December didn’t quite go as planned and the year of homesteading through crisis continued. Things are slowly returning to normal, and I am fitting a month’s worth of baking into only a few days. Christmas baking is usually my favorite, but it was a rough December, hence the Christmas cookies being posted after Christmas. Today’s baking was gluten-free Christmas cut-out cookies. Christmas just isn’t Christmas without cut-out cookies. These cookies are quite simple. The dough is delightfully flavored with almond extract, and they roll out well. You can reroll out the dough many times without losing quality. I dare say this is a no fail recipe.

I use either Namaste brand Perfect Flour Blend or Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 flour mix. Both mixes are available bulk in my area. Namaste brand Perfect Flour Blend can be found in large bags at Costco and Bob’s Red Mill can be found at Winco in a 25-pound bag. Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Flour is also available on Azure Standard in various size bags. When bought in bulk, I personally find using these flours to be less expensive and far easier than blending my own flour. I have previously made my own flour blends before gluten-free flour blends were readily available. Both Namaste Brand and the Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 flour mix perform similarly and I am able to use them interchangeably without altering the moisture content of the recipes.

What You Need to Prepare Gluten-Free Cut-Out Cookies:

A cookie sheet lined with a silpat or parchment paper
A small and large mixing bowl
A mixing spoon
various holiday cookie cutters

Ingredients for Gluten-Free and Casein-Free Cut-Out Cookies

2 1/4 cups all-purpose gluten-free baking flour
1 teaspoon xanthan gum if it is NOT already in your flour blend
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup ghee
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
additional gluten-free flour for dusting

How to Prepare the Gluten-Free Casein-Free Christmas Cut-Out Cookies

In a small mixing bowl combine the gluten-free flour blend, baking powder, and salt. Add xanthan gum only if it is NOT already in your flour blend. If you are unsure if you should add the xanthan gum or not, leave it out. Too much xanthan gum will produce a gummy texture just as the name implies.

Cream together your ghee, sugar, and brown sugar. I just use a wooden spoon to cream these together. There is no need for an electric beater if you do not own one. Although I have a stand mixer I use occasionally, I have not owned an electric beater for decades.

Add the one large egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract and cream together again.

Slowly add your flour mixture to the wet mixture and stir. You will likely need to knead the dough with your hands to get the dough to a smooth texture that will form a ball.

Separate the dough into two halves and roll each half in a ball. Flatten each ball into a round disc about 1” thick. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours in the refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 375℉. Line a cookie sheet with a silpat or with parchment paper that is cut to the size of the pan. Lay a large piece of parchment paper on the counter and dust with gluten-free flour blend. Place one flattened disc on the parchment paper and lightly dust the disc with gluten-free flour. Cover the disc with a piece of plastic wrap that is cut to about the same size as the parchment paper. Roll the dough out evenly to about 1/4” thickness.

Press your cookie cutters fully into the dough, remove the scraps.

Gently lift up the cut-out cookies and arrange on a prepared cookie sheet 1 inch apart.

Bake for 12-15 minutes at 375℉. They are finished baking when they are lightly browned.

Cool the cookies on the cookie sheet for two minutes before transferring the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Frost and decorate. The sky is the limit on how you can decorate your cookies. Thin icing, red hots, sprinkles, chocolate chips, and raisins are just some suggestions. Get creative and have fun.

Yield: 3 Dozen Cookies

Author: Kimberly at Mossygoat Farm

Gluten-Free Christmas Cut-Out Cookies

These lovingly made no-fail sugar cookies are sure to please during the Holidays.

Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 45 MinTotal time: 1 Hour

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups All Purpose Gluten Free Flour Blend
1 teaspoon xanthan gum if NOT in your flour blend
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup ghee
1 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
gluten-free flour for dusting

Instructions

In a small mixing bowl combine gluten-free flour blend, baking powder, and salt. Add xanthan gum if it is not already in your flour blend. If you are unsure, leave it out.
In a large mixing bowl cream together the ghee, sugar, and brown sugar. Add the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract and beat together.
Slowly add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and stir to combine well. The dough will be thick and begin forming a ball. Knead the dough with your hands if needed.
Divide the dough in half. Roll each half into a ball and flatten to about 1" thickness. Wrap each flattened disc tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 375℉ and line a cookie sheet with a silpat or parchment paper that is cut to size.
Place one disc of dough on a large piece of parchment paper that is dusted with gluten-free flour. Gently dust the top of the dough with gluten-free flour as well. Place a piece of plastic wrap the size of the parchment paper over the dough and roll dough out to an even 1/4" thickness. Remove the plastic wrap and cut out shapes with cookie cutters. Place cut-out cookies on cookie sheet 1" apart. Repeat with second disc of dough. Combine the scrapes from both discs together and reroll to 1/4" thick. Continue combining and rerolling until you have no dough left.
Bake 12-15 minutes at 350℉ or until lightly browned. Cool cookies on the sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Frost and decorate with sprinkles, red hots, chocolate chips, raisins, and icing as desired.

Tips and Tricks

To prevent the cookies from sticking to the cookie sheet, line it with parchment paper or a silpat.
The key to getting your cookies to bake evenly is to have them an even thickness. If your cookies are thick or thin, all the cookies on the sheet should be roughly the same thickness. Aim for 1/4” thick. If you cut out a batch and find that they are too thick or thin you can just roll them out again. That is the good thing about this dough, you can roll it out many times without a loss in quality.
Rolling out gluten-free cookie dough is slightly different than rolling out a wheat-based dough. Gluten-free dough tends to stick more, especially to a wooden rolling pin. Place your dough on parchment paper or plastic wrap dusted with gluten-free flour. Dust the top of the dough and place another piece of parchment paper or plastic wrap on top. This will prevent the dough from sticking to the rolling pin.
Metal cookie cutters produce a sharper edge than plastic ones. I use both plastic and metal and it always surprises me how much better the metal ones cut the shape. More complicated cookie cutter designs are also harder to cut-out than more simple shapes.
If your dough becomes sticky and hard to transfer while you are rolling it out, chill it in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes to firm the dough up again. If your dough is too hard to roll because it is cold, warm the dough up with your hands.

I hope you enjoyed the recipe. If you are wanting more gluten-free casein-free Christmas baking from Mossygoat Farm, check out our gluten-free Buche de Noel. Enjoy your holiday baking!

Gluten-free Casein-Free Christmas Cut-Out Cookies