Like Water For Hot Chocolate: Time to Cook the Books!

Way back in the 80's, author Laura Esquivel published her glorious novel, "Like Water for Chocolate", which became a bestseller in Mexico, the U.S., and many other countries. The success of this novel, where food has magical, life-altering properties, has inspired many other authors to give chefs, food and recipes center billing in many other novels and even spawned a new subgenre of literature, the "foodie novel".

Deb of Kahakai Kitchen, my wondrous co-hostess at Cook the Books, the online foodie book club, selected this great book for our February/March round and I was delighted to transport myself back to the early 20th century Mexican ranch belonging to the de la Garza family. Mama Elena is the iron-fisted ruler over her three daughters, and decrees early in the book that youngest daughter, Tita, must never marry until after she dies.

This breaks Tita's heart, for she loves Pedro (I never did figure out why, as he just seems like a lunkhead to me), and her emotions throughout the book flow into her cooking and cause strange things to happen. Esquivel's book was the first that I know of that sprinkled recipes throughout the text, much as other novels have traditionally headed chapters with quotes from poems or other literary sources.

There were many cool recipes for dishes and home remedies in the book that could have inspired me to cook and blog them up. I considered the sensuality of Quail in Rose Petal Sauce and the Mexican holiday classic of Three King's Bread. The thought of making my own matches, however, seemed unwise (and where does one purchase minium and powdered potassium nitrate, anyway?) I found a blogging duo who actually cooked up a whole feast from the book (actually the movie version of Esquivel's book) and that seemed pretty intriguing, but ultimately I settled on making a treat of cookies and hot chocolate for my family on a blustery weekend afternoon.


I followed my usual scratch recipe for hot chocolate from the back of the cocoa powder container (cocoa, dash of salt, warm milk and a bit of vanilla), spiced up with a hint of cinnamon. For accompaniment, I hit a bunch of cookbooks for Mexican baking recipes and chose to make a gluten-free version of Polvorones de Canela (Cinnamon Cookies) from The Moosewood Collective's cookbook "Sundays at the Moosewood Restaurant".

I 've seen recipes for similar butter cookies rolled in powdered sugar called Mexican Wedding Cookies or Mexican Shortbread (add nuts). Other cooks from other countries also make cookie cousins to these little gems: Russia has her Tea Cakes (add nuts again) , Southern American cooks make Butterballs or Snowballs, and the Germans and the Dutch make Pfeffernusse (add black pepper and/or cloves). Obviously this many wonderful cooks from around the world must be onto something.

Adaptation of recipe for Polvorones de Canela from "Sundays at the Moosewood Restaurant" by the Moosewood Collective (NY: Simon and Schuster, 1990).

Polvorones de Canela (made gluten-free)

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar (also known as powdered sugar or 10X sugar)

1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1 tsp. xanthan gum

1 cup confectioner's sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon

Cream together butter and 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar. Add in 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, salt and vanilla.

Mix together sorghum flour, brown rice flour and xanthan gum. Fold into creamed mixture and mix well. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator for at least one hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Roll dough into one inch balls. Bake on greased baking sheet (I used parchment paper to line my cookie sheets since GF cookies tend to stick more easily.

Mix together 1 cup confectioner's sugar with 1 tsp. cinnamon.

Bake cookies 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned. Don't overbake as this will make them desert dry (one batch escaped my baking attentions and was terribly dry). Let cool for a few minutes and then roll cookies in cinnamon-sugar mixture while still warm. Let cool.

These are terrific served warm with hot chocolate to dunk them in. They also pair well with coffee.

Makes 30 cookies. Store in airtight containers.

If you haven't read "Like Water for Chocolate" you are in for some great entertainment. There is still time to join our online book club (the deadline is March 26 to read the book, cook something up and blog about it) at Cook the Books, where our guest judge this month is Ben of the awesome food blog What's Cooking? Ben certainly knows his way around Mexican cooking, having grown up with restaurateur parents, and he also is a fan of Esquivel's book, as noted in his review on his blog. Deb will be organizing a roundup of all the participants' posts about the book and their inspirational dishes, and then Ben will give us his thoughts. Do drop by and check it out!

