Tender Tea Cookies

With cookies everywhere this time of year, I decided it was time to makeover a favorite recipe.  A few years ago I found a recipe that was very similar to the tea cookies sold at a favorite bakery in Bowling Green, Kentucky.  It used a combination of cornstarch, powdered sugar, and flour to form a tender cookie so I believed a switch to gluten free flour would work well.  Here's what I ended up with...

You'll need:

1 Cup Softened Shortening (or mix of Earth Balance and shortening--I used butter flavored Crisco)

1/3 Cup Powdered Sugar

3/4 Cup Sifted Corn Starch

1 Cup Gluten Free Flour Mix (I recommend King Arthur)

1/3 teaspoon Salt

Mix butter and powdered sugar until creamy, add sifted cornstarch, flour, and salt.  Mix well.  Refrigerate dough for several hours or overnight.  Roll into small bites and flatten slightly (or just dab them on your parchment paper like I did).  Bake at 370 for 10 to 15 minutes until the bottom is light brown.  Cool and top with your favorite "buttercream" frosting.

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"Buttercream Frosting"

This makes more than you'll need but cookie making is hard work so just enjoy some right off the spoon... The shortening makes the icing more whippy while the Earth Balance will make it richer.

Use a mixer to combine:

1/2 cup Softened Shortening/Earth Balance

3 Cups Powdered Sugar

Unsweetened Original Almond Milk (until reach desired spreading consistency)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Food coloring of choice

Free free to make your cookies daintier than mine--I kind of like them messy.

After eating these I'm also looking forward to adapting the dough for Mexican/Russian wedding cookies/cakes--perfect consistency!

EBLT Salad

Tonight I did a salad take on my EAT sandwich.

I had some fresh local bibb lettuce so that took the place of the arugula this go-round.  I added sliced grape tomatoes, toasted diced Rudi's multigrain bread for croutons, and eggplant bacon.  There's a sprinkle of sesame seeds in there too.

Since I like mayo and jalapeno jelly on my sandwich, I decided to make my dressing a mix of the two with a touch of lemon juice to both thin it out and add acidity.

It was mighty tasty and I didn't have to worry about sandwich juice running down my face :D

Snacks- Hummus, Half Moon Bread, and stuff

 

I love snacking or making snacking an entire meal.  This week I'm going to focus on some of my favorites.  First off: hummus, gluten-free pita-style bread and stuff.  Right now I'm big fan of sundried tomatoes and roasted garlic.

I am a gigantic fan of Gluten Free Sonny Marie's products and their Half Moon Bread makes my life so much better.  I really missed pita bread after becoming gluten and dairy free and this completely fills that need for me.  I heat the pockets in the microwave, cut into triangles, and toast in my toaster oven.

Buy or make your favorite hummus and then start adding.  Any peppers-fresh or roasted, olives, pickles, hard boiled eggs, fresh tomatoes, fruits, etc. are all wonderful for this.

Prepare enough for a snack

 

or make a platter for a crowd!