Soft Gluten Free Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies
These gluten free cream cheese sugar cookies have all the taste of cheesecake in a neat cutout sugar cookie, with plenty of fluffy but stable cream cheese frosting. Just like Lofthouse, but better!
Servings: 18 cookies
Equipment
- Stand mixer or handheld mixer
Ingredients
For the cookies
- 2 cups all purpose gluten free flour blend (I like Better Batter here; click through for details)
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum omit if your blend already contains it
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 5 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
- 4 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 egg at room temperature, beaten
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For the frosting
- 4 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons meringue powder LorAnn brand is gluten free
- 4 cups confectioners’ sugar
Instructions
Make the cookies.
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line rimmed baking sheets with unbleached parchment paper and set them aside.
- In a large bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, salt, granulated sugar and confectioners’ sugar and whisk to combine well.
- In a separate bowl, place the cream cheese, butter, egg and vanilla, and mix to combine well. Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the cream cheese mixture.
- Mix to combine, and then knead it together with your hands until a smooth dough forms.
- Place the dough between two sheets of unbleached parchment paper and roll out a bit less than 1/3-inch thick. Using a 2 1/2-inch round cookie cutter, cut out rounds of dough and place them about 1-inch apart on the prepared baking sheets.
- Place the baking sheet in the center of the preheated oven and bake set in the center and just beginning to brown on the edges, about 10 minutes.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Make the frosting.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or a large bowl with a handheld mixer, place the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla, and mix on medium speed until combined.
- Turn the speed to high and mix until creamy. Add the salt, meringue powder and about 3 1/2 cups of confectioners’ sugar. Mix slowly until the sugar is incorporated.
- Turn the mixer up to high and beat until it becomes uniformly thick. Add the rest of the confectioners’ sugar if necessary to thicken the frosting.
- Once the cookies are completely cool, pipe or spoon a generous amount of frosting onto the top of each in whatever pattern you like.
- Allow to set at room temperature until the frosting hardens and is firm to a light touch. Store any leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature.
Notes
Originally published on the blog in 2015. How-to video and some photos new; many photos original; frosting recipe altered very slightly.