Gluten-Free (Low)Sugar Cookies

My camera battery died before the cookies came out of the oven, but here are a few of our successful baking experience making cookies to take to our Waldorf school tomorrow, where the class will be be baking Valentine cookies with whole wheat. We always bring our own gluten-free alternative to our Parent-Child class.

I always like to add almond or another nut flour in recipes to add to the protein and fat content so that the cookies don't cause a crazy sugar reaction. They are also quite low in sugar compared to some other recipes, but I'd still rather have something good with my something not-so-good.

These recipes have been adapted from The Gluten-Free Gourmet and Gluten-Free Baking Classics (via adaptation by Monica Corrado of Simply Being Well)

Dry ingredients to mix together first:
- 2 1/4-1/2 cups of GF flour
I used maybe 1/3 almond flour, 1/3 arrowroot, 1/3 tapioca and the rest brown rice flour
If you use only dry sugar/sucanat/rapadura (or date sugar or maple sugar), use closer to 2 or 2 1/4 cups of flour
If you want to substitute some molasses or maple syrup (or honey) for sweetener, add in a little more flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt

optional
up to 3/4 or 1 teaspoon cinnamon
a shake (1/8 teaspoon) nutmeg

Set this dry mixture aside

Gooey mixture
- 3/4 cup to 1 cup oil -- I used half coconut oil and half butter. We can tolerate a little dairy, and I do think butter makes for better cookies. Use a little more oil if using less wet ingredients (i.e. no liquid sugar)
- 1/3 cup sucanat, rapadura, date sugar or maple sugar -- sugar that still retains some of its food quality and hasn't been stripped of everything
- a small glob (maybe 1 teaspoon) of black strap molasses

Mix these together with a hand mixer. You might want to heat the oil/butter some first to encourage the chunkier natural sugar to melt/mix well.

Add to the gooey mixture:
- 1 egg (could try a few tsp. flax meal in hot water set aside for a few minutes as egg replacer, but I didn't)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla (Frontier GF/no alcohol)
optional:
- 1/2 teaspoon almond flavor or another flavoring (Frontier GF/no alcohol)

Add dry to gooey and mix with mixer until it looks like dough you could roll into a log to chill in the freezer for a bit

Put some rice flour on your rolling pin and parchment paper and roll out the chilled dough to cut into shapes

Place on cookie sheet (grease first with coconut oil if it's a sticky one, or put on parchment paper if you want to avoid Teflon)

Bake at 350 degrees for 7-14 minutes. I made my cookies quite thin (so I'd have plenty of them) and baked for 7-8 minutes. I also did a few trials in small balls and they cooked well in 8-9 minutes.

These cookies were light and had a shortbread quality -- not particularly chewy or soft. And of course with the natural sugar, they are on the brown side (and uneven in color since I didn't warm my oil and also added the egg at the same time as the oil and sugar instead of after). But they were perfect for cutting into shapes, and they sure were tasty and satisfying!