Gluten Free Sparkling Ginger Cookies

These cookies brim with the festive spices of the season and have a delicate crunch and sparkle from a hefty pinch of raw sugar. To top it off, they're a great cookie for gatherings since it is both vegan and gluten free! Give these easy to make cookies a try - you won't regret it!

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We are coming up to cookie time again this year! I don't know about you, but I have lists of cookies depending on who is the intended recipient of them. With luck (and a little bit of free time) I will be able to share each and every (new) cookie I'm making for the holidays - but let's start with these ones!

I happen to have two friends who keep their diet gluten free for various reasons, and while I can't share my mom's absolutely amazing shortbread cookies with them I do try to give them a couple things they can enjoy over the holidays. These cookies were developed after finding a recipe lodged deep in my Pinterest board, and they looked so festive I had to see if I could make a gluten free variant that was still vegan. 

The first (and easiest) swap was the flour. I love the Bob's Red Mill 1:1 flour and I've never had an issue with it failing to hold things together. A bunch of spice, thanks to the cinnamon, ginger and cardamom from Selefina Spices, warmed things up and made the kitchen smell heavenly - pro tip, add the spices to the margarine when it's still quite warm to bloom the spices, it makes them really pop. I also added a hefty dose of a vegan pumpkin spice flavoured protein powder for extra flavour and nutrition. I didn't have any brown sugar left (I made these chestnut flour gingerbread cookies the day before) so I added a touch more molasses, and finally I added some egg replacer powder just as some extra assurance the dough would bind together. Popping the mixture in the fridge overnight resulted in a super easy to work with dough - it scooped like perfect ice cream! A quick roll in raw sugar and I had a batch of cookies ready for the freezer, as well as for immediate baking. 

For those of you baking for a diverse group of people, don't hesitate to make these - heck, just make them even if you aren't gluten free. They're a perfect blend of spicy and sweet, ready to pair with a cup of tea!

Lemon-Blueberry Croissants

The combination of rich blueberry and tangy lemon in these Blueberry Lemon Croissants is next level - the whole wheat dough is laminated with blueberry compound butter (yes, blueberries in the butter!) and gets an extra blue tint from @selefina.spices Butterfly Pea Flower powder. Rolled up in the middle is lemon cream cheese. It's a breakfast experience like no other!

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Is there anything more summery than the combination of lemon and berries? I personally love adding lemon to anything, and these croissants that were inspired by Pinterest are a prime example.

There’s something truly magical about the process of making croissants. It's a long process, but a very therapeutic one. The finished pastries are works of art, but like all baking that art is rooted in science. I read once that flaky dough like croissants and puff pastry is where "patience meets precision", which I love but also laugh at - I don't usually have either!

The magic begins with a compound butter infused with blueberries, lemon zest, and a touch of butterfly pea flower powder from Selefina Spices. The blueberries add a mix of sweet and tart all on their own, which gets boosted with a hint of icing sugar and some bright lemon zest. The butterfly pea flower powder turns a vibrant purple in the presence of the acid from the blueberries and makes the colour of the butter (and thus the rest of the pastry) a gorgeous indigo. What I love about this butter is that you can make it and freeze it for when you have a craving for croissants!

The filling is just as delicious - and we definitely used leftovers on bagels! Cream cheese gets a hefty dose of lemon zest and a touch of lemon juice before getting slightly sweetened. When the croissants bake, this filling melts into the centre of each pastry, creating pockets of deliciousness. 

 Making the actual croissant dough is a labour of love... these are not something you'll enjoy the same day! The croissants look complex, but honestly, the process is really quite simple when it comes down to it. I followed the visual guide here when I first started making croissants, and it helped immensely! As long as you keep the dough cool, and chill between folding sessions, you won't have a problem with getting the butter into those layers.

I guarantee, if you like blueberries and lemon, these croissants will be a hit - the aroma coming from the oven as they baked smelled like the best blueberry pie you can imagine, and while waiting for them to cool feels like ages, the payoff is worth it!  

Roasted Potato Multigrain Bread #BreadBakers

Roasted Yukon Gold potatoes and a hefty pinch of rosemary give these low rising loaves a wonderfully savoury character. A sourdough preferment adds tang while keeping the crumb moist and open. A slice or two is perfect with any soup or stew, or just on it's own!

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Is there anything better than roasted potatoes to cure a comfort carb craving? I'll admit, I don't indulge in them as much as I should, but when I get the chance I'm all in! This bread was sparked by an abundance of potatoes left over from a family dinner, and fresh rosemary by the windowsill. I've made roast potato bread before, but when I saw this recipe on My Love of Baking that used a sourdough preferment, I had to give it a try!

Not only does this bread have the rich flavour of roasted potatoe and rosemary, but the preferment used an unusual ingredient - beer! The amber ale I picked was ever so slightly sweet (and not hoppy) and local to me. I took that idea and paired it with the nuttiness of barley flour and my standard whole wheat bread flour.

Once you combine the preferment with the rest of the ingredients (apart from the potatoes, that is) and knead it all together, be prepared to let it rest - think of the bread like your body after running a marathon (or conquering the work week) - it needs a spa day. A few folds and the addition of the potatoes later, it gets shaped and given a final proof in a bowl. I don't have a round banneton, but I imagine it would be better! A final rise and its plopped (gently) into a screaming hot Dutch oven and baked to a deep brown with a prominent crust.

The bread itself is time consuming, but well worth it in the end - the smell that came from my oven as it baked in a Dutch oven was out of this world.

Slicing into the cooled loaf, you're met with a slightly dense but still tender crumb speckled with bits of roasted potatoes. My mom immediately spread it with cream cheese, but the heels of the bread made stellar soup dippers from what I hear!

This loaf is my submission for the #Breadbakers Mixed Grains Bread event. 

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely bread by following our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated after each event on the #BreadBakers home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send Stacy an email with your blog URL to foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com.