Gluten free sugar cookies (egg free)
Nut free, dairy free option, vegan option, xanthan gum free option*Recipe uses Australian tablespoons which are 20ml as opposed to the more common 15ml. Use ml for international accuracy.
Equipment
- 6cm cookie cutter
Ingredients
For the cookies:
- 150 g tapioca flour/starch
- 125 g fine white rice flour
- 100 g caster/superfine sugar
- 4 g (1 teaspoon) xanthan gum (optional, see notes)
- 150 g softened butter (salted or unsalted) cubed
- ½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- Splash of almond extract (optional, see notes)
- Pinch of salt
- 20-60 ml (1-3 tablespoons)* milk of choice, as needed to reach the described consistency
For the buttercream:
- 150 g sieved icing sugar (I used soft icing sugar)
- 75 g softened butter (salted or unsalted)
- 1-2 drops rose pink food colouring to reach your desired colour
- Splash of almond extract (optional, see notes)
- 20 ml (1 tablespoon)* milk of choice to reach a spreadable consistency
Instructions
To make the cookies:
- Whisk the dry ingredients together in a medium/large mixing bowl.
- Use your hands to rub the butter into the flour. Completely rub the butter into the dough until you have a sandy textured mixture. Add the vanilla, optional almond extract, optional salt and 20ml (1 Australian tablespoon or 4 teaspoons elsewhere) milk. Use your hands to keep working the dough, squishing it through your fingers.
- Continue adding milk as necessary until the dough is smooth and all pieces of flour have been picked up from the bowl. It should look and feel juicy and moist. If you squish a ball of dough in your hands, the edges should not crack as you press on it. If they do, add a teaspoon or so more milk to reach the described consistency.
- Once you are happy with the dough, you can thoroughly wrap it and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes or you can roll them straight out. The dough should be moist but easy to roll on a piece of baking paper lightly floured with tapioca flour.
- When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 180C/356F. Line two sturdy, thick bottomed baking trays with baking paper.
- Roll the dough out on your lightly floured baking paper until it is approximately 1/2 - 3/4cm thick. Use a 6cm cookie cutter to cut out your cookie shapes. If you roll them thicker (which I don’t recommend) or cut bigger shapes, you’ll need to adjust the cooking time.
- Continue until you have cut out all the dough – you should have approximately 20-24 medium sized cookies.
- Place the first tray in the oven for 10-12 minutes. They should feel firm to the touch and might have a slightly golden base. Repeat with the second tray.
- Once the cookies are baked, allow them to firm up for 5-10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. This will help create nice crispy cookie bases.
To make the buttercream:
- Use hand beaters to whip the butter until it lightens in colour just slightly. This should only take a minute or two with softened butter. Add ½ the sieved sugar and continue beating to combine. Add the remaining sugar and repeat.
- Add the food colouring, almond extract (if you are using it) and 20ml milk. Beat until the colour is uniform and the buttercream is a light, fluffy and spreadable consistency. If you’re using unsalted butter, add a pinch of salt.
- If the icing isn’t spreadable, add 1 teaspoon of milk at a time until it is. Buttercream can split easily with too much liquid added, so try to use as little as possible (I added a little too milk to the icing I used for these photos).
To assemble:
- Spoon approximately 1 ½ teaspoons of icing onto each cookie and spread out evenly. You can use an offset spatula or just the back of a teaspoon. Arrange the icing into a swirl pattern you like, then top with gluten free sprinkles of choice. Repeat with the remaining cookies (if you are eating them on the day) and serve.
- You can make the cookies a day ahead and frost on the day of serving.
Notes
- These cookies work without xanthan gum. See the body of the post for other dietary notes.
- In inches - 1/4 - 1/3 inch in dough height and a 2.3 inch cookie cutter.
- The cookies without xanthan gum tend to absorb less milk than the ones with xanthan gum. I recommend adding milk slowly if you are not using xanthan gum. My batches without xanthan gum only needed 40ml milk, but yours might be slightly different.
- See the body of the post for tips and tricks for the best sugar cookies possible.
- I have successfully tested vegan butter in these cookies (without xanthan gum). I used Flora vegan stick butter which is new in Australia. We don't have a good variety of vegan butter brands here in Australia.
- I buy gluten free sprinkles from Baking Pleasures in Australia. We also have a terrible selection of sprinkles available at supermarkets, so I buy American ones in bulk.
- I think the almond extract adds so much to both to the cookies and icing. With that said, almond extract is not (necessarily) nut free. There are nut free almond extract brands on the market, so use one of these if catering to a nut allergy. I'd recommend a brand that clearly specifies they are nut free.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!