Chinese New Year Peanut Cookies

So, I conducted an experiment yesterday – I tested two different gluten-free flours and compared the results with cookies made from regular wheat flour and now, we are inundated with peanut cookies galore, lol.

The first gluten-free flour I used was the Authentic Foods Multi-Blend Flour. I have had so much success with utilizing Authentic Foods Steve’s Cake Flour Blend that I had really high hopes for the Multi-Blend Flour as well. However, to date, I haven’t been able to produce successful results when substituting regular wheat flour in my usual recipes using the provided direction of replacing 1 cup wheat flour with 3/4 cup of Multi-Blend Flour. Will it work this time with these Chinese-style peanut cookies?

The second gluten-free flour I tried was Namaste Foods Perfect Flour Blend. I can’t tell you just how much I wanted this particular flour to work out, not only because I have a giant bag in my pantry but also because it’s so easily accessible since Costco carries it in their warehouses. It has quite a lot of good reviews too! However, everything I made with it so far has been gummy! You are supposed to be able to substitute one cup Perfect Flour Blend for one cup of wheat flour in your favorite everyday recipes, but so far that’s not working out for me. Can I make it work here? Please, please, please.

Finally, the wheat flour I used here for comparison is none other than King Arthur Flour Unbleached All-Purpose Flour. Everything made with it turns out fantastic, and if you don’t have any problem consuming gluten, I highly recommend it. :)

So drumroll please, which gluten-free flour is the winner? It is the Authentic Foods Multi-Blend Flour! Although it took more flour than what is directed on the package when substituting wheat flour, the resulting cookies came real close to the ones made with regular all-purpose flour. Initially, we couldn’t even differentiate which is which – Keith at one point actually said he felt like he prefers the Authentic Foods gluten-free cookies, ha! Just to be sure, we actually did a blind tasting between the gluten-free and regular wheat cookies and this time, he chose the cookies made from regular wheat flour. I, however, during the blind tasting decided that I favored the gluten-free cookies. :) In my opinion, both cookies are delicious flavor-wise. I feel that the gluten-free cookies are slightly more tender and have a crumblier texture while the regular cookies have a firmer but at the same time, tender melt-in-your-mouth quality. All in all, both are good options! Note: I purchase Authentic Foods flours directly from its website.

How about the gluten-free cookies made from the Namaste Foods Perfect Flour Blend? I had to add so much extra flour to get the dough to somewhat the right consistency that I’m not even sure if it’s fair to make any judgment on it. The sweetness level was certainly off due to the addition of extra flour, and I might have added a tad too much flour since I felt like it was a little drier than the other two doughs. However, you would think that the resulting cookies will be drier as well but yet, there’s this slightly dense/gummy texture in the center. Overall, I’m not sure if it’s worth using this brand of flour. I might use it one more time to make a recipe from the company’s website before I decide whether to give up on it.

For the recipe using regular all-purpose flour, check out my older post. Here’s the recipe using Authentic Foods Multi-Blend Flour (basically, nothing changes except the amount of flour):

2 cups dry roasted/cocktail unsalted peanuts*
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2-1/4 cups Authentic Foods Multi-Blend Flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 egg, beaten

*If using salted peanuts, just omit salt from the recipe.

Preheat oven to 350F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside until needed. Place peanuts and sugar in the bowl of a food processor; pulse until finely ground. Transfer peanut mixture to a bowl, together with the flour and salt; whisk until combined. Add the oil, and stir the mixture with a rubber spatula to incorporate the oil (knead the dough with your hand at the end just to make sure everything’s mixed properly and you have a cohesive dough). Use a teaspoon to measure out the dough, roll into balls (about ¾” round), and place them on the baking sheet. Then, gently press the middle of the balls with a straw to create a slight indentation design that’s typical to these cookies. Finally, brush the tops lightly with the beaten egg and bake until golden brown (about 13 to 15 minutes). Remove cookies to a rack to cool completely before storing in an air-tight container. One recipe will yield about 90 cookies. Enjoy!