Gluten Free Snickerdoodle Cookie Recipe

When I was a little girl “snickerdoodles” were one of the first cookies I learned how to make. Deliciously simple vanilla cookies with a coating of cinnamon and sugar! I often made snickerdoodles for youth gatherings at church, for my teachers at school, and just for fun.

I’m always looking for ways to make baking gluten free easier and less time consuming. Last week I needed a dessert for a small dinner party and I decided to come up with a recipe for Snickerdoodles using my favorite gluten free master baking mix.

These cookies come together quickly and are a true crowd pleaser! By the end of our gathering last week not one cookie was left! It’s such an easy cookie to make that I’ll be adding them to my list of super easy gluten free desserts! You could add endless additions to these cookies: nuts, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, peanut butter chips, raisins, you name it!

Healthy? Well, not particularly… but they are really delicious, kid-friendly gluten free cookies!

Perfect for lunch boxes, office gatherings, or just because, these cookies will be sure to please anyone who tries them!


Gluten Free Snickerdoodles
(gluten free, soy free, *casein free)

½ cup Spectrum shortening
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 ¾ cups Gluten Free Master Baking Mix, or GF/CF Homemade Master Baking Mix (or other leavened gluten free baking mix)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mixture for dipping cookies in:
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon


Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream shortening with sugar. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Stir in Gluten Free Master Baking Mix. (You can chill dough to make it easier to work with at this point, but it is not necessary!) Roll dough into 1” balls. In a small bowl mix together cinnamon and sugar. Roll cookie balls in mixture and place 2” apart on a greased baking sheet (or a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or silpat mat). Flatten cookies by using the bottom of a heavy cup or glass that has been covered in the cinnamon/sugar mixture. (Cookies will not spread while baking, so it’s important to flatten them with the bottom of a glass or with a fork!) Bake for 8-10 minutes in 350 degree oven until cookies are golden brown on the edges. Let cool on cookie sheets for several minutes before moving to cooling rack. Store in an airtight container on the counter.

Makes 2 dozen cookies.

(Printer-friendly recipe.)


Carrie's Notes:

• Make sure to try out my revised gluten free/casein free master baking mix! 
• I have not tried these cookies with agave nectar, but I think it would work with only 1/3 cup of agave in cookie dough. 
• For a different flavor basic cookie, try using almond extract or lemon extract instead of the vanilla called for!

Top Ten Gluten Free 4th of July Recipes

Here are my Top Ten gluten free recipes for the 4th of July!!
Happy Gluten Free Summer Eating!!

• Red Potato Salad

• Fresh Strawberry Pie

• Secret Chocolate Chip Cookies

• Cherry Fluff Cheesecake (not casein free)

• Simple Salsa Salad

• Homemade Caesar Salad

• Summer Vegetable Scramble

• Simple Strata Salad

• Apple Mint Salad

• Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

What are your favorite recipes for the 4th of July??

Simple Fresh Homemade Lemonade Recipe (gluten free)

Summer is the time for lemonade. Fresh squeezed lemons, cold water, and sugar or the sweetener of your choice... that's all it takes to make your own lemonade!

Every week during the summer season I make a batch of homemade lemonade. There is something soothing during the process. It's almost like baking homemade bread. The actions of slicing the lemons in half, squeezing them, straining the juice, and adding it to fresh, crisp, cold water and mixing it with agave nectar and stevia. Then to drink the first glass of lemonade over ice. It makes you smile. It tastes like summer and it makes me want to be outside.

This Fourth of July make your own lemonade at home! It's refreshing, cool, and surprisingly good for you! Just watch out, because making your own will probably become a habit! ;-)

You can choose to make the lemonade with plain sugar, agave nectar, stevia, splenda... choose what you like best. I used to make my lemonade with sugar, but since I am having to watch my sugar intake I now make my lemonade with a mixture of liquid stevia and a small amount of agave nectar.


Simple, Fresh Homemade Lemonade

3-4 lemons, freshly squeezed and strained (-OR- about 1/3 cup of lemon juice)
2 quarts fresh, cold water
**1/2 cup simple sugar syrup (or the sweetener of your choice) + more to taste

If you are using fresh lemons: cut them in half, juice/squeeze them, and then place a plastic strainer over a 2 qt. pitcher. Pour the squeezed lemon juice over the strainer to remove pulp and seeds. I like to add a little bit of lemon pulp back in my fresh lemonade. Add 2 quarts of cold water and the simple syrup or sweetener of your choice. Refrigerate and serve cold over ice!

Happy Gluten Free Forth of July!!

