Animal Crackers, Gluten-Free

(http://www.artofglutenfreebaking.com)

Ingredients

1 cup (145 g) Jeanne’s Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour Mix

1/4 cup (35 g) sorghum flour

1/8 scant tsp xanthan gum (in addition to what's in the flour mix)

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup (1/2 stick; 55 g), unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1/4 cup (60 ml) mild honey

1/4 cup (60 ml) heavy cream

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/8 tsp orange extract (optional)

In a large bowl, mix together Jeanne’s Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour Mix, sorghum flour, xanthan gum, salt, and baking soda.

Add the cold butter pieces. With fingers, squish the butter into the dry ingredients. Do so until the mixture looks like coarse meal. Add honey and mix with a fork. Add cream, mix well with the fork. Add vanilla extract (and orange extract if using). You will have to use your hands to do a final mix–to bring the dough together.

Shape the dough into 2 disks, and place each between two pieces of wax paper. Roll out each disk to 1/4″ thick. Place in refrigerator for 15 minutes to firm up enough to cut out shapes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F/200 degrees C/Gas Mark 6. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. After your dough has firmed up, remove first batch from refrigerator. Unwrap from wax paper and cut dough into shapes using your cookie cutters, and place on the parchment-lined cookie sheet, with about 1/2″ between each. Repeat this process until all of the dough has been used.

Bake at 400 degrees F for 5-9 minutes, until the crackers are a bit brown. Transfer the crackers to a plate to cool completely. Remember, they will be the most crunchy when they are cool.

Note: If you use a different gluten-free flour mix, alter the amount of or eliminate the xanthan gum, use dairy-free or egg-free substitutes, or change any other ingredients in this recipe, your results may not match my results.