GF Peanut Butter Almond Cookies

I have been wanting to make a gluten free cookie for a while now and today was the day. The results were better than I expected. In fact the combination of several types of "flours" made for a very hearty and reasonably "healthy" cookie. I was primarily making these for my grandson and since I'm looking for a "good" higher fat cookie I kept the margarine low but added 1/2 cup of peanut butter for the fat as well as the extra protein factor. Photo shown is the decorated version as I was feeling festive! They don't need the decorations obviously but it's a nice touch for christmas. The glaze is made with icing sugar, water and almond extract. I then made another small batch of glaze and subbed some amaretto liquor for the almond extract and I daresay that's a mighty nice sub if the cookies you are making are for adults only. This batch of cookies was for my DD Rachel who has wheat allergies and she was just as happy as my grandson with the results. Indeed she was quite elaborate in her praises of this cookie so I hope you get the same response.

Ingredients
1/4 cup EB buttery vegan stick margarine
1/4 cup sweetened applesauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup organic granulated sugar
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 tablespoons *eggy-flaxseed mixture*

3/4 cup *gluten-free flour mixture*
1/2 cup oat flour
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons quick oats
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons almond meal
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

 l. Cream first seven ingredients together in a medium-size bowl and whip well with electric mixer - I only have small hand-held type and it works excellent for this.
2. Mix next seven ingredients together and then combine with the creamed ingredients. Mix together thoroughly. If necessary add another tablespoon or two of any of the above flours to give dough required consistency. Refrigerate dough for an hour or so.
3. You can make small or medium size cookies. Make balls and roll them through white sugar, press down with a glass and add almond if you so desire. For small cookie use 1 tablespoon dough each and bake in 375 degree oven for about 6 minutes. For medium size cookie use 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon dough each and bake at the same temperature for about 9 minutes. DD preferred the larger size cookie as they are slightly softer at that size. However the smaller ones do get softer too if , after cooling, you store them in a plastic container. Makes 24-28 cookies if you make the medium size cookie (1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon dough).


Gluten-free flour mixture: 2-3/4 cups organic brown rice flour, 1/2 cup tapioca starch plus 1/4 cup Bob's Red Mill Almond Meal. Put through a sifter to make sure it's blended together very well.This makes 3-1/2 cups gluten-free flour. You only need to use 3/4 cup for making the above recipe.*

*flaxseed mixture -- Stir about 6 heaping tablespoons of golden ground flaxseed into 1-1/2 cups water, whipped it a bit with a fork and put it in the fridge. You can use a blender but fork method worked just fine for me. Should have approximately the consistency of egg whites. Store in the fridge for 3 days. Use 4 tablespoons of this liquid (stir each time before using) to substitute for one egg.*