Gluten-Free Sourdough Christmas Cookies
These cookies are made with lots of butter, some sugar, and a sourdough starter discard. The method of mixing the ingredients by hand allows for consistently flat and smooth cookie tops!
Ingredients
For the Cookies
- 100 grams butter, softened
- 100 grams caster or powdered sugar
- 1 egg, at room temperature
- 100 grams sourdough starter discard, fresh or from the refrigerator
- 1½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 270 grams gluten-free flour, I used: 67g sorghum, 68g rice flour, 135g starch of choice (potato, corn, tapioca, etc.)
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
- ¼ teaspoon salt
For the Icing
- 3 egg whites
- 675 grams powdered sugar
- food coloring, gel or powder, not liquid
Instructions
Make the Cookies
- Start preheating the oven to 350F/175C.
- Mix the gluten-free flour, xanthan gum, and salt in a medium-sized mixing bowl and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add softened butter, sugar, egg, sourdough starter discard, vanilla, and the flour mix. Bring the dough together with your hands. I don't recommend using an electric mixer to avoid incorporating air into the dough.
- Turn the dough onto a well-floured working surface. If the dough is too sticky, roll it in flour on all sides to make it easier to work with.
- Roll out the dough with a rolling pin into a large square or a rectangular. The thickness should be about ¼ in or ½ cm.
- Take a long offset spatula and slide it under the dough to make sure it isn't sticking to the surface. Then, cut out the shapes with the cookie cutters.
- Line your baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat and transfer the unbaked cookies to it. You don't need to leave much space in between the cookies as they aren't going to spread.
- Bake for 9-11 minutes at 350F/175C or until the edges just barely start browning. Let the cookies chill for a minute or two and transfer them to the cookie tray.
Make the Icing
- Add 675g of powdered sugar and 3 egg whites to a large mixing bowl and mix using an electric mixer until it looks thick and smooth (2-3 minutes).
- Depending on how many different colors you will need, separate the icing into a few separate bowls. Add a different food coloring to each one of the bowls. Make sure not to use a liquid food coloring or the icing will become too soft.
- Take each color and separate them into 2 different bowls, one will be thicker for outlining the cookies, and the other one will be more liquid to fill in the outline.
- Add 1 teaspoon of cold water to one of the bowls of the same color.
- Use the thicker icing to outline the pattern on the cookies and use the thinner one to fill in the space within the outline. Use a toothpick to help spread the inner filling to reach the outline.
Notes
Make sure to use room-temperature ingredients for the best results.
Caster sugar is finer than granulated sugar but not as fine as powdered sugar. I recommend using either caster or powdered sugar in these cookies.
Wait until the cookies cool down completely before decorating them.
Store the cookies in the fridge for up to a week.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cookie without the icingCalories: 92kcalCarbohydrates: 15.4gProtein: 1.1gFat: 3.2gSaturated Fat: 1.8gCholesterol: 20mgSodium: 437mgPotassium: 23mgFiber: 2.9gSugar: 3.8gCalcium: 6mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!