Gluten Free Black and White Cookies

My sister Rachel has lived in New York several different times (for internships and things) and she would usually come back bearing gifts . . . usually Black and White Cookies.  Black and White Cookies are a New York City specialty.  (Well, my brother spent a couple of years in upstate New York, and he said they were also sold there . . . but they certainly don't sell them anywhere in Utah.)  They are . . . amazing. It's almost like someone cut the top off a cupcake, flipped it upside down, and covered the flat part with smooth, smooth vanilla and chocolate deliciousness.  Okay, that doesn't sound nearly as yummy as it really is.  I tell you, these things are FABULOUS.  The cookies are really good on their own, but (for me, anyway) the fondant icing pushes them over the edge of good into spectacular.  (Have I used enough superlatives yet? Probably not.  I don't think there ARE enough superlatives to describe these cookies!)

There are all sorts of recipes for Black and White Cookies floating around the web.  Rachel and I tried a couple a few years ago and then gave up in despair.  They were never right . . . especially not the icing part.  Most of the recipes tell you to combine powdered sugar and stuff to make a vanilla glaze.  DON'T DO IT!  IT'S VILE!  Blech! Blech! Yucky!  Shudder!  Ewwwww.  It may be easy to do, but it's so gross to eat that it's just plain pointless.  Plus, it ruins the cookies underneath.  Those icing recipes dissuaded Rachel and me from trying to make Black and White Cookies from scratch.  Ever. 

Well, Rachel went back to NYC in January and I almost immediately started craving Black and White Cookies again.  Unfortunately, I knew that she would not be coming back for at least 4 months.  So I decided to do a little more research.  I looked on YouTube for videos about making B&W cookies.  I googled recipes.  I discovered that the topping that was really needed was a poured fondant. I also discovered that poured fondant takes a little time and effort to get it right - but it's SO worth it.  I have made these cookies about a dozen times in the last 3 months.  I have also eaten WAY more of them than I ought to have.  But they are SO good, they're practically irresistible.  Besides, look how cute I made them look on Valentine's Day:

So . . . recipe.  I'm going to put the fondant recipe in its own blog post because it really is its own thing.  (I'm going to use fondant to make lemony petit fours as a birthday treat this afternoon . . . just because I can.)  I'll link it back here, though, so you can easily find it when you are making these.

Gluten Free Black and White Cookies

3 3/4 c. EGF all purpose flour mix
2 tsp. xanthan gum
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 c. well-shaken buttermilk
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 c. butter, softened
1 1/2 c. sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 tsp. lemon zest (dried or fresh)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine flour, xanthan gum, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl.  Combine buttermilk and vanilla in another bowl (or measuring cup . . . whatever).  In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs and lemon zest and mix well. 

Alternately add flour and buttermilk to the creamed mixture, beginning and ending with flour.  Mix well after each addition, scraping sides occasionally.  Mix until smooth.

Place 2 - 4 Tbs of cookie batter on parchment-paper-lined cookie sheets.  (The cookies that you buy in New York are really big . . . probably four inches in diameter.  If you want to make them that big, you'll need to use 4 Tbs. of batter.  I usually make them smaller so I can spread the joy farther.)  Bake 13 - 15 minutes (smaller cookies bake faster), or until the edges are starting to brown.  (The undersides of the cookies should be a golden brown, but the tops of the cookies will still be rather pale. They shouldn't collapse if you lightly touch one, though . . . being careful not to burn yourself, obviously.) Remove from oven and transfer to a baking rack to cool.

Once cookies are cool, ice the first half of the cookies with Vanilla Poured Fondant.  After you've finished icing the vanilla halves of all the cookies, make the rest of your Vanilla Fondant into Chocolate Poured Fondant.  Ice the other half of your cookies.  Allow fondant to set up.  Enjoy!

And I thought about years; how they take so long and they go so fast.

 So.  It's been a while.  This is what I've been working on for the last year and a half or so: 

Not the costumes, the children.  I did make the costumes, but that's beside the point.  Those only took up a couple of days.  The children, on the other hand, take up all sorts of time . . . especially the smallest one.  She's getting more independent all the time, but she still smiles ecstatically when I walk in the room . . . it is probably a ploy to keep me paying attention to her, but it's still irresistible. 

See how cute that is?  Ooooh, and look at this one: 

Who can resist that sort of a face?  I sure can't.  So I have neglected this blog shamefully. 

