Gluten-Free Snickerdoodles

These snickerdoodles are made with almond flour and spiced up with cinnamon. They are also egg and dairy free which make them an ideal treat for anyone with sensitivities to those ingredients.

Unlike traditional snickerdoodles, they are not rolled in cinnamon sugar prior to baking nor do they puff up in the same way regular snickerdoodles do but they are excellent in their own right.

To me, these are more like chewy cinnamon thins. For a more puffy cookie, check out my other recipe for GF Snickerdoodles that uses a variety of GF flours. They are more labor intensive though while these come together very quickly. No need to even use the mixer. I made this batch using 2 mixing bowls, a whisk and a wooden spoon. I had them prepped and in the oven in under 5 minutes.

You could use honey as the sweetener but the original recipe calls for agave nectar. I decided to go that route as I had a large bottle of agave nectar in the pantry.

I changed the recipe a tiny bit simply by adding a tsp of cinnamon to the batter as well. Other than that, I stayed true to the ingredients list.

When storing these, make sure you layer them between sheets of parchment paper otherwise they will stick to each other. Storing them at room temperature is best.

The original recipe can be found in Elana Amsterdam's book The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook



RECIPE:
Adapted source recipe: Snickerdoodles, The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook, Elana Amsterdam

WHAT YOU NEED

2 1/2 cups almond flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup arrowroot powder
6 tablespoons grapeseed oil (or any neutral flavored vegetable oil)
1/2 cup agave nectar
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract

ground cinnamon for topping

MAKE IT

PREHEAT oven to 350F
LINE 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper
IN LARGE BOWL, whisk together first 5 ingredients
IN MEDIUM BOWL, whisk together remaining ingredients
ADD WET ingredients to dry ingredients stirring well with a wooden spoon until fully combined
SPOON TEASPOON size mounds of dough onto prepared pans and press tops down slightly while leaving 2 inches between cookies
SPRINKLE tops with ground cinnamon
BAKE 7-10 minutes (mine needed no more than 7 minutes max) until lightly golden
REMOVE from oven and let cool in pan for 1/2 hr.

ENJOY!

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BOO !

HAPPY HALLOWEEN GIVEAWAY

Another giveaway is here and rightfully so! Halloween is my favorite time of year. What better way to kick-start October than with a Halloween themed baking giveaway.

I love anything to do with Halloween. Costumes, candy corn, pumpkins, cauldrons, dark eerie nights, flying bats, zombies, the cackle of witches... you name it, I love it. I start decorating as soon as October 1st hits. And I start baking spooky creations as early as September!

During a recent shopping spree I saw some super Halloween themed baking supplies I couldn't resist picking up for this giveaway. I hope you think they are as cute as I do!

The lucky winner will receive 3 special treats

1. A fun set of test tube sprinkles by Wilton. The Creepy Sprinkles Lab contains orange sugar, white bones, green and black sprinkles, and finally green, orange and black sprinkles. I have my own set and recently used them to decorate my Chocolate Butterscotch Cupcakes.


2. A great set of 32 Spiderweb Baking Cups by Cupcake Creations. What makes these so great? Well they are super sturdy so you don't need to use a muffin tin at all. You just place the cupcake liners right onto a cookie sheet and fill with batter. Plus , there is a pumpkin spice cupcake recipe on the back of the package which I am hoping you will try !



3. A fantastic Linzer Cookie Cutter Set by Wilton. This set includes 6 different shapes: Bat, Pumpkin, Cat, Owl, Ghost and Witches Hat plus an easy-to-make cookie recipe and instructions on how to use the Linzer set to get great results!

GIVEAWAY TERMS AND CONDITIONS:

This giveaway will not be open that long for submissions to ensure the winner receives the goodies in time for Halloween. So act fast and don't miss out on your chance to win !

Minimum requirements (1 chance to win):

• Be a follower of this blog and add a comment to this post stating you are a follower. To follow, simply scroll down on the right until you see the Follow button in the sidebar. Then join up!
  

