While baking gluten-free cookies requires no special equipment, it is important the equipment you do use be spotless -- literally. Why? The answer is cross-contamination -- and it is very, very dangerous. Celiac disease can be triggered by even the smallest spec of gluten. This means if you recently prepared foods using wheat flour, the first step (and it's a must) is to fully wipe down all baking surfaces, wash all hardware (mixing bowls, beater blades, baking pans, wire cooling racks, miscellaneous utensils, etc.), and, remove any products or gluten-containing ingredients that are nearby. For an added layer of protection, I recommend placing a sheet of parchment on each baking pan that has been used previously to bake cookies/anything containing gluten.
The delightful flavor combination of chocolate and mint. It's a personal favorite of mine. It's hard to believe, but I actually know a few folks who do not care for it. For me, I think it kinda all started as a girl scout. Access to those thin-mint cookies was worth the price of being forced to camp outdoors in the dark one night a year -- no words can express my hatred for camping. As a teen, if mint-chocolate-chip ice-cream was available at our local dairy bars or ice-cream houses, that was hands-down the flavor I was ordering -- two scoops please. As an adult, my love affair continues via Andes creme de menthe candies, cocktails, brownies, and, cookies.
Andes Chocolate Mints are little rectangular candies individually-wrapped in green foil printed with the company's logo, Andes.. They consist of a green-colored mint layer sandwiches between two chocolate layers. Historically, in 1921, Andrew Kanelos opened a candy shop in Chicago, Illinois. He named it: Andy's Candies. It was a catchy name indeed, but, he soon realized that his predominately male clientele didn't like giving boxes of candy with another man's name on it to their wives and girlfriends, so he changed the name to Andes Candies.
Welcome to Mel's world of fab GF mint-chocolate cookies:
2 1/4 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons xanthan gum
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, at room temperature, very soft (2 sticks)
2 large eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup firmly-packed dark brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons creme de menthe flavoring (Note: Olive Nation brand is gluten-free and what I use and recommend you use too.)
1 teaspoon pure chocolate extract
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 10-ounce bags Andes Creme-de-Menthe baking bits
~Step 1. In a small bowl, stir together the dry ingredients: the GF flour, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl place the butter, eggs, chocolate and vanilla extracts, and, the creme de menthe flavoring. On high-speed of hand-held electric mixer, beat briefly, just to combine, about 1 minute. Add both sugars and continue to beat on high speed until creamy, about 2 more minutes. Lower mixer speed, add the GF flour mixture and incorporate it into the wet mixture until a sticky dough forms.
~Step 2. Using a large rubber spatula, fold in the Andes baking bits. Using a 1 1/2" ice-cream scoop as a measure, drop cookies, well-apart, onto each of 6, parchment-lined, 16" x 12" baking pans (12 cookies per pan). Using your fingertips, press down gently on the top of each ball of dough to flatted in out slightly -- not a lot, just a gentle press.
~ Step 3. Bake cookies, one-pan-at-a-time on center rack of 325° oven, about 14 minutes, until light-golden. Do not overbake. Remove from oven and allow cookies to cool, in pan, about 1 minute, then, use a small spatula to gently transfer cookies to a wire cooling rack, to cool completely, prior to storing in an air-tight container.
A Perfect GF Cookie for a St. Patrick's Day celebration:
Not GF? Try Andes Creme-de-Menthe Mint-Chocolate Cookies:
GF Creme-de-Menthe Mint-Chocolate-Bit Cookies: Recipe yields 5 dozen 2 1/2"-round cookies.
Special Equipment List: cutting board; chef's knife; small baking pan; hand-held electric mixer; large rubber spatula; 6, 16" x 12" baking pans; parchment paper; 1 1/2" ice-cream scoop; wire cooling rack; small spatula
Cook's Note: "I asked the maid in dulcet tone, to order me a buttered scone. The silly girl has been and gone, and ordered me a buttered scone." Scone. What an odd little word. All I really knew about them as a child was I loved them. That said, the ones I grew up eating were round, single-serving little cakes resemblant of biscuits, not a raggedy, rough, plate-sized round cut into triangles. So, before I sat down to share my recipe with you, I did look it up to be sure mine are indeed scones -- they are. Scones are universal, but, they are most associated with the British and the Irish. Try my ~ Top-of-the-Morin' to Irish Cream & Raisin Scones ~ too!
"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti
(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2023)
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