This is my latest creation in search of the perfect "Lofthouse" style allergen free sugar cookie, and my favorite recipe right now with all of the cookie rich holidays going on. This roll out sugar cookie is gluten, egg, and dairy free, and can be corn free if "safe" baking powder and powdered sugar are used. It does have a slight grit to it which is unavoidable with rice flour, but it is also soft, light, and delicious. I am currently experimenting with sorghum flour instead of rice flour and when I perfect it I will repost the recipe.
3/4 c Dairy free margarine (softened)
1 c Sugar
1/4 c Applesauce
1 t Vanilla extract
1 1/2 c White rice flour
1/2 c Sweet rice flour
1/2 c Potato starch
1/2 c Tapioca starch (sometimes called tapioca flour, they are the same thing)
2 1/2 t Guar gum (or xanthan gum)
1 t Salt
1 T Baking powder
Powdered sugar for rolling
Cream together margarine and sugar. Add applesauce and vanilla and mix well. In another bowl sift or whisk together all of the dry ingredients. Slowly add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and blend thoroughly. Refrigerate for at least one hour.
Preheat oven to 350. Cover work area and rolling pin with powdered sugar. Roll dough 1/4″ thick, or thinner if you prefer a crispy cookie. Cut into shapes and transfer to a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Bake for 10 to 20 minutes depending on cookie size and desired softness/crispness. I bake 4″ cookies that are 1/4″ thick for 15 minutes to get a nice soft cookie. Let cool on sheet for a few minutes then remove to cooling rack. Sometimes I cover the cookies in colored sugar crystals before baking and sometimes I leave them plain to frost them after they cool. Right now, of course, my 5 yr old daughter and I are making hearts with pink frosting AND sprinkles! I will post my frosting recipe next.
3/4 c Dairy free margarine (softened)
1 c Sugar
1/4 c Applesauce
1 t Vanilla extract
1 1/2 c White rice flour
1/2 c Sweet rice flour
1/2 c Potato starch
1/2 c Tapioca starch (sometimes called tapioca flour, they are the same thing)
2 1/2 t Guar gum (or xanthan gum)
1 t Salt
1 T Baking powder
Powdered sugar for rolling
Cream together margarine and sugar. Add applesauce and vanilla and mix well. In another bowl sift or whisk together all of the dry ingredients. Slowly add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and blend thoroughly. Refrigerate for at least one hour.
Preheat oven to 350. Cover work area and rolling pin with powdered sugar. Roll dough 1/4″ thick, or thinner if you prefer a crispy cookie. Cut into shapes and transfer to a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Bake for 10 to 20 minutes depending on cookie size and desired softness/crispness. I bake 4″ cookies that are 1/4″ thick for 15 minutes to get a nice soft cookie. Let cool on sheet for a few minutes then remove to cooling rack. Sometimes I cover the cookies in colored sugar crystals before baking and sometimes I leave them plain to frost them after they cool. Right now, of course, my 5 yr old daughter and I are making hearts with pink frosting AND sprinkles! I will post my frosting recipe next.
16 comments:
These cookies look delicious! I have to avoid soy, so I'd need to sub the margarine, but otherwise- beauty!
Thank you.
Karina
I sent a friend here so she could use your cookie recipe. How do you get your pictures there like that? I tried but it just won't work!
Thank you bella, can definitly use the word of mouth right now :) . As for the picture, I have no clue! I had a heck of a time with it and tried so many things that now I don't remember what I did, sorry. If I ever figure it out I'll let you know, but as for now my daughters brand new $150 camera just broke so I won't even be able to post pics for a while (grrrrr)!
Hi,
Looking forward to making your recipe. Can you please tell me your frosting recipe? We're a gluten, dairy, soy, egg and corn free family. Thanks so much.
If you look to the right under "labels" my frosting recipe is there. Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoy the cookies!
We served these wonderful cookies at my daughter's birthday party today and they were a huge hit. I bake egg, dairy and nut free because of my children's allergies, but have not done gluten free before. For this party, we needed to be gluten free, too. We did pumpkin shapes then decorated with a glaze that hardened nice and shiny. The kids loved them and were asking for seconds and thirds. Thanks for a great recipe!
Oh, I'm so happy that you enjoyed them! You are very welcome :)
Hi! Funny that your recipe came up in my google search today for sugar cookies! I should have just come here in the first place! Anyway, do you have any idea what would happen if I used Spectrum coconut shortening instead of the margarine? We're supposed to avoid soy. The allergist says soy oil "should" be ok, but I've been trying to avoid it. Every recipe I find needs butter or margarine and I'm not able to find one that doesn't have dairy and soy.
I just made these yesterday using Spectrum Palm Shortening. Is that the same thing? They turned out fine...a little tough, but I was messing around with the flours too and I think that was the problem. Anyway, I'm my toughest critic, Emily loved them. Thank you again for the EE link.
Hello Again! So, we made these yesterday for Jason and had a lot of fun. We used the Spectrum palm shortening, yes. I had to add a dab of water to get the dough to stick together into a ball, and when it came out of the fridge, it was hard as a rock! It softened up fine after a bit of messing around with it. We overcooked the first two sheets of cookies... I cooked them 'til they barely turned brown, which in this case was too much and they were super crunchy. By the end we got them just right at 10 min. and no browning at all. Oh, we're also corn free right now so I powdered our own sugar for the first time with a handheld mixer thing we've had in the cabinet for years. I'm so happy to be able to easily make corn free powdered sugar!
About tapioca... I guess it's just me, but I can totally taste the tapioca and I don't care for it. I taste it in the pancakes I make too, and the banana bread I made the other day (trying to convert things from wheat). My kids and my husband say it all tastes fine, so I must just be very sensitive to it. It has a strange aftertaste to me. But all the gluten free flour blends call for it.
Thanks again! We'll be making more!
Tracy I'm glad you had fun and great job making the powdered sugar...it's hard to do without this time of year isn't it! My mother and I were just discussing these cookies the other day but I haven't tested my theory yet. I made a batch of these with just palm shortening and it was a little too dry so I also added water, and my cookies came out hard. My mom said it was the water. So next time I'm going to try a little more shortening (or a little less flour), we'll see what happens. If you try anything different let me know, I appreciate all of your assistance and your input! I'm sorry to hear the tapioca starch bothers you. I have read that it is interchangeable with arrowroot starch, but I have never tried it. if you get arrowroot starch be sure to buy it in bulk, NOT on the spice isle where it will cost about 10 times as much! Happy baking! :)
I've just found your amazing site and I'm so excited to try some of your recipes. (I ended up here searching for hamburger buns, which I have been having a terrible time making. Yours look good so as soon as I get my mix from Amazon, well, fingers crossed) Anyway, you may have come across this already, but you can eliminate the gritty effects of rice flour by using Authentic Foods Superfine Brown Rice Flour. It has a texture like powdered sugar and I've had AMAZING luck with it every time I've used it. Gritty is gone!
welcome! I haven't ever tried that brand, I've never even heard of it...but I'm going to look for it now. Thank you so much for the tip!
I just looked for it on Amazon and I guess they make a white rice version too, which is probably just as good. The shipping is expensive, but it does last quite a while. I use it frequently (I'd say at least once a week) mixed in a typical mix with tapioca/potato starch and one bag lasts me a few months. Anyway, it's worth a try and if you like it you can ask your local health store to carry it.
We tried Pamalas brownies tonight..I hadn't realized we could make them egg free...so yummy!
Can potato starch be replaced in this recipe?
Hi Patty. Yes starches are, for the most part, interchangeable. You can either use corn starch or just use all tapioca starch. They might come out a little crispier, but should still be good.
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