Christmas Cookie Week: Gluten Free Russian Tea Cookies

This recipe was originally posted this time last year, but it’s so good, I had to include it for this year’s Christmas Cookie Week!

So this year for the holidays, I decided to wait until everyone was home from work to share this year’s holiday treats. Let’s face it, it’s such a crazy time of year, it’s hard to find time to bake, but over the next seven days, I’ll be posting four new recipes so as everyone cuddles into their homes, they can make it all the more merry by whipping up some holiday treats that will instantly get you on Santa’s short list of ‘very nice.’

I was very inspired by the various holiday treats from all over the world, because there are people all over the world with gluten intolerance or celiac disease, so I felt it super important to make this year all the more merry, no matter where it is you call home.

For those of you who have already picked up a copy of Blackbird Bakery Gluten Free, you will see that it is filled with traditional holiday treats that are internationally synonymous with Christmas. You can enjoy my ginger gingerbread if you happen to be in Hong Kong, my rice pudding (with an almond in the middle) if you happen to be warming yourself in Sweden, or my my sugar cookies while in New York. If you are in Brittany, you can still enjoy your Christmas crepes, while the unforgettable silhouette of the Croquembouche is still on the wall in your Parisian relatives’ house (see my cream puff recipe). I have a friend in London that is dying over all the pies she can make for her loved ones again….but then I realized I didn’t have a recipe from the southern continents or the Slavic region, so I set out to find the missing links.

The first in this series are my Russian Tea Cookies, which is actually a form of a jumble, a pastry common in England during the middle ages, but are still enjoyed throughout Russia and the United States during the holidays. Russian tea cookies are also known as Mexican wedding cookies. Rolled in powdered sugar while they are still hot, they end up looking like little snow balls when the sugar perfectly coats them. Brought to America from the immigrants and are very much a holiday tradition to this day. Now you can enjoy a gluten free version! One bite and you’ll see why they took root in American soil so readily, even though the ground was locked up in the freeze of winter.

Kick off those shopping shoes and have a break with these little wonders. Best served with hot tea, cocoa or a frothy cappuccino.

RUSSIAN TEA COOKIES

1 cup (2 stick2) cold unsalted butter, diced
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/2 cup powdered sugar + more for dusting
1/2 cup almond meal
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup glutinous rice flour
1/4 cup arrowroot
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
4 teaspoons guar gum
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons finely chopped pecans
1/4 cup majooli dates, finely chopped
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine all the dry ingredients. Mix to combine. Add the unsalted butter and mix until it looks like wet sand. Add the vanilla, pecans and dates and mix on high until the dough folds in on itself and is soft to the touch. Transfer to a glass bow, cover with cello and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 400°F and remove dough from the fridge.

Using a 1 1/2 inch ice cream scooper, form your dough into balls, roll until smooth between your palms and then place on a cookie sheet lined with either parchment paper or a silpat, 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake for 7-10 minutes. The cookies should be golden around the base and just barely tinted on top.

Remove from the oven and immediately dust with powdered sugar. Allow to cool completely and then roll the cookies in more powdered sugar.

Makes 4 dozen cookies.

Will keep in an airtight container for a week and a half.

Merry Christmas!

Photos by Knoxy