Gluten, grain and sugar free cut-out holiday cookies

I had so much fun making these holiday cookie cutter cookies AND they taste great!  They are a little crisp but chewy, spiced and sweetened just right. If you can’t eat gluten or grains or dairy or sugar, these cookies will satisfy your holiday craving for cookies without making you feel yucky.  Even if you can eat these foods, don’t let the “free of everything” scare you off.  These are very yummy and very healthy for you if you’re trying to keep off the extra pounds this season.

I first tried making them with my toddler because I thought it would be a fun project.  He ended up just wanting to eat the dough and when I was cutting the cookies, he kept destroying the cut-outs!  My first batch didn’t turn out that great in appearance – they had finger print indentations all over them.  But they still tasted yummy, so I made some more when he was sleeping and made sure not to pat the dough at all after it was rolled out.

I had never made cookie cutter cookies, much less gluten, grain, dairy and sugar free ones!  A few things I learned may help you out on your cookie cutter adventure:

• When you cut the dough with the cookie cutters, move them back and forth just a tad before lifting them away from the dough.  This creates some space around the cookie and makes it easier to remove the excess dough.

• Don’t use cookie cutters that are too small – medium to large ones work well for this recipe.

• Don’t make the cookies too close together – this makes it hard to remove the excess dough.
• Don’t pat the dough once it is rolled.  This will create finger prints and then cracks when baking.

• If you don’t finish all of them in one day, freeze the dough for later – I still have a lump of dough left in the freezer for later.

So here’s the recipe for you to enjoy!  Also, my Just Desserts for Limited Diets recipe e-book is almost complete and will be available this Wednesday, December 9.  There is a 20% off pre-order offer happening right now if you preorder the e-book and the Holiday Menu Planner by Tuesday night.  These also make great gifts!

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Dairy and Gluten Free Walnut Torte with Whipped Cream Icing

I don’t think I’ve ever made so many sweets and baked goods in such a short amount of time.  But the great thing is we have both my husband’s birthday and my son’s birthday to celebrate this month, so we can use some of the goodies for celebrating.

Over the weekend I made a Walnut Torte with dairy-free whipped cream icing.  We added a home-made berry sauce to it and it is so yummy.  I seriously don’t miss baked goods made with regular flour, dairy, sugar, gluten or grains.  A few years ago I probably never would have imagined eating a dessert free of all of these foods.  But this torte is definately a winner!

So, if you’re looking for healthy dessert recipes, low carb dessert recipes or simply sugar free baked goods, I assure you it is very possible to make them with healthy and wholesome ingredients!  And if you don’t have a clue where to start, here is the recipe for the Walnut Torte with Dairy-free Whipped Cream Icing and Homemade Berry Sauce:  (These healthy dessert recipes will be a part of the Just Desserts recipe e-book and the Holiday Limited Diet Menu Planner)

By the way, if you pre-order the Holiday Menu Planner and the Just Dessert recipe e-book, you’ll get 20% off between now and December 15th.

Now for the recipe…

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Gluten free and grain free pizza

Okay, so this may seem off topic.  But I’m doing a post about pizza today.  Reason being I’ve been wanting to do a post about this particular pizza crust for weeks and I finally got a good shot last week.  I also thought that people need some ideas for dinner prior to Thanksgiving so that they have the energy to do all the shopping and cooking this week!

I’ve been making this pizza crust for several weeks now and I really enjoy it.  My husband has confessed (a few times) that he misses the yeast-y gluten-free pizza dough I used to make.  I agree, it was tasty and tasted just like the real thing.

But since going grain free, yeast free and sugar free, the pizza crust I’ve been making marches to the beat of a different drum…

But it really is delicious in my opinion.  And if you can’t have yeast or grains or sugar, it is really a great alternative.

The best part of the recipe is it is so easy! No waiting for it to rise.  No kneading.  Only four ingredients!. Just mix and pat into a pan and then bake it.  It’s is feasible to make the whole pizza for dinner in 45 minutes depending on what toppings you use.  But you can also make the crusts over the weekend, prebake and then freeze them for later if time is an issue for you during the week.

I originally got this recipe made with hazelnut flour here.  But I used almond flour instead and I really like the texture.  I’ve also used almond meal and it also worked well.  It tasted more like a wheat crust.

This time I used the pizza stones that my mom gave me at least a year ago.  They are little so you have to make little pizzas.  The recipe made three small individual sized pizzas and the picture above is of the last piece before it got eaten for lunch the next day.

The pizza stones did make a difference I have to say.  It was a bit crispier but still “chewy” on the inside.  It had a great texture to it.

To get the recipe, visit the Grain Free Foodies blog.  The only thing I did differently was change the flour to almond flour.

Gluten Free and GAPS friendly Pizza Crust Recipe

Enjoy and have a blessed and beautiful Thanksgiving this week!