This snickerdoodle recipe is central to the story in Silent Snickerdoodle – a Clear Springs Cozy Mystery Christmas Short.
Confession time.
Chris’s gut is more sensitive than the smoke detector in her camper (the one that starts screeching anytime more than one thing is on the stove).
With mild sensitivities to gluten, dairy, and eggs, it makes eating lots of baked goods …problematic. But then add a severe sensitivity to CORN, and, well…there goes the world.
Seriously, yo. Corn — corn starch, corn syrup — is in EVERYTHING. Including the lovely little Advil tablets to manage the inflammation in my finger joints caused by the stupid corn. (not even kidding).
So any treat that doesn’t contain any of these things and tastes better than a block of dried glue is a win, especially after a long summer of cheating!
And these are WAY better than a block of glue.
They’re light, fluffy, and packed with flavor. They also freeze well, so I keep a bag of them handy for whenever I’m tempted to dig into that batch of Madeleines I just made.
So if you have folks in your life with lots of dietary restrictions, give this one a try!
(p.s. I use almond milk rather than rice milk, because thankfully, I don’t have tree-nut allergies. If I did, I might just volunteer to be a victim in the next book!)
Gluten-Free Vegan Licorice Snickerdoodles
A delicious and safe treat for the food sensitive folks in your life!
Prep Time 30 minutes mins
Cook Time 10 minutes mins
Total Time 1 hour hr
- 350 grams Gluten-Free Flour Mix (I use Namaste)
- 1/4 heaping tsp Xanthan Gum
- 3/4 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 1/2 tsp Cream of Tartar
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Ground Anise Seed
- 3/4 cup Shortening (I use Crisco butter-flavored)
- 3/4 cup Sugar
- 1/3 cup Brown Sugar firmly packed
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 1/2 tsp Egg Replacer Powder
- 2 Tbs Rice or Almond Milk
- 1/4 cup Rice or Almond Milk
- 2 Tbs Sugar
- 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- 1 tsp Ground Anise Seed
Preheat oven to 375º F (adjusting for your own oven, especially if you use convection), and prepare two cookie sheets with silicone liners or parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, stir or whisk the flour, xanthan gum, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt, and anise.
Mix the shortening, 3/4 c sugar, and brown sugar with the paddle blade in your stand mixer until it's a light, creamy, cloudy dream -- it'll take a couple minutes.
While that's mixing, whisk the egg replacer and 2T of rice milk together and let it sit for about a minute to thicken
Then add the egg replacer mixture and the vanilla to the shortening mix and stir until just combined.
With the mixer on low, alternate adding half the flour mixture, then half the rice milk. It should go without saying, but scrape the bowl down a couple times (and especially before the last bit if rice milk goes in) to make sure it all gets combined. When you toss that last bit of rice milk in, it'll come together pretty quickly into a nice thick lump.
Combine the 2 T sugar with the cinammon and anise seed in a small bowl.
Use your hands to roll the dough into golf-ball-sized balls, then roll in the sugar mixture and arrange on the cookie sheet a few inches apart (they will spread during baking, so give 'em plenty of room. I do 3x4 on a half-sheet pan).
Bake (each pan separately) for 10 minutes. They should spread and crack to give you a peek at the yummy fluffy centers. Let them cool in the pan for 10 more minutes, then remove to a cooling rack.
As tempting as it will be to gobble one up warm straight from the oven, don't. Gluten-free treats bake a little differently, and they sometimes are a little gluey when they're still hot. They'll actually be a much better texture after they cool, so exercise that patience!
Also, these freeze really well. Just pull one out and set it on the counter or pop it in the toaster oven to warm up a bit so you don't break a tooth!
