Gluten Free Cookie Exchange

Recipes from the 1st Annual Ladies Holiday Party and Gluten Free Cookie Exchange Sponsored by Challenge Butter and Bob’s Red Mill

Special thanks to the suppliers of our ingredients for the First Annual Ladies Holiday Party and Gluten Free Cookie Exchange: Challenge Butter and Bob’s Red Mill. As you can see above, our ladies put together quite a spread with your line of products.

Challenge Butter sent all baking attendees coupons for their butter and new cream cheese products. Bob’s Red Mill sent 4 packages of coconut, almond and hazelnut flours our way as well. We used these products to make and share the following cookie recipes (I’ll also be sharing other treat and savory recipes using Challenge and Bob’s Red Mill products throughout 2015 as well!):

Grain Free “Oatmeal” Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients
1/4 cup Challenge Butter
1 large egg at room temperature
1/3 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp nutmeg
1 cup Bob’s Red Mill almond flour
2 Tbs Bob’s Red Mill coconut flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp finely ground flax seeds
3/4 cup finely shredded coconut
1/2 cup Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips

Procedure
Preheat oven to 350°F
Place the Challenge Butter and the egg in the bowl of a stand mixer and cream for 1 minute on high. If you don’t have a stand mixer you can use an electric hand mixer.
Add the honey and vanilla and mix for another minute.
Place the cinnamon, nutmeg, Bob’s Red Mill flours, baking soda, salt, and flax seeds in a small bowl and stir to combine.
Slowly add the dry ingredients

Gluten-Free Orange-Cinnamon Lace Cookies

Ingredients
1/3 cup Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free All Purpose Flour
1/2 cup Bob’s Red Mill almond flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoons grated orange rind (zest)
5 tablespoons unsalted Challenge Butter
1/3 cup Pyure Organic Stevia
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 teaspoon orange extract, optional
melted dark chocolate for drizzling, optional

Procedure
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or foil.

In a small bowl mix together the flours, salt, cinnamon, and orange zest until well blended.

Combine the Challenge Butter, Pyure Organic Stevia, and honey in a medium saucepan set over low heat. Stir until the butter melts and the stevia dissolves. Increase the heat to medium and bring just to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat.

Stir in the dry ingredients into the pan, followed by the orange extract.

Drop the batter onto the prepared baking sheet by teaspoonfuls, spacing the spoonfuls 4″ apart from one another. Bake no more than six cookies on a pan.

Bake the cookies for 7 to 9 minutes, until they’re an even golden brown. Transfer the cookies, on their parchment or foil, to a rack, and let them rest until they’re completely cool and crisp.

Bake succeeding batches while the first batch is cooling.

Once the cookies are completely cool, drizzle them with melted dark chocolate, if desired.

Caramel Date Thumbprints

Cookie Base
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups pecan halves
1 cup Bob’s Red Mill almond flour
1 1/3 cups Bob’s Red Mill gluten free all purpose flour
1/2 cup finely chopped plump Medjool dates
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 sticks unsalted Challenge butter, softened
¾ cup Pyure Organic Stevia
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Procedure
Pulse all ingredients together in a food processor. Remove dough from food processor and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for at least an hour to firm up the dough. You can also place in the freezer for 10-15 minutes to speed up the process.
Preheat your oven to 350°F.
Shape cookies into little balls and press your thumb into them to make a deep impression. Bake at 350°F until they are golden brown. Take out the cookies and carefully (as the cookies are still hot) press them back down in the center to make sure the impressions are deep enough to hold the caramel date filling.

Caramel Date Filling
Ingredients
20 medjool dates soaked in hot water and drained
2 Tbs Challenge Butter
sea salt to taste
2 tsp vanilla extract
Procedure
Pulse in a food processor until the filling becomes a caramel texture.
When cookies have cooled, use a pastry bag to fill them with the caramel.

Chocolate Drizzle
Ingredients
2 cups chocolate (chips or semisweet)
2 Tbs coconut oil
Procedure
Melt the chocolate and the coconut oil in the microwave in 20 second bursts, stirring in between. When chocolate is melted, drizzle it over the finished cookies and set aside to dry.

Thanks again to Challenge Butter and Bob’s Red Mill for their awesome product supplies. You can find them on Facebook here and follow them on Twitter here. You can find Bob’s Red Mill on Facebook here and follow them on Twitter here.

If you would like to sponsor the 2015 Ladies Holiday Party and Gluten Free Cookie Exchange, you can contact me here. I am looking for wine sponsors, gluten free cookie ingredients, catered items for guests, and goodie bag items for attendees.

January 4, 2015 | Categories: Recipes | Tags: Bob's Red Mill, Challenge Butter, events, food, Gluten Free Cookie Exchange, party, recipes | Leave a comment

First Annual Ladies Gluten Free Cookie Exchange Catered by Whole Foods Market Roseville

On December 20th, 2014, I invited a group of ladies over to our home for a holiday gathering and gluten free cookie exchange. I didn’t want to serve only cookies, but rather have a small dinner spread for my guests. Since I wanted to focus on my guests and arranging a few games during the party, I definitely did not want to worry about making/preparing the food. I spoke to some of my Northern California contacts at Whole Foods Market and Whole Foods Market in Roseville gladly agreed to provide the food for the event. (You can see the full spread above).

