Day three of my make ahead Christmas recipes is for Christmas spiced cookies.
There will be ten of us around the table on Christmas day and I like to make it look extra special for the big occasion.
This year, I’m trying something different to the usual place name holders by making them edible! These Christmas spiced cookies were fun to make because I let the children decorate them (yes you read that right, I relinquished the control on this one). With our collection of angel, snowman, Christmas tree and star cookie cutters, we were able to make some lovely little place names that the guests can eat if they feel that way inclined (or can fit anything else in).
These are wheat free, as I made them with spelt flour. They are also dairy free.
A variation of gingerbread, I used mixed spice instead of just ginger, to give the lovely blend of spices that remind us of Christmas and I’m hoping they’ll make an interesting addition to the table. That is, if you can see them amongst the crackers, selfie masks, napkins and little stocking cutlery holders. Perhaps it’s over the top, but who cares? It’s Christmas.
Christmas spiced place name cookies
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Christmas spiced place name cookies
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Instructions
Preheat the oven to 180C, gas 4 and grease and line two baking sheets
Sift together the flour, bicarb, salt and mixed spice
Rub in the butter to the flour mix, until you get a texture resembling breadcrumbs
Add the sugar and mix well
Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add the egg and golden syrup
Use a fork to whisk in the egg and syrup to the mix until it starts to form a dough, bring it together with your hands if necessary
Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and knead until smooth. Roll out to about 3mm thick and cut out your shapes, taking the extra and re-rolling until all the dough is used up.
Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes, until golden
Leave to cool completely before decorating and for a finishing touch, dust with icing sugar
Try these gluten and dairy free pecan cookies for a tasty after school treat
Now the kids are back at school, I find myself thinking once more about packed lunches and afternoon snacks. Sunday is the day for preparation in our house and that usually involves turning my kitchen into a mini bakery. I make at least two or three different things, thinking that will see us through the week.
Of course by Tuesday or Wednesday there’s nothing left, something that’s inevitable when you offer up home baking to a family of five. My gluten and dairy free treats go down well with everyone, not just my intolerant son and these cookies are no exception.
When I made these pecan cookies for the first time last week, they went down such a storm, I ended up making two batches. They really were very easy to make though, taking just 10 minutes to prepare and 12 minutes to bake.
I like to experiment with different gluten free flours and I highly encourage you to give it a try. The difference in taste you get compared to the shop-bought blends is staggering. Not that I’m criticising commercial gluten free flour blends, it’s just that they tend to use rice flour and I’m not a fan. I don’t like the grittiness you get and I personally believe there are much tastier gluten free flours out there.
This recipe uses a combination of sorghum flour (my favourite gluten free flour) and chestnut flour, which I thought I would try out. I’ve used chestnut flour before in a gnocchi recipe and found it worked well. I thought the nuttiness of the chestnuts would complement the pecans in this recipe. I’ve also used tapioca flour, which is my starch of choice. Whenever you blend gluten free flours, the recipe works much better if you combine the flour with a starch. You’re aiming to recreate the gluten effect and starch can help with that. You can find out more about baking gluten free from a previous post I wrote.
If you’re worried about buying a new flour, using it once and wasting the rest, don’t be. If my experience is anything to go by, these cookies will become a family staple and before you know it, you’ll have used up the whole bag!
Gluten and dairy free pecan cookies
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Gluten and dairy free pecan cookies
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Instructions
Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4/Fan 160C
Beat the butter and sugar together until creamy, then add the syrup
Measure the flours into a separate bowl and add the baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. Mix well
Add the mixed flour to the butter/sugar/syrup mix and stir or beat together to form a sticky dough
Put the pecans in a blender and pulse until roughly chopped
Add the pecans to the dough and stir to incorporate
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Place walnut-sized balls of the dough on to the baking sheet, with space in between. Makes approx. 15 (no need to flatten them)
Bake for 12 minutes or until golden
