Help me find a gluten free option for this recipe

February 18, 2015 6:58 PM

Calling all gluten free bakers to find the best alternative to my tried and true fortune cookie recipe

I have made fortune cookies using this recipe for more than ten years and I now make them as a promotional product for the business I work for as well as goodies for my coworkers on holidays and such. One of the newest employees is gluten intolerant and I don't want to leave her out of the fun. My best friend is vegan and I know how frustrating it can be not to be able to take part in dinners out or office pot lucks because of dietary restrictions.

The cookies are made by creating something like a thick pancake batter and swirling it into a circle onto a cookie sheet. These cookies have no leavener and essentially puff up only a tiny amount, maybe 1/2 mm. It bakes for about 5 minutes and then is (as quickly as possible) removed and folded into fortune cookie shape. Exact recipe below.

My question is: what is the best substitute for all purpose flour for this cookie. I'm willing to experiment but would like a nudge in the right direction.

Recipe:
5 tablespoons butter
4 egg whites
1 cup very fine sugar
1 cup all purpose flour
1 pinch salt
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon almond extract

posted by boobjob to Food & Drink (11 answers total)

Almond flour!
posted by astapasta24 at 7:11 PM on February 18, 2015

whoops, forgot to mention that you may be able to get away with substituting it on a 1 to 1 ratio. If that doesn't work, you'll need a bit more almond flour since it doesn't absorb liquids as well as all-purpose flour
posted by astapasta24 at 7:13 PM on February 18, 2015

I have thus far been able to sub the America's Test Kitchen gluten free AP one-to-one in any recipe with success. It's fiddly, but so far works a charm. Memail if you want the recipe.

If you don't want to have to mess with a few ounces of this and a little of that, a friend made cookies at Christmas with the King Author GF mix and was pleased.

I'm not sure how GF bisquick would do for this? It's mostly rice flour and I'm afraid it wouldn't bend well for you.

I would avoid Bob's Red Mill AP; they have a lot of great products, but last I checked their AP was bean based and tasted it.

(You're an awesome, thoughtful friend!)
posted by joycehealy at 7:25 PM on February 18, 2015

You might try this recipe.
posted by bunderful at 7:30 PM on February 18, 2015

Hi, I don't know much about gluten-free, but a friend and ex-colleague, Anthony, has set up a Gluten-Free Recipe site. I don't know if it answers the question above, but someone here (or that finds this post) might find something useful there.
posted by Dub at 8:32 PM on February 18, 2015

A lot of gluten free flours have a very fine texture (think corn flour/starch) so would probably result in a weird batter consistency for you. The best AP flour sub I have found is the Cup4Cup brand, developed by Thomas Keller (I think). You can buy it at Sprouts, Whole Foods etc. If you can, I'd advise letting the batter sit for a bit to soften the gritty texture but that may not even matter for fortune cookies.
posted by BeeJiddy at 9:25 PM on February 18, 2015

I was coming to recommend Cup4Cup (yes, it was developed by Thomas Keller for use in The French Laundry). You can get it on Amazon.

I wouldn't use almond flour, as it behaves really differently from AP and would probably make it impossible to handle. Rice flour is probably closer for your application, but straight rice flour doesn't have the same absorbency or texture as wheat flour.
posted by guster4lovers at 10:17 PM on February 18, 2015 [2 favorites]

I'd just use a cup for cup flour. I like Mr Ritts. If it's like a pancake batter you likely aim for little gluten development in the first place, so the final product shouldn't be affected much by the use of GF flour. For example, in cake recipes I actually prefer to use GF flour because it leads to a more tender crumb (note: cake flour is lower in gluten than AP flour). GF baked goods often benefit from increased liquid, so you may want to experiment with the amount of cream if it doesn't turn out well the first time. Also, be careful that your other ingredients (namely the almond paste) are GF and are free of cross contamination (if you ever dipped a measuring cup in flour and then into the sugar canister, that sugar is now glutenized).
posted by melissasaurus at 4:59 AM on February 19, 2015

America's Test Kitchen has an amazing GF cookbook. One takeaway from its extensive baking section: let batters rest for 30 min before baking. The finer flours need time to absorb the liquids.

Good luck.
posted by Jesse the K at 6:25 AM on February 19, 2015

For some reason you need to have a mix of GF flours. For baking I like rice flour and tapioca flour. It gives a smooth texture and the tapioca flour is sweet. In addition, you need to add Xantham Gum to keep the items from becoming too brittle and crumbly.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 6:43 AM on February 19, 2015

I really like Trader Joe's Gluten-Free AP flour mix, if you have one near you. It's a blend of brown rice flour, potato starch, rice flour and tapioca flour that I've had success with in the past when I needed to substitute for regular AP flour.
posted by PearlRose at 9:23 AM on February 19, 2015