I, of course, cannot follow directions so I had to change a few things. I added molasses instead of sugar and hot shortening and followed up with ice water. The hot shortening helps flour absorb the moisture faster so I didn’t need to wait the ideal 1 hour rest. The ice water helped cooled it off enough to handle and it held it’s shape to bake right away. I also added egg replacer to help things stick together without any gum.
Ok, back to the Xanthan gum (XG). I suspect that Mr. Naughty is allergic to this. Whenever I give him baked goods with larger amounts of XG, his mouth breaks out just a little. Nothing major like hives, just some small red patches. The thing that convinces me he’s allergic is the immediate mid-meal irritabliliy and sudden loss in interest of his meal.
After reading more about XG, I’m more even more convinced and confused. Here’s Wikipedia’s explanation that explains it’s a bacteria that could be grown on anything including soy and WHEAT.
Whaat?! Xanthan gum is grown on wheat? Or soy, etc? Shouldn’t companies have to list this on their allergy statements? I think that’s sneaky they don’t list them. Especially since the XG found in groceries stores are primarily used to bake gluten free goods.
Umm, isn’t that a little ironic since xanthan gum is often the primary binder in gluten free (wheat free) baking?
Alright, enough of my whining and soapbox.
I hope you enjoy these. As you can see I had some fun making these. Maybe too much. 😀
A few things to mention before you start. These are not very sweet. If you want them to be more like a traditional graham cracker, add at least 2 T sugar into the mix OR liberal sprinkle on top before baking. I split the difference and lightly garnished them before baking. Not overly sweet but still really good.
Please check out the original recipe by Tina Jui at “the Worktop“. She has some really pretty pictures. Plus, she’s totally fun! She put a pot on her head 🙂 Spread the love and checkout her original post and website. 😀
Inspired by the Worktop
- 1 cupgluten free flour all purpose (white blend)
- 1 T molasses
- 2 T melted palm shortening
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp vanilla
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp egg replacer
- 2-3 T ice water
- sugar for liberal dusting on top
- Combine all dry ingredients and mix well.
- Melt shortening in microwave. (It needs to be pretty hot to melt all shortening.)
- Pour shortening and molasses with dry ingredients and mix was well as you can. Dough will be dry and crumbly. Keep mixing to evenly distribute the molasses.
- Add in 1 T of water at a time until a dough forms. Mine took originally took 2 T but the egg replacer always takes time to active so after mixing 2 minutes it needed another 1 T water.
- Once a dough is formed, knead by hand in the bowl to help compact the dough. Dough should be firm and
- Roll out between two sheets of parchment paper to ⅛ of inch thickness.
- Peel parchment paper off the top, flip and repeat. (This will make it easier to move the dough once you've cut it.
- Cut dough into desired shapes. I used my press and stamp cookie cutters but a simple pizza cutter wheel works to cut into any size or shape.
- Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes or until edges become golden brown.
- Store any leftover in airtight container or freeze.
Some other things you may like:
Chocolate Coconut Oat Breakfast Cookies (gluten free vegan)
Chocolate Covered Cookie Dough- FodMaps friendly
Hello, I’m Laura! Thanks for stopping by… I hope this blog will help you or someone you know and love. 
What company cookie cutters are those?
You can currently find them here http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/animal-pop-out-cookie-cutters-set-of-4
Aren't they adorable? I bought these from William-Sonama a very long time ago. I loved them so much I wanted to buy a second set and found they no longer make them. There are similar press and stamp animal cookie cutters available, just do a web search. Good luck hunting!
Hi Laura! I absolutely love your graham cracker animals! Thanks so much for stopping by my site and linking to it. I'll have to try your modified recipe next time, and get myself some cute cookie cutters like yours!
Tina! So glad you liked it! I love your blog, beautiful pictures! Thanks for leaving a message!
Oh my goodness – I'm dying over these cute little animal crackers! 🙂
Thanks so much Cathy! The next time I make them, I'll let you know so I can drop some off. 🙂
I don’t know if you’re still worried about the xantham gum, but I’ve been substituting whole psyllium husks with great results for a while now.
Thank you Jessica! I we have been using guar gum without any problems. I actually bought some psyllium husk powder after I posted this but have still not tried it… guess I should get on that, lol!
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe. So many of your recipes work so well. Made this one this afternoon with bibs red mill white AP (contains the xanthan gum). Added 1 Tbsp of maple syrup and then didn’t have to add any water. Turned out yummy and are being enjoyed at rapid pace by my little mr. Naughty as well as the rest of the family!
Hi, can I use olive oil instead of shortening? Or maybe Earth balance Vegan butter? Ty!
Hi Kim, I think a solid oil would do the best. Earth’s Balence would be a great alternative.