Being gluten-free is no reason to miss out on holiday delectables. Quite the opposite, in fact! You miss out on so many of the yummies that you deserve double the fun. Here are some wonderful gluten-free goodies that even your gluten eaters will be reaching for. Hands off! These are for us. And we’ve paired them with the perfect wine, too. Happy holidays!
Star-Shaped Linzer Tarts & Pinot Noir
Ingredients:
- 1 and 1/2 cups gluten-free flour
- 3/4 cup almond flour
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 cup butter
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup sugar
- Raspberry jam
- Confectioners sugar
Directions:
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- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together gluten-free flour, almond flour, baking powder and salt. Set this mixture aside.
- In a separate bowl, cream the butter. Next, add brown sugar and regular sugar. Cream this mixture again until it is whipped and fluffy.
- Add vanilla extract, almond extract, and egg to the creamed mixture. Mix well.
- Add dry ingredient mixture (which was previously set aside) and blend until it is well incorporated. I recommend adding the dry ingredient mixture in three intervals, mixing the dough well after each interval is added. This makes for more malleable dough and makes the cookies creamier and softer when they are baked.
- Once completely mixed, roll the dough into a ball at the bottom of the bowl. At this point, it is best to cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it chill for at least an hour in the refrigerator. Doing so allows the dough to set, which makes it much easier to roll out and cut shapes out of. However, this step can be skipped.
- After the dough has chilled, remove it from the bowl and place on a (gluten-free) floured surface. The dough will be a bit hard if chilled, so make sure to manipulate the dough with your hands for a bit until it is soft and easy to work with. Roll the dough into a ball with your hands and place it in the center of the floured surface.
- Roll dough into a slab. The thickness of the slab is your choice; I usually roll the slab to be a bit thicker because I prefer softer cookies but if you want crunchier cookies, roll the slab to be on the thinner side (not too thin or the cookies with burn!!!!).
- Using a star-shaped cookie cutter, cut out the cookies. Be sure to cut out an even number of cookies as every Linzer tart is composed of two cookies, a top and a base.
- Place cut-out cookies on a parchment-paper-covered cookie sheet. Bake for approximately 10 minutes. Baking time is fully dependent on the thickness of the cookies. Thinner cookies will bake extremely quickly so make sure to watch them carefully.
Linzer Tart Assembly:
- Once baked, take the cookies out of the oven and allow them to cool for about 30 minutes. It is extremely important that the cookies are cooled completely before the Linzer tarts are assembled. If the cookies are hot when the raspberry jam is applied to the Linzer tart base, the jam will melt.
- After cooling completely, it is finally time to assemble the Linzer tarts! Take half the cookies and spread a generous scoop of raspberry jam over the bottom of each cookie. Then, take the other half of the cookies and make a cookie “sandwich” by connecting a cookie with raspberry jam to a cookie without raspberry jam. Repeat until there are no cookies left to “sandwich.”
- Add confectioners sugar to a bowl. Take each “cookie sandwich” and dip both the top and bottom in the confectioners sugar, fully coating the outside of the Linzer tart.
Enjoy the finished product right away or refrigerate before serving. This will set the raspberry jam and make the Linzer tarts a bit more stable. Either way, these star-shaped treats will have you reaching for another.
Hershey’s Peppermint Kiss Cookies & Sweet Riesling
*Recipe adapted from Hershey’s KISSES Candy Cane Blossoms Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 package of Peppermint Hershey’s Kisses
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter (softened)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups gluten-free flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1/3 cup red or green sugar crystals
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove wrappers from candies.
- Beat butter, granulated sugar, egg, and vanilla in a large bowl until well blended. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, mix gluten-free flour, baking soda and salt together.
- Alternately add the flour mixture and milk to butter mixture. Beat the butter mixture each time something is added to it. The dough should be soft and creamy after everything has been thoroughly mixed together.
- Shape the dough into small balls by either using a mini ice cream scooper or your hands.
- Roll each ball in red or green sugar crystals and then place on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper.
- Bake the cookies for about 8 to 10 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned and cookie is set. Remove from oven.
- Once the cookies have cooled for about 5 minutes (they should still be quite soft), press a Peppermint Hershey’s Kiss into the center of each cookie. Eat ‘em while they’re hot or store in an airtight container for about a week.
