Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Gluten-Free Girl Scout Cookies



It's no secret that Girl Scout cookie time brings out the best in a lot of people. Some wait all year for that first minty bite of Thin Mints, gladly handing their money over to the sweet green-clad sprites who are raising funds to better themselves and other girls.  For some of us, though, it can be a rather sad time.  Those of us who must eat gluten-free, due to Celiac disease or gluten-intolerance, can only look at those bright boxes and shake our heads, remembering the yummy past when we gleefully chomped away, oblivious to any future intestinal damage.

I've heard rumblings that the Girl Scouts are working on a gluten-free cookie. Some areas have written up petitions begging for them. The official statement from the scouts' website says, "Girl Scout Cookies are produced only once a year and for a limited time, so our bakers never achieve the volume required to support the specific production of specialty cookies. The demand has not been great enough to make it economically feasible" to produce a GF cookie.  Sigh...I guess that makes sense.  Luckily, there are some very talented gluten-free bakers out there who have tried their darnedest to recreate these seasonal treats, minus the unsafe gluten ingredients like wheat, malt, barley, rye and more. With the use of excellent flour blends (like Jules' and Thank God It's Gluten-Free!), it's becoming easier to make copycats.

If you're really jonesing for a Girl Scout cookie, give one of these gluten-free versions a try. The best thing about making your own Thin Mints or Trefoils is that you don't have to wait until mid-January - you can enjoy them anytime!

Nicole at the excellent site Gluten-Free on a Shoestring has yummy recipes for GF Samoas (aka Caramel deLites) and Tagalongs (aka Peanut Butter Patties.) You'll love the gorgeous step-by-step photos.  Food porn, baby!
www.glutenfreeonashoestring.com


www.glutenfreeonashoestring.com














Angela's Kitchen has a whole section of the site dedicated to Gluten Free Dairy Free Girl Scout Cookie Makeovers.
www.angelaskitchen.com

Jules Shepard from Jules' Gluten-Free and GF Flour mastermind has added her culinary two cents. Try her recipe for GF Tag-a-Longs (which are also called Peanut Butter Patties--Hey! What's up with all the names?)

www.julesglutenfree.com
















Glutenista shares some of fabulous-ness and her recipes for  Homemade Gluten-Free Samoas and GF Thin Mints.
www.glutenista.com













www.glutenista.com



















Allergy-friendly cook, cook-book author and blogger Cybele Pascal takes food safety even further with Allergy-free, Vegan Thin Mints.  These little babies are egg-free, dairy-free, soy-free, sesame-free, tree and peanut -free and, of course, gluten free.
www.cybelepascal.com

Before you had to go gluten-free, what was your favorite Girl Scout cookie?

3 comments:

Andrea said...

DO you have any idea if these are egg free as well???

Eclectic Eccentric said...

Andrea, Cybele's recipe is egg free. Her baking recipes are vegan because eggs and dairy are major allergens.

Unknown said...

Your gluten free cookies are amazing. Information you provided regarding celiac is very helpful and informative. Very attractive pictures. Like it!