This easy, no-chill recipe for Gluten Free Frosted Sugar Cookies is a must-make. They’re great for holidays, birthdays, or any time you’re looking for a sweet treat.
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Photos Updated October 2019
Gluten Free Frosted Sugar Cookies
Baking cookies have always been a big part of my family’s holiday tradition. Cookies after cookies, fudge after batch of fudge, and gingerbread house after gingerbread house. It was a labor of love that was more than appreciated by everybody on the receiving end and these gluten free soft frosted sugar cookies are always a hit.
Kelsey adores frosted sugar cookies and has ever since she first started making them with my mom and dad for Easter a couple years ago. My mom has a bunny cookie mold that she uses for the cookies, they’re fabulous and so bunny-cute.
This year, I switched up our recipe a bit to make dairy free sugar cookies so Kelsey can still enjoy them (she’s lactose intolerant). While I kept the shapes simple with cut out circles and trees, these sugar cookies were an easy to make and we had fun decorating and eating them!
To keep things even easier, I used Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten Free Baking Flour in this gluten free sugar cookie recipe. This gluten free flour blend is easy to work with and the cookies came out great! This is definitely a flour that I always have on hand.
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Key Ingredients for Gluten Free Frosted Sugar Cookies
- Gluten Free Flour with Xanthan Gum – I used Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten Free Baking Flour in this recipe but if you have a different blend that would work fine too. Just make sure it has xanthan gum included.
- Pure Vanilla Extract – This is a super simple sugar cookie dough and it gets all of it’s flavor from the vanilla extract. Don’t skimp on it or your cookies will be bland.
- Shortening – I use Nutiva Shortening in just about all my recipes that call for shortening. It has better flavor than Crisco and works just as well, if not better.
- Vegan Butter – I swear by a 50:50 blend of “vegan butter” and shortening to make dairy free buttercream. It’s soft enough to spread and pipe but not so soft that it won’t hold its shape. My go-to vegan butter is Earth Balance Soy Free Buttery Spread but you can use your favorite plant based butter.
Equipment Needed to Make Gluten Free Sugar Cookies
- Stand Mixer or Hand Mixer – either will work. I highly suggest using one because this is a pretty stiff dough and will be hard to mix by hand.
- Rolling Pin – My favorite kind of rolling pin is a tapered rolling pin or French rolling pin.
- Cookie Cutters – Use whatever shape you want for any holiday or occasion. Keep in mind, the size of your cookie cutters will determine how many cookies you get out of this recipe.
- Parchment Paper or Silicone Baking Mats – I always line my baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat Silicone Baking Mats when baking cookies.
- Cookie Sheet – My go-to baking pans are Nordic Ware Half Sheet Pans. They’re fantastic for cookies and basically anything that doesn’t require a specialty pan!
How to Make Frosted Gluten Free Sugar Cookies
Step 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheets with silicone mats or parchment paper.
Step 2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the shortening and sugar until light and creamy. Mix in the egg and the vanilla extract until incorporated.
Step 3. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until completely combined. The dough should be slightly firm but still pliable – not sticky, and not too stiff.
Step 4. Turn half of the the dough out onto floured parchment paper. Cover with plastic wrap and roll out until it’s about 1/4 inch thick and cut with cookie cutters of your choice. Repeat with the remaining dough. Dough scraps can be re-rolled.
Step 5. Bake 8-10 minutes (mine were done in 9 but it will depend on the size of your cookie cutters and thickness of your dough). Cool cookies on the baking sheet for a few minutes before cooling completely on a wire rack. Cool completely before frosting.
Step 6. Make the frosting and frost your cookies as desired and decorate with gluten free sprinkles.
Tips for Making this Recipe
- This recipe is great for holiday shaped gluten free cut out sugar cookies. I use this same gluten free sugar cookie recipe for my Gluten Free Mummy Cookies and Conversation Heart Cookies.
- Instead of using the dairy free vanilla buttercream included in this recipe, you can decorate them with royal icing to fit any holiday or theme.
