How To Make These Allergy Friendly Cookies Crispy
With our updated recipe, these sugar cookies are soft in the middle when made as written. I love softer cookies, but my husband loves crispy cookies, so here are some tips for making these cookies crispy if you want.
- Slightly increase the recommended baking time by about 2-4 minutes for crispy cookies. 2 minutes increase for thinner cookies, and 4 minutes increase for thicker cookies.
- Rolling the cookies thinner will result in a crispier cookie overall at the slightly increased baking times recommended above.
- You can also leave the cookies out on the cooling rack for several hours longer or overnight before storing in an airtight container for a really crisp cookie.
Personally I found the perfect texture for me was a cookie rolled out to a bit less than 1/4 inch and baked for 8-10 minutes. This had the perfect softness and chewiness in the middle with crisp edges.
How Do You Make Easy Gluten Free Drop Sugar Cookies
I’m famous for my gluten free sugar cookies.
They are cakey and lightly sweet
These super easy, chewy cookies are like my frosted sugar cookies sparkly cousin.
They have all of the same ingredients, but the ratios have changed slightly so that your gluten free drop sugar cookies will gently spread in the oven into chewy, sparkly rounds.
- More sugar to butter equals a chewy gluten free drop sugar cookie with crisp edges.
- Less flour equals an easy gluten free drop sugar cookie that will spread on its own
Perfect with a glass of milk, or get fancy and add some frosting on top.
Best Gluten Free Flour
Gluten free flour blends has a slightly different mix of ingredients, so not all of them will get you the same results. For this recipe, I recommend that you use King Arthur Measure for Measure gluten free flour.
If you use a different flour, I would try my own nightshade free gluten free flour, or, Better Batter. You may need to adjust the liquid amount to get a moist cookie. Just watch the dough and if it seems too thick or crumbly, adjust accordingly.
I dont recommend using a single ingredient flours like almond flour, oat flour, or rice flour for these cookies. A good blend is required for the best cookies.
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Can I Freeze The Cookie Dough
Yes, you can! Cookie dough is super easy to freeze.
To freeze, chill the cookie dough balls in the refrigerator for one hour. After the hour, place the chilled cookie dough balls into a plastic freezer bag.
The cookie dough can be frozen for up to 3 months.
When its time to bake the cookies, just remove them from the freezer and place them on a lined baking sheet.
Preheat the oven to 375°F and bake on a prepared baking sheet for 12-14 minutes .
What Makes This Sugar Cookie Recipe Gluten Free
I wanted to keep it simple for you so I tested these gluten free sugar cookies with a 1:1 all purpose gluten free baking flour. I used Bob’s Red Mill and had amazing success.
One thing to note: make sure your flour includes xanthum gum in it. Some blends don’t have that already in it, but it’s needed for this recipe. Just check the bag quickly before you buy!
Recommended Reading: Dove Milk Chocolate Gluten Free
How To Make Sugar Cookies Gluten
To make sugar cookies gluten-free, Ive opted to use almond flour. Like some of my other cookie recipes, I feel good about giving my family treats that have *some* form of nutrition.
We get enough sugar and carbs in our diets, Id rather try to find some small ways to bump up the nutritional value in every area I can.
Almond flour is full of healthy fats, fiber, and protein, so even when my son wants a second cookie, I can feel good that he is filling up on more than just sugar thats going to make him crash after 30 minutes.
Tips For Rolling Out The Gluten
- If your dough is too soft, and transferring the cut out shapes to the baking sheet is difficult, pop the raw dough in the refrigerator for 20-60 minutes. Humidity and temperature will vary greatly, and it will effect your dough. The temperatures and humidity I deal with here in Alaska are drastically different than what someone in Florida might experience.
- If your dough is too crumbly, it needs more moisture. Either wet your hands, and then gently massage the dough, or pop the dough back into the bowl of your electric mixer. Add additional water, teaspoon by teaspoon until your dough is back to being pliable.
- This pie crust bag is also super handy for rolling out cookie dough, not just pie crust!
Also Check: How To Know If Something Is Gluten Free
Gluten Free Baking Mix Vs Gluten Free Flour
We used the King Arthur gluten free baking mix in this recipe, which has salt and baking soda in it already. So if you noticed those things missing from the ingredients in the recipe, thats because our mix already had them.
If you use a gluten free flour blend that doesnt have salt or baking soda in it already, add 1/4 teaspoon of each to the recipe .
Frequently Asked Questions About This Gluten
Q: Is the texture crispy or soft? A: It depends. If you roll the dough thin, between -1/4 thick, and then bake them until they are golden, they will be more on the crispy side. If you roll the dough thicker, ¼ thick, or a little thicker, and then bake until they are just done/set, they will be more on the soft side. Frosting helps keeps them soft too!
