This post is linked to Allergy-Free Wednesdays and Gluten-Free Wednesdays.
It’s Adopt a Gluten-Free Blogger time again and this time I’ve adopted Deanna. Deanna is a super popular adoptee choice, so I had to get my pick in early!! What does that mean … The Mommy Bowl? You’ll want to read Deanna’s explanation on her blog here. It’s a really cute story and I’m sure that most of you will be able to relate.
I’ve long admired Deanna not only for her amazing, easy-to-make recipes (usually dairy free and vegan in addition to being gluten free), but also for her positive, upbeat nature. Last, but not least—as I’ve told her many times—I’m always in awe of her ability to keep her posts to a minimal number of words. She demurs when I point out this fact and says it’s just a matter of her having limited time, but the woman has a way of truly getting to the point quickly. I sooo admire that! Taking a page from Deanna’s book (and given the fact that I’m on vacation with Mr. GFE and did not prepare this post ahead of time), this post will be at least a bit shorter and sweeter than my usual ones. (I know I will not match the brevity of her posts though!)
Here are just a few of Deanna’s recipes that I have been eying, but haven’t yet made. (I am sure that I will get to them though, especially after the success I had with the one I did get to make.)
Smoky Caramel Brussels Sprouts
And, of course, I’ve drooled with everyone else over her Better Than Dairy Queen Ice Cream Cake, the original version, and her raw, vegan Non-Dairy Queen Ice Cream Cake Take 2 version. Maybe I’ll make the latter for a slightly early birthday celebration for Son when he’s home for Christmas. It’s a long wait, but it will be worth it!
Incidentally, it was inspiration from Deanna’s Gun Powder Biscuits that indirectly led to my gluten-free, grain-free vegan Brazilian Un-Cheese Rolls. The latter is one of my family’s favorite recipes and a favorite of my support group members, too. Last month, Sunny (And Love It, Too!) adopted me for Adopt A Gluten-Free Blogger and made a paleo version of my Brazilian Un-Cheese Rolls. As my recipe calls for Roasted Red Pepper Hummus, Sunny made a grain-free, paleo version of Roasted Red Pepper Hummus. When Alta of Tasty Eats At Home—who happens to be our event hostess this month while Sea (Book of Yum) remains in Japan a while longer—adopted Sunny, she made Sunny’s Roasted Red Pepper Hummus. Alta raved! You can read Alta’s review in her adoption post. Do you see how this adoption thing works? The connections, love, recipe inspiration, and fabulous food just go on and on!
The recipe of Deanna’s that I actually did make was Snickerdoodles! Now I have to tell you that I’m a Snickerdoodles fan from wayyyyy back. I’ve made Snickerdoodles since going gluten free and they were good, but just too brittle and crumbly from using a gluten-free all-purpose flour mix. Deanna very wisely uses almond flour in her recipe and it works perfectly. The texture of these cookies is amazing, unlike any other almond flour cookie recipe I’ve sampled and, admittedly, I was already a big fan of almond flour. Actually, Deanna gives you a “three-fer,” as she calls it—three recipes in one from just changing up the ingredients slightly. She describes the three options as “a traditional soft & chewy snickerdoodle, a traditional crisp and puffy snickerdoodle, or a natural, nutty, not so snickerdoodle.” She also calls the latter Cinnamon Stackers.
Per usual, I tweaked Deanna’s recipe based on ingredients I had on hand, specifically, ones that I wanted to use before we left on vacation. Deanna’s recipe is vegan; my version was not. Allow me to explain. I used a “failed” frosting made from a mix. I’d planned to use this butter cream frosting on my Banana Kahlua Coconut Cake, which I’d made for my parents’ wedding anniversary. Most gfe readers know that I never use mixes (they don’t fit the gfe approach in any way), but this one had been left behind by a friend and I was curious because the mix contained only powdered sugar, vanilla powder, and sea salt. Shockingly, that mix was just over a cup’s worth of ingredients and cost $4 a box. Wait … there’s more … you were still supposed to add 2 ½ sticks of non-dairy butter and some milk. Holy moly! (See why I don’t use mixes?) Despite my better judgment, I decided to follow the directions. I used real butter and the resulting “frosting” was bad. I mean really bad. It tasted like sweetened butter, not frosting. So I didn’t use it as frosting, but I didn’t immediately throw it away either. I decided to use it in place of the non-dairy fat in Deanna’s recipe and also greatly reduced the sugar I used. I didn’t have arrowroot or a suitable starch by itself to substitute, so I did use my gluten-free all-purpose flour mix (which contains cornstarch) in place of the small amount of arrowroot needed.
