Sugar Cookies

Christmas is my favorite time of the year! I love the excitement and anticipation, the brisk, cool air, the Christmas carols playing everywhere, the decorations, and all of the Christmas cheer! I decorate my Christmas Tree on the day after Thanksgiving, with the Mariah Carey Christmas album blaring (who doesn't love singing "All I Want for Christmas is You" at the top of their lungs?). My favorite Christmas album, though, is Andrew Peterson's "Behold the Lamb of God," which tells the story of advent through song. I love the opening phrase of the album:

"Gather 'round, ye children, come

Listen to the old, old story

Of the power of death undone

by an Infant born of Glory.

Son of God, Son of Man"

My family loves celebrating together with sweet treats, singing, laughter, and the joy of the true meaning of Christmas. One of our "sweet treat" traditions are Christmas tree sugar cookies from my Aunt Kathy. I don't know what she does to those cookies, but they are AMAZING. So this year, I decided to make a gluten-free version of these delicious cookies so I won't miss out on all the Christmas tree cookie fun. These gluten-free sugar cookies are dairy free and refined sugar free. They taste great with or without frosting! And the best part is, they taste so close to my Aunt's classic cookie that my cousins might not know the difference!

Sugar Cookies
1 cup almond flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder (make your own!)
3/4 cup grapeseed oil
1 egg
1 cup coconut sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract (make your own!)

1. In a medium bowl, combine almond flour, coconut flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine grapeseed oil, egg, coconut sugar, and vanilla and beat on medium speed until thoroughly combined.
3. Reduce speed to low, and gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until everything is incorporated.
4. Form the dough into a disc, and wrap in wax paper, and then in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for a minimum of 3 hours.
5. Preheat oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
6. Place dough between two sheets of wax paper. Roll dough to 1/8 inch thickness, and cut with cookie cutters. (You will not need to flour the dough if you roll between wax paper.)
7. Carefully transfer cut dough to parchment lined baking sheet.
8. Bake for 7 - 9 minutes, being careful not to over bake.
9. Cool on the pan for 5 minutes before transferring cookies to a cooling rack.
10. Cool completely before serving or frosting.

Makes 2 dozen cookies

Sugar Cookie Frosting
This frosting is taken from All Recipes. I used Almond Milk and India Tree natural food coloring,  so it is dairy free! I highly recommend using natural food coloring over regular food coloring, which contains harmful chemicals. I also used Spectrum Organic Shortening, which is dairy free and soy free! Instead of soy oil, it is made with palm oil.

4 cups powdered sugar (make sure to buy organic for corn-free)
1/2 cup shortening
5 tablespoons almond milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
food coloring, if desired

Cream shortening, powdered sugar, and shortening until smooth and creamy, about 5 minutes.
Stir in vanilla extract. Color the frosting in smaller batches.
Frost cookies with a thin layer of frosting.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Cake Balls

I hope you and your family had a very happy and relaxing Thanksgiving, full of gratitude and blessings!

I first saw these pumpkin truffles on the Whole Foods recipe site. These little pumpkin bites are originally called truffles, but I think they taste more like cake balls. The Whole Foods recipe calls for graham cracker crumbs and gingersnap cookie crumbs, but the idea of pumpkin truffles sounded so good that I knew I would have to make some gluten-free adjustments. My family (even the gluten-eating ones!) loved these gluten-free Pumpkin Cream Cheese Cake Balls, which I brought to our Thanksgiving celebration.

Tips:
-Double check ingredient list on cream cheese - almost all conventional cream cheese brands contain high fructose corn syrup, and even some organic brands have wacky ingredients
-The original recipe calls for orange zest, but I left that out. If you try this recipe with the zest, please leave a comment and let me know how it turns out!
-I used my cookie scoop to form the balls, and they were way too big. I recommend using 1/2 tablespoon of dough per ball, or aiming to make them each 1 inch in diameter.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Cake Balls (based on Whole Foods Market's recipe)
1 10 oz package of white chocolate chunks
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup almond flour
1/3 cup coconut sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch ginger
pinch salt
2 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 Tbsp coconut oil

1. Melt 1/2 cup of white chocolate chips (either in a double boiler or in the microwave), stirring frequently and being careful to not burn.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the melted chocolate, pumpkin puree, almond flour, coconut sugar, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and cream cheese. Stir until thoroughly combined - about 3 minutes. Mixture should be smooth.
3. Cover and chill until firm enough to form into balls, at least 3 hours.
4. Line a tray or glass baking dish with parchment paper. Form balls with the dough 1 inch in diameter (about 1/2 tablespoon of dough), and place on parchment paper. Freeze overnight.
5. After balls have frozen, melt remaining white chocolate chunks (about 2 cups) and coconut oil (either in a double boiler or in the microwave). Working quickly, drop the frozen balls, one at a time, into the melted chocolate, carefully coating entirely in a thin layer of chocolate. Remove any excess chocolate from balls before transferring back to the parchment paper. Repeat with remaining pumpkin balls.
6. Chill for at least one hour, then serve and enjoy!