5 from 14 reviews

Thin & Crisp Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies

By Alanna Taylor-Tobin on Dec 6, 2021 (updated Mar 17, 2025) / 34 Comments Jump to Recipe

Gluten-free sugar cookies (aka gluten-free cut-out cookies) that you can roll, cut out, and decorate to your heart's content! These holiday-friendly cookies are flavorful, buttery, and not overly sweet, sort of like thinly-rolled shortbread. Made with a blend of gluten-free flours: almond flour, oat flour, and sweet rice flour. I've also included tested vegan and paleo options.

Decorate these with coconut butter glaze, bee pollen, and dried flower petals for naturally pretty cookies! Or turn them into gluten-free linzer cookies with a few flavor tweaks and a jam filling.

Thanks to Bob's Red Mill for sponsoring this post!

Paleo sugar cookies on a marble surface — These gluten-free sugar cookies are thin, buttery, crisp, and not-too-sweet.

Gluten-Free Cookies for the Holidays

Being Jewish, Christmas cookies were not much a part of my family's holiday traditions. Rugelach we had, but Santa hats decorated with sugar and sprinkles, not so much. We did, however, often keep a big, blue tin of buttery shortbread stashed in the kitchen come December.

A few different readers requested a gluten-free cut-out cookie recipe recently. I decided to try converting my favorite gluten-free tart crust from my cookbook – which tastes like buttery shortbread – to a GF sugar cookie recipe. I doubled the recipe and added an egg. I chilled the dough, rolled it out, cut it with biscuit cutters, and baked.

When I popped a cookie in my mouth, I couldn't believe how much I loved the results. The familiar taste of those buttery cookies in the blue tin flooded my senses. Vanilla, a hit of salt, butter, and cookie dough kissed my palate. They were so addictive that we had to hide the cookies in the cupboard so we wouldn't munch them all in one sitting. (Jay's motto is "out of sight, out of snout" when it comes to addictive foods like these cookies.)

overhead shot of gluten-free sugar cookies with pretty natural decorations on marble

This recipe turns out an easy-to-handle dough that gets big flavor from vanilla, butter, tasty flours, and a good hit of salt. I tested a vegan version and a paleo version, both of which turn out beautiful sugar cookies, details below and in the recipe notes.

Here's what one happy baker had to say about the recipe:

5-Star Reader Review

“I just tried these, and I think I have found the sugar cookie I have been looking for. They are easy to work with, hold embossing and scalloped edges really well. Not too sweet, so a sprinkling of sanding sugar or a thin glaze will be perfect. Thanks☺️”
—Elaine

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These almond flour sugar cookies are even more of a treat when decorated with coconut butter icing and naturally pretty toppings like bee pollen and edible dried flower petals. I found these at my co-op and I've and given more natural deco suggestions below. I've also shared my recipe for a more traditional powdered sugar icing.

natural toppings for healthy sugar cookies: flower petals, pink icing, bee pollen in pretty little mismatched bowls — Coconut butter icing and naturally pretty cookie toppings

Lots of fun topping suggestions and variations!

I tested GF sugar cookies that are also:

refined sugar-free
dairy-free, egg-free, and vegan
grain-free and paleo

I've also included two icing options:

a classic powdered sugar icing
paleo-friendly coconut butter icing sweetened with maple syrup

I experimented with different food powders to color the icings, including:

turmeric (yellow)
matcha (green)
beet powder (pink, shown here)

And I topped these with "nature's sprinkles":

dried edible flower petals (calendula, cornflower, and rose)
bee pollen
hibiscus powder

Other pretty toppings could include:

chopped pistachios or other nuts
crumbled freeze-dried raspberries or other fruit
cacao nibs
hemp seeds
naturally-dyed sprinkles

ingredients for gluten-free sugar cookie recipe — INGREDIENTS: gluten-free flours (almond, oat, sweet rice, tapioca), sugar, butter, vanilla, baking powder, egg, salt

Ingredients and Substitutions

These gluten-free sugar cookies are made with just a handful of pantry-friendly ingredients.

Butter makes the cookies moist and tender. Use vegan butter if you like to make gluten-free dairy-free sugar cookies.
Sugar adds sweetness. I prefer organic cane sugar, which is pale tan in color, but any white sugar will work. Use brown sugar for richer color and flavor, or use maple sugar or coconut sugar for refined sugar-free gluten-free sugar cookies.
Egg sticks the dough together. Use a flax egg for egg-free or vegan gluten-free sugar cookies (see recipe notes).
Vanilla extract adds luscious flavor. Use vanilla paste if you want extra vanilla-y gluten-free vanilla cookies.
Baking powder gives the cookies a little lift.
Salt sharpens the flavors.

