Gluten-Free Cookies with Milk-free Chocolate Chips

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 cups Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour
• 1 tsp Bob's Red Mill Xanthan Gum
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup butter, softened (1 stick)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp molasses
• 1 egg
• 2-3 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup Nestlé Allergen Free Chocolate Chips

Instructions

1. Combine flour, xanthan gum, salt, baking soda, and powder in a bowl and set aside.
2. Cream butter, sugar, and molasses.
3. Add egg and vanilla to butter mixture and stir until combined.
4. A little at a time add flour mixture to butter mixture, then add chocolate chips.
5. I scooped about 2 tbsp per cookie (#40 cookie scoop) onto a pan, six per pan because they spread and baked at 350° for 12 minutes.
6. Remove from pan and place on a cooling rack or on top of a granite countertop covered with foil or parchment paper to cool.Makes about 24-ish cookies, but it is hard to know because we sampled the dough several times just to be sure. LOL

The Long Story

I had to write this recipe down because I combined two recipes. My son has a friend who has Celiac Disease and is allergic to milk. I attempted to make some chocolate chip cookies for her and it was like eating sweetened sand. Needless to say, we didn't pass on the gift.

I think it was partly a failure because the recipe author had decided it was possible to make gluten-free cookies without "any weird ingredients" like xantham gum. My understanding is that xantham gum replaces the job of the gluten and keeps things sticking together.

I also don't know if the gluten-free flour by King Arthur was the right choice either. It is rice and tapioca, I saw on the label. It was terribly grainy, even the cookie dough had a grainy mouth feel. But I didn't want to risk using the same flour again so I went with Bob's Red Mill Almond Flour.

At the time I was making those cookies, I added chocolate chips then had to pick them all out (I had not mixed them in yet and I have a daughter who was happy to pick them out and eat them for me) when my son said his friend was also allergic to the milk in chocolate. I instead ended up rolling them in sugar and cinnamon to make a snickerdoodle instead.

I would probably be sick all the time if I had these allergies because I have a love of all things sweet with a blatant disregard for my well-being.

So today, while grocery shopping, I grabbed some xanthan gum while on the baking aisle. But while there I walked down to the chocolate section to see if I could find a substitute for chocolate chips. Lo and behold...

I could not believe I had stumbled upon a milk-free chocolate chip. I was thinking I would find carob chips or chocolate melts! Thank you Nestlé! I bought these at Publix, which is where I can usually find odd things like xantham gum, almond flour, pepper drops (check out Delallo Pepper Drops if you like Peppedew Peppers) and apparently allergen free chocolate chips. Yes, I came home with all those things TO-DAY. I sent a picture to my son who shared my enthusiasm.

Out of necessity we both tasted the allergen-free chocolate chips and approved. They aren't exactly like regular semi-sweet chocolate chips, but they are a fantastic substitute.

When I got home, I started making the recipe from the back of the Nestlé bag, but it called for "weird ingredients" (e.g. palm oil) that I didn't have so I looked up a recipe from Bob's Red Mill and combined the two because I had already mixed the powdered ingredients together from the Nestlé recipe.

I worried, after tasting the flour, that the texture would be similar to the first version I made, but luckily it wasn't. The cookie dough has a odd flavor in my opinion, but that entirely cooks off once they are baked.

The cookies are lightly crisp on the outside, have a great chew on the inside, and taste completely normal in my opinion. My son and I actually think they might be the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever made.

I think I am even more excited than my son to have these cookies delivered to his friend so that she can have a chocolate chip cookies without having to "regret it later."

I used to write poems a lot. In fact, I just found a stash of poems I wrote while in high school. One in particular I really, really loved and was so relieved to have found it.

Since high school, which has been 30 years, I have written maybe two poems. I was surprised when homeschooling my son, for a very short period of time, we did poetry and he picked up the meaning effortlessly. I felt like I struggled with it, but seemed to like writing it. I like the mystery of using symbols and imagery for hidden meanings and messages. But I can tell you as a reader, I didn't love it. I haven't read poetry in a while, I wonder how I would like it now.

I don't have my other poetry with me right now, but I thought I would share a very short poem I wrote for a family member while they were rehabilitating.

Rise! Mighty Phoenix

Rise mighty phoenix from ashen death,
Rise through refining flame.
Rise! Mighty phoenix, new life awaits
That only you can claim.

