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A great gluten-free dessert that you can make for everyone

Over the years, we have entertained many a gluten-free guest. We’ve found that serving a gluten-free meal is relatively easy… until it comes to dessert. So I’ve been on the hunt for some easy gluten-free desserts. I’ve finally settled on one recipe that I come back to time and again: Coconut Snickerdoodles.

Search Criteria

1. Gluten-free, obviously

2. Required only ingredients I could easily purchase at a regular grocery store

3. Everyone, even gluten-full guests, could enjoy it

4. Nut-free*

*This last one has always been the kicker. I’ve found plenty of desserts made with almond flour or crushed walnuts, but as a nut-free household, this was a key requirement.

Snickerdoodle_1.jpgMain Ingredients

So without nuts, what’s left as a substitute for regular flour? Coconut flour. Pair that with some coconut oil, and you’re good to go. Thankfully, both of these can be found at most grocery stores or, of course, on Amazon. Just make sure you buy the oil for baking, not for skin care.

Guest Feedback

I personally love these cookies. I love traditional snickerdoodles too, but something about the addition of the coconut flavor makes these something special. All our guests have enjoyed these cookies; many commented that they wouldn’t have guessed they were gluten-free, which  I consider the mark of a successful gluten-free dessert. 

Recipe

The recipe I use is from GoDairyFree.org (recipe reproduced below), which is an adaptation of a Jamie Oliver recipe. And yes, the recipe is nut-free, gluten-free, and dairy-free. I’ve even adapted it for a vegan visitor by substituting applesauce for the eggs; the cookies were slightly drier with a hint of apple, but still quite tasty

1/2 c. sugar 1/2 c. melted coconut oil
1/4 c. brown sugar 3/4 c. coconut flour
4 eggs (at room temp.) 1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract  
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper. Beat the sugars, eggs, vanilla, and coconut oil together in a large bowl. (If you haven’t worked with coconut oil before, it melts easily, but firms up when it gets cold, so make sure your eggs are not right out of the fridge.) Stir the coconut flour and salt into your wet mixture. Put the bowl in the fridge to let the coconut oil set for about 10 minutes.
Scoop small balls of dough and roll them in a mixture of sugar and cinnamon, then place on the baking sheet. Before you pop them in the oven, take a water glass and flatten the balls, as they won’t change shape themselves while baking. Bake for 15 minutes or until the edges are slightly tan. Delicious!

Make-Aheadsnickerdoodle_3.jpg

If you don’t want to bake an entire batch of cookies, consider popping one dough-filled cookie sheet in the freezer instead of the oven. After the dough has had a chance to firm up, transfer the dough balls from the baking sheet to a Ziploc baggie. The coconut oil in the cookies won’t let the dough freeze completely, but it will get firm enough for easy transfer. Pull the dough out of the freezer anytime in the next few months, turn on the oven, and you’ve got yourself some freshly baked cookies.

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