Q: Can I make these egg free? A: I have not tested this recipe egg free, but since there is only 1 egg in this recipe, it might work well egg free. If I had to choose a substitute, Id try either egg replacer, or a chia egg .
Q: Can I use all butter in place of the vegan butter/ghee and palm shortening? A: Absolutely!
Q: Why do you freeze the raw cookie cutouts on the baking sheets before baking vs. chilling the dough and then rolling it out to cut shapes?A: This is an updated recipe. When I originally published this recipe, I recommended refrigerating the dough and then rolling it out to cut shapes. BUT, the more I made the dough, I realized it became hard to work with after it had sat in the refrigerator the dough became dry and crumbly. It is much, much easier to roll the dough out immediately after mixing it, cutting shapes, placing them on the baking sheets, and then freezing the cutouts on the baking sheets.
Q: Why do I have to freeze the raw cookie cutouts on the baking sheets? A: This keeps the cookie cutouts from spreading too much and losing their shape.
Recommended Reading: Gluten And Dairy Free Food Ideas
What Gluten Free Flour Blend Should I Use In This Recipe
This recipe works beautifully with two particular gluten free flour blends. The first is the Zest For Baking flour blend. If you haven’t mixed up a big batch of my gluten free flour mix, head over there and mix that up first. You’ll need 390 grams, or 3 cups, of it for this recipe. Plus, it’s a versatile mix to keep on hand for future recipes that call for gluten free flour mix.
The other option is King Arthur’s Cup for Cup flour mix. It also works very well in this recipe.
What Do You Use Instead Of Butter To Make Gluten Free Drop Sugar Cookies Vegan
Instead of the butter, use your favorite vegan butter or palm shortening.
I’ve found best results when I use half vegan butter and half palm shorting .
The reason I like using half vegan butter and half palm shortening is that sometimes vegan butter can make the cookies have a “fake butter” taste.
The vegan butter can also melt too quickly, resulting in oily cookies.
The palm shortening melts slower, helping the cookie to spread not to much and not too little, but just the right amount.
The palm shortening is also unflavored, and when combined with the vegan butter I feel like I get the perfect taste.
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How Do I Make These Gluten Free Dairy Free Cut Out Cookies
In a stand mixer cream the eggs, sugar, dairy free butter and vanilla on medium speed for 5 minutes. Turn the mixer off and the GF AP flour and tapioca starch. Turn stand mixer on low speed, add the baking soda, xanthan gum and salt. Mix on low for one minute. Remove the dough from the stand mixer, wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a half hour.Preheat oven to 350 degrees.Once refrigerated, remove dough and cut into 4 sections. Take one section and put the rest back in the fridge. Lightly grease your baking sheet. On a non-stick surface lightly dusted with tapioca starch place the dough on it and lightly dust the top of dough with tapioca starch as well. With plastic wrap on top of the dough, roll the dough to be ¼ inch thick. Use cookie cutters to create your shapes and bake for 10 minutes. Remove after 10 minutes and allow cookies to sit on a cookie sheet for 3 minutes. Remove and place on parchment paper to cool. Frost once completely cooled
For the Icing Sift the powder sugar into a bowl. Add the vanilla and dairy free milk. Stir until you have a medium thick consistency. Separate the icing into individual bowls if you are coloring it and add the food coloring. Transfer to piping bag to decorate.
Did You Make This Recipe
Tag on Instagram and hashtag it #mamashire
These cookies were adapted from a favorite recipe from years ago that I got from Taste of Home magazine. You can find that original recipe here. When I was newly married I had a subscription to Taste of Home and I loved learning how to cook and bake from that. It was such a blessing.
Recommended Reading: Kraft Gluten Free Macaroni And Cheese
These Vegan And Gluten
No matter what you celebrate I love that the holiday season is all about family, food and all the holiday cheer. One of my favorite activities around the holidays is making Vegan Sugar Cookies with the kiddos. I set out to create an easy recipe that would work for everyone in our family and would be fun for the kids to decorate no matter the season. The goal was delicious cookies that are dairy-free, egg-free and gluten-free.
Mastering these cookies was definitely a challenge at first! After a handful of batches, I landed upon the perfect combination for easy cut-out patterns and now I’m SO happy to say…this recipe is foolproof! They turned out better than expected and I can’t wait to share this recipe with you. I went with a dough that combines almond flour and oat flour for the perfect balance of both flavor and texture. Arrowroot powder gives them a fluffy height that’s absolutely delicious!
Eat Well And Feel Well
Jill
Wednesday 9th of December 2020
Looks amazing! Do you have a recipe for your frosting?
Jill
Tuesday 15th of December 2020
I’m so glad you asked. Now days I either use the “Buttercream Frosting” recipe on my website or royal icing.https://eatingglutenanddairyfree.com/2019/12/buttercream-frosting/
Erik
Thursday 3rd of December 2020
Ive got a soft sugar cookie recipe I converted to GF already, but being a huge fan of soft, frosted sugar cookies, I cant resist trying a new recipe as well.
