Learn how to make the best gluten-free sugar cookies from scratch that are soft, easy to roll out, and taste amazing. Easy, homemade gluten-free cut-out cookies tastes so much like old fashioned ones, no one will know the difference! This recipe has earned hundreds of 5-star reviews and earned thousands of smiles!
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5-Star Gluten-Free Cut Out Cookies Recipe
Any holiday or Christmas would not be complete without a batch of traditional rolled sugar cookies. Every year growing up I looked forward to decorating cut-outs with glossy sugar cookie icing and blanketing with festive sprinkles.
As a mom of four now, my kids love decorating sugar cookies just the same. (Which also goes along with the Christmas sprinkle explosion covering my kitchen.)
I was determined to find a gluten-free sugar cookie recipe with the same great taste after becoming GF over 10 years ago and more recently writing a gluten-free cookbook.
This recipe is so good, and just as easy to roll out, I prefer it over the cookies I grew up on! And I’m so happy it’s not just my life that has changed, but hundreds of readers have written in with their own success stories. 😊
My mom used a recipe without baking powder so the cookies wouldn’t puff up and lose their shape during baking. These cookies also do not use baking powder. They maintain the same shape after rolling, cutting out, and baking.
Gluten-free bakers will love these cookies because of how easy the dough is to work with and incorporate easy gluten-free baking tips for cookies. They work well for gluten-free Christmas cookies, (along with another old school classic – GF peanut butter blossoms!), Valentine’s Day, graduation, or to cut out in any shape! Plus, I guarantee no one will even know they are gluten-free!
By far the BEST sugar cookies! These are just perfectly soft and delicious. The dough is so easy to work with. I could not even critique this recipe in the slightest. My family and I love these cookies! I’m grateful to have this recipe and it’s the only cut out cookie recipe I’ll use
—Sunny
My go-to gluten free sugar cookie recipe!! The recipe is detailed, well explained and beginner friendly! I am not good at cooking and baking but my first attempt turned out amazing!! People cannot tell it’s gluten free which makes me feel really satisfied. Within two months, I made sugar cookies following this recipe three times.
—Minatsu
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Free Guide! 5 easy tips for baking like a gluten-free pro!
Simple hacks for fail-proof gluten-free dishes every time!
Let’s Make This Together!
(Below shows step-by-step photos and modified instructions. For the complete recipe, along with ingredient amounts, scroll down to the recipe card.)
Creamiest creamed butter (and sugar)
When creaming butter and sugar together, beat it until very light and fluffy. This will take about 3 minutes, which seems like a long time when you are holding a mixer, but it will reward you with some damn good cookies.
Other liquids and more mixing (Yeah!)
Add the egg, milk, and vanilla then beat again until the mixture is smooth. At first it may look a little curdled. Have faith and keep mixing!
GF flour and chill baby chill
See, I told you it was easy! Mix in the flour, salt then cover the bowl and chill for at least 1 hour. If you are in a time crunch, I’ve also frozen it for 30-40 minutes. The colder the dough is the easier it will be to roll.
Roll Sugar Cookies Like A Pro
Okay, you got me. I know the hardest part about making homemade sugar cookies isn’t the dough, but the rolling it out…especially when it comes to GF cut-out cookies. But that’s not something you have to worry about anymore!
- Sprinkle GF flour onto a rolling surface or silicone mat. The trick is to not use too much flour or you will dry out your dough. Usually I sprinkle some on my work surface and then rub the rolling pin with some to keep it from sticking.
- Use half the cold dough and roll out to about 1/4″ thickness. If the dough is very cold, let it sit out about 5-10 minutes until it’s a little more pliable.
- Cut out the dough with cookie cutters and transfer the cut out cookies to prepared baking sheets. If you aren’t baking the cookies straight away, I recommend storing the baking sheets in the fridge because they are best baked from cold dough so they don’t spread.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until cookies are set. If you want them extra crispy, some readers have said they let them bake a few minutes longer.
Sugar Cookie Icing Options
If you struggle with runny icing, then use this easy recipe for sugar cookie icing that hardens to a glossy sheen. It’s my absolute go-to because it takes 5 minutes, dries so the cookies can stack and store without ruining, and I always have the ingredients on hand.
Some other options include using cream cheese icing, which with add a bit of tangy sweetness. Use royal icing if you really want to get precise and creative with your decorating. If you love an airy frosting, then this heavenly fluffy buttercream frosting is my absolute go-to. You will only need half the recipe to frost a batch of cookies.
