The Gluten-Free Homemaker

Sugar cookies are quite popular this time of year.  They are not my favorite cookie, but they are fun to make and I know that many people are looking for a gluten-free recipe.  And since this month’s challenge is to make a gluten-free cookie, I thought I might as well try a gluten and dairy free version of these favorites.

The recipe I started with is a gluten-free recipe, but I don’t know where it came from.  Usually I make notes on recipes as to whether I got them from a cookbook or an Internet site, but this one did have any information.  Let me know if you recognize it, though I have made a couple of changes.

I had made these cookies before with success which is why I still had the recipe.  It has one ingredient you don’t see very often, though—potato flour.  Not potato starch.  There is a big difference and the two are not interchangeable.  The dough in this recipe is very easy to work with, and I like the fact that the cookies hold their shape well.  This is not the kind of sugar cookie that puffs up and turns out soft.  These are nice and crisp.  They are also not very sweet, which is common with sugar cookies, despite their name.  That is because many people like to put colored frosting and decorations on the cookies which adds sweetness to them.  I only used sprinkles on these and was reminded once again that the red sprinkles I have always turn pink.

Gluten-Free Cut-Out Sugar Cookies

• 1/4 c. Spectrum organic shortening (or butter)
• 1/4 c. coconut oil (or butter)
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla or almond extract
• 1 Tb. milk (I used almond milk)
• 1 c. rice flour
• 1/2 c. potato flour (not potato starch)
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. xanthan gum

Using your mixer, cream together the shortening, coconut oil, and sugar.  Add the egg, extract, and milk. Mix well.  In a small bowl combine the dry ingredients, then add them to the ingredients in the mixing bowl.  Mix together well.  Use a spatula to scrape all the dough out of the bowl onto plastic wrap.  Cover and chill for one hour.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Divide the dough in half and place on a pastry mat or silicone baking mat.  Cover it with a piece of plastic wrap and roll to about 1/8 inch thickness.  Use cookie cutters to cut out dough shapes.  Use a spatula to transfer the dough to an ungreased cookie sheet.  Decorate with sprinkles if desired.  Bake at 350° for 5 – 8 minutes (depending on thickness).  Keep a close eye on them because the edges will brown quickly.  Makes about 30 two inch cookies.

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Labels: cookies/bars, dessert recipes