Oh my word! The resulting cookies were out of this world good! Never have I ever tasted better snickerdoodles—either gluten full or gluten free. These cookies looked magazine perfect (don’t you agree?). They had a nice crunch on the outside, but were dense and chewy on the inside; and the sweetness was right on. Next time, I’ll be making Deanna’s recipe using a mix of palm shortening and extra virgin olive oil because I’ve had good luck with that mixture in making a dairy free version of some of my other cookie recipes. But if you’re craving a Snickerdoodle, head on over to The Mommy Bowl and pick the combination of ingredients that works best for you! Plus, be sure to look for a roundup of all the adoptions from this month’s event in a few days over at Tasty Eats At Home!
Amber says
September 4, 2012 at 11:14 pmHi Shirley,
What a great post! And I think your pictures are lovely. I can imagine these snickerdoodles taste amazing. Thanks for sharing with us…and sharing Deanna. 🙂
Hugs,
–Amber
Shirley says
September 9, 2012 at 2:22 pmHi Amber–Thanks so much! I had to put ALL those photos in just to emphasis how darned beautiful those cookies are and how wonderful they taste. 😉 Deanna is a gifted recipe creator! I just made another batch for my Mom for her birthday. I know she will love them! 🙂
xo,
Shirley
SunnyB @ andloveittoo says
September 4, 2012 at 11:37 pm🙂 This is a great post! And yes, I love how the adoption thing works. One big network of gluten-free loving.
Now to go make me some snickerdoodles. 😉
Shirley says
September 9, 2012 at 2:23 pmSunny–Thank you, dear! “One big network of gluten-free loving” … so well put! 🙂 These cookies are simply fabulous, as is Deanna. 😉
Shirley
Deanna says
September 5, 2012 at 7:20 amI love how you’re able to swap in ingredients that work for you. Your photos have me drooling (and realizing that I haven’t made snickerdoodles in a long time).
Thanks for adopting me!
Shirley says
September 9, 2012 at 2:27 pmHey Deanna–It was my pleasure! Well, I just used the last of that frosting mix to make another batch for my Mom’s birthday. I know she will just love them! Next time, I’ll be using your recipe just as written or trying a combo of mostly palm shortening and just a little EVOO because I have really liked that in other cookies I’ve made. Will let you know how it works out. I’m telling you that your recipe makes one wonderful Snickerdoodle! Looking forward to trying some of your other recipes soon, now that I have both psyllium husks and powder. Next I have to get some pumpkin seeds. I’m really looking forward to your creations that use those. 🙂
xo,
Shirley
Shannon @ Enjoying Gluten-Free Life says
September 5, 2012 at 8:45 amGreat post and snickerdoodles that look like exactly like snickerdoodles should. Using a frosting mix gone wrong and having something come out like this is truly amazing. You have a gift 🙂
I stopped at her blog in the past but not made any of her recipes yet. I think I’ll have to change that.
Shirley says
September 9, 2012 at 2:31 pmHi Shannon–Chuckling on my “gift,” but I do appreciate the compliment very much. 🙂 You know, I never really did any playing around with recipes until I went gluten free. I’ve been lucky with my success thus far. 😉 I think you will really enjoy Deanna’s appraoch and recipes as you do more exploring on The Mommy Bowl!
Shirley
Iris says
September 5, 2012 at 10:03 amI love Deanna! She was one of my best recipe testers for my cookbook with Britt. She has impeccable taste and a knack for knowing when a recipe will be a hit or a flop!
Shirley says
September 9, 2012 at 2:33 pmIris–Yes, Deanna is a delight! How cool that she was a recipe tester for you guys! Your description says a lot about her abilities, and I agree based on what I know from following her blog for a while now. 🙂
Shirley
Kim (Cook IT Allergy Free) says
September 5, 2012 at 3:59 pmWhat a great post about Deanna, Shirley!! She has some wonderful recipes!! I am a HUGE snickerdoodle fan myself so I am just going to have to give her recipe a try. I love how you always manage to tweak recipes so successfully based on what you have on hand!! 😀
xo
k
Shirley says
September 9, 2012 at 2:37 pmHey there, Kim!–Thank you, dear. I bet you all will just LOVE this recipe. Deanna is gifted for sure! Tweaking recipes is sort of against the rules of Adopt a Gluten-Free Blogger, but it’s rare for me to have exactly the same ingredients on I can’t stand wasting a “failed” recipe. Plus, I think it’s nice for others to know that recipes can be adaptable. 😉
xo,
Shirley
InTolerant Chef says
September 6, 2012 at 5:43 pmLove the look of these indeed, yummo!
