My daughter is in her second week of Kindergarten and already there have been four birthdays in her class, which means four days of treats that she can’t eat! I’m realizing that elementary school is a whole different world than preschool when it comes to food. It seems to be everywhere. Part of me feels nervous. Can I trust everyone to remember not to give her the birthday treat? Can I trust her to always say no? Part of me feels sad for her that she feels left out.
“I wish I didn’t have food allergies,” she told me last night.
“I wish I didn’t have any either,” I said.
I can’t grant her wish, but I can offer her alternatives that are delicious and safe for her. I have supplied a “snack box” in her classroom — a plastic storage container with her name written on it filled with packaged allergy-free cookies and fruit bars — in case of a treat emergency. But we also have a deal: if other kids got something special in class that day that she couldn’t have, then she gets to have something special when she gets home. Homemade cookies always do the trick! And a good old chocolate chip cookie can also turn into an ice cream sandwich or a frosted delight!
Making gluten-free cookies from scratch doesn’t have to be difficult, even if you have other food allergies too, like we do. Using a pre-made GF flour blend makes it especially easy. There are many on the market, but I recently tried Namaste Foods’ Perfect Flour Blend to make gluten-free oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, and they were perfect! Now you can make them too, using the recipes below.
Namaste Foods is going to give away a package of Perfect Flour Blend to three lucky winners! All you have to do to enter is make a comment on this post saying what you would like to make using the Perfect Flour Blend. Three winners will be chosen at random (one comment per person please). Contest will end on Monday, September 14 at noon PST.
According to the package, “Namaste’s Perfect Flour Blend has been designed with ease, efficiency and all your favorite recipes in mind. Simply replace the wheat flour in your everyday recipe with the same amount of our flour blend then follow the directions in the recipe. Namaste’s Perfect Flour Blend will work with almost any recipe in your everyday cookbook. (Obviously, results may vary with more sophisticated recipes.)”
Ingredients: Sweet brown rice flour, tapioca flour, arrowroot flour, sorghum flour and xanthan gum. (Namaste Foods uses xanthan gum that is not derived from corn or corn sources.)
Here is the recipe for the cookies I made using the recipe from the Perfect Flour Blend bag with some substitutions and additions:
Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Egg-Free Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients:
1/2 cup Earth Balance Dairy-Free Soy-Free Natural Buttery Spread, softened (you can also use oil, butter or margarine)
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup sugar
Ener-G Egg Replacer for 1 egg (or use 1 egg if you have no egg allergies)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup Namaste Foods Perfect Flour Blend
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups gluten-free oats (I use Cream Hill Estates Lara’s Rolled Oats)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup raisins or chocolate chips, or 1/2 cup of each
Directions:
1. Cream together “butter” and sugars until smooth. Add egg replacer (or egg) and vanilla and mix until combined. Add dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.
2. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto lightly greased cookie sheet. If the batter seems a little crumbly, just press it together to hold its shape. It will hold together when it cooks.
3. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10-12 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes, then move to wire rack and continue cooling. Makes about 2 dozen cookies.
The recipe below was sent to me by Michele, the creator of Namaste Foods.
Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup butter or non-dairy butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups Namaste Perfect Flour Blend
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons hot water
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter along with salt. Stir in flour, chocolate chips, and nuts. Drop by large spoonfuls onto greased pans.
3. Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely
browned.
erin pickering says
Great giveaway! – I would use this flour for muffins and bread. Thanks, erin
Kate says
I’d love to make some peanut butter chocolate chip cookies! I remember those from my childhood and miss them like crazy sometimes.
Vicki W says
I just learned that I have to remove wheat from my diet. I have to start altering my recipes for my new diet and this would be a great flour to try!
Jodi says
Hi. This recipe looks great! I’d love to try the Namaste flour mix. I’d probably use it for something exciting like phyllo dough for baklava!
Lynnae says
I love Namaste mixes! Their spice cake mix is my favorite.
I would use the flour to try out a pie crust I’ve been hankering to adapt for years. The combination Namaste uses looks like it could be tasty – and somewhat versatile.
Elizabeth says
I’d like to try it in my sour cream banana bread recipe!
Gluten-Free FileMaker Dude says
I’d love to use the flour to make a cake for my mom (also Celiac) and I to share. Mmmmmmmm, cake.
Heather @CeliacFamily says
I’ve always been impressed with the Namaste mixes. I’ve not tried, nor even seen, this Perfect Flour Blend. I’d love to give it a try.
My son’s kindergarten class has a few birthdays this month, too. Though I haven’t heard about any celebrations yet. I was pleasantly surprised to get a note today that my son’s teacher has decided to limit the daily class snacks to fruit and vegetables only. That at least eases my mind about snack time.
Katrina (gluten free gidget) says
I would use the perfect flour blend to make an ice cream cake! I have a birthday coming up and it would be the perfect excuse to bake one!
Sarah says
My Celiac daughter was in kindergarten last year, which meant 30 birthday celebrations. I kept a packet of Annie’s Gummy Bunny fruit snacks in her backpack at all times, and she got to eat it any time there was a birthday celebration. She knew the routine, and so did the other kids. Her teacher insisted on healthy treats, so her treat was occasionally more appealing than the bday treats. It is too hard on them to have to watch everyone else eat treats so often. Good luck! It is much harder in elementary school – there is just SO much food involved!