It's not that I haven't been cooking, because I have.  But I just haven't taken the time to write anything down.  Well, this morning I got up and made crepes for my daughter's birthday breakfast and I decided that I should put it up on the blog.  Whee!  So I took some beautiful pictures and got on to type up a post and wrote all the preceding and then decided I should check and see if we had already posted about crepes.  And we have.  :(  So I guess I won't retype in the recipe.  But here's a new picture:

Poured Fondant

Now, the first thing we need to clear up is that this is NOT a recipe for a rolled fondant.  This is not the sort of fondant that you would find in a thick white (generally inedible) layer on the outside of a wedding cake. The texture of this is more like the chocolate topping on doughnuts . . . something that isn't quite icing and is smooth and rather firm. It's fabulous stuff, and because it is just sugar, water, and corn syrup it stores quite well at room temperature for a long time.  Some of the YouTube videos I watched said it was good for several months.  I don't know for sure that that is true because the longest a double batch has survived my B&W cookie making binges is 2 weeks.  But it was still fabulous after two weeks, for what that's worth.

The second thing that you should know is that it takes a little practice to get this right.  Well, it took some practice for ME to get this right.  Hopefully the things that I have learned over the last few weeks will make your learning curve less steep than mine.  But the point is, don't give up if it doesn't turn out quite right the first time.  It's totally worth the effort.

Poured Fondant

2 1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. water
1/4 c. corn syrup

Combine all ingredients in a heavy saucepan. (I have found that a non-stick pan is helpful when washing sugar crystals off the sides of the pan.)  Cook over medium high heat until it boils, stirring gently the whole time.  (Try not to splash up on the sides of the pan.  Sugar crystals that don't get thoroughly dissolved into the syrup will cause problems with your fondant.  Any undissolved crystals that remain in the final syrup will quickly cause the rest of the syrup to re-crystallize . . . thus undoing all your hard work.)

Once the syrup has come to a rolling boil, decrease the heat to medium, attach a candy thermometer to the side of the pan, and stop stirring.  Use a pastry brush or a very wet paper towel to wash any stray sugar crystals down from the side of the pan. (I've also washed the crystals down by placing a lid on the pot for just a few minutes after it starts boiling.) Let the syrup boil until it reaches 238 degrees.** (**Remember that, when cooking candies, you must decrease the temperature by 2 degrees Fahrenheit for every 1,000 feet above sea level. Here in Utah County I only cook this syrup to 228 degrees.) 

Once the syrup reaches 238 degrees, remove it from the heat and allow the syrup to cool to 140 degrees.  (This takes 30 - 50 minutes, but it's really important.  If you try to move on without allowing the syrup to cool you will end up with little rocks of sugary stuff and then you will be unhappy.  I think it does that because all the moisture steams out of it so quickly when it is that hot. One of these days I'm going to try letting the syrup cool on a cookie sheet and then transfer it into my mixer because I'm sure it will cool faster and I'm always really impatient . . . but I haven't done it yet and so I can't guarantee that it will work.)

Once the syrup has cooled to 140 degrees (again, decrease the temperature if you are at a high altitude), transfer it to the bowl of a stand mixer. Turn the mixer on low.  (I use a K beater attachment for this).  The syrup will first turn yellow and then white. As soon as it turns white, pour it into a ziploc bag that you have stretched open over a glass measuring cup or something. (Don't beat it too long after it turns white as it will harden very quickly and then your mixer might seize up and you will be unhappy again. It really only takes a couple of minutes to turn white, so don't walk away from your mixer while you are doing this.)  If it gets rather firm while you are removing the beater, just scrape it out of the mixer bowl with a wooden spoon . . . it should be okay.

Seal the fondant air-tightly and store at room temperature. 

Vanilla Poured Fondant - Make a simple sugar syrup by bringing 4 Tbs. sugar and 2 Tbs. water just to a boil.  Remove from heat.  Place between 1/2 c. and 1 c. of fondant in a double boiler*. (*I make a pseudo double boiler by putting 1 1/2 cups of really hot water in my 4 cup glass measuring cup, then placing my 2 cup glass measuring cup inside it.)  Add a Tbs or so of the simple syrup to the fondant and stir it with a spoon until smooth, adding more simple syrup as necessary.  (You'll have to rather chop at the fondant at first, but it will thin down and become easier to stir soon.)  If you add too much syrup, the only way to fix it is by adding more fondant, so be careful not to overdo it.  Once the fondant is smooth and spreadable, add about 1/2 tsp. vanilla.

Chocolate Poured Fondant -  Add a couple of Tbs. of dutch processed cocoa to your vanilla fondant.  Stir well.  Add more simple syrup as needed to make it spreadable. 

If you need more information on Poured Fondant (or want to see some pictures), this blog post by Joe Pastry is very helpful.  I also found some great information at this site, although I don't agree with some of the information provided there (I've tried cooking it quickly and it always seemed to crystallize into a thick crust almost as soon as I poured it out of my pan). 

