Ingredients
- ½ cup confectioners’ sugar (plus more for dusting finished cookies)
- ½ cup pecans
- ¼ cup sweetened, flaked coconut (optional)
- ½ cup butter or nondairy alternative, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon gluten-free vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon orange zest or peel (optional)
- 1 cup all-purpose gluten-free flour (such as gfJules™ All Purpose Gluten-Free Flour)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Directions
Using a large food processor, pulse the confectioners’ sugar, pecans and coconut until the pecans are finely chopped and tossed well with the sugar.
Using an electric mixer or food processor, beat together the butter and pecan mixture until fully integrated. Beat in the vanilla and the orange zest. Slowly add the flour and salt, beating or pulsing until blended and a soft dough is formed.
Cover the dough tightly and refrigerate until cold and firm, not sticky, at least 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 325° F. Scoop cold dough into large teaspoon-sized balls and roll between your palms to form a ball. Place each formed ball onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet 1 to 2 inches apart.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the edges begin to brown slightly. Remove to cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes.
Sift approximately ½ cup confectioners’ sugar into a small flat-bottomed bowl, then gently toss each cookie in the bowl to lightly coat with sugar and serve.
Nutritional Analysis:
Calories: 80 (per cookie, with coconut and orange peel), Carbohydrates: 8 g (per cookie, with coconut and orange peel), Protein: 0 g (per cookie, with coconut and orange peel), Fat: 6 g (per cookie, with coconut and orange peel), Cholesterol: 10 mg (per cookie, with coconut and orange peel), Sodium: 30 mg (per cookie, with coconut and orange peel), Fiber: 1 g (per cookie, with coconut and orange peel)
Jules Shepard, gluten-free cookbook author, blogger and founder of gfJules Gluten-Free Flour and Baking Mixes, has now been happily married for 4 months. Like the meals she serves her husband and family, her wedding was entirely gluten free.
