Holiday Sugar Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting

'Tis the season to be merry, play in the snow, drink hot chocolatey beverages and do all those other warm fuzzy things people do during this time of year, like sharing gluten free cookies with your family and friends or something, which brings me to:

Cookies. Christmas cookies. Holiday cookies. Birthday cookies. Halloween cookies. Ayyam-i-Ha cookies. Cookies just for the sake of having cookies. Whatever the occasion or season or month of the year, you can't go wrong with baking a nice batch of cookies. 

I mean seriously. Have you ever heard of a person turning down a tray of cookies? Show up at any strangers door with a plate of cookies and a smile and I assure you, you will make a friend (or enter into a really awkward conversation about why you are at their door with cookies...but lets just stick with make a friend). 

I have been trying to find a good gluten free and healthy cut out sugar cookie recipe and all the ones I found sounded...well...not that promising. So I decided, forget the healthy part, let me just come up with a recipe that is gluten free. After all, you can't really have a sugar cookie without sugar and butter...

These ones, I am pleased to say, are jam packed with a glorious amount of sugar and butter and flavor! The texture is just like a thick sugar cookie (I think,  though I can't really remember what a "normal" thick sugar cookie tastes like). 

I think one of the keys to making a nice crispy/yet soft cookie is the part where you chill it. Leave it there for an hour or 2 and your cookies will come out way better than if you make them right away. 

These are a hodge-podge of non-traditional holiday cookies. I don't have any holiday cookie cutters, so I just used what I have. They are as follows: R2D2, Darth Vader, a teddy bear, an upside down J (which I thought could kind of look like a candy cane), and a nine pointed star.  

Enjoy the recipe (try making it with family or friends, baking together is so much more fun!) 

I hope you have a very merry holiday season that is filled with delightful people and delightful food! :) 

Holiday Sugar Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting

Preheat oven to 375 F , line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, makes about 30 cut out cookies 

Ingredients: 

1 1/2 cups gluten free oat flour

1 1/2 cups coconut flour

1 cup unsalted butter (softened) 

1 cup organic raw sugar 

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp coconut milk

1 egg

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp sea salt

 powdered sugar for rolling 

Directions: 

In a standing mixer or regular mixing bowl cream together the butter and sugar on medium speed until fully combined. Next mix in the vanilla, egg, and milk. Mix on medium. Add in the flour, salt, and baking powder. Mix until a nice stiff dough starts to form. Scrap down the sides of the bowl with a spatula and form a ball in the middle of the bowl with the dough. Transfer the dough onto some plastic wrap or wax paper and flatten out the ball into a thick circle. Wrap up completely and chill in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours. 

Take out of fridge and place on a flat surface that has been dusted with powdered sugar (also dust your rolling pin with some so the dough doesn't stick).  The circle of chilled dough will be pretty tough so I normally just break off sections of it and warm it up in my hands until it is workable. Then roll out the dough until it is about 1 cm thick. Use any design of cookie cutters you want ( holiday or star wars or random letters..you know the usual..) . Place cut out cookies onto the lined parchment paper and place on middle rack. Bake for 8 to 9 minutes or until the edges are just turning golden. Take out and let stand on sheet for about 2 - 3 minutes and then transfer cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely. 

Cream Cheese Frosting 

Ingredients: 

1 cup (or 2 sticks) unsalted butter (softened) 

1 package (8 oz) cream cheese (softened) 

1 cup powdered sugar (to start with, add more if necessary) 

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp coconut milk (start off with 2 and then add up to 2 more depending on how thick you want to frosting to be) 

Directions: 

In a standing mixer or bowl beat together the cream cheese and butter on medium speed. Add in the vanilla, coconut milk and sugar. Mix on medium and then gradually increase speed to high. Add in extra coconut milk or powdered sugar depending on how thick you want the frosting to be. Make sure all the lumps are mixed out of the frosting before turning the mixer off. Once you have a smooth consistency to your frosting feel free to divide it up in different bowls and use food coloring to make it red or green or any color you feel like. :)   

Wait until the cookies are cooled completely before frosting. Use sprinkles or cinnamon candies or chocolates to decorate, or just eat them plain. Either way, these little cookies are sure to make your tummy very happy. 