Tracy Haughton says
My 11 year old was just diagnosed with gluten sensitivity. At age 11, a time when she is starting to move beyond the management of her life by her parents, taking on eating gluten free in a gluten saturated world is a tall order. She is doing an amazing job but she is also feeling dis-spirited about watching friends eat foods she knows she shouldn’t eat.
I would love to use the Namaste flour mix to make her some treats that are tasty enough to share with her gluten-eating friends to help them realize eating gluten-free is not so bad!
Also would love to start a support group for gluten-free kids in Marin like our new Marin GIRG for adults.
Andrea says
I would like to make biscuits. I really miss good soft flaky biscuits. Waffles would be nice too, oh and cookies! But mainly biscuits.
Holly says
I’d definitely make Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies!
Jamie says
My grandma has so many recipes that she has made for me my whole life until I was diagnosed with celiac this year. I would love to be able to recreate some of her recipes for chocolate chip mandel bread and jelly cookies using this flour mix.
Elizabeth says
My youngest has outgrown her egg allergy, and we haven’t had a decent brownie in 2 years….I would use the flour to make brownies and all the homemade breads we’ve been missing the last two years! Ooo, and maybe we’ll have french toast! 🙂
Venessa says
I would love to try the GF flour mix for a peach cobbler, topped with yummy biscuit’s, finally!!
James says
I would like to make some waffles.
Cheryl Thornton says
I would make an old fashioned oatmeal cookie recipe. We make it at Christmas with wheat flour to give away and I always yearn for them!!
Nari says
Scallion pancakes and shortbread cookies….
Doreen says
I have two children with celiacs and I would use this flour mix to use in all our favorite recipes such as banana, zucchini or pumpkin muffins. These are my kids favorites for their snacks!
Sara says
I would love to try this flour to make cookies and/or cupcakes for my daughter to take to kindergarten for Birthday Treat Days…so that she can feel special as well.
Kellie Hamilton says
I would love to try to make my son a decent loaf of bread for his grilled cheese sandwiches. The GF bread from the grocery store is like cardboard – my son is non-verbal so he has never told me this – I have tasted and it is really gross. I bought a breadmaker and would love to try your Perfect Flour Blend in our next loaf of bread.
Jill says
Pasta noodles! to go with my homemade sauce; and for my garndmother’s old-fashioned (but lean roast) beef and noodles or chicken and noodles with vegetables (all from scratch).
karla says
I would love to make a whole batch of chocolate chip cookies with this perfect flour blend. I can almost smell them cooking right now.
Karla
Ann Maurren says
I would use the flour to make a cranberry almond cake that my daughter loves, but I haven’t been able to master a gluten free one yet… maybe this flour would work…. thanks for the offer….
Amanda says
I would definitely try out both of the cookie recipes on here!! I currently use the Namaste bread mix in my bread maker and it always turns out great!
hyla says
Chocolate pudding cake! It is a fat-free vegan recipe that I’ve been trying to figure out how to make gluten free…the perfect combo of flours. I can’t wait to try it!
April says
I am not an adventurous baker. I don’t want to make my own flour mixes and always jump at the chance to try new ones. I like Namaste’s meal mixes and would like to try their flour.
Gabrielle says
! would LOVE to try this flour for bread-baking for myself and my family; we have type 1 diabetes along with Celiac disease so I do a LOT of cooking and baking at home and love to share recipes with all my patients who have gluten and diabetes challenges as well (I am also a Nutritionist and diabetes educator)
LaTroy Navaroli says
My son in second grade has the same issues with school treats. I would love to try this flour to make him a special treat of cookies for when he comes home from school.
JM Shephard says
I am working on developing a pistachio shortbread and pistachio tarts, using canned pistachio paste and pistachio flour. I would use this flour blend for the flour base in both of these.
Linda K. says
I have tried several other gf flour blends that you purchase & I would like to see how this performs. We like every Namaste product we have tried so far. I would use it to make a birthday cake for my daughter.
renee says
I would like to make my husband some breads! he recently went completely GF and he loves sandwiches!
Kevin says
My daughter is 2.5 years and can only eat Gluten Free, Egg Free, Dairy Free and Nut Free foods. I will use to bake her xmas cookies or Birthday cake in Feb!
Patricia Nicholson says
I bought the Nametaste perfect flour blend and have been experimenting making up my own recipes.. They are not turning out so well, so these recipes are very helpful and I will try them out. My son is 3.5 and is allergic to almost everything. Thankfully chocolate is not one of his allergies. I am constantly having to think ahead so that he has something to eat on the go. I also send his lunch and snacks with him to daycare. It was very hard at first, but now it has become routine and my son has adjusted well to his diet considering how much he cannot have.
Cecilia Rothschild says
I would like to recreate my grandmother’s strudel. So far all my attempts at gluten free fall apart. And then there is pie dough. I love my mom’s cherry pie recipe.
Rebecca says
AWESOME cookies!! My children and I are SO happy we finally found a gluten free and EGG free cookie that works! Plus it’s also xanthum gum free! Yea for our happy and healthy tummies! We didn’t have any Namaste GF flour, so we tried to use the same kind of mix from our own GF flours. But I can just imagine how more incredible they would taste with that mix! Thank you! We found this recipe just in time for back to school!
Alison says
Rebecca, Glad this recipe worked for you! Yes, I think you could sub a gluten-free flour blend pretty easily. FYI – I believe the Namaste blend has xanthan gum.
Corinne Gottlieb says
I would love to make my family chocolate chip pancakes with my gluten-free flour winnings!!! We all love them, and it’s one thing we can agree on for breakfast!! 🙂