Gluten-Free Girl Scout Cookies? Who Knew? Not me!

Someone tagged me the other day with a post for their child's girl scout cookies, of course. I jokingly answered, "Any gluten-free ones? And of course, received no answer in the flurry of orders and contact info she was fielding. We all knew it was a joke, a way for me to gently remind her of why I would not be ordering, or eating any girl scout cookies anymore. Last year, after increasingly having some different health problems I "tried out" a gluten free diet with astounding results. Six months later I became extremely ill. Like suddenly looking like an Agoraphobic because between being sick and being weak from being sick, you can NOT go out the front door. Huge, UNHEALTHY weight loss in 8 weeks. (Yes, overweight people can have unhealthy weight loss!) It ended up being an increased sensitivity to gluten and being basically poisoned by trace contaminants. So I am now like the crazy lady in the Movie "Nims Island". I only eat it if I cook it, or it has specific things on the label, and even then I am very suspicious and watch for a reaction.

So, back to our friends the Girl Scouts. I was a girl scout. We all like to support them. I have never bought cases of their cookies, but a few boxes to be a supporter and especially when a child will ask me themself or is very close to a special goal. But I am not even buying gluten cookies. Sorry. So yesterday my sister carries in a box of TOFFEE-TASTIC GLUTEN-FREE GIRL SCOUT COOKIES for me to try! They are NOT VEGAN. But we are no longer doing vegan for nutritional reasons, so the milk in them does not bother me, and they are CERTIFIED GLUTEN-FREE. Yahoo! But how will they taste? I made some cinnamon apple tea and pulled out a few. The first bite was a little powdery as so many gluten-free baked goods seem to be, but once you chewed it and got the toffee flavor it was actually quite good. Enough that by the end of the evening I had eaten half the box! I will not lie and say they are as good as some of the homemade cookie recipes we have come up with this year to bake, but they are as good as most of the boxed ones, and better than many. So it was a very Pleasant surprise. Good For You Girl Scouts! The information from the girl scouts website is listed below, along with the photos, and a sneak peek at another gluten-free cookie they are test marketing :-)

Indulgently rich, buttery cookies with sweet, crunchy golden toffee bits. A gluten-free variety offered only in select Girl Scout council markets for as long as supplies last.

AND if you are lucky enough to be in one of the test market areas you might want to try this cookie TRIOS Chocolate Chips nestled in a gluten free peanut butter oatmeal cookie. Millions of Americans have problems eating food with gluten—and now there is a Girl Scout Cookie just for them! Made with whole grain oats and real peanut butter, the Gluten Free Trios is premiering in a number of test markets this year.

NOT AVAILABLE IN MOST AREAS YET

Here is where to find the list of cookies that they offer http://www.girlscouts.org/program/gs_cookies/meet_the_cookies.asp So... if you are a Girl Scout Cookie Junkie... and have become Gluten-Free, by choice or by necessity, they have your back.

Tonight was my second time making this cornbread with one big difference. I was out of all purpose, gluten free flour. So for the first time in this journey I had to try to make my own "all purpose" type mixture of flours from scratch. It came out pretty good, although not as good as the first time I made the recipe and stuck closer to the instructions :-) So here I will share both the original, and my own modifications. Remember, this is my journey from the rankest novice in both baking from scratch and gluten free and vegan cooking at all to hopefully someday a more confident proficiency at all three skills. I decided if I share some of my mis-steps along the way, I might save some of you from making the same mistakes, and you might all be able to tell me some ways I can improve what I am doing as I go, so I don't have to do everything in the hardest possible way. Cornbread Recipe [Vegan & Gluten-free] Serves: 9 squares Ingredients: 1 cup gluten-free all-purpose flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour) 1 ½ cups cornmeal 1 Tbsp. coconut sugar (I used regular sugar and stevia because I did not have coconut sugar) 1 Tbsp. baking powder 1 tsp. salt 1 cup almond milk 1/3 cup sunflower oil 3 Tbsp. brown rice syrup(I substituted agave nectar) ¼ cup soft silken tofu (*gluten-free – some brands vary in whether or not the product contains gluten. Please be sure to check the label of each of the ingredients to make sure it is gluten-free before using) (**to avoid genetically modified corn and soy I recommend checking that the cornmeal and tofu are non-gmo certified or organic) Directions: Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease an 8x8 square pan. In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients - flour, cornmeal, coconut sugar, baking powder and salt. In another large bowl, or in a blender, combine wet ingredients - almond milk, sunflower oil, brown rice syrup, and tofu. Mix until well combined. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the center, and stir until moistened. Pour the batter into the greased pan. Bake for 17 – 20 minutes. Recipe by Wendy Irene on http://www.givelovecreatehappiness.com/ Tonight I used 2/3 cup brown rice flower and 1/3 cup coconut flour in place of the all purpose flour. The cornbread was a little thicker and heavier, needed to cook longer to be completely done. Both batches were moist and had very very good flavor.