It’s hot in Altanta.  Really hot.  I’m sure there are better ways to describe this weather, but the only word that comes to mind is brutal.  The heat hasn’t broken either.  Despite the mini-rainstorms, it hasn’t been enough to side track these crazy temps.  It continues to be hot…and brutal.

On Monday, after a sweaty afternoon of running errands  (Who knew it could be so sweltering just to run errands??), I came home to find a bag full of Georgia peaches outside my door.  My wonderfully generous friend, Maury, left me this beautiful treat.   What is a better answer to heat and high temperatures than making a peach crisp?

Is it a crisp?  Is it a cobbler?  I’m not really sure.  I tend to use those words interchangeably, but I’m sure there’s a proper distinction.  (I do know, however, that it’s not a pie.)  I created this recipe on the spot and I made sure to write down what I did so I could share it with you.  I love the combination of GF oats and chopped pecans.  It’s the perfect crunchy duo with the soft, tender peaches.  I’ve found in the past that it can be difficult to find the proper ratio between fruit, crisp topping, and butter.  Too much flour and oats, makes it too dry, too much butter makes for a soggy crisp/cobbler.  Sort of like Goldilocks, I want it to be just right.  (Our girl, Goldilocks was eating porridge…Crisp is much better!)

Peach & Blueberry Crisp

• 8 peaches, peeled and sliced
• 1 pint blueberries
• (Really, any combination of fruit works.  These are what I had on hand.)
• 1 T. lemon juice
• 1 ½ T. cornstarch
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup tapioca flour
• 1/4 cup almond flour
• 1/4 cup white rice flour
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• ½ cup gluten-free oats
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 6 T. cold butter, chopped into cubes

Preheat oven to 350.  Butter an 8 x 8 pyrex dish.

In a bowl, mix peaches, blueberries, cornstarch, lemon juice and sugar.  (I add the sugar last to eyeball just how much I need.)

In another bowl, mix flours and brown sugar.  Add oats and pecans and mix.  Then add butter and mix with dry ingredients.  (A food processor can be helpful for this step but I was feeling a little lazy.

Pour fruit mixture into Pyrex dish.  Spread evenly throughout dish.  Add flour mixture on top of fruit.  Spread evenly.  (It will look like you have too much but you want it to be thick.

Bake for 40 minutes, or until fruit starts to bubble.  You can make this ahead of time and then just reheat for 10 minutes before serving.  (I think it gets better over time.)

Serve warm.  Of course everything tastes better with vanilla ice cream.  Mmm…just right.

Growing up on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, my summers were full of adventures outdoors, on both land and water.  At the time I had no idea how unusual it was to have a dock in your back yard that provided hours of entertainment for my brother and me.  We repeatedly threw sticks for Sadie, our chocolate lab, into the creek, watching her belly flop after them.  We caught jelly fish in our crab net, and watched their tentacles dry out on the dock.  Weekends involved day trips on our boat, with the big decision being, “Do we go to the seaside or the bayside?”

We lived in the middle of nowhere.  It took 20 minutes to get to school, to the grocery store, and 90 minutes to reach the nearest mall.  Besides the post office and a boat ramp, the only places within 20 minutes of our house were farms.  One of the summer activities for my brother and me was going to the local blueberry farm just down the road, in Hacksneck.  You could pick your own berries and pay as you picked.  My brother hated blueberries (and most foods besides peanut butter) so the farmer would pay Rob to pick for him.  (There were probably some child labor laws violated in this exchange, but the farmer’s wages seemed like riches compared to the penny my mom paid us for every Japanese beetle we gently picked off of her rose bushes.)  We happily spent an afternoon on the blueberry farm, picking away, until our buckets were full and we grew tired from the summer sun.

This blueberry farm from our childhood still exists today, but has new ownership and a new name, Mason Beach Fruit Farm.  You can still pick and pay for only 75 cents a pint.  That’s quite the bargain.

