BEST Gluten Free Sugar Cookies Recipe! (2024)

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!

BEST Gluten Free Sugar Cookies Recipe! (1)

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)

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.

BEST Gluten Free Sugar Cookies Recipe! (2)

Step 2 – Then, add egg, vanilla, almond extract to the butter and sugar mixture and and whisk to combine.

BEST Gluten Free Sugar Cookies Recipe! (3)

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.

BEST Gluten Free Sugar Cookies Recipe! (4)

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.

BEST Gluten Free Sugar Cookies Recipe! (5)

Step 5 – Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until done, they will get a little crunchier the longer you cook them.

BEST Gluten Free Sugar Cookies Recipe! (6)

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!

Total Carbs: 15 g

Protein: 1 g

Servings: 22 cookies

BEST Gluten Free Sugar Cookies Recipe! (7)

5 from 8 votes

Print

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

  1. Preheat your oven to 325F

  2. 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

  3. Add egg, salt,(omit salt if your butter/margarine has salt added) vanilla, almond extract, to the mixture and mix briefly to combine.

  4. In a separate bowl mix together the flour, xanthan gum, baking powder and mix to make sure the gum is evenly distributed.

  5. 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.

  6. Chill cookie dough for at least 30 minutes or until it firms up.

  7. 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.

  8. Flatten each cookie with your hand to about 1/4th to 1/2 inch thick.

  9. Bake the gluten free sugar cookies for 12 -15 minutes.

  10. Allow the gluten free sugar cookies to cool a little on the cookie sheet before transferring onto a cooling rack.

  11. 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

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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.

Reader Interactions

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Join the Conversation

  1. Dawn P says

    Love this cookie but they cooled very hard. Adjusted time on batches. Any idea why?

    Reply

    • 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.

      Reply

  2. Senekah Clarke says

    Thank you so much for your recipe

    Reply

  3. Stacey says

    BEST Gluten Free Sugar Cookies Recipe! (8)
    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

  4. 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

  5. Ellen says

    BEST Gluten Free Sugar Cookies Recipe! (9)
    This recipe was really easy to make, my daughter loved it!

    Reply

BEST Gluten Free Sugar Cookies Recipe! (2024)

FAQs

What can you substitute for flour in sugar cookies? ›

Almond flour and coconut flour: Almond flour and coconut flour are both gluten-free flours that happen to be grain free, lower in carbohydrates and higher in fiber compared to regular flour. Plus these two flours also have a nice sweetness to them, meaning we don't have to use as much sweetener.

How can I improve my gluten-free cookie texture? ›

Give xanthan gum a try – This is a very common bonding agent in gluten-free baked foods. If your recipes tend to crumble too much then add some xanthan gum to the ingredients and you will get much better elasticity. These tips are amazing for improving the texture and taste of your gluten-free foods.

Why are my gluten-free sugar cookies crumbly? ›

Gluten-free flour is not a perfect substitute for wheat flour. Each mixture out there is designed to mostly work in certain kinds of recipe, but not in all of them. And yes, it is perfectly normal for a gluten-free cookie to be crumbly, since it is the gluten itself that holds wheat cookes together.

How do you keep gluten-free cookies from falling apart? ›

Use a Binder

Binders like xanthan gum and guar gum provide structure in gluten-free baking to make up for the missing gluten. This prevents cookies from being too crumbly plus it also helps with freshness.

Which alternative flour is best for cookies? ›

I've used the same basic sugar cookie recipe with whole wheat, oat, and almond flour and gotten good results. If you want to 3xpetiment a little, try just replacing half of the all purpose flour in your recipe, see if you like the results, then try a full substitution if it works.

What happens if you don't add flour to cookies? ›

As a bonus, I did a little research to find out just what role each ingredient plays in chocolate chip cookies, so you can adjust your recipe however you feel like experimenting. Flour adds fluff and texture to the cookies. Adding too little flour can cause cookies to be flat, greasy, and crispy.

Which gluten free flour works best in cookies? ›

Almond flour is a grain-free, protein-rich flour that lends well to cookies, cakes, and more! Almond flour is made from blanched almonds, meaning without skins (as opposed to almond meal, which is made from raw almonds with skins). This is why it has a fluffy, light texture and pale golden color.

What is the best flour for gluten-free cookies? ›

Almond flour increases the percentage of protein in cookie recipes and brown rice flour helps make them nice and crisp. This recipe includes: brown rice flour. almond flour.

Which gluten free flour makes the best cookies? ›

The 6 Epic Gluten-Free Flours that Make Up Our Cookies
  • Sweet white rice flour.
  • Whole grain brown rice flour.
  • Potato starch.
  • Whole grain sweet white sorghum flour.
  • Tapioca flour.
  • Xanthan gum.
Jan 19, 2024

What holds gluten-free cookies together? ›

As with gluten, this could stop a cookie from spreading too much as it bakes. So I've decided to try adding a hydrocolloid to my gluten-free dough. Some grocery stores sell xanthan gum and guar gum, especially if the stores have a gluten-free aisle. Many gluten-free recipes call for xanthan gum.

What happens when you use gluten free flour in cookies? ›

Gluten-free flours often contain fine starches, so they absorb more liquid than conventional flour. To address this, gluten-free recipes usually call for more liquid and produce looser batters. They may also call for a larger quantity of leavening, like baking powder, to help add volume and lighten the texture.

How do you keep gluten-free sugar cookies from spreading? ›

6- If your cookies still insist on spreading, add an extra 1/4 cup of my gfJules Gluten Free All Purpose Flour to the remaining dough to help hold them together (also helps at high altitude!).

Should I add xanthan gum to gluten-free cookies? ›

Using xanthan gum helps provide some of the stickiness that gluten free goods lack, replacing some elasticity. Xanthan gum mimics some of gluten's most essential properties by sticking to flour and its moisture. This helps create moist goods that hold their shape after being baked.

Should you refrigerate gluten free cookie dough before baking? ›

This is because cold dough is less sticky, and it doesn't spread as easily, too. If you're making a gluten-free cookie recipe that you don't want to spread too much (like crinkle cookies), make sure to chill the dough before baking it.

Should you let gluten free cookie dough rest? ›

Instead of proceeding directly to baking, let the gluten-free cookie dough rest for about 30 minutes at room temperature. This resting period is crucial for hydration, not leavening. During this time, gluten-free flours absorb moisture from the wet ingredients, altering the dough's texture and consistency.

How do you fix cookies without enough flour? ›

There's a simple fix for this common cookie mistake

Once you find yourself with a tray of flat, crispy cookies, you probably know you don't want it to ever happen again. Luckily, adding one to two more tablespoons of flour is a quick and easy fix for salvaging any leftover dough you have.

Is flour necessary for cookies? ›

Flour is a stabilizer and thickener and controls how much the cookie rises. It holds the cookie together, providing it with its structure. If you use too little flour your cookie won't keep its shape but if you use too much you'll end up with a thick tasteless cookie.

Does flour matter in cookies? ›

Flour provides the structure in baked goods. Wheat flour contains proteins that interact with each other when mixed with water, forming gluten. It is this elastic gluten framework which stretches to contain the expanding leavening gases during rising. The protein content of a flour affects the strength of a dough.

Can I use bread flour instead of all-purpose flour for sugar cookies? ›

Bread flour can be substituted for all-purpose in any cookie recipe for which a chewy texture is the goal. And you can substitute all of the all-purpose for bread, or just a portion of it (you do you, in other words).

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