Cranberry Cookies Dipped in White Chocolate and Crushed Pistachios & Merlot
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) butter
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/2 cups gluten-free flour
- 2 cups dried cranberries
- 1 cup pistachios
- 1 cup white chocolate
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, vanilla, baking powder, and salt.
- Beat the egg into the mixture.
- Add the flour into the mixture in four even intervals, beating the dough each time flour is added.
- Once all the flour has been added, fold in the dried cranberries using a scraper until they are evenly distributed throughout the dough.
- Using a mini ice cream scooper or your hands, shape the dough into small balls and drop onto the cookie tray lined with parchment paper. Make sure there is enough space between the cookies as they do spread out a bit while they bake. Placing the cookies about 2 inches apart is a fine distance.
- Bake the cookies for 6 to 7 minutes, until they’re barely set and a light golden-brown around the edges and remove from the oven. DO NOT OVERBAKE! If you do, the cookies will be hard, not soft and chewy.
- Allow the cookies to completely cool. The more cooling time allotted the better.
- While the cookies are cooling, crush the pistachios using a food processor and pour into a bowl.
- Melt the white chocolate. A double-boiler approach works best here as white chocolate is semi-challenging to melt. However, any method of melting will do.
- Once completely cooled, place the cookies on a plate and cover the cookie trays in a fresh, new layer of parchment paper.
- For each cookie: Dip half the cookie in the melted white chocolate and then directly into the crushed pistachios. Carefully place onto the cookie tray. Once this process has been completed for each cookie, allow the white chocolate to set for about 10 minutes before indulging. You may leave the cookies out while the chocolate is setting, or sticking them in the fridge works, too. After the chocolate has set, take a bite out of your cookie creation. It will burst with seasonally festive flavors!
Cinnamon-Sugar Sugar Cookies & Chardonnay
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups gluten-free flour
- 1/3 cup milk (I recommend using almond milk but any type of milk will do)
Cinnamon Mixture Ingredients:
- Sugar (I prefer using organic or cane sugar)
- Ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl, beat the softened butter and sugar until it is creamy.
- Add egg and vanilla to the butter mixture and beat again until everything is well combined.
- Alternate adding gluten-free flour and milk into the liquid mixture. Mix well each time something is added.
- Once all ingredients are thoroughly combined, shape the dough into a ball at the bottom of the bowl, scraping the sides of the bowl to grab all dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow the dough to chill in the refrigerator for about an hour.
- While the dough is chilling, create the cinnamon-sugar mixture. I use about half a cup of organic sugar and a few tablespoons of cinnamon to make my mixture. You may adjust this to your liking.
- After the dough has chilled, remove it from the refrigerator. You may have to manipulate the dough in the bowl with your hands to soften it before assembling the cookies.
- Using a mini ice cream scooper or you hands, shape the dough into small balls. Roll each ball into the cinnamon-sugar mixture and place onto a parchment-paper-lined cookie sheet. Place the cookie sheets in the oven.
- For softer, chewier cookies, bake for about 10 minutes, remove from the oven, and allow the cookies to set. For crunchy cookies, bake until the cookies are golden-brown, remove from the oven, and allow the cookies to cool.
- Eat right away or store in an air-tight container for about one week.
Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies & Zinfandel
*Adapted from “Flourless” written by Nicole Spiridakis
Ingredients:
- 2 and 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 egg whites
- 1 cup of dark chocolate chips
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper
- In a large bowl, combine the confectioners sugar, cocoa powder, cinnamon, and salt.
- Using an electric mixture, beat in the egg whites until they are well combined.
- Fold in the chocolate chips using a scraper.
- Using an ice cream scooper, tablespoon, or a small spoon, scoop the dough onto the parchment-paper-covered cookie trays. Leave space between the cookie dough (at least 2 inches) as the dough greatly spreads out while baking.
- Bake the cookies for about 15 minutes. You will know the cookies are completely done baking when the surface is slightly cracked yet set.
- Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool completely. The cookies are very delicate so when you remove them from the cookie sheet, do so very carefully.
- Pour yourself a tall, cold glass of milk and chow down on these cookies loaded with chocolate-y goodness. Store in an air tight container for up to one week.