Jennifer's Simple Homemade Marinara Sauce (Gluten Free, Casein Free, Soy Free)

My co-worker and friend Jennifer won't claim to be a "chef" or a "cook"... but I think she's quite good as both! She's made many accomplishments over the past year including losing over 60 lbs. by changing her diet and exercising. I am very, very proud of her!

One thing she has learned in the past year is how to cook more things from scratch. I think now she secretly enjoys spending time in the kitchen!

She recently shared this super easy and delicious recipe with me and I had to brag on her. It's too delicious and simple to keep all to myself. Jennifer's family is 100% pure Italian. She grew up eating Italian for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. Pasta, pasta, pasta, and a huge vat of spaghetti/tomato sauce were always in the kitchen.

Since Jennifer has followed Weight Watchers to learn about portion control, healthy foods, and how to eat for good health, she's learned new ways to make recipes. Her recipe for an easy marinara sauce is simple, delicious, and packed with real Italian flavor. Jennifer said that the best tomatoes to use for this sauce are imported from Italy and have a natural sweetness that really makes the sauce special.

Jennifer's Easy Marinara Sauce
(Gluten Free, Casein Free, Soy Free)

1 (28 oz) can cooked whole peeled roma tomatoes with basil
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 sweet onion, finely minced

In a medium sized saucepan heat oil to sizzling. Add garlic and onions and saute until golden. Pour in can of tomatoes with liquid. As tomatoes heat through, take a potato masher and crush tomotoes until they are the consistancy you desire for a sauce. I prefer them chunky and thick. If you want your sauce more smooth you could certainly use an immersion blender or add the sauce to your counter blender and blend until smooth. Simmer sauce for 30 minutes or more before serving. This is also great in the crock pot for an all day simmer.

*******************

Just in case you were wondering about those meatballs in the picture above... here is my go-to recipe for gluten free meatballs!! I generally use Tinkyada pasta or spaghetti squash for my "spaghetti and meatballs" base.

Enjoy!

Carrie's Emeril-Inspired Baked Meatballs
(Gluten Free, Casein Free, Soy Free)

1 lb. grass-fed ground beef
1/2 sweet onion, very finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, very finely minced
1 egg
1/4 cup almond meal
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons dried sweet basil
1 1/2 teaspoons Herbs de Provence

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix all ingredients in a large bowl, and roll into shape with hands into about 15-20 medium sized meatballs.
Place in a greased glass baking dish and bake for 20 minutes.
Add baked meatballs to heated sauce of your choice and serve over glutenfree pasta or spaghetti squash.

**********************

My husband and I are in Florida for the week, so forgive me for not adding printer-friendly PDF's of these recipes! I will add them as soon as we return home! Pray for good weather, as we will hopefullly be watching the the launching of the Space Shuttle Endeavour at 5:40am Wednesday morning!!

Banana Spice Muffins Recipe (Gluten Free, Casein Free, Soy Free)

I'm not always a fan of bananas... they usually end up getting frozen simply because we can't eat them all before they get super ripe.

Yesterday's batch of super ripe bananas were added to these breakfast muffins. After cleaning the kitchen yesterday it was time to bake. Originally I wanted to make a pound cake. My dad called me on Saturday thanking me for sending him my great-grandma's pound cake recipe. And after that conversation I seriously wanted pound cake. (Here's a GREAT gluten free pound cake... just in case you have a craving now!)

But in the interest of something a bit healthier with fewer carbohydrates... and my constant need to have something quick for breakfast, I came up with these banana muffins.

These are simple muffins. No added nuts or chocolate (such a pity...), but they are delicious by themselves. Feel free to indulge on the recipe as you see fit. I chose to use almond flour in this recipe for convenience, and because it's such a fantastic naturally gluten free, low carbohydrate flour to use. For a great selection of the best gluten free almond flour recipes, please visit Elana's Pantry. I've already pre-ordered her new cookbook and I can't wait until it's published!

Please share your variations of these simple banana muffins in the comments below!

Banana Spice Muffins
Gluten Free, Soy Free, Casein Free
Created by: Carrie @ http://www.gingerlemongirl.com

Dry Ingredients
3 cups almond flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Wet Ingredients
1 teaspoon bourbon vanilla extract
1/2 cup agave nectar -or- sugar
2 large bananas, mashed
3 eggs, whisked
3 tablespoons oil (I used grapeseed)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin pan with paper liners and spritz with nonstick cooking spray, set aside. Whisk dry ingredients together in a large bowl and set aside. In another bowl, mash bananas. Add agave nectar or sugar. Mix in eggs, oil, and vanilla. Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Spoon batter into lined muffin pans until they are at least 3/4 full. Makes 12-14 large muffins. Bake for 18-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool on a wire rack. Store in airtight container in refrigerator. These are moist muffins.

Printer friendly recipe.