raise your hand if you love holiday baking?
okay. better question… raise your hand if you love eating the treats of holiday baking?
truly, i love both. even better are the neighborhood cookie swaps! getting together with friends for an evening full of fun and sharing our favorite baked goodies. unfortunately that’s where the gluten-free thing can be a bit of a bummer. no one wants to leave a cookie swap empty handed.
that’s why i’m so excited to be a part of the great food blogger cookie swap again this year. if you remember, last year was my first year to participate. i made and shipped these ridiculously yummy peppermint chocolate chunk marshmallow creme cookie (holy moses, they were good.) the founders of the cookie swap make the matches to send batches of cookies to, and make the effort to partner me with other gluten-free bloggers. see… nobody is left out!
and to top it off, each blogger participant donates a bit to cookies for kids’ cancer which in turn advances the development of less toxic, more effective treatments for children battling cancer. awesome cause + gluten-free cookies = yes, please!!
this year i received some pretty great cookies from cupcakes & kale chips, food faith fitness, and making life sweet. thanks, ladies!
after spending several days trying to nail down what kind of cookies to send, i finally landed on these cinnamon log slices. the original recipe was from an old martha stewart cookie mag i have hung onto for a few years. i’m a little crazy about the organic, simple delicious look of them… the lines meant to imitate the rings of a sliced tree. a cinnamon-scented dough is rolled in cocoa & extra cinnamon and wrapped to make the rings. finally rolled in turbinado sugar to yield a bark-like outer crust. then sliced and baked.
although i was a little apprehensive about this cookie at the start, i was overjoyed with the final product. the kitchen smelled like heaven. the cookies are soft, chewy, and delicious. my kids were very sad i was shipping most of them away… and honestly, so was i!
but i was happy to share.
the ladies who received my cookies were good for you gluten-free, the gluten-free foodsmith, and la casa de sweets.
i love these tender #GF cinnamon log slices for a holiday cookie tray or cookie swap! #fbcookieswap Click To Tweet
Cinnamon Log Slices
Ingredients
- 3 sticks unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 3 teaspoons vanilla paste or extract
- 720 grams about 5 cups kumquat's gluten-free all-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon divided
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup milk
- 3 tablespoons unsweetened dark cocoa
- Large egg white
- 1/3 cup turbinado sugar
Instructions
- Combine butter, brown sugar, and sugar in a large bowl. Mix with an electric mixer until creamed together. Add eggs and vanilla to mixture; mix with an electric mixer until well combined.
- In another bowl, combine flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, xanthan gum, and salt.
- Alternate adding flour mixture and milk to butter mixture until all is combined and a dough is formed.
- Divide dough into 4 balls. Roll 1 ball into a 12-inch long log. Wrap log in parchment paper and chill. Wrap remaining 3 balls of dough in plastic wrap and chill. Allow all to chill for 1 hour.
- Combine cocoa with remaining 1 teaspoon cinnamon.
- Sprinkle one-third of cocoa mixture onto a large piece of parchment. Place one ball of dough onto cocoa-topped parchment. Cover with another large piece of parchment and roll to 6- x 12-inches. Flip rolled out dough in the parchment over; remove top piece of parchment and dust off excess cocoa mixture. Line up 12-inch log of chilled dough on cocoa-topped rolled dough. Wrap rolled dough around 12-inch log, squeezing gently to make dough adhere together.
- Sprinkle one-third of cocoa mixture onto another large piece of parchment. Place one ball of dough onto cocoa-topped parchment. Cover with another large piece of parchment and roll to 8- x 13-inches. Flip rolled out dough in the parchment over; remove top piece of parchment and dust off excess cocoa mixture. Line up wrapped log on cocoa-topped rolled dough. Wrap rolled dough around log, squeezing gently to make dough adhere together.
- Sprinkle remainder of cocoa mixture onto a large piece of parchment. Place last ball of dough onto cocoa-topped parchment. Cover with another large piece of parchment and roll to 10- x 14-inches. Flip rolled out dough in the parchment over; remove top piece of parchment and dust off excess cocoa mixture. Line up wrapped log on cocoa-topped rolled dough. Wrap rolled dough around log, squeezing gently to make dough adhere together. Wrap log in parchment and chill 2 hours or up to overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Brush log with egg white and sprinkle evenly with turbinado sugar. Rewrap in parchment and chill 10 minutes to set sugar.
- Cut 1/4-inch slices from log and place on parchment lined baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes or until golden.