 (my leaning Vader)

Vegan GF Choconana Bread

Vegan AND gluten free?? Yes indeed!

Recently we had a friend staying over who couldn't eat dairy, eggs, nuts, or gluten. Being the baker that I am I wanted to still make something for her to eat while she was visiting. I decided to try my hand at making a gluten free vegan banana bread (just wasn't sure what to put in it...).

I decided just to experiment with the ingredients I had that weren't any of the items she was allergic too and see how it turned out. Spoiler Alert: it was amazing! (I mean seriously yum)

Even though I was a bit hesitant about using olive oil in a sweet baked good (yeah olives and bananas don't usually go well together..) it actually turned out super moist and tasting surprisingly like actual banana bread. In my original recipe I didn't use chocolate chips because those have dairy and soy products in them but when I made it again for just my husband and I, we had some dark chocolate chips laying around so I decided to throw them in (great decision by the way,  dark chocolate makes everything ten times better).

The name Choconana Bread was thought up by one of our other friends who we shared this little loaf with (thanks for that Jennifer).  :)



Vegan GF Choconana Bread

Preheat oven to 350 F, grease a bread pan (5x8)

Ingredients:
3 ripe bananas (mashed)
1 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup olive oil (or any other type of oil you prefer)
1/4 cup coconut sugar
3 cups gluten free oat flour (or a mixture of coconut and almond works too)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions:
In a large bowl, mash the three bananas together (I usually just do this with a fork). Next add in the vanilla, coconut sugar, oil, and coconut milk. Mix together throughly. Add in the cinnamon and mix well. Then, add in the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Mix completely but do not over mix. Last, add in the chocolate chips and make sure they are evenly mixed and distributed throughout the batter. Pour the batter into the prepared bread pan and place in the oven on the middle rack for 45 - 50 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out of the middle clean. Enjoy!

Cocoa Almond Cookies

First off, let me start by saying, oh my gosh! It's been a few weeks since I posted a recipe! How did that happen? My favorite holiday happened. Traveling to be with family for Thanksgiving takes up a lot of time. And then getting back into the swing of things at home takes some time too :) Anyways, I am back and baking/cooking like crazy!

So almonds. Almonds are my friends. When you can't eat wheat and gluten you become limited in the types of flours and ingredients you can bake with and almonds are probably one of my favorite gluten free ingredients. I love almond butter, flour, paste, milk, and just almonds in general (all of which can be used to make some pretty tasty recipes). I have to be careful not to oversaturate myself in any particular ingredient (moderation in everything is key).

I came up with this recipe really because I was trying to figure out how to use the rest of my almond paste (which I had bought for my gluten free almond cake recipe that I will post sometime soon). These little cookies are a great addition to your holiday baking list (just make sure non of your neighbors or friends are allergic to nuts...) They go great with milk (Santa would love them), and even adding a dash of peppermint extract would make them even more holiday-ish :)



Cocoa Almond Cookies

Preheat oven to 350 F , makes 18 little cookies, line baking sheet with parchment paper

Ingredients

2 cups almond flour
1/3 cup coconut oil (softened not melted)
1 egg
1/3 cup almond paste
2 tbsp coconut sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

In a KitchenAid mixer or mixing bowl add in the coconut oil, almond paste, sugar and vanilla. Beat on low until a creamy paste forms. Add in the cinnamon, cocoa powder and egg. Mix on low until all incorporated. Next add in the flour and baking powder and soda. Mix on low until incorporated. Last add in the chocolate chips and mix briefly until evenly distributed throughout the dough. Using a regular kitchen table spoon, scoop out the cookies onto the baking sheet in little round drop (you can also use your hands to form little cookie disks), make sure they are evenly spaced. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until edges are completely firm. Let cool on rack for 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy!