These are from the Spring section of Cake Days. For the first trial, I’m going to make them as per the recipe but alternate the flour for gluten free flour. I think with this recipe, this should work as there is ground almond in it which should help with the texture. For the second trial I am going to use half gluten free flour and half soya flour. Soya flour worked really well in the ‘A Date With Rosso’ cookies, so I am hoping the texture will be changed, but I’m not sure on how the flavour will work out as these cookies are not the kind that I would say had a ‘heavy‘ flavour such as chocolate or peanut butter, they have light flavours, so I hope the soya does not over-power the more delicate flavours of this recipe. Finally, for the third trial, I am going to use 1/3 gluten free flour, 1/3 soya flour and 1/3 super fine rice flour. The super fine rice flour is the flour I used when I did my first batch of gluten free puff pastry, so I’m quite excited for how this may turn out… it could be quite crumbly, but it may make for a different cookie from the other two variations! I’ll be posting up the recipes later this week and updating you on Twitter as the trials happen! Rubelle’s Moon The reviews Gluten Free Plain Flour First up, I made the recipe with the simple switch of regular plain flour to gluten free plain flour. The cookies do not, as the recipe states at the ‘rolling into a ball’ stage do the said rolling… I think this is due to the gluten free flour, but basically, the mixture is still reasonably pourable, so don’t- unless you want sticky finger that is- go sticking your hands in and grabbing a handful! Instead, spoon the mixture onto the tray into little heaps of cookies mixture. Another point to note is that the mixture spreads… resulting in shouts of ‘MEGA SPREAD’ and a realisation that where the Cake Days book states ’2 tbsps’ of mixture, 1 tbsp would really have been sufficient. I think this is because of the more pourable state of the gluten free mixture, therefore it spread out a lot more than I had anticipated! Overall, these were a little too big when cooked, but v delicious, the boyfriend reported they are the closest thing to ‘real cookies’ i’ve ever made, so I was v proud of myself (and him for his whisking help!). On to the next batch tomorrow… I’m looking forward to seeing how they work out with altenative flours!

Gluten Free Plain Flour and Soya Flour

These turned out totally different… the texture was more firm and could almost have been rolled into balls if I’d have added more flour, but I didn’t want to play around with the recipe too much as I know from past experiences that more flour creates a very firm almost tough cookie that will not cook through properly. Take it from me and my mistakes – it isn’t worth it and you’ll be left with weird doughy blobs that won’t get eaten and you’ll think you can’t bake and won’t ever bake again (this is what happens when I have a rubbish baking session… all stops, I get angry, sad, decide I can’t actually cook or bake – depending on what has been attempted – and then a week later, I’m hungry for snacks, I have to bake again – obviously – and I’ve forgotten that I “couldn’t bake), so, save yourself the calamities and don’t add more flour, unless you’re super sure… or you forgot to actually add it (done that too…!). The cookies were a lot more like my regular cookie-scones, and more cake like than the first batch. Go for these if you like your cookie to be a bit denser and chewier.

Super Fine Rice Flour and Soya Flour

These tasted almost oaty! The texture is between the two previous batches… somewhere between a soft, cake-like cookie and a chewy, American cookie! You will like this one if you like a light cookie, but not as light as the first one, and with this one, it is a really oat-like flavour and tastes delicious with a cup of tea.

So… that’s my recipe round-up, which one will you choose?

The Recipe

Rubelle’s Moon