Easy Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies

These gluten-free sugar cookies are wonderfully sweet and delicious. They are chewy and soft but still have that great sugar cookie flavor we all love! You only need 7 simple ingredients to make them and they are perfect for decorating. They work great for birthdays, Christmas, or any time really. Gluten-Free and KETO-friendly!

Why you’ll love this recipe

• These gluten-free sugar cookies taste and store great!
• They only require 7 ingredients.
• The cookie dough only needs to chill for 30 minutes.
• Perfect for icing and decorating.
• Great for birthdays, Christmas, Valentine’s, or any time!
• This recipe, as written is gluten-free, sugar-free, and KETO-friendly!
• Check out these amazing Fruit Pizza Cookies that are also gluten-free and made with a similar base recipe.
• The frosting is so delicious and also easy to make.

I made these cookies sugar-free by using “Monkfruit” my favorite sugar-free sweetener to use in my baking recipes in place of white sugar. Almond flour replaces regular white flour which also makes them totally gluten-free.

These sugar cookies would be so delicious dipped into some hot chocolate as a fun holiday treat! Better yet, pair them with some reindeer brownies for a complete holiday spread!

Ingredients you will need

• Almond flour – fine-blanched almond flour.
• Monkfruit – this is the sugar-free sweetener that replaces the sugar in this recipe. You could also use Stevia.
• Butter – unsalted butter
• Egg – 1 large egg – at room temperature.
• Vanilla – pure vanilla extract
• Baking powder
• Salt – used to enhance all of the flavors.

How to make gluten-free sugar cookies

1. Mix up the dry ingredients – Almond flour, baking powder, and salt.
2. Mix up the wet ingredients – Monk fruit, butter, egg, vanilla.
3. Combine the wet and dry ingredients into a thick dough.
4. Roll the dough onto a floured surface and knead it for about 30 seconds and form it into a nice, smooth ball of dough. Wrap it in plastic wrap and chill it for at least 30 minutes.
5. After 30 minutes, remove and unwrap the cookie dough. Roll it out onto a very well-floured surface (I used almond flour). Grab your favorite cookie cutter shapes and dip the cookie cutter in more almond flour then press the cookie cutter into the dough. Carefully transfer the cut-out cookies to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
6. Bake at 350 degrees F for 9-11 minutes, until the edges start to get nice and golden brown. Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool for a few minutes then transfer them to a cooling rack.
7. Mix up the icing (that is not sugar-free) by combining powdered sugar with milk or water.
8. Let the cookies cool for at least 30 minutes and ice and decorate them as you like.

Making the icing

Making this icing is so easy that even my kids could do it, and they have. All you need is two simple ingredients:

• Powdered Sugar – Now I used regular powdered sugar but to keep this entire recipe totally sugar-free, you could use Monkfruit Powdered Sugar, which totally works.
• Milk of choice or water – I have made this icing with coconut milk. Almond milk, whole milk, OR water would also work.

To make the icing: Add 2 cups of the powdered sugar of choice to a mixing bowl and then add 2-3 tablespoons of milk or water. Whisk until it forms a nice, smooth icing as pictured above.

Expert tip: If you prefer a thicker icing then just add more powdered sugar. For thinner icing add more liquid. To add more flavor to the icing you can substitute one of the tablespoons of liquid with vanilla, maple syrup, or even lemon juice. Feel free to add a drop or two of food coloring to mix it up as well.

Taste and Texture

These gluten-free sugar cookies have a perfectly balanced sweet vanilla flavor. They are wonderfully chewy but firm enough to decorate with icing and sprinkles.

They taste very similar to regular sugar cookies, which is a bonus since they are also KETO sugar cookies.

Expert Tips

• Make sure to chill the dough before you roll and cut out the cookies. The dough may not hold together if you skip this step.
• Cut the cookies in even sizes so they cook evenly.
• Allow the cookies to cool for at least 30 minutes before you ice and decorate them.
• Make sure the icing is not too runny. It should coat the back of a spoon and not drip right off of it.
• To ice, the cookies, simply spoon some icing onto the cookie and spread it out with the spoon or you can use a toothpick as well to spread it out. Top the cookies with desired sprinkles immediately while the icing is still wet so it sticks to the icing.
• You could also fill a piping bag fitted with a tip with the icing and ice the cookies that way.
• Let the cookies rest for 30 minutes after you ice them before you store them to allow the icing to harden.

Tips for making sugar cookies with gluten-free flour

• Choose the right flour for the recipe you are following. What I learned while testing this recipe was that almond flour is very finicky and this recipe really only worked with fine-blanched almond flour. I tried it with gluten-free all-purpose flour and it didn’t work at all. Coconut flour also did not work out well.
• Mix the flour with the other dry ingredients before you combine it with the wet ingredients to ensure it gets mixed well with the baking powder or baking soda, depending on the recipe. This will ensure that the cookies rise perfectly and have amazing flavor.
• Use a hand mixer to mix the wet ingredients to get some air into them before you mix in the flour. Mix the flour in slowly to ensure everything gets mixed well. This will help add some lift to the dough since it doesn’t contain any gluten.
• Chill the dough before you roll it out so the dough will roll more easily and the cookies will not spread while they bake.
• Let the cookies rest for at least 30 minutes after baking. This will help them stay together better and not become crumbly.

Variations and Add-Ins

• Add some almond extract in place of the vanilla to change up the flavors.
• Squeeze a bit of lemon juice into the wet ingredients to give these cookies a nice hint of lemon flavoring.
• Add some food dye to make colored sugar cookies.
• Top them with some icing and sprinkles.
• Dip them in some melted chocolate.
• Fold in some mini chocolate chips or sprinkles into the batter before you bake them.

FAQs

How to store gluten-free sugar cookies

These cookies store great after they have cooled. Make sure to let them sit for a while after you ice them so that the icing has time to harden before you store them.

To store these cookies, place them into an airtight container and keep them on the counter for up to 3 days.

You can also freeze these gluten-free cookies. To freeze these cookies: Layer the cooked and cooled cookies in between parchment paper in a freezer-friendly container for up to 2 months. Defrost them in the refrigerator overnight. These cookies store best without the icing but can also be stored after you ice them as well.

More Healthy Cookie Recipes To Try:

• Healthy Pumpkin Oatmeal cookies
• The Best Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Healthy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Double Chocolate Air Fryer Cookies
• Gluten-Free Easter Cookies

I hope you love this Healthy Gluten Free Sugar Cookie recipe as much as my family and I did! Please leave a comment and rating below and let me know how they turned out!

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