Cookies are people too. And sometimes, they’re snowmen. Especially when you have a fairly pathetic complement of proper cookie cutters. Or did until last night. When you went to a … more
Cookies are people too.
And sometimes, they’re snowmen.
Especially when you have a fairly pathetic complement of proper cookie cutters. Or did until last night. When you went to a new shopping center nearby that has a Sur La Table with a whole mess of cookie cutters for $1.00. And set things to rights in your kitchen for this holiday season.
‘Cause it’s on. We baked the heck out of Thanksgiving, and now we’re turning our attention to Cookie Season. Consider yourself warned.
To your dry ingredients, add pure vanilla extract, molasses and honey …
… then the nonhydrogenated vegetable shortening.
It’s gonna be lumpy. But when we add some water, it’s gonna smooth things right out.
Then roll it out between two sheets of parchment paper with a French Rolling Pin until it’s no less than 1/4 inch thick. If you make it too thin, the dough will be really hard to handle.
Then chill the dough, as rolled out, in the freezer for about 10 minutes until it’s firm.
Flour your cookie cutter.
And cut out your shapes. Then pull back the dough, leaving behind your people. They’re a little floured. Just dust them off with a pastry brush. No biggie.
Transfer them to a rimmed baking sheet.
Like so.
Then decorate.
And perhaps pretend you’re Charles Schulz.
Or just a girl. With a piping bag. Who loves Peanuts.
- 1¾ cups (245 g) high-quality all-purpose gluten-free flour
- ¾ teaspoon xanthan gum (omit if your blend already contains it)
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅓ cup (73 g) packed brown sugar
- ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- 4 tablespoons unsulphured molasses
- 2 tablespoons honey
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 5 tablespoons (60 g) nonhydrogenated vegetable shortening
- ⅓ cup cold water
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, place flour, xanthan gum, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt, brown sugar and granulated sugar, and whisk to combine well. Add molasses, honey and vanilla, and mix to combine as best you can (it will be lumpy). Add the shortening, and mix again as best you can (lumpier still).
- Add the water, and mix until smooth. Place the dough between two sheets of parchment paper and roll out into a rectangle about ¼ inch thick, no thinner (see photo). Place in the freezer to chill until firm, about 10 minutes.
- Flour your cookie cutter (see photo), and cut out shapes. Peel back the surrounding dough (see photo), and place the cutouts evenly spaced on rimmed baking sheets. Gather and re-roll scraps, chill and cut out again.
- Place the pan in the center of the preheated oven and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until just lifting off the pan easily (longer for crisp cookies). Remove from the oven and cool completely before decorating.
Love,
Me
P.S. If you haven’t yet, please pick up a copy of both of My Cookbooks! I can’t keep the blog going without your support!
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