Gluten-Free Shortbread

The undeniably intoxicating smell of butter vaporizing wafts out of the oven to waltz with your nostrils.  As your brain connects the pieces, your stomach starts to whimper.  Emerging from the oven, your fingers are willed to grab but you wait.  They must cool.  Just a little bit.

Eating these cookies, I wish that yum could be a more clear description.  I wish that when I said yum, you saw the look of satisfaction on my face, the release that it gives my shoulders, the not forced "mmm" sound as the cookie mingles with my taste buds.  That is what yum is.  That is what these are.

This recipe was the first one I tried from Blog Aid, or rather the first one I adapted (I created 2 of them after all ;D).  The original recipe was from Lottie + Doof but I made it gluten-free, obviously =D.  It's simple, the dough could be a meal in itself and the finished cookies are exactly what you would want a shortbread to be.  Mine are a tad bit darker than a typical white shortbread, but that's just because of the whole grain flours!

This post is linked to Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays.

Gluten-Free Shortbread
Adapted from Lottie + Doof.  Adapted by Lauren of Celiac Teen.
Ingredients
1/3 cup millet flour
1/4 cup sorghum flour
1/3 cup sweet rice flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup icing sugar
1 tsp xanthan gum
3/4 cup salted butter, softened
sugar, optional

Steps
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper (or not, if you're out).

Whisk together dry ingredients.  Add butter and stir with a wooden spoon until a soft, smooth dough forms.  It does take a little while, but just keep stirring and a dough will emerge.

Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and space them 1-1/2 inches apart on the cookie sheet.  Using a glass or fork, flatten the balls into cookies.

Sprinkle with sugar if desired, then bake for 12 to 18 minutes until set but not yet browned.

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I'm not 100% sure that I made 1-inch balls, because I think in centimeters.  They were probably more like 2 cm rather than 1 inch.  You can always bake them a bit longer if they are a bit bigger.

I flattened some with my glass and squished some with the fork.  I also ate a couple of cookies worth of dough.  Butter + sugar + yummy flours = easy to eat =D.

All baked!  Let them cool.  Just a little bit.  

Then dig on in.

Take a couple, or have some with tea.  They're rich without being overly so.  The whole grains take a touch of that richness away, allowing you to enjoy a couple!

Buttery goodness.  The crumb is shortbready.  Just what one would hope for!

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Speaking of Haiti efforts, the ebook I created for Haiti (A Hand For Haiti) is still available for sale.  It can cost anything from $10 up.  It has over 80 recipes from over 70 people packed into 90 pages.  All proceeds go to the Canadian Red Cross for Haiti relief.  You purchase the PDF file, then can print out whatever you wish; either all pages, just a couple or not at all if you prefer to work off your computer!

Have a happy week,

xoxo

Lauren

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