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These tender, lightly sweet gluten free sugar cookies are soft but not fragile, so they'll hold any shape you can imagine, all without chilling the dough so they're done in 30 minutes start to finish!
With just the right balance of ingredients, there's no need to wait to roll out the dough and get these perfect cut-out cookies in the oven.
“This was the first GF sugar cookie recipe I’ve tried and I can assure you that my search is off! This will be my new go to!”
“Brought the cookies with decorating supplies to family Christmas and they were a hit! Everyone was surprised that they are gluten free!”
Why this recipe works
Unlike other similar recipes you'll find, the dough for this gluten free sugar cookie recipe is made in one bowl in minutes, with no chilling needed.
You'll still get soft, tender cookies that are lightly sweet with lots of vanilla flavor. And they'll hold any shape, from rounds and basic Christmas stars to Valentine Hearts, spring flowers and Easter bunnies, all without making the dough in advance.
These cookies melt-in-your-mouth, but they're thick enough that they won't break. Every time you see the Lofthouse cookies in the clamshell box at the grocery store that you can't have any more, remember these perfect, no-planning-ahead cookies and roll on by!
Cookie ingredients explained
Here's what you need to make these perfect cookies, plus the role each plays in recipe success:
- Gluten free flour: You need an all purpose gluten free flour blend that has enough structure for a cookie that holds its shape and isn't fragile, with a smooth rice flour to avoid any grit. I recommend Better Batter's original gluten free flour blend or Nicole's Best multipurpose blend (with added xanthan gum). Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten Free Baking Flour in the blue bag also works, but add an extra 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum to the dry ingredients to avoid crumbly cookies.
- Baking powder – Helps the cookies puff out and spread a bit so they're not dense or hard.
- Sugars – Granulated sugar sweetens and tenderizes the cookies and a touch of powdered or confectioners' sugar help them hold their shape.
- Butter – Adds tenderness, buttery flavor, and moisture to bring the dough together.
- Egg – Binds the cookie dough together, the white adds structure to hold the rise, and adds richness from the yolk.
- Vanilla extract – Adds depth of flavor.
- Salt – Enhances other flavors, and helps balance the sweetness.
How to make gluten free sugar cookies (step by step photos)
Here's an overview of how to make these simple cookies in your own kitchen, with an explanation of why each step is necessary:
1. Combine dry ingredients
Whisk together the gluten free flour blend with xanthan gum, baking powder, salt, granulated sugar, and confectioners' sugar to ensure an even distribution of all dry ingredients, avoiding pockets of baking powder.
2. Add the butter
We use the reverse cream method to avoid incorporating any extra air into the cookie dough, so the cookies bake flat but still very tender. Do this by pressing the softened butter into the dry ingredients with the back of a spoon until it looks like coarse sand.
3. Add egg and vanilla
Add a beaten egg and vanilla extract to moisten all of the dry ingredients. Keep working until everything looks uniform, then knead together with clean, dry hands just until smooth without overworking the dough, which could result in tougher cookies by drying it out.
4. Roll out the dough
Sprinkle the cookie dough very lightly with more gluten free flour to keep it from sticking as you roll it out about 1/3-inch thick without drying it out.
5. Cut out shapes
Use cookie cutters to cut out shapes by pressing straight down. Make sure the cookie cutter doesn't have any cookie dough on the edge each time so you get clean edges for cookies that hold a well-defined shaped edge and rise up, not out.
6. Transfer the shapes and reroll
Pull away the rest of the dough to expose the shapes rather than pulling out the shapes, which might stretch them out of shape. Pick up the shapes and place them on a lined baking sheet. Gather the dough gently into another disk, reroll and cut out more shapes.
7. Bake the cookies
Bake at 350°F for less than 10 minutes, just until set, with little to no browning to ensure that the cookies stay very tender, without crisping.
8. Cool until stable, then transfer
Let them cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes until stable enough to move to a wire rack to cool completely.
9. Decorate (or don't!)
Frost with the meringue buttercream frosting or royal icing, or leave plain. Store in a sealed glass container at room temperature, and they will keep their texture for about 1 week since glass doesn't retain any moisture.
Expert Tips
Measure your ingredients by weight
You’ll find that the dough resembles moist crumbs and clumps, and you might be tempted to add more moisture. Make sure you’re measuring your ingredients (especially the gluten free flour) by weight, not volume, for precise results. If you add too much moisture, your cookies will spread out, instead of just up, creating distorted shapes.
Use cool room temperature butter
The term “room temperature” for butter, eggs, and other baking ingredients usually means about 68°F. Here, if the butter is below about 70°F, it may be difficult to work into the dry ingredients evenly.
To soften cold butter, chop it into small pieces and let it sit on the counter for about 20 minutes. Be sure your eggs are at room temperature (gloat them in very warm water during that time, too if not), or they'll make the butter clump.
Knead the dough until smooth
Once you reach a uniform mixture that resembles moist crumbs and clusters, knead the dough with clean hands just enough to bring it together before rolling it out. You can also use a stand mixer with a paddle attachment to make smooth dough easily, but avoid a handheld mixer with beater attachments or your cookies will have too much air.
Store in glass containers
To maintain the texture of the cooled cookies, with or without frosting or icing, store them in a glass container with a tight-fitting lid. They won't absorb moisture or odors from the environment.
Ingredient substitutions
Dairy free
I've used block-style vegan butter like Melt or Miyoko's brand in the cookie dough before with success. The edges of the gf sugar cookies aren’t quite as clean as they are when you use butter, but the recipe tastes and looks great overall.
Try replacing the butter in the frosting recipe with Spectrum brand butter-flavored nonhydrogenated vegetable shortening. For the milk in the frosting, use any unsweetened unflavored nondairy milk (I like coconut milk in the carton or soy milk).
Egg free
You should be able to replace the egg with a “chia egg,” Bob's Red Mill egg replacer, or “Just Egg” liquid refrigerated plant egg.
Meringue powder
Meringue powder is made of egg white powder, sugar, a starch, and some stabilizers. If you can’t have eggs, I’d just eliminate meringue powder as an ingredient altogether. The frosting will just be a bit softer.
Storage instructions
Short term
You can store plain baked unfrosted cookies in a sealed glass container at room temperature for at least 1 week. If you've used royal icing and allowed it to set fully, they'll last up to 2 weeks.
With the buttercream meringue frosting, once it's set, you can stack them and store them in a sealed glass container for up to 2 days.
Longer storage
Freeze frosted cookies in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet for 2 hours, then pile them into a freezer-safe zip top bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost at room temperature. Don't heat cookies with icing or frosting or the topping will melt. To freeze the raw cookie dough, roll it out, cut shapes, then wrap them tightly and freeze. Let defrost before baking.
Gluten Free Sugar Cookies Recipe
Equipment
- Stand mixer or handheld mixer
Ingredients
For the cookies
- 2 cups (280 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend, (See Recipe Notes), plus more for sprinkling
- ¾ teaspoon xanthan gum, omit if your blend already contains it
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons (22 g) confectioners’ sugar, or powdered sugar
- 8 tablespoons (112 g) unsalted butter, at soft room temperature (about 70°F)
- 1 (50 g (weighed out of shell)) egg, at room temperature, beaten
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For the frosting
- 10 tablespoons (140 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ¼ cup (2 fluid ounces) milk, at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons meringue powder, LorAnn and AmeriColor brands are gluten free
- 4 cups (460 g) confectioners’ sugar
- Seeds from one vanilla bean, optional
- Sprinkles, optional
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.
- Add the butter, and mix to moisten the dry ingredients with the butter, until the mixture looks sandy, pressing down on the butter with the back of the mixing spoon.
- Add the egg and vanilla, and mix to combine, until the dry ingredients are all moistened with the wet.
- With clean, dry hands, knead the mixture together to form a cohesive dough. It will be thick and relatively stiff, but not dry.
- Place the dough on a clean, flat surface, and roll it into a round a bit less than 1/3-inch thick, sprinkling very lightly with flour to prevent the rolling pin from sticking.
- Using a 2 1/2-inch round cookie cutter (or whatever shape you like), cut out shapes from the dough and place them about 1-inch apart on the prepared baking sheets.
- It can be helpful to remove the surrounding dough from the cutouts, and then peel the shapes off. Gather and reroll the scraps and repeat the process until you’ve used all the dough.
- Place the baking sheet in the center of the preheated oven and bake until the cookies are just set on top, about 8 minutes, depending upon size and shape. The edges of some cookies may brown slightly.
- Remove them from the oven before there is any significant browning, and allow them to cool on the baking sheet until set before transferring them 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 butter, milk and vanilla, and mix on medium speed until combined. Increase the mixer speed to high and mix until creamy (about 5 minutes).
- 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 optional vanilla seeds and as much of the rest of the confectioners’ sugar as necessary to thicken the frosting, and beat to combine well.
Frost the cookies
- Once the cookies are completely cool, pipe or spoon a generous amount of frosting onto the top of each, and spread into an even layer with a wide knife or offset spatula. Scatter sprinkles, if desired.
- Allow the cookies to set at room temperature until the frosting hardens a bit before stacking them. Store any leftovers in an airtight glass container at room temperature. Freeze any plain cookies for longer storage.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
FAQs
Your dough may resemble moist crumbs and clumps when mixed with a spoon, but that doesn't mean it's too dry. Try pressing it into a disk. If it doesn't hold together well, you can try adding water by the drop and kneading it in to the dough until you reach the right consistency. Go slowly, though, since you don't want a drop more water than absolutely essential, or your cookies won't keep their shape in the oven.
You may have rolled out your sugar cookie dough a bit unevenly. That means some cookies came out thinner, baking faster and becoming crispier, while others stayed soft.
For best results, try my gluten free drop sugar cookies recipe instead. But if you change your mind mid-recipe, you can use this recipe. Just portion the cookie dough into equal-sized pieces, roll each in your palms into a ball, place it on the baking sheet, and flatten it using the palm of your hand. Bake at 350°F until the cookies appear set all the way to the center. Depending on how thick your cookies are, you may have to increase the baking time.
No, there's no need to chill this cookie dough for it to hold its shape when made as written. This recipe is balanced just right to avoid needing time to chill the dough or let the flour absorb moisture for the cookies to hold their shape in the oven.
If your butter was too soft and the cookie dough feels greasy, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and chill the dough just until it doesn't feel greasy any more, then proceed with the recipe as written.
You can use 2 1/2 tablespoons of powdered sugar, which doesn't contain added starch and 1/2 tablespoon (1 1/2 teaspoons) cornstarch instead. Or try 1 1/2 tablespoons more granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon cornstarch.
Whenever I’ve tried to make gluten-free sugar cookies before, the dough always comes out either too wet (like a really thick cake batter) or too dry. Whenever I try to fix it, it always ends up going to the opposite extreme and I can never get it just right. This has happened when I tried to make other types of cookies too. I use King Arthur Gluten-Free Flour Blend (with xantham gum in it). I also usually try to make them dairy-free as well, but this time I’m not looking to meet that requirement, so hopefully I don’t have this problem with this recipe.
I’m afraid this recipe likely won’t turn out either if you use King Arthur’s gluten free flour blend, which I discuss in detail on the all purpose gluten free flour blends page that is linked to that ingredient in this recipe (and in the text of this post). The experience you are describing is a direct result of the blend you’re using, which is not properly balanced and uses gritty rice flour. That’s especially apparent in a recipe as simple as sugar cookies.
Thank you for this amazing recipe. I can’t wait to try it. How long can the GF cookies last in room temperature and freezer?
Please see the text of the post under the heading “Storing your gluten free sugar cookies”
Quick and easy. I added a tablespoon of almond milk to my dough for easier rolling and it kept the rest of the dough pliable after each re-roll. Thank you!
Don’t try to make these without the frosting. I put M&M’s for an Easter treat and the cookies themselves aren’t very sweet at all. I’m sure the frosting makes them better.
As the text of the post states, Stacy, “Sweet but not overpowering — on their own, they’re great cookies, but they’re even better with frosting.” These are not meant to be super sweet at all, particularly since they are usually frosted or iced. “Better” is a matter of preference. I’m sure if you scan all the comments, you’ll find some who feel like they’re too sweet!
Used your dough to make Hamantaschen (3 sided filled) cookies for Purim. They were so easy to make and taste delicious ! Baked them twice as long so they would be more crispy. (Let me know how to send you a picture.)
Would you be able to make the dough ahead of time, freeze it & unthaw & bake at a later date? Or would that mess with the structure of the cookie?
I don’t recommend it, Kay, since this is not a very wet dough and there is a real risk that it would dry out in the freezer. The cookies themselves do freeze really well. Please see the section of the text of the post that explains storage.
Do you know if this recipe can be made with coconut sugar?
Definitely not, Lyn. This is a very very simple recipe, and coconut sugar is very different from refined granulated sugar. If you are looking to use unrefined sugars, you would need a different recipe entirely.
It might have just been my experience but I was left with extremely dry dough that would not combine. I tried a couple different things including just trusting the process and they came out very dry and crumbly. I double checked the entire recipe and I followed all the instructions exactly, I’m sure it is a great recipe so if anyone has suggestions I would appreciate it! Still going to rate it well because the taste was good aside from dryness!
Please see the text of the post under the heading “Why is my sugar cookie dough so crumbly?” and the repeated discussion of the importance of how you measure and what your flour blend is
I’ve tried 2 gluten free sugar cookie recipes in the past and this one is so far the best! There’s nothing I would improve. I rolled my dough out to be around 1/4 inch thick, and they were just perfect. I experimented with 2 different bake times. First 8 minutes, they came out a little soft on the inside and then 12 minutes, these came out crunchy (not crumbly) with a tiny bit of a give in the middle. It’s just a matter of preference! Personally I like the crunchier ones as they remind me of non gluten free sugar cookies I’ve tried. But the neither one came out raw or overcooked. Also they take to food colouring very well and you can even work it into the dough while kneeding (after everything’s combined). I’m so happy I found this! Planning to make more of these for Valentine’s Day and having them be heart shaped…
That’s so great that you experimented a bit with baking times to make them just how you like them, Maya. Baking times are always approximate anyway and whatever doneness test that’s specified is more important. There are so many variations not only in oven fluctuations, but in ambient kitchen environment, even slight elevation changes, and of course preference, etc. They’re your cookies, right? You should have them just as you want them. And yes! They’re perfect as heart shapes. Happy V Day!
My son is requesting a sugar cookie cake for his birthday this weekend. Do you think this dough would be fine if baked into a cookie cake form?
Actually, I don’t recommend that, but I do have a solution for you, Morgan! Use the base for my gluten free fruit pizza, which is a sugar cookie cake base. Then, top it however you like, but you can use the frosting in my gluten free cookie cake recipe.
This is perfect, thank you! He wants a “fruit pizza” but I wasn’t sure if you would know what I was talking about. We typically top ours with a homemade fruit dip and fruits! I’ll be sure to try your recipe this time!