Ingredients
- 1/2 cup shortening Earth Balance® Shortening Sticks
- 1 cup granulated cane sugar
- 1 egg or egg substitute see below*
- 1/4 cup milk dairy or non-dairy
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Food coloring optional
- 2 1/4 cups gfJules™ All Purpose Gluten Free Flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Gluten-free sprinkles or colored sugar optional
Instructions
- Cream shortening and sugar until very fluffy. Add egg (or egg replacer), vanilla extract, milk, and food coloring, beating until integrated. Add the dry ingredients last, mixing until evenly blended. Form the dough into a ball and wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate or freeze until cold and no longer sticky, at least 2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 375ºF (static) or 350ºF (convection).
- Lightly flour the rolling surface, rolling pin and cookie cutters with gfJules™Gluten Free All Purpose Flour. Roll the dough to approximately 1/8-inch thickness and cut shapes, re-rolling dough scraps to utilize all the dough.
- Place cut-out cookies onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet and decorate with colored sugar or sprinkles, if desired. Bake approximately 8–10 minutes, but remove before they begin to brown at the edges. When baked and cooled, frost with Easy Cookie Icing, if desired.
- To make cookie tree, bake at least 3 of each size star. Once cooled, ice them and stack, using a dab of icing between star layers to help them stay in place. Set each star atop the one below by turning it so the points are not directly on top of the star points below, making the star points look like random branches. Ice one of the smallest stars with yellow icing or yellow sanding sugar and set atop the tree like a star tree-topper.
- Yields: 2 dozen cookies, depending on size.
- *This recipe and over 149 more, also available in my cookbook, Free for All Cooking: 150 Easy Gluten-Free, Allergy-Friendly Recipes the Whole Family Can Enjoy!
** Please keep in mind that nutrition information provided is per serving, which may vary. While we have taken care to provide you with the most accurate nutritional values possible, please note that this information may differ significantly depending on the exact ingredients and brands that you choose to use to make this recipe. Additionally, where options are given for ingredients, the resulting calculation may include all ingredient options instead of only one per line, skewing the totals significantly.