Peanut Butter and Jelly Together in a Cookie: Pass the Milk!

Hubby had the hankering for some peanut butter cookies and I was happy to oblige my sweetheart on Valentine's Day. I used the recipe for gluten-free peanut butter cookies from Elizabeth Barbone's wonderful Easy Gluten-Free Baking cookbook (you can test drive some of her recipes at her website but this PBJ cookie recipe is from her book) and decided on the variation she noted at the bottom of the recipe page to make a thumbprint in the middle of each cookie and fill with a smidgen of jelly (I used strawberry jam). What I didn't notice with the first hot batch was her admonition that the hot jammy centers can cause burns, so if you make this luscious cookies, don't shove one in your mouth before it thoroughly cools!

I made my batch of PBJ valentines using some of the products seen below for my baking, courtesy of samples sent by the Earth Balance company. The peanut butters and butter substitutes worked perfectly in the cookie recipe and it was nice to make a sweet indulgence with a light hand on the indulgence part. The Earth Balance products are not only gluten-free, but vegan, lactose-free, and casein-free, so you can use them to cook for all your friends and family with special dietary needs. Here in Saratoga County, New York, I could only find the Earth Balance buttery sticks and spread in my local markets, but hopefully the creamy and chunky peanut butters will be on local shelves soon.


I am not as fancy a dessert chef as I would like, but those of you with mad pastry chef skills might like to try the Earth Balance recipes for Vegan Espresso Brownie Sundaes with Fudge Sauce and Vegan Lemon Cheesecake with Agave Glazed Berries.

The Earth Balance Peanut Butters get a thumbs up from the Crispy Crew in our peanut butter sandwiches (and straight from the spoon too). The peanut butters are lightly sweetened with agave, rather than sugar or corn syrup, like some other brands, so the mother in me approves heartily. I have bought the Earth Balance buttery spread before because we like it as an alternative to butter for our bread, but it was nice to play around with the other Earth Balance products and I would recommend them to others.

Panforte and Madeleines with Gluten Free South Africa

Sea over at the Book of Yum had a thematic Adopt-A-Gluten-Free-Blogger event to prepare recipes for the holiday table and I knew immediately who I was going to adopt: Aylena of Gluten Free South Africa. Originally from Ireland, Aylena moved to South Africa two years ago and blogs about the beautiful landscape and gluten-free restaurants, bakeries and bed-and-breakfasts in the Capetown area. And then there are those wonderful recipes for baked goods that she provides with equally enticing photographs! Her recipes are provided in metric measurements, but these are easy to convert to American measurements if you click on the Cooking Conversions link at the lower right-hand side of the Crispy Cook links section.

I was lured in originally by her panforte recipe. Panforte is a classic Italian dessert studded with lots of fruits and nuts, somewhat like a fruitcake, only without those nauseating clots of candied fruit. Aylena's recipe makes use of some non-traditional nuts and seeds, like sunflower and pumpkin seeds, and adds a tasty bit of cocoa. Based on Aylena's photo, I assumed they would be more chocolate-y than they are. Rather, this panforte version is more spicy from the ginger and makes a sophisticated sweet treat. You could make one giant panforte or make smaller panfortes for, as Aylena puts it, versions of the "original energy bar".

Aylena's recipe was easy to follow, and though I couldn't find my candy thermometer, I was able to determine when the heated syrup was ready through the old soft ball test (a drop of syrup is plopped into cold water and it can be squished between one's fingers to form a soft ball). I decided to divide my panforte into two separate batches. One was formed into small patties and baked on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and the other half was pressed into some silicon Christmas tree forms.



The Christmas trees really came out well as the syrup base of the panforte oozed into all the crevices of the silicon mold. If you go this route, though, you have to let the panforte cool completely before popping them out. These were intended as holiday gifts for some friends, but I notice that my panforte supply has been tapped by hungry members of the Crispy Cook brigade and I will have to do a better job of protecting my homemade holiday gift supply. Or make more panforte!



