Once upon a time, I made tons of different Christmas cookies. A few years back we realized my daughter needed to go gluten-free. And making Christmas cookies she could have limited the varieties I made. Ironically, she has become much the baker and has perfected her gluten-free frosted cookie recipe. Now they are a staple at Christmas time… or on any random day, she decided to make them! This post is sponsored by Dixie Crystals and Oriental Trading.
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Decorating Cookies
Not only does my daughter have to be gluten-free, but ALL of my children are allergic to artificial food coloring. Avoiding artificial food coloring is actually harder than wheat!
But, over the years we have gotten used to it. Having an Aldi near us helps too since their brands don’t use artificial food coloring. Coloring things ourselves, that’s when it gets tricky.
Tasha made me a batch of her cookies. I had told her we were going to decorate them with Christmas trees. She planned on making them tree-shaped.
I had other plans… My idea was to ice the cookies with white frosting and then decorate with a tree. Similar to this beautiful cookie from Dessert for Two.
Let’s just say…
Things Didn’t Go as Planned
The first problem I had… tinting the frosting green naturally… well, my attempts didn’t work.
Did I mention Dixie Crystals sent me powdered sugar? Twelve pounds of it! Which was good, because I tested a few coloring batches.
So, I moved on to plan B. When Aldi has decorating sprinkles, I tend to grab several jars. The colors change with the seasons. At $2.99, I don’t mind picking up 3-4 jars and having them on hand for whenever Tasha wants to decorate cookies.
Plan B involved making a little template with my Cricut. Something I could place over the cookie, shake the colored sprinkles over.
Awhile back, I picked up a pack of thin, flexible cutting boards from the dollar store. I thought this would be the perfect way to make a “cookie stencil.”
And, maybe it would have been, except I’m not quite knowledgeable enough with my Cricut. After several attempts, I only managed to get a deep cut in the plastic, not all the way through.
I gave up and cut it with an Exacto knife!
So, now I’m all excited about my cookie stencil… and it sticks to the frosting and pulls half of it up!
Tasha… “mom, seriously, have you forgotten how to decorate cakes and cookies? I made a fluffy buttercream frosting, not the smooth decorating type. I want my frosting to taste good!”
Me, “oh, yeah…”
The lesson here is… If you’ve turned over the baking reins to your child, just let them be in charge.
Presentation is Everything
Time for me to head back to what I’m better at… crafting!
My friends at Oriental Trading sent me these awesome plastic jars… perfect for filling with cookies for my upcoming cookie exchange!
This week, I’ll be crocheting through some of my yarn stash to make more jar bags. I don’t know yet how many people I’m swapping with, so if I run out of the plastic jars, I can use mason jars or something else.
Despite my decorating failure, the cookies still tasted great!
And they were gone by the time I went back to put some in the jar to photograph!
Gluten-Free Frosted Cookies
Gluten-Free Frosted Cookies
Ingredients
- For the cookies:
- 2 cups gluten-free flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1 stick of soft butter
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- For the frosting:
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 stick of softened butter
- 1.5 teaspoons vanilla
- 1-2 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- In a bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, salt, and sugars.
- Blend in the butter, eggs, and vanilla
- Roll dough out and cut into shapes.
- Bake 6-8 minutes.
- Mix together powdered sugar and butter.
- Add vanilla and gradually add milk as needed to the frosting.
- When the cookies are completely cool, frost!
MEET OUR SPONSORS who have generously donated fabulous prizes for the Big Christmas Giveaway!
DecoArt winner will receive a prize package valued at $100!
Dixie Crystals/Imperial Sugar winner will receive a Keurig Coffee Maker valued at $100!
Oriental Trading winner will receive an OrientalTrading.com gift card valued at $200!
Cabot Cheese winner will receive a gift basket of Cabot products valued at $75!
Burlap Fabric winner will receive a prize pack of products valued at $50!
Zulay Kitchens winner will receive one Milk Frother and a Lemon Squeezer valued at $21
It's Home To You winner will receive one wooden Santa sign valued at $65
Giveaway begins Nov. 8, 2019 and ends Dec. 6, 2019. Winners will be notified by December 13, 2019. Sponsors will ship each prize to the winner. There will be a total of six winners, one for each prize. Drawing is by random selection using the Rafflecopter widget.
Must be 18 to win. Open to U.S. residents only.
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