Every year, we love baking Chanukah cookies to celebrate the holidays! Our favorite recipe growing up was a family recipe. Once we discovered the majority of our family had celiac, we had to alter the recipe to make Gluten Free Chanukah cookies using our favorite Chanukah cookie cutters!
I love baking these cookies with my son (and can’t wait for my daughter to be able to join in too…I’m sure she’ll want to mix this year…even if that means cookie dough all over the kitchen!). Thanks to a cooking class my son took as a toddler, I learned the easiest, least messy way to bake with small kids.
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Prepare for Your Little Helpers!
Before you invite them into the kitchen, set up your ingredients. If you have some plastic or paper bowls and cups, that will work best so you don’t have a huge clean up to do after.
Measure out each ingredient and place the measured amounts in bowls or cups. This way your child can help pour without spilling the ingredients across the floor while trying to scoop it out or measure it. Line up the ingredients in order so everything is ready to go!
Baking Gluten Free Chanukah Cookies with the Kids
Next, it’s time to invite your kids to join you in the kitchen, or at the dining table…whichever has more space!
Let your kids pour the ingredients into the bowls one at a time. Begin with the liquid ingredients in one bowl. Mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
Then, let your child pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, and mix! If your child is old enough to help with the electric mixer, let them help, or use a silicon spatula and let them mix a little before you pull out the electric mixer to finish the job.
Once the Chanukah cookie dough is mixed, form a large ball with the dough, place it inside the mixing bowl, cover it up, and put it in the refrigerator for an hour.
When the dough is ready, pull it out and it’s time to start decorating!
Cutting Out the Shapes
Pour some gluten free flour onto the counter or table before you place the dough on top. Once you’ve placed the dough down, let your kid sprinkle flour on top of the dough to keep it from sticking to their hands and the rolling pin. Add some gluten free flour to your hands, and your child’s hands, as well! Let your child pat down the dough before grabbing the rolling pin.
From my experience, rolling the dough is easier to do as the parent to get it nice and even for baking. If your child isn’t big enough to help roll, it’s best to break off a part of dough and let them roll it with a small toy rolling pin for fun while you prep the dough for the cookies.
Once the dough is spread out, let your child help cut out the cookies! I love using these Chanukah cookie cutters to make dreidel cookies, menorah cookies, and Star of David cookies! Try to assist your child in learning to put the shapes close together so you use as much of the dough as possible.
After you cut out the shapes, place the shapes on a silicone non-stick baking mat. Roll out more dough and continue until you’ve used all of the dough. Or, do as I do sometimes and wrap up the extra dough, place it in a ziplock bag, and freeze it to make more cookies later in the week! Chanukah is 8 nights after all!
Decorating Time for Your Gluten Free Chanukah Cookies!
Once the cookies are on the non-stick silicone baking mat, drip a light amount of liquid (you can use orange juice, milk, or water), on to each cookie before decorating. This will help the cinnamon-sugar mixture or sprinkles stick to the cookie.
Finally, let your kids decorate the cookies by sprinkling the cinnamon-sugar and sprinkles over the cookies.
Last, put on your oven mitts and place the tray into the oven to bake for 20 minutes or until golden.
Remove the cookies from the oven, try not to sneak a bite until their cool, and enjoy! Happy Chanukah everyone! If you celebrate both Christmas and Chanukah like we do, be sure to check out my recipe for Gluten Free Gingerbread Cookies!
Gluten Free Chanukah Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup olive oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp orange juice
- 1/4 cup water
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 1/2 cups King Arthur Gluten Free Flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- cinnamon sugar mixture
- 2 tsp dairy-free milk
- sprinkles, optional
Directions
- Combine eggs, oil, vanilla extract, orange juice, and water in one bowl.
- Combine King Arthur Gluten Free Flour, baking powder, and sugar in a separate bowl.
- Mix dry and wet ingredients together.
- Next, refrigerate, covered, for 1 hour.
- Then, remove mixture from refrigerator and cover surface with gluten free flour before placing the dough on top. Spread flour on top of the dough to keep it from sticking.
- Pat dough down and then roll dough.
- Finally, use the Chanukah cookie cutters to cut dreidels, menorahs, and the Star of David.
- Dribble a little milk, orange juice, or water on to the top of each cookie before adding cinnamon and sugar mix and sprinkles to help it stick.
- Place a non-stick silicone mat onto oven tray and add cookies.
- Bake for 20 minutes on 325 F degrees.