Thrilled with Gluten Free South Africa's panforte goodness, I decided to make a second recipe from Aylena's wonderful blog and got another hit with her Baby Marrow Madeleines. Marrows are also known as courgettes or zucchini, and I had a bag of frozen shredded zucchini from our garden which I thawed out and squeezed dry for this lovely recipe. I actually have a madeleine pan (from the Dollar Store, woo hoo!) which formed the lovely shell shape for these appetizers. We ate them with some other snacks while waiting for the main part of our Thanksgiving meal to cook. They are like mini-quiches, delectably moist and cheesy and were so easy to make.



Two stunners from Gluten Free South Africa! Thank you, Aylena! And thank you Sea for hosting this great gluten free blogging event. It is so much fun to roam around the gluten free blogosphere in search of new recipes and blogger buddies. Be sure to check back at the Book of Yum for Sea's delicious and festive roundup.

Mocha Pepper Sandwich Cookies, Gluten-Free and Spicy!

Once more the Leftover Queen summons me to a Royal Foodie Joust and this time the challenge of concocting a scrumptious edible out of the required three ingredients: black pepper, honey and coffee, was really a cranium stretcher. I've never really cooked with coffee, though I love (need) to slug it down each morning.

The ingredients sounded like something from a medieval cookbook so I did a little research with my cookbook collection and online but nothing struck my fancy. Perhaps a Middle Eastern dish? Again, I was stumped with the flavor combination and it was only after taking a culinary break that I thought about the spicy, peppery holiday cookies from northern Europe, like Icelandic Piparkokur and German Pfefferneuse.

I thought coffee and black pepper needed a third major flavor partner and since chocolate is my universal go-to flavor when baking, I decided on a mocha-flavored cookie with honey sweetener. My first batch of cookies was destined for the dog, Martha, but then I remembered that dogs digest chocolate rather poorly, so I just threw it on the compost pile.

For the second round of cookie dough I got a decent tasting batch with my first tray of cookies but they did spread out too much, so I really had to concentrate when dishing out further lumps onto the greased cookie sheets so that I got the right nuggety size. The second tray also got a sprinkle of Turbinado sugar before baking, which, while not needed for sweetness, adds some dazzle.

This second batch of cookies was more toothsome than the first, but it was still a bit on the arid side, perhaps because that's how all my gluten-free baking experiments end up. However, I got the idea to make them slide down easier when mortared together with a luscious and decadent coffee frosting. I think these are pretty much cookies for grownups, as my kids thought they were a bit too spicy, but they went crazy over the frosting, so I may have to concoct a coffee-frosted cake in the near future. I and my gluten-free husband, Dan, however, really enjoyed these sophisticated cookie sandwiches. One was just enough to suffice as a sweet at the end of our dinner meal and they were also wonderful with our morning mug of coffee.


Mocha Pepper Sandwich Cookies

3-1/2 cups gluten-free flour blend (or all-purpose flour if baking for a glutenous crowd)
1 Tbsp. instant coffee
1 Tbsp. baking cocoa
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup Turbinado or raw sugar crystals

Coffee Buttercream Frosting:

4 Tbsp. butter, softened
4 Tbsp. cream cheese, softened
1 Tbsp. instant coffee
1-/12 cups powdered sugar


Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

In large mixing bowl, mix together flour, 1 tsp. instant coffee, cocoa, cinnamon, black pepper, and salt. Blend in honey, milk, oil and vanilla, mixing well. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.

Grease cookie sheets and put about 1-1/2 tsp. cookie dough for each cookie, spaced about 1 inch apart. Sprinkle with Turbinado sugar crystals.

Bake 8-10 minutes. Cookies will still look a little shiny on top when they are done, but don't overbake or they will be dry as the Sahara.

Remove with spatula to wire racks to cool. When cooled completely, sandwich together with Coffee Buttercream Frosting: Blend together cream cheese and butter until completely blended and fluffy. Add second teaspoon of instant coffee and then gradually beat in powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time.

