Another cookie that I remember with fondness was made by my mom's friend Laura. I remember one day when I was 7 or 8, I think it was "parent-conference" day at school. I stayed with Laura and her new baby that day while Mom and Dad attended the conferences. What I remember best about that particular visit with Laura was that she let me help her make some sort of cookie that I fell in love with. They were soft and buttery, not too sweet, and seemed to melt in your mouth. I still have no idea what those actual cookies were, but the cookies I am sharing with you today bare a close resemblance.
These cookies are very easy to make and I think I have discovered an extremely versatile gluten-free dough. I am seriously considering, making this dough (minus the sugar) and rolling it out for a pie shell. The first time I made these cookies I simply baked them as rolled tablespoons of dough. Then I realized that the dough did not spread AT ALL... which wasn't necessarily a bad thing. So I took the half-baked cookies out of the oven and flattened them into round shapes with a spoon and finished baking. They were SO warm, buttery, and delicious. But I also thought, these cookies would make wonderful "sugar" cookies of sorts, even though the dough was not like a typical "sugar cookie" dough.
SO when I made them yesterday for our neighborhood cookie swap, I refrigerated the dough slightly and rolled them out and cut out star shapes with cookie cutters. Worked like a charm! They are soft, buttery, and sweet on the inside, and the tips of the stars were delightfully golden and crunchy!
This dough is destined to be a staple cookie/ pie crust dough at my house! I hope you'll try these cookies and let me know what you think! My neighbors loved them! I don't have a single cookie left!! ;-)
Carrie's Cream Cheese Meltaways/ Sugar Cookies
free of gluten & soy
created & shared by carrie forbes of gingerlemongirl.com
printer-friendly recipe
Ingredients:
4 oz. cream cheese (I used low-fat cream cheese)
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
*1 tsp vanilla or almond extract
3/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup potato starch (or tapioca flour -- I used potato starch)
1/2 cup white rice four
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter, cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla. Mix flours/starches together in a small bowl until thoroughly combined. Add to creamed mixture. This will form a very thick dough.
Ingredients:
4 oz. cream cheese (I used low-fat cream cheese)
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
*1 tsp vanilla or almond extract
3/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup potato starch (or tapioca flour -- I used potato starch)
1/2 cup white rice four
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter, cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla. Mix flours/starches together in a small bowl until thoroughly combined. Add to creamed mixture. This will form a very thick dough.
1. To make small round (button) cookies: Simply drop by teaspoons onto a baking pan lined with parchment paper. Bake for 12 -14 minutes. The cookies will still be very light in color when finished baking, the bottom edges should just be slightly browned. Watch carefully.
2. To make sugar cookies: Refrigerate dough for 15-20 minutes. When ready to bake, take dough out of fridge and roll onto a surface that has been dusted with white rice flour. (I used a flexible cutting mat for my rolling surface. ) Dust your rolling pin as well. Roll out cookies and cut out with desired cutters! Place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 12-14 minutes until edges are slightly browned. Frost/Ice/Glaze as desired.
*NOTE: I used vanilla flavoring the first batch of meltaways, and I used almond flavoring for the sugar cookies. I preferred the almond flavoring, but the vanilla was good for a very mellow flavoring!
Easy Sugar Cookie Glaze:
- confectioners sugar
- milk
- food coloring
- flavorings such as almond, orange, or vanilla (optional)
