This simple recipe for gluten free iced gems is a classic recipe that kids will love. The recipe is also dairy free and egg free so suitable for most restricted diets.
As many of you will know from seeing pictures on Instagram and Twitter, I have been very busy baking this week.
I’ve been trying to get prepared for our kids birthdays that are drawing ever closer.
Each year we chastise ourselves for having two children whose birthday’s are so close together.
15 days apart and towards the end of the school term when life is already hectic.
Inevitably, their parties are not on their actual birthdays adding to the amount of baking that has to be done.
This year, our son’s birthday is on a Sunday meaning his party can be the same day.
His party is going to be ‘space-themed’ (well loosely so!).
I have therefore been making star-shaped treats to go in the freezer until the day.
Not only are there star-shaped cheese biscuits, but star-shaped iced gems (a childhood favourite) and biscuits decorated with space ‘things’, and his age.
I will be making his cake on Saturday so will share the pictures of that when it is done and will also write a blog post about the food that we had.
Anyway, for those of you who like a little bit of ‘retro’ here is my recipe for gluten free iced gems.
I used half the biscuit mix for iced gems and the other half for the space-themed and age biscuits.
I thinned the icing out with more lemon juice to fill in the centre of the space-themed and age biscuits.
There are a LOT of biscuits which should do for both kid’s birthdays.
Pin my gluten free iced gem recipe…
Gluten Free Iced Gems (Dairy Free, Egg Free, Vegan)
Ingredients
- FOR THE BISCUITS:
- 250 g dairy-free margarine
- 140 g icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract or a few drops of almond extract
- 440 g Free From Fairy gluten-free plain flour
- 1 tsp xanthan gum
- FOR THE ICING:
- 500 g icing sugar
- 60-80 ml fresh lemon or orange juice - what you choose is what your icing will taste of!
- 4 tsp glycerine
- Food colouring - the gel type is best or reduce the amount of juice you put in if using liquid
Instructions
- FOR THE BISCUITS:
- Put the margarine and icing sugar in a mixing bowl and beat together with an electric whisk until pale and fluffy (about 1 minute).
- Add the vanilla and beat again
- Add the xanthan gum and beat to combine.
- Finally add in the flour
- Work into a dough, kneading it a bit to bring it into a smooth ball, you may need a little more flour
- Place in the fridge for around 30 minutes to make it easier and less sticky to use
- Flour a clean surface and knead the dough until smooth.
- Roll the dough out to a thickness of about 3mm.
- Using your chosen cutter (1inch or less if you want them small!) cut out your shapes.
- Transfer the biscuits to well greased or lined baking trays. Don’t worry about spacing them out because they do not grow!
- Bake in a pre-heated oven for approx. 10 minutes at 190 degrees or 170 degrees (fan oven) until firm but not coloured.
- Leave to cool in the baking tray for 5 minutes before placing on a wire rack to cool completely.
- FOT THE ICING:
- Mix the icing sugar, 60ml of juice, and glycerine together in a bowl. If you want different colours, divide the mixture into different bowls and then add the colouring gel. The consistency should be of toothpaste, if it seems too think add more juice.
- Place into a piping bag with the star nozzle attached and pipe stars onto the cold biscuits.
- Either place the finished biscuits into the oven on its lowest setting for 30 minutes to dry the icing out, or leave to dry for 24 hours at room temperature (I left mine in the cold oven to protect them from flies etc).
- I have placed my finished biscuits in the freezer ready for the party on Sunday! They will take about 5 minutes to defrost!
Notes
Nutrition (Approx)
I have linked this up with:
Tamara Gordon says
So tasty. Melt in mouth!
Vicki Montague says
I know and it’s such a versatile recipe…you can use it as the base to any biscuit you like.
Vicki Washington says
Hi,
This recipe looks perfect especially for school to make in lessons.
but I have one small problem my little boy is allergic to banana. What can I substitute the banana with??.
Any help would be greatly appreciated
Many thanks
Vicki Montague says
I’m a little confused Vicki since there is no banana in the recipe!
Helen at Casa Costello says
Love Iced Gems – They are so moreish and these are very cute! Thank you for joining in with #Bakeoftheweek x
Vicki Montague says
Thank you for hosting it Helen! Love looking at all the recipes!
Abi says
These look great!
Can they be made in advance? if so how long do they keep for and what is the best way of storing them?
Thanks 🙂
The Free From Fairy says
Hi Abi, yes these can be made in advance. You can either make the dough and keep it in the fridge or freezer or you can make them up and freeze them. That is what I did because I made them for my kids’ parties well ahead of time so I didn’t have things to worry about nearer the date!
Debbie says
Those biscuit look the business! I remember iced gems from my childhood,I always nibbled the icing off before eating the biscuit.
Having two children’s birthdays so close together must be a nightmare. I think I have it bad with my daughters birthday being just a couple of weeks after Christmas, when my creative juices are at their lowest, although it’s not so bad now she is older!
I am sure the biscuits will go down a treat and I hope both parties go smoothly.
The Free From Fairy says
Ah thanks Debbie! The biscuits did go down very well and both parties are now over…sigh!!! I think having birthdays before or after Christmas must be much worse!
Kirsty Hijacked By Twins says
Oooh Vicki these look lovely and are the perfect size for little hands x #recipeoftheweek
The Free From Fairy says
Hi Kirsty! Thanks for your comment. I hope you are well? Yes, they are perfect…small enough to have a few and not be sick! I have learnt from past parties that small is best!
Dawn says
Thank-you for sharing this recipe, my friend’s little girl is having a birthday soon and these will be perfect 🙂
The Free From Fairy says
Ooo let me know how you get on! They went down a storm with the kids at my son’s party!
Mel says
I would not have thought of putting icing on biscuits but now I see yours, it makes sense: they look great and it must add a little ‘je ne sais quoi’ to biscuits that might appear dry to 5 year olds. Great move for making them ahead as well! Crevette’s birthday is in a couple of weeks but this year, we are making our life a little bit easier by going to a soft play area. x
The Free From Fairy says
Very very sensible going out somewhere! We are exhausted today 🙂