Monday, September 25, 2006
Cookie Monster
Every Christmas season, I’d make about a dozen different types of cookies, my annual selection perfectly balanced in flavor, texture and appearance (X types of spice cookies, X number with chocolate, X types of cookies vs. X types of fudge -- yep, I'm fussy that way.) I gave them as gifts, saved some for visitors (and midnight snacking), made a tray for the breakroom at work, etc. And each year, my friends and coworkers moaned with joy and asked for my recipes.
That was all shot to hell three years ago when I was diagnosed with celiac disease. Celiac means no wheat, which means no regular flour, which means cookie-baking stopped being a expression of love and started being a science experiment. I played around with my old recipes and wound up with some that tasted right, but looked awful. And if they looked good, they were gritty. I finally gave up and stuck with just fudge and truffles. No one seemed to mind… except me.
Last week I came across a recipe for Pumpkin Whoopie Pies, and I got the baking jones again. Whoopie pies – a New England & Pennsylvania Dutch treat of cakey chocolate cookies held together with buttercream – were some of the first cookies I learned to bake when I was little. After taking a food and wine pairing class in which the instructor served dessert wine with what were basically tarted-up whoopie pies, I changed the filling recipe to make it richer and less cloyingly sweet. A pumpkin cookie would work with the new filling, and I had all the ingredients. Might as well give it a go.
Well, I’ll be darned… I cracked the code. They were moist, they were delicious, they looked great, they were gluten-free. And –- hee, hee! -- my family couldn’t tell the difference.
Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
Cookies:
2 c. gluten-free flour blend (I used Kinnikinnick's)
½ c. almond flour
½ c. amaranth flour
¾ tsp. xanthan gum
¼ tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
11/2 tbsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
½ tsp ground cloves
1 c. vegetable oil
1 ½ c. packed brown sugar
½ c. sugar
1 ½ c. solid-pack pumpkin
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Filling:
½ c. + 2 tbsp. granulated sugar
1 c. chilled heavy whipping cream
1 8-oz. container chilled mascarpone cheese
Preheat oven to 350º. Lightly grease baking sheets. Mix together flours, xanthan gum, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and cloves.
Whip oil and sugars together. Mix in pumpkin puree and eggs, beating well. Add 1 tsp. vanilla. Then slowly incorporate dry ingredients.
Refrigerate dough for 30 min.
Drop dough by heaping teaspoons onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for 10 – 12 min. Let cookies cool slightly before transferring to a cooling rack.
Whip together filling ingredients.
When cookies are completely cool, spread 2 tbsp. of filling on half the cookies. Top with remaining cookies. Enjoy!
That was all shot to hell three years ago when I was diagnosed with celiac disease. Celiac means no wheat, which means no regular flour, which means cookie-baking stopped being a expression of love and started being a science experiment. I played around with my old recipes and wound up with some that tasted right, but looked awful. And if they looked good, they were gritty. I finally gave up and stuck with just fudge and truffles. No one seemed to mind… except me.
Last week I came across a recipe for Pumpkin Whoopie Pies, and I got the baking jones again. Whoopie pies – a New England & Pennsylvania Dutch treat of cakey chocolate cookies held together with buttercream – were some of the first cookies I learned to bake when I was little. After taking a food and wine pairing class in which the instructor served dessert wine with what were basically tarted-up whoopie pies, I changed the filling recipe to make it richer and less cloyingly sweet. A pumpkin cookie would work with the new filling, and I had all the ingredients. Might as well give it a go.
Well, I’ll be darned… I cracked the code. They were moist, they were delicious, they looked great, they were gluten-free. And –- hee, hee! -- my family couldn’t tell the difference.
Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
Cookies:
2 c. gluten-free flour blend (I used Kinnikinnick's)
½ c. almond flour
½ c. amaranth flour
¾ tsp. xanthan gum
¼ tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
11/2 tbsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
½ tsp ground cloves
1 c. vegetable oil
1 ½ c. packed brown sugar
½ c. sugar
1 ½ c. solid-pack pumpkin
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Filling:
½ c. + 2 tbsp. granulated sugar
1 c. chilled heavy whipping cream
1 8-oz. container chilled mascarpone cheese
Preheat oven to 350º. Lightly grease baking sheets. Mix together flours, xanthan gum, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and cloves.
Whip oil and sugars together. Mix in pumpkin puree and eggs, beating well. Add 1 tsp. vanilla. Then slowly incorporate dry ingredients.
Refrigerate dough for 30 min.
Drop dough by heaping teaspoons onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for 10 – 12 min. Let cookies cool slightly before transferring to a cooling rack.
Whip together filling ingredients.
When cookies are completely cool, spread 2 tbsp. of filling on half the cookies. Top with remaining cookies. Enjoy!
# posted by Peggy @ 7:09 PM 
