Twelve Days of Christmas | Day 11 | Almond Wreaths

Makes 24 cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup butter or butter substitute

2 eggs

3 tablespoon rice milk or regular milk

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 package organic, gluten-free Sugar Cookie Mix from The Pure Pantry

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cream butter or butter substitute in mixing bowl with electric mixer.  Add eggs, milk and almond extract and blend on low speed.  Slowly add sugar cookie mix.   Continue mixing until dough in blended together. 

If using a cookie press, place portion of dough in cookie press and form wreath shaped cookies, one inch apart, on cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. 

If forming wreaths by hand, chill dough for 10 minutes.   Remove from refrigerator.  Using about 1 tablespoon dough, roll into 3 inch long rope.  Bring ends together to form a wreath.  Repeat to make remainder of cookies.

Bake cookies  for 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and dust with confectioner’s sugar.  Let cool completely before removing from cookie sheet.

Twelve Days of Christmas | Day 10 | Peppermint Ice Cream Sandwiches

Ingredients:

 ½ cup unsalted butter or Earth Balance butter substitute, room temperature

2 large organic eggs, or equivalent egg replacer

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon of peppermint extract

1 package Sugar Cookie Mix from The Pure Pantry

¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 pint vanilla ice cream or Coconut Bliss Vanilla Ice Cream (dairy-free)

½ cup crushed gluten-free candy canes or crushed gluten-free peppermint candy

Instructions:

In a large bowl, cream the softened butter, using an electric mixer.  Add the eggs, vanilla and peppermint extracts.  Slowly incorporate the Sugar Cookie mix  and cocoa powder into the batter.  Scape the dough  from sides unti lwell incorporated.  Gather dough into 2 flattened discs, wrap the discs in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Roll out the chilled dough on a work surface, covered with rice flour or corn starch, to a 1/8” thickness.  Cut out circles, using a 3” round  scalloped cookie cutter.  Place the cookies on a parchment paper lined baking sheet, spaced several inches apart.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.  Transfer the cookies to a baking rack to cool completely.

Crush the peppermint candy in a plastic bag using a mallet or rolling pin. 

Remove vanilla ice cream from freezer.  Place ice cream in large mixing bowl.  Using a large fork, press half the peppermint candy into the ice cream.  Place bake in freezer until cookies are cooled.

Remove ice cream from freezer and let sit for about 5 mintes, until soft enough to spread but not too melted.  Spread about two tablespoons peppermint ice cream on one cookie and place other cookie on top to create a sandwhich.  Roll edges in crushed peppermint.  Place fnished sandwiches on a small cookie sheet in freezer for 15 minutes or until ready to serve.

Twelve Days of Christmas | Day 9 | Lemon-Ginger Pinwheels

The combination of ginger, molasses and tart lemon creates a delicious burst of flavor in your mouth!

Lemon-Ginger Pinwheels

Gluten-free with Dairy-free options

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups butter or butter substitute

2 eggs or equivalent egg replacer

2 packages organic, gluten-free Sugar Cookie Mix from The Pure Pantry

1 teaspoon lemon rind

2 teaspoons lemon juice (reserve additional juice for lemon glaze)

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons molasses

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ginger

1/4 teaspoon cloves

Lemon Glaze:

1 cup confectioner’s sugar

2-3 tablespoons lemon juice

1.  In large mixing bowl, cream butter or butter replacer with electric mixer. Add eggs or egg replacer and blend to combine.  Add two packages of Sugar Cookie Mix and blend on low speed.  Divide dough into two equal portions, keeping one portion in the bowl and placing the other portion aside on waxed paper.

2.  Add 1 teaspoon lemon rind, 2 teaspoons lemon juice and 1/8 teaspoon salt to dough and blend until combined.  With hands form into ball and flatten to disk. Cover with waxed paper and refrigerate.

3.  Place remaining dough in bowl. Add molasses, cinnamon, ginger and cloves and beat until blended. With hands form into ball and flatten to disk. Cover with waxed paper and refrigerate for 10 minutes.

4.  To make the pinwheel: roll lemon and ginger dough separately making two 10 x 8″ rectangles. Place the ginger dough onto the lemon dough and roll up from one of the long sides pinching edges to seal.  Wrap in clear plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour (or up to 24 hours).

5.  Remove dough from refrigerator.  Cut into 1/4-inch slices. Place 1 inch apart on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Bake until lightly browned on lemon section.  Cool on cookie sheet for 3-5 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.

6.  For lemon glaze: mix powdered sugar reserved lemon juice.  Spread on top of cookies and let dry.

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.

10/17/2011