The Way to His Heart

They say that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach.  For the most part, my man could exist on protein shakes, bananas, and bowls of cereal.  He'll enjoy an incredible meal that I make, but he'd rather spend time with me than enjoy the taste of the results of my three hours of cooking in the kitchen.  So the way to his heart is definitely not through his stomach.

But I did learn, early on, that one of the ways to his heart was through chocolate chip cookie dough.  Not chocolate chip cookies.  Just the dough.

The Husband and I met at the very beginning of our freshman year of college.  At the time, I had no idea what cooking or baking was about.  And I also had no idea that I was gluten intolerant.  The only cookie that I'd ever made from scratch was chocolate chip cookies using the Tollhouse recipe from the back of the Nestle chocolate chip package. 

Well, I was quite smitten by a certain Man living in the dorm next door.  So, I signed out my dorm kitchen for a few hours on a Saturday afternoon, made a batch of chocolate chip cookies for him, and sent the warm cookies up to his floor in a brown shipping box.  Apparently, this certain Man wasn't the only one who enjoyed the aromatic package.  I think half the floor wanted to date me after tasting those cookies.  Maybe I ran out of baking time, maybe it was the fact that he kept a roll of frozen cookie dough in his dorm fridge, maybe it was that I knew his favorite ice cream was Ben and Jerry's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, or maybe it was just fate.  But I also sent up a little extra cookie dough in a baggie.

Apparently, for the Husband-In-Training, cookie dough is the way to a man's heart.

Most women smack their husband's hands when they dip into the cookie batter.  We just have an understanding.  He gets the dough.  I get the cookies.  Win-win.

Last month, glutenfreegoddess posted a recipe for chocolate chip cookies using quinoa.  I was instantly intrigued as quinoa is one of my staples.  I use whole quinoa for side salads.  I use quinoa flakes for a delicious hot cereal breakfast, but I've never used quinoa to make cookies.  It was time to change that.  I modified her recipe slightly, and I was really happy with the results.  So was the Husband.

Quinoa Chocolate Chip Cookies

adapted from glutenfreegoddess

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the following dry ingredients:

3/4 cup Ancient Harvest Quinoa Flakes
1/2 cup Organic Quinoa Flour

1 cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour

1 2/3 cups organic light brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon

 

In a large measuring cup blend:

2/3 cup canola oil
3 tablespoons real maple syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon Kahlua (definitely MY addition)

Combine the wet and dry ingredients until you get a thick, sticky batter.  Then beat in two large eggs.  Finally, stir in 1 cup of dark chocolate chips.

 

Cover and chill the dough for 30 to 60 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a baking sheet with lightly greased parchment paper.  Now for the fun part.

 

I used a melon baller to get cute little uniform balls of dough, but you can roll spoonfuls of the dough between your hands to form the little balls.  Place the dough balls on the prepared baking sheet and press down to flatten them slightly.  (I placed the dough on the first batch too closely together and got a lovely cookie mass.  These were quickly designated the Husband's cookies.  He was happy to help.)  

 

Place the pan in the center of a 350 degree oven and bake until they are golden in the center and brown around the edges - about 11-12 minutes.  (GFG's recipe called for 21-22 minutes, but my cookies were ready much earlier.)  Allow the cookies to sit on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before placing them on a wire rack to cool completely.

Don't they look amazing?

They taste even better.  If you happen to have any left after 24 hours, I recommend freezing them.

Whether you like the dough or the cookies better, this recipe is a keeper.  Enjoy!

Everyone Loves Bread

Everyone loves bread, especially when it's homemade.  Every once in a while I hear someone turn down a dessert because they don't enjoy chocolate.  That's pretty shocking, but I've never come across anyone who's said, "No, thank you, I don't care for bread."  It's just unheard of.  If they turn down light, steamy dinner rolls with a crunchy crust, they're either lying or they're on a low-carb diet.

So, when we first hear the news that we must be gluten-free for the rest of our lives, bread is the first thing that we mourn.

Five years ago, in order to bake a really good loaf of gluten-free bread, you had to buy 5-6 different obscure and high-priced flours, spend an entire afternoon in the kitchen, and hope and pray that the bread didn't come out of the oven resembling or weighing a brick.

We've come a long way since then.  And while it may be a lot of fun to experiment and bake breads with a variety of flours, the realities of life can cut kitchen time down to a bare minimum.  Scoop it, pour it, spread it, and inhale it.

Today, we have "go to mixes" for those weeks when we just need a loaf of bread in the fridge for sandwiches.  One of my favorites is Gluten Free Pantry's French Bread and Pizza Mix.  It's incredibly easy to make and is available at Whole Foods and most major grocery stores.

The mix has directions for using a bread machine, but I always prefer using the oven.  It brings back memories of baking bread with my grandma.  Grandma always used one large loaf pan, and she had two tiny loaf pans that she would entrust to my brother and me.  After a few hours of kneading, rolling, rising, and baking, we each had our very own mini-loaf.  We could hardly wait for it to cool before cutting a tiny slice.  We'd watch with wonder as the pat of butter melted into a golden pool.

Grandma didn't have a Kitchen Aid.  Grandma was also the most patient woman I'll ever know.  She wasn't flying around the kitchen attending to five different things at once.  No matter what she was doing, that job, or that person, received her full attention.

Today, the Kitchen Aid gets the kneading done quickly, but it takes away the joy of sticky fingers, flour up to the elbows, and the satisfaction that you can only get by working with your hands.

The Gluten-Free Pantry dough needs to rise in a warm place for about 40 minutes.  Plenty of time for multi-taskers to check a few more items off the to-do list.

Now, isn't that is a beautiful loaf of bread?  Gluten-Free Pantry really knows how to make a great mix.

Some mixes don't turn out as well.  Here's an example of a bread mix (which shall remain nameless) that had a mind of its own.

I still have no idea what went wrong with this one, but it sure made for a good laugh (and really huge sandwiches).

Summer vacation is just around the corner, and I look forward to having time to putter in the kitchen, mix up a variety flours, add a little twist here and there, and open the oven door with hope and anticipation.

But for now, the Whisker's Family is in survival mode.  Ten days of school filled with final projects, report cards, awards ceremonies, cum records, celebrations, field day, and packing up a classroom are ahead.

So, we are very thankful for good quick mixes.

What gluten-free bread mixes do you use?