Note About Gluten-Free Flours
Not all gluten-free flour blends are created equal. Typically I make gluten-free cookies with Cup4Cup (highly recommended!), but here are some other brands to try.
Please note: Flour blends use different ratios of gluten-free starch, such as tapioca flour, rice flour, almond flour, or cornstarch. These varying ratios and ingredients will change the texture and taste of the cookie.
Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour – Another great GF flour blend because of the ease of use. I find the texture to be slightly denser, but still yields a soft sugar cookie.
King Arthur Measure-for-Measure– Make sure you are using the “measure-for-measure” kind instead of King Arthur all-purpose GF flour, which doesn’t include xanthan gum.
Namaste Gluten-Free Flour Blend– Many bakers use this mix because it’s economical and available at Costco. Although the cookies will still hold their shape, the taste is rather gritty. To make the taste more pleasing, try replacing 1/2 cup of the flour with almond flour.
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Did you make this recipe? I love hearing from you! Leave a star rating and comment below the recipe card. It helps others when searching for recipes and I appreciate feedback from our community. You will always hear back from me! -Melissa
No Fail Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies (Cut Out)
Ingredients
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon milk (or dairy-free)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, or 1 tsp. almond extract + 1 tsp. vanilla
- ¼ teaspoon ( ) salt, omit if butter is salted
- 2 cups (292 g) gluten-free all purpose flour, Cup4Cup all purpose gluten-free flour highly recommended
Instructions
- In a large bowl cream together the sugar and butter until very light and fluffy. This should take about 3 minutes for mixture to be fully creamed.1 cup granulated sugar, ½ cup unsalted butter
- Add the egg, milk, vanilla, and salt to the butter / sugar mixture. Beat again until very well combined. It may look separated and curdled at first, but as it beats longer it will blend together smoothly.1 large egg, 1 tablespoon milk (or dairy-free), 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, ¼ teaspoon salt
- Add the flour and beat at low speed until combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or freeze for 30 minutes. The dough should be very cold throughout.2 cups gluten-free all purpose flour
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper for best results. Otherwise, leave baking sheets ungreased. Set aside.
- Sprinkle gluten-free flour onto a rolling surface or silicone mat. Use half the cold dough and roll out to about 1/4" thickness. TIP: If the dough is very cold you may have to let it sit out 5-10 minutes for the dough to become more pliable. Cut out the dough with cookie cutters and use a spatula to transfer the cut out cookies to prepared baking sheets. Repeat with all the remaining dough. TIP: If you plan on baking the cookies at the same time, store the baking sheets with cut out cookies in the refrigerator until ready to bake. Warmed dough spreads more during baking.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until cookies are set. Let the cookies cool 5 minutes on the baking sheets before transferring to wire racks to cool completely. After cookies have cooled, decorate with my favorite sugar cookie icing. Store in airtight container up to 3 days.
Notes
Funfetti Sprinkle Cookies
Add 2/3 cup gluten-free sprinkles (not nonpareils) to the dough after mixing in the dry ingredients. Scoop the dough. Use large 2 tablespoon cookie scoop and roll into balls. If desire, roll tops in additional sprinkles. Flatten slightly with the bottom of a glass. Transfer the balls to a parchment-lined plate or small lined baking tray, cover, and refrigerate until well chilled, about 1 hour (can freeze for faster chilling). Preheat oven to 350℉ and position balls 2 inches apart on parchment or silicone-lined baking sheets. Bake for 13-15 minutes, or until bottoms are very lightly browned, but middles are still soft. Cool on baking sheets for 10 minutes before transferring to wire rack. Makes 20 cookies.Expert Tips and Tricks
- The dough can be made up to 1 day ahead of time and store covered in the refrigerator.
- Make sure the dough is very cold before cutting out the cookies. This helps them hold their shape during baking. However, let it sit for 5-10 minutes before rolling to soften slightly.
- Prefer crispier cookies? Roll out the dough slightly thinner. If you like softer cookies, roll it out slightly thicker.
- If you plan on cutting out all the cookies first, store the baking sheets holding pre-baked gluten free cookies in the refrigerator until ready to bake.
- For quicker chilling freeze the dough for 30 minutes. Remove from the freezer before the dough freezes completely.
- For dairy-free cookies, replace the butter with vegan butter sticks and the milk with a non-dairy substitute.
