{"id":1002,"date":"2020-02-14T01:29:39","date_gmt":"2020-02-14T01:29:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gf-veg.com\/?p=1002"},"modified":"2021-12-23T00:42:42","modified_gmt":"2021-12-23T00:42:42","slug":"valentine-cookies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gf-veg.com\/valentine-cookies\/","title":{"rendered":"Valentine Cookies (Dairy Free, Dye Free)"},"content":{"rendered":"
One of our daughter’s best friends is a celiac and allergic to red dye. So for a fun Valentine\u2019s Day activity, we decided to make these delicious and super easy cookies that are gluten free, red dye free, and also dairy free<\/strong> as an extra bonus.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As a working mom, I love my time saving shortcuts when I can find them. My first time saver for this recipe is to use King Arthur Flour Gluten Free Sugar Cookie Mix<\/a>. This mix is truly delicious. It\u2019s also non-GMO verified, made with whole grain oat flour, easy to roll out, free of artificial preservatives, and certified gluten free. King Arthur Flour makes a number of other gluten free mixes and flours<\/a>, and all that we\u2019ve tried are excellent.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n It\u2019s easy to make these Valentine cookies dairy free. Simply select vegan plant butter to add to the mix, such as Miyoko’s Organic Vegan Butter<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Beat together the mix, 1 stick of softened non-dairy plant butter, 1 egg, and 1 tsp vanilla extract. As an optional step (inspired by our daughter), mix in 1\/2 cup chocolate chips. Chocolate chips may not be a typical addition to sugar cookies, but we think they taste good enough to justify breaking with tradition. Our favorite allergy-friendly chips are Enjoy Life Foods<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Divide the dough in half, form into 1″ thick disks, wrap, and refrigerate for 2 hours (or up to overnight). Flour both sides of the dough with gluten free flour. Roll to desired thickness: 1\/4″ for chewier cookies and 1\/8″ for crispier cookies. Cut into hearts or your desired shape. We don\u2019t have heart-shaped cookie cutters, but we have heart-shaped measuring cups that worked just fine!<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Transfer cookies to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 12 – 16 minutes, or until lightly browned. Let cool on a rack.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n To make the buttercream frosting, first soften a stick of nondairy plant butter.<\/span><\/p>\n Cream the butter using a mixer, then slowly mix in 2 cups powdered sugar (confectioners\u2019 sugar), about \u00bd cup at time. Mix in 1\/2 tsp vanilla extract and a splash of unsweetened almond milk. Our frosting needed about 1 Tbsp of almond milk, but you can add more a little at a time until you reach the desired consistency. This frosting tastes so good, it will be difficult to keep little fingers (or your own!) away from the bowl.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Coloring your frosting without red dye requires stirring in one simple ingredient – beet juice! Here\u2019s where my second time saving tip comes in. To make this step extremely quick and simple, open a package of Love Beets ready-to-eat cooked beets<\/a> and instantly get all the juice you\u2019ll need. As a bonus, you\u2019ll have some yummy beets to use in a salad or other meal later.<\/span><\/p>\n If you can\u2019t find Love Beets in your store, here are a few other options:<\/span><\/p>\n The more beet juice you add, the darker the color. Our daughter and her friend wanted three different colors of frosting, so we divided the frosting into three separate bowls. We kept one bowl white, made one bowl of frosting light pink, and made one bowl a darker pink.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Be sure your cookies are completely cool before frosting. The frosting gets thinner the more juice you add to it, so to keep the frosting firm, store cookies in the fridge.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n These cookies were an absolute hit. They were simple, easy, and fun to make, and they were so delicious that the whole batch didn\u2019t last longer than a few days. I hope you and your family enjoy them, and have a wonderful Valentine\u2019s Day!<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\nMaking gluten free, dairy free chocolate chip sugar cookies<\/span><\/h2>\n
Making dye-free, dairy free buttercream frosting<\/span><\/h2>\n
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Valentine Cookies (Dairy Free, Dye Free)<\/h2>\n