After our trip to the farm, Mom and I would wash the blueberries and set to work on a batch of blueberry muffins.  It’s funny.  When I was little I loved picking blueberries, and making blueberry muffins, yet I always scoured the batch for the muffin that contained the fewest blueberries.  I preferred the cake aspect of the muffin as opposed to the fruit.  I even remember asking my mom if we could make one in the batch without any berries.  In my old age, my taste buds have thankfully flip flopped and I have grown to love these delicious bites of blueberry goodness.  Now I immediately pick out the muffin that contains the most blue and purple spots before David can select his.

When I saw the first of the season blueberries recently, I immediately thought back to my childhood on the Eastern Shore.  The activities that I associate with this piece of fruit flooded my mind as I planned what to make with the blueberries: Driving down the road to Hacksneck in our very dusty, grey, Chevrolet mini-van. Rob and I riding on the farm’s ATV after we bored of picking berries and grew tired of the heat.  Being in the kitchen with my mom, watching her drink her afternoon tea, while enjoying a blueberry muffin.

How does food make us so nostalgic?  I’m not sure, but I love it.  The memories and emotions that come to mind from seeing a pint of berries are amazing.  What are your favorite summer food memories?

Blueberry Muffins (adapted from Barefoot Contessa’s barefoot contessa at home)

Ingredients:

• ½ cup sorghum flour
• ½ cup tapioca flour
• ½ cup white rice flour
• ½ tablespoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon xanthan gum
• ½ tablespoon and 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2/3 cup whole milk
• 1 extra large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 stick, unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup fresh blueberries (plus more if you like to go heavy on the berries)
• ¾ cup sugar (plus one tablespoon for topping)
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar for topping

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line muffin tines with paper liners.  Spray with PAM.

Mix flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, xanthan gum, and cinnamon in a bowl.  Stir to make sure they combine well.

In another bowl, combine the milk, eggs and melted butter.  Make a hole in the middle of the dry mixture, pour the wet mixture into the well and stir until just combined.  Don’t worry if the mix is lumpy.  Add the blueberries and sugar.  Stir gently to combine.

Spoon the batter into muffin cups to fill liners  In a small bowl, mix brown sugar and remaining tablespoon of sugar.  Sprinkle on top of each of the muffins.  Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, until you can cleanly pierce with a toothpick.  Makes about a dozen.

Have you noticed that I haven’t been baking as much as I used to?  Still cooking, but not as much baking as I would like.  Life has been busy, which means less time in the kitchen for me.  Now that lacrosse season has finished up, and with the school year winding down, I’m hoping I’ll be breaking out the Kitchen Aid more often.

Usually when I bake in my kitchen, I’m going for a moist (yes, I hate that word but I’m still going to use it) and gooey final product.  I tend to undercook my blondies and brownies, in order to ensure optimal gooiness.

Sometimes though, I just want something a little different, like a crunch.  Chewy is yummy but last week felt a need for a little crunch in my sweetness.  I was inspired by Joy the Baker’s recipe for Oatmeal Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies and I decided to create a gluten-free version of this crunchy, chocolaty treat.  I cut her recipe in half and it still made about two dozen cookies. Plenty to take to our friends, Scott and Meredith, who cooked a great weeknight dinner for us, and more for the weekend.

Delicious and an amazing crunch.  The texture of the oats and pecans was right up my alley. The cinnamon and nutmeg give your palate an added bonus.  The chocolate chips provide enough sweetness so you don’t feel like you’re getting robbed of dessert either.  David loved them and he’s not always a huge ‘oatmeal cookie’ fan.

Here’s what I did:

Oatmeal Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies (Inspired by Joy the Baker)

Ingredients:

• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• ½ cup sugar
• ½ cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 large egg
• ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 ¼ cups gluten-free oats
• ½ teaspoon xanthan gum
• ¼ cup white rice flour
• ¼ cup brown rice flour
• ¼ cup tapioca flour
• ¼ cup sorghum flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• pinch of nutmeg
• 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
• ½ cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 and grease cookie sheet.  In a bowl, combine xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, oats, salt and spices.  Set aside.

