Christmas Cookie Decorating - an American Tradition

Decorating dozens of sugar cookies is what most American families will be doing at Christmas time.  This is definitely a tradition we brought with us to Poland. Our Polish friend was very excited to learn what this craziness was all about. Unfortunately, since the American population in Slupsk is quite small, there are not a whole lot of cookie decorating supplies in the grocery stores. So we did our best with no cookie cutters or food coloring for the frosting. Nonetheless, we had a wonderful time. So if you are in need of a gluten free/dairy free Christmas cookie recipe, this is it! Just make sure your decorations are also.

Frosted Sugar Cookies
Makes: ~3 dozen       Time: 10 min prep, 3 hrs chilling (optional), 8 min baking

COOKIE INGREDIENTS:

• 1-1/2 cups Powdered Sugar
• 1/2 lb (2 sticks, 250g) Salted Butter, softened (or shortening for dairy free)
• 1 Egg
• 1 tsp GF Vanilla Extract*
• 1/2 tsp GF Almond Extract*
• 2-3/4 cups All-Purpose GF Flour
• 1 tbsp guar gum
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cream of tartar*

*NOTE: They do not have extracts in Poland. They instead have something called aromat which is scented but honestly tastes terrible. Real extracts are preferred. Also, cream of tartar has proven very hard for me in find in both Poland and Spain. Lucky for me, I can bring a 9 month supply of these with me each time.

FROSTING INGREDIENTS:

• 1-1/2 cups Powdered Sugar
• 2-1/2 tbsp Salted Butter (or Shortening)
• 1-1/2 tbsp Heavy Cream (or Soy Milk)
• 3/4 tsp GF Vanilla Extract

METHOD:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (190 degrees Celsius). Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper (I used a silicone baking mat)
2. Cream together the powdered sugar and butter/shortening in a mixer (or with a hand mixer) until light and fluffy. Add the egg, vanilla, and almond extract.
3. Stir in the flour, guar gum, baking powder, and cream of tartar. Careful not to get covered in flour if you are using your mixer still :)
4. Now that your dough is ready, you can choose the fast or slow option. If your kids (or you) can't wait 3 hours before baking/decorating, just spoon rounded tablespoons of dough onto a cookie sheet and press to flatten. Otherwise, chill the dough for 3 hours in the fridge. Then you will be able to roll it out (about 1/4 inch thick) between sheets of plastic wrap to cut out shapes. Dip your cookie cutters in flour so the dough doesn't stick.
5. Be careful when you are spacing out your cookies. They will grow in size so leave about 1-2 inches between each one. If the dough gets too sticky, put it back in the fridge for 10 minutes or even in the freezer. Cold dough is key! You could even cut out the shapes, remove the excess dough, and then pop them back in the fridge before attempting to transfer them to the baking sheet.
6. Bake for 7-8 minutes until the edges are lightly brown. Baking them on parchment paper or a silicone baking mat with allow for easy removal. Let the cookies rest for 5 minutes before removing them from the cookie sheet.
7. Frosting: cream all the ingredients together until smooth.
8. Wait till the cookies are cool and then frost away!

I love knowing that even though I can't have gluten and Levi can't have dairy, we can still have an awesome and delicious cookie decorating party. And I bet you wouldn't even know. Merry Christmas!!!!!!

The Knutsons 

Chicken Ranch Salad Pizza

We had this yesterday and it was AMAZING! As you can tell, I don't make the same thing very often. However, I told Levi I could eat this once a week. It was sooooo good. Especially because our diet has become even more limited since Levi got a stomach ulcer from some medicine he was taking. So tomato sauce has been off the list of allowable ingredients. That makes it kinda hard to think of pizza recipes. Especially since it has to be dairy free and gluten free. Sooooo, not only will I be posting my all time favorite gluten free pizza dough, but the link to the recipe for dairy free ranch dressing. Even if you have no food restrictions, you gotta make this. Homemade pizza is WAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY better than ordering or store bought.

