I saw this idea for making candy cane sugar cookies that were rolled in sugar before baking, and I  wanted to adjust it to work with a delicious gluten-free sugar cookie dough. I really love how this particular sugar cookie dough ends up tasting - and it worked even better than I had anticipated with this dough. You can easily pipe the dough, chill just a bit, then twist the dough colors together and dip in sugar. Then you just shape it into the cute candy cane shapes as you pop it on the pan. So easy and festive! Enjoy! 

Candy Cane Vanilla Sugar Cookies - just out of the oven! 

Cute Candy Cane Vanilla Sugar Cookies

Makes several dozen candy cane cookies, or 2-4 dozen small circle cookies and ~2-4 dozen candy cane cookies

In a large bowl, whisk together: (it's important to mix dry ingredients separately in GF baking to avoid lumps)
2 cups Kristin's Gluten Free Flour Mix
3/4 cup white rice flour
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

In a mixer, cream together:
1 cup butter, softened
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cup white sugar

Add and mix in, scraping down a few times:
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)

Add the dry ingredients in, and mix just until combined.  

If making some round cookies, do the following: 

Scoop 1 Tbsp scoops for round cookies onto parchment-lined pans.  Use a flat glass, wrapped in plastic wrap.  Dip it briefly in water and flatten each cookie.  Dip between every 1-2 cookies to keep it from sticking to the dough. These do spread just a bit, but not too much, so if I keep the cookies small, I find I can just fit 24 to a tray. Make one or two trays of round cookies. Bake each tray of flattened cookies at 350 F for 7-9 minutes, until light browned on edges. Remove from oven and let rest a few minutes before moving the cookies to a wire rack to fully cool. You can frost with my favorite marshmallow frosting recipe - which works great for coloring and piping or spread with the recipe on this other gluten-free sugar cookies recipe. 

Flattened round cookies, ready for baking.

Round cookies, out of the oven. For a crispier cookie, let them get a bit more browned than these ones were. Just depends on personal preference. 

Divide remaining cookie batter and put 1/2 the white batter into a medium freezer ziploc.  Mix in red food coloring paste to desired red color.  Place the red batter into a separate medium freezer ziploc. 

Snip a small corner ~1/4" of each ziploc bag.  On a parchment-lined baking pan, pipe thin stripes of one color lines on the pan. This is the lenght of your candy cane cookie, so keep in mind how large or small you'll want the candy cane cookie once you bend it to make it into the proper shape. Pipe the other color on top of the first color, so you have a large pan covered with red and white sticks of cookie batter.  Place in the refrigerator for ~20 minutes to chill. 

Thin strips of red and white piped together, then chilled. This method was easy and quick! No rolling needed.

On a large plate, place: 

~3-4 Tbsp granulated sugar, add more, as needed

Pick up each candy cane stick and twist to combine the colors. Gently roll in the sugar.  Place on a fresh baking tray lined with parchment paper, curving into the candy cane shape.  Repeat until you have a tray of candy cane cookies, ready for baking.  Bake at 350 for 7-9 minutes.  Baking until lightly browned edges will give you a more crispy cookie, which we love, but you can choose how soft/crispy you prefer.    Repeat with your dough until you have all your cookies prepared and rolled and baked!  

Let any baked cookies rest at least 5 minutes on the pan before removing to wire rack to fully cool.  

You can see the stripes have been picked up, twisted, dipped in sugar, then placed in shape on the cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

Ready for baking! Make sure to leave a bit of room for them to spread.

Fresh from the oven!

If you have extra batter, you can pipe it onto a parchment-lined pan and bake. We made hearts with the extra colored batter - which were then eaten immediately. 

Hearts haphazardly piped with the leftover cookie batter. They baked quickly, but with the nicely browned edges they were flaky and crispy to eat fresh from the oven.

Store candy canes in a well-sealed tupperware or similar container at room temperature for up to a few days. ***Store the frosted sugar cookies separately from the candy canes, or the candy cane biscuits will lose their crispness.*** 

For the round sugar cookies, my girls and I decorated them with my favorite marshmallow frosting recipe - which works great for coloring and piping. I think my favorite were the gnomes! 

We just popped the different colors of frosting into medium freezer ziplocs and snipped tiny corners. Then piped and added sprinkles when we were inspired.

My favorites are definitely the gnomes. Will make those again. 

They had SO much fun. 

Gluten Free Candy Cane Vanilla Sugar Cookies Recipe by Successfully Gluten Free!

 There are all sorts of varieties of snickerdoodle cookies, but these are the light and flaky sort of cookie.  I really wanted some sort of light cinnamon treat to have after a rich meal of homemade enchiladas (technically, I made the easier to whip up lasagna-style layered enchiladas), but wasn't quite in the mood for something as decadent as a gluten-free tres leches cake.  These were perfect!  Nice and light.  Enjoy! 

