Rosemary Lime Cookies

My sister is responsible for the Christmas cookies. She usually bakes Chocolate Chip, Biscotti, Russian Tea Cakes (her specialty) and maybe some kind of surprise cookie. They’re all traditionally made—with flour, eggs, and butter. *sigh*

I have only so much willpower folks. I need Christmas Cookies! That means I’ll be baking cookies, too—gluten-free, egg-free, dairy-free Christmas Cookies.

Here’s the plan—Rosemary Lime Cookies, Cherry Nut Biscotti, and Dutch Cocoa Cookies. OK, so the Rosemary Lime Cookies are done (and really good!). The biscotti have been baked once but the recipe needs a little tweaking even though my taste tester hubby loved ‘em as is. (I’m going to try to get to those today.) And, the Dutch Cocoa Cookies are pretty easy so they’ll be next. If I can fit anymore in I’ll let you know.

I have this image of my family sitting in the kitchen with milk or hot cocoa munching a few cookies and musing over all the holiday things we didn’t seem to get done. Maybe the tree won’t get put up and decorated or the presents won’t be wrapped. (That’s right! You heard it—I don’t have my tree up yet! Oy!) But, I guarantee we’ll have cookies!!

On to the Rosemary Lime Cookies. Isn’t rosemary one of the best scents on earth? (I need to make a list of the 10 Best Kitchen Smells.) I have a little rosemary plant in my kitchen and it’s so aromatic. If you sniff gently I’m sure you can smell it.

The rosemary and lime in this cookie are wonderful together. Lime takes center stage and rosemary is just a subtle accent. And, they’re festive, too, don’t you think?

Rosemary Lime Cookies

For the cookies…

1 1/2 cups sorghum flour

1 1/2 cups GF flour mix*

1/3 cup tapioca flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup Earth Balance, softened

3/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons lime zest

1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, crushed

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons lime juice

For the glaze…

1/2 cup confectioners sugar

1 tablespoon lime juice

Sprinkles or decorative sugar, optional

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Whisk the flours and salt together in a medium bowl.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the softened Earth Balance and sugar on medium speed for 2 or 3 minutes. Add the lime zest, crushed rosemary, lime juice and vanilla—beat another minute or so until everything is incorporated and the batter is smooth.

Reduce the speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture a little at a time. Mix until just combined.

Pull the dough together with clean, dry hands and split into two round sections. Wrap in waxed or parchment paper and place in the refrigerator until firm (about a half hour).

Roll out one chilled section of dough between two layers of parchment. It should be a little thicker than 1/8 inch. Cut out the cookies using a cookie cutter and place them about an inch apart on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Press the scraps together and return to the fridge. Follow the same procedure with the other section of dough. Pull the scraps together into a ball, roll out and cut out more cookies.

Bake the cookies, two sheets at a time, for about 10-12 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Swap the position of the cookie sheets about halfway through the baking time. Remove and cool on a wire rack.

Lime Glaze

Whisk the confectioners’ sugar and lime juice together until it’s smooth and there are no lumps. Spoon it into a pastry bag (I use a plastic zipper bag with the tip of one of the bottom corners snipped) and pipe onto the cooled cookies. Sprinkle with decorating sugar, jimmies, or nonpareils, if desired.

Once the icing has hardened you can place them in an airtight container in the fridge for about 5 days. These freeze well if you want to make them in advance.

*Note: I used Authentic Foods Gluten-Free Multi Blend Flour.

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Sweet Potato Biscuits

Gluten-free biscuits are the new gluten-free bread.

I’ll admit I haven’t made GF bread—yet. And, I stay away from commercial GF breads because, well, do I need to explain why to you of all people? You know they’re not so great. OK for breadcrumbs, but not much else.

GF biscuits are another story. They’re divine—light, a little crumbly, savory not sweet. Perfect warm with fig jam. Ah, and they would make tasty little ham and cheese sandwiches. In fact, this recipe in Bon Apetit was the inspiration for The Sensitive Pantry’s version of Sweet Potato Biscuits. IMHO these little guys beat bread hands down.

I’m kind of excited because I found another wonderful way to serve them—topped with beef barbecue, Sloppy Joes, the kind with ground beef and barbecue sauce. You know, the kind the cafeteria ladies served in Middle School. (And maybe your Mom made them for you but I’m pretty sure my Italian-American Mom never even had a Sloppy Joe let alone actually made them!) Sloppy Joes really need a soft bun underneath them and I’ve yet to find soft GF buns on the grocery store shelves. But these Sweet Potato Biscuits are perfecto for Sloppy Joes!

If you’re up for a little reading on the subject of baking biscuits you might try Dorie Greenspan’s Biscuits on Parade: A Recipe + A Biscuit Tip-Sheet.

This recipe, along with Karina’s and other GF blogger Sweet Potato Biscuit recipes, are featured at the Gluten-free Goddess blog. Check them out and maybe try all four recipes!

Sweet Potato Biscuits

1 cup sorghum flour

3/4 cups GF flour blend*

1/4 cup tapioca flour

1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum

2 tablespoons dark brown sugar

2 tablespoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

8 tablespoons Earth Balance (cold)

1/2 cup rice or hemp milk (cold)

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice (cold)

1 cup sweet potato puree (cold)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Mix the dry ingredients (the first 8 listed above) together in a large bowl. I like to use a whisk for this.

Mix the cold milk and lemon juice then put it back in the fridge until needed.

Add the cold Earth Balance to the dry ingredients and mix together with a fork or pastry blender. I usually start out with one of these tools and then abandon it for mixing with clean, dry hands. The dough should be a bit clumpy with the clumps about the size of peas.

Add half the milk mixture and the cup of sweet potato puree to the flour. (I used canned organic sweet potato puree that I picked up at Whole Foods. You can make your own by boiling and mashing fresh sweet potatoes. You may have to adjust the amount of milk you add to the dough to get the desired moisture and consistency.)

Stir everything together with a large spoon, adding more milk mixture as you go, until all ingredients are fully incorporated. Pull the dough together with your hands forming it into a ball. A note about the dough—it should be a medium-light weight dough and able to hold together. You may need to add more liquid or more flour at the end to reach the right consistency but avoid over-handling the dough.

Transfer the dough to a very lightly floured pastry mat. Press the ball down into a disk and place a piece of parchment or plastic wrap over top. Using a rolling pin gently roll it out to about 1/2 inch high.

Remove the plastic wrap and cut the dough into 2 inch rounds with a biscuit cutter. Tip: dip the cutter in flour between cuts. And, if you don’t have a biscuit cutter you might try a sharp edged glass.

Pull the dough scraps together and repeat.

Place the rounds onto a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake about 15-18 minutes until they just begin to brown. Serve warm.

*Note: I used Authentic Foods Gluten-Free Multi Blend Flour. You could use your own GF flour blend or, if you don’t have any on hand, try subbing with brown rice flour + 1/8 teaspoon xanthan gum.

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