My intention at the beginning of this busy season was to front load all the things that had to get done, and then, with time and energy left over, create a list of things we wanted to do if time allowed…and this was on the top of the list, after chatting with the girls. We have done these in the past, when they were super little, like with their friends in Brooklyn, and in recent years, I had always done a smaller version or skipped it all together–just dreading the mess 😉 But this year, we timed it well with my cleaning crew arriving the morning after (as I’m writing this) and we also had an older crowd, who were more helpful than anything–that made a huge difference. They were a few of our favorites from school, that mine idolize, so they were in absolute heaven to have them over for tea and cookie afternoon.
We were working with a gluten allergy, and a diabetic in our group, so the focus was on cookies that everyone could enjoy, and I prefer to bake this way anyway. These 2 recipes from Ambitious kitchen worked so well for what we needed—usually almond flour based cookies are super crumbly and are hard to get into that rolling/shaping mode, but this was wonderful in taste and texture. The gingerbread is super tasty (and I’m pretty picky about mine), so give them a try if they inspire you. I’m sharing the better icing recipe of the 2 offered, because we found it was a better consistency, and while it’s not paleo, if you’ll allow for a little organic powdered sugar in your life, it’s a great recipe. Because, balance.
We also made one other fun (EASY!) cranberry bliss bar variation with GF crust of oats instead of the typical graham cracker crumb. I’ll share that too since they are very easy and delicious, and I made it up, so I’m sure I’ll want to come back to this next year to remember. Oh, and cupcakes, because we had the cutest nutcracker toppers to use, and those were GF from a box 😉 And we needed to have different stations to keep these cute hands busy while the cookies were baking…
Paleo Sugar cookies
Modified from the ones at Ambitious Kitchen
INGREDIENTS
- 1/3 cup melted and cooled coconut oil
- 1/4 cup coconut sugar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 egg, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups packed fine almond flour (do not use almond meal)
- 3 tablespoons coconut flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Melt coconut oil, and toss the sugar, honey, egg and vanilla into your kitchenaid. Wait for the coconut oil to cool, then add that in and mix well to combine.
- Then, almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda and salt. Mix well–until a nice dough forms. Allow dough to sit for 5 minutes, at least.
- Can roll out and bake immediately, or can wait 24 hours (we made ours the night before), just give it 20 minutes to come back to room temp before attempting to roll it. Shape into all the fun holiday shapes you desire…and then bake for 8-10 minutes on parchment paper lined cookie sheets. Remove from oven, and can leave on the counter on the parchment paper, which also makes for an easy decorating set up (we just moved them back and forth during the party). Makes about 15 cookies, depending on the shapes and sizes you use.
Paleo Gingerbread Molasses Cookies
INGREDIENTS
- 1/2 cup melted and cooled coconut oil
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar (or use organic cane sugar)
- 3 tablespoons molasses
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups packed blanched almond flour–the finer the better.
- 3/4 cup organic coconut flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger (or can use something called gingerbread spice which is mellower but same idea)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Optional: Organic cane sugar for sprinkling, if desired
ICING (works for both cookies above)
- 1 cup organic powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon butter, softened
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon almond milk
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a kitchen-aid mixer, mix together melted and cooled coconut oil, coconut sugar, molasses, eggs and vanilla extract. (**Make sure your coconut oil is not HOT; it can be slightly warm just not hot!)
- Next add in almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda, spices and salt; mix well to combine and form a dough; sometimes using clean hands might be necessary. Let the dough rest for just a few minutes.
- Place dough between two sheets of parchment paper on a flat even surface. Roll out the dough so that it’s approximately 1/4 inch thick.
- Use cookie cutters of choice to cut the dough out and then place each shape on your prepared baking sheet about an inch apart. Sprinkle with organic cane sugar if you’d like then place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finishing cooling. Makes about 18 medium sized cookie shapes.
- To make the icing: Using same mixer (quick rinse!)–Mix together the ingredients well, until smooth.
- Transfer to a pastry bag to pipe icing onto cookies. We did with knives after it had been refrigerated a bit and was more solid, but you can also use a Ziploc bag and cut a VERY small hole in the corner after adding half of the frosting to the bag, then decorate! Definitely make 2 batches of this frosting–it’s that yummy that you have to make sure some of it makes it on to the cookies. Adapted from Ambitious kitchen.
Cranberry Bliss bars–GF and Easy
*1 cup oats
*1/2 cup butter, softened
*1/2 cup coconut flour
*1/2 bag white chocolate chips (6 oz)
*1/2 bag coconut (6-8 oz)
*1/2 cup walnuts (optional)
*1 cup cranberries, more if desired (I like mine with lots of cranberries)
*1 can sweetened condensed milk
Directions:
Mix the butter, oats and coconut flour with your hands or a pastry cutter or both, as if you’re making a crisp/crumble crust. Press into a glass pie pan. Then, layer in cranberries, white chocolate chips, coconut and walnuts, ideally in that order. Then, cover it all with the can of sweetened condensed milk, and bake for 12-14 minutes at 350. That’s it. Cut, serve, and enjoy! It has fruit in it…it must be healthier than your average holiday treat;)…but seriously, it’s an easy crowd pleaser, and packages up pretty well for special deliveries around town!
As we head into the final countdown for Christmas, I’m wishing you all the beautiful memory making, embracing the process and the mess that comes with it, and getting quality time with friends and loved ones, which is always such a gift.