For All My Gfs

Gf in this case can mean girlfriends but more specifically gluten-free ones (and bfs too). I've been faced with baking gluten-free a couple of times this year. Payment for music lessons with my old college professor post-college isn't monetary, it's in the form of a gift, which is usually something freshly baked from my oven (he refuses to accept my money). Since his wife is gluten-free, I've explored baking sans gluten.

Rewind to last year when I had a HORRIBLE experience with a gluten-free cupcake in Sarasota. Oily and totally unpleasant. This has brought some fear and doubt in me when thinking about gluten-free baked goodies. I decided to skip the gluten-free flour route and explored flourless cookies.

The first was a flourless peanut butter chocolate chip cookie (except I used smooth peanut butter). Just be careful of your ingredients. Sometimes vanilla extract can have gluten in it but I know that McCormick's is safe. This guide lists common gluten-free pantry items. Anyway these cookies are super simple and taste great. (sorry no picture but I have picture of my friend's peanut butter cookies from a bake-off years ago. She gave me the idea for these cookies).

Most recently I baked some flourless double chocolate chip cookies from Chocolate and Carrots. These are described as cross between a brownie, cookie and meringue. They are light like meringues but have more "meat" to them, which makes me loves these cookies (I'm not totally a fan of meringues). Definitely another winner in the gluten-free department.  

I might venture into baking with gluten-free flour. But in the meantime, my faith in gluten-free products is definitely rising.