RECIPE - Simple(r) Tex-Mex Layer Dip

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef
• 2 tbsp or ½ packet taco seasoning (1 oz packet)
• 1 onion, diced small
• 1-14.5 oz can refried beans
• 2 cups shredded cheese (cheddar, monterrey jack, pepper jack)
• 8 oz sour cream
• 1 tomato
• Lettuce, shredded fine (1-2 cups, optional)

Serve with tortilla chips

You can also top with diced jalapenos, avocado, fresh onion, or add a splash of lime juice for a tart kick.

Instructions

1. Brown ground beef and onions in a skillet.
2. Once browned, add 1 tbsp taco seasoning and mix through.
3. Add refried beans and mix together, then pour into 13x9 pan and cover with cheese.
4. Put mixture into oven on broil until cheese is sufficiently melted (2-3 minutes).
5. Diced tomatoes and shred lettuce.
6. Once cheese is melted remove from over, cover with sour cream.
7. Only put lettuce on parts you will eat immediately because it will wilt with the heat and won’t reheat very well.

Cover with diced tomatoes and serve.

You can refrigerate this dish and eat it cold or hot later, just remove the lettuce.

Long Story

I was in a bind deciding what to make for dinner since I, religiously, had not planned ahead. Fortunately, I generally keep everything for Tex-Mex in house because  it is easy for anyone to put together, even teens who qualify under the following meme.

Tex-Mex is always a hit in our house. I don’t know why, but it is. It has nothing to do with me being from Texas. At some point Mexican Night became a thing when my husband and I were dating. Eventually it morphed into steak tacos (Cook’s Illustrated recipe), fresh guacamole, fresh salsa, homemade cheese dip, ALL the fixins, and sometimes homemade tortillas. Some time between then and now, Taco Tuesday became a thing. I’m not sure if it was because of the Lego Movie, but it is a thing now. And I love tacos.

But at some point it became too much to prepare all that and I needed simple(r). I love this because it is great hot or cold, even on not Taco Tuesday.

What I Used

• Old El Paso Taco Seasoning (can)
• Old El Paso Original Refried Beans
• Kraft Shredded Sharp Cheddar
• Daisy Light Sour Cream
• Butter lettuce (about ½ head)

RECIPE - Simple(r) Chicken Pot Pie

 Simple(r) Chicken Pot Pie

Recipe courtesy of Heather McCroan

Ingredients

• Frozen pie crust

• 2 tbsp oil

• 2 cups frozen mixed vegetables (thawed)

• 1 onion, diced small

• 2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1” cubes

• 3 tbsp all purpose flour

• ½ tsp dried thyme

• ⅛ tsp turmeric

• ¼ cup heavy whipping cream

• 3 cups chicken stock

• Salt and Pepper to taste

• Egg mixed with 1 tbsp of water (egg wash)

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 450 degrees and place one pie crust into bottom of pie pan.

2. Meanwhile, heat up oil in large skillet and add vegetables, onion, and chicken until chicken is cooked and vegetables soften, 8-10 minutes.

3. Once oven is heated, cook bottom crust in oven for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 400 degrees.

4. Add flour, turmeric, and thyme to chicken and vegetables, mix,

5. Slowly add heavy whipping cream and chicken stock to allow flour to dissolve into liquid, stirring constantly until thick sauce forms.

6. Add salt and pepper to taste.

7. Pour into pie crust, top with second crust, brush crust with egg wash, bake for 10 minutes or until crust is sufficiently browned for your taste.

8. If you don’t let this rest before serving it will be piping hot, but won’t ruin the flavor!

Long Story

I was watching The Pioneer Woman and she had a recipe for deconstructing chicken pot pie where she made it in under 16 minutes.  This was fascinating to me because I love chicken pot pie, but if you make it from scratch you are talking hours of prep.  And really, half the time I don’t have a plan, I just want chicken pot pie on a cold day.  So I decided to combine her recipe with some hacks of my own to reduce some of my workload and take advantage of some of her methods.  I didn’t necessarily save any time, I didn’t track it either because I was kind of putting it together as I cooked, but it is still easy and simple, and semi-homemade.

What I Used

Great Value 9” pie crust, 2 count

Birds Eye Steam Freash frozen mixed vegetables

Perdue Free Range boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 tbsp Better Than Bouillon Roast Chicken

3 cups of water