Yummy GF Snickerdoodle Cookies, fresh from the oven! 

Snickerdoodle Cookies!

Makes ~48 small cookies

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicon liners.  

In a small bowl, mix together, and then set aside: 

1/2 cup sugar

1-2 Tbsp cinnamon (depending on how you like it)

In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients: 

1/2 cup brown rice flour

1/2 cup arrowroot starch (or scant 1/2 cup cornstarch)

1/4 cup tapioca starch/flour

1/4 cup potato starch

3/4 tsp xanthan gum

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

In a mixer, cream until light and fluffy: 

1/2 cup butter, softened

4 oz cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup sugar

Add and mix in, scraping down a couple times: 

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract

Add the flour mixture ingredients into wet ingredients.  Mix, just until combined.  

Scoop small scoops of dough into your cinnamon-sugar mixture, gently using your fingertips to roll the dough around in the cinnamon-sugar.  Place each cookie ball onto your pan.  Press gently to flatten a bit.   These do spread out quite a bit, so here I used a smaller than average scoop and some did hit into the others, if in doubt, make a tray with them 3 x 4 and see how they look, then you can adjust.  

Scooped, rolled, and ready to flatten!

Flattened slightly, and ready to bake.  I find doing this before baking makes for a much more event cookie overall. 

Bake at 350 F. 10-12 minutes, or until just turning brown at the edges.   Remove from the oven and let rest a couple minutes on the pan before using a spatula to move to a cooling rack.  

These should be fine to store in a closed container for a few days at room temperature, but I prefer to freeze leftovers in a ziploc for later.  Enjoy! 

Fresh from the oven! Yum! 

Gluten-Free Snickerdoodle Cookies by Successfully Gluten Free!

This recipe is a bit different from my favorite frosted sugar cookie recipe, topped with my marshmallow fluff frosting.  It was a bit of a roundabout method to get to these - since I had originally posted a yummy sugar cookie bars recipe, then flipped that bar recipe around to make these yummy (and EASY) soft sugar cookies!  We plan to whip some up again soon! 

Decorating cookies is so fun for kids.

The back of the spoon works perfect for little kids to spread the frosting.

Gluten Free Sugar Cookies

Makes about 3 dozen

In a large bowl, whisk together: (it's important to mix dry ingredients separately in GF baking to avoid lumps)
2 cups Kristin's Gluten Free Flour Mix
3/4 cup white rice flour
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

In a mixer, cream together:
1 cup butter, softened
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cup white sugar

Add and mix in, scraping down a few times:
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)

Add the dry ingredients in, and mix just until combined.  

Scoop the cookies onto parchment-lined pans.  Use a flat glass, wrapped in plastic wrap.  Dip it briefly in water and flatten each cookie.  Dip between every 1-2 cookies to keep it from sticking to the dough.  

Flattened and ready to bake.

They worked as a team to flatten each pan of cookies.

A surprisingly drama-free kitchen - everyone loves making cookies!

Bake each tray of flattened cookies at 350 F for 7-9 minutes, until light browned on edges.   

Remove from oven and let rest a few minutes before moving the cookies to a wire rack to fully cool.   After fully cooled, frost as desired - but my favorite on these cookies is the marshmallow frosting with just a hint of lemon and vanilla, below. 

They'll just have a hint of browning at the edges.  If you want crispier cookies, you can bake these a bit longer, but I like them to be nice and soft with the frosting.  

Frosting:

Mix together frosting in a mixer, beating well until light and fluffy:
6 Tbsp butter, softened
2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup marshmallow fluff
2 drops lemon essential oil OR 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)
1/4 tsp salt
drops food coloring, if desired

Slowly add heavy cream OR milk 1 tsp at a time until you have a smooth consistency.  I find 1 - 2 Tbsp cream or milk works well.

Spread (or pipe if you're feeling fancy) overtop the cookies.  Add sprinkles, if desired. 

Color frosting and decorate as desired! 

Gluten Free Sugar Cookies Recipe by Successfully Gluten Free! 

 These nut-free cookies are thin shortbread-style biscuits that are dipped in chocolate once cooled.   I find them best on the day of baking, but they can be left in a tupperware at room temperature for several days and they do freeze well, too.  Cook them a bit longer if you want a crispier cookie.  Perfect for a small, fancy treat.  Enjoy! 

These turn out so pretty!

You can definitely cut them in different shapes, but the dough may need a bit more chilling time to avoid being too sticky. 

