Gluten-Free Is Still Important
Nut Milk and Hazelnut Shortbread Cookies
I thought it was rather timely when I was asked to write an article about gluten free living, when not two days prior I was having a conversation with a friend about gluten free options available from the niche food producer he represents. He replied, “They were not concerned about gluten free because it’s a fad.” I must admit, I get quite upset when I hear comments like that. In 2012, the U.S. Department of Justice concluded that severe food allergies, including celiac disease, qualify as a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Food intolerance is not to be taken lightly. Fad or fundamental, eating less gluten is the way to a brighter brain, faster moving body, and better recovery from every effort in life.
Single, well-chosen ingredients, properly combined, are the key to living life free of maladies from poor calories. Let’s look at creating nut milk and using the left over nut meal to create full circle ingredient use.
Make Your Own Hazelnut or Almond Milk and Meal
If using almonds, start by soaking them in fresh water for eight hours. Blend your hazelnuts or almonds with fresh water until smooth and you don’t hear pieces in the blender. Then pour into a container holding a nut milk bag and let sit for 10-15 minutes. Gently, holding the top of the bag closed, squeeze out all the nut milk until you are left with the nut meal inside the nut milk bag. It can be used right away for a dehydrated Bread recipe or compiled into a container with a good sealing lid and frozen to dehydrate later. To toast your meal for the cookie recipe, thaw your frozen batch or take your fresh wet nut meal and spread it out on a dehydrator screen in a bean-size crumble. Too big and it won’t blend well; too small and the pieces will fly out of the dehydrator. Set the dehydrator to 120º for one to two days until fully dry. If you don’t have a dehydrator, crumble the same over parchment paper on a cookie sheet, set the oven for the lowest setting and check every couple of hours until dry.
Once dried, let the toasted meal cool to room temperature and then mill down in a blender or smooth with a mortar and pestle until soft and fine. Do not mill in a blender too long or the meal will start to gum. Store in an air-tight container in the fridge or freezer and use as your replacement for brown rice or gluten flour in a recipe. It offers the most wonderful taste for any baked goods and savory dishes.
Hazelnut Shortbread Cookies Drizzled with Chocolate
2 cups dry hazelnut or almond meal
1 cup sweet rice flour
1 ½ cups tapioca starch
¾ tsp guar gum
1 cup coconut oil, softened
2/ 3 cup maple syrup
½ tsp pure vanilla extract
½ tsp pink Himalayan salt
Preheat oven to 350° F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and have your cookie cutters ready. Prepare a rolling area with two additional sheets of parchment paper or plastic wrap. Place softened oil in a large mixing bowl and whip it with a mixer until creamy. Add maple syrup, salt, and vanilla and mix to combine. Add in flour and mix by hand to combine. Shape dough into a ball. Dough should not be sticky, but should press together when pinched. Combine dough and shape into a ball, then flatten into a disk. Roll out the dough in between two sheets of parchment paper or plastic wrap into a ¼” thickness. Cut out the cookies, then carefully transfer to the prepared cookie sheets, spacing them ½” apart. Gather up any dough scraps and repeat until used up.
Bake for about 10 minutes or until the edges are golden and the top shows a hint of color. Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack, about 10 minutes. Cookies will harden when cool, so don’t over bake them. Once cooled, melt your favorite chocolate and drizzle over your cookie or dip your cookie in the chocolate (or both!).
Ms. Deena specializes in making delicious foods without gluten, dairy, sugar, soy or yeast. Her clients coined her as the Deceptive Chef and her food Deceptive Delights because she creates all their favorite meals allergen-free and plant-based and they could never tell! Visit deceptivechef.com for more information. “I know it can be hard to figure out where to start when making any dietary change. Living gluten free can be as easy as buying the appropriate gluten free item or mix or as creative as making your own recipes from scratch. In my Chef Sessions, I teach key tricks to an easy world of allergen free living and gluten is always on that list. Chef Sessions 101 starts with the fundamental ingredients for which you will make all of your amazing recipes.”
- Deena, the Deceptive Chef
