Sometimes mistakes happen, and good things result. This, fortunately, is one of those times. I intended to make some amaretti cookies using almond flour. In the process, I inadvertently grabbed a bag of gluten-free flour I had left from making cookies for someone at church with a gluten allergy and for my son during one of his gluten-free periods. Both the gluten-free flour and almond flour came in similar bags and were about the same color. I didn't look too hard at the bag I pulled out of the pantry. I wasn't wearing my glasses, either. By the time I realized I had the gluten-free flour, not the almond flour, I had already dumped the gluten-free stuff into the bowl with the wet ingredients for my cookies. Oops. Go to plan two. I decided to make gluten-free almond cookies instead of the amaretti. Now, most gluten-free cookies are, in my view, pretty terrible, so I was surprised by how these turned out. They're good! Quite good, in fact. The cookies, which do incorporate almond flour (I found it), have a subtle almond flavor and puff up into not-to-sweet little orbs of goodness. I topped the unbaked cookies with a bit of raw (turbinado) sugar before baking them, which provided a nice crunch as well as decoration and a little more sweetness to the baked cookies. Nonetheless, if you'd prefer, you could also top the cookies with a whole almond or perhaps a candied cherry. The cookies, mistake or no, are quite nice with a cup of tea and a good book!
Gluten-Free Almond Cookies -- Makes 12+
2 eggs
1/4 cup of softened Earth Balance or butter
2/3 cup of confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1/2 teaspoon of almond extract
1 cup of gluten-free flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder (use the gluten-free variety, if necessary)
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 cup of almond meal
2-3 tablespoons of raw (turbinado) sugar (optional)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and coat a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray or line it with parchment paper. In a large bowl, combine the eggs and softened butter and beat them well with a wooden spoon. Beat in the confectioner's sugar. Beat in the vanilla and almond extract. Add the gluten-free flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and almond meal and mix everything well. Scoop walnut-sized portions of dough out and form 12-13 cookies on the prepared baking sheet. Flatten the dough mounds a little with your hand and sprinkle the tops of each unbaked cookie with a little raw sugar, if you'd like. Bake the cookies for 17-20 minutes or until they're just beginning to brown. Let them cool on the cookie sheets for a few minutes before removing them to cool completely.