In a separate mixing bowl, beat sugar and butter with a mixer until creamy.  Add egg and continue to mix.  Add vanilla and beta until blended into the batter.  Add dried mixture to the mixing bowl and mix slowly until blended.  Stir in pecans and chocolate chips.

Put dough in balls onto cookie sheet.  Bake for 10 minutes or until you’re satisfied with their doneness.  Cool briefly on cookie sheet then transfer to a wire rack.

Enjoy!  If you’re feeling really indulgent, try these cookies with a creamy, sweet treat.  Scott and Meredith introduced us to the most ridiculous ice cream, Greater’s. This Ohio-based brand puts huge chocolate chunks in its various flavors for an absolutely rich and indulgent treat.  David and I are hooked.  Right now we have the mocha chip and chocolate chocolate chip in our freezer.  It’s absolutely worth a trip to the store.

One of my favorite things about the weekend is the rare opportunity to sit and really enjoy breakfast food.  No need to rush through a bowl of cereal and grab a to-go cup of coffee.  You can sit by yourself, with friends, or loved ones, and simply enjoy the morning and those great breakfast foods that you don’t have time for during the week.  Ahh.  I’m so glad it’s Friday.  Last weekend was so busy, with lacrosse tournaments and a trip to Chapel Hill for our godchild’s baptism, but I’m looking forward to a weekend at home to relax and enjoy leisurely meals.

Looking for a great idea for brunch?  Quiche is a simple recipe that allows you to be creative with the ingredients that go into it.  You can be seasonal, meat heavy, or vegetarian.  A crowd pleaser, and relatively hands-off during the preparation process.  You can even make it ahead of time and simply reheat.

I decided to make my quiche recipe for Easter brunch and it was a big success.  It’s a great recipe for entertaining because you just mix the ingredients together (after some chopping), pour into the pie crust and bake.  No work once the guests arrived.  I use the Whole Foods Gluten-Free Bakehouse pie crust since I haven’t yet perfected the made-from-scratch GF crust.

I made two very different quiches, both of which used the same base ingredients:

• 4 quality eggs lightly beaten (Of course I used ‘Amazing Eggs’ from Love is Love Farm.)
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 cup 2% (or whole) milk
• Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375.  Whisk the above ingredients together in a bowl.

Bacon & Onion Quiche

This quiche is a meat lover’s favorite!  Cook 5 pieces of bacon in a skillet on medium heat.  I love bacon, but hate cooking it (and consequently smelling like bacon for the rest of the day) so I get my favorite sous chef to cook the bacon.

Once cooked, remove from skillet and place on paper towels.  Cut bacon into small pieces.  In the same skillet, using bacon grease, sauté ½ cup of onions on medium until browned.  Add bacon and onions to egg/cheese/milk.  Mix and pour into pie crust.  Bake at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes, until top of quiche starts to get golden brown.

Broccoli & Green Garlic Quiche

I used fresh, spring veggies for this one and it was perfect for a lovely Easter Sunday.  Chop green garlic into thin pieces.  (Don’t use green ends, just white and light green parts.)  Sautee in olive oil for about five minutes.  Chop broccoli into pieces and bring a pot of water to a boil.  Add broccoli to boiling water and heat for 3 minutes.  Quickly remove broccoli from hot water and put into a bowl of ice water.  (This process is called blanching.)  Cut broccoli into smaller pieces so they are bite size.  Add green garlic and broccoli to egg/cheese/milk mixture.  Mix and pour into pie crust.  Bake at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes, until top of quiche begins to turn a golden brown.

I love a nice spring salad and fresh fruit as sides when serving quiche for a fancier brunch, such as our Easter luncheon.

Enjoy your weekend!  I hope you find it relaxing, with lots of time to enjoy yummy breakfasts.  What are some of your favorite quiche recipes or brunch favorites?