Bob's Red Mill oat, almond, and sweet rice flour bags on a surface with their corresponding flours spilling out the top

Flavorful Flours

A trio of flours, plus some starch, gives these gluten-free holiday cookies a divine melt-in-your-mouth texture. I use Bob's Red Mill flours which are certified gluten-free.

Almond flour lends a neutral flavor and buttery, crisp texture. For a nut-free version, sub tiger nut flour.
Oat flour adds whole-grain flavor and a tender crumb. You can sub by weight sorghum flour, corn flour, millet flour, teff flour, or buckwheat flour (which will have a stronger yet delicious flavor.)
Sweet rice flour helps the cookies hold together. You can sub cassava flour or a GF all-purpose flour blend.
Tapioca starch makes the dough extensible and easy to work with. You can probably sub cornstarch or arrowroot starch if you prefer.

undecorated gf sugar cookies on a marble surface cut into rounds — Enjoy these GF sugar cookies plain, or decorate them with icing for a festive treat!

How to make the dough

soft butter, sugar, and salt in a mixer bowl — Combine the butter, sugar, and salt in a large bowl or stand mixer bowl.

butter and sugar with egg and vanilla added to gluten-free vanilla cookies — Beat until smooth. Add the egg and vanilla.

egg added to batter — Beat until combined.

adding flours to almond flour sugar cookie dough — Sift in the flours and baking powder.

mixed gluten-free sugar cookie dough in a stand mixer — Stir until combined.

wrapping dough in beeswax wrap to chill — Divide the gluten-free sugar cookie dough in half, flatten into disks, wrap, and chill until firm.

Baking and Decorating

chilled dough on floured parchment — Place the dough on a lightly floured surface.

rolled out dough on parchment — Roll out to an oval 1/8-inch thick.

cut-outs on a piece of parchment — Cut out shapes. I went simple with fluted biscuit cutters, but do you!

gluten-free dairy-free sugar cookies, baked on a cooling rack — Bake until golden. Let cool completely. Store for up to 1 week.

wide shot of decorated gluten-free cut-out cookies — Decorate with powdered sugar icing or coconut butter icing.

GF Sugar Cookies for Everyone

Bake up a batch of these gluten-free holiday cookies, and invite friends or family to decorate them with you. These cookies pack well in gift boxes once the icing has set and make a welcome treat for everyone – whether they're GF, vegan, paleo, or not.

However you make them, I hope you find these gluten-free sugar cookies as satisfying to make and eat as we do!

close-up of a gluten-free sugar cookie topped with icing, orange flower petals, and bee pollen

Bojon appétit, my sweets! If you make this, I’d love to know. Please leave a comment and rating below, and tag your Instagram snaps @The_Bojon_Gourmet and #bojongourmet.

5 from 14 reviews

Thin & Crisp Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies

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Gluten-free sugar cookies that you can roll, cut out, and decorate! Crispy, flavorful, buttery, and not overly sweet. See the notes for substitutions and paleo/vegan options. Decorate these with powdered sugar icing (recipe below) or coconut butter icing.

Alanna Taylor-Tobin

Prep Time: 40

Cook Time: 30

Chilling time:: 1

Total: 2 10

Servings: 40 2-inch diameter cookies

Ingredients

Wet ingredients

12 tablespoons (170 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature*
½ cup (100 g) organic granulated sugar**
¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
1 large egg***
2 teaspoons GF vanilla extract

Dry ingredients

1 cup (120 g) Bob’s Red Mill blanched almond flour****
1 cup (160 g) Bob’s Red Mill sweet white rice flour*****
1 cup (105 g) Bob’s Red Mill GF oat flour, plus more for dusting******
¼ cup (24 g) Bob’s Red Mill tapioca flour*******
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 recipe powdered sugar icing or paleo icing

Instructions

Make the gluten-free sugar cookie dough

In the bowl of stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large bowl), combine the butter, sugar, and salt. Beat (or stir with a wooden spoon or electric egg beater) on medium speed until combined, about 1 minute. We don’t want to aerate the dough in this case as that will make the cookies spread more.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the egg and vanilla. Beat on medium speed or stir to combine. The mixture will look curdled at this point, but it will come together once the flours are added.
Sift in the almond, sweet rice, and oat flours with the tapioca starch and baking powder. Beat on low speed until just combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice.
Divide the dough in half and shape each half into a ball. Flatten the balls into disks (the thinner you make them, the easier it will be to roll them out), wrap in beeswax wrap or plastic wrap, and chill until firm, at least 30-60 minutes and up to several days. Or freeze for longer storage.