Makes 18-20 sandwich cookies, depending on your parsimony in placing the batter on the cookie sheets.

Be sure to check the Foodie Forum to see what other jousters are whipping up out of these three intriguing ingredients. It sure is an interesting challenge, and luckily for the Crispy Cook, it came out a sweet success.

Caramel & Chocolate Cookie Bars

My youngest daughter snuggled up to me on the couch last week while I was perusing a cooking magazine and spied this recipe for Caramel and Chocolate Pecan Bars. The recipe looked pretty decadent and I asked her if she wouldn't prefer a nice broccoli stir-fry instead. That didn't receive a warm response, but we sauntered over to the Crispy Kitchen to see if we had all the ingredients.

No pecans in the cupboard, but I had arrived at the supermarket recently when a bunch of the bulk items were price reduced and scored a big bag of 99 cents a pound sliced almonds (and I got wheat-free tamari almonds too for 99 cents, woohoo!). We made the recipe gluten-free also, by substituting in Bob's Red Mill baking mix for the regular flour and it worked out well. I threw some more sliced almonds on top and this batch of delicious cookies were added to our cooking rotation. You can't go wrong with chocolate, caramel and nuts.

Apricot-Ginger Shortbread Fit for a Queen

A buttery, rich shortbread studded with bits of crystallized ginger, white chocolate chunks and dried apricots (apricots making this hedonistic chew a healthy cookie, of course). Just lovely.

The Leftover Queen has summoned her minions for another Foodie Joust and this month’s trio of ingredients are apricots, ginger and butter. Not having much experience with apricots, I had a bit of foodie fun browsing my cookbooks and much food bloggery, but nothing made me flex my jousting arm until it struck me that the toothsome Cranberry and White Chocolate Shortbread I made recently from a Joy of Baking recipe might be transformed into an appropriately apricoty and gingery sweet.

The gambit paid off and this sophisticated blend of flavors was declared a winner among our taste testers and will be presented to the Queen for her delectation.

For our gluten-free household consumers I tried a batch with millet flour and another with sorghum flour, and the sorghum flour seemed less gritty and had a nuttier flavor. I think brown rice flour might also work here in a future batch. If you are not baking gluten-free, you could substitute wheat flour.

Apricot-Ginger Shortbread

8 Tbsp. butter, softened

¼ cup sugar

½ tsp. vanilla

¾ cup sorghum flour

¼ cup corn meal

1 Tbsp. cornstarch

1/8 tsp. salt

1/3 cup dried apricots, chopped

4 squares white baking chocolate, chopped

2 Tbsp. crystallized ginger

2-3 Tbsp. Turbinado or raw sugar crystals

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

Cream the butter and sugar until smooth. Blend in vanilla.

In a separate bowl whisk together sorghum flour, cornmeal, cornstarch, and salt. Add this mixture to the butter and sugar mixture and beat just until incorporated. Fold in apricots, white chocolate and crystallized ginger.

Press the shortbread dough evenly into an 8 inch springform pan or tart part. Prick the surface of the shortbread all over with a fork and then, using a sharp knife, score the top of the shortbread into 8 even pieces. This will make the CRISPY shortbread easier to cut into eight pieces when baked. Sprinkle tops with Turbinado sugar for extra dazzle, as we are cooking for royalty.

Place in the preheated oven and bake until the shortbread is tan, about 60 to 75 minutes. Place on a wire rack to cool for 5 to 10 minutes before removing sides from pan. Cut into 8 wedges and allow to cool completely before snacking, or shortbread will shatter.

Makes 8 shortbread cookies.

Cranberry & White Chocolate Shortbread

I needed a Father's Day treat for my sweetie, and found this great recipe on The Joy of Baking. It was easy to adapt as a gluten-free delight by substituting sorghum flour for the all-purpose wheat flour. I sprinkled Turbinado sugar on top for a little extra sparkle. I also didn't have a 6 inch tart pan so I used an 8 inch springform pan. Next time I will put a cookie sheet under my springform pan to catch any drips.

