This gluten free version of my grandmother’s Raisin Filled Cookie recipe is so similar to hers that I think I can accurately say that it was probably just as similar to her grandmother’s original recipe.
That’s right: this gluten free raisin filled cookie recipe makes cookies just like you remember: soft, sweet little hand-held pockets of raisiny-yumminess that bring back so many good memories, I ask myself every Christmas why I don’t make them all year long.
Each Christmas, my grandmother would bake so many cookies it was its own virtual holiday cookie extravaganza. I had the choice job (as the eldest grandchild) to be allowed to descend to the basement where I would open wide the freezer door and crack open tin after tin of cookies, lovingly baked and wrapped in wax paper, then stored away for the big day.
I would fill and re-fill her cookie tray with selections from each tin (and sample a few along the way): raisin-filled cookies, chocolate chip cookies, date pinwheels, buckeyes, snowball cookies, peanut butter cookies, sugar cut-outs …. To pick a favorite would have been impossible.
But what I needed to become possible was to replicate them — ALL of them — when I was diagnosed with celiac disease. I needed these cookies to be back on our table for Christmas and to know I could bring back my grandmother in some small way when I needed a sweet memory.
I still get choked up thinking about my grandmother and all she did for us throughout the years. Nowhere was it more obvious than in her cookies — a tangible reminder of love, tradition, memories and family.
If your family has food traditions, don’t give up on them just because you’re gluten free. Replicate them! Here are some tips for converting favorite recipes to gluten free. It starts with the right gluten free flour: I developed my award winning gfJules Flour so that I could have our family favorites again. It will help bring back yours as well!
Happy baking!
Gluten Free Raisin Filled Cookie Recipe
An old fashioned cookie recipe that never never gets old: these gluten free raisin filled cookies are a true delight!
Ingredients
cookie:
- ½ cup shortening (I like Spectrum Palm Oil Shortening)
- 1 cup granulated cane sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 3 Tbs. cream, coconut cream or liquid non-dairy creamer (soy or coconut)
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 3 cups (405 grams) gfJules® All Purpose Gluten Free Flour
- ½ tsp. baking soda
- ½ tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. cream of tartar
- milk (dairy or non-dairy) to brush on tops before baking
raisin filling:
- 1 Tbs. butter or non-dairy alternative (Earth Balance® Buttery Sticks)
- 3/4 cup cane sugar
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 tsp. lemon juice
- 2 cup raisins (or may use dates and figs)
- 3 Tbs. gfJules® All Purpose Gluten Free Flour
Instructions
(Dough) Using an electric mixer, cream shortening and sugar together until light and fluffy (around 3 minutes). Beat in eggs, cream and vanilla.
In a separate bowl, whisk together dry ingredients: gfJules® Flour, baking soda, salt and cream of tartar. Gradually stir this dry mixture in with the wet ingredients and beat until totally integrated.
Cover and chill until dough is cold and no longer sticky, at least 2 hours. Set dough out for a few minutes before trying to roll it out
(Filling) Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in sugar, water and lemon juice. Once combined, add raisins and gfJules™ Flour, cooking until thickened to the consistency of thick pie filling. Set aside to cool.
(Cookie) Preheat oven to 400° F (static). Lightly dust a clean counter or pastry mat with gfJules™ All Purpose Flour. Roll ½ of the cold dough out very thinly, to a thickness of 1/8 inch.
Cut 3-inch round cookies with a cutter and lay half of the rounds on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Lightly brush the edges with water or milk, then lay a teaspoon-sized dollop of filling in the center of each round on the sheet.
The filling should be mounded in the middle and not extend to the edges to allow room to seal each cookie. Lay another round on top of each filled round and press to seal the edges.
Using a fork, press the tines around each edge as well. Brush the tops of the cookies with milk to help them brown slightly. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until lightly browned.
Dough for gf raisin filled cookies is all dry and crumbly and will not come together so it can be rolled out. I need a fix. Can you help. Followed instructions exactly.