Please do ensure that you meet the minimum requirement or I regret to say that your entry won't be counted.


Additional chances to win:

• Minimum requirements must still be met

• Publish a post on this giveaway in your own blog and link it back to this post (+2 more chances to win)

• Add a link at the side of your blog (sidebar) to my blog. Feel free to use any image from this post if you want to (+ 1 more chance to win)

• Provide a link to your blog in your comment and leave the post/link on your blog for 1 more week after the giveaway has closed for compilation purposes.

Important:

Contest closes 11 PM EST, Saturday October 8th, 2011. An online random selection tool (@ random.org) will be used to select the winner. Name of winner will be announced on Lemon Drop the following day and a request will be issued to the winner to contact me privately. The winner has 24 hours after winner announcement to contact me and claim their prize.

Good luck to all !

Apple Butter Bread

This is a super short post to share a great bread machine recipe with you all. I couldn't snag very many decent pics because it is very overcast and the natural light available is pretty much NIL. Yes, I have artificial lighting but I had no desire to haul it out today and set it up.

I had some apple butter left over from a recent recipe and wanted to test it out in a yeast bread. What a great baking ingredient . Turned out beautifully. What I love most about the recipe is the fact that it is all made in the breadmaker. No kneading for me and as my arthritis is flaring lately that is a good thing !

The loaf rose up perfectly and has a superb sweet taste. This is amazing toasted and slathered with , you guessed it, some more apple butter . I would also think this would be incredible as sandwich bread with roasted pork. Can you imagine that ?! I can.

An easy and delicious recipe that puts to good use the sweet flavors of apple butter

RECIPE:

WHAT YOU NEED

1 cup water at room temperature
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup apple butter
2 tablespoons oil
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 cups bread flour
1 1/2 teaspoons of yeast

MAKE IT

ADD the following ingredients, in the order above, to your bread machine
SET breadmaker to 1.5 lb regular white bread loaf setting

YUM !

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Applesauce Cinnamon Quick Bread

Oh, for the love of applesauce and cinnamon. A flavor combo that stands the test of time. Sure, we combine them in pies, cakes, crisps and muffins. But what about quick bread? I had this loaf prepped and in the oven in 10 minutes. Then I sat back, feet up, tea in hand, and let it bake away for 55 minutes on the dot. What emerged from my oven? A glorious moist applesauce loaf that I swear the neighbors could smell from their place - the aromas of sweet cinnamon wafting out the open window !

If you prefer , bake it with chunky applesauce for extra texture. But for us, we prefer the smooth kind and it works so well in this recipe. As far as cinnamon goes, this is where being cheap on adding spices won't cut it. You want to add 2 level tablespoons of cinnamon to get the right flavor in this loaf. Don't be afraid. Just go for it.

You don't need too much oil or more than 1 egg in this recipe. You don't lose the moistness factor as a result either. The applesauce takes care of that nicely.

Eat it plain or topped with butter, cream cheese... even apple butter sounds fantastic. My daughter really likes her toasted. Whichever way you slice it, this bread is a winner!

I didn't frost this loaf as I did with my chocolate loaf but it is safe to say that a caramel frosting would be the cat's meow on this !

Are you ready? Haul out that loaf pan and let's get at it.

RECIPE:
*adapted source recipe, Cinnamon Applesauce Bread, McCormick

WHAT YOU NEED

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup chunky applesauce
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2/3 cup milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

MAKE IT

PREHEAT oven to 350F
SPRAY a large loaf pan with baking spray (preferably the kind with added flour)
IN LARGE BOWL, whisk together first 4 ingredients
IN MEDIUM BOWL, whisk together remaining ingredients
FOLD WET INGREDIENTS into dry ingredients blending just until combined
POUR into loaf pan and smooth top
FEEL FREE to sprinkle with some turbinado sugar now if you like
BAKE 55-60 MINUTES or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean

ENJOY !



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