Gluten-Free Rhubarb Thumbprint Cookies

While I am traveling on business during the next several weeks, some of my friends have graciously sent me articles and photographs to share with all of you. I can’t wait for you to meet each one and discover new blogs to follow and meet some of the best talent in the industry!

Today’s guest poster is Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla. I discovered Camilla’s blog when she joined the Secret Recipe Club. She was in the group that I manage and one of my favorites. She was so generous and always the first one to volunteer to help out if we needed it. Now she is managing her own group and is doing a fantastic job! 

Head over the Culinary Adventures with Camilla and discover the amazing work by this self-proclaimed “tree-hugging, veggie-crunching, jewelry-designing mean mommy who loves to cook and hates to clean”. I promise, she will delight you! Thank you Camilla for lending me a hand!

Our Rhubarb Romance + Gluten-Free Rhubarb Thumbprints

by Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla 

I heard a familiar shriek when I was milling around the farmers’ market this week. Glancing over my shoulder I caught sight of my two boys dancing excitedly in front of a table stacked high with gorgeous, carmine-colored stalks. Riley was gesturing wildly at the table; Dylan was bouncing up and down. “It’s rhubarb season,” they hollered in unison. “Mom, it’s rhubarb season!!”

Through the years, I’ve found that rhubarb is a polarizing ingredient. You either despise it or – like us – it’s an annual obsession. Rhubarb is a harbinger of spring. And whenever it appears, I scoop it up by the armful because I know it’ll be gone in the blink of an eye…at least where I live. I have heard that people in the Pacific Northwest enjoy a second harvest in late summer; and my in-laws who live in Idaho use it as a hedge. I’m envious!

Rhubarb looks like ruby-hued celery. That’s where the similarity ends. Where the taste of celery is flat and watery, rhubarb is mouth-puckeringly tart. You can eat it raw; it makes a crisp addition to a springtime salad. But most people let this vegetable masquerade as a fruit, tempering its tartness by cooking it into jams, compotes, tarts, and pies and mellowing it with the addition of sugar or honey.

While I do lean towards using my rhubarb in sweet recipes, I have used it in savory recipes with great success. And, in both sweets and savories, I love to complement rhubarb’s earthy flavor with the brightness of lemon. Since Jane was diagnosed as gluten-intolerant, I decided to create a gluten-free rhubarb cookie to share with her and her readers. Here we go…

Jane, thanks for having me. I hope you – and your readers – enjoy these cookies. 

Gluten-Free Rhubarb Thumbprint Cookies

2015-06-20 15:30:39

Yields 24

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Ingredients

1. For the Filling
2. 3 cups trimmed rhubarb, sliced into 1/2-inch pieces
3. 3/4 cup organic granulated sugar
4. 1 tbsp Limoncello (you can use 1 tsp lemon extract if you want it to be alcohol-free)
5. For the Dough
6. 3/4 cups butter, at room temperature
7. 3/4 cups organic granulated sugar
8. 2 eggs
9. 3 cups gluten-free flour*
10. 1 cups ground cashews
11. 1 tsp organic lemon extract
12. Zest from 1 lemon

Instructions

1. For the Filling: Place all of the filling ingredients in a medium saucepan, stirring the rhubarb so that it is completely covered in sugar.
2. Heat until the rhubarb begins to release its liquid. Cook until a syrup forms and the rhubarb is softened but still retains its shape.
3. Pour the rhubarb into a mesh strainer set over a bowl and let it drain for a few minutes. Reserve the syrup for another use – think cocktails or drizzling over waffles.
4. Preheat your oven to 325°F.
5. Now you’re ready to make the dough. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Blend in the egg until completely incorporated. Stir in the flour and ground cashews until a flaky dough is formed. Add in the zest and lemon extract, gently working the dough until it forms a ball. Let the dough chill in the freezer for 10 minutes to stiffen.
6. Once the dough is firm, pinch off pieces and form small balls, about the size of a walnut in its shell. Place each ball onto a baking stone or parchment-lined baking sheet, pressing a "thumbprint" into the center of each and slightly flattening.
7. Spoon your rhubarb filling into the thumbprint. Place the cookies in the freezer for 5 to 10 minutes to firm up. Bake the cookies for 20 to 22 minutes.
8. Let cookies cool for several minutes on the sheet before transferring to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

Notes

1. Yield: approximately 2 dozen thumbprint cookies
2. *Jane has some great tips on blending your own gluten-free flours. I opted for a pre-mixed blend at Trader Joe’s.

By Camilla Mann, Culinary Adventures with Camilla

The Heritage Cook ® https://theheritagecook.com/

To learn more about Camilla, follow her culinary adventures and discover her delicious recipes, make sure you visit Culinary Adventures with Camilla. And to follow her on social media, click on these links: 

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