Gluten Free Cut-Out Sugar Cookies - Just in Time for Valentines Day!

Sugar Cookies - Great for cutting out Christmas Cookies, Valentines Day Cookies, etc.

• 3 cups powdered sugar ( icing sugar)
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 cups shortening or butter or margarine
• 6 eggs
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1/4 cup vanilla extract (this is correct)
• 1 cup amaranth flour or sorghum flour
• 2 cups potato starch
• 2 cups sweet rice flour
• 4 cups white rice flour or brown rice flour
• 2 tablespoons xanthan gum or guar gum
• 3 tablespoons Baking Powder.

Preheat oven to 325*.  Mix together the dry ingredients with a wisk until well combined.  Set aside.
Cream together the sugars, shortening (or butter or margarine), eggs, vanilla and salt.  Add the flour mixture a cup at a time stirring with a wooden spoon or with your mixer's dough hook.  Stir until all the flour mixture is incorporated.  Remove to counter or table top that has been dusted with rice flour.  Knead and fold the dough a bit.  The dough should be able to be gathered into a ball. 

• For Sugar Cookies just roll into balls and flatten with the bottom of a sugar-dipped glass.  Bake until golden.
• For a soft chewy cookies roll into larger balls and flatten to about 1/4" thick and bake until edges are just golden.
• For roll out/cut out cookies chill the dough for about an hour.  then you can either dust your table top with sweet rice flour or roll the dough between two sheets of plastic wrap to 1/8" for crispy or 1/4" for soft cookies.

We have added gingerbread men spices and molasses to the recipe to make gingerbread men.
You do not have to use all the dough at once.  Just wrap it well and store in freezer.  The baked cookies freeze well.  If left at room temperature in a container for more than 3-4 days they will dry out.