Gluten-free Rolled Sugar Cookies

Third time's a charm!



I've been baking lots and lots of gluten-FULL rolled sugar cookies for an upcoming children's Halloween party, but in the back of my mind I was wondering if there were going to be any kids there that can't have gluten. Then a friend of mine who is a teacher asked me if I had a recipe for gluten-free sugar cookies - because she had a couple of students who can't eat gluten - well, that's all it took.

I was on a mission!

I had one recipe sitting around that I found a while back but had never tried. Then I poked around and found another one online. So I tried them both. Both turned out pretty good. But a little on the crisp side. The first recipe had a nice flavor, but was a little too gritty from the rice flour, and for some reason, the cookies from the second recipe came out of the oven a little.... well.... wrinkled. They would have worked anyway, since they would be decorated - but it still wasn't exactly what I had hoped for.

Then late last night it hit me - why not just convert my regular sugar cookie recipe to gluten-free. Big duh! So 11:30 p.m. I marched into my kitchen and made the dough, just guessing which GF flours to use, and in what proportion. Then into the refrigerator the dough went to chill overnight.

First thing this morning - oven was preheating and I was rolling away.



And just for fun...



Even though it chilled, the dough was a little softer than I'm used to for rolling - which might have meant I could have used a little more flour in the batter. But I just liberally sprinkled Sorghum flour on my rolling surface (I use a silpat) and rolling pin, and it worked just fine. When it started to stick a little - I sprinkled more flour.

I cut off a piece of the dough at a time to work with, and kept the rest in the refrigerator to stay cool. You always want the dough for rolled cookies to be cool so it's easier to handle. I love working with this type of dough. It's like playing with Play Doh :-)

Into the oven they went. I watched them carefully because if overbaked, I knew they would be too crisp. They came out perfect! Get out the decorating supplies!



I'm not a cookie decorator, but I could really get into it if I had the time!



These are delicious. Crisp on the outside, but soft in the middle. Yay!



If you give these a try, please let me know how they worked for you!


Gluten-free Rolled Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup Butter ( 1 1/2 sticks), room temperature
• 1 cup Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 cup Sorghum Flour
• 1/2 cup Sweet Rice Flour
• 1/2 cup Tapioca Starch/Flour
• 1/2 cup Potato Starch
• 1 tsp Baking Powder
• 1 tsp Xanthan Gum
• 1/2 tsp Salt

Directions:

1. Mix the flours, baking powder, salt, and xanthan gum together with a whisk and set aside.
2. Using an electric mixer beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
3. Add the eggs, one at a time, incorporating each well.
4. Add the vanilla extract.
5. Gradually add the dry ingredients (at low speed) and mix until just blended.
6. Shape the dough into a round disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill overnight, or several hours.
7. When you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
8. Sprinkle some Sorghum flour on your work surface and rolling pin, and roll 1/4 or 1/2 the dough to about 1/4" thickness. (refrigerate remaining dough until needed). Sprinkle additional flour if needed.
9. Cut into your favorite cookies shapes, and place on parchment-lined cookie sheets, about an inch apart
10. Bake approximately 12 minutes. This may vary depending on the size of your cookies. Cookies are done when edges are just barely turning golden.
    
11. Let cookies cool on cookie sheet for about 5 minutes before moving to cooling rack.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar, frost with your favorite frosting, or decorate for whatever holiday it happens to be!

Makes about 16 - 3 1/2" cookies. This recipe can be easily doubled or tripled if you need more.

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