It’s Christmas Eve and I have spent a lot of the day baking cookies for little gift bags I want to give to each of the 19 people present at our family Christmas lunch tomorrow. I tested some on Saturday using recipes I found on gluten-free or paleo food blogs but two lots of the resultant cookies were pretty awful so I had to start again with the third recipe, which worked, and two of my own which I have made in the past and know work. Cooking gluten, dairy and refined sugar-free is certainly a challenge but it is doable with a bit of experimentation. It’s about tasting the raw batter and adjusting the recipe to make sure the flavour, texture and consistency are good.
The truffles on the top layer of the cake stand my very good friends gave me for Christmas can be found here.
The almond coconut cookies in the front plate in the photo below can be found here.
And the twice-baked biscotti on the bottom of the stand come from the Paleoliscious blog. They are pretty good with bold flavours and a crunchy finish. These I would make again.
Below are the finished bags wrapped up in cellophane with labels explaining the cookies are gluten, dairy and refined-sugar free and, of course, saying Merry Christmas.
I will be taking photos of our family Christmas here Downunder so you can see snippets of our day, though the pouring rain will not make for good light in the photos. We had hoped to have Christmas lunch at tables out in the garden under the trees but in New Zealand you can never rely on the weather to behave so back up plans are always made. We shall be inside my older sister’s house with a ton of food, heaps of presents and lots of conversation. It is one of the few chances in the year to all get together in one place and I am looking forward to it.
Merry Christmas to you all.
Your cookies and the packages look terrific. Sorry you will be having rain but I know it won’t dampen anyone’s spirits. Merry Christmas…enjoy the time with your family.
Thanks. I’m sure we will have a great day anyway. Merry Christmas, Karen.
Suzanne
Beautiful cookies, and gorgoeus festive presentation! Merry Christmas to you, Suzanne!
p.s. It’s raining here too, though it’s so cold that I don’t think anyone would want to have a Christmas dinner outside even if it was not 🙂
Thanks so much. At least it’s not cold at all here. Quite muggy actually. Merry Christmas to you too.
Suzanne
Hope you have a fabulous meal and a great day, Suzanne! It’s absolutely pouring here and I can hear another band of thunder rolling towards us! Am sure your beautifully wrapped gifts will be most appreciated! Now, off to my seafood 🙂 !
It has been a really good day. The one thing one can’t plan at Christmas is the weather. Such a shame about the thunder rolling in but I’m sure your seafood was delicious.
Suzanne
Beautiful cookies, I love your packages! Buon Natale!
Thanks, Laura. Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Suzanne
Suzanne, Merry Christmas!!! What beautiful personal gifts you’ve made for your family! Certainly gluten-, dairy-, and refined sugar-free treats are a challenge and always takes a few try to find the recipe that fits our varied tastes. These are definitely works of art! If only I can have a taste of them all!
Have fun today and the rest of the week!
Thanks, Jen. They do take a few tries and there’s lots more experimenting to do. Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Suzanne
I love this – I wish I was receiving one of these!! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!!
Thank you, Zirkie. We did have a wonderful family Christmas.
Suzanne
We had the wettest Christmas on record and it was so cold. There was even ongoing thunder. We always have Christmas dinner outside but like you, our plans had to change and we were squashed around a couple of dining tables. But we all had a lovely day even if there was no heat and no sunshine. It’s lovely that you made gifts for all of your 19 guests. I hope the day went well at your sister’s home xx
The rain let up for the main part of the day so the little ones were actually able to eat outside on the terrace while the adults stayed inside. But it was very warm and quite muggy so we didn’t have the cold you experienced. However, it is not about the weather but about the people we are with and we had a wonderful time. I am pleased to hear your day went well too.
Suzanne
Hope you had a marvelous Christmas, Suzanne! While you had pouring rain, we have an incoming blizzard! But the best part is celebrating with friends and family…your cookies sure made for some happy guests!
We did thanks, Liz.
A blizzard? This weather is nuts. Yes, it’s time with family that matters.
Suzanne
I just love the basket of cookie bags..the colors and the decorations are just beautiful!
I really like all your new recipes without the refined sugar,I have my eye on the biscotti and the truffles. Heading over to check them out
I hope you had a wonderful christmas and the new year brings you joy and happiness
Thanks, Sawsan. I feel we would all be better off with less refined sugar. Hence the experimentation to create tasty treats using alternative methods. I hope your Christmas day is wonderful too.
Suzanne
What great little treats! Perfect to share with all. Hope you had a fabulous Christmas day!
We had a fabulous day, Clare. I hope you did too.
Suzanne
Great looking cookies! We have so much “stuff” that we always prefer receiving food gifts. Sorry about your rain – we just missed a blizzard for our Christmas!
I agree about the stuff issue. Food is always a good gift because it doesn’t stay around too long.