Babycakes Covers the Classics: Gluten-Free Vegan Recipes From Donuts to Snickerdoodles (11 page)

Brush a 9 × 12-inch baking pan with coconut oil and set
aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the Ricemellow Crème, 2 tablespoons coconut
oil, vanilla, and salt and stir with a rubber spatula to combine. Add the rice
cereal and stir until the Ricemellow Crème mixture is evenly distributed.
Spoon the mix into the pan, cover, and chill for 1 hour. Cut into 3-inch
squares.

Makes 12

Whoopie Pie

I often turn to unrefined sugar to sweeten my cookies because I love the crunchy texture it provides. But when it comes to whoopie pies, agave nectar works much better. The reason is simple: Traditionally, whoopie pies are built with cookies that are fairly squishy and cake-like by comparison—way more so than a typical cookie sandwich. For the filling I prefer Ricemellow Crème, the marshmallow concoction made by
Suzanne’s Specialties
, but you can fill it with the
Vanilla Icing
for equally wonderful results.

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment
paper and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, arrowroot, baking
soda, xanthan gum, and salt. Add the coconut oil, agave nectar, applesauce, and
vanilla and mix with a rubber spatula until the mixture forms a smooth
dough.

Drop the dough by the teaspoonful onto the prepared baking sheets about
1½ inches apart. Using the palm of your hand, gently flatten each cookie to
help it spread. Bake for 7 minutes, rotate, and bake until the cookies are firm to
the touch and golden brown on the outside, about 7 minutes more. Let cool for 15
minutes on the baking sheets.

Spoon 3 tablespoons of Ricemellow Crème on the flat side of a cookie.
Top with a second cookie. Repeat with the remaining Ricemellow Crème and
cookies.

Makes 12

It’s-It

When I lived in San Francisco, my friend Mark introduced me to the city’s greatest contribution to the dessert course: It’s-It frozen cookie sandwiches. These little numbers are practically perfect—two oatmeal cookies with a thick scoop of ice cream in between, all thinly coated with semisweet chocolate. Mark preferred the kind with mint-flavored ice cream and so do I, but you can nix the mint in this recipe if you must. To sweeten this with agave, replace the natural cane sugar with ⅔ cup agave nectar, add an extra ¼ cup all-purpose gluten-free flour, remove the chocolate chips, and use
Agave-Sweetened Chocolate Glaze
.

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment
paper and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, arrowroot, xanthan gum,
baking soda, and salt. Add the coconut oil, applesauce, peppermint flavoring, and
vanilla and stir with a rubber spatula until the batter is smooth. Stir in the
chocolate chips.

Drop the dough by the tablespoonful onto the baking sheets, leaving 1 inch between cookies. Using the palm of your hand, gently flatten each cookie. Bake for 10 minutes, rotate, and bake until the cookies are slightly golden, about 4 minutes more. Let stand on the baking sheets for 30 minutes. Don’t proceed until the cookies are thoroughly cooled or they will break.

Meanwhile, clear space in the freezer for a baking sheet. Remove the ice cream from the freezer about 10 minutes before making the sandwiches to allow it to soften slightly. Flip half the cookies wrong side up. Spoon ¼ cup ice cream onto each, then top with the remaining cookies. Using chopsticks or two forks, dip each sandwich into the chocolate sauce halfway or to cover entirely. Transfer to a baking sheet and repeat with the remaining sandwiches. Place the cookies in the freezer for about 30 minutes, or until the chocolate coating hardens. Remove from the freezer and individually wrap the sandwiches in a double layer of plastic wrap.

Makes 12 to 15 ice-cream cookie sandwiches

S’mores

I take my
graham crackers extremely buttery and very crunchy, so that’s what you’re getting with this recipe. In fact, this graham cracker is so decadent, you may want to double the recipe so you can deliberately have leftovers. There’s tons of mileage to be gained out of these. Like piecrust, for one! Or donut toppings, for two!

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line rimmed 2 baking sheets with parchment
paper and set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together the ⅓ cup vegan sugar and 1 tablespoon
of the cinnamon. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the 1½ cups rice flour, the all-purpose
flour, the remaining sugar and cinnamon, the ginger, xanthan gum, and salt. Add the
¾ cup coconut oil, the agave nectar, and the vanilla and mix with a rubber
spatula until a very thick dough forms. Slowly add the cold water and continue
mixing until the dough is slightly sticky. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate
for 30 minutes.

Dust a clean work surface with most of the remaining ½ cup rice flour
and place the dough in the center. Roll the dough around until it is entirely
covered in rice flour. Sprinkle the rolling pin with rice flour and roll out the
dough to ¼-inch thickness. Using a knife, cut the dough into 3-inch squares.
Transfer to the baking sheets, placing the squares about 1 inch apart. Brush the
squares with the remaining ¼ cup coconut oil, then sprinkle each with
¾ teaspoon of the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Bake for 10 minutes, rotate, and
bake until the crackers are deep golden, about 5 minutes more. Let stand on the
baking sheets for 10 minutes.

Flip half of the graham crackers wrong side up. Drop 2 heaping tablespoons of
Ricemellow Crème onto each graham cracker, drizzle with 1¼ teaspoons
chocolate sauce, and top with a second graham cracker.

Makes 18