Published by Sheena Strain, last updated
Recipe
If you’ve been looking for a tasty easy gluten free sugar cookies recipe but didn’t know where to start then we’ve got you covered! This recipe is simple enough for those who are new to gluten free baking to try complete with a step by step guide and some gluten free baking tips you can’t go wrong!
Ingredients and Equipment for Gluten Free Sugar Cookies
Gluten Free Sugar Cookies are very easy to make and a great cookie for those of you who are new to gluten free baking and for veteran gluten free bakers alike.
You don’t need a lot of fancy equipment to make them, though I do love my Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer for all my gluten free baking, but you can make them with a hand held mixer too.
This is a list of the equipment you’ll need and some of the ingredients, the full ingredients list and recipe directions are at the end of the post: (This post contains affiliate links)
- Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer – I love my Kitchen Aid!
- Hand Held Mixer – this is a much cheaper option than a stand mixer
- Pre Cut Parchment Sheets – I always have a box of these in my pantry, so much easier when you’re batch baking cookies.
- Cookie Scoop – I just got this and it makes transferring the cookie dough and getting even sized cookies so much easier!
- Gluten Free Flour – I prefer to use my own Gluten Free Flour Mix for this, but I’ve also make them with Pamela’s Artisan Blend.
- Almond Extract
- Vanilla Extract
- Xanthan Gum – if you use Pamela’s Artisan Blend or a similar flour blend with gum already added you can omit this.
How to make Gluten Free Sugar Cookies
This recipe is very easy to make so here’s my step by step guide for baking gluten free sugar cookies. You’ll find the complete printable recipe at the end of the post.
Step 1 – Cream the butter and sugar together until soft and fluffy, this will help aerate the cookie dough.
Step 2 – Then, add egg, vanilla, almond extract to the butter and sugar mixture and and whisk to combine.
Step 3 – In another bowl mix thegluten free flour, xanthan gum, and baking powder and whisk it a little to mix them properly. Now you just need to add the flour to the butter/sugar mixture and mix together until it’s combined well.
Step 4 – Use a cookie scoop to drop tablespoons of cookie dough into a little bowl of sugar, then place them onto a parchment lined cookie sheet or sheet pan and flatten the cookies a little with your fingertips.
Step 5 – Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until done, they will get a little crunchier the longer you cook them.
More Tips for Making Gluten Free Sugar Cookies
I’ve been making gluten free cookies for a long time and I’ve learned a few things along the way that I hope will help, so here are my top tips to ensure you are able to bake some really great gluten free sugar cookies that your whole family will enjoy!
- The gluten free flour that you use really does matter here, not all flour blends are created equal. Many are made with cheaper starches and some have, in my opinion, an unhelpful ratio of gums to flour that simply doesn’t work for all recipes. That said, it’s convenient to have a bag of ready made gluten free flour in your pantry. I prefer use my own gluten free flour mix 99% of the time as I find it’s typically cheaper and I get consistently better results
- Don’t skip the step of whipping the butter and sugar together until it becomes soft and fluffy, it really will make a noticeable difference in the texture of your baked cookies as it helps add air into the cookie dough as you mix. We tested it with dairy free margarine and it worked in the same way.
- Chill your cookie dough until it firms up, when you whip the butter or margarine it will make the finished dough very soft.
- Use a cookie scoop! Y’all, this is my favorite little gadget that makes it so much quicker to scoop out cookies and they will all be the same size.
- I always keep one box of ready cut parchment sheets in my pantry so that if I’m cooking multiple batches of cookies I can get through them much faster as I don’t have to cut the parchment to fit the cookie sheet, it’s just one less thing to do!
What do you use to decorate sugar cookies?
I use my own Royal Icing recipe that’s made specifically for decorating sugar cookies and will dry hard with a shiny finish. You can easily add color to it and it can be thinned out to different consistencies as needed so you can flood cookies with it or pipe firmer lines around the edges of the cookie
However, I don’t decorate this gluten free sugar cookie recipe as it’s simply too soft, I prefer to use my other gluten free cut out cookie recipe that I created for that purpose. It has a much firmer cookie dough and the cookies will hold their shape and not spread during cooking which is vital if you want the cut out cookie to look like it’s supposed to!
If you’re looking for an a similar recipe these Almond Flour Sugar Cookies from Meaningful Eats look fantastic!
Gluten Free Sugar Cookies
Finally a gluten free sugar cookie you’ll love! Rolled in sugar, they are soft and crisp all at the same time!
