I decided this morning that a proper attempt at a gluten-free something was in order and in The Intolerant Gourmet I found a recipe for basic cookies. In essence, cookies that can be made plain or with additions. I’ve eaten four so far today. But I’ll be honest, I’m not sure I’m convinced about their texture so I thought I’d post the recipe here and see what you all thought. They are decidedly more-ish but I suspect this is largely to do with the large amounts of chewy caramel in the cookie and not the cookie itself.

As you can see, I obviously added way to many butterscotch pieces (hence the half destructed appearance of the cookie) so I’ve halved the amount in the recipe below. I also added in xanthan gum – which, through reading Babycakes I’ve understood is required in pretty much every gluten-free recipe you make. I figured it probably wouldn’t hurt to be on the safe side. The recipe is given with some flavour combinations (and I like the sound of custard cookies) but I had these peanut butter pieces to use up and figured a chocolate/peanut butter/butterscotch cookie was the way forward. I was right (thankfully) and now I just need to find some people to eat them. I also used butter in this recipe as the original calls for some sort of healthy spread. I know I’ve given up wheat but I have certainly not given up butter.

(In other news this week, I bought and assembled a desk – the one in these pictures; I transcribed another interview and am trying to summon the motivation to continue as I seem to have developed a mental block with transcribing; I bread baked with year fives; and I have one day of field work left. Expect cake on this blog later in the week.)

Anything Goes Cookies

Adapted from The Intolerant Gourmet by Pippa Kendrick

125g butter, unsalted and at room temperature

75g soft brown sugar

150g gluten-free plain flour*

75g gluten-free self-raising flour

1 1/2 teaspoons xanthan gum

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

50g butterscotch pieces

50g peanut butter pieces

50g dark chocolate, roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 170C and line a baking sheet with baking paper. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and creamy.

Add in the vanilla followed by the flours and xanthan gum. I found it useful to stir everything together first before beating it with the electric beater but that was really to avoid having flour on every available surface. Then add in the additional ingredients (chocolate/peanut butter pieces/butterscotch pieces).

Beat until the mixture starts to come together and then knead to form a loose dough.

Roll the mixture into balls, and lay out on the baking sheet. Press down lightly – I did some with a fork but found that the palm of my hand worked better and didn’t split the cookies apart.

Bake for 14 minutes, turning the tray around half way through. You want the cookies to be a light golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool on the tray before transferring to a wire rack. Eat.

*I’ve got a supply of Doves Farm gluten-free (and various other alternative) flours so that’s what I’m using in these recipes.