Redeeming a Sweet Tradition | Gluten Free Sugar Cookies

As many of you know, I've chosen to go gluten-free as a part of a more anti-inflammatory way of life. What I haven't share with you before now is why. I'm doing this because I'm recovery from a couple of serious car accidents and I want to give my body all the tools it needs to heal. What I'm learning along the way is that everyone's journey to going gluten-free is different. I have friends with Celiac disease who are gluten-free because they have to avoid all gluten in order to stay alive. I have friends who are gluten-free for the sake of their figure and find it an amazing tool for staying slim. And I have friends like me whose bodies "tolerate" gluten but aren't the happiest when they eat it. For all of us, we get to learn together.

I feel like saying that I haven't made this choice to jump in on a trend. I've chosen to go gluten-free {on the recommendation of my very lovely naturopath} for the sake of greater health, and I've decided that this will NOT be a process of denial and punishment. Rather than thinking of it as a list of "no no's," I have chosen to think of it as an adventure in recreating recipes and finding new foodie loves.

Holiday baking being a classic tradition, I decided to reinvent a simple, classic Sugar Cookie recipe to create a holiday treat that is "safe" for me and all of my gluten-free friends. And what better way to make those sweet treats than with friends!

PHOTO BY GABRIELA HANSEN

The star player in our gluten-free baking adventures so far has definitely been Cup4Cup flour. The dough this product creates {from pie crust dough to cookie dough} is insanely beautiful to work with. In fact, I prefer it over regular flour! Seriously. The result with these sugar cookies not only tastes great, but the edges are so clean that my baking queen of a friend Natalie asked if I'd cut them twice {once before and once after baking}! I seriously think you'll love working with it.

PHOTO BY GABRIELA HANSEN

My other secret weapon? Coconut sugar. OK, so I guess this makes these sugar-free Sugar Cookies! A rather lovely twist in the plot if you ask me! So why do I use coconut sugar instead of regular cane sugar? A) It is anti-inflammatory and super low on the glycemic index, and B) I actually have an anaphylactic allergy to cane sugar, so it's kind of a non-negotiable for me. {Please celebrate this one with me as it is actually the BEST anti-aging allergy I could possibly have. I seriously feel blessed with this one.} Coconut sugar has quickly become my favourite cane-sugar-substitute, and the great news is that you can now get coconut sugar in bulk at Costco!! It makes me so happy to see healthy living becoming increasingly accessible for everyone.

The amazing thing about the way the coconut sugar performs in this recipe is that it seems to caramelize as it bakes, giving the cookies a maple shortbread kind of flavour without a drop of maple syrup or maple sugar involved. SUPER yummy! And the cookies are actually soft. That's right. Gluten-free cookies that are not as dry as the Sahara. Even my non-gluten-free family and friends love these little lovelies! Now that is a triumph. Here's how we made them:

THE RECIPE

1 1/2 c softened organic butter

2 c coconut sugar

4 eggs or egg substitute equivalent {I used egg substitute as this is another allergy for me}

1 tsp vanilla extract

5 c. Cup4Cup flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

THE METHOD

In a stand mixer, cream together the butter, coconut sugar, egg substitute and vanilla. In a separate bowl, mix together the dry ingredients and then slowly add them to the wet ingredients until fully combined. Wrap the dough and chill for an hour {or overnight}. You can even freeze it in balls to bake one batch at a time if you'd like!

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Roll the dough out onto a lightly floured surface until it's about 1/4" thick. Use your favourite cookie cutters to cut out shapes and place the cut cookies on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 6-8 minutes and cool completely before icing.

PHOTO BY GABRIELA HANSEN

Oh yes, I nearly forgot! What does a sugar-free girl do about icing, you might ask? Well, my friend Jenn was the problem solver on this one. She gave me the idea to create a cream-cheese-based icing and pipe that on instead of Royal Icing. That's just what I did and it worked like a charm! I just mixed one tub of spreadable light cream cheese with about 20 drops of Stevia and 2 TBSP of honey {I didn't use coconut sugar here because I wanted the icing to stay white}. As you can see, no one would ever know it wasn't Royal Icing just to look at the finished product. Yes, the icing has a cream-cheesy flavour, but I actually like that a lot. For my next batch I might experiment with a bit of lemon juice or lemon zest added to the icing for a refreshing twist, though I think I'll have to go with a full-fat cream cheese to keep it from getting too runny if I do that.

See? There are most definitely creative ways to reinvent the old classics! No need for total self-denial or missing out on holiday traditions! What are your favourite holiday treats? Any gluten-free baking tips from all you veterans out there? I'd love to continue learning together!

Wishing you all a wonderful {gluten-free} Wednesday.

xo
s.

Labels: baking, Christmas, coconut sugar, Cup4Cup flour, French Laundry, Gabriela Hansen Photography, gluten-free, holiday baking, kitchen, Lena Kwak, Madhava