Gluten-free, Dairy-free Chai Spice Cookies

Here is another recipe reworked for those who can't have gluten or dairy. I recently attended an Epicure party and fell in love with the Chai Spice. I knew right away that I wanted to use it to make cookies. My six-year-old loves these cookies without the powdered sugar coating.

Gluten-free, Dairy-free Chai Spice Cookies
Adapted from this recipe for Chai-Spice Cookies

Prep time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 15 minutes
Yield: ~ 36 teaspoon-sized cookies

These cookies contain:

vegan butter (oils of palm fruit, canola, olive, soy, flax), coconut palm sugar, gluten-free flour blend (brown rice, tapioca, arrowroot and sorghum flours, xanthan gum), soy, spices and salt

These cookies do not contain: 
gluten, dairy, or white/brown processed sugar (unless coated in powdered sugar)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup vegan butter, softened (I like Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks)
• 1/2 cup coconut palm sugar (I like Pure Palm Organic Coconut Palm Sugar)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour blend with xanthan gum (I like Namaste Perfect Flour Blend)
• 4 1/2 teaspoons chai spice (I like Epicure's Chai Spice blend, but you can create your own blend using spices like cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, ginger, and allspice)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• powdered sugar, sifted (optional)

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350°F
• Beat vegan butter with coconut palm sugar and vanilla in a medium bowl or mixer until well blended. Stir in the gluten-free flour blend, chai spice and salt until just combined.
• Scoop and roll dough into small teaspoon-sized balls and place about an inch apart on two large baking sheets lined with parchment paper or silicone mats. Bake until lightly golden, approximately 15 minutes. Do not overcook or they will be too dry.
• If desired, roll warm cookies in powdered sugar. Let cookies cool completely on a rack.
• Store in an airtight container. These cookies freeze well.

Admittedly, these cookies do taste best rolled in powdered sugar, but I love them without as well. They would work just as well with Xylitol instead of coconut palm sugar if an even lower-glycemic sugar substitute is desired (click here to view the glycemic indexes of various sweeteners).

I hope you enjoy these lightly sweetened, deliciously spicy cookies. I'm having one with peppermint tea right now!

Sue

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