When I heard Anne Palmer, program director for Johns Hopkins’ Center for a Livable Future, speak at the Georgia Organics Conference a few weeks ago, she showed photos of all of the random places that sell food.  Think about it for a second…why does Petco sell soda?  Why does Office Depot offer an array of M&Ms and Starburst?  No one ventures out to Staples looking for a Diet Coke.  These items placed carefully at the front of the store are what we refer to in the Metcalf house as ‘impulse buys.’

I must say though, I enjoyed seeing Palmer’s photos of brightly packaged food in the oddest places.  I loved picturing her carrying her camera everywhere, waiting to photograph a random shelf of ‘food.’  I couldn’t help but think about my endless searches through stores for any gluten-free products.  In my own travls, or just around town, I scour any food store, airport, bakery, or restaurant for a possible GF treat.  Anyone who has traveled with me knows that I’m more interested in shopping at natural markets than clothing boutiques.

When my friend, Anne, sent me the photo above, I was also reminded of Palmer’s photo slide show.  Of course I’m much happier about the shelf of food displayed in the picture because it’s all gluten-free.  No, Anne didn’t find this plethora of GF items at Pet Smart or 7-Eleven, but she did find it at…Target!  The Atlantic Station Target now sells quite the selection of gluten-free products, including my favorite pretzels by Glutino, Bob’s Red Mill GF oats, and the Betty Crocker baking mixes.  I can’t wait to go stock up.

Does your Target sell gluten-free items yet?  Feel free to send me any of your discoveries of unlikely spots where you find GF items.  We all need a little guidance as we navigate the gluten-free world!

Target at Atlantic Station – 1375 18th Street – Atlanta, Georgia 30363

Check out this great Recipes IPhone Application that David recently discovered.  Created by Whole Foods, you can search for recipes and there are many filters and categories you can use while searching.  Of course I love it because you can search for only gluten-free recipes.  Other dietary related filter options include low fat and vegetarian.  You can search ‘quick & easy,’  ‘make ahead,’ and ‘budget.’  Best of all, it’s free!

If a friend invites you over for dinner and they want to cook a gluten-free meal for you, this app is a great starting point and helpful guide to offer them.  Some of the recipes listed even include gluten-free chocolate chocolate chip cookies and cranberry banana quinoa bread!  Let me know if there are any recipes you plan on making courtesy of the ‘Whole Foods Recipes.’

Have I mentioned before that I love peanut butter?  Well, I do.   The other day I was craving the combination of peanut butter and chocolate (again!) so I decided to make peanut butter brownies.  I used a recipe from Epicurious as my guide for this experiment, and I must say this dessert turned out very yummy.  These brownies had the perfect balance of peanut butter and chocolate goodness.  The peanut butter was not overpowering.  The brownies sank a little in the middle after I took them out of the oven, but I only used ¼ teaspoon of xanthan gum when I made them.  In the recipe below I’ve changed that amount to ½ teaspoon.  This extra xanthan gum should deal with some of the sinking problem.

I love using chopped semisweet chocolate in this recipe.  If you don’t have any nice semisweet chocolate, chocolate chips could also work.  These brownies look more like blondies, because of their tan color, and not brownies, but you can definitely taste the chocolate.

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Chunk Brownies (Adapted from Epicurious)

• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup creamy JIF peanute butter
• 1 1/4 cups (packed) light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ¼ cup almond flour
• ¼ rice flour white
• ¼ cup tapioca
• ½ teaspoon xanthan gum
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour (I used rice flour) an 8-inch square baking pan.  In a medium bowl, mix flours, xanthan gum, baking powder and salt.  Set aside.  In a large bowl, beat butter with a mixer until smooth. Add peanut butter to butter; beat until well blended.  Scrape down sides of the bowl occasionally. Beat in brown sugar. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each egg is added. Beat in vanilla. Add flour mixture to peanut butter mixture; beat until blended. Stir in chocolate.

Transfer batter to pan. Using spatula, smooth top. Bake until toothpick inserted 2 inches from edge of pan comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 33-35 minutes.

Transfer pan to rack and cool completely.  Cut brownies into squares and serve.