Chocolate Dipped Biscuits

Makes about 3 dozen cookies

In a mixer, cream together: 

1/3 cup butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

Add, mixing in, scraping occasionally: 

1/4 cup milk (lactose-free or milk substitute works)

1 egg

2 egg yolks

1 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste OR vanilla extract

2 drops peppermint essential oil (I like the DoTerra oils)

Add and mix in until smooth: 

3/4 cup corn flour (white corn flour or yellow corn flour work - not corn meal, this is closer in consistency to cornstarch. You can use cornstarch if you cannot locate corn flour)

3/4 cup potato starch

1/4 cup coconut flour

Flatten the dough into an oval between two pieces of plastic wrap.  Fold so it's sealed and chill in the refrigerator for 30-60 minutes.  

Preheat oven to 375 F.  Line cookie sheet (or two) with parchment paper. 

Roll out between the plastic wrap to 1/4" thick.  Cut into small circles or shapes of your choosing.   Place on a parchment-paper lined cookie sheet.  They don't spread much, so you can have them relatively close together.  Bake at 375 for about 6-7 minutes for thin, small circles.  They should just be browning at the edges and be a nice light brown on the bottom.   If you want crispier cookies, you can cook them an extra minute or two.  Thicker cookies or larger cookies will need an extra couple minutes.  

Rolled and cut cookies, ready to bake.  

Baked and resting before moving to cooling rack.  For a crispier cookie, you can give them an extra minute or two.

I like them to be just light brown on the bottom and pale on the tops.

Let them rest on the pan for a few minutes before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely.  

You can temper your chocolate, if desired, for a wonderful snap that only tempered chocolate has.  However, they work perfectly well dipped in melted chocolate with a dash of oil added to help avoid streaks in the chocolate as it cools. 

To melt chocolate, melt the following at 50% power in 30 second increments, stirring between each 30 seconds until chocolate is nicely melted and smooth.  You may need to just do 15 seconds towards the end: 

1 cup high quality semi-sweet or dark chocolate

1/2 - 1 tsp lightly flavored oil (like olive oil or avocado oil)

Dip your biscuits as desired (bottoms only, halfway, etc.).  Place dipped biscuit on a parchment-paper lined cookie sheet.  Chill in the refrigerator until chocolate has set.  Remove and serve! Enjoy! 

The little ones LOVE to help dip the cookies.  We'd made some thicker ones here (thin is best)

After dripping some chocolate across the parchment she loudly declared "I didn't do anything!" to everyone in the house.  

Freshly dipped biscuits.

Chilled and hardened chocolate.  Ready to eat! 

Chocolate Dipped Biscuits Recipe by Successfully Gluten Free!

Sugar Cookie Bars

I'm in the mood for sugar cookies about once a year, which is about how often I end up making sugar cookies with my kids.  We absolutely love my regular favorite frosted sugar cookie recipe, topped with my marshmallow fluff frosting, but I was inspired to make something a little different after seeing a recipe for sugar cookie bars in the New York Times.   I've tweaked and modified the recipe so we have a delicious, gluten-free sugar cookie bar.  Yay!  These are delicious and definitely give that sugar cookie vibe, but in bar form.  The added cream cheese in the dough gives them a light texture, more reminiscent of what I have in my hamentashen dough.  It was a hit around here.  I sliced extras into small pieces and froze them, which works well for small treats.  Enjoy!

Yummy sugar cookie bars, ready to eat!  I gave the frosting a pale green tint, but you can tint it whatever color you prefer! 

Gluten Free Sugar Cookie Bars

Based on a recipe from the NYTimes

In a large bowl, whisk together: (it's important to mix dry ingredients separately in GF baking to avoid lumps)
2 cups Kristin's Gluten Free Flour Mix
3/4 cup white rice flour
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

In a mixer, cream together:
1 cup butter, softened
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cup white sugar

Add and mix in, scraping down a few times:
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)

Mix the dry ingredients into the wet.  Spread in 8 1/2" x 12" metal baking pan lined with parchment paper OR 9" x 13" pan lined with parchment paper.

Bake at 350 F for 22-30 minutes, until light browned on top and wobbles slightly in the center.  These are best not overdone so they're nice and soft.  I gave a wide time range because I find different ovens cook something like this dramatically differently.  Also, if you like them a bit gooier, so for the shorter time and a bit drier, go for the longer time.  

Lightly browned and wiggles a bit in the center.  Ready to cool. 

Remove from oven and cool completely in pan on wire rack.   This will take a couple hours. 

Frosting:
Mix together frosting in a mixer, beating well until light and fluffy:
6 Tbsp butter, softened
2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup marshmallow fluff
2 drops lemon essential oil OR 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)
1/4 tsp salt
drops food coloring, if desired (I used some green and a little yellow for a light green frosting)

Slowly add heavy cream OR milk 1 tsp at a time until you have a smooth consistency.  I find 1 - 2 Tbsp cream or milk works well.

