Keto
Keto sugar cookies
A ketogenic diet is low on carbohydrates and rich in proteins and fats. This alternative version of the classic sugar cookie recipe from Kelly Kwok, the author of The Asian Slow Cooker, produces “the perfect soft and buttery low carb Christmas cut-out cookies for the holiday baking season,” according to Kwok’s website Life Made Sweeter.
Ingredients
super fine blanched almond flourcoconut flourpowdered monk fruit sweetener (you can also try powdered Swerve or erythritol)fine sea saltbuttercream cheesevanilla extractalmond extract
“The secret to this no spread sugar cookie recipe is the addition of cream cheese and leaving out the egg. Leaving out the egg ensures that your dough does not puff out and spread and the cream cheese makes these soft and tender,” the website notes.
Find the full recipe with detailed instructions on how to bake these keto sugar cookies at the Life Made Sweeter website.
Keto chocolate peppermint stars
This keto cookie recipe from the All Day I Dream About Food blog, features “soft low carb chocolate cookies in a chocolate peppermint coating. Sugar-free and grain-free and perfect for the holidays.” This recipe produces around 24 cookies.
Ingredients
2 cups almond flour1/2 cup cocoa powder1/2 cup Swerve Sweetener1/4 tsp salt1/4 cup butter melted1 teaspoon (tsp) peppermint extract4 ounces cream cheese cut into small chunks7 ounces sugar-free dark chocolate chopped1 ounce cocoa butter1/2 tsp peppermint extractHoliday sprinkles (optional)Crushed sugar-free peppermints (optional)1 to 2 ounces sugar-free white chocolate (optional)1 tsp coconut oil
Find the full recipe with detailed instructions on how to bake these keto chocolate peppermint star cookies at the All Day I Dream About Food website.
Vegan
The Vegan Heaven blog, which offers at least 25 different vegan Christmas cookie recipes, from gingerbread men and snickerdoodles to cinnamon cookies such as vegan orange cinnamon Christmas cookies.
Vegan orange cinnamon Christmas cookies
Ingredients
3/4 cup powdered brown sugar2 cups ground almonds1 3/4 cup ground hazelnuts1 tablespoon (tbsp) orange juice2 tbsp cinnamon1/2 cup water3/4 cup oat flour or whole wheat flour. Use oat flour to make the cookies gluten-free. 1/2 cup powdered brown sugarAbout 1 to 1 1/2 tbsp water or plant-based milk1/2 tsp cinnamon
This simple recipe takes 15 minutes to prepare and six minutes to cook. See the Vegan Heaven website for detailed instructions on how to make these vegan orange cinnamon Christmas cookies.
Vegan gingerbread cookies
This vegan gingerbread cookie recipe from BBC Good Food projects editor Miriam Nice uses coconut oil instead of butter, chia seeds instead of eggs as well as chickpea water in the icing.
Ingredients
1 tbsp chia seeds400g plain flour, plus extra for dusting200g coconut oil2 tbsp ground ginger1 tsp ground cinnamon200g dark muscovado sugar50g maple syrup100ml aquafaba (water from a can of chickpeas)500g icing sugar½ tsp lemon juice
The recipe requires around 30 minutes’ prep work and 10 to 12 minutes for cooking and produces around 20 cookies. See the BBC Good Food website for detailed instructions on how to make these vegan gingerbread cookies.
Gluten-free
Four-in-one gluten-free sugar cookies
Celiac.com, which features a network of authors including “doctors, nurses or nutritionists who are leading experts on celiac disease,” according to the website, offers a gluten-free (and dairy-free) version of class sugar cookies. The recipe can be adapted to create four different variations (snickerdoodles, cut-out cookies, pressed cookies and “jammie sammies”).
This recipe uses whole grain sorghum and brown rice flour and requires either walnut or sunflower oil as a butter substitute.
“As in most gluten-free recipes, an acid is added to balance the pH and to boost the leavening action. Cream of tartar serves that purpose in this recipe,” Dr. Jean Duane, the author of the recipe, notes.
Ingredients
½ cup walnut, sunflower oil, or butter substitute1 cup organic cane sugar2 tsp. vanilla3 egg whites1/3 cup rice, nut or seed milk1¼ cup whole grain sorghum flour1¼ cup whole grain brown rice flour½ cup cornstarch or sweet rice flour1 tsp. cream of tartar1 tsp. baking soda1 tsp. baking powder2 tsp. xanthan gum½ tsp. salt
The basic directions for preparing the dough entails whisking the dry ingredients together in one bowl, while combining the wet ingredients in another. Then gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and “mix until incorporated,” the website notes.
The next steps in the recipe depends on which of the aforementioned cookie variations you go for. See the full detailed instructions for each variation at Celiac.com.
Gluten-free chocolate shortbread cookies
This gluten-free chocolate shortbread cookie recipe from Nicole Hunn, the author of Gluten-Free on a Shoestring and other cookbooks, creates “delicate and not too sweet” gluten-free sugar-dusted shortbread cookies using only six basic pantry ingredients.
Ingredients
3/4 cup + 1 tbsp (115g) all purpose gluten free flour plus more for sprinkling1/2 tsp xanthan gum (omit if your blend already contains it)3 tbsp (27g) cornstarch (if you’re using Cup4Cup or a similar high-starch blend, use more all purpose gluten-free flour in place of the cornstarch)1/4 cup (20g) unsweetened Dutch processed cocoa powder1/2 cup (58g) confectioners’ sugar, plus more for sprinkling1/4 tsp kosher salt8 tbsp (112g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
“If you’d like to make these gluten free chocolate shortbread cookies dairy free, too, try using Spectrum butter flavored shortening in place of butter. But you’ll have to use at least 9 tablespoons, and likely a splash of water to knead the dough together. Shortening has almost no moisture,” Hunn notes.
“Do not use Earth Balance buttery sticks, as they have way too much moisture. No matter how much you chill the dough, the cookies will spread way too much,” she adds.
See the Gluten Free on a Shoestring website for the full detailed instructions on how to make these gluten-free chocolate shortbread cookies.
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