holiday cookies – My Gluten Free Cucina

If you’ve been following my cookie adventures on Facebook, you know that I was determined to master the gluten free thumbprint. I tried and tried to adapt a recipe to be gluten free, I made so many cookies! And while they all tasted good, well….

I made a giant unicookie! ????????????

I made some really flat cookies!

Then I did what I should have done in the first place, I asked an expert.

Chef Patrick Auger, who I consider to be THE ORACLE of gluten free baking shared a bit of his expertise with me on how to achieve the perfect gluten free thumbprint (hint: if you don’t have a scale go and order one now!). Thanks Patrick! Now, without further ado, here you are ladies and gentlemen! Gluten Free Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies!

This post contains affiliate links.

Yield: 24 cookies

Ingredients:

1 stick of unsalted butter, softened (see hint below)
70 g. (1/3 cup) granulated sugar
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
187 g. gluten free all-purpose flour (I used Better Batter Original)
1/8 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. water (may be needed to bring dough together)
egg whites for brushing (optional)
gluten free raspberry jam (I used Smucker’s)

Hint: Don’t have time to wait for butter to soften at room temperature? Me either. Here’s how to get the perfect consistency every time. Stand your butter on a plate, cover with a glass and microwave 20-30 seconds. Perfectly softened butter every time!

Preparation:

Cream together the softened butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Add the vanilla.

Weigh the flour, this is critical to achieving the right dough.

Add the flour and salt to the mixer bowl and continue beating until the dough comes together. You may have to add up to 1 tbsp. water.

Turn the dough out onto a cutting board and press into a disc.

Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 15 minutes.

Line one or two baking sheets with parchment or use a silicone baking mat.

I was determined to make perfectly uniform sized cookies, so I weighed the dough and divided by 24, it came to about 15 g. each. If you’re a perfectionist like me, you can weigh them or if not just eyeball it!

Roll each piece of dough into a ball and flatten slightly. Place them on the cookie sheet about 3 inches apart.

Instead of my big old thumbs, I used a 1/8 teaspoon to make the indentations.

I brushed the cookies very lightly with egg white, but this step is optional. I used the same 1/8 teaspoon to fill the indentations with jam, perfect fit!

Next, refrigerate the cookies again while you preheat the oven to 350º.

Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let the pan cool for 5 minutes before transferring the cookies to a cooling rack. Try not to eat them all at once!