Guest Contributor
This issue includes recipes for four mouth-watering holiday bakes from Andrea Nauta, one of ten finalists for Season 3 of The Great Canadian Baking Show. Andrea is a military spouse, currently posted to Comox, BC, with her husband and two young daughters.
She holds a huge passion for baking all things sweet and sparkly! Andrea first discovered her love of baking as a child, watching numerous baking shows and initially using box mixes to make her culinary creations. After getting married, she started making recipes from scratch as both an outlet and a way to handle the challenges of military family life. Cakes are some of Andrea’s favourite things to bake, so she shares a few of her personal favourites in this issue.
She describes her baking style as ‘rainbow sparkles’ and loves to get creative in the kitchen with lots of colour and whimsy. So please keep reading to learn how to make her famous Peanut Butter Chocolate Balls, Peppermint White Chocolate Cheesecake Holiday Swirl Bars, Mirror Glaze Gingerbread Swiss Roll and Holiday Shortbread Cookies (vegan & gluten-free).
Holiday Shortbread Cookies Vegan and Gluten-Free
This issue includes recipes for four mouth-watering holiday bakes from Andrea Nauta, one of ten finalists for Season 3 of The Great Canadian Baking Show. Andrea is a military spouse, currently posted to Comox, BC, with her husband and two young daughters.
She holds a huge passion for baking all things sweet and sparkly! Andrea first discovered her love of baking as a child, watching numerous baking shows and initially using box mixes to make her culinary creations. After getting married, she started making recipes from scratch as both an outlet and a way to handle the challenges of military family life. Cakes are some of Andrea’s favourite things to bake, so she shares a few of her personal favourites in this issue.
She describes her baking style as ‘rainbow sparkles’ and loves to get creative in the kitchen with lots of colour and whimsy. So please keep reading to learn how to make her famous Peanut Butter Chocolate Balls, her Peppermint White Chocolate Cheesecake Holiday Swirl Bars, her Mirror Glaze Gingerbread Swiss Roll and her Holiday Shortbread Cookies (vegan & gluten-free).
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 13
- Total Time: 28 minutes
- Yield: 2 dozen 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
2 c oat flour
½ c coconut flour
½ tsp salt
½ c melted coconut oil
½ c pure maple syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract
Vegan Royal Icing
½ cup aquafaba (liquid from canned chickpeas)
1 tsp vanilla extract
4+ c icing sugar
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix together oat flour, coconut flour, and salt.
- In another bowl, whisk together coconut oil, maple syrup, and vanilla.
- Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet until fully incorporated. Allow dough to rest for roughly 5 minutes to thicken, stirring a couple of times in between.
- Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge no more than 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 F
- Once chilled, sprinkle more oat flour on counter and roll dough to a ¼ inch thickness. Cut out desired shapes and place on a lined baking sheet. I like to chill the cut-out cookies again for 15 minutes as it helps the cookies hold their shape better when they are baking.
- Bake cookies for 12-14 minutes until golden along the edges. Let cool.
Vegan Royal Icing Directions
- In a mixing bowl, using a handheld mixer or stand mixer, beat aquafaba on medium speed until soft peaks form (about 5-8 minutes).
- Beat in vanilla extract. Add powdered sugar slowly until fully incorporated.
- Turn speed to high and beat for 10 minutes or until a stiff peak is formed.
- If it seems too thick, add in a little water at a time.
- Ice shortbread cookies to your preference and add fun seasonal decorations. Enjoy!!