- You don’t have to use vegan butter- you can use regular butter.
- If you don’t need a dairy free frosting, feel free to use my regular Vanilla Buttercream Frosting recipe.
- I recommend using parchment paper or silicone mats instead of wax paper.
- Add small amounts of flour needed when rolling out cookies.
What People are Saying About This Gluten Free Frosted Sugar Cookie Recipe
These are delicious, I used a pie crust bag to roll them out.
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We used butter instead of shortening. The texture and taste were perfect.
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This recipe is awesome! Simple to make and the cookies are delicious!
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So much better than regular sugar cookies!
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We made these yesterday and they came out perfectly! We used butter and didn’t even have to refrigerate it. They tasted great and looked wonderful! Thank you!
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We’ve made Peanut Butter Blossoms and the no chill Sugar Cookie recipe. Both are delicious… but that sugar cookie recipe is a winner! Both my grandson and hubby said they were so good, they don’t need frosting!
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I’m eating these right now! My favorite GF sugar cookie recipe!
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Made the sugar cookies. They were a hit.
Other Gluten Free Cookies to Try:
- Bakery Style Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Gluten Free Triple Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
- Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies
- Gluten Free Peanut Butter Blossoms
- Double Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies
- Gluten Free Oreo Truffles
- Chocolate Crust Gluten Free Magic Cookie Bars
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Gluten Free Frosted Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
For the Cookies:
- 1 cup shortening I use Nutiva shortening
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg cold
- 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 cups Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten Free Baking Flour plus more for rolling out the dough
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
For the Frosting:
- 1/2 cup vegan butter I use Earth Balance Soy Free
- 1/2 cup Nutiva shortening
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 Tablespoon unsweetened coconut milk beverage
- food coloring optional
- gluten free sprinkles optional
Instructions
To make the Cookies:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheets with silicone mats or parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the shortening and sugar until light and creamy, about 1-2 minutes. Mix in the egg and the vanilla extract.
- Add the flour and salt and mix on low speed until completely incorporated. The dough should be slightly firm but still pliable - not sticky, and not too stiff.
- Turn half of the the dough out onto floured parchment paper. Cover with plastic wrap and roll out until it's about 1/4 inch thick. Use desired cookie cutters to cut into shapes. Repeat with the remaining dough. Dough scraps can be re-rolled.
- Transfer the cookies (carefully) to the prepared baking pans and bake 8-10 minutes (mine were done in 9 but it will depend on the size of your cookie cutters and thickness of your dough). Cool cookies on the baking sheet for a few minutes before cooling completely on a wire rack.
- **Important: when re-rolling the dough to cut additional cookies, lightly sprinkle the parchment paper with flour ONLY AS NEEDED (you may not need to add more).
- Bake cookies in batches if necessary. Cool completely before frosting.
To make the Frosting:
- Add the shortening, vegan butter, and powdered sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix on low speed until the sugar is incorporated. Turn the mixer to medium-high and beat for 1 minute. Mix in the vanilla extract and milk and mix until the frosting is light and fluffy, about 1 minute or less. Mix in food coloring if using.
- Frost the cookies and top with sprinkles. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container until ready to serve.
Notes
- The dough does not need to be chilled before rolling or baking. The shortening works really well in the cookies and they don't spread out while baking. I have not tested this recipe with butter, which may require chilling time for the cookies to keep their shape.
- If baking the cookies in batches, you may keep the cut out cookies refrigerated if desired.
- I used 2 drops of Americolor Gel Food Coloring in Fuchsia to make the pink frosting.
- This recipe was updated on 11/13/16 - these cookies are an even better version which omitted one egg and the baking powder with easier to follow directions.
Recommended Products
Nutrition Information
Disclaimers
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Nutrition Facts are estimated and aren't always accurate. Please consult a doctor or nutritionist if you have special dietary needs.
Did you make this recipe? Leave a star rating and let me know in the comments! You can also leave a photo/comment on this pin for others to see.
