Gluten free sugar cookies are tender and melt in your mouth delicious. Topped with homemade buttercream frosting, this is the best sugar cookie recipe.
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I’m a bit of a snob when it comes to sugar cookies. My family has a long standing sugar cookie recipe that literally makes them THE BEST cookies I’ve had.
Typically my family only makes them for Christmas, so they’re a recipe I always look forward to.
However, sometimes you just need a good sugar cookie fix. That means whipping up a small batch to have on hand. P.S. these cookies freeze super well, even with the frosting.
My cousin recently posted on Instagram that they tried making gluten free cutout sugar cookies without success. They tasted great, but spread way too much. I.e. cutout shape not maintained.
I, of course, took it upon myself to create a gluten free version of my all-time fave sugar cookie recipe.
Enter THE BEST gluten free sugar cookie you’ll ever have. Yes, I’m biased, but you probably will be too once you experience this recipe. I’m just willing to make that bet.
I don’t know about you, but I think we’re feeling ready to dive into how to make the best gluten free sugar cookie recipe.
How to make the best gluten free sugar cookies
The necessity: gluten free flour
Okay, I’ll be totally honest here…I used a 1:1 gluten free flour for this recipe. Meaning this gluten free flour already had all the goodies in it to be used measure for measure to AP (all purpose) flour.
I’m not sure why, but I sort of feel like this is cheating. Like these aren’t for real gluten free cookies if they’re not made with a mix of coconut and almond flour and xanthan gum. You get where I’m going.
When I said this to my mom she was like, “um that’s not cheating, why would you think that?” I don’t know mom. 🤷
Since we’re playing the honesty game, I didn’t want to buy xanthan gum. I wanted to provide you with an easy recipe for creating the best sugar cookies out there.
So here we are.
My two favorite gluten free 1:1 flours are King Arthur and Krusteaz. I think these two are the best in terms of less grit texture and a true match to AP flour.
Making gluten free sugar cookie dough
Now that we’ve gotten that flour confession out of the way, let’s get into the real deal with how to actually make these cookies I keep talking up.
Obvs. we’re starting with the gluten free flour. We add our leaveners and then the secret ingredient that makes these cookies so bomb.com.
I can’t believe I’m sharing this with you, but this truly is the game changer ingredient.
It’s nutmeg!
The little bit that gets added to this batter just takes these gluten free sugar cookies to the next level.
In a separate bowl we mix together sugar, milk, egg and vanilla.
And then…
Bring on the buttuh!
(That’s butter ☝️)
Don’t skip out on this ingredient. It’s a necessity for creating a tender, melt-in-your-mouth cookie. 💯 (sorry, really gettin’ after the emojis in this post today).
Your butter needs to be cold and cut into cubes.
Add a few of the cubes to the dry ingredients and then use a pastry blender (not a real blender), a fork or your fingers to blend the butter.
This sounds like you should be blending the butter like a blender does, but that’s not it.
What we’re talking about here is breaking up the butter in the flour. Combining it with the flour until the butter is pea sized.
If you’re using your fingers, basically just press the butter cubes between your thumb and forefinger, mixing with the flour. See photo above for help here.
Time to chill out
Once you’ve blended the butter and flour, the wet ingredients get mixed in to create a beautiful little dough baby.
Wrap up the dough ball in a large piece of saran wrap and toss that baby in the fridge to chill the eff out. (a little aggressive, sorry!)
The chilling is a necessary next step. Just like the butter, this cannot be skipped.
If the dough isn’t cold enough you won’t be able to roll it out for cutout sugar cookies. This will also cause your cookies to spread if your dough isn’t cold enough.
So take a bit of a cookie dough making break (i.e. five hours) before moving on.
Let’s roll!
Now that your dough baby has had a chance to chill, we’re ready to get rollin’.
Having a pastry mat and a rolling pin (I prefer nonstick over wooden) will make this part of the gluten free sugar cookie making process a whole lot easier.
Lightly flour (with gluten free flour of course) the pastry mat and your dough. Roll out the dough into about 1/8″ to 1/4″ thick.
I used heart shape cookie cutters for the upcoming Valentine’s Day holiday. This dough is so versatile though that you can use it for any holiday with any cutout shape.
Keep rolling and cutting until you’re all out of dough. I got 14 hearts from my dough, which I thought was pretty perfect considering Valentine’s Day is on the 14th!
Frosting, frosting, I love frosting
Does anyone remember that old fortune teller arcade machine that would say “quarters, quarters, I love quarters”? That’s what I’m thinking about here.
This is really just a basic buttercream frosting: butter, powdered sugar and vanilla. But keeping the frosting really basic means that you get to truly experience all the flavors and textures of the cookie.
We’re not trying to mask the tenderness and nutmeg by piling on some crazy boat load of out there frosting.
Once your cookies have cooled, put a nice smear of frosting on top. Add sprinkles (also a necessity) and your cookies are ready!
Storing the best gluten free sugar cookies
You have a couple options when it comes to storing your gluten free sugar cookies.
After letting the frosting set (it will harden slightly), you can either store your cookies in an airtight container with parchment paper separating the cookies. Then keep them on the counter.
Or if you’re so inclined, you can do the same process up above, but keep them in the freezer.
If you’re needing to save the cookies for a special occasion, or just want to have them on hand for a cookie fix (totally get you there), freezing is an excellent option.
I’d love to know if you make this gluten free sugar cookie recipe. Share with me by tagging ionlycameforthecake1 on Instagram.
Looking for more gluten free cookie recipes? Check these out:
Healthy gluten free monster cookies
Gluten free maple pecan cookies
- ¾ cups 1:1 Gluten Free flour
- ½ tsp. baking powder
- ¼ tsp. baking soda
- ⅛ tsp. salt
- ½ tsp. nutmeg
- ¼ cup {1/2 stick} cold butter, cubed
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 Tbsp. milk
- ¼ tsp. vanilla
- ½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
- ½ cup + 2 Tbsp. powdered sugar
- ½ tsp. vanilla
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In a large bowl, add the flour, baking powder and soda, salt and nutmeg.
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Cut the butter into the flour mixture using either a pastry blender, your fingers or a fork until it becomes pea sized.
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In a separate bowl, beat the egg. Add the sugar, milk and vanilla. Stir to combine.
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Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir until the dough forms.
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Place the dough on a piece of saran wrap and wrap up. Place in the refrigerator to chill for 5 hours.
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Preheat oven to 375°F.
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Roll the dough out to about a quarter of an inch thick. Use cookie cutters to cut out your favorite shapes.
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Bake the cookies for 5 minutes, remove and cool.
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Once cookies have cooled, in a medium bowl, beat the butter with a hand mixer until smooth. Add the powdered sugar and continue to beat until incorporated. Add the milk and vanilla and beat to combine.
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Frost and decorate each cookie as desired.
