I have always considered myself quite a nice person. I like food of all shapes, flavours and colours. From every country and continent. I don’t discriminate, I am an equal opportunity eater. It’s only the doctors who say I’m intolerant. And certain foods who refuse to tolerate me. They certainly refuse to recognise and respect my right to eat them without major physical discomfort and distress.


Gluten and lactose are not my friends.


Despite the negative attitudes surrounding me from many of those I love best, (cakes, ice cream, hot toast) I decided to become a chef. Not always easy when you live in a bread and milk filled world. I like to think that this has helped me become a better person as I embrace my differences and refuse to let the gluten get me down. I believe InTolerance. I am the InTolerant Chef.

Food should not be about what you can’t eat, but what you can and what you enjoy eating. This blog is about my journey of cooking and eating and discovery. It’s not a definitive guide to allergy awareness nor do my intolerances make me an expert. Your body is your responsibility, not mine. I only know what works for me.


I can tell you this..... No glutens were harmed in the making of this website.

July 24, 2012

Big Softies



















Littlej loves baking days

Opening the door to the house to be hit by sweet spiciness and cookie goodness after a long day of school. A tall glass of milk next to an even taller stack of biscuits sure makes homework more appealing now, doesn't it?



There are so many different types of biscuits out there.

Hard brittle biscotti, chewy crunchy gingernuts, snappy crumbly shortbread....
These ones I'm making today are gentle generous gingery bites. Not too crunchy, not way too soft, juuuuuust right for dunking and swallowing down with a mouthful of milk.






For these bikkies I wanted to use the ginger kibble from my holiday goodies. It's tiny little pieces of crystalised ginger that are just a bit too small to be sold on their own. If you don't have any of these you can chop up some larger pieces or substitute with other dried fruits/ nuts/ choc chips.
























I also used some treacle for a nice depth of flavour and some vanilla extract with cardamon for an extra hint of spice. You can add a touch of the dried spice instead if you like, or maybe some cinnamon, nutmeg or tiny pinch of cloves instead. If you really want a ginger hit you could mix through a couple of teaspoons of dried ginger for  real bite



















Big Ginger Softies


















200gm Butter or alternate
2/3 cup Brown Sugar
2/3 cup Castor Sugar
2 Eggs
2 1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 cup Ginger Kibble
2 Tab Treacle
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 tsp Baking Powder
3/4 tsp psyllium fibre

(what's that you ask? Great information on psyllium husk and its use in gluten free baking can be found at this post by lovely Shauna from Gluten Free Girl and The Chef:
http://glutenfreegirl.com/what-is-psyllium-husk/ )





Beat together the sugars and butter until well combined, but not fluffy




















Add in the eggs, vanilla and treacle


















Stir together the flour, psyllium and baking powder then beat into the cookie mix. Don't overbeat, just make it a nice and cohesive



















Toss in the ginger kibble and stir until distributed evenly



















Place decent sized lumps of batter on baking trays- mine were almost golf ball sized, then bake at 160*C for about 20-23 minutes.
They will be going crispy around the edges, but still cakey in the middle. Don't worry though, they'll harden up on cooling so leave them on the tray until set then finish them off on a rack


















See, perfect. But if you try and move them while hot or you will just end up with a big crumby but yummy mess



















Serve the cookies with a big glass of frosty lactose free/soy/nut/alternative milk of choice, ready for dunking.

I love the crunch around the edges of these cookies where they are just starting to brown and the sugars caramelise, but then there's the softer middle with the nuggets of ginger as a chewy surprise.

Yummo!

















So Dear Reader, do you like chewy, crunchy, bitety, or nice Big Softies like these for your milk and cookies treat?
























.

22 comments:

  1. Hmm good question! I love crunchy biscuits but these big softies sound wonderful too. Can I say I like all biscuits? :P

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    1. You may indeed Lorraine! I'm sure they all love you too :)

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  2. Ohhh yummm! Yours is the 2nd yummy cookie recipe I have seen today. I must make a batch of cookies soon. Love the ginger! I'll take soft, chewy, crunchie, any kind of cookie!

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    1. Must be some cookie vibes in the blogisphere Ina! I hope you blog about your cookies too :)

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  3. Replies
    1. Good answer Lisa, after all, what's NOT to like about a cookie?

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  4. I love chewy biscuits, definitely chewy. Those little bits of ginger look perfect. I haven't seen them here but I'm sure they're around. GG

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    1. You can just chop up some larger bits of crystallised ginger instead GG, I just like how the work is already done for me :)

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  5. They look delicious - I love a ginger cookie! I assume you used gf flour, Becca?

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    1. Ooops Celia! I hope everyone realised that was a given :) For me gluten free is the ONLY flour!

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  6. I love the look of these biscuits. I like how they're a bit chewy and soft which is my favourite type of cookie. Did you use ordinary flour to make these or did you use a GF flour? And if GF, which one did you use because I'm never too sure which one is the right one to bake things like cookies with. And I do wish I had some ginger kibble in the pantry! xx

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    1. Hi Charlie, definitely GF, I just forgot to type it in! :)
      I really like the White Wings brand of GF flour that you can get at the supermarket, I really like the way it behaves in baking. I also use other types from the wholesaler, and brands like Aldi when they can be found, but WW is a good all rounder.
      I have purposely avoided making up my 'own' blend, as I want people to be able to throw together recipes quickly and easily. For more specialised baking there are great sites out there that give specifics.

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  7. I had one of those baking days today... made these delicious maple syrup cookies and bread buns for burgers later that night:)

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  8. I live medium biscuits too - not too crunchy or chewy. Have never seen whipped ginger before - what is it?

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    1. It's just like ginger jam, but beaten up to be lighter and airy. Have you tried the new style whipped peanut butter yet Christie? Same kida thing- but still delicious :)

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  9. Big fan of the big softie, especially the ginger! Yum!

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    1. Me too! Unless I want to do some serious dunking, then maybe a biscotti?

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  10. Thanks for the big ginger softies recipe.
    I'll create one for sure, my kids are gonna like it :)
    submit your food photos on a Food Photography site so the readers can enjoy your creations.
    It's a food photography site full of all DIY food pictures from members around the world. submit by yourself and let me know when you did, so I can share it.

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  11. Hope your kiddies like them, let me know how they go!

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