Gluten Free Christmas Cookies

Peanut Butter Thumbprint Cookies

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• 1 cup gluten-free all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup almond flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• Dash of salt
• 3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
• 3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons white sugar for dusting
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/2 cup jam

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt together. In another bowl, beat peanut butter, applesauce, butter and brown sugar together until smooth and creamy. Add egg and almond extract and mix until smooth. Gradually add the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture, beating after each addition until a dough forms.
3. Roll dough into balls and then roll into white sugar. Place each ball onto the cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart. Bake for about 10 minutes. Pull cookies out and make an indent using the back of a spoon or your thumb (cookies will be hot). After each cookie has a print, push back into the oven and bake another 6 minutes, or until golden brown.
4. While cookies are warm, place about 1/2 teaspoon of jam into the indent of each cookie. Let cool completely and enjoy!

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Gluten-Free Banana Cookies Recipe

Gluten-free and vegan banana cookie recipe.

Gluten-free vegan banana cookies.

As with any gluten-free recipe, the flour mix you use will influence the taste and texture of these crunchy-on-the-outside soft-in-the-middle cookies. I used a combo of several flours for the complex texture I prefer. I'll give possible substitutions for each flour, though because we all know no one uses the exact same gluten-free flour combo, right?

Ingredients:

2 ripe and soft medium bananas, mashed into a puree
1/2 cup light olive oil
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
1-2 tablespoons vanilla rice or hemp milk (at higher altitudes, start with 1 Tbsp)
1 cup Bob's Red Mill gluten-free rolled oats
1 cup sorghum flour or brown rice flour
1/3 cup Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Cornmeal*
1/3 cup GF buckwheat flour (or brown rice, almond meal, or sorghum flour)
1/3 cup tapioca starch (or cornstarch, potato starch)
1/3 cup gluten-free oat flour (or any brown rice/sorghum flour)
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 1/2 cup organic light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon or more cinnamon or nutmeg
1/2 cups chopped pecans, walnuts, or peanuts, optional
2 free-range organic eggs- or Ener-G Egg Replacer for 2 eggs made with vanilla rice milk

Instructions:

Mix the bananas, oil, vanilla, rice milk and gluten-free oats in a bowl and set it aside for 10 to 15 minutes (to soften the oats).* If you are making these cookies pronto and not chilling the dough, I might add the cornmeal now, too, to soften.

Whisk together the flour and dry ingredients through cinnamon (basically, you want 2 1/3 cups gluten-free flour):

When the oats have softened in the banana mixture for ten to fifteen minutes, add the mixture into the dry mix and stir well, until a sticky cookie batter forms.

Add in the nuts and the eggs/egg replacer; mix well. I used the egg replacer and it worked fine- as you can see in the photograph.

Chill the dough in the fridge for an hour- or more.*

*If you absolutely can't wait, Dear Heart, you can chill the dough as you preheat the oven, and/or powder your hands with confectioner's sugar to form the dough into balls- it takes a little finesse this way because it's quite sticky, but you can do it. I know you can.

Preheat the oven to 375ºF.

Form the dough into balls and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Note* I do not press down on the dough balls because in my experience, gluten-free cookies can melt too much and flatten during baking.

Place the baking sheet on the center rack of a preheated oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes- depending upon the size of the dough balls- for instance, we made 24 balls which made a nice, hefty cookie; they took 20 minutes to bake. If you make 32 or 36 cookies, baking time will be shorter. But you knew that, right?

Let the cookies cool briefly on the pan; then using a thin spatula, loosen and move them to a wire rack to cool. They will get crisper as they cool.

Store in an air-tight container if they'll disappear quickly. But- better yet- wrap two cookies at a time with foil, and bag them in a freezer bag; freeze. The cookies will taste fresher this way (in my humble opinion).

Makes 24-30 cookies.

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Chewy Molasses

Yields about 14 cookies. Recipe adapted from Recipe Girl.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon xantham gum
• 2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1-1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup molasses
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon gluten-free vanilla
• White & red icing gel (gluten-free) for decorating

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a bowl, beat the butter and sugars until creamy. Add egg and vanilla and beat until fully combined. Slowly stir in molasses.
3. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, xantham gum, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt. Make a well in the center.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well.
5. Roll tablespoons of dough into balls and roll them into white sugar. Then place them about 1 inch apart on the cookie sheet.
6. Bake for about 8 to 10 minutes, or until you see cracks on the top. Let cool completely. Once cooled make little trees on the top with white and red icing gel.