Disclosure: I was given a free bag of Monk Fruit In The Raw to use for this recipe and I have the chance to win a prize by showing a photograph of the cookies I decorated. I am attending Eat, Write, Retreat as a volunteer and was not compensated for this post. As always, the thoughts and opinions are my own.
In 12 days, I will be attending the Eat, Write , Retreat conference and I just cannot wait. In the meantime, I have been finding out about the various sponsors they will have. In The Raw is one of these sponsors. I have used their sugars before and loved them but I had not tried their zero calorie sweetener. In the Raw sent me a bag of their Monk Fruit In the Raw which is their newest sweetener. It is a great option if you want to bake something with less sugar. I have been using it everyday in my coffee as I don’t like to drink my calories.
Participants of the conference were asked to make sugar cookies using this product. We were given a recipe and I accepted the challenge. I am not an over the top baker or decorator. As a matter of fact, I still prefer the old fashioned bakeries that have butter cookies sold by the pound in the glass cases. While the giant iced cookies are pretty to look out, I prefer the cookie without a lot of icing and just a touch of sprinkles. They remind of the cookies I ate as a kid. Those were before the days of supermarket bakeries and online cookie websites. Decorated cookies are great to have for special events but I decided to make these simple ones for my family. I made a simple glaze of powdered sugar and milk. After spreading a bit on each cookie, I dusted them with a coating of sprinkles.
In other words, I don’t have much artistic ability when it comes to cookie decorating!
Check out some of the other beautiful cookies that participants have made:
Gluten Free Dark Chocolate and Italian Basil Sugar Cookies by Sarah in the Kitchen
Beehive Sugar Cookies by Simply Gourmet
Margarita Sugar Cookies by I Can Cook That
The cutest gluten free cookies by Kelly Bakes
- 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 10 Tbsp unsalted sweet butter, softened
- ⅔ cup sugar
- 1 large egg plus 1 yolk, at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ⅔ cup Monk Fruit In The Raw Bakers Bag
- In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt ; set aside.
- In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium-high, beat the butter until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the sugar and beat until the mixture is incorporated for 3 minutes. Add the egg, yolk, and vanilla, beating well between additions. Add the Monk Fruit in the Raw Bakers Bag and beat until just combined. Reduce the beater speed to low and gradually add the dry ingredient, beating until the mixture is clumpy. Stop blending and use a flexible spatula to complete mixing the dough by hand.
- Turn the dough out onto a counter covered with plastic wrap and divide it in half. The dough will be soft and sticky. Using plastic wrap to flatten the dough, shape it into a rectangle 4 to 5 inches wide by 6 inches long. Wrap dough and chill at least 3 hours or overnight in refrigerator.
- To roll, place one cookie rectangle on a floured non-stick surface. Working quickly lightly dust top of dough with flour and roll out with rolling pin to ¼ inch thickness and 12 x 9 inch rectangle. Using a large 3-1/2 inch cookie cutter, cut out 6 large cookies. Repeat with the second dough. Place cookies 2 inches apart on parchment lined baking sheets. Let rest.
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Bake cookies on center rack for 10-12 minutes or until cookies are firm when pressed in the center and evenly pale gold in color. Let them rest 1 minute on the baking sheet. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
- Decorate.
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