Welcome to Mr. Farmer’s Daughter’s 12 Days of Cookies!
Many years ago my parents began a 12 Days of Christmas tradition with my sister and me. It began on the 13th of December and ran through Christmas day. It was so great to spread out the love (and gifts) for that period of time. So, I’m passing the tradition on to you in the form of cookie recipes! I’m going to keep the posts short because it’s Christmas time and I can’t be writing book-long posts for 12 days in a row. I just don’t have it in me to put that many words on paper. Suffice it to say, some of the recipes are favorites of ours, some I’ve adapted to be more allergen friendly and some are just recipes that I’ve wanted to play around with. All of them will be delicious though. Merry Christmas!!!
Day 10!
Postage Stamp Gluten-free Shortbread!
If there’s one cookie my husband loves other than those dang chocolate chip cookies, it would be shortbread. We used to love getting those black and red plaid tins filled with buttery goodness. But, did you ever realize how easy it is to make shortbread? I mean, it’s like only four ingredients! FOUR. Butter, sugar, vanilla and flour.
Of course, if you’re gluten-free, there are technically more than four ingredients but if you’re using a gluten-free flour mix like King Arthur’s measure for measure flour, you only have to measure out four things. If you make your own mix, then it’s a little more involved but it will work just as well.
I’ve made this recipe for years with at least five different versions of gluten-free flour mixes. Each one works, each one is delicious but each one is just a little different depending on if the mix is heavy with rice flour or has bean flour, etc.
If you’re using anything other than King Arthur, go slow with adding the flour at the end. You will want to stop once the mixture holds together if you squeeze a little ball in your hand. You don’t want it too dry but you don’t want it too sticky either. You’ll have to use your best judgement.
Another note, these can be flavored with just about anything although I wouldn’t suggest mint. I use plain jane vanilla because that’s who my family is. Haha. But, they’d be delicious with coconut flavor, almond flavor or even toffee flavor! Have fun with it!
- ¾ cup butter, softened
- ⅓ cup can sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1⅔ cup King Arthur measure for measure gluten-free flour
- In a mixer, cream butter, sugar and vanilla together.
- Add flour ½ cup at a time until all is mixed in.
- Divide into two pieces and chill for 30 minutes.
- Roll each piece into a rectangle and cut into 1 ½” squares with a wavy-edged wheel cutter. You may also use a knife if you don’t have a rolling cutter.
- At this point you may use a stamp to make a design on them if you like.
- Transfer carefully to a parchment-covered pan and bake at 350˚ for about 10 minutes or until the edges are light brown.
- Cool completely.
- Store in a closed container.