The planning was simple. All I had to do was go online (I had a budget of $150 to feed 8-10 people) and choose the items I wanted and figure out how much for the number of guests I would have. I was also able to keep the menu gluten free, which was super important to me since it was a gluten free cookie exchange and considering the theme of this website. 🙂 To view some catering options available at the Roseville, California store, you can click here. After I decided on the items I wanted to order, I wrote them down and brought in my order to the catering department. (I recommend doing this at least a week before your party if the number of guests is similar to mine—8 to 10.)

For the Ladies Gluten Free Cookie Exchange of 2014, here’s what Whole Foods Market Roseville put together for me:

Main course, a sous vide pork loin. All I had to do was unwrap it and throw in in the oven for 15-20 minutes while I was waiting for my guests to arrive.

I also ordered a tray of chicken satay. Because people love food on a stick. Fun! 😉

Because the nickname of my holiday gathering was “the wine party disguised as a cookie exchange” I ordered a fruit tray AND a cheese tray, because nothing goes with wine more than fruit and cheese! Especially cheese 🙂

The cheese platter had cheddar, provolone, smoked mozzarella, swiss, and brie cheeses (I asked that they leave off the baguette slices it typically comes with) and was garnished with fresh fruit.

The last item on the spread was this impressive antipasto platter featuring nitrate/nitrite-free prosciutto, salami, fresh mozzarella, marinated olives, marinated artichokes, roasted red pepper, marinated mushrooms and roasted tomatoes.

Scribner Bend Vineyards and Domaine Chandon kicked in some super food friendly wine. Scribner Bend sent me a bottle of their 2011 Cabernet Franc and a bottle of their 2010 Black Hat Tempranillo. The Black Hat Tempranillo has been a long time favorite of mine, and it was also a big hit at the party. The Cabernet Franc also didn’t last very long. A guest of mine brought an amazing dairy free lamb moussaka that serendipitously paired up with the Cabernet Franc. Thanks so much, Scribner Bend and thank you Wendy for the moussaka. 🙂

Domaine Chandon also sent a bottle of their Limited Edition Blanc de Noirs to kick off the party in style. You can visit their online store here. Many cheers and happy 2015 to Domaine Chandon. 🙂

Challenge Butter and Bob’s Red Mill were also major sponsors and I will be writing about their contributions in separate blog posts (with recipes!!) to follow this one.

You can find Whole Foods Roseville on Facebook here and follow Whole Foods Market Northern California on twitter here. Thanks again to them for their sponsorship of the 2014 Gluten Free Cookie Exchange.

January 3, 2015 | Categories: events, food, wine | Tags: cookies, Gluten Free Cookie Exchange, party, Whole Foods Market, Whole Foods Market Roseville | 1 Comment

12 Days of Christmas Picks for the Food and Wine Lover: Amoretti Master Sampler Pack

Are you feeling lucky? Because it’s day number seven and time for another one of my 12 Days of Christmas Picks for the Food and Wine lover!

Today’s pick is the Master Sampler Pack from Amoretti®.

The Amoretti Master Sampler Pack contains twelve 50ml bottles of Amoretti’s most popular products, broken down into four sampler packs containing three 50ml bottles each.

One sampler 3-pack contains a 50ml bottle of Amoretti Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil infused with the natural flavor and aroma of kalamata olives, a 50ml bottle of Amoretti Aged Pomegranate Balsamic Vinegar and a bottle both, blended into a vinaigrette. These bottles are perfect to take with you to work and jazz up your lunch, or to pack along for travel.

The next sampler 3-pack contains 50ml sample bottles of Amoretti’s most popular creamy syrups—Crema di Vanilla, Crema di Hazelnut and Crema di Caramel. If you are Paleo/Primal, you can keep these in the house for guests to use in their coffee! 🙂

Another sampler 3-pack contains 50ml sample bottles of each of 3 of Amoretti’s most popular sugar free flavors, French Vanilla, Hazelnut, and Caramel with half the calories and carbohydrates of our regular syrups. YAY sugar free! Amoretti actually has a proprietary flavor extraction process that produces a sugar free formulation without the addition of artificial flavors, colors or sweeteners, so I will be using these in my own coffee and sugar free desserts!

The last sampler pack contains a 50ml sample bottle of each of Amoretti’s Organolicious Agave Nectar, Organolicious Blood Orange Flavored Agave Nectar, and Organolicious French Vanilla Flavored Agave Nectar. Agave nectar is a natural sweetener, extracted from the blue agave plant, a succulent plant from Southern Mexico resembling aloe vera. It has all the sweetness and natural flavor of sugar, but with a low glycemic index number.
I added a little of the Amoretti French Vanilla Flavored Agave Nectar to my caramel date paste for some cookies I am making tonight for my 1st Annual Gluten Free Cookie Exchange. It was such a flavorful addition. I really loved it!