Gluten-Free Italian Christmas Cookies

I love the holiday season! I especially love baking Christmas cookies. I have many childhood memories of decorating cookies and mixing up doughs with my mom. As I got older I started taking over and baking some of the cookies myself. Now, my mom and I split the cookie baking and I make about half of the different kinds. We put them all together and make one very large cookie tray for Christmas. To kick off my seasonal baking marathon, I decided to make Italian Christmas Cookies. The recipe below is for gluten-free and dairy-free Italian Christmas Cookies, however, it measures the same if you prefer to use regular all-purpose baking flour and unsalted butter. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

XOXO

Jax

Gluten-Free Italian Christmas Cookies

Ingredients:

Cookie

• 4 eggs

• 1 cup of pure organic cane sugar

• 1/2 cup of butter (Vegan butter works great in here-I used Earth Balance sticks)

• 1 tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract

• 1 tsp. Lemon Extract (This can be swapped out for Almond, vanilla, or any other flavored extract you like)

• 3.5 cups of Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Baking Flour (I made it with this GF flour. If you do not use this one, just make sure the GF flour you use has xanthan gum already in it or you will need to add it.)

• 4 tsp. Baking Powder

Glaze:

• 2 cups of powdered sugar

• 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

• 6 tsp. of water

Decorating:

• Springles or colored sugar

Directions:

1. In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the GF all-purpose baking four and baking powder.

2. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and the sugar.

3. Add the eggs, one at a time. Make sure to mix well before adding the next one.

4. Mix in the vanilla extract and the lemon extract (or whatever another flavor extract you want)

5. Next, combine the flour mixture with the wet ingredients.

6. Once, they are all combined, kneed the dough together.

7. Let the dough chill for at least 1 hour.

8. After the dough has chilled, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

9. Dust the counter and your hands with a little bit of gluten-free flour so it does not stick to the dough.

10. Cut off a small piece of dough and roll out into strips.

11. Twirl into the shape you want. You can do a pretzel shape or you can do it as I did and twirl it like a rope.

12. Place the dough on a cookie sheet. Make sure it is either greased or use the silicone baking mats. I use and love the baking mats.

13. Bake for 8-10 mins or until lightly golden brown.

14. Remove from cookie sheet and let cool.

15. Once, all of the cookies are baked and cooled you are ready for the icing.

16. In a large bowl, mix together the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and water. The glaze should not be super thick nor should it be very runny. You may need to add water if it is too thick or uses less if it looks rather runny.

17. Dip the cookies in the glaze.

18. Sprinkle with your favorite holiday sprinkles. I used the red and green colored sugar crystals to decorate mine. Decorate as you go, because the glaze needs to be wet.

19. Let them dry and then store them in an air-lock container. You can freeze them if you are baking them in advance.

20. Enjoy!

Veggie Stuffed Cucuzza Squash

Lately, my husband has been coming home with a new veggie or fruit each week. It is always fun because usually I am unfamiliar with the item and have to figure out what the best way to prepare it. I usually take to Google first and see what comes up and then I go from there. This week’s new veggie was the Cucuzza. If you have never heard of it, no worries because I had not either! What I learned is the Cucuzza is an Italian Squash and it is similar to the summer squash. Not a ton of recipes came up either when I looked. The ones I found looked delicious but were full of foods I cannot enjoy! So I decided to stuff the Cucuzza with some delicious veggies and make this squash my own. We really enjoyed this dinner and I hope you do too!

XOXO

Jax

Veggie Stuffed Cucuzza Squash

Gluten-Free + Dairy-Free

Ingredients:

• 1 Cucuzza Squash

• 1 tablespoon of olive oil

• 1/4 cup of red onion, chopped

• 4 cloves of garlic, minced

• 5 baby sweet peppers, chopped

• 1-2 cups of fresh arugula + spinach mix

• 14 oz package of firm tofu

• 1 Tablespoon of nutritional yeast (can be optional)

• 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder

• 1/4 teaspoon of onion powder

• 1 teaspoon of dried oregano

• 1 teaspoon of dried basil

• 1 teaspoon of black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

2. With a sharp knife slice the Cucuzza squash in half lengthwise to open it up.

3. Remove all the large seeds with a spoon.

4. Lightly drizzle olive oil on the Cucuzza. Make sure it is evenly distributed.

5. In a small bowl mix 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder, 1/4 teaspoon of onion powder, 1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano, 1/2 teaspoon of basil, and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper.