Pumpkin Seeds

It's a tradition at my house to save the seeds of the Halloween pumpkins we carve at Halloween and then bake them for a tasty treat. I have tried several different recipes for pumpkin seeds, and so far this one is my favorite.

Pumpkin Seeds

1 1/2 c. pumpkin seeds
4 c. water
4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 Tbs. olive oil
3 Tbs. butter
3 1/2 Tbs. soy sauce*
Lawry's Seasoned Salt
Preheat oven to 350°.
Rinse seeds until no pumpkin is left on them.
Boil the water and salt in a large pot. Simmer seeds for 10 minutes. Drain water. Add olive oil, butter, and soy sauce.
Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray or line it with parchment paper. Spread seeds out on the cookie sheet so they are not on top of each other. Sprinkle with seasoned salt. Bake for 20 minutes. Cool before eating.

Betsy's Pumpkin Seed Recipe: Clean most of the goop off the seeds, but don't rinse them. Place on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle with salt and bake.

Betsy's Amazing Chili

It's starting to get colder, which means that soups are reemerging as a major part of my menu. Chili is one of those meals that my family ate all the time while I was growing up. My mom "Just Liked It." She didn't know she had celiac at the time, but this was one of the foods she unconsciously gravitated toward because it is gluten free. We always used pinto beans in chili, but this summer I discovered that I REALLY like black beans. For this chili recipe, I cooked 4 cups of dried black beans. I used half of the cooked beans in the chili and put the rest in the fridge for other meals. (Of course, I'm feeding 6 people. If you are only feeding 1 or 2, you probably don't want to cook that many beans at one time.) - Betsy

Betsy's Amazing Chili

1 lb. ground beef
1/2 sweet onion, diced
salt and pepper, to taste
4 c. cooked Black Beans* (see our Sides Recipes)
2 (14.5 oz.) cans petite diced tomatoes
1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste
1 (4 oz.) can diced green chilies
1-1 ½ tsp. cumin

Sauté beef with onion, and salt and pepper to taste. Drain fat.

Combine beef with all other ingredients in a large pot. Heat on medium-high heat until warm (10-15 minutes), stirring occasionally. (Or combine cooked beef with other ingredients in a crock pot and heat well.)

Serve with rice and cheese.

*I always include the liquid surrounding the beans, too.

Pumpkin Cookies

Pumpkin Cookies

1 c. butter, softened
1 c. white sugar
1 c. light brown sugar
1 (3.4 oz.) pkg. instant vanilla pudding mix
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 c. canned pumpkin puree
3 c. EGF All-Purpose Flour
1 tsp. xanthan gum
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 c. milk chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350°.

Spray cookie sheets with nonstick spray or line them with parchment paper. In a large mixing bowl whip the butter until smooth. Beat in the white and brown sugars and dry pudding mix. Mix until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time. (If you want fluffy cookies, use a whisk attachment and beat for 3-4 minutes. If you want them flat, use a flat beater and mix just until the eggs are blended. ) Mix in the vanilla and pumpkin puree. Add the flour, xanthan gum, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Stir in the chips.

Scoop the cookie dough by heaping tablespoons onto the prepared cookie sheets and bake for 13-15 minutes or until the cookies are browned around the edges.

Low Fat General Tsao's Chicken

I was looking online for new chicken recipes and stumbled across this one. I didn't exactly have all the ingredients that the recipe called for, so I used what I had, threw in some extra's and hoped for the best! As I was watching it simmer, I have to admit there was a little bit of anxiety going on, but the results were amazing. I doubled the recipe, and the kids ate ALL of it!!!! My husband was disappointed because he was hoping for leftovers for lunch.

If you want to make this more like the real recipe, batter the chicken with the chicken nugget recipe, and fry it before simmering it in the sauce.

1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons chopped green onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can green chili's-, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
3 tablespoons chicken broth
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1/4 cup GF soy sauce
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 cup water

Directions

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat. Stir fry chicken thighs until cooked all the way through. Remove chicken from pan Drain water and using the same pan saute the green onion, garlic, chiles, and green pepper. Cook and stir a minute or two until the garlic has turned golden Add 1/2 cup sugar, the ginger, chicken broth, vinegar, soy sauce, and fish sauce.
Dissolve 2 teaspoons of cornstarch into the water, and stir into the boiling sauce. Return to a boil and cook until the sauce thickens and is no longer cloudy from the cornstarch, about 1 minute. Stir the chicken into the boiling sauce. Reduce heat to low and cook for a few minutes until the chicken absorbs some of the sauce.