You're likely hiding under a rock if you're not spotting gluten-free baked goods in your local coffee shop, grocery store, and bakery. For those suffering from Celiac's disease and gluten sensitivities, this is a welcome change. And the rest of us? There's a slow and steady interest in baked goods that don't rely on flour for reasons other than health: simplicity, flavor, and even economy.

Last week NPR contributor, Nicole Spiridakis, wrote about her experiments with flour-free baking. As many gluten-free folks already know, there are a myriad of creative ways to mix gluten-free flours and achieve incredible results in your baked goods. But Spiridakis points out that "if you're intimidated by the unfamiliar flours or are an infrequent baker, you could try recipes that are naturally flour-free." It's a good starting point. And we all could use one of those every now and again. While she outlines delicious-looking recipes for lemon cornmeal cake, chocolate hazelnut cake and salted caramel pot de cremes, I thought we should stick to the starting point theme and begin with cookies--where many good things begin. Here are a few recipes I'm excited to try:

Try a Recipe:
• Chocolate Orange Hazelnut Macarons - Robin Fishman
• Flourless Fudge Cookies - King Arthur Flour
• Flourless Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies - Joy the Baker
• Mom's Chocolate Chip Meringues - Smitten Kitchen
• Flourless Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies - Carrots and Cake

Related: Meringue Cookie Bites: 3 Ways

(Images: Joy the Baker and Smitten Kitchen)