GF VANILLA SNOWFLAKE COOKIES
This basic gluten-free vegan vanilla cut-out cookies recipe is super easy to make and is perfect for gifting and holiday cookie swaps. It’s one of our favorite cut-out recipes as it can be made and ready within half an hour {no chilling required} and it’s a very sturdy and easy to work with dough that will get you nicely shaped {and tasty} cookies every time!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup non-dairy butter at room temperature OR coconut oil, softened
- 1/2 cup maple syrup {or liquid sweetener of your choice}
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp ground vanilla bean {or scrape out contents of ½ a vanilla bean pod}, {this ingredient is optional but highly recommended for fragrant vanilla cookies!}
- dash of salt
- 2 1/4 cup cups gluten-free flour blend {I recommend Pamela’s Artisan Flour Blend}, {or make your own by combining: 1 brown rice flour ¾ tapioca starch, ½ sweet rice flour, ½ tsp guar gum}
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Prepare a rolling area with two additional sheets of parchment paper for that, and have your cookie cutter(s) handy.
- Place butter in a large mixing bowl and whip it with a mixer until it’s creamy. Add sweetener, vanilla extract and bean, and salt and mix once again to combine. Add in flour and use a wooden spoon to mix. Then get in there with your hands and mix everything together by working the dough until you can shape it into a ball {note: as depending on the flour mix you use there may be a slight variance, know that the consistency of the dough should not be sticky but should press together when pinched — be sure to knead it really well first for some time — if it’s a little sticky, add a little more flour (try 1-2 tbsp); if it’s a little dry add a little more sweetener (try 1 tbsp)}. Shape the dough into 2 balls and then flatten each into a disk.
- Roll out one of the dough balls between two sheets of parchment paper to ¼” thickness {or thinner or thicker depending on how you want your cookies to turn out}. Use a cookie cutter to cut out the cookies. Carefully transfer to a prepared cookie sheet, spacing them ½” apart {they won’t spread as they bake}. Gather up any dough scraps and repeat until all dough is used up. Repeat the process with the second dough ball.
- Bake in a pre-heated oven for approximately 11-13 minutes, until the edges just begin to become golden. Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack. {Note: cookies will harden a little within minutes of cooling, so don’t overbake}. Allow the cookies to cool for 10 minutes and enjoy!