It’s Christmas time and I’m craving a holiday treat…cookies!  My friend posted a picture of her delicious sugar cookies on Facebook and I instantly started drooling.  I knew it was time to pull out my pantry staples and start cooking.  I decided to try and mimic her recipe, but very early on knew that I would going to have to wing it because almost every ingredient I had on hand was different.  The baking Gods blessed me this holiday season because somehow my attempt at sugar cookies turned into melt in your mouth vanilla shortbread.  Yummmm

My 18 month old son and I had a lot of fun making these together.  For the most part he watched me (on his homemade Ikea hack learning tower) and also got to pour a couple of ingredients into our KitchenAid.  His favourite part was rolling out the dough and licking the spoon. 

If we are to look at these ingredients from a Chinese dietary perspective I would have to say the overall direction of these cookies are blood building.  The organic butter and egg is good at building yin and blood, while the coconut sugar and rice flour is warming and boosting your Qi (energy).  These are definitely on the sweet side, so be sure not to eat too many or you can start to create dampness in your body, which can negatively effect your digestion.

Melt In Your Mouth Vanilla Shortbread – gluten free & organic

1. Cream butter, icing sugar, and coconut palm sugar together.  Add in egg and vanilla extract and beat until light and fluffy.
2.  In a medium size bowl, combine white rice flour, brown rice flour, tapioca, ground chia, and baking powder together.  I like to whisk it to make sure everything is evenly mixed.
3.  Slowly pour the dry ingredients into the whipped butter mixture and stir until well combined and the dough forms a ball.  Chill the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes (or until firm).
4.  Sprinkle brown rice flour onto a clean surface and roll out the dough.  Use your favourite holiday shapes to make your cookies and place onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
5.  Bake for 8-11 minutes.  (One of my double baking sheets needed 11 minutes, while my other one required only 8 minutes)
6.  Let them cool before eating.  If you pick them up while hot, they will crumble and fall apart.

Enjoy with a cup of herbal or white tea and Christmas carols too!  Do you have a favourite holiday treat?  If so, I’d love to know what it is and share the recipe below.  Happy Holidays.