Gluten free Giant Cookies

 

 A tale of 2 cookies

 

 



Forget pies, cups cakes and meringues, there are 2 things I'm always asked to bake for friends  - Scones and Cookies. 

 

For special occasion I bake giant versions of my cookies.  So when a friend asked me to make some for them to give as gifts, I thought why not.  Only one of the giant cookies needed to be Gluten free. 

 

Iv never baked with Gluten free flour before so was slightly concerned, however I do love a challenge. 

 

I'm lucky in away that I only have food intolerances, eating a trigger food will only cause me a lot of pain.  For people with allergies it can be life threatening, either way it adds a whole new level to food safety when cooking or baking.

 

First cookie: 1



 

Normally when I bake a Giant cookie, I use an entire batch of cookie dough.  My cookies use a 2:1 ration.  For every 2 oz of flour, I use 1 oz of sugar and vegan butter.

It's a great way of memorising recipes and quantity size.  So my normal batch of cookies use

- 8 oz Self raising flour
- 4 oz caster sugar
- 4 oz vegan butter

To make chocolate chip cookies I then add 4 oz of Dairy free chocolate.  Depending on the type of vegan butter, I sometimes need to add 1 - 2 tbsp. of non dairy milk. 

I cream the butter and sugar together then slowly add the flour in stages using an electric hand mixer. When the dough starts to form a ball around the hand mixer whisks, I know its time to stop.  It might need a little milk at this point.  I then knead the dough till its well combined and smooth. 

I oil my cookie sheet, place the dough in the centre and pat it into a circle. Then place into a 180 Celsius oven and bake for 40 min's, turning it every 10 min's for an even bake. 

I made a test batch of normal cookies to check the texture before I baked the Giant one.  I was not really impressed they tasted great but had a really gritty  and dry texture.  So for the giant gluten free cookie I decided to add more sugar and upped the quantity too 6 oz.

I forgot that sugar acts like a liquid, and much to my horror the cookie ended up spreading over the edge of my cookie sheet.  My solution was to use a cake tin to cut out the cookie after it was baked to give it a tidier presentation. 

Cooling:  I use a large pallet knife to looses the bottom then place the baking sheet on a cooling rack.  Leave for 30 min's, before attempting to slide from the baking sheet. 

Another method is to place a clean kitchen towel over the cookie and quickly tip the baking sheet over to remove it.  I then Place my serving dish, or cake board over the cookie and flip back over. 

The taste and texture of the cookie was great, there were plenty of left overs to test.  I broke these up and put them in a gift bag, so they could be use as an ice cream topping. 

(Waste not, Want not Tip)


Second Cookie:

 





I baked my second Gluten free giant cookie last week.  I looked up a few recipes and used the  Gluten free Chocolate Chip Cookies from Gluten free on a shoe string as inspiration. 

 

My baking ingredients

 

- Asda Gluten free Flour

- Pure Soya Dairy free spread

- Golden Caster Sugar

- Vanilla extract

- Celiac friendly chocolate

 

Their recommendation of chilling the cookie dough overnight, really helped the bake. Since I was expecting the dough to spread this time, I patted the it into a greaseproof paper lined large pie tin.  Since I was baking in a pie tin the baking time took longer approx. 50 min's.  I still turned the cookie every 10 min's for an even bake. 

I also placed a strip of greaseproof paper under the lining, to make it easier to lift out of the pie tin.  Again I left the cookie in the pie tin to cool over a wire rack, for 30 min's.  Loosened around the sides with a knife, and carefully lifted out back on to the cooling rack. 

Always!!!  Leave the cookie to totally cool before moving.  I like to use cake boards to make them more stable, then wrap then in food safe cellophane. 


The feedback I got was that both the taste and texture were great, and that It didn't taste like a Gluten fee cookie you'd find in Supermarket Free From ranges.  Iv got to admit that the top did crack and the cookie was probably nearer a brownie than a cookie, however they do look impressive and are always requested as gifts for special occasions.

TOP TIP: The one tip Iv learnt through feedback is that they are great sliced and heated in a microwave or oven, then topped with cream or ice cream xx