I do love the perfect chocolate chip cookie but I’m also a sucker for a cookie that’s light, tender and crowned with a glorious buttercream frosting; and honestly, three years ago when my Professor and I left grains and processed sugar behind, I believed it meant no more treats. I can admit when I’m wrong and I was wrong.
But here’s the thing – I’m in the camp that treats are just that: once-in-a-while treats. My ‘why’ surrounding giving up grains (I’d already been gluten-free for more than six years) was my attempt at reducing the inflammation in my body; I’d done enough research to know that grains can be troublesome for some people while sugar is inflammatory for everyone. And for me, it has worked; I feel better now than I have in decades.
I follow Christina Lane over at Dessert for Two on Instagram; besides being mama to two super cute kiddos she’s also the Queen of all small serving recipes. Her Lofthouse cookie recipe was my jumping off point to create a grain-free version with some additional tweaks; it took making 6 batches of cookies over the course of 4 days before I created what I believe is a great, white, wedding-cake-like cookie. And while I can enjoy them plain, a peachy-pink buttercream frosting makes these cookies extra dreamy.
GRAIN-FREE LOFTHOUSE-STYLE COOKIES
Course: DessertCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Moderate10
cookies30
minutes15
minutes157
kcal16
grams2
grams2
gramsIngredients
- FOR THE COOKIES
3 Tablespoons Butter
1/3 Cup Granulated Monkfruit (OR Xylitol, Sukrin, etc)
1 Large Egg White
5 Tablespoons Heavy Cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 Cup Almond Flour (fine ground)
1/3 Cup Oat Fiber
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/4 teaspoon plain gelatin
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- FOR THE FROSTING
5 Tablespoon Butter, room temperature
3/4 Cup Powdered Erythritol OR your preferred sugar sub
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla
2 teaspoons Heavy Cream
Pinch of Kosher Salt
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees; line a sheet pan with a silicon mat (preferred – as parchment does tend to allow cookie spread which can be an issue when baking grain-free)
- In a small bowl, add egg white, vanilla and ONE Tablespoon of the heavy cream; whisk until egg white is blended; set aside
- In a medium-sized bowl, add almond flour, oat fiber, baking powder, gelatin, salt and whisk together; set aside
- Add monkfruit (or sugar sub of choice) to mixing bowl with butter; beat for 2-3 minutes until butter lightens. Note: granulated monkfruit (or granulated sugar subs in general) will not blend together like regular sugar – it’s ok! You can also use a powdered sugar substitute if that’s what you have on hand
- Add egg white mixture to the butter and beat until well blended
- Add flour mix and the remaining 4 TABLESPOONS heavy cream to the bowl, alternating between flour and heavy cream and continue mixing until ingredients are well blended
- Using a 2 Tablespoon cookie scoop, scrape batter up the side of the bowl leaving a clean edge on the scoop; place batter on the silicon mat leaving about 2 inches between cookies.
- Bake for 15 minutes; remove from oven and allow to cool completely on the pan (cookies continue to bake as they cool so resist the urge to bake longer than the recipe indicates; you’re looking for a very light color with lightly golden edges)
- TO MAKE THE FROSTING
- Place all frosting ingredients in a bowl and whip until well blended; I added a teeny, tiny, pinhead of red gel food coloring to get the peachy pink frosting.
- These cookies are fragile so take care in handling when applying the frosting