To be fair, I am not a chemist. I researched options for converting recipes to gluten-free online, then experimented with the two recipes I was already planning to make for Christmas. And YOU GUYS—THIS WORKS GREAT!

First, good to know: Gluten is protein found in cereal grains like wheat, barley and rye. Some of us are really sensitive to it (hello, ME|CFS community!) and at the extreme is celiac disease. So there are a lot of people who need to cut back or completely eliminate gluten from our diets.

Here are the basics of converting to gluten-free. (I’ll add my two Christmas cookie recipes separately.)

Swap out FLOUR: This is the only ingredient that actually contains gluten, typically. The exchange is one for one. So if your recipe includes 2 cups of flour, replace it with 2 cups of an alternative, gluten-free flour like Bob’s Red Mill (garbanzo bean flour) or Simple Truth (made from brown rice). Easy!

Since gluten is the stuff that makes the dough stretchy and sticky, if you don’t replace this, your cookies won’t have any form.

So, next, replace it with XANTHAN GUM. You can now find this pretty easily in many grocery stores and online from many different brands. Just know you’re not going to use very much of this, so—unless you’re literally baking for an army every day—buying a smaller package of it is just fine.

Add 1/4 teaspoon of Xanthan Gum for each cup of flour in your recipe. So, your 2 cups of flour recipe only needs 1/2 teaspoon of Xanthan Gum.

A note on SALT: I’ve seen some stories online saying it’s a good idea to increase salt a little bit, especially if using Bob’s Red Mill brand to counter any “bean-y” taste. This is the one I used for Christmas cookies this year. (I have yet to try the Simple Truth brand.) I’m on the fence about it. I did add an extra 1/2 teaspoon of salt to my pecan crescents and they taste perfect. But I’m not sure it’s *really necessary. This will take more experimenting but hey, let me know about your results!

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