January 5, 2008

Oat Flakes - Gluten Free


One of the recipes in The Professional Pastry Chef (Friberg, 2002) that I've been wanting to try is for a beautifully crisp cookie called Oat Flakes. The cookie spreads out while baking into an oblong shape. Once the cookie has cooled, you dip one end in dark chocolate. With the end result is a cookie that resembles a rolled oat.

Since I have a great fondness for oats. They find their way into many of the dishes I make at our house, such as Peanut Butter Sauce Pan Cookies, Cinnamon Raisin Oatmeal, Pizza or Oat Milk. With my stock of certified gluten free oats recently replenished, it was time to give this cookie a try. The recipe called for very little wheat flour and could be changed to be gluten free easily. I also wanted to try making them with agave syrup rather than sugar in order to reduce the glycemic index of the cookies.

The cookies emerged from the oven a golden toffee color and smelled delightful. After the cookies had cooled, my children took over and had a great time dipping the cookies into the dark chocolate. We did leave some plain to see which ones we preferred. The four of us thought the chocolate covered cookies were delicious and were our favorite. We took to folding our cookies in half, so that every bite had some chocolate in it.

Recipe

1/2 cup + 1/2 tsp (128 g) melted butter
1 1/2 cup (155 g) certified gf rolled oats *
1 egg, beaten
2/3 cup (234 g) agave syrup
5 1/2 tsp (16 g) brown rice flour
5 1/2 tsp (16 g) sweet rice flour
1 1/2 Tb (18 g) baking powder
1/4 - 1/2 cup Dark Chocolate, melted

Note: This recipe is reduced in size from the original.

1. In a large mixing bowl, pour in the melted butter and oats. Beat together on low speed. Dump in the egg and agave syrup and continue beating.

2. In a small bowl, combine the flours and baking powder. Stir together. Then add to the large mixing bowl and beat together.

3. Cover the mixing bowl and place in the refrigerator preferably overnight, but at least 4 hours.

4. Cover several cookie sheets with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

5. Scoop out the batter into balls about the size of 1 tablespoon. Give the cookies room to spread. Bake for 8 to 9 minutes or until the entire cookie is a light toffee color.

6. Allow the cookies to cool and then set up. Then remove each cookie from the parchment paper and dip into the melted chocolate about halfway. Replace on the cookie sheet and allow the chocolate to dry, approximately overnight. Note: The cookies will still be somewhat soft after cooling.


* You can purchase certified gluten free oats from Cream Hill Estates, Gifts of Nature, Gluten Free Oats, Bob's Red Mill, Glutenfree.com and Glutenfreemall.com.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow, these look yummy, delicate, and just perfect. Seriously, they look perfect. How did you do that?

I love having the addition of GF oats to my pantry, so I will definitely try these, although my chocolate dip might be a bit deeper. :)

Thanks!
Melissa

Mary Frances said...

Those look delish! Good job. I love dark chocolate so I can't imagine these lasted more than an hour of so =)

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

ooh, such scrumptious-looking oat cookies - that's great that the oat flakes are so versatile in both sweet and savory recipes!!

I saw your comment on my blog: visit www.happycow.net for vegetarian/vegan restaurants anywhere in the WORLD!! It's a fabulous website.

Pig in the Kitchen said...

ohhhhh! These look so yummy and i'm so trying not to eat food! I've finally found your blog, could never get here before... Happy New Year to you!
Pigx

Carrie said...

Those look So good natalie!!! yum!!! I love oatmeal cookies in all shapes and form! Adding the dark chocolate is a simply marvelous idea!!! Great pictures!!

Simply...Gluten-free said...

They look so yummy. I've been wanting to expirement with agave syrup in some of my sweets recipes, this has inspired me!

Sally JPA said...

Oh, yum. Those sound delightfully chewy and very satisfying. I'm going to have to try them with egg replacer.

Zumba Girl said...

Looks delicious!! I am an oat lover too and am so glad we can include some oats now in recipes. It opens up another universe of recipes. Thank You!

The gluten free gang!

Melanie said...

They look really good. I used to make a cookie similar to that called lace cookies. It was a very thin batter with oats and chopped almonds. Then you brush chocolate on the back. I have been trying out the oats and they are so good. I had no idea how much I missed them.

kbabe1968 said...

MMMM....those look yummy! :D

Natalie, aka "Sheltie Girl" said...

Melissa - How did I get them to look so perfect...well I used a tablespoon (the measuring type spoon) to scoop out the dough and set it on the parchment paper. Then when I dipped the chocolate I used a knife to wipe the excess to the back of the cookie. That way for front looked nice.

I think they taste very good made either with agave syrup or sugar. If you like a crisper cookie, then try them with sugar.

Sheltie Girl

Natalie, aka "Sheltie Girl" said...

Mary Francis - You are right, these cookies didn't last very long at all. We were all enjoying the chocolate and oat flavor.

Sheltie Girl

Natalie, aka "Sheltie Girl" said...

Veggie Girl - Thank you very much for the kind words and the link to Happy Cow. I think that will give us some more restaurants to try when we travel.

Thanks!

Sheltie Girl

Natalie, aka "Sheltie Girl" said...

Hi Pig in the Kitchen - I'm glad you found the blog. I have been enjoying reading your kitchen exploits.

Happy New Year!

Sheltie Girl

Natalie, aka "Sheltie Girl" said...

Hi Carrie & Veggie Paparazzo - Thanks for the kind words. I hope you enjoy the cookies.

Sheltie Girl

Natalie, aka "Sheltie Girl" said...

Hi Carol - I really enjoy cooking with agave syrup. It doesn't spike my blood pressure and it let's me enjoy something sweet. In most recipes you don't need as much agave syrup as you would sugar. To 1 cup of sugar, use 2/3 cup of agave syrup.

Sheltie Girl

Natalie, aka "Sheltie Girl" said...

Hi Girl Who Took Out Gluten & Kbabe1968 - Thank you for all the lovely comments.

Happy New Year!

Sheltie Girl

Natalie, aka "Sheltie Girl" said...

Hi Gluti Girl - I know the recipe you are talking about with oat & nut lace cookie.

I used to love making a Florintener cookie, where the cookie was a lacy nut and then you brushed dark chocolate on the back. Then you sandwiched two cookies together. I could eat way too many of those.

Isn't it great that there are now gluten free oats.

Thanks for stopping by.

Sheltie Girl