Gluten Free Shortbread Cookies!

Well, the chill is definitely in the air. In fact, we've arrived at only 9 days until Christmas. Yesterday brought millions of flakes, gusting down onto the silent scenery and covering everything with a blanket of white. It reminded me of two things: 1) I need some new tires on my car and 2) delicious shortbread cookies dusted with sugar.

And amazingly, as I was flipping through a cookbook to find a cookie recipe to modify, I discovered that one of my giant, published-in-the-U.K. books had a small section in the back for "baking with special diets." And it included at least a dozen gluten free recipes! These guys are so buttery, delicate, and melt in your mouth good.


Shortbread Cookies,
from The Ultimate Cookie Book (Anness Publishing, 2003).

1 1/4 cups gluten free flour (I used 3/4 cup almond meal and 1/2 cup sorghum flour)
1/2 cup white rice flour
finely grated rind of 1 lemon or orange
6 tablespoons butter (at room temperature)
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons water

Put the gluten free flour, rice flour, citrus rind and butter in a food processor, and blend until it has combined. Add the sugar, xanthan gum, egg yolk and water and mix to a dough.

Plop the dough out of the bowl onto a cutting board, covered with a dusting of rice flour. Knead. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a baking sheet.

Roll out the dough on the cutting board or other floured surface to about 1/4 inch thick. Using your favorite cookie cutter, cut out shapes and use a spatula to move to the baking sheet.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly golden. Watch them carefully, because "lightly golden" and "was that a Christmas tree cookie?" are awfully close together. Remove from oven, leaving on baking sheet for 2 minutes. Move to wire rack.

Dust lightly with powdered sugar, or the gluten free frosting of your choice.