These beautiful gluten free Christmas cookies are one of my favourite things to make at Christmas. They use boiled sweets in the middle to make a stained glass cookie effect.
Just perfect for giving as homemade gifts or to hang on the Christmas tree.
The story behind the recipe
OK so some kind of unfunny joke is being played out in this household.
As you will know if you have read my other posts this week, ‘Sunshine’ has been off school poorly, having only been off with the same thing about 2 weeks previously.
Today ‘Roo’ is off school with the same thing, again having been off about the same time 2 weeks ago.
And luckily ‘Sunshine’ has gone back to school having recovered from his high temperature although still thick with cold.
There was no way that I was going to have both of them off…
When ‘Sunshine’ is ill it sends him rather loopy being stuck indoors inactive and he gets even more annoying than usual.
With ‘Roos’ lack of patience when she is ill it would have been a recipe for disaster so there was nothing for it but to send him in!
Anyway, it means yet another day of sitting on the sofa keeping a poorly child company whilst DVD’s play out on the TV! Today another classic, The Incredibles!
‘Roo’: “Mummy, Mr Incredible hasn’t really got a super power has he?”
Me: “Well, he is very strong…that is his power.”
‘Roo’: “So that means that Daddy has a super power because he is really strong.”
I love the way kids think!
Tomorrow is the school Christmas Fayre and I am running a Christmas Bake Off competition for the kids.
That of course means that despite being ill, the kids are keen to bake so that they can enter!
I thought I would share ‘Sunshines’ entry. These Christmas biscuits would make the perfect Christmas activity this weekend.
‘Sunshine’ did all the work with a little help from me at the points that involved heat and machines.
They are super tasty and will look beautiful on the Christmas tree.
How do you make gluten free Christmas cookies?
It’s really much easier than it might appear.
These cookies are the perfect base for any biscuit you want to make.
There are no rules! Get your kids’ sleeves rolled up and have some fun.
Of course if you don’t like my flavour combination (which is amazing) you could flavour these how you like. Plain vanilla would work well too.
Pin the recipe for gluten free Christmas cookies…
Gluten Free Christmas Cookies
Ingredients
- 125 g margarine - softened (or butter if not dairy free)
- 70 g sugar - icing sugar will give a 'smoother' look
- 220 g plain Free From Fairy gluten-free flour
- 6 cardamom pods - seeds removed and crushed
- 1/2 tsp psyllium husk powder - or xanthan gum
- Zest 1 orange
- 15 Foxes Fruit sweets - or other boiled sweets (check ingredients)
Instructions
- Beat the sugar and margarine (or softened butter) together until light and fluffy
- Add the flour, cardamom, psyllium and orange zest and beat until a dough forms. You may need to add 1 tsp water to bring it together. It depends on the flavour you choose because you may want to remove the spice and orange and add 1tsp vanilla extract in which case you won't want the water
- If your house is warm you may need to chill the dough for around 30 minutes. Otherwise continue onto the next step
- Liberally flour a clean surface and roll the dough in the flour, working it until it is smooth enough to roll.
- Roll out with more flour, making sure to move the dough around so that it doesn't stick on the surface (watch the video of me making pastry if you are not sure how to do this).
- When the dough is approx. 2mm thick use a star cutter (about 9cm's from point to point) to cut your first shape. Transfer to a baking tray lined with baking parchment.
- Using a smaller star shaped cutter (about half the size), cut the middle out of the first larger star. You can either transfer the little star to the tray or re-roll it to get more large stars.
- Finally use a straw to poke a small hole in the top of the star for ribbon or string to go through.
- Repeat, re-rolling the dough when you need to, until all the dough is used up.
- Crush the boiled sweets and sprinkle them into the star shaped holes. They need to fill, but not overfill the hole
- Place the biscuits in the pre-heated oven at 190 degrees C or 170 degree fan oven for 15 - 20 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely on the tray before storing in an air tight container.
- If you would like to hang on the Christmas tree, place thin ribbon or thread through the holes and tie to make a loop.
Notes
Nutrition (Approx)
Honest mum says
Stunning and instantly took me back to my childhood with the sweet filling! Thanks for linking up to #tastytuesdays
Vicki Montague says
Ah, alas they are all gone now along with the Christmas tree to hang them from! I love Christmas! Hope you had a good one?
Sarah (@tamingtwins) says
These are ace Vicki! They would look so pretty hanging on the tree wouldn’t they? I bet they wouldn’t last long in this house. Thanks so much for sharing with #festivefoodfriday.
Vicki Montague says
They would look lovely if they made it to the tree!!!
Vicki Montague says
Orange and cardamom is my new favourite combo! I am just in the middle of making mincepies using orange and cardamom pastry…partly because Tesco’s delivered another bag of oranges yesterday instead of bringing us clementines so we have rather a lot!!
Julie's Family Kitchen says
The cookies look amazing, Pickle did a fantastic job. Wishing you and your family a Happy Christmas. x
Vicki Montague says
Thanks Julie! He did do a good job didn’t he?! Happy Christmas to you too x
Megan - Truly Madly Kids says
This look amazing! I must learn to master them …
Vicki Montague says
Hi Megan, if my 5 year old can do them, anyone can!!!
Katy {What Katy Said} says
oh clever!!!!! I am going to try these!!! #TastyTuesdays
Vicki Montague says
Hi Katy, do let me know if you give them a go! They are so tasty…I bet they don’t make it to the Christmas tree. None of ours have yet!
Caroline (Becoming a SAHM) says
Aw sorry to hear both kiddies are poorly, there is so much illness going round at the moment its horrible! These look amazing, they are so cute, fab recipe 🙂 xx #tastytuesdays
Vicki Montague says
Hi Caroline, thanks for your lovely comment! Have a great Christmas!
Vikki Cook says
These look so beautiful!! Nice job, Pickle!
Hope Roo is feeling better now?
Vicki Montague says
Thanks Vikki! He was rather proud of himself!
Ciara (My Fussy Eater) says
Love these biscuits so much! They would look so cute hanging on the Christmas tree. Although I’m not sure how long they would last in our house!!
Vicki Montague says
Thanks Ciara…they won’t last long!!!
Steph @MisplacedBrit says
These are fantastic! Love how they looked. My girls would be so pleased with themselves making these.
Love that you’ve melted sweets in them!
#FestiveFoodFriday
Vicki Montague says
My son was very pleased with himself! Not so pleased when I dropped them all on the floor and they smashed 3 hours before the competition! We had to make them all again. Not funny!!!
Kate - glutenfreealchemist says
Very clever, very pretty and very effective! What a great idea…….. I love them!
Vicki Montague says
Ah, I can’t take credit. Saw them long ago on Pinterest and decided it was about time I made my own version that we could all eat! The cardamom and orange flavour and biscuit recipe was all my own though!
Camilla @FabFood4All says
I love these window style biscuits as they look so pretty and I bet these taste amazing too! #FestiveFoodFriday
Vicki Montague says
They tasted wonderful. We are going to be making more!!!
Mel says
They look great! I would never in a million years have thought of putting a sweet in the centre of a biscuit to make a colourful biscuit/decoration: brilliant! x
Vicki Montague says
Nor would I have if I hadn’t seen them a few years ago on Pinterest!! I decided it was about time I set about and made them suitable for us!