Gluten Free Sugar Cookies

You know that part in Disney's Ratatouille when the food critic takes a bite of the ratatouille and gets flashed back in time to his childhood? I think I was having one of those moments today as I savoring bite after bite (after bite) ;) of these cookies. 

I seriously cannot stop eating these! Neither can my sweet daughter... 
I had to keep telling her today to stop sneaking them because I needed to snap some pictures still! These taste so incredible, I'm so pleased how they turned out! (It was my first attempt too! Hooray!)

I adapted them from a recipe by Better Home & Gardens. It used to be my go-to recipe back in college during my gluten days. All I can remember is my roommate would make these for boys she wanted to impress...Needless to say, it always got their attention! Ha ha. 

Anyways, I learned some great tips while rolling out gluten free dough so be sure to check that out too. 

AMAZING Gluten Free Sugar Cookies

(Gluten Free, Can be Dairy Free)
Adapted by jalene from a Better Home & Garden Recipe

Makes about 24-36 cookies, depending on how big you make them
Ingredients: 

• 1 & 1/2 cups brown rice flour
• 1/2 cup potato starch
• 1/4 cup tapioca starch
• 3/4 tsp xanthan gum
• 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp butter (or to make Dairy Free use Earth Balance)
• 1/4 cup + 1 tsp shortening (I suggest using non-hydrogenated, see note at bottom)
• 3/4 cup sugar or evaporated cane juice sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 egg
• 1 & 1/2 tsp gluten free vanilla

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Directions: 

1. Combine the brown rice flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, and xanthan gum in a small bowl. Set aside. 
2. In a mixing bowl, cream together your butter (or Earth Balance) and shortening. Add the sugar and baking powder to the bowl and mix until fluffy- about a minute. 
3. Add the egg and vanilla. Blend well, then add the flour mixture and mix until well incorporated. 
4. Split the dough into 4 equal parts and wrap each section in plastic wrap. Place in the fridge to cool for about 1 hour or until the dough is harder and ready to work with.
5. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F about 15 minutes before you're ready to start rolling. 

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Roll out!

I learned some great tricks that will make rolling out your dough super easy. 

1. Pull out 1 section of dough at a time from the fridge. After finishing with the dough, place quickly back into the fridge or even freezer if you need a quick cooling.
2. Roll out the dough in between 2 pieces of plastic wrap (NOT PARCHMENT). It peels off super easy from the dough, you can see through it, and it's less expensive!
3. Roll out your dough to 1/4 of inch thick. It will hold together better. 
4. If your dough doesn't come up with the cookie cutter, no worries. Just stick your fingers under the plastic wrap and peel the dough off. 
5. Place the cookies at least 1 inch apart to make sure they don't stick to each other. 
6. Always place cookies on a cooled cookie sheet before putting them into the oven. They will hold their shape better and cook correctly. 

TO COOK: Bake for 8-10 minutes. I like my cookies before they start to turn golden so I do the 8 but when they get a little brown around the edges, they're really good too! 

We don't use food coloring so we got creative with our decorations. See below: 

Decorating with Audrey...

Meet Audrey's 2 best pals: Dolly and Frosty! Since the moment I pulled the snowman out of my Christmas decorations box, it was love at first site for Audrey. She carries him around EVERYWHERE and they do most everything together! She'll talk to him, show him around, make him watch her eat... Cute huh. In fact, every snowman Audrey sees is called "Frosty" and she talks to them too. So when we made these cookies today she couldn't even stand it! She called them "my cookie monster frosties." 

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She absolutely LOVED helping put the chocolate chips on these! We used Gluten Free and Dairy Free chocolate chips (2 big for the eyes, and 3 mini for the buttons)

Of course 2 year olds have their own rules. This is Audrey's cookie. Not bad! She was eating one chocolate chip for every one she put on the cookie but at least she had some holiday fun with mom. 

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Warning: I'm supposed to tell you (by orders of the Dr.  aka my husband) that these are only to be eaten sparingly. They're not the healthiest cookie ever made so try not to eat them everyday! ;)

One of our favorite products: 

We LOVE this brand of Shortening because it's 

• Organic
• Non-Colored
• Non-Hydrogenated
• Gluten Free

Want to learn more about the harmful effects of hydrogenated oils? Read this excellent article from Livestrong.com.