Of course they’re even better with ice cream.  Why is peanut butter so good?

In the winter, I find myself missing homemade blueberry muffins.  I love the taste of a blueberry muffin in the summer, packed with freshly picked huge blueberries from my in-laws’ farm in Linden, VA.  While we do freeze blueberries so we can make muffins after the season, those remnants of summer are usually long gone by the time December rolls around.  Recently I was craving some kind of breakfast muffin but I didn’t want to use flavorless fruit that had traveled thousands of miles to get to me.  I also wanted to create something in my kitchen that involved the least amount of grocery shopping.  Isn’t it so nice when you realize you already own every ingredient you need for a certain recipe?

I had some beautiful north Georgia apples in my fruit bowl and I thought perhaps I could use those in some kind of baked good.  I was envisioning apple pie meets blueberry muffins.  Yum.  These apples inspired me, as did a whole wheat apple muffin recipe from Smitten Kitchen.  Of course I had to omit the whole wheat flour from Smitten Kitchen’s recipe, and replace it with other flour concoctions.  These muffins turned out so well, in fact they might be some of the yummiest muffins I’ve made.  The chunks of apples added great texture and the teff and amaranth flour were a great compliment to the apples.  I actually think those flours might even be better than the whole wheat and all-purpose flour combination in the original recipe.

A word of warning, these muffins were a little difficult to transport because they were so moist and delicious.  I had extras so I refrigerated them and they tasted fresh for the remainder of the week.  Great for breakfast or with tea in the afternoon.

Teff & Amaranth Apple Muffins (Adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

Ingredients:

• ¾ cup white rice flour
• ½ cup brown rice flour
• ¼ cup teff flour
• ¼ cup amaranth flour
• ¼ cup almond flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon xanthan gum
• ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup dark brown sugar, packed
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 cup plain yogurt (or buttermilk)
• 2 large apples, peeled, cored and coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 450.  Grease and lightly flour 18 muffin cups.  (I used rice flour.)

Mix together the flours, baking powder, xanthan gum, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.  Set aside.  In a separate bowl, cream the butter and add the granulated sugar and ¼ of the cup of brown sugar.  Beat until fluffy.  Add the egg and mix well.  Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl once.  Mix in the yogurt gently.  Stir in the dry ingredients and fold in the pieces of apple.

Put batter into muffin cups in a muffin pan.  Sprinkle the remaining brown sugar on top of the muffins.  (I sprinkle liberally because the brown sugar is delicious on top.)

Bake for 10 minutes, turn the heat down to 400 and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes.  They are done when you can insert a toothpick into the center and it comes out clean.  Cool for 5 minutes in the tin, then put on a wire cooling rack.

These apple muffins make a great component for a brunch and you can make them a few days in advance.  Enjoy!

As I head out for the holidays, I thought I’d leave you with one more delicious cookie recipe to add to your holiday baking.  Their name is a mouthful, but I promise that the flavors go perfectly together.

I found these cinnamon ginger chocolate chip cookies on http://www.gfzing.com/ and I was immediately intrigued by the use of cinnamon and ginger in this recipe.  The recipe reminded me of snickerdoodles, but even better because they have chocolate chips!  I made some changes, but used the original recipe as my guide.  These cookies have been very popular among all of my gluten-eating friends and I’m making a big batch for the holidays.  David said this was a really good flour combination too so I might try it with some other cookie recipes to see how it works in my other baking endeavors.

I love the texture of these cookies because they’ve been rolled in sugar.  Yum!  I also tried refrigerating some of the dough for a couple of days and then using it to make a batch of cookies and it worked just fine.  The cookies came out a little smaller after their three days in the fridge, but the taste was still delicious!

Cinnamon Ginger Chocolate Chip Cookies (From www.gfzing.com)

Ingredients;

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• ¾ cup brown sugar
• ¾ cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Flour Mixture (2 Cups)

• ¼ cup almond flour
• ¾ cup white rice flour
• ¼ cup corn starch
• ½ cup brown rice flour
• ¼ cup sorghum flour

Sugar for rolling dough

Preheat oven to 375.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a bowl, combine flours, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, salt and xanthan gum.

