Pickett Family Fun

I had a great time the last couple of weeks with this awesome family. This is an extremely busy household, with very well-behaved, polite children (loved being called "ma'am!)  Grandma and Grandpa were visiting and got to see our first class.  The Organic Fruit Salad with Honey Lime Yogurt dressing was a hit.  We talked about how honey is made and why raw, local honey is great for your health.  Everyone had fun juicing the lime, peeling and slicing apples and pears.

We also made cookies for the holiday--Gluten-free Molasses Ginger cookies.  So much fun making the dough using the mixer.  It was hard work, very sticky!  Rolling balls of dough and bouncing them in the sanding sugar is always fun.  I wasn't sure if they would turn out if we used our gingerbread cookie mold, so we tried just one.  Now I know that next time we can make a lot of them...it just takes a little longer to bake, and you have to make sure to not overfill the mold.  We read three stories while they were baking: "Christmas Cookies:  Bite Size Holiday Lessons"; "The Gingerbread Girl"; and "Gingerbread Friends".  Great books!  We all laughed at the sassy gingerbread girl and were happy to hear that she did NOT get eaten like her brother; she's too smart for that.

Gluten-Free Ginger Molasses cookies

½ cup butter

¼ cup molasses (not blackstrap)

¾ cup packed light brown sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla

1 cup sorghum flour

½ cup garbanzo (chickpea) flour

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon xanthan gum

½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

½ teaspoon ground cloves

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon sea salt

2 tablespoons evaporated cane juice or sanding sugar, for rolling

1. Place a rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a 9x13-inch metal baking sheet (not nonstick) with parchment paper.

2. In a medium mixing bowl, beat the butter, molasses, brown sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer on low speed until well blended. Add the sorghum flour, garbanzo flour, ginger, cinnamon, xanthan gum, nutmeg, cloves, baking soda, salt and beat until well blended.

3. With a 1 Tablespoon size metal scoop, shape 9 balls. Roll each into a smooth ball with your hands and then roll each in the evaporated cane juice. Place them at least two inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.

4. Place cookies in preheated oven and bake until they look firm and began to show little cracks on top, about 8 to 10 minutes. Do not over-bake.

5. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Then transfer to the wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough.