Chewy Gluten Free Sugar Cookies
With soft centers and chewy edges, these chewy gluten free sugar cookies are the perfect alternative to a cutout gluten free sugar cookie for the holidays or for any time. They freeze really well, too!
Yield: 24 cookies
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups (210 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend (I used Better Batter; please click thru for full info on appropriate blends)
- ¾ teaspoon xanthan gum (omit if your blend already contains it)
- 2 tablespoons (18 g) tapioca starch/flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 6 tablespoons (84 g) unsalted butter at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons (24 g) vegetable shortening melted and cooled
- 1 (50 g (weighed out of shell)) egg at room temperature, beaten
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Miniature M&Ms for decorating (optional) (gluten free in the United States)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 300°F (not a typo!). Line rimmed baking sheets with unbleached parchment paper and set them aside.
- In a large bowl, place the flour blend, xanthan gum, starch, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar, and whisk to combine well.
- Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and add the butter, shortening, egg, and vanilla, and mix to combine.
- The dough will be thick and smooth, but easy to shape and not greasy. If it’s greasy and very soft, and you didn’t make any ingredient substitutions, it’s because the shortening wasn’t cooled. Just chill the dough briefly in the refrigerator, covered, until it’s easier to handle.
- Pull or scoop off pieces of dough about 1 1/2 tablespoons each, and roll into a ball (about 1-inch in diameter).
- Press each ball of dough into a disk about 3/8-inch thick, and place fully 2-inches apart from one another on the prepared baking sheets. The cookies will spread quite a lot during baking.
- Place the baking sheets in the freezer to chill until firm (about 5 minutes).
- Remove from the freezer, and decorate if desired.
- If you’re creating a design with something like miniature M&Ms (again, GF in the U.S.!) close to one another in the design, in the desired pattern, as they will separate from one another as the cookie spreads during baking.
- Place in the center of the preheated oven and bake until set in the center and starting to wrinkle a bit on top (about 14 minutes).
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for at least 10 minutes, or until stable, before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Originally published on the blog in 2013. In 2018, some new photos, video and new text resources added.