Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies

4.8
(78)

These delicious gluten-free sugar cookies keep their shape and are topped with decadent cream cheese icing. Great for the holidays and gifting!

A plate of decorated holiday sugar cookies in various shapes.
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Prep Time:
20 mins
Cook Time:
10 mins
Additional Time:
1 hr 15 mins
Total Time:
1 hr 45 mins
Servings:
40
Yield:
40 cookies

These gluten-free sugar cookies are easy to make with basic ingredients. Complete with a decadent cream cheese frosting, you'll come back to this gluten-free sugar cookie recipe again and again.

Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies Ingredients

These are the ingredients you'll need to make this delicious iced gluten-free sugar cookie recipe:

  • Gluten-free flour: Opt for an all-purpose gluten-free flour, as it can be substituted for regular all-purpose flour using a 1:1 ratio. Recipe creator SueAnne McInnis suggests Cup4Cup gluten-free multipurpose flour.
  • Baking powder: Baking powder as a leavener, which means it helps the cookies rise.
  • Salt: A pinch of salt enhances the other flavors, but it won't make your cookies taste salty.
  • Sugars: You'll need white sugar for the cookies and confectioners' sugar for the icing.
  • Butter: Unsalted butter goes into the cookie dough and into the 4-ingredient icing.
  • Vanilla: You'll need two teaspoons of vanilla extract — one for the cookies, one for the icing.
  • Eggs: Two large eggs add moisture and richness. Plus, they help bind the dough together.
  • Cream cheese: The sweet, rich, tangy icing starts with softened cream cheese.
Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies
Brenda Skidmore

How to Make Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies

You'll find the full, step-by-step recipes below — but here's a brief overview of what you can expect when you make these gluten-free sugar cookies:

  1. Make the cookie dough: Whisk the dry ingredients together, then beat the wet ingredients together. Gradually stir the dry mixture into the wet mixture. Form the dough into a ball and chill in the fridge for about an hour.
  2. Roll, cut, and bake the dough: Roll the chilled dough out on a floured surface and cut with cookie cutters. Bake in the preheated oven until the edges begin to brown.
  3. Make the icing: Beat the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla together. Stir in the confectioners' sugar. Spread the icing on the cooled cookies.

Recipe Tip

Make sure the cookies are completely cooled before you ice them! Otherwise, the icing will melt and the cookies might break.

How to Store Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies

Since these gluten-free cookies feature a cream cheese icing, you'll need to store them in an airtight container in the fridge (for up to three days). If you forgo the icing, you can store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.

Can You Freeze Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies?

Yes! For the best results, freeze the cookie dough before baking. Follow the recipe until right before you stick the cut-out cookie dough in the oven. Instead of baking them, cover the baking sheet and freeze for a few hours or up to overnight. Once the dough is frozen, you can transfer it to zip-top freezer bags or another freezer-safe container. Bake, from-frozen, according to the recipe (you might need to add a minute or two to the bake time).

Allrecipes Community Tips and Praise

"These might be my favorite gluten-free cookies," says Kristen. "I did not make the icing (since I didn't have all of the ingredients), but iced them with icing from my pantry and they were so good. The texture reminded me of the soft iced cookies you can buy at the grocery store."

"They don't break apart nor do they bend once cooled so they are ideal for holiday decorating," according to Allrecipes Allstar Buckwheat Queen. "I left them covered with cheesecloth on the counter overnight and decorated the next day and packaged once the icing dried. They make great gift cookies."

"This cookie recipe tastes really good and is easily rolled out to make cookie cutter cookies," raves J Telg. "I have made it with half white sugar/half coconut sugar and all coconut sugar for the cookies. Both batches were really good!"

Editorial contributions by Corey Williams

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Ingredients

Original recipe (1X) yields 40 servings

Cookies:

  • 2 ½ cups gluten-free flour

  • 1 teaspoon baking powder

  • ½ teaspoon salt

  • 1 cup white sugar

  • ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  • 2 large eggs

Icing:

  • ¼ cup cream cheese, softened

  • ¼ cup unsalted butter, softened

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  • 1 ½ cups confectioners' sugar

Directions

  1. Gather all ingredients.

    Ingredients for sugar cookies arranged on a marble surface.

    Allrecipes/Diana Chistruga

  2. Make the cookies: Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl.

    Dry ingredients in a bowl with a whisk on a marble surface.

    Allrecipes/Diana Chistruga

  3. Beat white sugar, butter, and vanilla in a bowl with an electric mixer until creamy, 3 to 4 minutes. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, until mixture is smooth. Gradually mix in flour mixture until a dough forms.

    Creamed sugar and butter mixture in a glass bowl.

    Allrecipes/Diana Chistruga

  4. Form dough into a ball. Wrap ball with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

    Dough wrapped in plastic wrap on a marble surface.

    Allrecipes/Diana Chistruga

  5. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicon baking mats.

    A baking tray lined with parchment paper on a marble surface.

    Allrecipes/Diana Chistruga

  6. Roll dough on a lightly floured surface and cut into shapes using desired cookie cutters. Arrange cookies on the prepared baking sheets.

    Cut-out cookie shapes on a baking tray ready for the oven.

    Allrecipes/Diana Chistruga

  7. Bake in the preheated oven until edges begin to brown, about 10 minutes, switching racks halfway through. Cool on the baking sheet briefly before removing to a wire rack to cool, 8 to 10 minutes more.

    Baked sugar cookies cooling on a parchment-lined baking tray.

    Allrecipes/Diana Chistruga

  8. While the cookies are cooling, make the icing: Beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla in a bowl using an electric mixer until well combined. Slowly beat in confectioners' sugar until icing is smooth.

    Prepared frosting in a bowl with beaters on a marble surface.

    Allrecipes/Diana Chistruga

  9. Spread icing onto cooled cookies.

    Decorated sugar cookies with piping bags of colored frosting.

    Allrecipes/Diana Chistruga

Cook’s Note

I use Cup4Cup gluten-free multipurpose flour. You can't tell the difference between regular and gluten-free sugar cookies with it!

187 home cooks made it!

Nutrition Facts (per serving)

88 Calories
5g Fat
10g Carbs
1g Protein
Nutrition Facts
Servings Per Recipe 40
Calories 88
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 5g 7%
Saturated Fat 3g 17%
Cholesterol 23mg 8%
Sodium 82mg 4%
Total Carbohydrate 10g 4%
Total Sugars 10g
Protein 1g 1%
Calcium 11mg 1%
Iron 0mg 1%
Potassium 7mg 0%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

** Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available nutrient data.

(-) Information is not currently available for this nutrient. If you are following a medically restrictive diet, please consult your doctor or registered dietitian before preparing this recipe for personal consumption.

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