I have been experimenting with different types of organic, gluten-free flours this month and I am finding that they have so much more depth of flavor than regular high-gluten or enriched flours, plus, they are much more nutritious! Quinoa and almond flours add a delicious nuttiness to your cookies and brown rice flour gives a wonderful velvety texture. You will need a mixmaster or an electric hand mixer to make this recipe (unless you have a lot of patience to mix by hand manually). Leave 3 sticks of unsalted butter out at room temperature for about an hour before beginning. If you prefer not to use animal fat you can substitute organic, cold pressed virgin coconut oil and I recommend using about the equivalent of 2 sticks of butter.
This recipe yields approximately 3 dozen medium sized shortbread.
ORGANIC INGREDIENTS:
- 3 sticks organic unsalted butter (room temp)
- 1 cup Madhava Coconut Sugar
- 1/2 tsp pink Himalayan salt (or kosher salt)
- 2 tsp almond extract (optional), or, 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups Ancient Harvest organic Quinoa flour
- 1 cup Bob's Red Mill Brown Rice Flour
- 1/2 cup Bob's Red Mill Almond Flour
- 1/2 cup Nutiva organic Coconut Flour
DIRECTIONS:
1) If you are using a Kitchenaid Mixmaster, place 3 sticks of room temperature butter into the bowl of the mixer and using the paddle attachment, beat on speed 2 until soft and fluffy (but not greasy). If using electric beaters, place butter in a large bowl and beat on low speed until you reach a softer consistency. Next, add all of the coconut sugar and 1/2 tsp salt and mix on low speed until incorporated.
2) Add the almond or vanilla extract and mix in.
3) In a separate bowl, measure out all of the 4 types of flour and mix them all together.
4) Add approx. 1 cup of the mixed flours at a time to the butter/sugar mixture and beat on low speed until the flour is incorporated. Do not overbeat as you do not want a greasy dough. Continue to add 1 cup at a time until all flour is incorporated and dough is beginning to come together.
5) Place a large piece of plastic wrap on the counter and dump out the dough on to the counter. Gently bring all of the dough together and kneed it slightly. Separate dough into two even amounts and roll each into a 8" long log, or, form into two round flat discs. Wrap each portion of dough in plastic wrap and refridgerate 2 hours.
BAKING:
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or a Silpat mat. Take dough out of the refrigerator and let stand for 30 minutes before rolling or slicing.
1) If you have made the dough into a log, remove the plastic wrap and slice off cookies about 1/3" thick and lay them on the cookie sheet with 1/2 inch of space in between. If you are rolling out the dough and using a cookie cutter, roll the dough to approx. 1/3" thick and cut out cookies.
2) Bake at 350 for approx. 10 minutes. Check them after 10 minutes. The dough is already brown when it's raw so check them by looking at the edges. Once the edges start to turn a darker golden brown, remove the cookies from oven and let them cool completely on the cookie sheet. Then carefully lift them off and transfer to a rack. These cookies freeze well.
TIP: These shortbread cookies are not super sweet. They have a nutty flavor which goes great with jam. Try spreading a little dollop of raspberry preserves or strawberry jam on top or sandwich two together with jam in between.
Gluten-Free Quinoa Shortbread Cookies
Reviewed by pada mama
Published :
Rating : 4.5
Published :
Rating : 4.5
