For the wheat-free

When Jenny in our Ravelry group threw a potluck for her birthday, some of us who knew she (and others in the group) had wheat issues endeavored to bring wheat-free, gluten-free goodies.

A good birthday party needs a good birthday cake, right? Jean supplied the "cake" in the form of a Pavlova, a delicious concoction of baked meringue, fruit, and whipped cream. There are many recipes for Pavolva, such as this one, these, this one, and this simple one.

My contribution was chocolate-mint rice cookies. I had a bag of brown rice flour on the shelf and figured I could put it to good use. Here's the recipe:

Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl:
1 1/2 cups of brown rice flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt

In another bowl, cream together:
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup sugar

Beat in:
1 egg
1 or 2 ounces melted baker's chocolate (depending on how chocolaty you want the cookies)
1/2 teaspoon mint extract
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla

Mix the flour mixture into the butter/sugar mixture about 1/2 cup at a time until blended. Roll the dough out on a surface sprinkled with rice flour. Roll to about 1/4 inch thick. Cut into shapes. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

For the icing, I mixed powdered sugar with water to make a thin goop. I dipped the top of each cookie into the goop and sprinkled with colored sugar, then let the icing dry.