Shirley says
September 9, 2012 at 2:37 pmInTolerant Chef–The only thing better than the look is the TASTE! Yummo, indeed. 🙂
Shirley
Linda says
September 6, 2012 at 9:05 pmWhat a nice adoption post. I had never read Deanna’s mommy bowl story, and I really enjoyed that. Those snickerdoodles look lovely! What a great way to use the failed frosting.
Shirley says
September 9, 2012 at 2:41 pmThanks, Linda. It’s always fun to get a little history on a blogger, isn’t it? I love when individuals share a little more of themselves and make everything more “personal” like Deanna did with her mommy bowl story. 🙂 These snickerdoodles are truly heavenly! Now I need to figure out exactly how to replicate this recipe without having to pay $4 for a product to make failed frosting. 😉
Shirley
Sarena (The Non-Dairy Queen) says
September 8, 2012 at 11:33 amWe are HUGE snickerdoodle fans in this house! These look amazing! I’m off to blog stalk Deanna now!
Shirley says
September 9, 2012 at 2:42 pmHey Sarena–These are truly the yummiest snickerdoodles I’ve EVER had. Just made some more for my mother’s BD. 🙂 I know you will love both Deanna and her recipes!
Shirley
Ricki says
September 8, 2012 at 4:52 pmI do agree, Shirley, these cookies look magazine perfect! Can you believe I’ve never had snickerdoodles? Must try. And I love how you re-purposed that frosting mix! 😉
Shirley says
September 9, 2012 at 2:44 pmRicki–I am shocked … truly shocked that you have not had snickerdoodles! You must remedy that very soon, my dear. 😉 I love re-purposing things. Makes me feel like I’ve earned bonus points or something. LOL
Thanks!
Shirley
Alisa says
September 9, 2012 at 2:17 pmWow, those look amazingly light for almond flour! Really, you can’t go wrong with Deanna’s recipes. I love her stuff.
Shirley says
September 9, 2012 at 2:46 pmAlisa–They truly are amazingly light, but not brittle or crisp, which can ruin a snickerdoodle IMO. It’s like the almond flour in this recipe gives the snickedoodles the absolute perfect texture. Pure genius combination of ingredients from Deanna, but obviously you already know her many talents. 🙂
Shirley
Diane Eblin- thewholegang says
September 11, 2012 at 8:03 amThose cookies look sooooo good. I’m a snickerdoodle fan too. It’s great how you made good use of something that didn’t turn out for it’s first use.
Shirley says
September 12, 2012 at 7:27 pmDiane–They really are awesome cookies! Can’t wait to make them totally grain free, dairy free, etc. next time … the way Deanna made them. But I hate wasting food, so it’s always rewarding when I can pull off something like this. 😉 Plus, I usually learn something in the process.
Thanks!
Shirley
Becky D says
September 19, 2012 at 6:02 pmThanks for another winner! I’d been perusing gluten/grain free snickerdoodle recipes, but none looked like a real snickerdoodle. My husband requested them, and I knew they couldn’t be “sorta like” a snickerdoodle, they needed to be the real deal…and then what a miracle – you posted this recipe! Thanks so much Shirley! You always come through for me. 🙂
Becky D says
September 20, 2012 at 11:13 amJust had to add – we are gluten & mostly grain free, but not dairy or egg free, so I used an egg in place of the psyllium & almond milk, and used part butter, part coconut oil for the fats – and they were the BEST snickerdoodles ever! My husband and son are having a hard time staying out of the cookie jar! (and my husband quite often doesn’t like gluten/grain free baked goods.)
And the house smelled delicious while they were baking…all warm and cozy and cinnamony. 🙂
Shirley says
September 20, 2012 at 9:55 pmHey Becky–Well, all credit for this recipe goes to Deanna, but thank you as always for your sweet words! 🙂 I’m thrilled that these grain-free wonders made your husband and the rest of the family so happy. Thanks so much for your second comment sharing exactly how you made your version. I like your modificatons! So these cookies have been made a few ways now and we’re all declaring them the best snickerdoodles ever. 🙂 Oh, and I agree on how the whole house is permeated with the very best smells. Even after being gone all day at work, the amazing aroma still greeted me at the front door. 🙂
Hugs,
Shirley