Lemon Orange Zest Snowballs - Gluten Free

Lemon Orange Zest Snowballs - Gluten Free 

It has been a while since I added any new recipes to this blog. With the Holidays quickly approaching, I am well aware that all of my cookie recipes are filled with butter, wheat, eggs and deliciousness. 

Basically meaning, I can't use any of them. In the weeks since I last put up any recipes, I learned that wheat and dairy products are really bad for me. That, and sesame. Cheating on Thanksgiving put me in bed for three days. 

But, things like eggs and peanut butter, I have a little bit more wiggle room. So, today, I am going to work on a recipe that has egg white in it. My plan is to only use a little of certain ingredients, here and there, and substitute in places where it works easily. Or at least easier.

Lemon is one of my favorite flavors, so I have been looking at many recipes over the past several weeks. This is what I have developed from putting several different ideas together. This recipe has no butter or oil, only almond flour and other basic ingredients.

And, in typical fashion, I have lemon juice, but no lemons, so I am going to use orange zest instead of lemon zest. That way, not only do I get zest, I get to eat the fresh orange. Citrus season in California is fabulous.

These cookies turned out delicious! This is definitely a recipe to be repeated!

Ingredients

2 large egg whites

2 cups fine milled almond flour

1 cup white sugar

1 large orange zested (orange for snacking)

3 cranks of Himalayan pink salt mill or 1/8 teaspoon

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

powdered sugar to roll cookies before baking

Directions 

Preheat oven to 350°F 

Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Start beating egg whites at medium speed in stand mixer until soft peaks form or use an electric hand mixer until the same soft peaks occur.  In separate bowl, mix almond flour and white sugar with a fork. Stir out majority of lumps from almond flour. Mix orange zest, lemon juice and salt into flour mixture. Add to egg mixture in two batches. Beat on medium until combined. Dough will be sticky.

Roll dough into 1 1/2 tablespoons size balls, and then roll them in the powdered sugar. Place cookies on parchment papered cookie sheet. Cookies do not spread, so as long as they don't touch, you can put them close together. 

This batch makes about a dozen and a half cookies, so depending on size of your pan, you could possibly bake entire batch at one time.

Bake for 15 to 16 minutes. The bottoms of the cookies will be lightly browned. Cool slightly then remove from baking sheet to keep cookies from over-browning. 

Cookies will have a firm outer edge and soft gooey middle. Because of soft nature, they are best when eaten within a couple of days.

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Peace out, everyone.

I went to the farmer's market in Victoria Gardens last Friday. I tried to buy some gluten-free bakery goods at one of the stands. "We only sell good tasting bread here," the man said. Well, I would eat 'good tasting bread' if it didn't kill me.

It is true, that I have yet to find any good tasting gluten-free bread. They are all brick heavy and unpalatable. Perhaps, part of that problem is also, the no dairy and no soy issue. It makes it tough to find bakery products made with NO ingredients.

Yet, every single day, I see recipes of all these delicious foods I can never eat. Cheesy garlic bread and gooey drippy pizza. Sweet sugary caramel rolls and cream cheese taco dips. I really miss cheese! All these things from a world I am not part of anymore.

In my freezer, I have some raspberry sorbet. Milk free, of course. My fridge has some coconut milk 'yogurt', which is as bad as it sounds, olive oil 'butter' and almond milk. Yes, I am leading an alternative lifestyle. Sunflower seed butter now replaces my peanut butter and my flours are now rice, tapioca and potato.

And, even though I really loved 'just plain milk' and all of its delightfully delicious benefits, like ice cream and yogurt, I was biologically made for a relationship with almond milk. We have our own little place in the dairy section. And just to make you jealous, it doesn't even need to be refrigerated before opening. Plus, Almond Dream praline crunch ice cream is to die for.

When I go out to eat, I do get special treatment at some places. Like Blaze Pizza always changes gloves and makes my gluten-free crust on a separate surface away from their regular pizza line. Blaze Pizza is like Subway; they make your pizza to order as you walk along.

People get so annoyed at me when I slow the line down. Never mind the 'dying' with gluten part. You would think I wanted my own Gluten-free Parade, the way they suffer through the extra 30 seconds it takes to make my crust.

It reminds me of how upset some parents get that they can't send peanuts to school, anymore. Or any homemade treat, for that matter. The fact that another family's child may die seems completely irrelevant to the wants of some people.

"I have always sent my favorite homemade peanut buttery Scotch-a-roo bars, before, and if I can't now, it just isn't fair to our Jimmy Joe, cuz they're his favorite."

As I rage against this unfair world, where the gluten, dairy, soy tolerant people control my destiny, I will continue my quest for some 'tasty' gluten-free bakery products. Right now, I am comfortable with my ability to remain in anonymous obscurity, most of the time.

I just hope there will never come a time, when I will have to wear a tiny loaf of bread badge, stitched up with 'Gluten-Free', on my jacket, for all of the world to see.

Peace out, everyone.

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