Gluten-free Stained Glass Christmas Cookies
Ingredients
1 package gluten-free Organic Sugar Cookie Mix from The Pure Pantry
2 rolls Lifesavers or other gluten-free hard candy
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare Sugar Cookie Mix as indicated on package. Place dough in refrigerator for 30 minutes. On floured (use rice flour or cornstarch) work surface, roll out dough to ¼ inch thickness. Cut out large shapes. Cut center of cookies with smaller shape or use a knife to cut out center shape.
Place hard candies in a heavy plastic bag. Break up into small pieces using a rolling pin.
Place cookies on greased cookie sheet, spacing 2 inches apart. Place hard candy pieces in center of each cookie. All the space in the middle of the cookie should be filled with a thin layer of crushed hard candies. If you’d like to hang your cookies from your tree, make a small hole in the top of each cookie so you can run ribbon though the hole after they are baked.
Bake cookies for 10 minutes at 350˚F. Remove from oven. Let them cool completely. Carefully remove from cookie sheet with a spatula.
Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies | Day 5 | Almond-Agave-Orange Biscotti
Need a great holiday cookie for a health conscious friend or family member? These agave based cookies are low in sugar, high in fiber and protein. They store well in a container for up to 5 days or can be frozen for up to 3 weeks. I love giving these biscotti as gifts — they are easy to pack and they ship well.
Almond-Agave-Orange Biscotti
- 2 T. butter (or Spectrum shortening)
- 1/2 cup agave nectar, preferably Nature’s Agave Amber variety
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 egg whites (or equivalent egg replacer)
- 1 egg (or equivalent egg replacer)
- 1 cup The Pure Pantry All Purpose Baking Mix
- 1 cup The Pure Pantry Buckwheat Flax Pancake and Baking mix
- 2 teaspoons grated orange peel
- 1 t. vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups slivered almonds, lightly toasted
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degree. Grease 16” cookie sheet.
Using electric mixer with paddle attachment, cream butter (or shortening) with brown sugar and agave nectar. Beat in egg whites and egg (or egg replacer). Add one cup The Pure Pantry All Purpose Baking Mix and mix until combined. Add one cup The Pure Pantry Buckwheat Flax Pancake Baking Mix. Add orange peel and vanilla and blend on low until combined. Stir in almonds.
Lightly dust large wooden cutting board with rice flour. Dusts hands with rice flour. Place biscotti dough on board and with your hands roll into long log, 3 inches wide and 15 inches long. Transfer log to cookie sheet. Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes. Cool on baking sheet for 30 minutes. Gently place log on wooden cutting board. Using a serrated knife, cut the log on the diagonal into 1/2″ slices. Arrange biscotti cut side down back on cookie sheet. Bake 20 minutes. Let cool completely. Store in air tight container.
Tweleve Days of Christmas Cookies | Day 4 | Gingerbread Pals
- 2 cups organic All Purpose Baking Mix from The Pure Pantry
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
- 3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons black strap molasses
- 1/2 cup coconut oil (solidified and cold, not at melting point), Earth Balance Buttery Sticks or Spectrum shortening
- 1 1/2 tablespoons coconut milk or rice milk
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine baking mix, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Stir to mix.
In a large mixing bowl fitted with paddle attachment, combine brown sugar, molasses and coconut oil (or Earth balance or non-hydrogenated shortening) and beat until well blended. Add coconut or rice milk and beat until blended. With mixer on low speed, add half the flour mixture and beat until blended. Add remaining flour mixture and , usig your hands, knead dough until it is smooth and blended. Divide dough in half and shape into two balls. Refrigerate dough for 30 minutes.
In the meantime, make the decorating icing:
Casein Free- Dairy Free (vegan) Vanilla Icing
- 1 box powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoon cold water
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 1 tablespoon agave nectar, such as Nature’s Agave Amber variety
- 1 tablespoon Earth Balance Buttery Sticks
In a large mixing bowl with paddle attachment blend cold water, vanilla, agave and margarine. Sift into bowl 1 box confectioner’s sugar. Blend on low speed until combined. If too dry add 1 teaspoon cold water. If too wet, add 1 tablespoon more sugar. Set icing aside.
To bake cookies:
Lightly flour a work surface and rolling pin with rice flour. Roll out ball of dough into a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick. Press gingerbread pal cookie cutter into dough to cut out shapes.
