If there’s one thing it’s almost impossible to find in a store that’s been gluten-freed, it’s Christmas cookies. Since it’s something I don’t even care to eat more than once a year, it’s totally understandable that a magic gluten-free cookie fairy isn’t going to show up in my neighborhood with a fresh-baked batch just in time for my seasonal glittery sugar craving. Right? Anyone have information to the contrary?
So I decided to use this opportunity to bust out Thomas Keller’s brand spanking new gluten-free flour, Cup4Cup since I know Christmas cookies can be a little bit unstable. As can relatives, this time of year. Added to a very simple sugar cookie recipe, it turned out these cute and festive wonders. Yes, we are all up in Hanukkah and the Christmas spirit.
It’s a bummer that gingerbread man peed his pants, with icing. And that I have the sense of humor of a 12-year-old.
Cup4Cup costs like $20, so I’ve been agonizing over what to make with my precious package of The French Laundry maestro’s gluten-free efforts. So any suggestions, please send my way because this made my cookies taste just like the real deal, and I’m blanking on what other amazoids gf’ness I need to be creating with this white gold. But you know what wasn’t great? The gluten-free icing that I bought. I mean, these guys like it, but I’m making my own next time.
But then again, they also created this when I let them go crazy with the icing and the icing pens.
I know. Totally scary. But those kids ate the crap out of these messed up Franken-cookies, and left the rest of them for us. Wheeee! Bring it, Christmas. We’re ready.
Gluten-Free Christmas Cookies
adapted from Good Housekeeping, that’s right I said Good Housekeeping
Prep time: 20 minutes & 1 hour chill time Cook time: 15 minutes
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In large bowl, with mixer on low speed, beat butter and sugar until blended. Increase speed to high; beat until light and creamy. On low speed, beat in egg and vanilla. Beat in gluten-free flour, baking powder, and salt until blended.
2. Divide dough into 4 equal pieces; flatten each piece into a disk. Wrap each disk with plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hour or until dough is firm enough to roll.
3. On lightly floured surface, with floured rolling pin (don’t forget gluten-free flour here!), roll 1 piece of dough 1/8 inch thick. With floured 3-inch to 4-inch cookie cutters, cut dough into as many cookies as possible. Place cookies, 1 inch apart, on ungreased large cookie sheet.
4. Bake cookies 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool.
5. When cookies are cool, decorate and set cookies aside to allow frosting to dry completely, about 1 hour. Store in tightly covered container (with waxed paper between layers if decorated) at room temperature up to 2 weeks, or in freezer up to 3 months.
Makes: 48 cookies
Gluten is my Bitch 
So…this $20 flour, I take it you don’t have to add xanthan gum or anything to it?
No need to add xanthan gum, it’s all-inclusive. As it should be for $20.
I say go for butter cookies/shortbread. And I am still shooting for gf croissants. If that $20 flour can make that happen, it is 100% worth the investment.
I might be too chicken shit to make croissants. But I’m looking for a recipe in 5, 4, 3, 2 . . .
Please amend the ingredient list so it explicitly says “gluten-free flour”. Too many people just don’t understand the disease and will use your basic all-purpose flour and think they’re doing the right thing. If they don’t read your entire article they inadvertently may be causing someone a lot of grief.
Yeah, I would assume since “gluten-free” and a reference to the Thomas Keller flour is in the headline and every paragraph people get it. However, if you are just printing out a recipe, it should be there. Fixing now!
I love c4c. I made chocolate chip muffins recently that were amazing. I found that you don’t need as much oil/butter/fat in the receipes because if the powered milk in the flour.
I also was floored by the price, but when I did the math, it was pretty much equal in price per cupcake as the pre made store mixes. I am keeping stock up on this because for me it is worth it.
I just somewhere else that powdered milk can be the key in making gluten-free treats amazing. And interesting about the price. That just might justify me buying it all the dang time. And mmmmmm, chocolate chip muffins!
I posted my recipe for the chocolate chip muffins, if you want to try it for yourself. I just got more C4C…so I will be making more this weekend 🙂
Jenn
I’ve already bookmarked it! Those look amazing. Thanks Jenn.
Looking forward to trying this this weekend. If I don’t have a mixer (are u listening Santa??) should I use a hand electric mixer or a lot of elbow grease?! Thanks! My celiac daughter will be so excited to have “real” Christmas cookies!
Use an electric mixer! You can go the elbow grease route, but if you’ve got electric, why torture yourself?
And I totally hope Santa brings you a Kitchen Aid for Christmas.
So, have you tried other non GF recipes with this flour mix? I am just curious how well it really works “cup for cup” in my favorite recipes I used to bake with prior to being diagnosed with celiac. Any help and insight will be appreciated!
I’m hoarding it, but am making something (hopefully) super amazing next week. Which I’ll totally share even if it sucks 😉
I’m voting for puff pastry. If this stuff can do that, I may blow my allowance at Williams-Sonoma :). Thanks for the review!
Victoria, I like the way you think. Sadly, I couldn’t do a puff pastry before my diagnosis, so I’m pretty sure I can’t now. However, I’m going to do some research.
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That icing IS the worst! We’ve tried other things from Cherrybrook Kitchen and been pleased (their gf/df/egg free muffin mix was pretty great), but their icing made my cookies worse. I make amazing (if I do say so myself) double fudgy brownies with C4C. No one, I mean no one, would know they’re GF. These were my first glimmer of hope that we could still be “normal” once my son was diagnosed with celiac. I ration my precious C4C, but it is worth it for these. Please try them!
1 C sugar
1 C C4C
1 stick butter
additional 1/2 stick butter
4 eggs
1 t vanilla
1/2 t salt
1 can (16 oz) Hershey’s chocolate syrup (it’s GF)
6 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
Cream together 1 (softened) stick of butter and sugar. Mix in vanilla and eggs (one at a time), and salt. Mix in Hershey’s syrup and slowly add C4C. Pour into greased brownie pan. Cook at 350 for 20-30 min or until a tester comes out clean. Allow to cool. Heat chocolate chips and 1/2 stick butter until smooth. Spread evenly over cooled brownies. Once ganache is cooled, cut into small squares.
I am making this. RAD. And yeah, I don’t really get how you can muck up frosting. But there it is.
OK, I’m going to spring for the C4C. I haven’t baked for like 2.5 years (since diagnosis) but I really want to start again. I printed out the recipe, woo hoo!
I am so glad someone else hates the Cherrybrook frosting because we were sent that from sympathetic fellow Celiacs last Christmas and it was DEPRESSING, how awful it was.
I’ve had incredible luck with plain old Better Homes and Gardens Buttercream, which is basically butter, condensed milk, 10x, a pinch salt, and vanilla. Gluten-Free by default, and completely delicious. Plus the mixer-licking ritual jumps to another level of wonderful.
Butter, condensed milk, etc.? YES.
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