Tropical Treats, Gluten Free cookies

 I bake Cookies, pretty much every week and bring them to a farmers' market to sell.    I love making and introducing people to my Kitchen Sink Cookies.  I don't vary them each time I make them, because people are used to the way they taste.    I call them almost gluten-free, mainly because I have no control over the facilities where the oatmeal and almond flour are processed.  They're not for true celiacs but perfect for those who eat or try to eat gluten-free foods, due to a gluten sensitivity or?    But that doesn't mean I can't play with the basic recipe from time to time, and that's just what I did this time.    I sub almond flour for the regular flour, and this time round, I played... 

As I said, this time round, I played with the basic recipe, and ummm, they were so good.   I used Pecans instead of walnuts and added some dried Pineapple along with the coconut, and some Glacé Cherries

   I'm calling the cookies Tropical Treats. 

   

I can name them whatever I want, and this is the name I chose.  I thought about Pina Colada cookies as well, but these are more of a tropical treat. 

Little hint here: the glacé cherries are super sticky and hard to chop up.  I dusted them with some cornstarch and cut them up that way. 

This week's event is all about cookies.  I had to go there.  I had to, I tell you.    And it was delicious.  

Karen of Karen's Kitchen Stories is our hostess this week, and she chose cookies for this event. 

So I had to share my latest creation for Sunday Funday.    Check out the fun cookies my fellow Sunday Funday bloggers shared.

Cookies! 

• Candied Orange Peel Chocolate Chip Cookies from Amy’s Cooking Adventures 
• Cottage Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies from A Good Life
• Eggless Wholewheat Custard Powder Coconut Cookies from Sizzling Tastebuds 
• Fig Newton Swirl Cookies from A Messy Kitchen 
• Frosted Cake Cookies from Karen’s Kitchen Stories 
• Peaches and Cream Rustic Thumbprint Cookies from Faith Hope Luck and Love Despite a Whiskered Accomplice 
• Ragi Nankatai from Sneha’s Recipe 
• Strawberry Cake Mix Chocolate Chip Cookies from A Day in the Life on the Farm 
• Thandai Cookies from Mayuri’s Jikoni 
• Tropical Treat Gluten Free Cookies from Sid’s Sea Palm Cookies
• Vintage Pecan Icebox Cookies from Food Lust People Love 

  

Here is the recipe. I added some xanthan gum to the next batch, and they did not crumble like the first batch did.  

Both batches tasted good, though the pineapple didn't come through as strongly as I would have liked.  

Tropical Treat Cookies

Yield: 30-36 cookies depending on size

Author: Sid's Sea Palm Cooking - Adapted from many recipes

Prep time: 20 MinCook time: 15 MinTotal time: 35 Min

More than a basic oatmeal cookie, these cookies are a treat with candied pineapple, pecans, and coconut inside, plus glace cherries.

Ingredients

• 4 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
• 1 1/2 cups almond flour
• 20 tablespoons butter, softened
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups each of chopped candied pineapple, coconut, and chopped pecans
• 6-8 oz. chopped glacé cherries  (the kind you use in Fruitcakes); sprinkle a little cornstarch or gluten-free flour on the cherries to keep them from sticking to the knife.  
• 2 large eggs
• 1-2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 heaping teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. xanthan gum (add to the almond flour and sift together to ensure even distribution.
• Turbinado sugar for forming the cookies.

Instructions

1. Cream the butter and sugar together until most of the sugar crystals are gone.
2. Beat in the vanilla extract and the eggs.
3. Mix the baking powder and xanthan gum into the almond flour, whisking to combine, then add it, along with the oats and other ingredients, to the mixing bowl. I use the dough hook on my stand mixer to mix the ingredients until well combined.   
4. Use an ice cream scoop to portion out the cookie dough. Flatten each cookie, then flatten it again with a glass dipped in the raw turbinado sugar.  Dip the base of the glass into the turbinado sugar between flattening each cookie. A little sugar will then transfer to the surface of the cookie.  The 'crunch' of the sugar on each cookie is fun.   
5. Place formed cookies on a parchment-covered baking sheet.
6. Bake in a 350-degree oven for at least 12-15 minutes, until lightly browned.
7. The cookies will be very soft and will firm up as they cool. I let them cool on the parchment for a few minutes before transferring the cookies to a cooling rack. If you happen to break a cookie, you can sample it at this point.

 

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