This is our family’s FAVORITE gluten-free Cut-Out Sugar Cookies recipe that doesn’t spread while baking! The soft buttery dough is rolled out, cut with cookie cutters, baked in the oven, then coated with the best homemade icing. Learn all the tips and tricks for getting the cookies to hold their shape and decorate them perfectly for this Christmas season.
I am absolutely OBSESSED with this gluten-free cut-out sugar cookies recipe!!!
They are hands down the BEST I have ever tasted… and no one can ever tell that they’re gluten-free!
Not only is the flavor wonderful, but the texture is perfectly soft and tender.
And, with the right ingredients and a few tips they hold their shape beautifully after being baked.
Create gorgeous designs with icing and share the love by gifting them to your friends and family. (Or hog them all to yourself… I won’t tell!)
So if you’re ready to make the most impressive Christmas cookies ever, keep reading and find out all the tips and tricks!
Ingredients
The simple ingredients you need to make this cut-out cookie recipe include:
- Flour. All purpose flour or Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 gluten-free baking blend may be used. You can also substitute for a blend of white rice flour, tapioca starch, and xanthan gum.
- Sugar. Regular, white sugar is best. Do not replace with a sugar alternative such as coconut or even turbinado sugar.
- Egg. These will give the cookies their lift. Make sure you get large eggs.
- Salted Butter. This is where a large majority of the flavor comes from. You can try substituting with vegan “buttery sticks” or margarine if you are dairy-free.
- Extracts. Both clear vanilla extract and almond extract are used to give this recipe a unique taste.
How to Make this Gluten-Free Cut-Out Sugar Cookie Recipe
The basic steps for making cut-out cookies are simple to follow. Please see the recipe card below for more detailed ingredient amounts.
Make the Dough (No Need to Chill!)
Take your butter straight from the refrigerator. Cut it into cubes and load into a large bowl or stand mixer along with the sugar.
Cream the butter and sugar with a stand or handheld mixer on medium speed for 1-2 minutes, or until the dough resembles coarse crumbs.
Add in the egg and extracts and continue to mix for 1-2 more minutes.
Little by little pour in the flour allowing it to fully combine after each addition.
Once the flour is completely absorbed and the dough sticks together you are ready to roll.
You can either refrigerate the dough at this stage for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 2-3 months until ready to use.
Roll Out Dough
Sprinkle about ¼-cup of powdered sugar over a cutting board. By skipping flour and using powdered sugar you prevent sticking while adding even more flavor to your cookies!
Place half of the cookie dough onto the surface and sprinkle with another 2-3 tablespoons of powdered sugar.
Flatten out the cookie dough using a rolling pin until the dough is ¼ – ⅓ inch thick.
Cut into Shapes
Cut dough into shapes with metal cookie cutters. The metal ones make cleaner cuts than the plastic ones and are easier to use.
Use those cute cookie cutters to make these gluten-free gingerbread cookies next!
Bake in Oven
Place the shapes on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet about 1-inch apart. Parchment paper makes clean-up a breeze, they don’t get stuck on the baking sheet, and the cookies bake more evenly. You can also use a silicone mat, if you’d prefer.
Bake in a preheated 375°F oven for 9-11 minutes, or until the edges begin to brown slightly. Cook on the longer side if they are thicker, and for less time if they are thinner.
Let rest on a wire rack until they come to room temperature.
Sugar Cookie Frosting
Mix egg whites on medium speed for 1 minute. Add the butter (for the family icing), vanilla and 1-cup of powdered sugar. Combine until the sugar is fully incorporated.
Add the remaining sugar incrementally and stir well each time. If the frosting is too thick, add 1-2-tbsp of milk until the desired consistency is reached.
Finally, drop in your desired food coloring (gels work the best!) and stir until combined.
Decorate to Impress!
Use a piping bag fitted with a 3M piping tip to outline where you would like the family icing to fill. Then use a toothpick to spread it all over evenly.
You can also just spread it on with a butter knife or a spoon if the kiddos are helping you out!