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Cook Time: 12 minutes
Total Time: 57 minutes
Total Carbs: 15 g
Protein: 1 g
Servings: 22 cookies
5 from 8 votes
Ingredients
- 1/2cupunsalted butter, or dairy free margarine 110g
- 1cupsugar , 225g + more to roll cookie dough in
- 1large egg
- 1/4tspsalt , omit if your butter or margarine has added salt
- 1tspvanilla extract
- 1/2tspalmond extract optional
- 1.5cupsall purpose gluten free flour, 225g
- 1/2teaspoonxanthan gum , omit if your flour has gum
- 1/2tspgluten free baking powder
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 325F
Cream butter and sugar together and beat for 5 minutes until soft and fluffy. This will help incorporate air into the cookies so don’t skip this step
Add egg, salt,(omit salt if your butter/margarine has salt added) vanilla, almond extract, to the mixture and mix briefly to combine.
In a separate bowl mix together the flour, xanthan gum, baking powder and mix to make sure the gum is evenly distributed.
Add the flour slowly to the butter and sugar and mix well, don’t forget to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and make sure it’s all incorporated.
Chill cookie dough for at least 30 minutes or until it firms up.
Use a cookie scoop to drop tablespoon sized balls of cookie dough into a small bowl of sugar and roll it to coat, then put the cookie dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
Flatten each cookie with your hand to about 1/4th to 1/2 inch thick.
Bake the gluten free sugar cookies for 12 -15 minutes.
Allow the gluten free sugar cookies to cool a little on the cookie sheet before transferring onto a cooling rack.
These Cookies are best eaten fresh within a day or two, you can freeze them.
Recipe Notes
BAKE BY WEIGHT
I bake by weight with a digital kitchen scale as I find that gives the most consistent results for gluten free baking, not all gluten free flour blends weigh the same due to the different flours. I also have cup measure for those that don’t yet have a scale.
GLUTEN FREE FLOUR
I prefer to use my own homemade gluten free flour blend as it’s cheaper and I get really great results over using ready mixed blends.
Nutrition Facts
Gluten Free Sugar Cookies
Amount Per Serving
Calories 103Calories from Fat 36
% Daily Value*
Fat 4g6%
Saturated Fat 2g13%
Cholesterol 18mg6%
Sodium 32mg1%
Potassium 14mg0%
Carbohydrates 15g5%
Sugar 9g10%
Protein 1g2%
Vitamin A 140IU3%
Calcium 13mg1%
Iron 0.3mg2%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Nutritional information on Noshtastic is provided as a courtesy and is approximate only. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site.
Author: Sheena Strain
Course:Dessert
Cuisine:American
About Sheena Strain
Sheena Strain is the proud owner of Noshtastic, a gluten free website that specializes in easy family meals including Low Carb, Keto, Paleo, Whole30, and many pressure cooker recipes.
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Dawn P says
Love this cookie but they cooled very hard. Adjusted time on batches. Any idea why?
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Sheena Strain says
I’m not sure, it could be that they were cooked too long or it could be the flour blend you used.
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Senekah Clarke says
Thank you so much for your recipe
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Stacey says
Could I use this recipe for a sugar cookie crust for a banana cream pie?Reply
Sheena Strain says
Hi Stacy,
I think the cookies as a crust will get soggy pretty fast as soon as you put any cream or anything like that on top. You could maybe try my cut out cookies recipe instead as those cookies are much firmer in texture, but I have never made a crust with them either so my fear would be that the whole thing would get soft unless you serve it right away. That said if you try it do let me know if it works! Here’s the cut out cookies: https://www.noshtastic.com/gluten-free-dairy-free-perfect-cut-cookies/Reply
Sandee says
Hi Sheena, I am so excited to have found your site and this recipe. My daughter just became gluten-intolerant this year and I’ve been doing a lot of recipe experiments. I didn’t know what I was going to do about Christmas cookies. These are fabulous and I’m looking forward to trying the cut-out cookies that look like a great replacement for our traditional rich roll cookies. Thank you for sharing your talents 🙂
Reply
Sheena Strain says
Hi Sandee! I sure hope they work well for you, let me know how they turn out! Did you also see I have a recipe for gluten free cut out cookies? They are perfect for decorating at this time of year, and I have a royal icing recipe too that’s linked in that post: (Also, if you go to my ‘gluten free’ tab at the top of the website, in the menu options there choose the “Christmas” checkbox, it’s nested right at the end of the menu list under ‘Seasonal’ and it will bring up all my cookie recipes)
Here’s the cut out cookie recipe: https://www.noshtastic.com/gluten-free-dairy-free-perfect-cut-cookies/
Reply
Ellen says
This recipe was really easy to make, my daughter loved it!Reply