In a separate bowl, with a mixer, cream butter, sugars, and vanilla.  Add egg and mix.

Add the dry mix to the mixer and blend with wet ingredients until blended.

Stir in chocolate chips.

Put sugar in a bowl.  Form 1-inch balls of dough and roll them each in the sugar.  Place on cookie sheet and flatten each cookie a little.

Bake for 10-12 minutes.  Remove from oven, let rest for 5 minutes on pan before transferring cookies to a wire rack.

Enjoy!  These are a fun twist to your normal chocolate chip cookes.  For some reason, cinnamon reminds me of the holidays so I find that this recipe has a festive touch without being overly sprinkled or topped with gobs of icing.  Have a wonderful and healthy holiday.

I love Christmas.  There are many parts of Christmas that I love, but three of my favorite parts of this holiday season are decorating the tree, making holiday cookies, and Christmas music.  David has decided this year that we should have a new holiday tradition that involves him putting the lights on the tree while I make cookies and then he eats cookies, while I put on the ornaments.  I’m happy with this ‘newly created tradition’ as long as we listen to Christmas music too!  Since the night of tree decorating, I’ve been baking a lot and exploring new cookie recipes, so I thought I’d share some of my cookie experiments with you.

I recently received Nigella Lawson’s new Christmas cookbook.  This is a great seasonal cookbook with lots of great entertaining ideas, and I particularly like the section called ‘All Wrapped Up’ that has great gift ideas, many a which are gluten-free.  While there are definitely some naturally gluten-free recipes in this cookbook, I decided to dive right in and work on making gluten-free versions of her cookie recipes.  My first cookie recipe was Nigella’s cranberry and white chocolate cookies.

These cookies make great holiday treats because they look like Christmas to me.  The red from the cranberry and white from the chocolate chips are festive but not too ‘Christmasy.’  I love the combination of dried fruit, chocolate, chocolate and pecans.  Trail mix in a cookie!  Even if you don’t like fruit in your dessert, I suggest giving these a try.  Everyone who ate these thought they were delicious, despite those who were hesitant about mixing fruit and chocolate.

I kept Nigella’s recipe exactly as is but changed the flour mixture and added xanthan gum.  I don’t usually like nuts in my sweets so I didn’t use as many pecans as Nigella called for, but I will actually use some the full ½ cup the next time I make these cookies.  This recipe works well gluten-free because it only calls for one cup of flour, resulting in fewer components of the cookie needing to be altered.  These are great for a holiday party and can be stored in an airtight container for up to 5 days or frozen for 3 months so you can make them in advance.  Enjoy!

Nigella Lawson’s Cranberry and White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup white rice flour
• ¼ cup brown rice flour
• ¼ cup sorghum flour
• ¼ cup soy flour
• ½ teaspoon xanthan gum
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup gluten-free oats (Nigella says to use ‘quick cooking oats’ but I just used Bob’s Red Mill)
• 1 stick plus one tablespoon unsalted butter
• ½ cup packed dark brown sugar
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon GF vanilla extract
• ½ cup dried cranberries
• ½ cup roughly chopped pecans
• ¾ cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Measure the flour, baking powder, salt, xanthan gum, and oats in a bowl.

Put the butter and sugars into another bowl and beat together until creamy.  (I used an electric mixer.)  Then beat in the egg and vanilla.

Beat in the dry ingredient mixture, then fold in the cranberries, chocolate chips and pecans.

Roll tablespoonfuls of dough into balls with your hands, then place them on you cookie sheet and squish dough balls down with a fork.

Bake for 15 minutes; when ready, the cookies will be too soft to lift immediately so wait 5 minutes before moving to a wire cooling rack.

What will you be baking this holiday season?  If you don’t have time or ingredients to bake, I’m still baking away and taking cookie orders.