These gluten free sugar cookies are vegan, soft and perfect for decorating. The dough is easy to work with and they hold their shape with minimal rest time.
A note on some of the ingredients:
Plant based butter: My preferred vegan butter for baking is the Becel sticks. I use unsalted butter so that I can control the amount of salt in the baking. As a bonus it is also gluten free! Any solid vegan butter would work in this recipe. I would not use a vegan margarine as it would affect the spread on the cookie.
Gluten free flour blend: I have made these gluten free sugar cookies only using Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 gluten free flour blend (the blue bag). I also always weigh out my flour to ensure the recipe turns out the same every time. If you do not have a kitchen scale it is best to measure the flour using the “fluff and scoop” method. Fluff the flour up with a fork and then scoop it into the measuring cup. Level off the cup with the back of a knife or another flat edge. Ensure that the gluten free flour blend you use contains xanthan gum. If it does not add a 1/4 tsp to the dry ingredients.
Non-dairy milk: The non-dairy milk that I use in all of my baking is soy milk because my kids can’t take anything with nuts to school. Use whatever your preferred non-dairy milk is. Because you use such a small amount of non-dairy milk, it doesn’t matter whether it’s sweetened or unsweetened.
Cornstarch: Cornstarch is naturally gluten free. Adding cornstarch to the gluten-free sugar cookie dough helps the cookies retain their shape after you cut them out. It also helps keep the texture of the cookies a little soft. Arrowroot or tapioca starch would be good substitutes in this recipe.
Vanilla extract: Either vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract can be used in this recipe. If using vanilla bean paste use only 1 teaspoon. To change the flavour of the cookies slightly you can also add 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract. Just be aware that almond extract does contain nuts.
How the gluten free sugar cookies are made:
Using either a hand mixer or a stand mixer, cream the softened butter and the sugar together on medium high for about 5 minutes or until the mixture is light and fluffy. Stop the mixer every so often and scrape the sides of the bowl.
In a medium sized bowl weigh out the gluten free all purpose flour blend and mix in the cornstarch, baking powder and salt.
If using a stand mixer turn it down to low and add in the vanilla extract. Once that has been mixed in, slowly add in the dry ingredients. Add in 3 tablespoons of non-dairy milk and check the texture of the dough. It should be clumping together. If there are still dry patches add in one more tablespoon of non-dairy milk.
Separate the dough into two and shape each portion into a flat disc. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it sit in the fridge for 15 to 30 minutes. At this point you can begin preheating the oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Before rolling the dough out I like to let it sit on the counter for 5 to 10 minutes. I also tape down a large piece of parchment paper on my counter where I will be rolling the dough out. Begin rolling out the dough until it is approximately 1/4 inch thick. You can roll the dough between two pieces of parchment paper or just lightly sprinkling the top of the dough with gluten free all purpose flour. Using cookie cutters, cut out your shapes and gently move them to your prepared baking sheet.
Continue gathering and rolling out the dough to cut out more cookies. I usually only do this three times as the more the dough is worked with, particularly if you are dusting it with more flour, the tougher the dough can become. Bake the cookies for 6 to 8 minutes. Thinner dough requires a shorter baking time.
Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before moving them to a cooling rack.
Once the cookies are fully cooled, mix the icing sugar and non-dairy milk together in a bowl. You can easily double the icing recipe if you feel you need more. Once the icing is mixed, separate it into smaller bowls and add any food colouring you would like. Let the decorated cookies sit at room temperature for a few hours, depending on how thick the icing is, letting the icing harden before packaging away in an air tight container.
The cookies can easily be frozen before they are decorated and then defrosted on the counter for a few hours. If freezing the cookies after decorating separate the cookie layers with a sheet of wax or parchment paper.
Enjoy!
Gluten free Sugar Cookies
Simple, gluten free, vegan, soft sugar cookies that hold their shape and are perfect for decorating.
18
servings10
minutes8
minutes300
kcal30
minutes48
minutesKeep the screen of your device on
Ingredients
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsalted plant based butter, softened
1 3/4 cups all purpose gluten free flour blend* (275g)
1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3 – 4 tbsp non-dairy milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- For the icing:
1 cup icing sugar
3 – 4 tsp non dairy milk
Directions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer add the sugar and butter and beat on medium high until well incorporated, stopping and scrapping the sides as needed.
- While the sugar and butter are being creamed together, mix the dry ingredients into a medium sized bowl.
- Turn the stand mixer down to low and add in the vanilla extract. Once that is incorporated slowly add in the dry ingredients. When the dry ingredients are mixed add 3 tablespoons of non-dairy milk. If the dough is still crumbly add in the last tablespoon of non-dairy milk.
- Divide the dough into two and shape it into flattened discs. Wrap them in plastic wrap and set in the fridge for 15 to 30 minutes.
- Take one of the discs of dough out of the fridge and let stand at room temperature for 5 minutes, this will make it easier to roll out.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Lay a piece of parchment paper on the counter and roll out the dough until it is approximately 1/4″ thick. A second piece of parchment paper can be put on top while rolling the dough out or lightly dust the top of the dough with the all purpose gluten free flour. When the dough is rolled out cut out shapes with a cookie cutter and gently place the cookies onto the lined baking sheet. Bake the cookies for 6 to 8 minutes, depending on how thick the dough was rolled out (the thinner the dough, the shorter the bake time).
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before moving them to a cooling rack. Let the cookies cool completely before decorating.
- To decorate the cookies mix the icing sugar and non dairy milk in a small bowl. If you wish you can then divide the icing into smaller bowls and add a drop or two of food colouring.
Notes
- Nutritional information is a rough estimate.
- I have only tested this recipe using Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten Free Flour blend (blue bag)
- I highly recommend weighing the flour.
- If using salted butter, omit the dough.
Nutrition Facts
- Total number of serves: 18
- Calories: 157kcal
- Carbohydrates: 16.6g
- Protein: 0.9g
- Fat: 5.4g
- Saturated Fat: 0.7g
- Polyunsaturated Fat: 1.4g
- Monounsaturated Fat: 3g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Cholesterol: 0mg
- Sodium: 111.3mg
- Potassium: 5.8mg
- Fiber: 0.4g
- Sugar: 13.8g
