Gluten Free Sugar Cookies

These gluten free sugar cookies are the type of cookie that melts in your mouth. They are so delicious and addicting. They make the perfect tea or coffee companion, and they are absolutely the best sugar cookies for the holidays.  

INGREDIENTS FOR MAKING GLUTEN FREE SUGAR COOKIES

• Butter, (if you want a vegan option, you can use coconut butter, or shortening) the butter needs to be at room temperature. If you are in a hurry, you can stick it in the microwave for 10- 15 seconds. This should soften it enough to be workable.  
  
• Granulated sugar 
  
• Salt, because it elevates the flavor of the cookies. 
  
• Eggs, (For a vegan option, you can replace 1 egg with a quarter cup of apple sauce.
  Another option would be to mix 1 tablespoon flaxseed powder and 3 tablespoons water to replace 1 egg) 
  
  Just as a friendly reminder, I haven’t tried substituting the egg with anything else. So I wouldn’t know how your gluten free sugar cookies would come out if you substituted the egg.
  
• Vanilla extract 
  
• Almond extract, we do not need too much almond extract. A little bit goes a long way since almond extract has such a strong flavor.
  
• Milk, You can use any type of milk you like. I often use what’s on hand, but I do prefer almond milk. However, I think coconut milk or cream would work great in this recipe.
  
• Chantal’s Gluten Free All Purpose Flour Blend 
  
• Cornstarch,  that’s what makes the cookie crumble. (I just had to say this. HAHA)
  
• Baking powder 
  
• Xanthan gum 

UTENSILS

• Stand mixer or hand mixer 
• Measuring spoons 
• Measuring cups 
• Rolling pin 
• Parchment paper 
• Cookie cutters or a glass cup with a flat bottom 
• Sifter 
• Small bowl 
• Medium bowl 
• Sheet pan 
• Spatula

HOW TO MAKE GLUTEN FREE SUGAR COOKIES

This recipe, was so much fun to create. I am so happy with its outcome. It only took a couple tries, and I feel confident that I nailed it.

First, the texture.

The texture is so pleasant. When I am eating a sugar cookie, I don’t want it to be all about the icing and decorations. I actually want to eat a good cookie.

These cookies have a slightly chewy texture, but at the same time they crumble when you bite into them. As soon as they enter your mouth, they begin to melt and you have a burst of flavor.

I truly love my flour mix Chantal’s Gluten Free All Purpose Flour Blend which I use for most of my baking. I find that it gives all baked goods a wonderful flavor, but if you do not want to mix your own gluten free flour, you can use a ready made gluten free flour mix.

The butter

Before you start, you want to make sure that you are working with room temperature butter.

If you do not have the patience or the time for room temperature butter, you can stick it in the microwave for 10 to 15 seconds, or you can leave it on the counter the day before.

The key here is not to melt it, but to simply soften it.

Having soft butter is key. This is what will help the sugar and salt dissolve, and in the end give you a melt in your mouth cookie texture.

The first step of mixing

If you have a stand up mixer, your life will be a lot easier. If not, a hand mixer will do the job too.

Place the butter, salt and sugar either into a standup mixer bowl, or into a medium bowl.

Make sure you have a rubber spatula on hand because you will need it especially during this process.

Beat the butter, salt and sugar beginning on low speed, and switching to high as soon as they are combined.

Continue to beat these ingredients until the sugar and salt are dissolved, and the butter is creamy and fluffy.

Every now and then, stop beating the mixture, and scrape down the sides to ensure that all the ingredients are getting mixed and nothing is being left behind.

How can you tell that the sugar and salt are dissolved? As you run your spatula on the sides or the bottom of the bowl, you should not feel any grittiness.

If by any chance, you happen to press the butter mixture against the side of the bowl, and you felt and heard the grittiness of the sugar and salt, this means that they are not dissolved, and you need to continue beating.

Second mixing stage

Now you can add in the egg which will help hold the cookie together and give it that slightly chew texture.

Add in the vanilla extract, almond extract, and milk.

Beat all these ingredients on high until the batter is light and fluffy again.

Third mixing stage

You’ll want to mix the dry ingredients separately first. The only reason for that is to help the cornstarch, xanthan gum, and baking powder get distributed evenly into the mixture since we will not be mixing the dry ingredients in the wet mixture for too long.

So into a small bowl, add in Chantal’s Gluten Free All Purpose Flour Blend, cornstarch, baking powder, and xanthan gum.

Using a whisk, mix the dry ingredients until they are well encorporated.

Fourth and final mixing stage

You’ll need to sift in the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Sifting the dry ingredients will prevent any clumping.

Beat the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until incorporated. You do not want to beat the batter too much, just enough to mix in the dry ingredients.

There is no gluten here, so we are not worried about causing the gluten to develop which normally causes the cookies to harden.

however, we do not want to deflate the butter which we worked so hard on fluffing. And, in this case, beating the batter for too long will cause the dough to be sticky making it harder to roll the dough, or form the cookies.

Shaping the cookies

There are two techniques to shaping these cookies.

choosing the technique depends on what you want to use your cookies for.

Do you want your cookies to look nice and pretty to use as holiday cookies? Or do you want them to be simple looking to serve with tea and coffee?

Here are the two techniques.

Technique #1 used for simple or circular cookies

For this technique, simply take a small piece of dough about the size of a Ping-Pong ball, and roll it between the palms of your hands to form a ball.  

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 

Take a glass cup with a flat bottom, and dip the bottom of the cup into some powdered sugar.  

Place the dough ball onto the lined pan, and using the bottom of the cup, press the dough ball into a circle that’s quarter inch in thickness.  

Or, you could simply press the cookie into a circular shape using the palm of your hand.

Repeat these steps with the remaining dough.  

Technique #2 used for decorative cookies

Cutout 2 pieces of parchment paper large enough to roll the dough in between them.  

Press the dough between the two pieces of parchment paper and roll to a circular or rectangular shape about a quarter inch in thickness. 

Using cookie cutters, cut out the dough into the desired cookie shapes.  

Transfer the parchment paper with the cookies on top onto a sheet pan. 

Place the sheet pan in the freezer for about 5 minutes, or until the dough is cool enough to handle without tearing.  

Remove the sheet pan from the freezer. By now the cookie dough should have hardened enough where you can remove the excess dough from around the cutout cookies without tearing the cookies.  

You might need to use a knife to help you carve out the dough from around the cookies.

Allow the remaining cookie dough to return to room temperature. Roll it again and cut out the cookie shapes. Repeat the previous steps to remove the cookie dough from around the cutout cookies.  

Transfer any remaining cookies that you have cut out onto the cookie sheet. 

BAKING THE COOKIES

Place the cookie sheet, cookies and all, back into the freezer for 10 minutes. This will cool the butter and harden it enough to stop it from melting in the oven.

If the butter melts in the oven, it will cause the cookies to harden and lose the texture which we are trying to achieve.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 340 F 

Place the cookies onto the middle rack of the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes. 

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely while still on the pan.

When the cookies first come out of the oven, they will be very soft. As they cool, they will begin to harden slightly and hold their shape.  So don’t be tempted to lift them off the pan or poke them.

You can now decorate the cookies using royal icing, or any type of icing that you wish.  

Checkout these Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

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