"Painted" Gluten Free Sugar Cookies for Valentine's Day

Painted gluten free sugar cookies for Valentine's Day are going to be a hit with your kiddos. I mean you use an actual paint brush....on your food! How fun is that?!

It was a first for me but not my last time trying it. I like painting my design way more than icing a cookie because icing stresses me out.

But painting? Painting is soothing to me, so these cookies were an exercise in relaxation. That is of course, after they made it through the testing stages.

I love cooking way more than I love baking. Cooking is easy, where baking is hard. It is so precise and I am not a precise kind of person.

Nevertheless, I have been working on a gluten free chocolate chip cookie recipe without brown sugar, and that is what inspired me to make sugar cookies. I knew with a few changes, those amazing chocolate chip cookies I have coming to the blog soon would make an epic sugar cookie.

And friends, they do not disappoint.

Chewy buttery sugar cookies? Check ✔

So good you can't tell they are gluten free? Check ✔

Super fun because you can paint them with paint you make from egg yolk? Checkity check ✔✔

Ingredients for "Painted" gluten free sugar cookies

To make these cookies you will need the following:

• Gluten free flour mix- with xantham gum- I used Namaste Gluten Free Flour mix. I LOVE this gluten free flour mix. It isn't gritty like some gluten free flours out there. I have tried quite a few and this one wins. I bought mine at Costco. They could sponsor me that is how much I love it. But they aren't. Sooooo.
• Vanilla and almond extract
• Butter- unsalted and room temperature
• Sugar- the real deal, white granulated sugar. I used organic.
• Egg
• Baking Powder and salt

You won't find white granulated sugar on the blog much. It is something I only use on rare occasions, which are mostly holidays. But to get the most epic close to real thing sugar cookie we need to use white granulated sugar.

Ingredients for the gluten free sugar cookie paint

• Egg yolk
• Natural food coloring
• Water

Tips for the natural food coloring. I tried using ground up freeze dried strawberries and egg whites. It worked OK, it was very faint. You could definitely attempt to make this with other stronger colors like beet juice or beet powder. Because I don't often use food coloring I used this food coloring with no artificial dyes.

Using egg yolk produces a much bolder color. Adding water will thin it out so you can paint with it.

How to make these gluten free sugar cookies

To make these cookies be sure you have a hand or stand mixer ready to go. Also make sure your butter is at room temperature, not melted. Let's go!

1. Start with creaming together your sugar and butter with your mixer. Cream until the mix becomes pale and smooth. About 3-5 minutes. Then beat in your egg, vanilla and almond extract.
2. While that is creaming together, in a separate bowl whisk together your flour, salt and baking powder. When measuring your flour be sure to use the spoon and cup method. Don't scoop your flour out of the bag with a measuring cup.
3. Once your butter and eggs have creamed together, turn the mixer down and slowly add your flour in. Let this mix until it just combines and all pulls away from the side of the bowl.
4. Form your cookie dough into a ball then divide in half.
5. Roll each half back into a ball and wrap individually into saran wrap or wax paper and chill in fridge for 30 minutes to one hour. Your butter needs time to chill back to a solid state so your cookies hold shape so do not skip this step. You divided these into two balls so you can work with one ball at a time. Letting the other dough ball remained chilled. Or you could freeze it and use for later.
6. After your dough has chilled remove one dough ball and place onto your lightly floured surface. Use your hand to shape into a round disc. Then use a rolling pin to roll out ¼ of an inch thick. Be sure it is all even. Don't over work the dough or it will become to warm.
7. Next we are going to use a heart shaped cookie cutter, any size you want, to cut the cookies out. You may need to flour your cutter. Cut the cookies by pressing your cookie cutter firmly into the dough. Wiggle it around slightly to ensure it is cut all the way, then place the cookie onto a parchment lined cookie sheet.
8. Continue doing this until all of your dough is used up. Place cookies at least 1 inch apart on the cookie sheet. You will need to re-roll the dough in order to use it all up. It if becomes to warm chill back in the fridge for a few minutes.
9. Place the cookies back in the fridge on the cookie tray while you prepare the "paint". See below.
10. Paint the cookies using a fine tipped paint brush.
11. Bake the cookies in a preheated oven at 375F for 7-9 minutes, just until the edges begin to become golden.
12. Let cookies cool on a cooling rack until completely cool.

How to make the "paint"

To make the edible "paint" whisk one egg yolk, with water and food coloring. My food coloring was a gel and I used the amount of a small pea. Once whisked just use a fine tip paint brush to paint your design. The design will bake onto the cookie in a beautiful glossy finish that doesn't smear off.

I am just saying how epic would it be to make these cookies into a proposal...or baby announcement. The possibilities are endless.

And done! You now can set forth and make yummy gluten free sugar cookies you can paint with your kids, or friends or all by your self cause you need some relaxation.

I hope you love making these cookies as much as you love eating them. Let me know!

Oh and don't forget to 1) follow me on Pinterest here 2) Pin this recipe for later! You can click on any pic or the share button. Easy peasy.

Thanks you are the bestest and the coolest.

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