Gluten Free Sugar Cookie Recipe – With Vanilla Buttercream Icing
This gluten free sugar cookie recipe is perfect for any celebration – Christmas, Valentine’s Day, birthdays, or simply a fun weekend treat! Make the easy buttercream frosting as well and add coloring and sprinkles as desired!
One of our favorite family traditions is baking sugar cookies in different shapes for our celebrations! And my children always request for them to be made with homemade buttercream icing.
And just because you want or need a gluten-free option doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice on taste! This tried and true gluten free sugar cookie recipe includes simple flavors and quality ingredients to create the perfect cookie! And no one will know they are gluten-free. (I’ve made these without telling people, and they never know!).
I also love how you can customize the shape and appearance of the cookies with cookie cutters, sprinkles, and food coloring. This means you can use this same recipe for birthdays, Valentine’s Day, school parties, or any other celebration. Easy button for sure! Having heart shaped ones for a family birthday in February is always a fun twist for us!
Gluten Free Sugar Cookie Recipe Ingredients
Gluten-free flour blend: I like the Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 flour mix.
Baking powder: We use the one from Bob’s Red Mill, but any is fine.
Salt: Salt is a key component when it comes to baked goods! It helps balance and enhance the flavors achieve the desired consistency.
Unsalted butter: We use organic butter. If you only have salted butter on hand, simply omit the salt from the recipe.
Egg: To make this recipe vegan, replace with a flax egg.
Milk of choice: We prefer to use local, raw milk. You can easily make this recipe dairy free by using a non-dairy milk.
Powdered sugar or extra GF flour: Use to dust the counters before rolling out dough. If you don’t want raw flour on the outside of your cookie, use powdered sugar!
Food coloring and sprinkles, optional: Because kids like to mix things up for different celebrations with colors, we keep clean options on hand for decorating! These plant-based food coloring packets are great, and so are our these sprinkles.
Because this gluten-free sugar cookie recipe is customizable, we make it multiple times throughout the year. For example, we use it at Christmas with tree cookie cutters and green icing, then for birthdays with the icing of choice for the birthday boy or girl! And these make a great option for wedding or baby showers (lots of cute things you can do for decoration!) or anytime really!
Since this recipe uses pantry staples, you will always have the ingredients on hand. No food coloring or sprinkles? No problem! These sugar cookies are delicious (and lovely!) without it.
And if you are wanting a version of this same cookie without gluten-free flour, I have one right here!
Vanilla Buttercream Icing Recipe Ingredients
2 sticks organic butter at room temperature
4 cups organic powdered sugar
1T organic vanilla extract
2-3T organic heavy cream or milk
First, whip the butter in an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Then, add in the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time until the mixture is smooth.
Turn off the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure all the sugar incorporates.
Once the butter/sugar mixture is smooth, place the mixer on medium speed, and add the vanilla and milk/cream to desired consistency.
Ice the cooled cookies + decorate as desired!
Gluten Free Sugar Cookie Recipe
A simple and delicious gluten-free sugar cookie recipe that is customizable for any type of celebration! These cookies are lovely and slightly sweet on their own, and the homemade vanilla buttercream adds a little more sweetness.
Ingredients
- 3 cups gluten free flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt (omit if using salted butter)
- 1 cup organic unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup organic granulated sugar
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 tablespoon whole milk or cream
- Powdered sugar or GF flour, for rolling out dough
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, mix together the gluten-free flour, salt and, baking powder. Then, set it aside.
- Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of electric stand mixer and beat until fluffy and smooth.
- Add the egg and milk to the butter/sugar mixture, then beat on low-medium speed until smooth and creamy. If you are using a powdered food coloring, mix it with a bit of water and add to your cookies at this stage.
- Place the mixer on low speed, then gradually add the flour mixture. Beat on low-medium speed until mixture pulls away from the side of the bowl.
- Transfer the dough to the counter, then divide the dough in half. Wrap each half in waxed paper or bees wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Once dough is cooled, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Sprinkle your counter with powdered sugar or a little gluten-free flour. Then, remove one half of the dough from refrigerator.
- Sprinkle a rolling pin with powdered sugar, and roll out the dough to 1/4-inch thick.
- Cut into desired shapes using cookie cutters, then place your cookies 1-inch apart on a lighlty oiled baking sheet, parchment, or silicone baking mat. If desired, you can add sprinkles now (not recommended if you will be icing the cookies).
- Bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until the cookies are just beginning to turn brown around the edges. Don't overbake!
- Let the cookies cool for about an hour. Then, you can ice them as desired. and add sprinkles or coloring to the icing as desired!
Notes
- If you have salted butter, simply use it and omit the salt from the recipe.
- Make sure to have the butter softened or at room temprature before creaming it with the sugar. You can set the butter on top of an oven that is on or gently microwave in 10 second increments to soften if needed.
- You can get creative with different shapes, food coloring, and sprinkles as desired! These plant-based food coloring packets are great, and so are these sprinkles.
- If using a powdered food coloring like the ones linked here, mix the packet with water and add to the cookie mixture just before adding the flour.
- Alternatively, you can add the food coloring to the buttercream frosting if you make it!
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