Lemon baked goods are a sweet favorite of mine like these Gluten Free Lemon Crinkles.
christmas cookies
Polvorones de Canele
Continuing on with this year’s Homemade Christmas I have Polvorones de Canele, Mexican Cinnamon Cookies.
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Classic M&M Cookies
Up next on my Homemade Christmas list is a classic cookie that I love, Classic M&M Cookies.
Raspberry Thumbprints
On my fourth day of Homemade Christmas, I bring to you, Raspberry Thumbprints.
Peppermint Meltaways
It’s cookie season! Time to get out that parchment paper and line those cookie sheets and get baking! I have been testing so many different recipes lately to add to my homemade Christmas list that I cannot even begin to tell you how many cookies and treats I have made and my family has eaten. I can tell you my family has some new favorites that we will be sharing with our friends and family this year. Sweet treats like Peppermint Meltaways.
Cracked Sugar Cookies
For my last day of my 12 days of Homemade Christmas I made Cracked Sugar Cookies and had some fun with them. My family loves the Grinch. My husband has, Your a mean one Mr Grinch, as his ring tone. He will break out and start singing it too at any given moment. Then there is my current mood, quite grinch-y. I have yet to get in the Christmas spirit. Some years it is easier than others and it seems the older I get, the more trouble I have.I don’t know if it is the over commercialization of the holidays and the fact we have Christmas stuff in the stores starting in August and there is the constant rush from holiday to holiday. Maybe it is because I have been sick and trying to train for my marathon and have been very busy with my volunteer responsibilities. Then again it could just be the normal stress of the season and being an adult and knowing someone has to pay for this. For whatever the reason I turned to my baking and had a little fun. I took my normal cracked sugar cookies and turned them into Grinch Cracked Sugar Cookies.
All I did was add some Neon Green food coloring (Americolor) and place heart shaped candies in the middle of each cookie. The hearts didn’t quite make it, they melted a bit but not so much that my oldest couldn’t immediately figure out what type of cookies I had made. I’ll take that as a success.
As for my mood it is still grinch-y I still have a little time before Christmas for the spirit to hit me. Hopefully it will soon!
Check out my 12 Days of Homemade Christmas for other great ideas!
Cracked Sugar Cookies
Author:
Country Girl Gourmet
Ingredients
- 1¼ cups white sugar
- 1 cup butter
- 3 egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2½ cups gluten free all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Lightly grease 2 cookie sheets.
- Cream together sugar and butter. Beat in egg yolks and vanilla.
- Add flour, baking soda, xanthan gum, and cream of tartar. Stir.
- Form dough into walnut size balls and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheet. Don't flatten. Bake 10 to 11 minutes, until tops are cracked and just turning color.
From Allrecipes.com
Peanut Butter and Jelly Thumbprint Cookies
Since I became Gluten Free 2 years ago I have missed eating classic peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Rice cakes just don’t cut it and gluten free bread while excellent for grilled cheese are not the best bread for peanut butter and jelly. There is something about the childhood classic. This Christmas I decided to do something about that, I made peanut butter and jelly thumbprint cookies.
While they are not sandwiches they have the flavor I am wanting from a classic PB&J. I thought they would be perfect for Christmas! My family gobbled them up! I went out to pick up some things for Christmas and they were all gone when I got home! I guess than means I need to make more cookies!
Check out my 12 Days of Homemade Christmas for other great ideas!
Peanut Butter and Jelly Thumbprints
Author:
Country Girl Gourmet
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter or shortening
- ½ cup peanut butter
- ½ cup white sugar
- ½ cup packed brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1¼ cups gluten free all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum
- ½ cup seedless raspberry jam
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, beat butter, peanut butter, white sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla together in a bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Add egg to butter mixture and beat on medium speed until blended. Stir in and combine dry ingredients.
- Cover and chill for 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Scoop dough into 2 tablespoon-sized balls and arrange on a baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes.
- Place raspberry jam in a bowl and stir until syrup consistency.
- With a spoon make an indentation in the center of each cookie. Fill each indentation with about 1 teaspoon jam.
Recipe adapted from Allrecipes.com
Gluten Free Shortbread Cookies
During the holidays there is always something going on where you need a special sweet treat and having a super easy shortbread recipe around can help in a pinch. Shortbread needs minimal ingredients. Just flour, sugar, butter and a bit of vanilla. All items I have on hand all the time. This year I decided I needed some shortbread cookies in my life so I converted a recipe and made a gluten free version. The recipe only needed one new ingredient, xanthan gum and I swapped the all purpose flour for gluten free all purpose flour. These are simple alterations that will make the gluten free person in your life happy.
When making shortbread I like to make logs of shortbread cookie dough that I then wrap in wax paper and store in a ziplock bag. This allows me to be able to slice and bake cookies whenever I need them. Then I like to drizzle my shortbread with melted chocolate and sprinkle with a few nonpareils or other seasonal sprinkles. It makes for a simple yet beautiful cookie that everyone loves.
Check out my 12 Days of Homemade Christmas for other great ideas!
Gluten Free Shortbread Cookies
Author:
Country Girl Gourmet
Ingredients
- 2 cups butter, softened
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 4 cups gluten free all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
- Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Stir in vanilla; add flour and mix well.
- Put through cookie press and form cookies onto baking sheets. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes.
