Foodie Friday

(Sorry about the crazy picture...I can't get it rotated). Some of you may remember my posting a few months ago about finding out that I had severe b-12 and folate deficiency and have been getting shots. Our diet is great. It made no sense...until I read that the two deficiencies together signal celiac disease (inability to break down gluten). My dr. agreed and sent me for the celiac panel. I'm still waiting on the results, but if I have it, we're having the kids tested as well. We're pretty sure, with their history of severe reflux and other factors, that they have food allergies, but we haven't been able to pinpoint the problem foods yet. Celiac may be our answer.

To that end, I've been trying out some gluten-free recipes. I made these adorable little cookies the other day, and the children love them (and my dear husband, who can eat large quantities of any form of gluten thought they were tasty as well!) I love fall and fall food, and nothing says fall like gingerbread. I modified this recipe from another site, because I can never leave a recipe alone, and also because I wanted to do cut out cookies with my sweet new autumn mini-cutters. My first attempt at rolling out the dough and cutting out the cookies was disastrous, even after adding guar gum (to hold the dough together) and refrigerating it, so I tried another tactic: cutting out the cookies AFTER they were baked. Here's the recipe.

Gluten Free Gingerbread Bites.

6 eggs
1/3 cup butter or coconut oil, melted
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup molasses
¾ cup rapadura sugar
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup sifted coconut flour

1 teaspoon guar gum

Blend together eggs, butter, salt, molasses, sugar, and
spices. Stir in coconut flour and mix thoroughly.
Batter will thicken slightly as the flour absorbs
moisture. Refrigerate until dough is firm. Line a large baking sheet with parchment and press the dough out evenly on parchment, about 1/4 inch thick.

Bake at 400 degrees F for 12-
14 minutes. After cookie sheet comes out of the oven, use small cookie cutters to cut out cookies (all of mine stuck inside the cutter, and I just gently pressed them out onto a cooling rack.) Crumble the scraps, cover and refrigerate. I'm told they're delicious over vanilla ice cream. If there are any cookies left, refrigerate them as the coconut flour tends to draw moisture if left out.