Easter Traditions

Many moons ago, before I was gluten free, I was introduced to the most delicious sugar cookie dough recipe, by my best friend.  We had many things in common – cooking, baking, sewing, crafting.  Today they call it DIY and it comes with beautiful pictures that can be shared with others all over the world.  Back then, we exchanged recipes on cute recipe cards or handwritten notes.  We got together in the middle of the night, while sipping a freshly brewed pot of coffee, to decorate sugar cookies and paint Easter baskets for our kids to use in our backyard Easter Egg hunts.  Those delicious decorated sugar cookies became the tradition for many years, long after our children had out grown Easter egg hunts. 

It’s been 30 years and I still can remember the texture and feeling it gave me when I bit into one of those sugar cookies.  So much so, that I had to make sure we had a great sugar cookie when I opened Rosie’s.  Today, we offer a gluten and dairy free sugar cookie with either a lemon or vanilla glaze or hand decorated with royal icing by our cookie decorators.  It’s one of my favorite cookies and it always brings back the most precious memories – especially around Easter.  If you don’t already have a GF/DF sugar cookie dough recipe, I hope you give ours a try this Easter holiday.  It’s a fund project with the kiddos or can be therapy for adults.  These delicious sugar cookies may become your next holiday tradition or can be made and enjoyed all year round by keeping the dough in the freezer and baking up a batch whenever you want – even if it’s in the middle of the night with your best friend…..

GLUTEN & DAIRY FREE SUGAR COOKIES
1 BATCH YIELDS 20 COOKIES

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 sticks dairy free butter softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 ½ teaspoons xanthan gum
• 200g white rice flour (1 1/3 cup)
• 95g tapioca starch (2/3 cup)
• 125g potato starch (2/3 cup)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. On medium speed, beat the softened butter and sugar until well incorporated.
2. Reduce speed to low and add egg and vanilla extract and mix until well incorporated.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together rice flour, tapioca starch, potato starch, baking powder, xanthan gum.
4. On low speed slowly add dry ingredients to wet, scraping bowl as needed until dough is formed. Dough should be slightly wet but come off your hands easily.
5. Scrape dough onto parchment paper and refrigerate overnight or until very firm. This dough can be frozen for up to 3 months.
6. Working with small portions of dough at a time, roll dough to desired thickness between a Ziplock bag and press down with cookie cutter while still in bag. Remove cookie and place onto parchment lined cookie sheet.  Continue this process until all your cookies are made or dough is gone.
7. Bake cookies for 8-10 minutes and rotate pans half way through. Cookies should have a slight golden edge but not crisp.  If your cookies are thicker, baking time may be longer.  If you are using a convection oven, cookies may bake faster.

*Add sprinkles before baking if desired. 

Make sure cookies are completely cooled before icing. 

Simple Icing:  Mix powdered sugar with water and either vanilla extract or pure lemon juice.  Dip cookies and let dry.  Mix food coloring into icing if desired.