This recipe for Gumdrop Cookies was originally from my Mom. The only change that I made to it was to reduce the sugar by 1/4 of a cup and to convert it to gluten free by substituting my gluten free flour mix in place of regular white flour. I also added 1/2 teaspoon of xanthan gum to my gluten free version because the cookies were just too crumbly without it.
I never add xanthan gum to my recipes unless I really feel it is needed. Most of the time recipes are just fine without it. I have read that many people are not tolerant of xanthan gum so that is another reason that I don’t use it much.
I also added the multicolored sugar sprinkles on the top and I love how the cookies look with that added color on top- so much more festive!
These Gumdrop Cookies are addictive- when you eat one you will want more!
I am so excited because Frank just got me a little oven for the garage so I can continue to bake in the hot weather and not heat up the house!
It is a Cuisinart convection toaster oven. It even broils, but I don’t think I will use it for that. We wanted it so I could continue playing with my baking recipes and make meatloaf and stuffed mushrooms, etc.
We got it at Costco for $99.99 and that is such a great deal! They carry it in their stores so there is no delivery charge. The regular retail price for the all stainless version (this one is black and stainless) is $179.99.
Frank researched all of the large size toaster ovens and had it narrowed down to Cuisinart and Oster because they had the features that I wanted (big interior and plenty of power) and had the best reviews online. Costco also carried one of the Oster brand toaster ovens and it was nice, but not quite as well made. The price was about $20 less than the Cuisinart I think, so it was a pretty easy decision once we saw them in person.
My new little oven holds 2 meatloaf pans and also fits most of my ceramic baking dishes. It only holds one of my mini muffin pans or a regular size 6 muffin pan. I just researched for any other configuration of a regular size muffin pan that makes 12 muffins- nope, it doesn’t seem to exist!
I ordered one more drip tray from Cuisinart. It’s the bottom of their broiler pan and is the exact size of the inside of the oven- 12″x 12″. I am going to use it to bake cookies and I wanted to have a second one so I didn’t have to wait for the first tray to cool to bake the second pan of cookies. It should bake 9 good sized cookies at a time.
The only thing that I need to decide when baking muffins is whether to bake 3 batches with the mini muffin pans or 2 batches of pans of the 6 regular size. I can go either way with the quantity that a normal muffin recipe yields.
In case you are wondering, Cuisinart didn’t give me a thing for this post- I am just sharing the results of our research with you!
It does seem like more and more people are buying these ovens to use for regular baking because they are so much more economic to use. This oven actually came up to a 375 degree temp in about 5 minutes and it was accurate because I had my oven thermometer in there. I haven’t baked in it yet, but from what I’ve read it will bake things more quickly than a traditional oven so I will need to watch closely. You guys will be the first to hear about my baking results because it is already too hot here in AZ to use my regular oven!
I shared this recipe with Sweets for A Saturday at Sweet As Sugar Cookies, The Hearth and Soul Hop at 21st Century Housewife, Gluten Free Wednesdays at Gluten Free Homemaker
Gumdrop Cookies with Oatmeal and Coconut- GF Or Not!
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cover 4 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Mix dry ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside:
1 cup GF Flour Mix* (or “regular” flour if you don’t have issues with gluten)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum (omit if using “regular” flour)
Stir dry ingredients together then add:
1/2 cup small gumdrops that you have cut in half
1 cup gluten free oatmeal
1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut
Stir dry ingredients thoroughly then set aside
In large bowl blend:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened enough to blend
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 and 1/2 eggs, beaten
Add dry ingredients to butter mixture and mix thoroughly by hand.
Drop dough by tablespoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheets and round slightly with your fingers.
Sprinkle cookies with multicolored decorative sugar before baking.
This recipe makes about 42 cookies.
Bake at 350 degrees for 13- 14 minutes until cookies are slightly golden colored on top. You don’t want to overcook these cookies because they will get too dry and crumbly. They are best when they are a little bit chewy.
*GF Flour Mixture
The GF flour mixture that I use is pretty standard. I use Authentic Foods gluten free flours because they are ground more finely than commercial brand GF flours that you can buy off the shelf. This results in wonderful baked goods that do not have that “gritty” feel when you chew them like so many products that we all tried in the beginning!
GF Flour Mixture
2 cups AF Superfine Brown Rice Flour (available in the amazon.com store on my blog)
2/3 cup AF Potato Starch Flour (available in my store)
1/3 cup AF Tapioca Flour (available in my store)
I make up several batches of this mixture at a time and keep it in a canister. I keep all of my other GF flours in the freezer.
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Hi, Sis! I remember having these at Christmas time when we were young. They were quite sweet, so I think I’ll try your version using less sugar–good idea!
Jan
Hi Jan! I think next time I make them I am going to try using coconut palm sugar for the brown sugar and stevia for the white sugar. I am just getting ready to experiment with the stevia- haven’t tried it yet!
What a lovely GF cookie! I have been wanting to try more GF recipes for a while, so I look forward to trying this one out. Thanks so much for sharing with Hearth and Soul.
Thank you so much Elsa! Please let me know if you try these cookies!
It’s lovely how you have adapted this family recipe to make it gluten free. Your gumdrop cookies look like such a treat! I’m glad you got your toaster oven. The model you bought looks wonderful.
Thank you April! The Gumdrop Cookies are way too good! The toaster oven is amazing and will save lots of money on electricity too I’m sure.