Before we get started on this, you need to know one thing. This recipe makes a lot of cookies. How many does that make you think of? Maybe four or five dozen? Try 150. ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY. That has to do with how small I pipe them (about the size of a half dollar coin/poker chip). If you pipe them out to be bigger, you’ll get more, smaller will get you less. The large number of the cookies also has to do with the key ingredient, almond paste, typically available in an 8 ounce box. The recipe uses the whole block because I don’t want to have leftovers of an ingredient I’m unlikely to use in anything else. The good thing is you can pipe these out, freeze them and they will bake really well (better, in my opinion) straight out of the freezer than when they are fresh. I will get to that a little more at the end
This recipe started off as a vegan recipe from a class on alternative baking I took in school while getting my degree in baking. The recipe was already really good, I just had to play around with the gluten free flours a bit to get it right.
Regardless of what almond paste you use, it is going to be pretty firm. Break it up by hand before putting in your bowl to cream with the sugar and margarine. Otherwise, it will just make a big clump on the paddle/beaters and push the other ingredients around.
After the almond paste, sugar and margarine are creamed, add in the liquid and corn starch mix until it’s well incorporated. Mix in the flour blend just until well combined and you are ready to pipe. I use a medium/large sized star shaped tip (Ateco 822). But use whatever looks best to you. I pipe them out as rosettes, usually in rows of 6 by 4 on a half sheet pan (15″x11″) if I’m going to bake them same day. They don’t spread out a lot, so you don’t need as much space between them as typical drop cookies. If I’m freezing them, I pipe them out as close as I can get them without the edges touching and put the pan in the freezer. Once they are frozen, I stack parchment lined layers of the frozen cookies on top of each other to save freezer space.
Put a little dimple in the center of each with your finger tip. If it’s a little too sticky, dip your finger tip in water in between dimpling. At this point you can freeze them or chill them in the fridge. They have to be baked chilled so they don’t completely lose their shape and flatten out. Before putting in the oven, pipe or spoon a tiny bit of jam (I prefer raspberry) into the dimple.
Once they start to brown slightly on the edges, take them out of the oven. They will continue to bake a bit as long as they are on the pan, so only let them cool on the pan for about 5 minutes before removing directly to a cooling rack.
If you are baking them after chilling in the refrigerator, they will take about 10 or 11 minutes, but they will lose a little bit of their shape and be a little thinner. If you bake them directly out of the freezer, they will take about 11-12 minutes and hold their shape better and be a little thicker.
On left, a cookie that chilled in the fridge for 30 minutes. On the right, one that was in the freezer overnight and baked frozen.
Gluten Free Almond Spritz Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup margarine softened
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 8 oz almond paste
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup almond milk
- 1/4 cup +2 tsp corn starch
Flour blend
- 1 cup +1 tbsp sorghum
- 2/3 cup +1 tsp white rice flour
- 3/4 cup +2.5 tbsp tapioca starch
- 3/4 tsp psyllium husk flakes
Instructions
- Break up almond paste by hand. Add sugar, softened margarine and salt to bowl. Cream with paddle attachment of stand mixer or beaters of hand mixer until light and fluffy and the almond paste is incorporated.
- Whisk together almond milk (or milk of choice), vanilla extract and corn starch. Add to sugar and margarine and mix until fully blended.
- Add flour mixture and mi together just until fully mixed.
- If baking now, preheat oven to 350°. If freezing, skip this step.
- Pipe out as rosettes on parchment lined pans. Make a small dimple in the center with your fingertip. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Remove from refrigerator. Pipe a tiny bit of raspberry jam into the center of each cookie. Bake for 10-11 minutes, just until edges start to brown. If baking from frozen, it should take 11-12 minutes.
- Let cool for about 5 minutes before removing from pan onto cooling rack to cool the rest of the way.
My daughter has a treenut allergy. Can I sub the almond paste for something else that is similar?
I can’t really think of anything that you could substitute and have this still turn out. I will have to add a pipeable butter cookie recipe to my list of things to work on to have a similar non-nut alternative.