6. Evenly sprinkle the seasoning on the Cucuzza.

7. Place the seasoned and oiled Cucuzza on a large foil lined baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes or until it is soft.

8. In a large sauté pan on the stove over medium heat, sauté the garlic first for a few minutes until it is fragrant, then add the onion and peppers. Let them sauté for a few minutes.

9. Next, chop and add the tofu to the pan.

10. Mix in all of the remaining seasonings and nutritional yeast into the pan.

11. Let everything cook on the stove for a few minutes. Stirring occasionally.

12. Last thing to add is the spinach and arugula. Stir into the pan, once it gets darker and smaller in size turn of the pan and let sit until the Cucuzza is out of the oven.

13. Once the Cucuzza is done baking, use the ingredients you mixed and sautéed on the stove and spoon them into the squash. Some areas maybe deeper than others depending on how well the squash sliced opened.

14. Bake the stuffed squash for another 30 minutes. The top should start to get golden when it is done.

15. Remove from oven and enjoy!

Gluten-Free + Dairy-Free Apple Cider Donuts

This time of year can be really magical—all of the fall colors, scents, fashion, and of course, the warm, comforting foods. I have always loved to bake and cook, and I am beyond excited to share my love and passion for it with you! We did not go apple picking this year, but in “normal” years, my husband and I have gone, and we absolutely love it. Walking in from picking apples to the orchard store and being greeted with the smell of all of the apple and pumpkin treats. Missing all of that this year, I thought I would create my own apple cider donuts. Below is my recipe for Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Apple Cider Donuts. I hope you enjoy them as much as we did! If you do make them, tag me in your posts, I would love to see them!

XOXO,

Jax

GF/ DF Apple Cider Donuts

Ingredients:

Donut-

• 2 Cups Gluten-Free Baking Flour (I prefer Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Baking Flour, it already has Xanthan Gum in it. If your GF flour does not have Xanthan Gum already in it, you will need to add 1/2 teaspoon of Xanthan Gum)

• 1/2 cup of raw honey

• 1.5 Cups Apple Cider

• 1/2 Cup Unsweetened Almond Milk

• 1.5 Tbsp Vegan Butter

• 1.5 Tbsp unsweetened apple sauce (I used my homemade apple sauce, which has no added sugar but has cinnamon)

• 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon

• 1/4 tsp Ground Cloves

• 1/4 tsp Ground Nutmeg

• 1 Tbsp Ground Flax Seeds

• 2 tsp GF Baking Powder

• 1/2 tsp Baking Soda

• 1/2 tsp Raw Unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar

• 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

• 1/4 tsp Himalayan Sea Salt

Coating-

• 1/3 cup of coconut sugar

• 1.5 tsp of cinnamon

• 1/4 tsp of nutmeg

• 2-3 Tbsp vegan butter, melted

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease your mini donut pan.

2. Put the Apple Cider in a saucepan on medium heat on the stove. Let it come to a boil. Keep it boiling until the liquid becomes 1/2 cup. Once you have the 1/2 cup, turn off the burner, and whisk in the vegan butter, apple sauce, and honey.

3. Then in a separate bowl mix the almond milk, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla extract. After mixed, combine with the warm apple cider mix.

4. Combine all of the dry ingredients in a bowl.

5. Combine the dry ingredients with the liquid ingredients. Mix until no lumps.

6. In a large Ziplock bag, put the batter into it and seal the bag. Slice a hole in the corner and use it to pipe out the mixture into the mini donut pan.

7. Bake for approximately 10 mins or until a toothpick comes out clean.

8. While the donuts are baking mix together the cinnamon, nutmeg, and coconut sugar for the topping.

9. In a small saucepan, melt the vegan butter. Once the butter is melted, remove from the heat.

10. Once the donuts are done baking, let cool for about 10 mins. Once they are cooled, brush on the butter and sprinkle the coconut sugar mixture all over them. You may dip them into the sugar mixture, but I found sprinkling them got a more even distribution.

11. Serve and Enjoy!! The donuts will store up to a few days in an airtight container.