Pizza Dough Recipe
Makes: 1 medium pizza             Serves:2-3 (only 2 if your husband is a 200lb athlete)

INGREDIENTS:

• 3/4 cup warm water (about 115 degrees F)
• 1 tbsp honey
• 2-1/4 tsp active dry yeast (1 package)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp xanthan gum (or guar gum)
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose gluten free flour (I blend my own because store bought is not very healthy or is really $$$$$)

METHOD:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C).
• In a large bowl, combine the warm water, honey, and yeast. Let stand for 5 minutes until the mixture bubbles (this just means your yeast is alive and will actually work)
• Stir in the olive oil, xanthan gum, basil, oregano, garlic powder, and salt. Mix in the flour with a spoon until it forms a soft, smooth dough.
• Form dough into a ball and drizzle with olive oil. Spread the oil around until it is evenly coated. Put back in the bowl and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Place it in a warm location to rise for 20 minutes (I set mine in the microwave just so the temperature stays consistent).
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a spatula, press/spread the dough out into a circle (use a little more olive oil to make it easier to spread). Par-bake the dough for 10 minutes in the oven.
• Finally, add all the toppings you want and put it back in the oven for another 10ish minutes. If you are using cheese, bake until the cheese is melted and bubbling.

CHICKEN RANCH PIZZA TOPPINGS:

• dairy free ranch dressing (find the recipe here: http://www.adventuresofaglutenfreemom.com/2011/08/ranch-dressing-dairy-free-egg-free-corn-free-nut-free-and-soy-free/)
• spinach
• diced, cooked chicken
• diced red bell pepper
• diced green onion
• optional: shredded cheddar cheese (for those of us who can have dairy)

Seriously, make this for dinner tonight. You will LOVE it. Especially if you are dairy free and have been craving something with a creamy sauce. Do it.

Maura

We're back! With Garlic-Cheddar Muffins

SOOOO much has happened since my eyes have silenced my blog posts. One, my eyes are doing a little better with something the Polish doctor gave me and I'm optimistic knowing that in 2 weeks I will be home and can see a doctor who speaks English.

That said, we're coming home for Christmas! I cannot explain to you how rare it is to be able to take a week off during Christmas in the basketball world. So many of our teammates who have been playing overseas for 6+ years have only gone home once and some never have. So we are incredibly lucky and grateful that the team is letting us go home.

We have had both my parents and Levi's parents visit us in the last month. It was so wonderful to have both of them here. We always love having company and being able to share our crazy life with people. It also gives us an excuse to do touristy things :)

The team has also had a bunch of games. After the first two losses, they went on to win 7 regular season games and 2 tournament games in a row. However, they just lost their last 3 games, two of which counted toward the playoffs. So we've had some serious highs and lows. Overall, we have a really good team and I see us doing really well. We just have a few kinks to work out.

On a different note, my wonderful, 88 year-old grandmother passed away just before Thanksgiving. We are so grateful to have had so many wonderful years with her and especially thankful we were able to see her this summer. We miss her so much but are so happy to know she's finally home. All these recipes have a little bit of her in them as she always made us wonderful things and always let us help.

And as I said before, the posts stopped but the cooking certainly didn't. Not with a hungry basketball player in the house. Today's recipe will be a rare one that is NOT dairy free. All the basketball wives got together while the team was on a roadtrip and so I took this as my opportunity to make something with cheese. Honestly, cheese is one of my favorite foods and when there are so many other things you can't eat, it's hard to cut something out that you can. This is a great appetizer or even a side to soup.

Garlic-Cheddar Muffins
Makes: 9 muffins

INGREDIENTS:

• 1-1/2 cups almond flour (I used hazelnut flour since that's what they have here)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, firmly packed
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup green onion, thinly sliced

METHOD:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit or 180 degrees Celsius. Line muffin tin with baking liners.
• In a large bowl, combine almond flour, salt, and baking soda.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and olive oil.
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix well with a spoon.
• Stir in cheddar cheese, garlic, and onions.
• Scoop 1/4 cup of batter into each muffin cup. The batter will be really thick and you will have to press it down into the liners. It will be more like cookie batter than muffin batter but I promise it works out.
• Bake for 18-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
• Serve warm

Hopefully you enjoy these as much as I did. It might have something to do with the fact that I haven't had cheese in so long :)

Maura