Since this recipe didn't need a lot of structure (aka gluten) and the crumbly, sandy texture is one that benefits from cornmeal and rice flour, it was a perfect, rich end to a lovely meal to pamper our favorite daddy.

Elegant Sesame-Ginger Cookies (Gluten-Free and Vegan)

For our Gluten-Free Book Signing, I wanted an elegant dessert that would be gluten-free and vegan so our circle of family and friends could eat together. I consulted the newest cookbook on my shelf, Isa Chandra Moskowitz' and Terry Hope Romero's "Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook" (NY: Marlowe & Company, 2007) and there was an appropriate recipe, but alas, unlike many of the recipes in this awesome tome, it was not gluten-free. Undaunted, I tied on my apron and went at it.

I used a combination of flours to replace the wheat flour: garbanzo bean for taste, buckwheat for structure and brown rice to make it fluffy. There was no hope of rolling out this squishy cookie dough, more the consistency of mayonnaise than a stiff dough the authors encourage you to mix with your hands. Instead, I spooned out tablespoons of the dough out on the cookie sheets and sprinkled on a combination of black sesame seeds and Turbinado sugar crystals. The cookies spread out too much and got brittle, so I made the second batch out of teaspoon-sized lumps and kept the baking time short and they came out very elegantly.

These are cookies for grownups: not too sweet, elegant to look at and a sophisticated blend of flavors. I will be serving at our book signing this Saturday and will report back on their success. Without further ado, here is my gluten-free adaptation of Veganomicon's

Peanut-Ginger-Sesame Cookies

1 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup garbanzo bean (or chick pea) flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
1/4 cup brown rice syrup (I used corn syrup)
1-1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup soy milk
1 tsp. vanilla
5 oz. candied ginger, diced finely

1/4 cup black sesame seeds
1/4 cup Turbinado sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly grease two cookie sheets.

Sift flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger and cinnamon.

In the large bowl of a standing mixer or using a handheld mixer, cream shortening until fluffy. Add peanut butter, rice or corn syrup, sugar, soy milk and vanilla. Beat until creamy, about 5 minutes. Stir in candied ginger by hand.

Place teaspoonfuls of dough onto cookie sheets. Don't use more dough, as the cookies really spread out while baking. Separate each lump of dough at least one inch apart. Sprinkle with a blend of sesame seeds and Turbinado sugar crystals.

Bake 12 minutes in oven. Let cool on cookie sheets 2 minutes before lifting gingerly with a thin spatula to let them cool on baking racks. These cookies are pretty delicate when cooling.

Makes 50-60 cookies.

Rudolph's Noses - Our favorite Gluten Free Christmas Cookie

Every family has its holiday traditions, and in our household it just would not be Christmastime if we didn't decorate the Christmas tree while listening to my eldest's punk rock holiday tunes, snip out paper snowflakes to tape onto the windows and pierce oranges with cloves to hopefully mummify into spicy sachets. If I also don't make a batch of Rudolph's Nose cookies and stain my hands from the red sugar they are rolled in, there will be Decemberish whining.

Originally I made this recipe, passed onto me by my friend Hope with the more elegant monniker of "Chocolate Cherry Bites", with a box of vanilla wafers, but now I use whatever kind of gluten-free shortbread or vanilla cookie is available on the grocery shelves.

HoHoHoping you will enjoy this Jagareski family tradition...

Rudolph's Nose Cookies

1 (9-12 oz.) box gluten-free vanilla cookies, smashed into crumbs
1-1/2 cups powdered sugar
1-1/2 cups finely chopped walnuts
3 Tbsp. baking cocoa
3/4 cups chopped maraschino cherries (most of a 16 oz. jar)
3 Tbsp. light corn syrup
Red sugar crystals (at least one 2.25 oz. jar, but buy a second jar because depending on your level of encrustation, more sugar crystals may be required)

The easiest thing is to use a food processor to smash the vanilla cookies, and chop the nuts and cherries. Otherwise, chop and smash using your favorite alternate method and mix everything except sugar crystals into a large mixing bowl.

