Gluten Free Cashew Butter Cookies
Being able to have an occasional sweet treat is something I have always looked forward to, but since I started to pursue a gluten-free lifestyle it has been more difficult. No longer can I just wander down the Cookies/Crackers lane of the grocery store and just pick up whatever my taste buds are hungry for. And I better not even think of heading over to the Bakery department with its fresh baked rolls, specialty breads, and pastries. I checked out the “specialty” department of the store and found a few kinds of pre-made gluten-free cookies, but at $3.99 for a small bag they aren’t for everyday. I tried the Gingerbread cookies but can’t say I was overly impressed.
So l went online and started looking around at gluten-free recipes, saving the ones that interested me, and compiling a list of the various flours that must be mixed balanced for the recipes to work as a precursor to a shopping trip in Duluth at at the Whole Foods Co-op. I also looked online at various gluten-free cookbooks, at their ratings and recommendations. But even knowing the ratings makes me reluctant when buying a cookbook. Does it really have the recipes I and my family will eat?
I headed off to Duluth and did my shopping, first picking up most of the flours I had on my list. I came home with 7 types of flours or the grain to be turned into flour to try. I also picked up Xanthan and Guar gum, some of the more expensive parts needed for baking. Stopping at Barnes & Noble I checked out the gluten-free cookbooks and came home with “The Gluten-Free Bible” by Publications International Ltd. It gives an overview of setting up your gluten-free kitchen – two different flour blends, one for recipes involving yeast, the other for regular baking – and over 200 pages of recipes with pictures.
So now it’s time to make my first batch of gluten-free cookies. The recipe I tried was on page 244, for flourless peanut butter cookies, although I didn’t use the recipe as written. Dealing with thyroid issues I need to avoid peanuts and peanut butter. The other recipe on the page was for flourless almond cookies. With only 3 ingredients – sugar, nut butter, and egg – it doesn’t require alot of time or effort. The most expensive part is the nut butter. I had a jar of cashew butter that needed using so I modified the recipe. Baking in only 10 minutes and giving them a few minutes to cool, I had fresh cookies start to finish in under 30 minutes from when I started heating the oven and pulling out the ingredients until tasting the first of my labors.
So here is the recipe with my modifications:
Flourless Cashew Cookies
1 cup white sugar
1 cup cashew butter
1 slightly beaten egg
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix together the ingredients until well blended. Form into 1 inch ball, place onto an ungreased cookie sheet, flatten with a fork. Bake for 10 minutes (or so until it is set). Allow to cool for a few minutes then remove and store. The original recipe said it made 24 cookies, I got 26 when I made these. You could also add 1/3 cup of chopped cashews to the mix if you’d like.