- Alternative Method:
- Roll the dough into four logs, wrapped the logs in waxed paper, placed in the fridge to harden, and then sliced in about ½" slices when ready to bake.
Recipe adapted from Allrecipes.com
Chocolate Mint Crinkles
Every year for I try to make a new candy or cookie or two for Christmas. This year I decided to try Chocolate Crinkles. I don’t know why I have never made theses cookies before. Seriously what is not to love about a chocolate cookie that is covered in powdered sugar? Umm, nothing at all! So I got to work and made them with a twist making, Chocolate Mint Crinkles.
Chocolate Crinkles are a basically a drop cookie, you create your dough, scoop with a cookie scoop, roll in confectioners sugar and bake. They are a simple cookie to make. What takes these cookies to the next level is the addition of mint extract making these a Chocolate Mint Crinkle. With the exception of my husband we love the chocolate mint flavor combo in our house. My kids are cookie monsters and couldn’t wait for the cookies so I got to work.
These cookies were perfect for us and were a welcome addition to my kiddos school lunches and after school snacks! My oldest has asked that we make them again and they are easy enough that I just may let him make them on his own. He can make a mean cookie. Heck it could be our new tradition that the kids make the cookies all by themselves for Christmas instead of mom, hmmmm. The way they like to eat cookies I am sure they would be all over that idea! They love to bake and I love to have them in the kitchen. I just need to work on getting them to clean up.
Check out my 12 Days of Homemade Christmas for other great ideas!
Chocolate Mint Crinkles
Author:
Country Girl Gourmet
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 cups white sugar
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 4 eggs
- 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 2 cups gluten free all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup confectioners' sugar
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, mix together cocoa, white sugar, and vegetable oil. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla and mint extracts. Combine the flour, baking powder, xanthan gum, and salt; stir into the cocoa mixture. Cover dough, and chill for at least 4 hours.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Roll dough into one inch balls. I like to use a number 50 size scoop. Coat each ball in confectioners' sugar before placing onto prepared cookie sheets.
- Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes. Let stand on the cookie sheet for a minute before transferring to wire racks to cool.
Recipe adapted from Allrecipes.com
Cut Out Sugar Cookies
I am so far behind on my 12 days of Homemade Christmas blogs that it isn’t even funny but I will be catching up as fast as I can before Christmas. I have been working on a huge project that was very close to my heart. As a community outreach director for Team RWB I am always looking for different ways we can give back to our community. I thought what better way to give back to our community and help veterans at the same time than to visit the North Carolina State veterans home and since it was Christmas bring them some Christmas treats. Part one of the project was to have a cookie exchange and cookie decorating event. Classic Cut Out Sugar Cookies were to be made and decorated. I just had to figure out how to make it work.
Since Team RWB is a volunteer led non profit organization I needed to find the most cost effective way of going about this. I looked at the cost of premade dough as well as cookie mixes and decided homemade cut out sugar cookies would be the way we would go. Next step was finding a recipe. I have a family recipe that we love but they often puff a bit and lose their shape. I wanted the cookies to hold their shape. So I asked my Allrecipes Allstar friends for their favorite recipe and I went to work on the King Arthur Flour Cut Out Sugar Cookies recipe.
Since I wasn’t making the cookies for myself I made them with regular all purpose flour. I had a ton of cookies to make too. All purpose flour was the most cost effective way to get the job done. I ended up making over 15 dozen cut out sugar cookies! My Allrecipes Allstar friends were spot on with their recipe recommendation too. These cookies perfectly held their shape! I then gave a few to my family to test out and they said they were perfect. Hopefully the veterans at the veterans home thought so too! We visited with them and delivered the bags full of treats on Sunday. Visiting with them was completely humbling and worth it overtime we saw a face light up.
Now that it is time for me to make cookies for my family for Christmas I will most definitely be making this recipe so my kids can make and decorate cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve.
Check out my 12 Days of Homemade Christmas for other great ideas!
Cut Out Sugar Cookies
Author:
Country Girl Gourmet
Ingredients
- 1¼ cups confectioners' sugar
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons salted butter or margarine, room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- 2¾ cups All-Purpose Flour
Instructions
- Combine the sugar, butter, egg yolk, salt, and flavor, beating until smooth. Add the flour, mixing until smooth. The mixture will seem dry at first, but will suddenly come together. If it doesn't, dribble in a tablespoon of water.
- Divide the dough in half, shape each half into a flattened disk, and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for 2 hours, or overnight. When you're ready to bake, remove the dough from the refrigerator, and let it soften for about 20 to 30 minutes, until it feels soft enough to roll. It should still feel cold, but shouldn't feel rock-hard.
- Sprinkle your rolling surface with flour, and flour your rolling pin. Working with one piece of dough at a time, roll it ⅛" to 3/16" thick. Use a cookie cutter to cut shapes. Re-roll and cut the dough scraps. Place the cookies on ungreased or parchment-lined baking sheets. They can be close together; they'll barely spread.
- Bake the cookies in a preheated 350°F oven for 12 to 14 minutes, until they're set and barely browned around the edges.
- Remove the cookies from the oven, and cool right on the pan. If you've used parchment, you can lift cookies and parchment off the pan, so you can continue to use the pan as the cookies cool.
- Repeat with the remaining piece of dough, rolling, cutting, and baking cookies. When cookies are completely cool, ice and decorate.
Recipe from King Arthur Flour