Roll out the dough

Unwrap one of the dough rounds and place it on a piece of parchment paper dusted lightly with oat flour. If the dough has been chilled for a while, you may need to let it soften for 5-10 minutes to make it easier to roll.
Dust the top of the dough with oat flour, using a dry pastry brush to sweep away excess flour. Roll the dough into a large oval that’s 1/8-inch thick or a little thicker.
When the dough starts to stick to the bottom, dust the top with a little oat flour, place a piece of parchment on top of the dough, and flip the whole thing over, parchment and all. Carefully peel away the now top piece of parchment, dust the dough with more flour, and continue rolling, sweeping away excess flour with a dry pastry brush.

Shape

Cut the dough into shapes using cookie cutters, biscuit cutters, or an inverted glass. Place the cuts as close together as you can to maximize the dough. Or just cut it into squares with a knife or pastry wheel.
Gather up the dough scraps and save them to combine with the dough scraps from the next dough round. You can gently smush these together, chill them for 20 minutes, and roll this dough to make more cookies.
Transfer the cut-outs to a cookie sheet lined with parchment and chill while the oven preheats, 20-30 minutes.

Bake

Position a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 350ºF.
Repeat the rolling/cutting process with the other dough round.
Bake the cookies one at a time in the upper third of the oven until set and slightly golden around the edges, 12-16 minutes. Rotate the cookie sheet halfway through for even baking. I like my cookies crispy and baked longer, but if you prefer softer cookies, go with the shorter time.
Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheets or transfer to a cooling rack. Once cool, ice and decorate.

Store

The cookies keep well, airtight at room temperature, for up to a week or two. Cookies iced with coconut butter icing will soften if stored, covered, overnight.

Notes

*or plant butter such as Miyoko’s unsalted cultured butter

**or ½ cup + 3 tablespoons (100 g) coconut sugar or maple sugar

***or 1 flax egg: 1 tablespoon flaxseed + 3 tablespoons hot water, let sit until thick, 10-20 minutes.

****or almond or hazelnut meal. Sub tiger nut flour for nut-free.

*****sub by weight cassava flour or 1 to 1 GF all-purpose flour

****** sub by weight sorghum, millet, teff, buckwheat, or corn flour (not cornmeal or cornstarch)

*******or try cornstarch or arrowroot powder

Make-Ahead:

The cookie dough can be mixed, flattened into discs, wrapped tightly and refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to several months.
The baked cookies can be stored airtight at room temperature for up to 1-2 weeks, layered between parchment paper to help them stay crisp. If they lose their crispness, "refresh" them in a 300ºF oven for 5-10 minutes to crisp them back up.
Cookies iced with coconut butter icing will soften if stored, covered, overnight, while cookies iced with powdered sugar icing will stay crisp longer.

Paleo sugar cookies: Use maple sugar or coconut sugar instead of granulated sugar. For the flours, omit the rice and oat flours and use 1 ½ cups almond flour (180g) and 1 ¼ cups (190 g) cassava flour, plus the tapioca starch.

Nutrition facts are for 1 of 40 cookies.

Nutrition

Calories: 87kcalCarbohydrates: 9gProtein: 1gFat: 5gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 13mgSodium: 76mgPotassium: 22mgFiber: 1gSugar: 3gVitamin A: 111IUCalcium: 12mgIron: 1mg

Making this? I'd love to see!Tag your snaps @The_Bojon_Gourmet and #bojongourmet!

5 from 8 reviews

Powdered Sugar Icing

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A classic powdered sugar icing for cookies that dries hard with a satiny sheen.

Alanna Taylor-Tobin

Prep Time: 5

Total: 5

Servings: 1 cup

Ingredients

2 cups (200 g) powdered sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons milk or plant milk (more as needed)
2 teaspoons maple syrup or honey
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
⅕ teaspoon fine sea salt

Instructions

In a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, milk, maple syrup, vanilla, and salt until smooth.
If the icing is too thick, thin with a few more drops of milk.
Spread or pipe over cookies, or tint with your preferred colors.

Making this? I'd love to see!Tag your snaps @The_Bojon_Gourmet and #bojongourmet!

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Comments

5 from 14 votes (7 ratings without comment)

Thin & Crisp Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies