Chanukah Star Cookies, Vegan + Gluten-Free
Every good Chanukah celebration has star-shaped cookies! This year I set out to recreate a much healthier vegan and gluten-free version of the traditional blue and white star cookies…and as you can tell by the photos I ended up with black and white star cookies!
Blue food coloring and sprinkles are usually made with some pretty funky ingredients. There are some natural options for food coloring out there (usually at health food stores) but after doing some research I decided to try my hand at making blue icing at home. I followed a recipe where I boiled a head of red cabbage and added baking soda to turn it blue, but when I went to add it to the icing it turned a funky purple/green- not very festive!
Long story short, I changed my plan and decided to add a little chocolate and vanilla icing to the mix! I’m super happy with how today’s Chanukah Star Cookies ended up coming out, even if they aren’t the traditional color scheme.
Ps- Has anyone add success with homemade blue food coloring? I would love to try another recipe!
- 1.5 cups all purpose gluten-free flour+ extra for sprinkling
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tbs cornstarch
- 2 tsp xanthan gum
- ⅛ tsp salt
- ⅓ cup vegan butter, softened
- 1 tbs vanilla extract
- ¼ cup agave
- 2 tbs applesauce
- ⅓ cup coconut butter, softened
- 1 tbs agave
- 1 tbs cocoa powder+ extra for sprinkling
- 1 tbs shredded coconut
- Preheat oven to 350°. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cornstarch, xanhan gum and salt.
- In a small bowl, stir together butter, vanilla, agave and applesauce. Add contents of small bowl to large and mix thoroughly (you may want to use your hands to knead everything together).
- Sprinkle extra flour on clean surface. Use rolling pin to roll dough out until it's about ¼"- ½" thick. Use cookie cutter to cut shape. Repeat until all dough is used and place cookies on baking sheet.
- Bake for 9 minutes, until edges are slightly golden.
- While cookies bake, prepare icing by string together coconut butter and agave. Divide mixture and add cocoa powder to half.
- When cookies are cool enough to handle, spread chocolate and vanilla icing over cookies. Sprinkle with cocoa powder and shredded coconut.
oh , that’s exacty what i am looking for: gluten free, no added sugar and vegan. thank you Illene you’are a genious .
Glad to help!