Once it has set you can pipe designs with the royal icing.
Place white nonpareils on the wet icing with tweezers.
Shake on sprinkles and enjoy!
Meal Prep and Storage
- To Prep-Ahead: The cookie dough can be made in advance and refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months. Defrost in the refrigerator before rolling out.
- To Store: Baked sugar cookies taste best when kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3-4 days.
- To Freeze: Seal in a freezer-safe airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months.
FAQs
Cut-out sugar cookies are made by rolling out the dough and cutting it into shapes before baking. Drop sugar cookies are simply made by dropping the dough onto the cookie sheet, and are generally thicker.
Sprinkle powdered sugar on a wooden surface and use a rolling pin to press and roll the dough until it is flattened.
To avoid burnt or undercooked cookies try to roll the dough so that it is ¼ – ⅓-inch thick. You can check the thickness of cookie dough by measuring with a ruler.
Skip the baking powder and baking soda, use cold butter, and bake chilled dough on parchment paper-lined baking sheets.
Expert Tips and Tricks
- Forget the leaveners!! Baking soda and baking powder have a tendency to make cookies spread.
- Keep it cold. Use cold butter and keep the dough chilled until you are ready to bake so the cookies hold their shape.
- Sugar not flour. Dust powdered sugar on your rolling surface to prevent the dough from drying out and add even more flavor.
- Line the sheet. Bake the cookies on parchment paper to maintain shape, avoid sticking, and keep cleanup easy.
- Smooth it out. Toothpicks work great for evenly spreading the icing.
More Christmas Cookie Recipes
There’s never a bad time for cookies! And these cookies can all be made gluten-free:
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
No-Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
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Ingredients
- ½ cup butter cold, but not frozen, cubed*
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- ½ tsp. almond extract
- 2 ¼ cups flour or a gluten-free 1-to-1 baking blend
- ½ tsp. salt
Family Icing Recipe:
- 2 egg whites
- 2 Tbsp. butter melted*
- 3 cups powdered sugar sifted
- ½ tsp. vanilla extract
- 1-2 Tbsp. milk if needed
- food coloring
Royal Icing Recipe:
- 1 egg white
- 2 cups powdered sugar sifted
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp milk optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer combine cold butter and sugar. Mix on medium for 1-2 minutes, or until butter and sugar are just combined.
- Add egg, vanilla and almond extract. Continue mixing for 1-2 more minutes.
- In a separate bowl combine white rice flour tapioca starch, xanthan gum and salt. Toss to combine.
- Slowly add dry ingredients to the butter sugar mixture. Continue mixing on medium until dough starts to form a ball.
- Place dough out on a lightly powdered sugar-coated surface. Roll dough out to ¼ – ⅓ inch thickness.
- Using cookie cutters, cut dough into desired shapes and place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
- Bake cookies for 9-11 minutes or until edges just begin to brown.
- Let cookies cool completely before frosting.
Family Icing:
- In a medium-sized bowl place, mix egg whites over medium speed for 1 minute. Add butter, vanilla and 1 cup powdered sugar. Mix until sugar is incorporated.
- Add remaining sugar incrementally and mix well between each addition. If frosting is too thick, add 1-2 tbsp milk until desired consistency is reached.
- Add food coloring as desired.
- Frost cookies using a toothpick to spread the icing where you want it on the cookies.
Royal Icing: *optional*
- Place egg white in a medium bowl. Mix egg white for 1-2 minutes or until it becomes frothy. Add vanilla and mix for another minute.
- Add powdered sugar and mix over medium-low speed for 4-5 minutes.
- If icing is too thick, add milk as needed to reach an easy piping consistency.
- Place royal icing in a piping bag fitted with a 3M piping tip. Pipe designs on cookies and enjoy!
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Video
Notes
- You can also use 1 1/2 cups sweet white rice flour, 3/4 cup tapioca starch, and 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum instead of the gluten-free flour blend.
- Food coloring gel works best when getting really vibrant colors in your icing.
- Use tweezers when placing small nonpareils onto the cookies.
