Kelly's Gluten Free Nutty Shortbread

By now I've eaten way to many Christmas cookies, but I wanted to share my absolute favorite of the season - Kelly's Gluten Free Nutty Shortbread! She adapted the recipe from Sunset Magazine and uses a combination of Cashews, Pecans, Walnuts and Almonds mixed up in a Honey Caramel on top of a traditional Shortbread, only this time it is Gluten Free. I cannot even tell you how delicious these are - you are just going to have to make them and see for yourself!

Kelly's Gluten Free Nutty Shortbread

adapted from Sunset Magazine

Heat oven to 325 degrees

For Shortbread:

Lightly grease an 9 x 9 inch baking pan

1 cup (2 sticks) of unsalted Butter

1/2 cup Sugar

2 cups of Gluten Free Flour blend (with Xanthan Gum or add 2 teaspoons)

1/4 teaspoon Salt

Blend the Butter and Sugar together in a food processor or stand mixer until creamy. Then add in the GF Flour and Salt and mix until the mixture is like fine sand and just comes together when you pinch it. Press the mixture into the pan and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and put on the Nutty Topping. Cook for an additional 20 - 25 minutes. The Nut mixture should be bubbling and just slightly browning.  Cool and cut into squares. 

For Nutty Topping:

3 cups of mixed Nuts (we used Cashews, Pecans, Walnuts and Almonds)

3 Tablespoons Butter

1/3 cup light colored Honey

1/3 cup Sugar

Put the Butter, Honey and Sugar in a non stick frying pan. Heat to boiling and then add in the Nuts. Toss to coat and pour over the Shortbread.

Five Element Analysis

Since this is a sweet cookie made with both Sugar and Honey, this is definitely mostly and Earth treat. Almonds and Cashews add even more Earth. But, the Walnuts and Pecans bring  in the Water Element and the Rice Flour in the GF Flour adds in some of the Metal Element and the Butter brings in a lot more. Only the Wood and Fire Elements are missing, but serving these Nutty Shortbread with Coffee or Tea fixes that and then just be sure to add a Wood Food at another meal. 

Gluten Free Date Bars

Every year I try to add one different cookie to the usual assortment and of course usually leave off one too. so we are not inundated with cookies. As it is, I do give away as many as I can!  This year I made Date Bars, which I haven't made since I was a teenager and that was a very long time ago!  This was one of my Father's favorites, so it has a special kind of nostalgia attached to it. So, I pulled out an old recipe card and adapted the recipe. I have no idea where the original recipe came from, but it was a very popular cookie way back then.

I needed to make it Gluten Free, which wasn't difficult at all and I lowered the amount of Sugar because I think Dates are very sweet enough all on their own. I also added just a little more Butter, as I think Gluten Free Flour Blends are a little drier. And I thought a pinch of Salt would balance the flavor. Anyway, it turned out wonderfully and I had forgotten how delicious Date Bars are!

Gluten Free Date Bars

8 ounces of pitted Dates, chopped

1/2 cup Water

pinch of Salt

1 cup Gluten Free Flour Blend (with Xanthan Gum or add 2 teaspoons)

1 cup Rolled Oats

1/2 cup Brown Sugar

10 Tablespoons unsalted Butter

Butter an 8x8 inch square baking pan.  Heat the oven to 350 degrees. 

Place the Dates and Water in a small saucepan. Heat, stirring often until the Dates soften or until they become a paste - about 7 - 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool.

In a food processor or a big bowl, cream together the Butter and Brown Sugar. Add in the Oats and Flour and blend until the mixture is crumbly but sticks together when you pinch it. 

Pour half of the crumb mixture into the prepared baking pan and press down. Spoon the Date filling over the crumbs carefully with the back of a spoon. Sprinkle the remains crumbs on top, pressing down lightly. 

Bake for about 30 minutes or until the top is lightly golden brown.  Cool and cut into squares.

Five Element Analysis

Dates are very sweet and very sticky so they are certainly Earth foods. The Oats and Brown Sugar add even more. The Butter brings in the Metal Element as does the Rice Flour in the baking mix. But this is clearly a Earthy treat!

