Lisa Bakes Christmas Cookies

I was going thru some old papers and I found this story I wrote for my school newspaper, appropriate for today’s post, eh? Well, making these cookies were challenging, no butter, no egg, no wheat, but the end result should be quite pleasing. I encourage you to modify the recipes to include foods that are safe for your family; all my recipes are free of the 8 major allergens plus gluten. The cookies are VERY delicate until they are cooled, so be very careful when handling them. Enjoy!

P.S. I used white frosting for my sugar cookies, you can color your frosting with these natural colors or use food dye.

Beet juice or powder for purple.
Chlorella algae for green.
Paprika for a redish-orange.

Graham Cracker Cookies
Makes 2 dozen cookies

2 cups of all purpose allergen free flour
¼ teaspoon Kosher salt
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup sugar
1½ teaspoons water
1½ tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 375°F degrees.
Combine flour, Kosher salt and cinnamon together by sifting and set aside.
In a separate bowl, mix together water, canola oil and baking powder.
Blend sugar and shortening together and mix together with baking powder mixture.
Fully blend in the flour mixture, adding small amounts at a time.
Make 1” balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Use a fork to push down cookies (cross-hatching them looks good).
Bake for 9 minutes and put on a rack to cool. The cookies are very delicate until they are fully cooled, be careful!

Sugar Cookies
Makes about 18 cookies

¼ cup canola oil
½ cup vegetable shortening
¼ cup apple sauce
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon egg replacer
2 tablespoons warm water
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 tablespoon rice milk
2 cups allergen free all purpose flour mix
1 teaspoon xantham gum
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon Kosher salt

Preheat oven to 375°F degrees.
Combine oil, shortening, apple sauce and sugar until smooth.
In a separate bowl, combine egg replacer and water and stir until fluffy, add to sugar mixture with vanilla and rice milk.
In a separate bowl, combine flour, xantham gum, baking powder and Kosher salt.
Gradually add flour mix to sugar mixture until well combined.
Cover dough and refrigerate for 1 hour.
On a clean dry surface, sprinkle rice flour and roll ½ of dough out to 1/4” thickness. Sprinkle flour on your rolling pin to keep dough from sticking.
Be very careful when cutting shapes as this dough is very fragile until it is cooked and cooled.
Put cut out cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 6-7 minutes.
Cool completely before frosting.

Vanilla Frosting
Makes enough frosting for several batches of cookies

4 cup powdered sugar
1/3 cup vegetable shortening
4 tablespoons rice milk
¾ teaspoon vanilla

Blend together powdered sugar and vegetable shortening.
Add rice milk and vanilla and mix until smooth.

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