Rolled Sugar Cookies

When first going gluten free, I mourned not being able to bake and decorate sugar cookies for Christmas the most. I did use a sugar cookie mix that tasted pretty good, but it was much too gooey to roll out or cut with cookie cutters. That seriously frustrated me. It wasn't until October that I worked up enough courage to attempt a recipe from scratch. Tink was super excited, even though she didn't know what sugar cookies were, let alone what frosting them meant, but they were cookies and that was enough. I scoured the internet for a recipe that would work and had good reviews. I finally found one and after mixing up the dough, it had a good texture. I could tell I could roll it out, but it didn't taste right. Actually, it was pretty awful. It definitely didn't taste like any sugar cookie I'd ever had before. That's when I had to start tweaking the recipe, comparing it to the gluten filled recipe I used to always make before. I added more sugar, more vanilla, some cream of tartar and it started to resemble the sugar cookies I was used to, but the dough became too dry. More adjustments had to be made until I ended up with the recipe you see below. It tastes exactly as it should, rolls fairly easily and the cookies hold their shape. Be careful not to use too much corn starch for rolling or the dough will become too dry. They puff a bit in the oven so very intricate cutters won't work well. The come out of the oven crispy, but after cooling and frosting, they soften. These have quickly become Tink's favorite cookies to make, but I think it's only because she likes to eat the frosting. As for frosting, I just buy a can of Betty Crocker vanilla frosting and color as desired. Betty Crocker now labels their frosting gluten free even!

Rollable Sugar Cookies 1 1/2 cups rice flour (I used white rice flour) 1/2 cup tapioca flour 1 cup corn starch 1 tsp baking powder 2 1/2 tsp xanthan gum 1/2 tsp salt 1 1/2 cup sugar 1 cup shortening 1 egg + 1 egg white 1 T vanilla extract 1/2 tsp cream of tartar corn starch for rolling dough Preheat oven 350F. Cream sugar and shortening. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until combined. In separate bowl, combine dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and combine until the dough forms a ball. Working in batches and with starched hands, roll to 1/4″ thickness on starched wax paper. Cut into shapes using cookie cutters. Bake for 9-10 minutes. Cool on rack. Decorate with your favorite icing and sprinkles.