Peanut Butter Meltaways

Back in the day when we could eat the Girl Scout cookies that we ordered, instead of donating them to the troops, we always loved to eat Peanut Butter Tagalongs. Because of my husband's deep fondness for all things peanut butter, I always made sure we had a box in our order. For those who aren't familiar with the Tagalong, it is a shortbread style cookie with a dollop of soft sweetened peanut butter on top and then dipped in chocolate. A great cookie for peanut butter and chocolate lovers, the Tagalong has been missed at my house since going gluten free.

The idea to try and create a gluten free Tagalong, developed when I added Candy Making for Dummies, by David Jones, to my cookbook collection. For contained within these pages is a delightful recipe for Peanut Butter Meltaways, a candy center made of peanut butter and peanut butter flavored chocolate. Now that I had the topping figured out, then the bottom could be a peanut butter shortbread and I'd glaze it with a nice dark chocolate. The shortbread was inspired by the Peanut Butter Shortbread and the Chocolate Melt Aways recipes at Argo Cornstarch. To coat the cookies, I used melted chocolate chips with a little shortening added.

I had been thinking about making this cookie, when Nick of Peanut Butter Boy mentioned that he was hosting the first ever Great Peanut Butter Exhibition with the theme of cookies. There you go, this was the perfect opportunity to try my hand at making these cookies and to include them in the Peanut Butter Exhibition event.

If you are interested in other gluten free version of Girl Scout cookies, you can find my recipe for the peanut butter oatmeal sandwich cookies (Do Si Do) here and my recipe for the chocolate mint cookies (Thin Mints) here.

Recipe

Meltaway

1 1/2 oz white chocolate, chopped fine *
2 1/2 Tb creamy or chunky peanut butter
pinch sea salt

Cookie

1/2 cup millet flour
1/4 cup + 1 Tb sweet rice flour
1/4 cup arrowroot starch
1 tsp chia seed meal
1/4 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
1/4 cup creamy or chunky peanut butter
4 Tb vegetable shortening (or 2 Tb vegetable shortening, 2 Tb coconut oil)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate Coating

1 cup chocolate chips **
1 Tb vegetable shortening ***


Meltaways

1. Set out 3 silicone muffin cups on a plate or small cookie sheet.

2. Place the chopped white chocolate into a microwave safe bowl and melt them on high for approximately 50 to 60 seconds. Stir the chopped chocolate a various intervals, so that the chocolate melts evenly.

3. Dump the peanut butter and salt in to the bowl and stir together. Use the back of your spoon to work out any unmelted peanut butter until the consistency is creamy.

4. Pour the liquid into the muffin cups and then set in the refrigerator to cool. Note: Depending on the temperature of your kitchen, you may also need to store these in the refrigerator as they will become quite soft if left out.

Cookies

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line an 11 1/2 x 7 1/2 inch cookie pan with parchment paper.

2. In a mixing bowl, dump in the vegetable shortening and peanut butter. On medium speed, blend until creamy. Then add the brown sugar and vanilla extract and continue beating.

3. In a medium sized bowl, pour in the flours and chia seed meal. Stir together making sure to thoroughly incorporate the chia seed meal with the flour. Note: If the chia seed meal isn't incorporated well, then you will have bits of gel in your cookies once the flour is added to the liquids.

4. Slowly add the flour to the mixing bowl and beat until the dough forms a ball.

5. Place the dough into the cookie pan and using your hands press the dough out. Chill the cookie dough prior to baking.

6. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool for 5 minutes and then cut the cookies into squares. Note: These cookies are delicate and don't take a lot of handling well. Leave them in the pan until ready to assemble the cookies.


Chocolate Coating

Note: Make the glaze in two or three batches so that it stays melted while you are working.

1. Place 1/2 cup of the chocolate chips and 1 1/2 tsp of the vegetable shortening into a microwave safe bowl. Place in the microwave and cook for 45 to 60 seconds. Stir at various intervals to make sure the chocolate is melting evenly.

2. Remove the coating from the microwave and using a spoon stir until it is thoroughly blended and there aren't any little bits of chocolate left.

Assembling the Cookies

1. On a cutting board, unmold the peanut butter meltaways and cut into slices 1/8 inch thick. Then cut those slices in half, so that the slices will fit on top of the cookie and not hang over the edges.

2. Lay out a sheet of parchment paper on your work surface. Taking a knife, slide it under the cookie and lift it out and onto the parchment paper.

