When Life Gives You Flat Cookies, Make Gluten Free Granola!

I'm back from the Land of Broken Modems. It is not a happy place. I'm considering writing a road map for people to avoid that land, but then I realized you can't maneuver around it, because it will pop up whenever you REALLY REALLY need your computer. Like when it's time to write a witty and engaging blog post that will change the world.

Well, I don't know if this post will change the world, but it will make you laugh. I know I did when it happened to me. I set out to make a different version of Oatmeal Cookies, and I wanted to be all fancy pants and use my special flours to show y'all how clever I am. Because in my mind, I'm the queen of flour substitutes. Not so much. So I got out my delicious oatmeal cookie recipe that I used to make all the time with regular flour back in the day:

Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup water

1 tsp vanilla

3 cups oats

1/3 cup teff flour

1/3 cup tapioca flour

1/3 cup amaranth flour

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat butter and sugars until creamy. Add egg, water, and vanilla. Add remaining ingredients and beat well. Drop by spoonful on ungreased cookie sheets and bake 11-13 minutes until edges are brown.

So I got my good vanilla out and mixed up some batter. I used my fancy scooper to scoop out the perfect cookie balls and baked away. And when I took them out of the oven, this is what I got:

An ocean of flat oatmeal stuff. This is what I would call a hot mess. I'm pretty sure an expletive came out of my mouth when I saw this. No way this is good for the internet, I thought. I tried to peel up a cookie off of the sheet and it crumbled into a gooey but delicious disaster. What did I do wrong? The combination of flours must not have enough structure in them to make the cookies rise and keep them from spreading. Then it hit me. This concoction may not work as a traditional "cookie", but it may still have another use. So I tried this:

And by jove, a new little side dish was born: homemade gluten free granola. It's got that little kick from the cinnamon and the oats stay chewy, so it's a great soft granola if you keep it in a ziploc bag. If you like the crunchy stuff, just let it sit out for a few hours and get a little stale, then put it in a ziploc to keep it for later. I gave some cookie crumbles to my next door neighbor and she said, "Thanks for the granola!" I'm on to something, here.

Happy eating!