Gluten Free Sugar Cookies
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Make the BEST Gluten Free Sugar Cookies with my Mom’s famous recipe that’s been passed down for three generations! These thin and crispy cut out cookies are easy to make and simple to decorate with a 3-ingredient confectioners’ icing!
While these are the perfect sugar cookies for celebrating Christmas, they’re also delicious anytime of the year! Prepare the cookie dough and cut them into festive shapes for Valentine’s Day, 4th of July or Halloween, or simply cut them into circles for a sweet treat any time of the year!
Thank you to my friends at Cox Communications for sponsoring today’s post!
There’s nothing that reminds me more of the holiday season than my Mom’s famous sugar cookies. From making the cookies, to decorating them around the kitchen table, these cookies bring back some of my fondest holiday memories!
In 2010, my brother was diagnosed with a gluten allergy. Ever since then, we’ve been making a gluten-free version of my Mom’s famous sugar cookies. And no one has ever been able to tell a difference in the flavor or texture. They’re just as sweet and crispy as ever before, but they’re totally gluten free!
In 2020, the holiday season might look a little different, but that doesn’t mean you can’t keep the same holiday traditions! While we might not be gathered around the same kitchen table this year, we can still virtually gather around the table to make and decorate this family cookie recipe.
With fast and reliable internet from Cox Communications, I know that our Zoom cookie party will be uninterrupted!
In addition to using Cox High Speed Internet for Zoom cookie parties, I’m also using it to power my smart kitchen. Using the SmartHQ app on my phone, I’m able to preheat my oven and heat the water in my refrigerator to make hot cocoa. Because what goes better with freshly baked sugar cookies, than a mug of warm hot cocoa?!
To learn more about my Smart Kitchen and the appliances that are in it, check out my Kitchen Remodel Reveal! And to see how Cox is helping essential employees feel a little closer to home this holiday season, check out their Full of Love campaign!
Now it’s time to head into the kitchen and make the best gluten-free sugar cookies!
Table of contents
Ingredients you’ll need
- Gluten free flour – the gluten-free flour blend must contain xanthan gum, if it does not, you will need to add 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum to the recipe. I highly recommend Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour. It’s a great substitute for all-purpose flour and our go-to flour for gluten free baking. It’s made up of a gluten free flour blend, featuring rice flour, tapioca flour, sorghum flour and xanthan gum.
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Unsalted butter
- Granulated sugar
- Egg
- Milk
- Vanilla extract
Step by step instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt.
- In a large bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer, add room temperature butter and sugar.
- Use the stand mixer with the paddle attachment, or an electric hand mixer, to cream the butter and sugar together on medium speed for 2 minutes.
- Add the egg, milk and vanilla extract.
- Continue mixing until the ingredients are combined.
- Add the flour mixture and combine the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients.
- Form the dough into a ball and place in the refrigerator to chill for 15 minutes.
- Dust a sheet of parchment paper with gluten free flour. Place 1/4 of the dough on the parchment paper and dust the dough with gluten free flour.
- Cover the dough with another sheet of parchment paper and use a rolling pin to roll the dough to 1/8 inch thickness.
- Use cookie cutters to cut the dough into shapes. Place the cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet, or baking stone.
- Place in a 400°F oven and bake for 5-8 minutes (notes on baking times below.)
- Remove the cookies from the baking sheet as soon as they come out of the oven and allow them to cool completely on a wire cooling rack.
- Repeat steps 3-6 until all of the cookie dough has been baked into cookies.
- Once the cookies are baked, either lightly dust them with granulated sugar or ice them.
- If you would like to ice the cookies, prepare the icing using the recipe below.
- Ice the cookies and decorate however you’d like. If you ask my niece, the more sprinkles, the better!
How to make confectioners icing
- Add 4 cups of sifted confectioners sugar (also known as powdered sugar) to a large mixing bowl.
- Add 2 teaspoons vanilla extract and 1/4 cup milk.
- Use a rubber spatula to mix the icing until it’s smooth and creamy.
- If you’d like to make colored icing, divide the icing into 3-4 bowls and add 2-3 drops food coloring to make different colors. You can also add cocoa to make chocolate/brown frosting.
Notes on the icing
- If the icing becomes too thick and hard to spread on the cookies, add more milk, but only about 1 teaspoon at a time.
- If the icing becomes too runny, add more powdered sugar, 1/4 cup at a time.
- To sift the powdered sugar, you can use a flour sifter, or a fine mesh strainer.
- Since the measurement in the recipe is for sifted confectioners sugar, you’ll want to sift the sugar into a separate bowl, then measure it out for precise measurements.
Tips and tricks
- Making the dough in advance. The sugar cookie dough can be made up to 3 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator wrapped in plastic wrap. If stored in the refrigerator for more than one hour, remove the dough from the refrigerator at least 15 minutes before rolling out the dough. Otherwise it will be too firm and very hard to roll out.
- Dough Thickness: Yes, it does say to roll the dough to 1/8 inch thickness in the recipe! These are a thin, crispy gluten free sugar cookie, thus they should be rolled out thin before baking!
- Baking Times: When baking on a traditional baking sheet with parchment paper, these cookies baked in about 5 minutes. When baking on a baking stone, it took about 8 minutes. Because these cookies are so thin, they do bake fast. I recommend keeping an eye on them for the last 1-2 minutes of the baking process. As soon as the edges start to brown, it’s time to remove them from the oven.
