Our recipe for the day is a paleo and gluten-free Earl Grey Shortbread Cookies dipped in dark chocolate. Before I start my customary prologue before my recipes, I would like to apologize for the delay in this week’s post. My little monster is cutting two molars. For those of you who have had the pleasure of raising a child, molars are like full-moons to werewolves. They turned our precious little angel into a raging, blood-thirsty beast. Speaking of beast, Halloween is next week!
The reason I am making these Earl Grey Shortbread Cookies is because of Halloween. Many of us will be either attending or hosting costume soirees for this important holiday. Many of these parties will also be a potlucks. Halloween potlucks usually consist of finger foods, appetizers and desserts, such as cookies or cupcakes. These delightful, buttery, melt in your mouth Earl Grey Shortbread Cookies are a sure fire way to impress your friends and family.
For those of us who have dietary restrictions because of food allergies, medical conditions or personal reasons are always a little skeptical when attending potlucks. That is why paleo or gluten-free people love throwing gluten-free/paleo potlucks, because we know we can pretty much eat everything there. These Earl Grey Shortbread Cookies will be a perfect addition to any potluck. You can’t even tell they are gluten-free/paleo. Shall we get to the recipe?
Earl Grey Shortbread Cookies:
1½ Cup – Powdered Palm Sugar
1 Cup – Cashew Meal (Nut Meal)
2 Cups – Otto’s Cassava Flour
3 Tbsp – Earl Grey Tea Leaves (Powdered)
1/4 Tsp – Sea Salt
Zest of 1 Fresh Lemon
8oz – Grassfed Butter/Ghee (Room Temp)
2 – Free Range Large Eggs
1/2 Cup – 60% and up Dark Chocolate
Before we get started on the Earl Grey Shortbread Cookies, you know I like to talk about the ingredients. We will need a half a cup of bone meal preserves, two cups of dried bat wings, a splash of frogs’ breath and a few drops of basilisk venom. Just kidding! Let’s start off by talking about the Powdered Palm Sugar.
We will need a blender to make this. Personally, I prefer a coffee grinder because of the finer grounds. You will use Palm Sugar Blocks and your preference of starch, such as sweet potato starch. Start by chopping up 1 ¼ cup of the palm sugar (you can use a box grate to break it up). Now, add in ¼ cup of starch and pulse blend it until it is a fine powder.
Let’s talk about the Earl Grey Tea which is a very crucial ingredient of the Earl Grey Shortbread Cookies. A budget friendly option is to just use packs of Earl Grey tea leaves from the store. I chose to support a wonderful local tea company, Hugo Tea Company. The owners really know their teas. With tea, you do get what you pay for. The taste of Hugo’s Earl Grey Tea is far superior to the more economical option at the local supermarkets.
Now, a food processor will come in handy. It will be easy to blend together the powdered palm sugar, cashew meal (you can use almond flour as well), Otto’s Cassava Flour, Earl Grey Tea leaves, lemon zest, salt, eggs and butter until they are well incorporated.
Preheat your oven to 300° F. Roll the dough out into about half an inch thick. Use your choice of cookie cutters or cookie stampers to shape the Earl Grey Shortbread Cookies and place them on a ungreased cookie sheet. You can line it with parchment paper for easy release if you choose. Because these cookies don’t rise or expand, they can be placed fairly close to each other on the baking sheet. Bake the cookies for 17-18 minutes. Allow them to cool completely on a cooling rack.
I chose 60% dark chocolate to compliment the Earl Grey Shortbread Cookies. I piped designs onto my cookies but another option is to dip them. Most melting methods (microwave, double boiler and what-not) break the temper of the chocolate. The temper is the glossy sheen on chocolate that allows you to touch the chocolate without it melting instantly at your fingertips. The trick is to melt the chocolate but not let the temperature exceed 94° F. A great way is to put your chopped chocolate into a zip-loc and melt it with a heating pad on high. If you don’t have a heating pad, place the zip-loc of chocolate into a bowl of hot water from your sink. Now, pipe your design or dip your cookies and let the chocolate completely cool off. There you have it, my paleo/gluten-free Earl Grey Shortbread Cookies with Dark Chocolate. Until next time, eat up my friends!
P.S. Thanks to Devin for helping me proof-read my blogs and for taking the creepy pictures for this post. No one knows creepy, Halloween and horror better than her! Go check out her blog Creepy Chick and a Scary Flick