3. Place several little pieces of the peanut butter meltaway in the center of the top of the cookie.

4. Then lightly spoon chocolate coating over the cookie, until it is totally covered.

5. Leave out on the counter for several hours for the chocolate to cool and set up. Makes 1 dozen cookies. Note: Depending on the temperature of your kitchen, you may need to store these cookies in the refrigerator.

Substitutions
1. You can substitute 1 tsp of xanthan or guar gum for the chia seed meal in this recipe.

2. You can use 1 cup of gluten free flour mix (with xanthan gum) instead of the various flours.


* White Chocolate - To make this recipe dairy free and vegan, you can use White Chocolate Chips made by Oppenheimer. You can purchase them at the AllergyGrocer.com. (I used Valrhona White Chocolate Medallions (Ivoire Feves) purchased from Whole Foods. In my local Whole Foods they are located near the coffee bar and the candy bar.)

** Chocolate Chips - I used Enjoy Life! dairy, gluten, casein free, vegan and kosher chocolate chips.

*** Vegetable Shortening - I experimented with both vegetable shortening in the melted chocolate and cocoa butter. The cocoa butter gave a harder more brittle coating, while the vegetable shortening gave a softer chocolate coating.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies - Gluten Free

There is dancing at our house -- our Girl Scout cookies arrived yesterday. My husband was delighted, as his favorite cookie is the Do-Si-Dos (peanut butter sandwich cookie). Every year we stock up on Do-Si-Dos , but they never last long enough. Now, I need a gluten free version and the Girl Scout cookies are only made with wheat.

We have gone a little overboard for Do-Si-Dos in the past. About four years ago, we even bought a case of Do-Si-Dos and froze them. Once thawed though, they just weren't the same. So, I've been looking for a recipe which would allow my husband to eat something like his favorite cookie more than once a year.

My search has been going on for a while without success until I came across Nancy Silverton's Sandwich Book: The Best Sandwiches Ever -- From Thursday Nights at Campanile. Within it's pages lies a recipe for Not Nutter Butters, a peanut butter cookie recipe inspired by the Girl Scout version. As her cookies are made with wheat, my mission was laid out for me -- I needed to convert this classic peanut butter sandwich cookie. Off I went to work on my gluten free modification and to test it out. The final cookie is rich, decadent and delightful. A cookie my family can enjoy year round.

Recipe

Cookie Recipe

3 sticks butter
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups rolled oats
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt
3/4 cup cane sugar
3/4 cup brown or Turbinado sugar
3/4 cup natural style chunky peanut butter (drain off oil, if needed)
1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup oat flour
1/2 cup + 1 Tb sweet rice flour
1/4 cup arrowroot starch
2 tsp kudzu (kuzu) powder, finely crushed

Peanut Butter Filling Recipe

6 Tb butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 cup natural style chunky peanut butter

For the Cookies: Wait until the step where the cookie dough is chilling to preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Melt 1 stick of the butter in a large skillet and then add the oats. Cook the oats until they are lightly toasted, about 5 minutes. Keep stirring so the oats don't burn. Once toasted, set aside and allow to cool.

In a bowl place the various flours, oats, salt, soda crushed kudzu powder and blend. Then in the mixing bowl to an electric mixer, place the rest of the butter and beat until creamy. Add the sugar and vanilla, then blend. Add the peanut butter and blend. Slowly add the oats and flour blend to the mixing bowl. Make sure the oat and flour blend is thoroughly blended. The cookie dough will still be a little soft, but it will make a ball. Place the mixing bowl in the refrigerator and allow the dough to chill for about an hour.

Using a melon baller, scoop out twelve balls of cookie dough and arrange on the cookie sheet. Press the cookies down with the tines of a fork. Then bake for 16 to 18 minutes or until golden brown. Allow the cookies to cool before removing them from the cookie sheet.

For the Peanut Butter Cream Filling: In the mixing bowl to an electric mixer, place the butter and beat until creamy. Add the peanut butter and blend. Slowly add the powdered sugar and then beat on medium speed for about 1 minute.

Taking two peanut butter cookies, spread the cream filling on the bottom of the first cookie. Then place the bottom of the second cookie on top of the cream filling. The tops of the cookies should be on the outside.

The aroma that filled the house while these cookies were baking was intoxicating. Everybody was in the kitchen waiting for them to come out of the oven. The taste was divine. All of us agreed that the cookies were delicious. This recipe is a keeper.

