Cramp Stacey - Gluten-free Cookies

To Larry, Thank you for your patience and support.

Published by Sellers Publishing, Inc.

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e-ISBN: 978-1-4162-0678-1

Gluten-Free Cookies text copyright 2011 Luane Kohnke. Photographs copyright 2011 Stacey Cramp. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form, by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented without the express written permission of Sellers Publishing, Inc. e-books.

September 2011

Luane Kohnkes book, Gluten-Free Cookies: From Shortbread to Snickerdoodles, Brownies to Biscotti: 50 Recipes for Cookies You Crave is a wonderful compilation of fabulous cookie recipes for managing a delicious gluten-free lifestyle. Luanes book provides a wonderful way for both adults and children to enjoy a gluten-free diet.

Many people worldwide have adopted a gluten-free diet. For those with celiac disease, this diet can be life saving. While others simply find that the relief from gastro-intestinal or neurological symptoms makes their life much more comfortable. The human digestive system does not fully digest gluten. Gluten is the storage protein of wheat. (Rye and barley contain similar proteins and should also be omitted from a gluten-free diet.) Gluten intolerance can be traced to the fact that the human digestive system does not break down gluten as thoroughly as other proteins, leaving large amino acid fragments. In genetically predisposed people, these fragments trigger an inflammatory response in the small intestine that causes villous atrophy. This mechanism is more fully described in the book I co-authored, Celiac Disease: A Hidden Epidemic, published by HarperCollins.

The Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University provides comprehensive medical care for adults and pediatric patients with celiac disease, including nutrition and attention to the multiple associated conditions that occur in celiac disease. The Center is involved in the care of thousands of patients with celiac disease and gluten intolerance, providing better access to proper testing, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up care. Celiac disease is a lifelong, unique autoimmune illness that occurs in about 1% of the population, worldwide.

Celiac disease and gluten intolerance are great examples of why we need to know what we are eating. This is something that is increasingly difficult in this day and age where food is often grown far from where we live, and is made more complicated with the prevalence of processed foods, fast foods, and food additives. Luanes book helps in that she not only provides copious amounts of information about available gluten-free ingredients, but she also provides recipes that allow everyone to make gluten-free homemade treats from scratch.

There is no doubt that resources such as this book, Gluten-Free Cookies, are an important adjunct to any household that is attempting to be gluten-free. I congratulate Luane on her superb effort. Read the book and enjoy the delicious gluten-free cookies!

Peter H.R. Green, MD
Professor of Clinical Medicine
Columbia University Medical Center
Director, Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University Medical Center
www.celiacdiseasecenter.org

Cookies are one of lifes greatest pleasures. They are small, handheld treats that contribute to our everyday enjoyment, our family get-togethers, and our holiday parties. The smell of cookies baking in the oven can recall happy childhood memories. The taste of an old favorite will remind us of our beloved Grandma or Mama, or of playtimes with friends. For some of us, cookies symbolize homemade goodness. They represent all that is good about life, sharing, and family. It is quite remarkable that these bite-sized treats of butter, sugar, and flour have such a strong place in our lives and can evoke such powerful memories.

For those who suffer from celiac disease or wheat allergies, however, memories of butter, sugar, and flour can be a painful experience. For many people, eliminating gluten from ones diet means eliminating food that was once enjoyed. For others, it means never experiencing foods like cookies, cakes, or breads that are made with wheat, rye, or barley flours. It is frustrating to have to decline a chocolate chip cookie or say no to a tempting brownie. It is difficult for adults who are gluten-intolerant, and even more difficult for children, when they see their friends enjoying food that they cannot have.

I have an enormous passion for baking cookies. Over the last fifteen years, I have created a large number of gluten-free cookie recipes. I have many friends and colleagues who have celiac disease or wheat allergies, or whose children do. Whenever they want a cookie recipe that is gluten-free, and delicious, I am the person they seek out. My approach is to use the freshest ingredients, with minimal substitution. The result is melt-in-your-mouth cookies that are made with unsalted butter, fresh and dried fruits, a variety of nuts, and different kinds of sugars. They are flavored with pure vanilla extract, fresh citrus zest, or various spices and other extracts.

I have always been inspired by European cookies. For this reason, I use nut flours in combination with brown rice flour to achieve a tastier cookie with a better texture than that achieved solely with rice flour. My cookies are not overly sweet, and while some may seem fancy, they are relatively easy to prepare, allowing even the most inexperienced baker to create a tasty cookie that just happens to be gluten-free.

This book contains a selection of my favorite recipes, spanning a broad spectrum of cookie styles. There is a chapter on the classics, which features chocolate chip cookies, flourless peanut butter cookies, and almond-lemon biscotti. The childrens chapter includes jam thumbprints, cinnamon snickerdoodles, and a pizza cookie especially designed for a childs birthday celebration. Other chapters feature recipes for cookie bars, fruit-infused cookies, specialty meringues, and fancier cookies for celebrations and holidays, including a recipe for the ultimate gluten-free cookie, the French macaroon.

The goal of this cookie book is to present recipes that will enable the baker to create cookies that are, first and foremost, delicious special treats to be enjoyed by everyone, gluten-intolerant or not. The cookie recipes in this book are designed to create the very best, tastiest cookies that just happen to be gluten-free. These cookies are not second-class. They are special handheld treats that rekindle the joy of eating cookies, bring back fond memories, and create new ones. I hope that you enjoy the recipes in this book, and that your cookies elicit the same reaction mine often do: If you hadnt told me that this was gluten-free, I never would have known.

Happy baking!