Gluten–Free Sour Cream Sugar Cookies

Grandma’s Cookies are always best

Grandmothers and childhood memories go hand-in-hand. Often it’s the source of inspiration for recipes and that was exactly the case for Jeanine Friesen’s Gluten–Free Sour Cream Sugar Cookies.

Her husband’s grandmother used to make him sugar cookies topped with pink icing. “It had to be pink icing,” Jeanine stresses. So when she heard about the Manitoba Canola Growers My Cookies are the Best contest, she entered these sugar cookies in hopes of duplicating the cookie her husband loved so much. “I passed the test,” she laughed. According to her husband they tasted just like his grandmother’s sugar cookies, complete with pink icing and all.

A Winning Sour Cream Sugar Cookie Recipe

Not only did the cookies pass the test, they also won Jeanine a trip the Food Bloggers of Canada Conference this month at the Hockley Valley Resort in Orangeville, Ontario.  Jeanine is intrigued by all opportunities the conference has to offer. “I’m looking forward to meeting a bunch of other bloggers,” she said excitedly. “The sessions and speakers sound amazing. I’m especially interested in the sessions on dealing with brands and writing recipes.”

Writing recipes is a topic Jeanine is all too familiar with. Jeanine develops gluten–free recipes for her blog and her book. Earlier this winter Jeanine released her book, The Everything Guide to Living Gluten–Free. The book covers a variety of “how to” topics and contains over 100 recipes.

Living a Gluten-Free Lifestyle

Jeanine was diagnosed with Celiac Disease five years ago and had to adjust to a gluten–free diet that she prefers to call a “gluten–free lifestyle.”  “I wouldn’t let a gluten-free life rob me of the traditions I had grown up with, or the foods I really love. Much of what I have learned on my journey, and many of the recipes I’ve developed, can be found in this book.”

Along with her book, her blog Baking Beauties, is a helpful resource for those looking for strictly gluten-free recipes. Jeanine originally founded Baking Beauties with a friend who has decided to focus on her painting full time, and Jeanine has continued with the blog.

After finding out she had Celiac Disease, she found a need for a place where people could find 100 percent gluten-free recipes. She filled that void with her blog. She is now adding recipes that take into consideration other food intolerances such as allergen-free and dairy-free. Her family enjoys completely gluten–free meals everyday, and her kids, seven and ten years old, are aware and understanding of what being gluten–free and having other food intolerances mean.

Family Favourite Recipes

Her family’s favourite foods are pizza and monkey bread, Jeanine’s variation of pull-apart cinnamon bread. One of their family’s favourite hobbies in the summer is going camping together. “We moved to Steinbach three years ago so our favourite camp spots are further away but we’re getting back into it,” Jeanine said.

Jeanine enjoys entering contests as a way to promote her recipes. Her recipes have been shared on various websites, including an article in Huffington Post Taste. Her book was released this winter and is available at most bookstores or online.

Gluten Free Sour Cream Sugar Cookies

 

Yields approximately 45 cookies

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 1/3 cup white rice flour
• 2/3 cup potato starch
• 2/3 cup tapioca starch
• 3 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line your baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the sour cream, oil, sugar, vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until smooth. Set aside.
3. Place all the remaining dry ingredients in a separate mixing bowl and whisk to combine.
4. With the mixer running on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix on medium speed until completely blended.
5. Scoop 2 teaspoons of dough on your baking sheet, leaving 2-inches between cookies to allow for them to expand while baking. Dampen your hands with a small amount of water and roll the scooped dough into a smooth ball. This will give your finished cookies a nice round shape.
6. Bake cookies in preheated oven for 12-13 minutes, or until just slightly browned around the outside. Allow cookies to cool for a few minutes before moving them to a wire rack to cool completely.
7. Only frost cookies when they are completely cooled. I prefer to frost the cookies just before serving them, so that the icing does not cause a problem when storing them. Store cookies in an airtight container.

NOTE: Cookies can be rolled in sugar before baking. Just spoon the dough into a bowl of sugar, and roll dough to coat in sugar. Form dough into balls and bake as directed.

Frosting

Ingredients:

• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar (icing sugar), sifted
• 1/4 cup softened unsalted butter
• pinch salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3-5 Tbsp heavy cream (enough to get the consistency you want)
• colour – optional

Directions:

1. In a tall mixing bowl, beat all the ingredients with an electric mixer until smooth.
2. Store in an airtight container until you are ready to frost the cookies.

Be Well…Wendy

Recipe and photography re-printed with permission from Jeanine www.thebakingbeauties.com

We look forward to travelling with Jeanine to the first ever Food Bloggers of Canada Conference in April.  Thanks Jeanine for your entry and we wish you much success with your new book.