Simply Sweet Sour Cream Cookies (of COURSE it's gluten free!)

Time to pull up a chair, pour a glass of ice cold milk, sit down, and enjoy a soft  milt in your mouth pink cookie. Now, you COULD make this little goodie any color you desire, but really, is there anything better in this world than a pink cookie? Didn't think so ;)

So slip that apron on, tighten up those strings, and lets get to work.

Start out by measuring out 1 cup sweet rice or regular rice flour, 1/2 cup brown rice flour, 2/3 cup potato starch and 1/3 cup tapioca starch. Place in a bowl then measure out 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, and 1 1/2 teaspoon guar or xanthun gum.

Sift all those lovely dry ingredients together.

Now cream together 1/2 cup butter flavored shortening, 1 egg, 1 cup sugar, and 1/4 cup powdered sugar.

Now stir in 1/2 cup sour cream.

Beat on medium high for roughly 1-2 minutes. Now start adding the dry ingredients. Add about 1/2 cup dry ingredients, blend, pause, scrape down sides, and repeat. Boy, I'm starting to sound a bit like a shampoo commercial.

When all the dry ingredients are added, blend on medium for another 1-2 minutes. You should now have some nice and creamy cookie dough. Resist the urge to sneak out a piece or two, cover with clear wrap, then place in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes.

While chilling the dough, this would be a GREAT time to clean up your kitchen from the cookie making shenanigans. Not to turn on an old episode of Dog the Bounty Hunter....hehehe.

Now that your dough is chilled and the guilty indulgence of reality tv enjoyed, dust your countertop, fingertips, and rolling pin with sweet rice flour, then roll out half the dough to about 1/4 inch thick.

Place on greased cookie sheets and cook at a pre-heated oven to 375. Oh ya...did ditzy Jill forget to tell you to pre-heat the oven? So sorry about that! Bake your cookies on the middle rack for 8-9 minutes. Do not overbake as they will lose that lovely soft melt in your mouth goodness. Place cookies on a cooling rack to cool, and repeat the process on the 2nd half of the dough.

When the cookies are cooling, time to make the frosting. Easy peasy stuff. In your mixer, blend together 4 cups powdered sugar, dash or two of salt, 1/2 cup shortening, 4 tablespoons evaporated milk (adds SO much more richness then the standard milk), 1 teaspoon vanilla or cherry extract, and 4 drops red food coloring (becuase you ARE going to make the cookies pink right?????). Blend thoroughly and beat on high for about 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy.

It is now time to...."ASSEMBLE the cookie munching minions!"

Now once these babies were all dolled up, I just could not decide whether I liked the pink ones or red sprinkled ones. So...you get both ;)

Gluten Free Sour Cream Cookies

1 cup Sweet Rice Flour Plus Extra For Flouring Your Work Surface
½ cups Brown Rice Flour
⅔ cups Potato Starch
⅓ cups Tapioca Starch
¼ teaspoons Salt
½ teaspoons Baking Powder
½ teaspoons Baking Soda
1-½ teaspoon Guar Or Xanthun Gum
½ cups Butter Flavored Shortening
1 whole Egg
1 cup Sugar
¼ cups Powdered Sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
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FOR THE FROSTING:
4 cups Powdered Sugar
½ cups Shortening
4 Tablespoons Evaporated Milk
1 dash Salt
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Food Coloring To Desired Color



Preheat oven to 425F and lightly grease a baking sheet. (SEEEEE I did tell you to preheat hehe)
Sift together rice flours, potato starch, tapioca starch, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and xanthun gum. Set aside.
In a mixing bowl, cream together butter flavored shortening, egg, sugar, sour cream and powdered sugar. Beat on moderate to high for about 1 minute.
Slowly mix in the dry ingredients. Scrape the sides of the bowl periodically to ensure dry ingredients are blended well. Beat on medium for 1-2 minutes until dough is fluffy. Cover with clear wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes.
Once dough is chilled, sprinkle a bit of sweet rice flour on a flat surface then dust finger tips and rolling pin. Separate dough in half and roll each piece of dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out cookies (using your desired cookie cutter) and place on greased baking sheet. Bake at 425F for 8-9 minutes. The bottoms should be a light golden brown. Don’t overbake as they will become hard.
Remove cookies to a rack to cool and repeat process with the other half of the dough.
While cookies are cooling, cream together all ingredients for the frosting. Beat on high for roughly 2 minutes or until light and fluffy. Color with desired food coloring and spread onto cooled cookies.

The End