Spread overtop the cooled bars.  Add sprinkles, if desired. 
Slice into squares and enjoy!

Yum! Ready to eat!

Gluten Free Sugar Cookie Bars Recipe by Successfully Gluten Free! 

Chocolate Frosted Sugar Cookies!

I'm always looking for tasty, easy cookies that can be whipped up for special occasions.  These are a perfect hit - the chocolate version of my favorite frosted sugar cookies. These are a perfect, easy treat to whip up for Valentine's day!  Enjoy!!!

Chocolate frosted sugar cookies, ready for Valentine's Day!

Chocolate Frosted Sugar Cookies!
Makes ~20 cookies (fewer for larger cookies, more for smaller cookies)

Preheat oven to 375 F.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicon liner.

In a large bowl, whisk together:
1 cup Kristin's Gluten-Free Flour Mix
1/2 cup cocoa powder (a lighter one is best)
1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cream of tartar

Beat in a mixer until fluffy:
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup powdered sugar

Add, mixing until evenly combined:
1 egg 
1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until smooth.  Roll out dough between two pieces of plastic wrap until ~1/4" - 3/8" thick.  Cut shapes as desired with cookie cutters.

3" cookies ready for baking.

Place cookies 1-2" apart on parchment paper-lined pan.  Bake at 375 F for ~6-8 minutes.  These cook very quickly and are nice and soft.  If you want them crispier, you can cook them an additional 1-2 minutes.

Cookies after 7 minutes of cooking.

Let cool on cooling rack and then top with the Chocolate Marshmallow Fluff Frosting.  Top with sprinkles, if desired.  Enjoy!!!

Chocolate frosted cookies with Valentine sprinkles.

Favorite Frosted Sugar Cookies

My goal with making frosted sugar cookies was to end up with a cookie that wasn't crunchy, but had a perfect softness to the texture to compliment my favorite marshmallow frosting.  This combination of sugar cookie and marshmallow fluff frosting was just what I was hoping for.  These cookies have been made and devoured with rave reviews from young and old (especially young!) on many occasions.  I brought some to my friend Lisa's house, and her sons were repeatedly telling her to make sure they got this recipe from me.  Here it is! Enjoy!

Frosted sugar cookies - they're wonderfully soft. And, if you're more skilled (or patient) at frosting than I am, they have potential to look absolutely gorgeous AND be delicious! 

Delicious Sugar Cookies
Cookie recipe is based on the recipe from 'Artisanal Gluten-Free Cooking' by Kelli and Peter Bronski (This is the only GF cookbook I would recommend)

Makes 12 large cookies and 25 small cookies (it really depends on your cookie cutters)

Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl: (it's important to do this in GF cooking to avoid clumping)
1 1/2 cups Kristin's Gluten-Free Flour mix
1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cream of tartar

Beat in a mixer until fluffy:
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter

Add and mix in thoroughly:
1/2 egg (beat the egg in a bowl with a fork and dump in approx. half the egg - the recipe is forgiving)
1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)

Add dry ingredients and mix until well-combined.   Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 30 minutes to chill. 

Preheat oven to 375F.  Line baking sheets with silicon lining or parchment paper.

Roll out chilled dough between two pieces of plastic wrap to approx 1/4" thickness.  Cut into whatever shapes you like and place on prepared cookie sheets.   *Note: I recommend placing similar sized cookies altogether on the same baking pan, so you have even cooking.  Otherwise, you will end up with some cookies getting too dark. 

Bake cookies ~6-9 minutes (depending on size) until just barely browned on edges of the cookies.  Remove pan from oven.  Let sit a few minutes before placing your cookies on a cooling rack.  

Once cookies are cooled, frost as desired with my marshmallow frosting, below.

Mini cookies, ready for baking 

Mini cookies, just barely browned at edges (this keeps them soft - if you like crispy cookies, just cook longer) 

Let cool before frosting. Feel free to snack on a few. Yum!

Kristin's Marshmallow Fluff Frosting - proper consistency (and amount) for frosting cookies!!!
I've posted my delicious marshmallow fluff frosting recipe previously, but for this cookie recipe, you don't need as much as that recipe makes, and this ratio of ingredients gives you a frosting that is a perfect consistency to spread, pipe, or color for frosting cookies.

Beat until smooth in a mixer:
3/4 cup butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar

Add and mix in:
1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)
1 cup marshmallow fluff

You can color with food coloring, if desired.  This easily spreads with a knife, or can be piped onto your cookies, as desired.