flavor)
1 heaping tsp. xanthan gum
Bottom Brownies:
1 box favorite GF brownie mix-- I used the 16 oz. Gluten Free Pantry Chocolate Truffle Brownie Mix (requires 2 eggs and 6 tbsp. corn oil)
Top Chocolate Glaze:
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate morsels-- I used Enjoy Life's lactose-free chips
1 tbsp. shortening (NOT butter or oil)

DIRECTIONS
**I made the middle layer before the bottom layer so to use my same big mixing bowl without raw egg contamination
Middle Cookie Layer:
1. Bring butter to room temperature. While butter is sitting out inside your big mixing bowl, gather sugars and flours.
2. With an electric mixer, beat the butter till smooth. Add in brown and white sugars. Beat until the mixture is light and fluffy (no longer than 2 minutes). Pour in 1 tbsp. of water and vanilla extract. Beat more to combine ; mixture should be a little less crumbly.
3. Add in 1/4 cup potato starch flour and 1/4 cup white rice flour. Mix gently by hand to combine, then add in remaining 1/2 cup white rice flour and heaping tsp. of xanthan gum. Beat for another minute with the electric mixer to make sure everything is well combined.
4. Scoop 'cookie dough' out of bowl and place on a piece of Al foil (use this piece to cover the 9 x 13 pan later on). Set in fridge while you mix and bake the bottom layer.
Bottom Brownies:
5. In same large mixing bowl, combine brownie mix as directed on package.
6. Pour/scoop brownie mix into greased 9 x 12 pan-- I used disposable Aluminum pan. Bake as directed on package, but DON'T overbake. You don't want the edges burnt.
7. Remove brownies from the oven and let them cool. (10 or so minutes; want brownies to be 'firm'.. place in fridge to speed up). Turn off oven. While the brownies are cooling, take 'cookie dough' layer out of fridge to soften.
8. Press soft cookie dough layer onto the top of the cooled, cooked brownies with your fingers. Evenly spread 'dough' out over the entire pan.
Top:
9. Pour 1 cup chocolate chips into a small pot. Add in 1 tbsp. shortening. Begin heating over LOW heat, stirring constantly with a heat-proof spatula.
10. When chips are fully melted and creamy, remove from heat and let cool a minute or so. Spread chocolate glaze evenly over the cookie dough layer with the spatula.
11. Cover pan with Al foil piece and place into the fridge until top chocolate glaze has hardened. To cut into bars: remove from fridge and let them warm up slightly (5 minutes). Cut and serve when bars are still chilled, but glaze is no longer rock-hard. Store in the fridge.

Lemon Squares

A classic: These are one of my favorite 'bar' cookies. Light shortbread base, with a moist lemon-custard topping dusted with powdered sugar. These use only 1 cup of GF flour for a 8 x 8 pan, so it's a pretty cost-effective GF dessert.
Mixture of my mother's recipe and Connie Sarros' take in Gluten-Free Dessert Cookbook.

My fellow labmates have been asking me to bring some of these in since March, when I first mentioned their sour-sweet goodness. None of them are Celiac and they didn't even notice these were made without wheat. It makes me so happy to bake for friends.



Makes 16 square bar cookies.
60 minutes
350 F
-8 x 8 square baking pan (glass, preferred)
-large mixing bowl
-small mixing bowl
-electric mixer
-zester (a very fine grater, used for fruit rinds)
Easy

INGREDIENTS
Shortbread Crust
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened; I used Earth Balance Buttery Sticks to make this lactose-free
-- 1 cup GF flour blend (next four ingredients), unleavened --
1/4 c. tapioca starch
1/4 c. potato starch
1/2 c. white rice flour
1 heaping tsp. xanthan gum
1/4 c. powdered (confectioner's) sugar
Lemon 'Filling'
Zest of 1 big lemon
Juice of 1 big lemon (no less that 2 tbsp.)
2 eggs
1 c. white granulated sugar
3/4 tsp. baking powder
pinch of salt

DIRECTIONS
Shortbread Crust
1. Take butter out of fridge and set into your large mixing bowl; let soften (DO NOT melt the butter in the microwave.. be patient). Use the butter wrapper and grease up the 8 x 8 baking pan. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In small mixing bowl, combine tapioca starch, potato starch and white rice flour with xanthan gum and powdered sugar. Mix carefully, but completely, with a spoon. Let sit.
3. Go back to the big bowl. Begin beating the softened butter with an electric mixer until it is smooth (around 1 minute). Carefully add in the flour mixture to the butter, 1/4 cup at a time. Stir a little with a spoon/spatula before mixing again with the electric beater (it will go everywhere, trust me). Beat the combined flour/butter mix until fully moistened-- this batter will look crumbly, but should keep shape when pinched between your fingers.
4. Press the 'crumbly' shortbread batter evenly into the greased 8 x 8 pan with your fingers. Once you have a smooth, uniform surface (press well to make it stick), slide the cookie crust into the preheated oven. Bake for 20 minutes-- DON'T FORGET TO REMOVE ON TIME!
Lemon Filling
5. While the shortbread is baking, wash out your large mixing bowl and beater prongs with hot water. Also wash out your small mixing bowl.
6. Scrub the large lemon very well with hot water (Celiacs: cut off the fruit sticker). Remove the top yellow rind from the fruit with a zester. Don't zest too much and get any of the white pith. Place zest in small bowl-- you should have maybe ~1/2 tsp.
7. Cut the zested lemon in half and remove the seeds, if you can. Squeeze both lemon halves over the small bowl, accumulating no less than 2 tbsp. lemon juice. Be sure to catch and remove any errant seeds.
8. In large mixing bowl, crack open both eggs and add in white granulated sugar. Add in the baking powder and a little salt. Scrape the lemon juice/zest mix from the small to the large bowl. Beat the eggs/lemon until frothy (1-2 minutes) and sugar is mostly dissolved (mixture will be viscous).
9. Remove cooked shortbread base from the oven at the 20 minute mark. Pour/spoon the egg/lemon mixture over the cooked base and return cookies to the oven. Bake for another 20 minutes, or until the top forms a tan skin.
10. Remove from oven and chill overnight. Serve cold with a dusting of powdered sugar.

No-Bake Homemade Sandwich Cookies

These taste just like miniature chocolate covered candy bars and are ridiculously easy. Also can be made dairy free! Picture shows pb filling.



Serves 3
-parchment paper
-small pot
Quick and simple

INGREDIENTS
40 Envirokidz vanilla animal cookies .. the flat square ones.
1/4 c. (or more) chocolate chips*
1 tsp. shortening (NOT butter)
*I used Enjoy Life dairy free chips
Filling:
Peanut butter or any jam/fruit preserve of choice; perhaps strawberry or cherry or orange marmalade-- I've also used fresh fruit in between, too
I bet caramel or marshmallow would also be good!

DIRECTIONS
1. Place animal cookies out on parchment paper over a large plate or small cookie sheet.
2. Spread your favorite filling on 20 of the cookies. Use remaining cookies as the top half of the sandwich. Be sure to press down well. I found the fruit cookies didn't stay together as well as the pb ones.
3. Pour chocolate chips out into small saucepan or pot. Begin melting chips over low heat, stirring in the shortening until smooth and silky. This does not take too long.
4. Remove from heat and place cookies carefully into chocolate until well coated. If the fruit ones fall apart, just drizzle chocolate over them (and down the sides) instead of dipping.
5. Once fully coated with chocolate, let them firm up in the fridge or freezer.