Hi Cheryl, sorry to hear you had troubles with this dough — it definitely shouldn’t be dry. A couple questions: Did you make any substitutions with ingredients? Were you using my gfJules Flour? How do you measure your flour: using cup measures or by weight? My gfJules Flour weighs 135 grams per cup. When I hear that someone has a dry dough, I often think that there’s an issue with measuring. Check out this article on measuring gluten free flour. If you get to a point in a cookie recipe like this where the dough is dry and there is an ingredient like milk or cream, you can add more by the tablespoon until the dough comes together, at least so you can try to salvage the recipe. Sometimes it will through the texture off, but it’s a thought. You can also add another egg if the dough is really, really dry.
~jules
Have you ever tried using agave nectar instead of the cane sugar? Was wondering how to substitute for sugar as my husband is diabetic and the agave has no impact on blood sugar.
Hi Bernadette, I have not tried that substitute in this recipe, but a general rule of thumb is that when substituting with a liquid sweetener in place of a granulated sweetener is to use 2/3 cup of agave nectar in place of 1 cup of white granulated sugar in recipes, and reduce any other other liquid in a recipe by 1/4 to 1/3 cup. Agave may also cause more browning in baked goods, so reduce your oven temperature by 25°F, which means you may also need to increase your baking time a bit. I hope that helps you in this recipe and others.
~jules
My grandmother made these too, but used a date and raisin filling. I can’t wait to try these. Thank you.
Oh that sounds amazing too, Jill! Enjoy bringing this recipe back!
~jues
These are so unique! I can’t wait to try them out!!
I love family recipes 🙂 I’ve never heard of raisin filled cookies. They look and sound so tasty!
What kind of shorting? butter lard crisco ect. Have tried several of your recipes
Love them all!
Hi Barbara, you can use Crisco or palm oil shortening like I do. They both work well. I’m so glad you’re loving my recipes!
~jules
Is there a good sub for the eggs?
Hi Heidi, check my vegan egg substitutes article, but I usually have good luck with Ener-G egg replacer in my cookies.
~jules
Jules,
My husband found this summer that he has Celiac Disease but he also has Diabetes among other things. I noticed that you put in the cookies cane sugar what can I use instead for him. I am having a difficult time fixing things and baking things for him. Please can you help me
Hi Dolly – why don’t you ask his doctor if he can tolerate unrefined coconut palm sugar? It is reported to have a lower glycemic index than cane. If not, try baking stevia which is blown and has the same bulk as regular sugar, so it is 1:1 for regular sugar in baked recipes. In some recipes, agave nectar can work as a substitute, but not in many cookies where the granulated sweetener is needed. I hope this helps you, Dolly!
I have substituted Stevia and it works great!
Great to hear, Cindy!! Thanks for sharing that info.
~jules
Hi Jules!
Having made it through the 2011 holiday season, I am tired of NOT having nut roll and apricot roll at holidays (because the only ones are filled with gluten).
Would the dough for this cookie be suitable for nut rolls?
Thanks, Jackie
Jackie – that’s a great question. I would think this dough would be a good candidate for a sub in a nut roll! You should give it a try for sure! NO reason to have to miss out any longer on one of your favorites!
My grandmother had a similar recipe (Raisin-Filled Cookies). She was very Irish. Is your grandmother Irish? What is the origin of this recipe?
Wow – great question! No, my grandmother (the one who made this recipe a lot) was not Irish, but she made this recipe as long as I can remember and it’s always been one of my mom’s favorites as well, so I’d bet she got it from her mother or from friends at church, knowing my grandma!
My mom made these since forever, she’s 89 years old and her recipe has rolled oats in it. It came from her great grandmother. We’re 100% French Canadian.
Hi Anne, you can absolutely substitute some of the gfJules Flour in my recipe with gluten free rolled oats. I would recommend using instant or baby oats (they’re softer) and maybe even pulsing in a food processor a bit before adding if you do. I love this recipe – makes me think of my grandma every time!
~jules
This is a known treat in the Pennsylvania Dutch area. Amish and Mennonites….German Dutch…in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
My grandmother grew up in West Virginia, so not far from there — maybe that’s where she got the original recipe!
~jules