Gluten free baking can be tricky. They, more times than not, come out more dense than their gluten filled counterparts. To combat this you will want to add some starches in with your mixture to add a bit of lightness to your finished product. We will do a full blog on that in the future.
One issue we run into with gluten free flours is the amount of rice in them. My wife has a problem when she eats too much rice. It has an accumulative effect and after consuming too much she feels as if she has been glutened. We all know that is far from a fun feeling.
Over the holidays she was glutened pretty badly and had a very bad reaction. It lasted for quite a while. It just so happened to be at a time I was doing some holiday baking, which she loves. Unfortunately, she was not going to be able to have any of the baked goods I was making because they all had rice flour in them. The thought of adding rice to her system on top of all the pain she was in was just too much for her to want to do.
I hated the thought of making all these delicious holiday treats and her not being able to have any of them, so I tried to find something to bake that she could enjoy without adding to the pain she was already experiencing. Enter the cornmeal cookie. Gluten free AND rice free. The added bonus was… they tasted great! These are sweet, but not too sweet.
Feel free to change up the dried fruits/nuts listed. I have used dried cherries and dried blueberries before and it was just as delicious. You can even make an adult version by trading the water with rum. If you, like my wife, need this to be both gluten free and rice free, make sure you read the label carefully to ensure you are buying cornmeal that is marked gluten free and does not include rice in the ingredients list.
Gluten Free Cornmeal Cookies
1/2 C cranberries (dried)
1/4 C golden raisins
1/4 C black walnuts
1/4 C water
1 1/2 C cornmeal
1 1/2 C corn starch
3/4 C sugar (granulated)
1 t baking powder
3/4 t xanthan gum
1/2 t butter (room temperature)
2 T milk
2 eggs (large)
1 t vanilla extract
– Preheat oven to 350*f . Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
– Combine dried fruit and water together. Set aside.
– Combine cornmeal, corn starch, sugar, baking powder, xanthan gum and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix on low to combine mixture. Add butter to the bowl. Blend until mixture looks like coarse sand.
– Combine eggs, milk and vanilla in a small bowl. Mix until well blended.
– Add egg mixture to cornmeal mixture. Mix until a stiff dough forms. If the mixture is too dry to come together add milk 1 teaspoon at a time until dough ball forms.
– Stir fruit and water into the dough.
– Form 1 tablespoon drops of dough on parchment lined baking sheet. Leave 2 inches between each cookie.
– Bake cookies 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and let cookies cool.
– Enjoy!
*As always… make sure to read the labels of all food products you buy to make sure they are gluten free*
GotNoThymeForGluten 