Almond Chews

Every Christmas I try to add another cookie to the cookie tin and this year I resurrected an old favorite that I haven't made in years. It's a really simple recipe using Almond Paste, Sugar and Egg White, which makes it naturally gluten free. It's a lovely chewy cookie with a delightful almond flavor. I believe it is an Italian cookie. I'm sorry to say that i don't remember where I got the recipe and it was probably from the back of the box of Almond Paste. I tweaked the original recipe to reduce the amount of Sugar, as it is very sweet and I think the Powdered Sugar added at the end is necessary. This recipe only makes 12 cookies, but it can easily be doubled. My son says it tastes just like the inside of an Almond Croissant and that's a good thing!

Almond Chews

1  7 ounce package of Almond Paste (Gluten Free and not Marzipan)

1/3 cup of Sugar

1/4 teaspoon Salt

1 Egg White from a large Egg

1/3 cup Powdered Sugar

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Break up the Almond Paste into pieces  as small as you can make them and put into the bowl of a stand mixer or food processor. Add in the Sugar and Salt and process until it is broken down the consistency of brown sugar. 

In another bowl, beat the Egg White with a wire whisk until it is smooth and fluffy (about 2 minutes).

Then add the Egg Whites to the Almond mixture and mix on a high speed until a dough is formed.

Pour the Powdered Sugar into a shallow bowl. From 12 balls of the Almond Cookie dough and roll each in the Powdered Sugar until coated.

Place onto a Silpat-lined or parchment=lined baking pan, press down lightly and cook for about 15 minutes or until the tops are  lightly browned. Remove from oven and leave on the baking for about 2 minutes. Then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Five Element Analysis

This is a very sweet cookie so you know that it's primarily the Earth Element and Almonds are from the Earth Element too so this is an especially Earthy Cookie. The Egg White adds a bit of the Water Element, but it's by no means a balanced treat. Serve it with Coffee or Tea to bring in some Fire and serve after a meal containing the other elements. 

Russian Tea Cakes - Gluten Free

Russian Tea Cakes are one of my family's favorite Christmas Cookies. It's basically a  shortbread that's made with ground Walnuts and coated with Powdered Sugar. It's crumbly and rich at the same time. They are known as Mexican Wedding Cakes if you use ground Pecans iand these cookies are also called Snowballs in some parts of the country. I've been searching for a good Gluten Free recipe and I've tried several but finally found a good one from Bob's Red Mill. They used Hazelnut Meal for what they call their Holiday Tea Cookies, which I'm sure makes a great cookie, but I substituted Walnuts. And, I lowered the salt content slightly as their recipe made a very salty cookie. The best news is that absolutely no one realized that the cookie was Gluten Free! That's when I know that I've achieved my goal - to make really delicious cookies that just happen to be Gluten Free!

Russian Tea Cakes - Gluten Free adapted from Bob's Red Mill

1 cup Butter, softened (2 sticks)

1/2 cup Powdered Sugar + 1 1/2 cups for Coating

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

2 cups Gluten Free Flour (I used Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour) 

3/4 cup Walnuts (rounded)

1/2 teaspoon Salt

Grind the Walnuts in the Food Processor and put aside in a small bowl. Then put in the Butter, Vanilla and Powdered Sugar and mix until very creamy. Add in the Vanilla Extract and incorporate fully.  Then add in the Flour and Salt and mix again. Remove to a bowl and stir in the Ground Walnuts. Make walnut sized balls and place on plates. Cover with Plastic Wrap and refrigerate the cookies for 2 hours up to overnight. 

When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place the remaining Powdered Sugar in a bowl, and roll each cookie in the sugar.  Then put onto a parchment of Silpat covered baking pan.  Cook for 12 minutes or until the bottoms are lightly browned at the edges.  Cool slightly, then take each cookie and carefully roll in powdered sugar before placing on a rack to cool completely. Roll the cookies in Powdered Sugar again before serving. 

Five Element Analysis

Walnuts belong to the Water Element and they are considered very good for your Kidneys and your Brains, since they look like them. The Rice Flour and Butter contribute the Metal Element along with the Vanilla. The Sugar and the Tapioca and Potato Flours in the mix add the Earth Element. So, only the Fire Element and Wood Element are missing, so have these cookies with some Tea or Coffee that adds Fire and make sure that the Wood Element is present in another food later. Like I said in my last post, I made sure that I made some Passion Fruit Bars for my cookie plate that contributed the sour flavor of Wood to create a balanced plate of cookies!