One question: instructions say to roll out to 1 1/2 inches thick. Is that correct? I dont think Ive ever rolled out a sugar cookie more than 1/2 inch. Just wanted to be sure!
Jill
Wednesday 16th of December 2020
Eric- I’m so thankful you brought this to my attention. I’ve updated the recipe card to reflect 1/4 inch thickness and let my team know. Thank you again and I hope you enjoy these cookies. Jill
Caitlin
Friday 3rd of April 2020
What other type of flour would be good to use? Can not find sweet rice flour anywhere
Jill
Friday 3rd of April 2020
I’m so glad you reached out and asked! Ugh that’s so frustrating when you can’t find what you need. Have you tried checking on Amazon? Unfortunately this recipe performs and tastes best with sweet rice flour. I hope you’re able to come across some soon. Again- thank you and I hope you find more recipes on my website to try. Jill
Recommended Reading: California Pizza Kitchen Gluten Free
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I hope if youve been looking for a gluten-free sugar cookie recipe thats simple, delicious, and easy to make that youll give this recipe a try. Enjoy them plain or by customizing them to make them your own!
If you loved this post, I hope that youll share it with your friends on and pin it for future reference on .
Can You Freeze Gluten Free Sugar Cookies
Yes, you can freeze them frosted or un-frosted. I like to freeze them frosted so they don’t dry out too much in the freezer. Store them in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Did you make these gluten free sugar cookies? Let me know if you cut them into shapes. Leave a comment below letting me know what you thought.
Recommended Reading: Is Kraft Singles American Cheese Gluten Free
Ingredients For Piping Frosting:
- Powdered sugar 1 cup of powdered sugar is needed for the frosting, we like the Wholesome Organic brand, available at Thrive Market
- Butter unsalted butter or, for dairy-free cookies, choose a plant-based stick butter
- Heavy whipping cream or, for dairy-free, use coconut cream
- Vanilla extract use pure vanilla extract, such as this one from Thrive Market
- Coarse sugar or sanding sugar if desired, sprinkle coarse sugar over the piped frosting to create a sparkling effect
How To Make Oat Flour
It even comes with an optional gluten free grinding liner AND you can grind other things like beans, lentils etc.
Besides some gluten dairy free vegan sugar cookies, imagine all the healthy holiday baking that your fancy-milling-person-self can MAKE.
I dont think itll be long until I see Y-O-U on The Food Network, entering super STARDOM.
And if that doesnt happen?
Our garbage cans are going to suit us JUST fine.
We have cookies there.
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How To Make Them
The first step is to mix together the dry ingredients and set it aside.
Next, using an electric hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until it’s light and fluffy, this will take about 3 minutes.
After that, gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix. I usually switch over to mixing by hand at this point.
Continue mixing until everything has combined and you’re able to form a ball with the dough.
The dough will be very soft and sticky, and you may think that something is wrong with it, this is how it’s supposed to be, so no need to worry!
Flatten the dough into a disk, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator for at least three hours and up to three days.
Once the chilling time has passed, remove it from the refrigerator, unwrap and place the dough on a large piece of parchment paper. Place another piece of parchment paper on top and using a rolling pin, roll until the dough is ¼ of an inch thick.
Cut into shapes, getting your shapes as close as possible to each other. Once done, use a spatula to transfer them to your baking sheet, then gather up the dough scraps, form them into a ball and repeat the rolling and cutting process.
If the dough gets too warm at any point and it’s starting to stick to the parchment paper, refrigerate it for about 15 minutes so it gets a little chilled again.
If you don’t plan on decorating them with icing, then now is the time to sprinkle them with sanding sugar.
Notes On Our Revised Sugar Cookie Recipe
A couple months ago, we were working on experimenting with some of our cookie recipes to make them even softer with a better texture, starting with our chocolate chip cookies.
We made a few tweaks to the recipe, mixed 2 different kinds of flour, and made our cranberry white chocolate chip cookies and the result is soft inside and crisp on the edges, the perfect texture for cookies in my opinion!
I decided to take the same concept and apply it to our gingerbread cut out cookies as a variation of this cut out sugar cookie recipe and I loved the texture and softness from combining the 2 flours.
Since there were some parts of this recipe that I didnt like but originally wasnt sure how to fix after testing so many batches, I decided to revisit this roll out sugar cookie recipe and try out the combination of flours to see how it worked.
The revised recipe turned out amazing!
I went ahead and updated the recipe card to have the new recipe. The tweaks arent huge, but our revised sugar cookie recipe is softer, has a better texture and taste, and is much easier to make than the original recipe!
We even used this updated recipe to make a cute Valentines sugar cookie house using our gingerbread house template. It worked great and was sturdy for the house pieces, we just baked them a bit longer so they werent soft anymore.
Enjoy!
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