- Cutting out the cookie dough: I always like to keep a butter knife and toothpicks handy when I’m cutting out the dough. The toothpicks help to poke out any smaller pieces in a cookie cutter, such as the reindeer antlers or legs. The butter knife helps if the dough starts to stick to the parchment paper. Simple slide the knife gently under the dough and lift it off and on to the baking sheet.
- Flouring the dough and work surface: Be sure you have plenty of extra gluten free flour to continue flouring the dough and work surface as you roll it out. This will prevent sticking and make rolling the dough and cutting out the cookies much easier. For reference, between preparing the cookie dough and flouring the surfaces, I used almost an entire 22 ounce bag of gluten free flour.
- Quick tip! If you run out of gluten free flour when rolling out the cookie dough, you can dust the work surface with cornstarch.
More family recipes
From my Grandma, Mom and Dad, don’t miss these other Bond family famous recipes!
- Dad’s Famous Red Sangria
- Mom’s Cherry Pie
- Dad’s Famous Captain Crunch Friend Chicken
- Meme’s Cherry Coke Jello Salad
- Dad’s BBQ Baked Beans
- Mom’s Famous Strawberry Pie
And from my family to yours, we’re wishing you a safe, healthy and joyful holiday season!
Gluten Free Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
Gluten Free Sugar Cookies
- 3 cups gluten free flour, + more for dusting the work surface (see notes below)
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Confectioners Icing
- 4 cups sifted confectioners sugar, also known as powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¼ cup milk
- food coloring, optional
Instructions
Gluten Free Sugar Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer, add the butter and sugar.
- Use the stand mixer, or an electric hand mixer, to cream the butter and sugar together on medium speed for 2 minutes.
- Add the egg, milk and vanilla extract, continue mixing until the ingredients are combined.
- Add the flour mixture and continue mixing until well combined.
- Form the dough into a ball and place in the refrigerator to chill for 15 minutes.
- Dust a sheet of parchment paper with gluten free flour.
- Place 1/4 of the dough on the parchment paper and dust the dough with gluten free flour.
- Cover the dough with another sheet of parchment paper and use a rolling pin to roll the dough to 1/8 inch thickness.
- Use cookie cutters to cut the dough into shapes. Place the cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet, or baking stone.
- Place in the oven and bake for 5-8 minutes, or until the edges are lightly browned. (See note on baking times below.)
- Remove the cookies from the baking sheet as soon as they come out of the oven and allow them to cool completely on a wire baking rack.
- Repeat steps 9-13 until all of the cookie dough has been baked into cookies.
- Once the cookies are baked, either lightly dust them with granulated sugar or ice them.
Confectioners Icing
- Add the sifted confectioners sugar to a large mixing bowl.
- Add the vanilla extract and milk.
- Use a rubber spatula to mix the icing until it’s smooth and creamy.
- If you’d like to make colored icing, divide the icing into 3-4 bowls and add 2-3 drops of food coloring to make different colors. You can also add cocoa to make chocolate/brown icing.
Notes
- Gluten Free Flour: the gluten free flour must contain xanthan gum, if it does not, you will need to add 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum to the recipe. I highly recommend Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Baking Flour. It’s the only flour we use to make these cookies every year. It contains a blend of flours and xanthan gum.
- Making the dough in advance. The sugar cookie dough can be made up to 3 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container. If stored in the refrigerator for more than one hour, remove the dough from the refrigerator at least 15 minutes before rolling out the dough. Otherwise it will be too firm and very hard to roll out.
- Dough Thickness: Yes, it does say to roll the dough to 1/8 inch thickness in the recipe! These are a thin, crispy gluten free sugar cookie, thus they should be rolled out thin before baking!
- Baking Times: When baking on a traditional baking sheet with parchment paper, these cookies baked in about 5 minutes. When baking on a baking stone, it took about 8 minutes. Because these cookies are so thin, they do bake fast. I recommend keeping an eye on them for the last 1-2 minutes of the baking process. As soon as the edges start to brown, it’s time to remove them from the oven.
- Cutting out the cookie dough: I always like to keep a butter knife and toothpicks handy when I’m cutting out the dough. The toothpicks help to poke out any smaller pieces in a cookie cutter, such as the reindeer antlers or legs. The butter knife helps if the dough starts to stick to the parchment paper. Simple slide the knife gently under the dough and lift it off and on to the baking sheet.
- Flouring the dough and work surface: Be sure you have plenty of extra gluten free flour to continue flouring the dough and work surface as you roll it out. This will prevent sticking and make rolling the dough and cutting out the cookies much easier. For reference, between preparing the cookie dough and flouring the surfaces, I used almost an entire 22 ounce bag of gluten free flour.
- Quick tip! If you run out of gluten free flour when rolling out the cookie dough, you can dust the work surface with cornstarch.
- If the icing becomes too thick and hard to spread on the cookies, add more milk, but only about 1 teaspoon at a time.
- If the icing becomes too runny, add more powdered sugar, 1/4 cup at a time.
- To sift the powdered sugar, you can use a flour sifter, or a fine mesh strainer.
- Since the measurement in the recipe is for sifted confectioners sugar, you’ll want to sift the sugar into a separate bowl, then measure it out for precise measurements.
Nutrition Facts
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2 Comments on “Gluten Free Sugar Cookies”
I have not made this recipe yet but plan to for our Christmas cookies this year. I’d like to make them slightly softer and less crunchy. What modifications do you recommend?
Hi Kim, unfortunately this recipe is for a thin and crispy cookie and I have never tested the recipe with modifications, so I cannot guarantee the results. But you can reduce the flour by 1/4 to 1/2 cup, so that the cookies have a higher butter to flour ratio, this should result in a slightly softer cookie.