Toasted Pumpkin Seed Cookies with Chocolate Glaze

1 1/2 cups unsalted shelled pumpkin seeds (toast them on a baking sheet at 350 degrees for 20 minutes)
4 ounces gluten free bittersweet chocolate, chopped or chocolate chips
2 sticks of butter, unsalted
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 3/4 cups of Dream Pastry Mix (see Bette Hagman's The Gluten-free Gourmet Cooks Fast and Healthy)

2 Tablespoons sugar (for sprinkling)
1 egg white (for topping)

gluten free semisweet chocolate chips

Grind the roasted shelled pumpkin seeds in a coffee grinder or food processor until like coffee grounds.

Melt chocolate in a double boiler and remove it to a bowl. To the melted chocolate, add butter, sugar, salt and cinnamon and mix together well. Add Dream Pastry Mix and ground pumpkin seeds and stir well.

Divide the dough into two pieces. Roll one piece of the dough out between two sheets of wax paper to 1/4 inch thick. Cut 1 1/2 inch circles using a cup or cutter. Place circles of dough on Silpat lined cookie sheet, about 1 inch apart. Prick each cookie with a fork a few times. Roll more dough and cut cookies, until you have used up the dough. Brush each cookie with egg white and sprinkle with the extra sugar. Bake cookies at 325 degrees fr 18 minutes or until done.

When the cookies come out of the oven, immediately put 3 chocolate chips on each cookie and wait for the chips to melt. Spread the melted chips to make a frosting. Remove the cookies carefully to a cookie rack and let them cool until the chocolate is hardened.

Note: Shelled pumpkin seeds are also called pepitas. They are green in color. You can find them in the refrigerator section of a natural food store. Make sure they are really fresh and shelled, and make sure they are unsalted. Toasting them gives them a nice nutty flavor.

Make sure that all your ingredients, including spices, are gluten free!

© Gf-Zing! | Alice DeLuca