World Peace Cookies

I've been a little quiet since 2010. So today I come bearing "World Peace Cookies." The original recipe for these cookies was created by Dorie Greenspan, a food writer, cookbook author, and all-around baking goddess. For the start of a new year, I thought it would be fun to make them gluten-free.

Dorie created a chocolate sablé (French buttery-sugar cookie) recipe that's salty. If you've ever enjoyed the amazing combination of salt and sweet (kettle corn, chocolate covered pretzels, fleur de sel caramels) you know how salt can wonderfully enhance the flavor of sweet foods. And if you've never had a "salty sweet", this is a great recipe to introduce you to the fun of this flavor combination!

To make this recipe gluten-free, I needed to tweak it just a bit. My version contains a little more salt than the original. Gluten-free baking often needs a flavor boost and I found that the original 1/2 teaspoon of salt simply faded into the background. This is not what we wanted. I also use dark brown sugar instead of light brown sugar. Again, this is a flavor issue. Light brown sugar, while good, didn't have enough "oomph" to make an impression on the cookies. Dark brown sugar, in contrast, was just perfect.

One last word about the salt. Dorie uses fleur de sel. And while I love this salt, I realize that you might not have it kicking around. Since gluten-free bakers don't need another expensive ingredient, I swapped out the fleur de sel for Kosher salt. Even with all of these tweaks, I think my gluten-free version stands up to the original.

So, World Peace cookies. Share these with someone you love. And, in the spirit of peace, maybe share them with someone you don't. Who knows what will happen after a bite of these cookies?

Dry Ingredients

3/4 cup white rice flour

1/2 cup sweet rice flour

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Wet Ingredients

1 stick plus 3 tablespoons (11 tablespoons) butter, softened

2/3 cup (packed) dark brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon Kosher salt or 1/2 teaspoon table salt

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3/4 cup dark chocolate chips

1. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Set aside.

2. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter for 2 minutes. (Use medium speed on a stand mixer and medium-high on a handheld mixer.)

3. Add the sugars, salt and vanilla extract. Cream for an additional 2 minutes.

4. Turn off the mixer. Add the dry ingredients. Mix on high speed for 2-3 minutes or until a dough forms. At first this dough will seem hopeless dry and crumbly. Don't panic, just keep mixing. It will come together. Once the dough has formed, add the chocolate chips. Blend just to combine

5. Turn the dough out onto the counter. Knead it a few times to gather any chocolate chips that have fallen out of the dough.

6. Divide the dough in half. Roll each half into a log. Don't be after to squeeze the dough and apply some pressure to get it into a log shape.

7. Chill the dough for 4 hours or overnight.

8. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

9. Slice dough into 1/2-inch thick rounds. (Leave the log of dough you aren't working with in the refrigerator.) The rounds might crumble a bit. This is fine. Simply press the round back together on the baking sheet. Space cookies about 1-inch apart.

10. Bake for 12 -14 minutes or until the cookies are aromatic. They won't spread or darken but as they come out of the oven, they should be sizzling slightly. Allow cookies to cool on the pan for 3 minutes and then transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool.

11. Repeat with remaining dough.