Looking for a fun (and delicious) Easter activity to do with kids? Make and decorate a batch of cookies together using this gluten free recipe for Easter sugar cookies

Cookie Ingredients:

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, cold
• 1 egg
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• You’ll also need cookie cutters, an icing set, food colouring and sprinkles are optional but a nice touch!

Royal Icing Ingredients:

Will ice 2-3 dozen 3.5″ cookies in 2 colours but can be doubled

• 4 tablespoons meringue powder
• a scant 1/2 cup water
• 1 pound powdered sugar
• 1/2 – 1 teaspoon brown rice syrup
• a few drops vanilla extract (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Combine the flour and baking powder, set aside. Cream the sugar and butter. Add the egg and extracts and mix. Gradually add the flour mixture and beat just until combined, scraping down the bowl, especially the bottom.
3. The dough will be crumbly, so knead it together with your hands as you scoop it out of the bowl for rolling.
4. On a floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4″ thick sheet, and cut into desired shapes. Place shapes on parchment or silpat lined baking sheets. Place entire baking sheet in the freezer for 5 minutes (this step is important in helping the cookies keep their shapes nice and clean). Remove and bake in preheated oven for 10-12 minutes or until edges are just barely starting to turn golden. Allow to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely prior to decorating. Makes about 3 dozen 3-inch cookies.

Royal Icing Directions:

1. Combine meringue powder and water. With the paddle attachment of an electric mixer, beat until combined and foamy.
2. Sift in the powdered sugar and beat on low to combine. (Do NOT skip the sifting!)
3. Add in the corn syrup and extract if desired. (the corn syrup helps keep the icing shiny.)
4. Increase speed to med-high/high and beat for about 5 minutes, just until the icing is glossy and stiff peaks form (you should be able to remove the beater from the mixer and hold up and jiggle without the peak falling.) Do not overbeat. Cover with plastic wrap touching the icing or divide and color using gel paste food colorings. This “stiff” icing is perfect for outlining and even for building gingerbread houses and monogramming. To fill in your cookies, add water to your icing a teaspoon at a time, stirring with a rubber spatula, until it is the consistency of syrup. This technique of filling a cookie with thinned icing is called “flooding.”

*Recipe adapted from the blog Love and Oil, who adapted it from the blog Bake at 350