I've received an order for 3 dozen cookies, 1 dozen of which need to be gluten-free. After doing some online research, I was in a conundrum since the pictures showed cookies that didn't look to be very flat for decorating. Does anyone have a great cut-out cookie recipe for gluten-free cookies?
Regarding royal icing (RI): Is meringue powder gluten-free or would I need a different recipe for the RI? (Maybe egg whites would work?)
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for your answer search gluten free on the cookie connection search engine.
I'm no expert in this, but over here in Germany you can buy gluten free flour and my granny says it just works like normal flour (she is slightly allergic to gluten and should know). If that is true, you could use your regular recipe, but I have to admit that I have never tried myself.
Meringue powder is gluten free in itself, so no need to use something else.
Just a small excurse about gluten: it is a special protein that is found in some kinds of cultivated crop (such as wheat), but not in their wild forms (like amaranth). When there is no grain included in a product in general, there is no gluten in it. What always amuses me is if a product such as jam is advertised with "no gluten". Well, unless you add cereals to your jam it always is, no need to specially say so 
My daughter suffers from that problem and I am a doctor in nutrition so I usually cook without gluten and I worry about this issue. Many of my clips are gluten-free cookies. I use pure corn flour in the same recipes as with other cereals. There are different brands of flour like proceli or search ( Europe). No problem about that, but not every brand of meringue powder is gluten-free. In fact, many of the brands have almidón . . . so maybe whites and sugar would be a better option or see if your specific meringue powder is gluten-free ( for example, Wilton contains almidón so I can't use for my daughter) - the same with the colorants, but Sugarflair is gluten-free and AmeriColor is good as well.
[EDITOR'S NOTE: FYI, almidón = starch in Spanish; I'm presuming starch from wheat based on the above comments.]
I agree with Marimen, in that you should check meringue powder ingredient lists to ascertain for sure if the brand you are using is gluten-free. Many things that you think ought to be gluten-free are not because they have been processed with modified food starch, which is not gluten-free. I know most meringue powder has cornstarch, which is fine, but I am not sure if certain brands have additional non-gluten-free additives. But a quick inspection of the label should tell you pretty fast.
Thank you all for your responses!! Very helpful. I've checked the ingredients in my meringue powder and it's not gluten-free so it'll have to be egg whites 
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Meriman, I'm not sure if I got this right. Do you substitute corn flour for the same amount of wheat flour in any cookie recipie? And is corn flour the same as cornstarch or is it finely milled corn meal?
Finely milled corn flour..we use a lot of this type of flour in my area.but it is not cornstarch.the cookies are flat enough to decorate but a little be crunchy when you eat them.
Marimen posted:My daughter suffers from that problem and I am a doctor in nutrition so I usually cook without gluten and I worry about this issue. Many of my clips are gluten-free cookies. I use pure corn flour in the same recipes as with other cereals. There are different brands of flour like proceli or search ( Europe). No problem about that, but not every brand of meringue powder is gluten-free. In fact, many of the brands have almidón . . . so maybe whites and sugar would be a better option or see if your specific meringue powder is gluten-free ( for example, Wilton contains almidón so I can't use for my daughter) - the same with the colorants, but Sugarflair is gluten-free and AmeriColor is good as well.
[EDITOR'S NOTE: FYI, almidón = starch in Spanish; I'm presuming starch from wheat based on the above comments.]
I am a bit confused about the Wilton meringue powder containing gluten, as it is listed among their gluten free products. Are you sure about this? There might be starch in it, but this doesn't necessarily mean gluten. Or maybe they have a special type near you?
In England there is a company called Biscuiteers .. they publish a superb gluten free recipe, it is easy to make and results in a flat crisp biscuit that will last several weeks with no problem.
http://www.biscuiteers.com/Bis...nilla-biscuit-recipe
I have baked these in vanilla and also adding cocoa powder for a chocolate version.
No expert here but confectioners sugar contain gluten also. check ingredients to be certain. There are brands out on the market that are completely gluten free, so before using for royal icing check your labels. 
Ms. K posted:No expert here but confectioners sugar contain gluten also. check ingredients to be certain. There are brands out on the market that are completely gluten free, so before using for royal icing check your labels.
Confectioners sugar in the US contains gluten?!? How can that be, as gluten is a protein in wheat? Is there flour in your confectioners sugar?
I can only tell for Germany, of course, but there is absolutely no gluten in confectioners sugar over here. Some producers don't guarantee this, as their sugar is produced in the same factories as flour products and some microscopic particles might get into the sugar after all. But this is the same as products being labeled "might contain traces of nuts" or the like.
Maybe gluten would be a nice topic for a "toolbox talk" one of the next times
Laegwen posted:Ms. K posted:No expert here but confectioners sugar contain gluten also. check ingredients to be certain. There are brands out on the market that are completely gluten free, so before using for royal icing check your labels.