Mix together until you can shape the cookies into little 1/2 inch balls. If you need to add more moisture, a dab of leftover maraschino cherry juice will do.

Roll cookies in red sugar crystals. You can also do a mix of red and green sugar crystals, but red is the smartest and most fashionable color of sugar crystal to accompany a chocolate brown cookie, so you gotta go with that.

Makes about 40 Rudolph Noses, more than enough to light the way for Santa's sleigh.

These keep about 2-3 weeks in a covered tin. After that the sugar leaches out the moisture from the cookie and they become unpleasantly sticky.

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For lots of other gluten-free Christmas cookie recipes, check out these other links:

Aboutcom's List

Cookies in Motion website

Gluten-Free Mommy


And Carrie over at the Ginger Lemon girl blog promises a Gluten-Free Cookie Recipe Roundup later this month, so check out some other scrumptious options there.

Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Kisses

I have made these peanut butter kiss cookies twice now, and they have been snapped up quickly. For the first batch I religiously followed the recipe I got from the "Tried and True Recipes" cookbook put together by the Glens Falls Regional Celiac Support Group and they were delicious, but a little gritty. For the second batch, I substituted some of the white rice flour with chick pea flour and they were a better texture. I normally don't like the taste of the chick pea flour in my baked goods, but it works well with the strong taste of the peanut butter, I think. Here's my adapted recipe. I'd recommend doubling the recipe as they disappear fast!

Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Kisses

1/2 cup white rice flour
1/4 cup chick pea flour
1/4 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup sweet rice flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 cup softened butter
1/2 cup peanut butter, smooth or chunky (we prefer chunky)
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
30 unwrapped chocolate "kisses"
1/2 cup granulated sugar


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together flours, baking soda and baking powder.

Cream butter, peanut butter and brown sugar together in large bowl until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, and continue creaming until well mixed. Add dry ingredients and combine well.

Roll tablespoons of cookie dough into balls with dry hands and then roll each ball into granulated sugar. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Press a chocolate kiss into the center of each ball.

Bake 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool a few minutes on cookie sheet and then remove cookies and cool completely on wire racks.

Makes 30 cookies.

Tender Cakey Golden Flaky Outside

I attended another meeting of the Glens Falls Area Celiac Support Group this week and they had a gluten-free pancake taste test. There were three mixes involved and some resilient pancake flippers on hand to battle the blown fuses and cranky electric griddles. All three were not great and I spaced out on which mix won the taste test, but there were lots of leftovers to bring home to one's celiac spouse. Dan was greatful for a breakfast he didn't have to make and promptly ate them up the next morning with some real maple syrup. The real stuff is more expensive, but it is so much better tasting and less weirdly gooey than the imitation high fructose corn syrup that the manufacturers infuse with artificial mapleness.

One of the support group members brought some delicious gluten-free fig newtons for us all to taste and I brought home some to the family, all of whom pronounced them delicious. Here's the recipe:

Fig Newtons

Filling:

1 (10 oz.) pkg. dried figs
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup orange juice
1/3 cup sugar

Dough:

2-1/2 cups four flour bean mix* or other gluten-free flour mix
2 tsp. xanthan gum
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 cup margarine or butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/3 cup sweet rice flour (see note)

Grease a 10 x 15 inch cookie sheet.

Chop or grind the "figlets" and place in a saucepan. Add water, orange juice and sugar. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes or until thickened. Remove to a refrigerator dish and chill.

In medium bowl whisk together flour mix, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of your mixer, cream butter and brown sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Add dry ingredients, mixing well, stirring in the sweet rice flour last.

Divide the dough into 3 sections and roll out the first section between sheets of plastic wrap into a rectangle 4 inches wide and about 15 inches long. Remove the top plastic wrap and spread 1/3 of fig mixture in a 1" strip down the length of the dough.