- These sprinkles and these white nonpareils were used to decorate the cookies you see pictured.
- You can also use vegan “buttery” sticks or margarine if dairy-free.
- To Store: Baked sugar cookies taste best when kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3-4 days.
- To Freeze: Seal in a freezer-safe airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hello!
Someone asked below “where are the ingredients?”. The moderator says to use the “jump to recipe” button or recipe card.
I do not have a jump button or recipe card. I’ve searched for 15 minutes then had 2 friends search. These items are not to be found. Help please!
I’ve made them before & they’re soooo good!
Sincere apologies, Betsy!! It appears the recipe was accidentally removed. It should be back there for you now with ingredients and directions! Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you.
Please repost the gluten free sugar cookie ingredients. The directions are still there but the ingredient amounts are gone.
Sincere apologies, Pat!! It appears the recipe was accidentally removed. It should be back there for you now with ingredients and directions! Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you.
Where is the actual recipe for the Cut out sugar cookies that don’t spread? I cannot find it, only a general description? How much Xanthan gum, Sweet rice flour and white rice flour should be used?
Hi Jodie! The actually recipe is in the recipe card towards the bottom of the post. There’s also a “Jump to Recipe” button at the top that you can click. Hope this helps!
I cannot find it either place? I am using Chrome as my browser, maybe that is the issue? Thanks for responding, as a gluten free person, I was excited to try these 🙁
Sincere apologies, Jodie!! It appears the recipe was accidentally removed. It should be back there for you now with ingredients and directions! Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you.
These cookies were so good, my family decorated them! They are so yummy!
Yay! So happy to hear that! Thanks so much for your comment and rating 🙂
These cookies look great. My family loves sugar cookies but it is annoying when they spread. Sure they still taste good but not as fun to enjoy and decorate when they don’t perfectly hold their shape. I will have to give this recipe a try when I start our holiday baking.
Absolutely, Sarah – it’s such a drag when they spread! Can’t wait to hear what you think of the cookies! 🙂
This is my go-to cut out recipe. I actually prefer Pamela’s or Better Batter All Purpose GF blend for this recipe because to me Bob’s Red Mill tastes a bit graham crackery to me and I didn’t want to compete with the lovely almond flavor. Sometimes i don’t love the taste of Pamela’s but this is the PERFECT use for this and basically the only GF cookie dough I can eat before baking. haha oops! It works well for delicate shapes too like snowflakes. A winner!! Thank you.
Lol I totally eat my cookie dough, too! So happy to hear you enjoy this recipe so much. Thanks for the comment and rating, Julianne!
In the recipe you call for sweet rice flour, in the photo you show white rice flour, and in your intro you say that white rice flour was used by you. My question is, can I use sweet rice flour?
You absolutely can! Either flour will work well. I would recommend getting the Bob’s Red Mill brand since that’s what was tested in the recipe. Happy Baking!
Can I use butter flavored crisco sticks in this, or will that not work for these cutout cookies?
I have not personally tried it, Julie, but it might work! Would love to know how it goes for you!
Thanks so much for sharing this detailed recipe! They’re the first gluten free sugar cookies I’ve eaten in 3 years and they taste just like a regular sugar cookie. I used the advice from the comment about substituting the tapioca starch and I think if I made them again I’d use a little more of bob’s flour, or I’d cook them a little longer than 11 minutes because they came out a little under-baked. I”m still really impressed at how delicious they are. Thanks again!
Yay!! So happy you enjoyed the cookies, Emily! Thanks so much for your comment and rating 🙂
I have made this recipe exactly how it’s written, multiple times, and they spread every time. Any suggestions on what to do? They taste amazing (no one ever knows they’re gluten-free). It’s just the spreading issue.
Hi Leanne! The things I would look at to help troubleshoot include either A) the temperature of your butter is too warm, B) the type of flour you use is different than what was used to test the recipe, or C) you live at a higher altitude and need to adjust your oven temperature. Also, you can always try popping them back into the refrigerator for 30 minutes after cutting and before baking! Hope this helps!