Medrich - Gluten-Free Holiday Cookies: More Than 30 Recipes to Sweeten the Season

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the artisanal kitchen

more than 30 recipes
to sweeten the season

Alice Medrich
with Maya Klein

Nothing evokes the holidays quite like an assortment of homemade cookies. Now just imagine a cookie tray, hostess gift, or take-to-school basket thats perfect for todays omnivores and gluten-free eaters alike. Imagine not having to make apologies, special batches of cookies, separate plates, labels, or explanations about who can eat what.

This curated collection was inspired by our love affair with cookies of all kinds, our passion for new tastes as well as tradition, and our obsession with flavorful non-wheat flours. Weve not only enhanced and updated the cookie repertoire with whole-grain flours, weve also taken the uncertainty (and unhappy surprises) out of gluten-free baking with simple, well-tested recipes that all kinds of dessert fans will enjoy. Some cookies are comfy and familiar, some are entirely new inventions, and all are delicious! Youll find sturdy cookies to pack and send, delicate cookies that impress, spiced cookies to warm and satiate, and long-keeping cookies, all with clear instructions, do-ahead tips, and storage information.

Youll love the simplicity of easy new classics like the super-spicy Classic Ginger Cookies, Double Oatmeal Cookies for true oat lovers, and Chocolate Chip Cookies with crispy edges, tender middles, and a hint of butterscotch. There are two kinds of coconut cookies, myriad butter cookies and shortbreads, and brownies that are blond, kid-friendly, or decadently ultra-chocolate.

Go ahead, show off a little with Chocolate-Mint Sandwich Cookies, jam-filled Buckwheat Linzer Cookies, and dainty Oat and Almond Tuiles. Dont miss over-the-top Chunky Double-Chocolate Coconut Meringues, tender Nutty Thumbprint Cookies, and Chestnut Meringue Mushrooms that melt in your mouth. And no holiday season would be complete without cutout cookies to decorate with kidshere youll even find a lickety-split slice-and-bake version of them with lots of creative flavor options.

Whether you are an occasional baker or a passionate pastry chef, cookies are gloriously easy, festive, and fun. With this holiday collection, we wish you happy baking and bon apptit!

Working with new methods and new flours that behave in new or unexpected ways means that the little details are more important than ever! Here are the top ten.

Keep flours fresh: Store whole-grain and other perishable flours (like nut flours) in airtight containers in the fridge or freezer to prevent them from turning rancid. Bring to room temperature before opening the container to avoid condensation.

Do your mise en place like a pro: Measuring all your ingredients before you start ensures that you have what you need and will not forget an ingredient along the way.

Measure accurately: A scale is always the best way to measure ingredients, but if you must use measuring cups, follow this method: Set the appropriate-size measuring cup on a piece of wax paper on the counter. If the flour in the canister or the bag is very compacted, loosen it gently with a spoon (dont overdo it, though, or your measure will be too light). Pour or spoon the flour lightly into the cup until it is heaped above the rim. Without tapping or shaking the cup or compacting the flour, sweep the flour level with the rim using a straightedge.

Check your oven temperature: Put an oven thermometer in the center of the oven and make sure it registers the same temperature that you set. If not, adjust the dial. Better yet, get a professional to calibrate your oven. For convection ovens, consult the manual that came with the oven; you may be instructed to use a lower temperature and check for doneness early.

Position your oven racks: Things bake differently on different racks. Unless youre using a convection oven, always position the oven racks at the level called for in each recipe and rotate pans if called for as well. For convection ovens, consult the oven manual for rack position advice.

Mix it right: Some recipes need vigorous beating or whisking; some need only delicate folding. Use the utensil, type of action, and speed called for. Where it matters, mixing times are given to help you get it right.

Rest and hydrate: Some flours in some recipes need time to absorb liquid from the batter so that the finished cookies or bars dont taste raw or feel gritty on the palate. Hydration is built into the recipes where necessary. Some recipes may call for resting the dough for at least 2 hours, or even overnightand the recipe wont call for it unless the payoff is worth the wait.

Use the type and size of pans called for: Metal and glass baking pans bake differently. Round or square, a 9-inch pan may not seem much bigger than an 8-inch one, but it has 25 percent more surface area. If your pan is too large, your bars will be thinner than you expect and overbaked when your timer goes off.

Always cool cookies completely before frosting or wrapping (unless instructed otherwise).

Create like a pastry chef: The best way to make a new successful recipe from an existing but unfamiliar one is to first follow the original recipe as written, so that you know what the flavors and textures are like when the recipe works. Then change one thing at a time. If you make too many changes at once, you will never know which change was responsible for the failure.
Bonus Tip: Recipes that call for white rice flour give you the option of using Thai white rice flour (see Resources, ). The Thai flour is ultra-fine; you will note that while the weight required for a recipe remains the same, the cup measurement is different because less Thai flour fits into a cup. Each recipe gives both weight and cup measures accordingly.