There are a number of great gluten free recipes for cookies, but for some reason it is rare that I run across a good one for peanut butter cookies.  Enjoy!

Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Crisco
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1.5 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 2 eggs
• 3 cups gluten-free flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tbsp. Xanthan Gum
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, cream the butter and shortening together for a few minutes until you have a paste that resembles dense frosting.
2. Add both types of sugar and continue creaming until the mixture resembles dense frosting with sand mixed in.
3. While the butter/shortening mixture is creaming, mix all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
4. Add the peanut butter to the wet mixture and mix well, until the it is no longer readily apparent in the dough.
5. Add the eggs, one at a time, making sure the first completely incorporates before adding the second.
6. Top it off with the vanilla, and continue mixing until there remains no evidence of any of the individual ingredients.
7. If you decide to add any additional ingredients (i.e., chocolate chips, nuts, etc.) to the final cookie, this is the time to do it.
8. Slowly add the dry mixture, mixing steadily to ensure that the dry ingredients incorporate properly without clumping up.
9. After all the dry has been mixed in, you will have a very loose dough that will clump properly when compressed.
10. Scoop the dough with spoons (I like to use an ice cream scoop) into balls about 1 to 1.5 inches in diameter and place them on a greased cookie sheet. Try not to compress the dough too much in this process, as doing so can create a denser cookie.
11. Bake at 375F for about 14 minutes for a cookie portion the size of an ice cream scoop.
12. Allow the cookies to cool on a rack until they can be handled without burning your fingers.

[Recipe Courtesy of Carl's Kitchen]

Even though the gluten free lifestyle seems to become even more mainstream with each passing week, there are still a number of myths regarding the diet that many people don’t know about.

Today I noticed a great post uncovering a bunch of gluten free myths over at Delightfully Gluten Free. Here is a small part of their terrific post:

Myth 1: Vinegar is not gluten-free.
Truth: Most vinegars are gluten-free. The exceptions are malt vinegar and “flavored” vinegars, which have stuff added to them after the distillation process.

Myth 2: McDonald’s French Fries are not gluten-free.
Truth: A very small amount of gluten was in a flavoring used in the oil to par-fry the potatoes. The french fries have been tested and NO detectable gluten was found in the final product. Even the CSA believes them to be gluten-free. Now, you may not want to eat them on the principal that they once put even a small amount of wheat in them. That’s fine. But the bigger concern is the level of cross-contact caused by the obnoxious 16 year-old in charge of the fryer. If you’ve never had chicken nugget bits in your french fries, then you’re pretty lucky. And that is why I don’t eat their fries.

Myth 3: Alcohol from grain sources are not gluten-free.
Truth: The distillation process removes the gluten. I don’t know what kinds of alcohol are distilled, because I don’t drink it. I do know that beer is not distilled and does have gluten (unless you get one of the brands of gf beer).

Myth 4: Envelope glue has gluten.
Truth: I have not seen any proof that it does happen, though it still could. But, seriously, why would you want to put that stuff on your tongue anyways? I quit licking them when I was 10. Dab a little water on it and spread it around, and you’re set to go. Your tongue will thank you.

Click over to check out the other myths that are uncovered.

Probably the most popular recipes seem to be the gluten free chicken recipes we post every so often, so when I ran across this one, I figured I would pass it along to our readers. 

Gluten Free Italian Chicken and Rice Recipe

Ingredients:

• 12 ounces chicken breasts, cut into chunks
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 1/4 cups chicken broth, add more as desire
• 14 ounces diced tomatoes
• 1 1/2 cups instant rice
• 14 ounces French style green beans
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon cilantro (to taste)
• 2 pinches basil
• parmesan cheese (optional)

Directions:

1. Spray skillet with cooking spray or use butter or oil. Sautee chicken and onion for about 5 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink.
2. Stir in broth and tomatoes and spices. Bring to boil, stir in rice and beans.
3. Simmer 5 minutes.
4. Remove from heat, let stand 3 minutes covered.
5. Serve with grated parmesan cheese if desired. 

And remember, if you’d like to see your recipes featured here, please let us know. 

[Recipe Courtesy of Recipe Zaar]

No post today (other than this).  Just wanted to wish our American readers a happy and gluten free Independence Day!  The plan is for posts to resume tomorrow. 

In the meantime, if you are new to Gluten Free Resource, you can easily get caught up on gluten free news, recipes, and our other resources by browsing through our archives.

Here is a great recipe for german pancakes which is advertised as being both gluten free and dairy free.

Gluten Free/Dairy Free German Pancake Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rice milk
• 1 cup gluten-free rice flour mix
• 6 eggs
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup coconut oil (I used a bit less or drained excess)
• 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a 9×13 pan, melt oil in oven.
3. In a medium bowl mix milk, flour, salt and eggs.
4. When oven is at 400 degrees, take out pan and pour in mixture.
5. Cook for 20-25 minutes or until fluffy.
6. Serve with desired toppings.
7. We like syrup.

[Recipe Courtesy of Recipe Zaar]