Gluten-Free Vegan Snickerdoodles....YES, IT CAN BE DONE!

It's been my intention for awhile to create baked goods that are not only gluten-free, but also vegan, and diabetic safe, for those of us who aren't 100% raw, would rather stay away from animal products as much as possible, are trying to watch sugar intake, and yet, still enjoy the occasional cookie or cake (fresh from the oven, mind you (vs. fresh from the dehydrator). :)

So..........I saw that The Gluten-Free Girl (one of the blogs I follow), had posted that she'd transformed a Snickerdoodle recipe to GF, and wanting to take it one step further, decided to try out my egg substitute and the agave inulin that I'd picked up for free.

Agave inulin is an amazing new product that has just hit the shelves, and is a very good sugar substitute, adding some sweetness and fiber, and taking up space in the recipe that used to belong to sugar. It's probably only half as sweet as sugar, however, so I ended up using some Sucanet (whole cane sugar) and agave syrup, as well. I would say, though, that cutting the sugar to a third, can only be a benefit to those of us who want to have our cake and eat it, too.

Here's what I did:

First, I went to the site that TGFG used......... (http://eatthelove.blogspot.com/2010/06/gluten-free-snickerdoodles-very-first.html)............ retrieved the recipe, and got to work.

I fished out my giant gallon jug of gluten-free flour (which I'd already had mixed up). The recipe can be found in any gluten-free cookbook, but I used the one from the Gluten-Free Gourmet. I subscribe to TGFG's notion that it's better to weigh this flour mix, rather then using cup measuring, so I used her amount of 465 grams and set it aside.

I measured out my Earth Balance and some Crisco, for the shortening and butter and fished out that Viv Agave inulin.

Next, I realized that I did not have any real substitution amounts for the inulin, so I went to the Viv Agave site and compared recipe amounts. http://www.vivagave.com/fayes-kitchen.php

After reviewing the various options there; I decided to just do a straight substitute. The original recipe (from the "eatthelove" site),  called for 1 1/2 cups of sugar, so that's what I used. After tasting it, I realized that it wasn't really sweet enough to be a cookie, so I added 1/2 cup of Sucanet. Well, it still wasn't sweet enough, so I added 1/4 cup of agave nectar, then another 1/4 cup. Finally! It started tasting like a cookie dough! I was happy because while at the Viv Agave site, I'd found an icing made with the inulin, that would work beautifully for my cookies, so I proceeded to start bakin em.'

I used one of those ounce size ice-cream scoops to load them on wax paper lined sheets, and put them in a 350 degree pre-heated oven, for 12 minutes. They weren't really done, so I baked them for another 12 minutes, and ended up baking them for a full 25 minutes actually, in order to get them to the perfect golden color, all around. (This could be because my oven is off. Or it could be because of their chemistry. I've found that Egg-Free baked goods have a very different composition which reacts to heat quite differently then the normal baked goods). They didn't spread as much as I thought they would, and were much more cake like in texture (rather then crispy). Cooling them off helped a lot.

They are still somewhat cake-like once cooled completely, and probably don't actually count, technically, as a true snicker-doodle, but oh, my, they are GOOD! They are crispy on the outside, tender and cake-like on the inside. Which, if you ask me, is my idea of the perfect cookie (Personally, I'm not that crazy about cookies that SNAP, when you eat them, unless you count ginger-snaps!). I guess I'd have to say they are a rousing success!

Here are my photos:

And that's another perfectly good afternoon slipped away in the kitchen, while I should have been doing other things..........Much love and many blessings from us at Rara Avis Fine Foods.

Special Note: 

I don't use Xantham Gum because it isn't derived from natural sources (it's produced by chemicals, artificially in a lab). I use Guar Gum because it's derived from natural sources (the guar nut). 

Also, I always use 2 tblsp of vinegar in my baked goods recipes, because it not only helps preserve them, and keeps them from drying out too fast, but because it causes a chemical reaction with the baking powder, helping it to work better. This is especially helpful when making gluten-free muffins. :)

Nutrition (per cookie). Calories: 100, Fat (gr): 7.5, Carbohydrate (gr): 18.2, Fiber: (Gr): 6.6. These are approximates, and do not include the glaze (which actually adds a bit more fiber), but as you can see, using the agave inulin makes them almost 1/3 fiber! Not a bad deal, by any stretch of the imagination. Are they diabetic safe? I have no idea, but I'm glad they are at least healthier then the average cookie :)