Confectioners sugar in the US contains gluten?!? How can that be, as gluten is a protein in wheat? Is there flour in your confectioners sugar?
I can only tell for Germany, of course, but there is absolutely no gluten in confectioners sugar over here. Some producers don't guarantee this, as their sugar is produced in the same factories as flour products and some microscopic particles might get into the sugar after all. But this is the same as products being labeled "might contain traces of nuts" or the like.
Maybe gluten would be a nice topic for a "toolbox talk" one of the next times
gluten and /or confectioners sugar.
Am just trying to think of a way to test confectioners sugar
L
Exactly, in order to answer to Laegwen .I have reviewed items
I am for sure in the label of merengue powder of Wilton specify that is made in facility that also processes wheat products. The same occurs with other products as icing sugar etc..In Spain, and I suppose in others countries too,there is a symbol in the label to recognise the products you can use. One thing is if you decide to follow a gluten free diet just for increase your health, in that case you can use this type of products with a very very little amount of gluten but other thing if you suffer from a inflammatory intestinal disease (celiaq ) that imply a really strictest diet. I agree is a good topic to develop and Also to decorate in a context of a sugar free diet for diabetics I find hard to do icing with fructose, I have found a special type of icing for these sort of diets but the result is no as good as I want.
Liesbet posted:Laegwen posted:Ms. K posted:No expert here but confectioners sugar contain gluten also. check ingredients to be certain. There are brands out on the market that are completely gluten free, so before using for royal icing check your labels.
Confectioners sugar in the US contains gluten?!? How can that be, as gluten is a protein in wheat? Is there flour in your confectioners sugar?
I can only tell for Germany, of course, but there is absolutely no gluten in confectioners sugar over here. Some producers don't guarantee this, as their sugar is produced in the same factories as flour products and some microscopic particles might get into the sugar after all. But this is the same as products being labeled "might contain traces of nuts" or the like.
Maybe gluten would be a nice topic for a "toolbox talk" one of the next times
gluten and /or confectioners sugar.
Am just trying to think of a way to test confectioners sugar
L
Just find a bunch of people with gluten allergy and feed them different brands. The ones that make them bloat up, etc., are probably not gluten free *lol*
Marimen posted:Exactly, in order to answer to Laegwen .I have reviewed items
I am for sure in the label of merengue powder of Wilton specify that is made in facility that also processes wheat products. The same occurs with other products as icing sugar etc..In Spain, and I suppose in others countries too,there is a symbol in the label to recognise the products you can use. One thing is if you decide to follow a gluten free diet just for increase your health, in that case you can use this type of products with a very very little amount of gluten but other thing if you suffer from a inflammatory intestinal disease (celiaq ) that imply a really strictest diet. I agree is a good topic to develop and Also to decorate in a context of a sugar free diet for diabetics I find hard to do icing with fructose, I have found a special type of icing for these sort of diets but the result is no as good as I want.
Maybe I'm just too naive with gluten allergy, but I can't help the feeling that it causes way too much hysteria sometimes.
My granny has celiac disease (tested and confirmed), and she leads a pretty normal life with it. She just takes care not to eat anything with gluten in it but doesn't mind if there might be microscopic traces in some products. She can even eat one or two of my cookies once in a while, even though they are not gluten-free. I guess the disease can come in different grades...
Yes that's is true, I agree with Laegwen. It is like the topic is on fashion now but kids can be in serious problems (even death ) just if they eat traces, so if you don't know who is going to eat the cookies better you be careful. I saw several cases at the hospital so I prefer being strict. Anyway not every patient has the same level of Ac and they have different reactions of immunology answer... as we have good alternatives for cooking and decorating at least for me is easy to follow the rules.
Since receiving this order for gluten-free cookies I've had another inquiry about the same thing...Angela, thank you so much for posting a link to a recipe. I'm definitely going to look at it and may give it a try as well. It's a challenging question since more and more people are changing their diets to gluten-free for medical or other reasons. It would be great to have a tasty recipe in my recipe collection for gluten-free cookies and RI. I so appreciate all the interest and response!! My order is scheduled for a June 10th pick up so I have a little bit of time, but not a whole lot! Have the designs all ready to go (I don't know about everyone else but for me that's half the battle!).
Thanks again
Angela posted:In England there is a company called Biscuiteers .. they publish a superb gluten free recipe, it is easy to make and results in a flat crisp biscuit that will last several weeks with no problem.
http://www.biscuiteers.com/Bis...nilla-biscuit-recipe
I have baked these in vanilla and also adding cocoa powder for a chocolate version.
Thank you for the recipe link. I'm going to give this a try as soon as I can gather the ingredients. I had to look up "golden syrup" because I am not familiar with it. I found this video on how to make it ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksIHlV9T17U.
