Somehow, even though we had no company or travel, we were more busy than ever coming up to Christmas this year. This might have to do with a newborn in the house… This meant I didn’t get to Christmas baking before Christmas day. Instead, V and I made cookies on Boxing day, by that I mean I made the cookies, she helped pour some ingredients into the bowl and she selected the cookie cutters. Strangely our toddler didn’t want to cut the cookies out herself.
This cookie recipe I used to make years ago with the shortening that the recipe calls for. Since at this moment in time we don’t have a safe shortening I decided to tweak the recipe, and they turned out fantastic. So great, that I made a second batch yesterday because we ate all of them already.
You will notice one photo has decorated cookies while the rest are just white icing. The decorated cookies were from before our corn allergy diagnosis. I didn’t bother trying to add some natural food coloring to my icing this time around, however there are many ways to do this safely for different allergies. I may have to experiment.
Gluten Free Frosted Sugar Cookies
This easy and delicious recipe is great for the holidays, birthdays or just any ordinary day. Enjoy!
Ingredients
For the Cookies:
1 C shortening/vegan butter (I use miyokos butter) (1)
1 C granulated cane sugar
1 large egg, cold/flax egg (allow to thicken for 5 min) (2)
1 Tbsp vanilla extract (3)
3 C Gluten Free All Purpose Flour Mix
1 tsp sea salt (4)
Tapioca starch for rolling out the dough
For the Frosting:
1/2 C vegan butter (1)
1/2 C shortening/vegan butter (1)
3 C icing sugar (5)
1 tsp vanilla extract (3)
1 Tbsp unsweetened coconut milk beverage
food coloring (optional) (6)
sprinkles (optional) (7)
Directions:
To make the Cookies:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees, line baking sheets with silicone mats or parchment paper
- In the bowl of a stand mixer cream together the shortening/vegan butter and sugar until light & creamy (approximately 2 minutes). Mix in the egg & vanilla extract.
- Add the flour and salt, mix low speed until completely incorporated. The dough should be slightly firm but still pliable, not sticky.
- Separate into 2 balls. Flour working surface with tapioca starch. Roll out half the dough on floured surface. Cover with plastic wrap and roll out until it’s about 1/4 inch thick or less. Using desired shapes/cookie cutters, cut out cookies. Transfer carefully to cookie sheets, repeat with remaining dough. Dough scraps can be re-rolled. Use additional flour only as needed.
- If using vegan butter, refrigerate for 5 minutes before baking. Bake 8-14 minutes (all depends on size of cookie cutters & thickness of dough). Cool cookies on the baking sheet for a few minutes before cooling completely on a wire rack. Cool completely before frosting.
To make the Frosting:
- Mix the shortening, vegan butter & powdered sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer on low speed until the sugar is incorporated.
- Beat on medium-high for 1 minute.
- Mix in vanilla and milk until the frosting is light & fluffy, about 1 minute or less.
- Incorporate food coloring (optional)
- Frost the cookies, top with sprinkles (optional). Serve immediately or store in an airtight container until ready to serve
Notes:
(1) If using shortening in the dough it doesn’t need to be refrigerated, however if using vegan butter it bakes much better if chilled.
(2) Egg Replacer: Corn allergy – I have found that many of the egg replacers out there use corn starch, so beware which one you buy. Bob’s Red Mill works as a great replacer, however it has a lot of cross contamination and isn’t recommended at all with corn allergies. You could also use a flax egg as an alternative.
(3) Vanilla: Corn Allergy – Vanilla is made with alcohol, often corn, you may need to make your own
(4) Salt: Corn Allergy – Many that are allergic to corn are sensitive to iodized salt as corn is used in the processing. Sea salt is better, but some are still quite sensitive.
(5) Powdered sugar: Corn Allergy – Powdered sugar/icing sugar contains cornstarch to prevent clumping. Wholesome Organic Icing Sugar uses tapioca starch instead. This is an ok option for corn lite, but trial carefully as there is a lot of cross contamination. It is possible to make your own. This is what we do, it is just time consuming.
(6) Food coloring: Corn Allergy – coloring often in an alcohol base, usually corn. One can use natural coloring if desired. Beet root powder, matcha tea powder, etc.
(7) Sprinkles: Corn Allergy – made with corn starch and corn syrup, avoid if needed
A Free Life 