How cool is that - making your own cookie cutters!!!!!

From: "Betty Crocker Gluten-Free Baking"

Glazed Sugar Cookies

Cookies:

1 c. granulated sugar

1/2 c. shortening

1/2 c. butter, softened (use dairy-free margarine)

2 t. gluten-free vanilla

1 egg

2-1/2 c. Betty Crocker Gluten Free all-purpose rice flour blend

1/2 t. gluten-free baking powder

1/4 t. salt

Glaze:

1 c. powdered sugar

2 T. milk (or milk substitute)

1. In large bowl, beat granulated sugar, shortening and softened butter with an electric mixer on medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy. On low speed, beat in vanilla and egg. Stir in flour blend, baking powder and salt until well mixed. Divide dough in half; shape each half into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate about 1-hour or until firm.
2. Heat oven to 375°F. On work surface lightly sprinkle with gluten-free flour blend, roll out each half of dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut with 2-1/2-inch cookie cutter. Place on ungreased cookie sheets, place 1-inch apart.
3. Bake 8-12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Let stand 2-minutes on cookie sheet; remove to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 15-minutes. In small bowl, stir together glaze ingredients. Drizzle glaze over cookies. Sprinkle with additional granulated sugar (colored sugar is nice), if desired.

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Use Gluten-Free Bisquick and dairy-free margarine in this recipe and you should be fine.

HALLOWEEN CUTOUT COOKIES

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/halloween-cutout-cookies/b2c08f26-0b44-4fd5-a1b1-8395a24a716d

That, indeed, is very cool, to 3D print a cookie cutter!!

When I was in Girl Scouts, working on my baking badge, we were having a cookout where I was supposed to bring my shortbread cookies to be signed off upon. We only had boring geometrics or Hanukkah cookie cutters, however, so my father made me a Trefoil cookie cutter out of the tear strip from a Saran Wrap box and a piece of scrap metal. My troop leaders were so impressed by his efforts (and my cookies showed them well), and within a year or two, GSA were selling their own plastic ones. :)

Shambo, I don't have any recipes for you that didn't come from GWCF, but your story brought me happy memories, and a bit of envy for your granddaughters who can make their own, start to finish!

What I can add is that Earth Balance vegan baking sticks (I use the soy free ones) bake properly, unlike a lot of margarines on the market nowadays.

Saved by the bell! Doorbell, that is! Our son & daughter-in-law picked up the kids before the printing was done. But I'm going to save Grainlady's recipe (and the cookie cutters) for future ovenight stays. I think I'll invest in a bag of GF plain flour, so I'll have more options. Thanks for your help. Pllog, what a cute story and inventive dad.

Well, that's what I need to make a 5" pastry cutter! :-)

Good for her!! Innovative for sure!

That is so cool! My grandsons would love to design and manufacture something fun! Can you share more information on this printer? Name, model, approximate cost? Dh would have fun with it too!

As for having flour on hand-- Cup4Cup is a good blend. DItto on the Earth Balance sticks too. I'm not much of a cookie baker, so no recipes to share, but also being GF, I've heard excellent reviews on this flour.

The cookie cutter will be perfect for the Halloween Cutout Cookies recipe above. :-)

King Arthur has "Gluten-Free Measure for Measure Flour", which is their version of Cup4Cup and is available at Wal-Mart in our area.

Test kitchen tips for Gluten-Free Measure for Measure Flour

This flour is best suited for non-yeasted recipes. Directly swap the amount of all-purpose flour called for with the same amount of Measure for Measure flour: No need for additional specialty ingredients. Works beautifully in your favorite recipes, whether you’re substituting just a few ounces of conventional flour or several cups.

Grainlady's soapbox: The biggest drawback with most of the all-purpose gluten-free blends --- rice flour being the main ingredient. I wouldn't recommend using large amounts of rice flour for anyone, and especially children, due to the arsenic associated with it; and nearly all gluten-free flour blends and commercial gluten-free foods contain rice flour.

For more information: http://glutenfreecooking.about.com/od/glutenfreecookingbasics/a/Arsenic-In-Rice-And-Gluten-Free-Diets.htm 

I also dislike the large amounts of high-glycemic flours and starches they contain. To use an old idiom: Out of the frying pan and into the fire. Trading one health concern for another potential health concern - gluten intolerance followed by diabetes and other health issues due to food choices. Therefore, just as before I was gluten-free, I mill gluten-free wholegrain flour myself and use coconut flour and almond flour over rice flour. The brown rice flour I do use I make myself in order to reduce the amount of arsenic in it by rinsing, soaking, sprouting (which includes more rinsing), dehydrating the sprouted grain, and milling it into flour myself. With that much work involved, you use it sparingly.

After a 10-day detox from all grains at the first of the year, I soon realized how other grains, even gluten-free grains, still affect your wellbeing. They initiate inflammation and auto immunity. Phytates block nutrient absorption, and oats contain higher levels of phytates than almost any other grain - unless you know how to soak and prepare them to reduce the phytates. Going gluten-free and maintaining your health is more challenging than just "going gluten-free." Especially with all the commercial gluten-free choices now, and most are really just more junk food - without the gluten.

In the end, I would suggest using coconut flour and coconut oil, and a dairy-free margarine for the butter, like in this recipe:

http://www.healthextremist.com/coconut-flour-cookies-recipe/

Or this one which uses almond and coconut flour with dairy-free choices: http://blog.meaningfuleats.com/the-best-almond-flour-sugar-cookies-gluten-free-grain-free/

-Grainlady

Shambo, that cat is adorable! Your granddaughters did a great job. I'd like to suggest, however, that you lay in some thin bamboo skewers. If you can find the ones that are thin as a toothpick, those are ideal. Getting the cookies to release from the paws and tail is likely to be very tricky. Using the blunt end of the skewer to ease them out can reduce the frustration. If it's nearly there, the point can be used pressed up to the edge, as well. Be really careful moving them, too, since those sleek and slender limbs like to squish around and break off.

Grainlady, I've read your past comments about overdoing rice as a GF flour product, and understand your concerns. If I were keeping a GF kitchen, I'd definitely follow your advice. But since this is a once every couple of months situation, I don't feel badly about using a brand name GF flour mix. Thanks for climbing up on your soapbox, though. It's always good to be reminded.

Pllog, thanks for the tip on separating the dough from the cutter. As I said, I'm not a cookie person to start with, and cut-outs are way beyond me. I managed, however, to make some really big cut-out gingerbread man cookies for the family at Christmas. I wanted to keep up my mother-in-law's tradition .

Compumom, here's the link to what my husband has. He's made a lot of stuff, but it definitely has a learning curve and requires a lot of patience and trial & error. There's also the cost of supplies to consider. He spends a lot of time with it because it's his latest hobby. This weekend, in addition to designing the cookie cutter, the girls also designed earrings that he printed. The oldest granddaughter got fish hooks for pierced, and the younger got clip-on clasps. They really enjoyed that and proudly wore their new earrings home.