Try and try again

Well, we've made it one week!!  Hannah has survived, she has done very well. We made it through eating out, a couple of parties at school, and an overnight visit with the grandparents.  We've also experimented with made from scratch pancakes, biscuits, pasta, and chocolate chip cookies. Nothing turned out horrible, although some were better than others.

The pancakes I made at home - so, so.  The biscuits were made at GraMona's -- again so, so.  Next time would definitely cut down on the fat (plus I forgot the xanthan gum at home, so they were a bit crumbly)  I had planned to stay for breakfast so mom and I had that meal pulled together, but we ended up staying longer and neither one of us had planned lunch.  Last minute, we decided to have pasta.  She makes pasta a bit, so we just made her regular recipe with brown rice flour.  Normally you let the dough sit before rolling and cutting -- BAD IDEA.  Getting used to different chemical reactions is going to take a bit.  I'm assuming that with wheat flour you let it sit so that the gluten can develop -- NOT with RICE!!  So next time, lesson learned, roll immediately.  Again, xanthan gum would have helped.

Then this morning, Hannah told me they were having a chimes party at school and she would like to take something that everybody could eat, not just a single serving for her (that's what we did last week with the school stuff).  Unfortunately, I've been knocked out with some nasty cold/allergy/sore throat whatever and did not feel up to a trip to the store.  Happened upon some choc chips and decided to make choc chip cookies.  What kid doesn't like those. Followed the recipe to the letter and this is what the first batch turned out like.  

Definitely needed more flour, so added that, and not only did they hold their shape while raw, but worked beautifully in the oven as well.  The true test was that Hannah said the kids really liked them and several of them were amazed they were gluten free.  Hannah has been testing out various things the last couple of weeks and "graciously" sharing them with her friends.  They unanimously agreed that this was a keeper. So here's the recipe -- adapted from  "Gluten-free, Hassle Free"  by Marlisa Brown.

1 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup sorghum flour
3/4 cup potato starch
1/2 cup tapioca flour
3/4 cup almond meal (I ground it up a little more fine in my dry container Vitamix)
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 bag of chocolate chips or mini baking chips

Preheat oven to 350.
Cream butter and sugars, add eggs and vanilla, beat until well combined, scraping down sides of mixing bowl.
In a separate bowl combine dry ingredients and then add to butter mixture.  Mix well.  Dough should be stiff, but not crumbly.
Place by the tbsp on a baking sheet and bake for 9 -11 minutes.  Let cool on pan for a couple of minutes before removing to a cooling rack. 

I put the rest of the dough (dropped by tbsps) on a cookie sheet and put in the freezer.  Guess we'll find out later if that works or not :)