Treat your Valentine to gluten-free sweets

Valentine’s Day is an opportunity to lavish love and attention on a special person in your life. Exchanging gifts, enjoying dinner out and snuggling with your sweetheart are common ways to celebrate this mid-February holiday. It is equally common to enjoy a sweet treat to cap off this romantic day.

Food allergies and intolerances do not take a holiday when Valentine’s Day rolls around. For those who don’t eat gluten, finding a pre-made treat might prove a tad challenging. Luckily, it is relatively easy to whip up a gluten-free dessert yourself. This recipe for snickerdoodles from “Cozy Kitchen Allergy-Friendly Cooking,” by Jeanette Smerina, is gluten, soy and dairy free but certainly not free of delicious flavor.

 What’s fun about these cookies is that home cooks can use colored sugar to customize them for any occasion. Use red and pink for Valentine’s Day.

 

Snickerdoodles

Makes 25 to 30

• 2 1⁄2 cups gluten-free flour, 1-1 blend
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1⁄2 cup olive oil
• Two eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons almond milk

For rolling and coating:

• 1⁄4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons cinnamon

 

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. Mix on low to combine.
2. In a small bowl or large measuring cup, whisk together the oil, eggs, sugar and vanilla extract until thickened.
3. Add the egg-and-sugar mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Then add the almond milk and blend once more.
4. Cover and chill the dough for 30 minutes or more. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or use silicone baking mats.
5. In a shallow bowl, combine the cinnamon and additional sugar. Scoop small balls of the cookie dough (about an inch in diameter) and roll them in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place each ball 2 inches apart on the cookie sheets. Repeat until all the dough is used. The cookies will puff and enlarge while cooking.
6. Press down slightly on the cookie balls to flatten them a bit. Bake the cookies for eight to 10 minutes, or until the edges are looking set up.
7. Cool the cookies on racks. Store in covered containers for up to one week.