Thin Mints

I just got my hands on The Ultimate Gluten-Free Cookie Book  By Roben Ryberg, and I'll have to say that at first I was more than skeptical about her single flour philosophy in gluten free baking.  All of the cook books I have use for gluten free baking require several flours, mixed to achieve the desired consistency to effectively mimic wheat flour, but not Ms. Ryberg.  She says that instead of trying to create a wheat flour replacement, look to the qualities of the flour you are using and accentuate them.  Intrigued I was.  Although I must confess I didn't think it would work.

Ingredients

1/3 Cup Canola oil
1/4 Cup sugar
1 Cup brown rice flour
1/3 Cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 Egg
1/8 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate coating
12 chocolate (I used enjoy life chips)
2 Tbs. powdered sugar
1/2 tsp mint extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
In the bowl of your electric mixer, combine oil and sugar, beat well.  Add the brown rice flour and and beat well.  Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl at least once during mixing.  Add the remaining batter ingredients and beat well.  Continue beating until the dough comes together, it will be soft and oily to the touch.

Roll out the dough to 1/8 inch thickness.  Use 1 1/2 inch round cookie cutter to cut the cookies and place them on the prepared pan.  Bake the cookies for 8 to 9 minutes, until the tops are dry.  Let cool well before coating: the cookies will be crisp upon cooling.

In the book she uses the microwave for making the coating.  But I prefer the results of a double boiler.  Combine all ingredients for the coating in the double boiler, and set your burner on medium.  While the chocolate melts, prepare your cooled cookie sheets with wax paper.  When all the chocolate has melted, and when mixed is smooth and silky, you are ready for coating!  I used tongs to dip the cookies into the chocolate, then a butter knife to remove the excess before resting the dipped cookie on the wax paper.  After all the coating was done, I put the in the refrigerator to harden.  

Recipe adapted from The Ultimate Gluten-free Cookie Book by Roben Ryberg

So, these cookies where a major hit.  I'm sure it had something to do with the fact that they were dipped in minty chocolate, but I am now a believer in the single flour recipe.  It makes gluten-free  baking more accessible for people who want to try it out.