I took these cookies to my daughter's book club meeting. Everybody thought they were fabulous and couldn't believe that they were gluten free.

Update April 29, 2007: My family did a taste test with my cookies and the Do-Si-Dos. My cookies got one vote as a winner and the other two couldn't decide which one they preferred. My husband did note the the Girl Scout version really needed to have more peanut butter in the middle like mine. Pretty cool.

Ancient Harvest Quinoa - Gluten Free

I have a variety of gluten- free Quinoa in my pantry. I have Quinoa flakes and flour from Ancient Harvest and organic Quinoa grain from Trader Joe's. I have made exactly one food item from each and didn't explore further. I really enjoyed the Quinoa with garlic and vegetables that I made with the grains. Although, my kids... I've read that you have to offer new foods to kids at least seven times before they will like it, that leaves six times to go.

NASA is experimenting with different varieties of Quinoa for growing in space. The nutritional profile of quinoa is excellent as it contains protein, fiber, calcium, etc. You can see the nutritional profile of quinoa at Ancient Harvest's website. www.quinoa.net

I chose my box of Ancient Harvest Quinoa Flakes as my test subject. Ancient Harvest has several recipes on the back of the box that seemed like they had potential. One was for Quinoa peanut butter cookies and the other for Quinoa banana muffins. Since, I've never made these before I made sure to cut both recipes in half before starting to work.

Crispy Quinoa Peanut Butter Cookies - Gluten Free

1/4 cup honey
2 tsp + 1/2 tsp brown sugar
1/4 stick butter
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup brown rice flour
6 Tb Quinoa Flakes
1/4 tsp Vanilla
1/8 tsp baking soda
pinch salt
Optional: 1/4 cup nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Mix the honey, sugar, butter, peanut butter and vanilla in a medium bowl until creamy. Combine the dry ingredients in another bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl and beat until well blended. Drop by rounded teaspoons on the parchment paper. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes. Cool.

As a group the taste testers said these were too sweet. The taste of the honey over powered the other flavors and lingered in your mouth. I agreed with my family on this one. This recipe has potential, but it needs adjusting for sweetness. Also, I think almond butter might lend a better flavor than the peanut butter.

Banana Quinoa Muffins

1/4 cup Quinoa Flour
1/4 cup Quinoa Flakes
1 Tb Honey
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 banana
1 egg
1 tsp brown sugar (not called for in original recipe)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a muffin tin with paper cups. Blend all the dry ingredients together. In another bowl blend the banana, egg and honey. Then slowly add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture. Pour the mixture into the muffin cups. This 1/2 recipe will make 4 muffins. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until browned.

My kids didn't care for the muffins. They said they were a bit rubbery. I agreed they were rather unpleasantly rubbery. Although I thought the flavor of the muffin was pretty good. The rubbery texture could have been caused by my putting some water in the unused muffin cups. It was interesting to see how the quinoa was almost steamed by the little bit of water in the cups.

I had one for breakfast the next day and toasted it. It came out beautifully and wasn't rubbery at all. I put a little butter on it and shared it with my Sheltie. She thought it was scrumptious.

Peanut Butter Sauce Pan Cookies - Gluten Free

One of my family's favorite recipes is gluten-free, Peanut Butter Sauce Pan Cookies. My baking record is three batches in a row of these cookies when we've had family over.

I've done a little tweaking to the recipe which my mother received from her friend Deannie about 45 years ago, so the flavor is a richer chocolate rather than like cocoa.

Recipe

1 stick butter
2 cups cane sugar
1 1/2 squares semi-sweet chocolate
1/2 cup milk or half 'n half
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup + 2 Tb crunchy peanut butter
3 1/2 cups quick rolled oats

Get all of your ingredients together and measured out before starting. Once the chocolate mixture is boiled it will set up before you have time to measure everything out.

Place butter, sugar, chocolate and milk in a large sauce pan. Stirring constantly, bring to a boil. Boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and add in vanilla, peanut butter and oats. Blend well. Drop by spoonfuls onto parchment paper. Allow 15 minutes for cookies to harden enough to eat.

All of my family loves these cookies. They are a family favorite that disappear quickly.

Source for Gluten Free Oats

The latest Living Without Magazine mentioned a Montana based company called Gifts of Nature which is now carrying certified gluten free oats. They also carry Montina flour and lima bean flour. You can find out more from their website, http://www.giftsofnature.net