Tiger Cookies - Gluten Free

Each time I get ready to make any baked goods, there is a standard discussion between my children..."I want chocolate," says my daughter..."No, this time it needs to be vanilla," says my son. And on it goes until the discussion ends in the toss of a coin. Only to return again when I begin to gather my baking ingredients together in the kitchen.

Our Sheltie is the ultimate diplomat. She likes to have a taste of just about anything you are eating. She will delightedly remain at your side enjoying your company and whatever tidbits you choose to share with her. When it comes to flavors, she likes chocolate, vanilla, chocolate and vanilla swirled together. Following her example, I wanted to make a gluten free cookie that would please both of my children at the same time.

I have an old recipe for Tiger Cookies made with melted chocolate chips and corn flakes that I thought had the potential to save us from the flavor discussion. The recipe comes from Christmas Cookies by Oxmoor House that I've had for many years. I've modified the recipe to be gluten free and added flax seed meal as a binder so that the cookies will hold together nicely.

The cookies smelled delicious and maintained their lovely shaped look during baking. In spite of children's dubious glances at the multicolored cookies, their first taste showed them that cookies don't have to be just chocolate or just vanilla. Chocolate and vanilla are very delicious all swirled together.

Recipe

9 Tbs (1 stick + 1 Tb) butter
1/2 cup + 1 Tb cane sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 tsp flax seed meal
3/4 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup sweet rice flour
1/2 cup arrowroot starch
1/4 cup corn flour *
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 1/2 cup frosted cornflakes, crushed **
3 oz. semisweet chocolate morsels

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a large mixing bowl, dump in the butter and cream. Beat on medium speed, then plop in the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Pour in the egg and vanilla extract and continue to beat. Once blended, add the flax seed meal and beat until thoroughly blended. Allow the mixture to sit and rest. This will allow the flax seed meal to begin gelling.

3. In a medium bowl, dump in the flours, baking soda, sea salt and crushed corn flakes. Stir until blended.


4. Slowly pour the dry ingredients into the mixing bowl and beat on medium speed until it makes a collection of large and small blobs of dough.

5. Place the chocolate chips in a measuring cup and melt in the microwave or put them in the top of a double boiler and melt them. Pour the melted chocolate around the top of the dough balls. Using a spoon, lightly stir the chocolate into the dough until it makes multicolored dough balls.

6. Using a spoon, scoop out some cookie dough and place into the palm of your hand. Lightly press the dough together until it makes a nice sized ball (approximately 1 inches in diameter). Then set it on the cookie sheet. Continue in this manner until you have covered your cookie sheet with dough balls with a couple of inches between each ball.

7. Bake for 10-12 minutes at 375 degrees. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before serving. Yield: 2 1/2 dozen cookies.

What did my family think of tiger cookies? We all thought they were delicious. This recipe is now a keeper at our house.

* Corn Flour: You can buy gluten free corn flour from Authentic Foods or from Shiloh Farms carried by the Gluten Free Mall.

** Frosted Corn Flakes: I used Envirokidz Organic Amazon frosted flakes cereal which is gluten free. I purchased my box at my local Whole Foods, but they are also available at Glutenfree.com.