{Warning:: In this post I’m sharing the similarities of baking with three different flours, gluten free flour being one of them. If you are making a gluten free dish to serve to people who are on gluten free diets, please use proper protocol. Everyone reacts differently to gluten and some people have a very severe reaction, so please do your research about how to best prepare gluten free food.}

My family is so sad that this is the last week of International Cookie Month. We’ve had so much fun sharing some of our family favorites with you. This week’s theme is a cookie that freezes well. So, I’m sharing another family favorite, Mexican Wedding Cookies. 

When Gabriel saw me making these on Saturday, he asked “Are you making Esmer’s cookies?” That’s what we call them in our home, in honor of my stepmom who introduced me to these cookies years ago. When I assured him I was, he was very happy. Later that evening we had 40 teens coming over and I thought it was the perfect opportunity to do a taste test of the three different flours that Bob’s Red Mill sent me. 

I’m not a gluten free baker, in fact, it very much intimidates me. But so many people are gluten free that it is something I’ve wanted to delve into. Of course, I can make something like fruit crisp which only has oats and is gluten free, but to take a gluten recipe and make it gluten free and have it taste good is not something I’m comfortable doing. So, I was really excited to try Bob’s 1 to 1 Gluten Free Flour, according to their description it can be used just like all-purpose flour without adjusting anything. 

Mexican wedding cookies are a super simple recipe that just includes butter, vanilla, water, flour, pecans and powdered sugar. In my opinion, they are a one bite (maybe two bite) cookie that crumbles in our mouth. I was careful to make the doughs at the same time, keeping the gluten free ones separate from the other. I used the porcelain bowl for the gluten free. 

All three doughs were very similar when I mixed them. Other than the color I did not think there was any difference between them. 

I used my cookie scoop to scoop out the dough, then I halved it and rolled it to make 2 balls per scoop. At this point I noticed that both the whole wheat and the gluten free were more crumbly and took a little more work to make balls. By the way, this is a great step for children to help with. Who doesn’t love rolling cookie dough between their hands, especially cookie dough that mom will let you eat raw? 

When they came out of the oven the gluten free ones were not as dark as the ones make with all-purpose flour. I think they could have stayed in the oven another minute or two. I also noticed a few more cracks in them than were in the all-purpose ones. 

The wheat ones were much darker (of course) and they aslo had more cracks in them. 

Normally, I put about 10 cookies in a zip lock bag with powdered sugar while they are still warm and give them a gentle shake. I decided to not do that with the gluten free or whole wheat ones since a few of them were crumbling as I took them off the baking sheet. I always break a few doing this but I always have someone around to eat the broken ones, so it’s all good. ;-). For the gluten free and whole wheat cookies, I put the powdered sugar in a bowl and rolled them in it. 

Once sugared you can’t tell a difference. Because I knew which ones were which I felt like the whole wheat ones and the gluten free ones were a bit more crumbly, but not one of the 40 teenagers noticed. 

To freeze, you can either freeze the dough in balls before baking or after. When you want to make some cookies, just put the balls on a baking sheet, bake and then roll in powdered sugar. Or bake and cool but don’t roll in powdered sugar. When you want to serve them, take them out of the freezer and let the cookies thaw and then roll in powdered sugar. My favorite way is to freeze them raw. 

Even though I felt like the gluten free and whole wheat cookies were a little too crumbly, I am so very pleased with the flours, especially the gluten free. I feel like I can confidently bake a gluten free desert when we have guests who are gluten free and not be worried about the flavor or texture being gross. And that, my friends, is a good feeling. 

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Yield: 5 dozen

Mexican Wedding Cookies

Print

These cookies are melt in your mouth delicious. This recipe makes about 5 dozen cookies so is a great recipe for a crowd.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 35 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter - softened
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 tsp water
• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• powdered sugar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine butter, sugar, water and vanilla.

Mix in flour and pecans.

Form into small balls (about the size of a marble).

Bake for 20 minutes (use a timer)

After removing from oven let cool for just a minute and then roll in powdered sugar.

Let cool completely on racks - try not to eat them all while they are cooling.

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