Gluten Free Christmas Baking: White Chocolate and Stem Ginger Cookies

Sarah (Wuthering Bites) and I had a Christmas baking day. Each of us brought a recipe and she was going to show me some straightforward gluten free baking to prove how easy it is to substitute flours but with no affect on taste. So whilst we prepped all the ingredients we popped on Kate Bush and Disney and sang along with great gusto, I like to think nurturing cooking with song helps it taste better. I had brought a white chocolate and crystalised stem ginger cookies to the table whilst Sarah had adapted a black treacle and cinnamon heart biscuit recipe to make it nice and gluten free. You can see her recipe, more of her excellent photos, and our results here.

White Chocolate and Ginger cookies (with hot coffee) 

It amazes me how gluten, something I take for granted as being able to consume, causes so much trouble., but for a lot of people it is a big problem. Luckily Sarah, who is a hero to the cause, has made a study of how to alter recipes so they taste pretty much the same, just requires a little more experimentation. Here however is a fool proof cookie recipe, that to me, having consumed my own version many times, tastes almost bang on the gluten filled one. The cookies will come out chewy and super moreish. This recipe is pretty versatile, whatever you fancy in your cookies you can just add in. So far I have  made these cookies with, Daim bar (also gluten free), Toblerone and dark chocolate with hazelnuts.

You will need:

125g butter

120g gluten free plain flour*
30g of tapioca flour

100g white chocolate
4 pieces of crystalised stem ginger chopped into small bits

½ tsp gluten free baking powder

1 egg

100g granulated sugar-it's the two types of sugar that give them the chewy texture

75g soft brown sugar

2 tsp of vanilla extract 

Pinch of salt

*(the standard gluten recipe uses 150g of plain flour)

Chop the chocolate and ginger and pre heat the oven to 190 degrees with fan. Weigh out the sugars into a mixing bowl and melt the butter in a saucepan then add the melting butter to the sugar mix then beat it. Crack the egg into the bowl and add the vanilla extract, salt and baking powder. Tapioca flour, I am informed, acts as a  thickener or gel when cooking, like fake gluten, adding a little extra help to the gluten free flour. Weigh the flours and then add gradually to the bowl  mixing each time as you go the mixture will be fairly stiff by this point. 

A very eager Miko (photo by Sarah Carter)

Add the chocolate and ginger and mix once more. Get some baking parchment on a baking tray and use teaspoons to separate out your mix into small blobs, do not press down, the oven will do the magic for you. Bake for 8-10 minutes, you are looking for browning round the edges and cracks forming across the top. They will still be soft when you get them out but have faith because if you leave them in too long they won't be chewy and delicious.

Cookies in detail (All Photos by Sarah Carter)

Miko eager to sample  (photo by Sarah Carter)

So my first foray into gluten free baking and I was suitably impressed as to how easy it was. I was afraid it was going to be difficult but with a guiding hand I know I have at least one sweet to prepare for my gluten intolerant or coeliac suffering friends. 

Jayne Bakes: Lemon Tarts

A guest blog post from my friend Jayne she likes to bake and experiment in the kitchen, it's all very yummy!

Firstly let me introduce myself, my name is Jayne and from time to time I will be writing about my latest adventure in the kitchen on Adventures in Eating. Like Abby I adore food. I will go to restaurants and dissect a dish as though it was my last supper savouring every mouthful and trying my hardest to work out how it’s been seasoned and what exactly is in the said dish.

Sadly unlike Abby, Rich and my boyfriend I am not a terribly great cook.(she is really, she's being modest-Abby) I cook reasonable meals, some times even lovely meals but this has never stopped me from inflicting my friends, family and extended family to my food whenever possible. However, my personal food joy is in baking and making anything sweet related.

This weekend, I attempted making the classic lemon tart. I made five mini tarts in 10cm flan tins and the results were wonderful, I can say this as my boyfriend’s sister informed me it was her best lemon tart yet.

The recipe is a mix of two recipes. The pastry is from AllRecipes and the filling is based on Rachel Allen’s Bake recipe:

Ingredients:

For the pastry: 

• 75g butter
• 40g icing sugar
• 125g plain flour
• 1 egg yolk

For the filling

• 3 eggs
• 1 lemon, grated zest
• 125 g caster sugar
• 150 ml double cream
• 2 lemons, juice only
• icing sugar, for dusting

For the pastry: Place the flour, icing sugar in to a bowl and rub the butter into the flour until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs then, using your hands, add just enough egg to bind it together.

With your hands, flatten out the ball of dough until it is about 2cm thick, then wrap it in cling film or place it in a plastic bag and leave in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or, if you are pushed for time, in the freezer for 10–15 minutes, before using.

Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4.

Line a 23cm tart tin with the short crust pastry and cover the base with baking parchment. Fill the tin with baking beans and bake blind for 10-15 minutes. Remove the beans and parchment for the last five minutes of baking for a golden crust.

For the filling: Place the eggs, lemon zest and sugar in a bowl and whisk for a couple of minutes until the egg is all broken up.

Add the cream, lemon juice. Mix well; carefully pour the filling into the cooked pastry case.

Reduce the oven temperature to 160C/gas 3 and bake the tart for 30-35 minutes or until the filling has just set in the centre – it should only wobble very slightly when you take it out of the oven.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 15 minutes before removing the tart from the tin and transferring to a plate or cake stand. When it is cool, put a dusting of icing sugar over the top to serve.  

Enjoy!

Jx

Mmm thanks Jayne yummy! Tonight I shall be making a variety of pancakes tomorrow I shall post how successful I am. Enjoy your pancake day!