May 13, 2008

Cream Cheese Cookies


When I was a kid, my Mom always had homemade cookies or bars in the house for us to eat. My brother's favorite were her blondies, my Dad loved her pecan pie and I craved her peanut butter sauce pan cookies. Mom was always making sure that she rotated her baking so that each of us got something we loved to eat.

For Christmas, Mom would do her baking and always made sure that there was a pecan pie. So that Santa could have a piece of pie. My brother and I, thought Santa would prefer cookies. Mom said, she had it on good authority that Santa preferred pecan pie and a nice hot cup of coffee.

Sometimes she would make these delightful little treats called cream cheese cookies. Slightly crisp on the outside, they are soft and chewy on the inside. My husband thinks these are some of the best cookies he's ever eaten. So, converting her recipe into a gluten free version had become a necessity.

This gluten free version has the crisp exterior, soft interior and all the fabulous flavor of the original wheat version. When my husband realized I had made these cookies for him, he was thrilled. All he could do was smile and reach for a handful of cookies as he made his way to the kitchen table. My daughter thought they were really good, although my son isn't all that keen on the flavor of cream cheese. I thought they were fabulous. Thanks Mom for a terrific recipe.

Recipe

4 Tb vegetable shortening, softened
2 oz cream or Neufchatel cheese, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup cane sugar
3 Tb brown rice flour
3 Tb chestnut flour
2 Tb sweet rice flour
1 tsp chia seed meal
1/4 tsp + pinch cream of tartar
1/4 tsp baking soda
3 Tb chopped pecans

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a cookie pan with parchment paper.

2. In a mixing bowl, dump in the butter and cream cheese. Cream on medium speed and then pour in the sugar. Continue to cream until the sugar is thoroughly incorporated. Then dump in the vanilla extract and continue beating.

3. In a small bowl, pour in the flours, chia seed meal, cream of tartar and baking soda. Stir together, making sure the chia seed is mixed into the flour very well.

4. Slowly add the flour mixture to the mixing bowl and beating on low speed. When the flour is mixed thoroughly mixed with the cream cheese dump in the pecans. Continue to mix until the pecans spread through out the dough.

5. Drop by spoonfuls on the parchment paper and bake for 10 minutes. Allow to cool before serving. Makes 21 cookies.

Substitutions

1. You can substitute the Neufchatel cheese with cream cheese. You can also substitute all the cheese with Tofutti cream cheese.

2. You may substitute 1/2 tsp xanthan or guar gum for the chia seed meal.

3. You can substitute the millet flour or more brown rice flour for the chestnut flour.

12 comments:

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

Sounds like your mom was quite a baker when you were growing up - fabulous! Glad that everyone (well, minus your son, haha) loved those cookies :0)

tcd said...

Hey Shltie Girl,

These cookies look great! I think I am going to have to steal this recipe!

If any of your readers are interested in making them casein free as well, they can use Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese which is a great cream cheese substitute.

glamah16 said...

You transformed it into a mighty tasty looking cookie1

jasmine said...

I like this idea...cream cheese in cookies is quite intriguing...

j

Anonymous said...

Your recounting about your mom having on authority Santa's love of pecan pie - so cute.
These sound delicious and look scrumptious!

linda said...

I've never made a cream cheese cookie or even dough with cream cheese before, good reminder to do so. The cookies look yummy!

Gabi said...

Wow those look so tasty!
You're amazing :)

Emilia said...

Those cookies sound lovely and totally delicious.

Cream cheese makes almost everything taste good, even something like mashed potatoes are so good with a bit of cream cheese, so I am sure these cookies are really tasty.

White on Rice Couple said...

Cream cheese makes them crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside? Wow! I'll try it. Thank you and to your Mom too!

Simply...Gluten-free said...

These look really lovely. YUM!

Miss Diane said...

I think I will try these cookies with fresh goat cheese for less lactose.

Your substitution list is very useful and it makes you a very professional teacher!

Tiffany said...

Gosh - I'm a gluten free mix kind of gal but these look easy enough for even me to make. I might use a blended gf flour though, instead of using three...I still think they'll come out ok. Cheese makes everything better...lol!