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What would the holidays be without sugar cookies? I have so many memories of when I was a kid around this time of year, sitting with a big plate of classic sugar cookies and dunking them in a tall glass of ice cold milk.
Of the holiday traditions my kids look forward to most, baking cookies is way up there. I myself get so excited about it that I dedicated an entire pin board on Pinterest to holiday cookies. For kids with gluten allergies, the joy of holiday cookies can obviously be a big time bummer.
A few years ago I learned about Cup4Cup — an all natural, specially formulated, gluten-free flour — and since then I have enjoyed making so many foods with it and can’t believe any of them are gluten free. One of the biggest struggles in gluten-free baking is how complicated it can be, the need for so many different flours, xanthan gum and so on. The sheer joy of using Cup4Cup is that you can use it in the same ratios in a recipe as all-purpose flour and it performs the same way. Sheer joy for bakers!
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These Gluten Free Sugar Cookies are soft on the inside with the perfect amount of sweetness inside. As a final touch I topped them with dye-free icing. My kids loved decorating them as you can see in these pictures and it made me feel good to be able to share them with my friends whose diets are gluten-free.
What’s your favorite holiday cookie to bake?
Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups Cup4Cup multi-purpose gluten-free flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Icing:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1-2 tablespoons milk or water
Instructions
- In a bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt.
- in the bowl of a standing mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Add the egg and vanilla and mix until incorporated.
- Gradually add the flour mixture until the dough comes together.
- Place the dough on a piece of parchment paper, shape into a disk, cover and refrigerate until firm, about 20-30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 325F.
- Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thick.
- Use cookie cutters to cut out desired shapes. Place on a Silpat or parchment lined baking sheet
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the edges begin to turn golden.
- Allow the cookies to cool completely before decorating.
- For the icing: combine the ingredients in a bowl and stir until smooth.
Notes
- To make dye-free red or blue icing substitute the juice from frozen raspberries, blueberries or blackberries for milk.
I love making buttery spritz and using my cookie press and we also make traditional italian cookies called Strufoli, although they are fried and then drizzled with honey and non-pareils.
I love Italian wedding cookies:)
Wow, what an amazing giveaway! I love baking chocolate chocolate chip cookies with crushed candy canes sprinkled on top! 😀
The classic sugar cookie is my forever favorite.
snowball cookies! yum!
My family’s favorite Christmas cookie that I make for the last several years is Scottish shortbread cookies. At Christmas time, I use small Christmas cookie cutters to make the shape. They are everyone’s favorites. (I did do the molasses cut outs from Weelicious with my girls and let them decorate them with icing and the kids did really enjoy making those this year as well)
Those cookies are so cute!
Favorite cookies are Shortbread Cookies
Sugar cookies are my Christmas favorite!
Favorite cookie is my Scottish great aunt’s Shortbread Cookie!
gingerbread man cookies!!
My favorite cookie to make is peanut butter kisses. My husband was diagnosed with Celiac 10 years ago. I have tried many gluten free products but have not tried Cup4Cup.
Sandi
Forgot to ask what you used for coloring icing? Thanks.
I love Cup4Cup! Cute cookies!
It’s a tie between snowballs and peanut butter blossoms 🙂
Cup for Cup looks great! My favorite cookies are chocolate chip. Thanks.