Christmas Sugar Cookies

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Sugar Cookies are so much fun to bake and decorate, whatever the occasion. Pick out your cookie cutter and get started with our yummy Gluten Free Sugar Cookie recipe. Roll out your fondant and create some fun with these easy Christmas food paint ideas.

Makes 4 dozen small or about 30 large

Ingredients

250g / 1⅔ cups Anything But Ordinary Plain Flour

1¼ teaspoons baking powder

⅛ teaspoon salt

60g / ¼ cup soft butter

60g / ¼ cup almond butter

100g / ⅔ cup sieved rapadura sugar (see note)

1 egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 tablespoons rice malt syrup

Simple Icing

220g / 2 cups icing sugar

2 tablespoons boiling water

Method

Sieve the Anything But Ordinary Plain Flour, baking powder and salt together. Beat the butter, almond butter and rapadura sugar together until light and creamy, approx 3-4 minutes. Add the egg, vanilla and rice malt syrup and beat til smooth. Add the sieved flour mix and beat on low until all the flour is incorporated. The mix will be quite soft.

Flour your hands and tip out the dough on a floured bench, scraping any mix from the sides and base. Roll into a well formed ball and dust it lightly with flour before patting out to a thick flat disc.

Wrap in plastic and rest in the fridge for 1-2 hours.

Preheat oven to 150 degrees Celsius. Line two cookie trays with baking paper and cut two large pieces of baking paper for rolling out the dough.

Remove dough from the fridge, cut it in half and place one half onto one of the large pieces of baking paper that has been lightly floured. Top with the second piece of lightly floured baking paper and roll to a large circle about 6mm/¼inch thick. This process will involve peeling off the top paper regularly and smoothing some flour on the dough and paper as well as flipping the dough over (using a tray) and doing the same with that piece of paper and side of dough. If this isn’t done the paper will stick and tear the dough and ruin the cookie shapes. Only use enough flour to prevent sticking as too much will change the texture of the cookie. If at any time the dough seems too soft or warm to roll (depending on room temperature) then wrap and put back in the fridge to harden.

Using assorted cookie cutter shapes, cut as many cookies that fit from the dough.

Carefully lift these with a metal spatula onto the prepared cookie tray. If the dough is too warm and not keeping the shape when lifting, put the lot into the fridge to firm up and then transfer the shapes to the cookie tray. They can be placed close together as they don’t spread.

Put the cookies on the tray in the fridge while repeating this with the second half of dough.

Once both halves have been cut collect all the scraps of dough and repeat the process.

Leave the trays of cookies in the fridge for 15-20 minutes before baking.

Bake for 20 minutes, turning the trays halfway through cooking. They will be golden in colour and will become crisper on cooling. Cool on the trays. Once cold they can be iced using the

Simple Icing below or your icing and decoration of choice.

To make the Simple Icing -

Sieve the icing sugar into a bowl and pour over the boiling water. Using a fork blend the mix well til smooth. Any colouring can be added at this point.

Transfer the mix to a shallow bowl and dip each biscuit in the icing face down. Lift out and flip over quickly to stop any drips.

Place on a wire rack over a tray. Leave until icing is completely set.

Store in an airtight container for 4-5 days iced or up to 10 days with no icing.

Note

Any rapadura sugar that stays in the sieve mustn't be used in this recipe as it will show in the finished cookie as large brown flecks and may be seen through the icing.