This easy gluten-free sugar cookie recipe will become one of the most important recipes in your holiday collection. These sugar cookies are soft-baked and keep their shape when baked. Decorate however you like - you can't go wrong!
To make the dough, cream together butter and sugar for 30 seconds (just enough until the butter and sugar are incorporated). Add egg and vanilla and mix until well combined. Add the flour and mix until all flour is incorporated, about 30 seconds. Do not overmix. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
Prepare a cookie sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat and lightly "flour" a clean surface with a dusting of powdered sugar.
Roll dough until about 1/2 inch thick, then use your cookie cutters to cut desired shapes. Place cookies on cookie sheet. Once all cookies are cut out, place cookie sheet in the fridge for at least 1 hour to cool. This is an essential step to prevent the cookies from spreading when baking. (See Notes for additional tips to avoid spreading.)
Preheat oven to 350º F and bake cookies for 13-15 minutes or until the bottom of the cookies are slightly brown. Remove cookies from oven and cool for 5 minutes on baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack. Allow cookies to fully cool before icing.
Royal Icing
Mix egg whites in a standing mixer over medium speed for 1 min. Add butter, vanilla and powdered sugar until all ingredients are well incorporated. If frosting is too stiff, add a little bit of milk; if mixture is too runny, add more powdered sugar.
Add dye (as desired) to frosting and decorate cookies. If decorating with multiple colors, divide icing into separate bowls before adding food dye(s). Enjoy!
Notes
This gluten-free sugar cookie recipes makes about 20 cookies depending on how large you cut them.I use powdered sugar to "flour" my surface before rolling out the cookies. I don't want to add additional flour to the mixture, so the powdered sugar works like a charm to keep the cookies from sticking to my surface when rolling out.There are no hard and fast rules on decorating these cookies. As I mentioned, I like to use natural food dyes, but use whatever you desire or have in your pantry.Tips to Avoid Cookies from Spreading:Chilling the Dough is Your Friend. Do not skip chilling the dough both after making it and again after cutting the cookies into their shapes. Chilled dough will be much less likely to spread. Your best chance of getting a cookie that doesn't spread is to chill the cut-out cookies for a few hours or overnight.Do Not Use Cooking Spray. Make sure you put the cookies on parchment paper or a silicone mat. The cookies need to "stick" to the parchment paper or silicone mat whereas cooking spray is greasy and may cause them to slip and spread out.Do not Melt Butter. The butter should be soft but at room temperature. If you use melted butter or hot butter, your cookies will spread, guaranteed! If you need to quickly bring your butter to room temperature, cut it into cubes and let it sit on your counter for 30 minutes. You can also grate the butter with a cheese grater and it will come to room temperature faster. Avoid using your microwave.Add More Flour (if needed). If your cookies are spreading, it's possible you have too much fat to flour ratio. Add 2 tablespoons more flour to your batter. To get the best chance at a no-spread cookie, weigh your flour. This recipe has only been tested (by me) with Bob's Red Mill 1:1 Gluten-Free Flour Blend. If you use another brand of 1:1 gluten-free flour, it's possible your flour to fat ratio needs a little tweaking.Do Not Overmix Dough. Mix the dough only enough until all the ingredients are incorporated. When you cream the butter and sugar together, only do it until the ingredients are well combined, about 30 seconds, no more. Whipping the cookies too long will add more air into the dough and cause it to collapse when baking. Remember, there is no gluten to develop here either, so no need to overmix.Use a Large Egg. Make sure you use a large egg. It makes a difference.Bake One Cookie Sheet at a Time. Bake the cookies in batches, keeping the raw cookies in the fridge to continue to cool until you're ready to bake them.Make Sure Your Oven is Preheated. Cookies will be less likely to spread if you bake them in a hot oven. Make sure your oven is fully preheated before baking.