Transfer cookies to greased baking sheets. Repeat with second ball of dough. Gather scraps of dough into a ball, roll out dough and continue cutting out cookies until all dough is used. Bake cookies until golden brown, about 8-10 minutes. Cool on racks.
Frost cooled cookies with thin amount of icing. Place gluten free chocolate chips or raisins for eyes, nose, mouth and buttons. Icing can be placed in a pastry bag to pipe designs on cookies.
Tweleve Days of Christmas Cookies — Days 1-3
One Dough – Three Easy Cookies
Here is a simple way to make a variety of Christmas cookies with one dough base. To the base you will add various ingredients to create 3 different cookies: Pecan Tassies, Almond Snowballs and Linzer Tarts.
Basic Dough:
Ingredients: 3 packages Organic Sugar Cookie Mix from The Pure Pantry
1 ½ cups organic unsalted butter or butter substitute such as Earth Balance Buttery Sticks
3 large organic eggs
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
Using electric mixer, cream butter. Add eggs and vanilla. Stir in contents of sugar cookie packages and mix for about 1 minute. Remove dough from bowl and divide into 3 equal parts and cover with waxed paper. Dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for 2 weeks.
Pecan Tassies
Makes 16 cookies
Ingredients
1 portion of prepared Sugar Cookie dough (from 1 package of Organic Sugar Cookie Mix from The Pure Pantry)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 large egg
2 tablespoons raw agave nectar, such as Nature’s Agave Raw variety
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll dough into sixteen 1-inch balls, and press into bottoms and up sides of cups of mini-muffin tins.
2. Make the filling: Cream butter with brown sugar in mixing bowl. Add egg and mix until combined. Add agave, vanilla and saltand blend. Stir in chopped pecans. Spoon about 1 1/2 teaspoons filling into each muffin cup.
3. Bake pecan tassies for 15 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool completely on wire rack. Can be stored in single layers in airtight containers up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 weeks.
Almond Snowballs
Makes Makes 18 cookies
Ingredients
1 portion prepared Sugar Cookie dough (from 1 package of Organic Sugar Cookie Mix from The Pure Pure Pantry)
½ cup almond flour2 teaspoons almond extract
½ cup finely chopped blanched almond
2 cups confectioners’ sugar, for dusting cookies
1. Place sugar cookie dough in bowl of electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment. On low setting add almond flour, almond extract and chopped almonds.
2. Remove dough from bowl and form a ball. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place parchment paper on cookie sheet or grease cookie sheet. Remove dough from refrigerator. Using about 1 tablespoon of dough, roll into balls to form 18 cookies. Place on cookie sheet 1 inch apart. Bake for 15 minutes, until golden brown.
4. Remove cookies from oven and let cool for 3 minutes. Place half the confectioners’ sugar in a 9 x 12 baking pan. Place warm cookies in baking pan and put remaining sugar on top. Roll cookies in sugar to coat and let them cool in the sugar for an additional 30 minutes. Remove cookies, shake off excess sugar, and place in air tight container.
Raspberry Linzer Cookies
Makes 10 cookies
Ingredients
1 portion prepared Sugar Cookie dough (from 1 package of Organic Sugar Cookie Mix from The Pure Pantry)
½ cup seedless raspberry jam
½ cup confectioners’ sugar for dusting cookies
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a work surface with waxed paper dusted with gluten-free flour. Dust rolling pin with gluten-free flour.
2. Place dough on waxed paper and roll out to ¼” thickness. Cut 20 cookies with 2 inch diameter scalloped circle cookie cutter. Cut the center of 10 cookies with a small heart or star cookie cutter to create a window. In the center of each of the 10 cookies that do not have a window, place 1 teaspoon raspberry jam. Place on top of the jam a cookie that has a window cut out to create a sandwich. Bake at 350˚ for 10 minutes.
3. Remove from oven and let cool on cookie sheet. Lightly dust with confectioner’s sugar if desired.
Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies
Baking cookies has always been my favorite thing about the holidays. This year my gift to you is 12 special holiday cookie recipes that you can bake and share with friends and family — all gluten and allergen friendly! I hope they will help make your holidays merry and bright — and a little less stressful. Happy Holidays!