Most gluten-free flours have potato starch in them, which I can’t have. I found a GF flour that doesn’t but it doesn’t have Xantham gum. Do yo have any suggestions?
I often use my Nightshade Free Flour Blend, which doesn’t have potato starch. When I use that blend, I add 1 teaspoon xanthan gum.
I used regular shortening and Cup4Cup flour that has Xantham Gum. The dough was all crumbly and cannot use. Not sure what I did wrong but I am going to try adding more shortening and another egg to try to work with it.
I haven’t made this recipe with Cup4Cup but it sounds like you possibly over-measured your flour. Follow this method for measuring flour and the dough should have a much better consistency: https://what-the-fork-food-blog.ck.page/d90b8360fe
This is such a wonderful recipe. I also used butter 1:1 as other commenters have shared, and it was successful. I didn’t need to chill it, but with a few batches I ended up chilling to roll out later, and either way it worked great. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. It will be my go-to for Gluten Free sugar cookies. : )
Thank you for sharing, Joohee!
Just made these with butter and vanilla bean paste. They were amazing! Really easy dough to work with and cut out. Thank you!
That’s great to hear Lauren!
I’m making these again and have a guest with an egg allergy. Can I omit egg?
The first batch was amazing! Family has no idea they were GF! I think they are better than the usual hard sugar cookies. Thank you!
I wouldn’t omit it completely but you can try using a flax egg! Or you could use a store-bought egg replacer like Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer.
https://www.whattheforkfoodblog.com/2018/04/28/how-to-make-a-flax-egg/
I’m so glad your family enjoyed the cookies so much!!
Thanks for sharing! Do they keep long?
They keep for a few days in an air-tight container at room temperature. For longer storage, I suggest freezing them.
We made these yesterday and they came out perfectly! We used butter and didn’t even have to refrigerate it. They tasted great and looked wonderful! Thank you!
Thanks for sharing Marti! Great to know about the butter too!
This recipe looks delicious! Can this dough be prepared ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator or freezer?
Thanks Korie! You can refrigerate it first if needed, it’ll just be harder to roll out. You’ll want it to sit at room temperature for 10-15 minutes before rolling. You’ll also want to make sure the dough is wrapped very tight in plastic wrap or else the dough could dry out and be crumbly.
I LOVE this sugar cookie recipe. I use real butter instead of shortening, and just chill them while the oven preheats, and they turn out great every time. They are super easy to make, (easy enough my 10 year old can make them) and the dough is easy to roll out.
Thanks Miranda!! Great to know that butter works just as well in place of the shortening 🙂
These look like a great use for the Bobs Mill flour in my cupboard! Do you know if it will work with a 1:1 trade for 2% milk for the coconut milk?
Yes, you can definitely use regular milk in place of the coconut milk.
These make about 2 dozen, maybe a little more. It really depends on the size of the cookie cutter you use 🙂
These were great! I used butter instead of the shortening since we prefer it but everything else was as written. I’m very happy with the results and no one else knew they were gluten free! Thank you!
I also plan to make this recipe and I am glad to see a comment that butter worked well. I never used shortening before. Thanks!
Thanks for the feedback Missy – glad to know it works well with butter! I use shortening since my daughter is lactose intolerant, I’ll have to try these with butter the next time I make them as gifts 🙂
Can I use coconut oil instead of shortening? Most shortenings have soybean oil, which I’m allergic to.
Hi Bema,
I haven’t tried these with straight-up coconut oil but I use Nutiva Shortening which is soy free (and vegan). It’s made of a combination of red palm oil and coconut oil. ( that’s my affiliate link )
These did not work out for me. Dough came out crumbly and could barely work with it. 🙁 Bummer.
Hi Sheena, sorry they didn’t work out for you. What flour blend did you use? I recommended the Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 flour for this recipe, which contains xanthan gum. If you used a different flour blend that didn’t contain any xanthan gum you would get crumbly cookies.