Brush water on the edges of the dough and fold over the filling, using the bottom plastic wrap to help mold the dough. Seal the edges and again using the plastic wrap, lift the roll onto your prepared cookie sheet and turn it with the seamed side down. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and cool. Slice crosswise into 3/4 inch slices.

If you plan to freeze these cookies, do not cut into slices first. Just cut the bars in half and wrap well in plastic wrap and foil and place in freezer bag. Makes about 4-1/2 dozen cookies.

Note: If you use the GF Mix, you may eliminate the extra 1/2 cup sweet rice flour but to firm up the dough to correct consistency, refrigerate for 2-3 hours before rolling out.

*Four Flour Bean Mix:

2/3 cup chickpea flour
1/3 cup sorghum flour
1 cup cornstarch
1 cup tapioca flour

Adventures in Gluten-Free Baking - with Elizabeth Barbone

I promised a blog entry on Elizabeth Barbone's cooking demonstration at Monday's Glens Fall Celiac Support Group meeting and have had some time to "digest" it, literally. I brought home two of the moist chocolate cupcakes she brought for sampling and my husband and kids pronounced them delicious (don't tell them about the cat hair I scraped off the frosting when they fell over in the car on the ride home).

Barbone was funny, enthusiastic and knowledgable as she gently reminded everyone about baking basics, like measuring correctly and keeping your fingers out of the mixer. If only my high school home economics teacher had been as lively and practical (all I remember are the weird grape jelly omelettes and endless vats of white sauce we had to make, and worse, ingest). Her bodacious purple KitchenAid mixer was the envy of the room and it was an informative and most of all, FUN.

I bought a copy of "Easy Gluten-Free Baking', which the author was kind enough to autograph for me. I was inspired to flip through and am pleased to see lots of standards that we've been missing in our new gluten-free lifestyle: oatmeal cookies (made gluten-free by using quinoa flakes),Mexican Wedding cookies, edible pizza, onion rings and lemon bars. I decided to try the Lemon Bar recipe and it turned out great, even though I had to stop halfway through to pick up my kid from a friend's house. Barbone gave me permission to reprint this recipe from her book, which I would recommend to everyone. You can order a copy of the book for $24.95 directly from the author at her website. It's a nice large-sized softcover with wet and dry ingredients laid out separately so you have the option of pre-measuring and packing ingredients to save time if you bake in bulk. This cookbook uses fairly common ingredients and does not use those weird tasting bean flours that are in many other gluten-free recipes.

Barbone is based in Rensselaer County, so if you live in the Capital District you can attend one of her gluten-free baking classes, held in Latham and Queensbury. I am tempted by her Gluten-Free Cracker class and she also teaches a basic baking, and beginner and advanced bread-making classes. There is also a monthly gluten-free baking newsletter you can subscribe to for more recipes and instruction, as well as a blog so if you're a serious baker, you can really find some great information.

Now onto the serious business of making

LEMON BARS

Cookie base

Dry Ingredients

1/4 cup sweet rice flour
1/2 cup white rice flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Wet Ingredients

1 stick butter, cold and cut into small pieces
2 Tbsp. water

Topping

2 large eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 Tbsp. white rice flour
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and rice flour an 8-inch square pan.

2. In a food processor, add the dry ingredients. Pulse once or twice to combine. Add butter. Pulse mixture until butter is more thoroughly incorporated. (Dough should resemble a coarse meal.)

3. Add water. Pulse a few times until a dough forms.

4. Press mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan.

5. Bake crust for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown.

6. Remove pan from oven. Place pan on a cooling rack. (Be sure to leave oven on.)

7. In a small mixing bowl, combine eggs, granulated sugar, white rice flour and lemon juice.

8. Pour mixture over baked crust.

9. Return pan to oven. Bake for 15 minutes or until filling is set. (Filling should be firm and not jiggle.)

10. Cool on a wire rack.

Makes one dozen bars.

**** These were terrific. Nice flaky bottom with a sweet-sour-lemony top. Dan had at least four of them last night. I wonder if they would work with lime juice instead of lemon?