Not Posting for Dumb Reasons plus COOKIES!

So, I haven't been posting for all sorts of lame reasons. One of which is that I NEVER remember to take pictures of anything. Just tonight I made fancy looking beautiful desserts for my wonderful mother's birthday. I made two different versions, and they looked like they could be served at a restaurant! Alas, not a single picture was taken.

This can not be allowed to go on. It should also not be a reason not to share tasty recipes with you. You basically being Min since really, who else would read this when we post like once every other month.

Anyhow, on to the good part of this post. COOKIES! (this was my big brother's response to these cookies)

I created these for my big brother who is trying to avoid flour and dairy because they make him feel kinda nasty. However I feel that the vast majority of gluten free recipes are pathetic excuses for cookies that really people only eat because they don't remember what real cookies taste like. This is a travesty because there are plenty of delicious things that just happen to not NEED wheat flour or butter. Like these peanut butter cookies, I mean really imagine what happened if you take peanut butter cookies and take out the flour...your cookies get amazing and taste twice as much like peanut butter!

So, I looked for a cookie that would be great all on its own. I was thinking something with oat flour, since it is crazy easy to make and is tasty. I also wanted it to be chocolate since I was intending the cookies for a dessert featuring strawberries. I could not find the recipe I wanted so I found something close and tweaked it. This sometimes goes horribly awry, but this time I think it went just right.

And just because this is a lot of text with no cookie pictures, this is how my dog looks at me when I bake without sharing with him:

I have a couple things to say first though. These cookies are not perfect, they are a little dry and I think might benefit from some under-baking. Also to be honest they are almost a little...plain. However, since I was basically looking for a base for strawberry shortcake those attributes made them perfect. A little dry means they can drink up sweet strawberry goodness. A little plain means they can just sit there and be chocolate instead of fighting the strawberries for flavor dominance.

Also, while I noted before that these may be a bit plain, it just occurs to me they would probably be fantastic with coffee. I may have to make these again tomorrow.

And now, I will stop blathering and give you the recipe (note the suggestions at the end)

Chocolate Oat Shortbread
AKA Ian's Cookies
(just happen to be dairy and gluten free)
Adapted from With Style & Grace

1 cup rolled oats (grind to a flour in coffee grinder/blender)

1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 cup coconut oil, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 egg
1/4 cup white rice flour (I made this in my coffee grinder & sieved it)
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon


Directions

Combine and sift oat flour, rice flour, cocoa, sea salt, and cinnamon. In general I avoid sifting anything because I hate doing it. Oat flour needs it though, that stuff clumps like crazy.

Cream the oil and sugar together. Add vanilla extract and egg, mix again till fluffy. Carefully add in the flour mixture and mix until combined.

Dump dough onto plastic wrap and press to about 1/2 inch thick. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill 1 hour or more.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

Remove dough from fridge and sprinkle plenty of sugar into both sides, pressing it onto the top. Roll just enough to even out the thickness then cut into squares. Place on baking sheet, 2-inches apart and bake until barely set, about 14-16 minutes. Lift parchment paper onto cooling rack and leave cookies for at least a couple minutes.

Note:

So this time I sifted the cocoa in with the dry ingredients but I usually prefer the cocoa creamed in with the oil and sugar and I think that would be a better tactic to take here. I feel like the flavor endS up more chocolatey that way. This may be a figment of my imagination.

Final note, the fancy looking desert was these cookies (or sugar cookies since my Mom loves those) with sliced sugar strawberries piled on them, with whipped cream piled on that with a broken cookie sticking out the top like they do in restaurants and chocolate sauce drizzled all over. The chocolate sauce was super easy, dark chocolate chips melted with a tablespoon or two of coconut oil. Yum. I made them because my mother is a fantastic lady and deserved a fancy looking dessert even if it was like an hour late.

EDIT:
I have been informed by my big brother that I am a lying liar and in fact these cookies were delicious. The following evidence was submitted.