Christmas Brown Jam Cookies - Regular and Gluten-free

I don't think there is a more traditional Mennonite Christmas Cookie than this one - unless it is the Ammonia Cookie. As far back as I can remember any Mennonite woman worthy of her kitchen made these cookies.

They are my husband's all time favorite.
I decided to try to make them gluten-free this year and my husband could not tell the difference from the real thing.
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FOR GLUTEN-FREE COOKIES

INGREDIENTS

• 3/4 cup syrup
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 2 tsps cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp. soda
• 1/4 cup lard (Tenderflake)
• 1/2 tsp ground star aniseed (a must ingredient)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup rice flour
• 1/2 cup white bean flour
• 1/2 cup tapioca starch
• 1/4 cup coconut flour
• 1 rounded tsp. xanthan gum

METHOD

Beat syrup, supar, sour cream, lard, and vanilla until well blended.

Add the well mixed together dry ingredients, flour, cocoa powder, soda, staraniseed, and xanthan gum

Mix well, then add more rice flour with your hands a little at a time until you have a soft, non-sticky dough.

Cover and let stand in fridge for a few hours or overnight

Roll out on surface sprinkled with sweet rice flour as needed to keep dough from sticking I found rolling out the dough in smaller amounts easier to handle.

Cut with round cookie cutter and drop your favorite jam on each round. Traditionally half the cookies were made with yellow jam (apricot or gooseberry) and the other half with red (plum) and when they were served you never knew which color you would get.

Fold the circles in half and pinch the edges firmly together.

Place on baking sheets and bake at 375' for about 15 minutes or until edges turn brown. These cookies are hard when they cool.. then they are stored in a sealed container and by the next day are soft and delicious.

The cookies may be either left plain (as my husband prefers them) or frosted with the following frosting.

FROSTING

Boil 1 cup sugar and 4 tbsp. water until string stage (takes a few minutes)

Then pour syrup over one stiffly beaten egg white , continuing to beat until stiff and smooth. The old Mennonite ladies would then put the cookies in a large bowl and pour the frosting over top using their hands to coat them..

I find it easier to put a rack over waxed paper, put the cookies on the rack and pour the frosting over them.

Let the frosting dry before you put the cookies in containers.

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The Original Recipe

For you non-Celiac bakers I have the regular original recipe here.

I was given this recipe by my Aunt Betty 37 or 38 years ago and taped it into my Mennonite cook book that we were given for a wedding present 43 years ago.
The method is exactly the same as for the gluten-free ones above.