Gluten Free Sugar Cookies
These gluten free sugar cookies are buttery, sweet and perfectly delicious! They have lightly chewy edges and a soft doughy middle. These sugar cookies are super quick and easy. No dough chilling required and they take only 20 minutes from start to finish. They are great for birthdays, Christmas, Valentine’s Day and more!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- These gluten free sugar cookies take only 20 minutes.
- They are made completely in one mixing bowl.
- No dough chilling required.
- They have the flavors of a classic sugar cookie. So do these Sugar Cookie Bars!
- Great for decorating, icing, frosting and sprinkles.
- Or, try these Melted Snowman Cookies!
- Festive for Christmas, Valentine’s Day, bake sales, birthdays and special occasions.
- Add in a drop of food coloring to the batter for fun colors like these Pink Sugar Cookies!
- As written, this recipe is gluten free and nut free.
- Check out these Sugar Cookies with Sprinkles for another fun dessert!
Ingredients & Substitutions
These are the main ingredients and substitutions for gluten free sugar cookies. Scroll down to the recipe card for full ingredients list and instructions.
Cold butter adds the delicious buttery flavor. Use cold butter right from the refrigerator. Do not use melted or softened butter. If using salted butter, omit pinch of sea salt. I have not tried this recipe using dairy free butter.
Granulated sugar adds the sweetness. Use white sugar, not brown sugar. I do not recommend substituting a sugar alternative or low carb sweetener.
Both one egg and one additional egg yolk help bind the cookies together. The second egg yolk helps keep these cookies less cake like, and more dense. Do not substitute for the eggs in this recipe. For an egg free recipe, try these Pumpkin Sugar Cookies. Or for vegan, try these Vegan Sugar Cookies.
Vanilla extract adds a hearty homemade flavor. Feel free to use almond extract for a strong almond flavor!
Use gluten free 1 to 1 flour. If not gluten free, all purpose flour can be used. I do not recommend using almond flour, coconut flour, cassava flour or oat flour. These alternative flours will alter the cookies.
Baking powder helps leaven these gluten free sugar cookies.
Add in a pinch of sea salt if using unsalted butter. Salt can be omitted, but adds a nice subtle flavor.
Taste & Texture
These gluten free sugar cookies are sweet and buttery! They have the taste of a classic sugar cookie.
The texture is soft baked, thick and soft. These are not the thin and crispy sugar cookies used for cutout cookies. For thinner cookies, check out these Small Batch Sugar Cookies.
How to Make
Step 1
First, preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking pan with parchment paper.
Step 2
In the bowl of a stand mixer, add cold butter and sugar. Mix on high for 2 to 3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Mix until no clumps of butter remain.
Step 3
Then, add in egg, egg yolk and vanilla extract. Stir to combine.
Step 4
Add all remaining ingredients. Stir to combine.
Step 5
Then, use a cookie scoop to scoop balls of dough onto lined pan. Use hands to slightly flatten each ball of dough.
Step 6
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until cookies are lightly golden around the edges.
Step 7
Finally, remove gluten free sugar cookies from oven. Allow cookies to cool on pan for 10 minutes before carefully removing to a cooling rack.
Expert Tips & Tricks
For best results, use cold butter. This is very important! Softened or melted butter will make these cookies spread far too thin.
Beat butter and sugar for 2 to 3 minutes until no clumps of butter remain. This is equally as important. Clumps of butter will immediately melt in the oven and yield runny cookies.
Make cookie dough balls uniformly sized. This ensures even baking.
I suggest using an ice cream scooper to scoop balls of dough. That way, they are round and equally sized.
Since these cookies do not spread while baking, press down slightly into a cookie shape before baking. Otherwise, they will remain extremely thick.
These gluten free sugar cookies are soft and gooey when they come out of the oven. Allow them to cool on pan for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack.
Flavor Variations & Add Ins
Consider switching up your gluten free sugar cookies!
Use almond extract instead of vanilla extract
Add in a squeeze of lemon juice
Mix in chocolate chips like these Chocolate Chip Sugar Cookies.
Mix in white chocolate chips
Top with frosting and sprinkles
Add in a drop of food dye
For more tangy cookies, try these Sour Cream Cookies!
How to Serve & Store
Serve gluten free sugar cookies once cool enough to handle. They are fragile when warm.
Serve with a glass of milk, a mug of tea or coffee or hot chocolate.
These cookies are great with icing, frosting and sprinkles.
Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
These cookies are great straight from the fridge too!
Freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw before eating.
Frequently Asked Questions
Pillsbury does make a gluten free sugar cookie dough! It also makes a regular sugar cookie dough, so please be careful.
Yes, sugar is gluten free.
I have not tried using dairy free butter. If you give it a try, please let me know.
No, I do not recommend substituting the eggs.
No, this gluten free sugar cookie dough is not meant to be rolled out and cut out. These are drop cookies.
You May Also Like
- Edible Sugar Cookie Dough
- Chocolate Chip Sugar Cookies
- Paleo Sugar Cookies
- 3 Ingredient Banana Oatmeal Cookies
- Vegan Cookie Dough
If you make this gluten free sugar cookie recipe, I would really appreciate a review! You can find me on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. I would love for you to follow along! For more ideas, check out these Gluten Free Recipes.
Get the Recipe: Gluten Free Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup cold butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups gluten free 1 to 1 flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- pinch sea salt
Instructions
- First, preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, add cold butter and sugar. Mix on high for 2 to 3 minutes or until fluffy. There should be no clumps of butter remaining.
- Then, add in egg, egg yolk and vanilla. Stir to combine.
- Add all remaining ingredients. Stir to combine.
- Then, use a cookie scoop to scoop balls of dough onto lined pan. Use hands to slightly flatten each ball of dough.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until cookies are lightly golden around the edges.
- Finally, remove from oven. Allow cookies to cool on pan for 10 minutes before carefully removing to a cooling rack.
Notes
- Use cold butter right from the fridge. Do not use softened or melted butter.
- The cold butter prevents the cookies from spreading too thin.
- Beat butter and sugar until no clumps of butter remain. If needed, stop mixing and scrape down sides of bowl with spatula. Then continue mixing.
- The cookie dough batter will be pretty thick.
- These cookies do not spread much while baking. Therefore, flatten each ball of dough slightly before baking.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 4 days at room temperature.
- These cookies are great refrigerated too!
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21 Comments on “Gluten Free Sugar Cookies”
These turned out wonderfully for me I followed all directions exactly, with just adding a couple of extra minutes of bake time, but my oven temp is off so that’s normal for me. Well done!
So glad to hear that, Emma! Thank you for the kind review!
I’m giving 2 stars because the cookie dough tasted great, but I followed the instructions using cold butter and a stand mixer and when I just checked after 5 min everything has melted into pools on the cookie sheet.
I used namaste gf flour blend and halved the recipe. I’m guessing the dough needed to be refrigerated. Might be helpful to include a description of how firm the dough should be to save others from a melted mess…