gluten free zen
Taking The Stress Out Of Gluten-Free Grain-Free & Dairy-Free Living
Fresh Baked Cookies & Tea? Yes Please!
I believe that sitting down with a few freshly baked cookies, a hot cup of tea, and a good book is a special treat. It is a true luxury to be able to set aside a little time during the day to just unwind, to take a minute to breathe and release ourselves from our fast paced lives. Even if you only have a 10 minute break or a few minutes of time to yourself throughout your day, it’s totally worth it to spend that time with cookies and tea sitting peacefully, instead of multi-tasking like your head is on fire.
All of you Type A’s know exactly what I’m talking about, don’t you? In case you haven’t noticed, I was born one of those. Over the years I’ve had to teach myself that life doesn’t always need a “to do” list and the importance of taking little breaks throughout the day to unwind and enjoy my surroundings. Today, whether you’re at work, at home, running errands, whatever it is that you’re doing with your day…I urge you to set aside just a few minutes to unwind, relax, and enjoy the blessings this day has to offer.
Fruit & Nut Tea Cookies
*This recipe was inspired by a recipe in a book I just finished. The “Sugar Cookie Murder” by Joanne Fluke. The story itself was OK. The interesting thing about the book was that half of its pages were filled with recipes, which most of her series are. A fun addition to the typical murder mystery.
These cookies need to be chilled before baking, so no need to pre-heat the oven until you’re ready to bake them.
1 Cup Dairy Free Butter (I use Earth Balance Soy Free)
2 Cups Dark Brown Sugar, packed
2 Eggs
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Xanthan Gum
1 1/2 teaspoons Pure Almond Extract
1 Cup Dried Cherries, diced
1/2 Cup Slivered Almonds, roughly chopped
3 1/2 Cups Gluten Free Flour (I use Mama’s All Purpose Almond Flour)
Cream butter and sugar in mixer until very light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add almond extract and mix to thoroughly combine.
In a medium bowl add the flour, baking powder, and xanthan gum. Whisk to combine. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture slowly until thoroughly combined. Add Cherries and almonds, mix to combine.
Split dough in half into logs on two pieces of plastic wrap. Roll up, cover with foil and freeze or chill for at least three hours. I like to keep cookie logs in my freezer, if wrapped properly they will last at least a month or two. Then, if you have company stop by or just feel like a couple of cookies, you can cut off the amount needed and then return the roll to the freezer for next time.
When you’re ready to bake them, preheat the oven to 350° Remove a roll from the fridge or freezer and slice into thin discs. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for about 8 minutes. They brown on the bottoms quickly, so you don’t want to over bake them.
This is our female Hungarian Vizsla, sweet miss Abigail Grace. We also have a male named Romeo who was lounging in his crate in our bedroom.
We can learn a lot from our furry friends. They play when it’s time to play, work when it’s time to work, and always take a few minutes to enjoy and rest in that sliver of sun beaming into their busy day.
15 Comments on “Fresh Baked Cookies & Tea? Yes Please!”
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gluten free zen 
I love the method of making these! c
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Very, very, easy. 🙂
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Hello there~~~ wow these cookies look divine!! I’m drooling over this picture….I want a bite!!!!!!!!!!
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I had a discussion about “doing” with another blogger just a couple of weeks ago. We lamented that we are a) both the type of people who like to over-achieve, b) feel guilty when we don’t get EVERYTHING done, and c) read blogs and then feel worse when we see just how much other people are doing.
This is all to say that freezing cookie dough is awesome! (And so are you.)
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Yes, sometimes being a “doer” can be a curse. And now that we’re in the midst of a re-modeling nightmare in our house, I realize just how type A I really am. Ha! I laughed out loud when I read the part about reading other people’s blogs and seeing how much they are doing. So true. 🙂
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These look so tasty and such a cool idea to freeze before making! Loving that.
I have to say though, I am very jealous of the sunshine in that last photo. Your very stunning Abigail Grace looks so chilled there. We are setting up for the dull and miserable here. The cats all have sad faces.
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You can do that with almost any cookie dough. We do it all the time with peanut butter cookies, chocolate chip cookies, and oatmeal cookies. Works great if you just want a couple for a snack too. My husband and his family love raw cookie dough and will slice off chunks just to eat cold! I don’t care for that, but I do love how handy it is to have ready made cookie dough in the freezer. That sun that Abigail was laying in quickly gave way to a snow storm last night. Sunny again today though. 🙂 Thank you for stopping by!
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I’m still learning that part of life… Taking time to just relax seems so hard sometimes!
These cookies sound delicious, and I am intrigued by the fact that it came from a book! Very cool!
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Such beautiful cookies, I can’t stop admiring your photos! 🙂 I really need to get some almond flour and try to make these cookies or any of your recipes.
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You can convert them to a regular recipe. Omit the almond flour and use whatever flour you like. If you’re going to use a flour that contains gluten, omit the xanthan gum also. 🙂
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Hi!
I’m going to try and follow your advice. I’m one of those that can’t just seat and relax, there’s always something that need to be done…at least that’s what I think, but maybe is time to take a break and relax, and I can’t think of a better companion than these delicious cookies!
Thanks for sharing 🙂
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Relaxing is harder than it looks for some of us! Ha! Try it though, you’ll like it.
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What a beautiful dog! And yummy cookies…gotta try this one.
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Thank you! 🙂
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