Simple, chewy, gluten-free Sugar Cookies are the best last minute treat to whip up during the Holidays. These are great with or without frosting and sprinkles too!
What’s your favorite Holiday cookie?
Mine’s gotta be something easy. But, that I can decorate a little fancy in case I’ve got extra time.
I’m pretty partial to either my gluten-free Slice and Bake Cookies or Peppermint Mocha Oatmeal Cookies. Both are filled with classic Holiday flavors, are easy to make, and can be decorated with all sorts of toppings.
These gluten-free chewy Sugar Cookies are another great option. They’re super fast and easy to make, and made with only pantry and fridge staples. You’ll be left with a chewy cookie with crisp edges, filled with vanilla flavor.
If you’ve got extra time on your hands (or love frosting), you can add some Buttercream Frosting and sprinkles on top. And, this is where you can make them extra fun.
You can use homemade frosting. Or, you can buy your favorite frosting (time saver, which is great for the Holidays!).
You can use any color of frosting and sprinkles you’d like too. Making these Sugar Cookies great for practically any Holiday. Just think:
- Halloween: orange/black frosting and sprinkles
- Thanksgiving: red/orange/yellow frosting and sprinkles
- Christmas: red/green or blue/white frosting and sprinkles
- New Years: white/gold frosting and sprinkles
- Easter: pastel frosting and sprinkles
- St. Patrick’s Day: green/white frosting and sprinkles
- 4th of July: red/white/blue frosting and sprinkles
The options are pretty much endless when it comes to frosting and sprinkles.
Which makes these gluten-free chewy Sugar Cookies a great recipe to have as a staple in your home. Easy to make, endless decor options for different Holidays, and a simple flavor that everyone loves.
You can’t go wrong with Sugar Cookies!
Before you get started, let’s talk about ingredients.
These gluten-free chewy Sugar Cookies are made with pantry/fridge staples, like:
- butter
- white sugar
- egg
- vanilla
- gluten-free all purpose flour
- baking soda
- salt
This is a Sugar Cookie recipe for a simple DROP cookie. NOT a cookie dough that you roll out and use cookie cutters with. That would require a different type of cookie batter.
If you are looking for a cut-out cookie recipe, you may want to check out my gluten-free Gingerbread Cut Out Cookies instead. They’re a little more work than a drop cookie, but they’re a Holiday classic.
OTHER TIPS
This Sugar Cookie recipe requires no chill time. Just, be sure you use softened butter (not melted!). If the butter is too hot, the cookies will spread too thin. Too hard, and the cookies won’t spread enough.
Use your favorite vanilla extract. Mine is a dark brown, so my cookies turn out with a little more color than you might expect for a sugar cookie. If you want yours to be lighter, use a clear vanilla extract.
I like to add a lot of vanilla extract so you have a really strong punch of vanilla flavor. If you prefer a lighter vanilla flavor (especially if you have a stronger flavored, store bought frosting) you may want to reduce the vanilla extract to 2 teaspoons.
Use a high quality gluten-free all purpose flour blend with xantham gum. I do not recommend trying to use other flours in it’s place (like almond, coconut, oat, etc.).
Other than that, these Sugar Cookies are made just like any other cookie recipe. They’re great for beginner bakers or people that are new to baking gluten-free.
I hope you enjoy these gluten-free chewy Sugar Cookies and they become an easy go-to recipe for you when you need a treat quickly.
Let me know what you thought about them, below. Leave a comment and star rating. I love to hear how the recipes went for ya’ll!
If you want more Holiday cookie recipes, check out my gluten-free Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies, Chocolate Cut Out Cookies, Red Velvet Kiss Cookies and Gingerbread Oatmeal Cookies.
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups gluten-free all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1-2 tbsp milk
- food colors (optional)
- sprinkles (optional)
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To begin, preheat your oven to 350 and spray two pans with non-stick spray.
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To a large mixing bowl, add your butter and sugar and beat them together with a mixer till creamed. Add your egg and vanilla and briefly blend.
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To the same bowl, add your flour, baking soda and salt. Mix together till you have a thick, smooth cookie dough batter.
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With a medium cookie scoop, scoop your dough onto your pans evenly spaced apart. Bake in the oven for 9-12 minutes, or till the edges are crisp and the inside is just a touch underdone.
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Let them cool entirely prior to frosting.
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Add your butter, powdered sugar, and 1 tbsp of milk to a mixing bowl. Beat together with a mixer, starting on low. Beat till creamy, adding another tbsp of milk if necessary.
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Spread on top of each cookie and add sprinkles.
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Devour!
I followed the recipe to a T as well and my cookies were dry dry dry. weird.
Hi there. Very odd, what flour did you use?
with any gluten free flour the mixed prepared cookie need to sit for a while [refrigerator] so the moisture is absorbed by the flour
The batter, if you will, came out completely runny and followed the recipe and instructions to a T. Any idea what could’ve went wrong?
Hi Jenifer. What flour did you use? Was your butter melted or softened?
Hi just stumbled onto your page. I desperately need help adjusting regular cookie recipes for high altitude. I am new to CO – and love to make cookies but they all seem to spread on the pan. What am I doing wrong? Thanks!!
Hi Pam. There’s a few things you can do to help your cookies not spread so much. The first that I’d try is chilling your dough for an hour (the cookies may need to bake another minute or two after). Also, you can reduce the sugar 2 tbsp or so. That helps with the spreading. Lastly, you could try adding another egg and more flour (about 1/4 cup). I’d start with chilling your dough and reducing the sugar a touch and go from there. Hope this helps!