I've been a little quiet since 2010 began. So today I come bearing "World Peace Cookies." The original recipe for these cookies was created by Dorie Greenspan, 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 sable (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 sol 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 sol. 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 sol 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? . . . keep reading

The addition of cream cheese in this spritz recipe makes for tasty little cookies! Since you don't need to chill the dough, this is a quick holiday cookie recipe to make. And, as always. I am completely smitten with how cute spritz cookies are! I like to sprinkle mine with coarse sugar. The added color and crunch add just a little something extra to the cookies and, for me, pretty cookies are fun for the holidays! . . . keep reading

I love baking gingerbread cookies during the holiday season. I think it counts as baking plus aromatherapy because baking gingerbread cookies smell so terrific as they bake. However, I don't always have time to make gingerbread dough, chill it, roll it out and bake it. So, I do the next best thing: I make gingersnaps.

Gingersnap dough can be made and baked in about 30 minutes. That is what I call a holiday treat! Delicious cookies in under an hour? Pass the milk. . . . keep reading

I'd forgotten how much I loved making biscotti until I started working on this recipe. Reader, Maura R., asked me for a "yummy gluten-free almond biscotti." Maura didn't have a recipe in mind. So, I pulled out an old biscotti recipe that--I think--came from my student days at the CIA.

As soon as I looked at the recipe, I was reminded how easy biscotti are to make at home. You whip together a dough, shape it into a log and bake. Once the log is baked, you need to cut it into individual pieces and toast it. That's it!

This recipe makes delicious almond biscotti. For the holiday, you could dip them into some dark chocolate and put them into cello bags. They would make lovely gifts! . . . keep reading

My dear, sweet, friend Jessica, who is not gluten-free but reads this blog, is not what you would call a baker. Or even a food enthusiast. A few years ago we were joking about cookies and she mentioned her favorite way to make cookies: slice and bake.

This got me thinking. What if your favorite way to make cookies is slice and bake? And now that you are gluten-free, grabbing a log of cookie dough at the store isn't an option. So, during all of my baking classes, I teach my students how to make homemade slice and bake cookies. I'm surprised Jessica hasn't received love letters for inspiring this part of my class. More than one person has told me how happy slice and bake cookies make them! . . . keep reading

I've been calling these "loaded oatmeal cookies"! They are loaded with lots of good stuff! Brown rice flour (don't worry, they aren't gritty!), flaxmeal, raisins and chocolate chips! While baking, these cookies smell wonderful. There is just something about the combined fragrances of brown sugar, vanilla and oatmeal that gets me every time! In fact, I love these cookies so much that I don't mind turning n the oven on the summer to make them!

Speaking of the summer, these cookies make a great ice cream sandwich. Really, chocolate chips, raisins, oatmeal and vanilla ice cream? How could you go wrong! . . . keep reading

Several months ago I was listening to NPR (National Public Radio). An author was being interviewed who, I thought, had written a book entitled, "Indemnity Slays the Dragon." I could not get my mind around how the heck "indemnity" could slay anyone. I was intrigued.

After a few minutes, I realized the host had said the title was "Aunt Dimity Slays the Dragon." Ah! That made sense. Of course an Aunt Dimity could slay a dragon. But indemnity? Now that was crazy!

I kept thinking about the book and, finally, found it at my local bookstore. Turns out "Aunt Dimity" is a series of books written by Nancy T. Atherton. So, instead of starting with "Aunt Dimity Slays the Dragon", I picked up the first book in the series, "Aunt Dimity's Death."

Throughout the book (which was a really fun read) oatmeal cookies are mentioned. I won't tell you why but let's just say that I wanted these cookies! Tucked away on the last page was "Beth's Oatmeal Raisin Cookies." (To find out who Beth is and why she made cookies, you will have to read the book.) This recipe just begged me to make it gluten-free! . . . keep reading