Freezing Gluten-Free Cookies
Freezing Baked Sugar Cookies: Make gluten-free sugar cookie recipe as directed, cooling completely. Cookies may be frozen either unfrosted or with frosting. If cookies are frosted, make sure the icing has set before stacking. Place cookies in a large airtight container, wrap the container with plastic wrap, and freeze up to 2 months. Allow cookies to thaw one hour at room temperature before frosting or serving. Freezing Unbaked Sugar Cookies: Prepare the cut out cookie dough as directed. When it is time to chill the dough, transfer it to a freezer ziplock bag, squeezing out any excess air. Freeze up to 2 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight before rolling and cutting out. Alternatively, roll out the cookie dough and cut out cookies as directed. Place cookies on parchment paper lined baking sheets and transfer baking pans to freezer. Once the cookies have hardened, carefully remove them from the parchment and stack in freezer ziplock bags. Freeze, laying flat, up to 2 months. When ready to bake, transfer back to lined baking sheets. Bake from frozen, adding 2-3 minutes to baking time. Recipe adapted from MOMablesThis post contains affiliate links. My opinions are always my own. If you purchase a product through an affiliate link, I make a small commission – at no cost to you. Read full disclosure policy here.
The best GF cookie recipe I’ve come across (and I’ve tried many!)
Lovely to hear, Margie. Thank you so much for taking the time to share!
Best,
Melissa
I have a cut out cookie recipe that we love, it has sour cream and it’s egg free because of allergies.
Now I need to go gluten free, I already use Bob’s Red Mill for the eggs… will the BRM flour work for this also
Hi Lani,
Yes, it will. Have you worked with BRM GF flour before? It’s pretty forgiving in recipes, however I find the texture to be grittier than other GF flour brands.
Best,
Melissa
Absolutely fantastic. My oven runs cool so I have to bake them for 15 mins at 375, but they are amazing.
Thank you so much! I’m glad you enjoyed them!
Best,
Melissa
The dough came out like a paste when following the receipe.
I’m so sorry to hear this. What type of flour did you use? It was an all purpose GF flour blend? I know how frustrating it is to waste time and ingredients so my apologies.
Best,
Melissa
This is an AMAZING recipe! I doubled it on my own (without the calculator). I used Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 baking flour. I always sift my flour and it does make a difference. We also used vanilla and almond extract- yummy flavor. Making sure the dough was very cold to roll and cut was a must. After the first batch we realized to not roll so thin for more chewy soft cookies. A trick my mom taught me which also helps lock in moisture is to brush the cookies with a little water & powder sugar glaze mixture. We then decorated them the next day. We had many compliments on the cookies. Family couldn’t believe they were gluten free! I’m using it to make a fruit pizza for a Christmas party. Thank you so much!!!
Love this, Lisa! I appreciate the time you took to share! Have a wonderful holiday season.
Best,
Melissa
Your recipe doubler calculator is not working. We made the dough and something seemed way off because it has the consistency on peanut butter and was super sticky. When you hit the button to double the recipe it doesn’t double the butter, the flour or the sugar.
Thank you so much for pointing this out, Tessa. I will take a look into this! I sincerely hope you didn’t have to waste all these ingredients, especially a double batch. 🙁
Best,
Melissa
The cookies turned out great! I measured using the fluff and spoon method. I kept my dough chilled and rolled out between parchment paper. If the dough gets too soft when trying to pull excess dough from the cutouts, just put everything the freezer for a bit and then pull off the dough. It worked to keep the cookies in their shape. Thanks for the recipe!
Thank you so much for sharing, Laurie. Have a wonderful Christmas!
Best,
Melissa
How do you keep the dough from sticking in order to do the cut outs ?
Hi Kathleen,
Do you mean when you are rolling it out? If the dough is completely chilled and still sticking, little dust your surface with GF flour and the top of the dough as you are rolling. What GF flour did you you use?
Best,
Melissa
I did sprinkle more GF flour but it stayed sticky. I used Nature’s Eats almond flour. Super finely blanched.
Oh! Yes, that would be the problem. This recipe wasn’t developed for almond flour. It has a lot more moisture and oil than a GF all purpose flour blend. I hope you were able to salvage them because I know how expensive all those ingredients are!
Yes I made drop cookies with the ingredients and they turned out fine. I will remember that for next time ! Thanks !
I just made these. I rolled out the dough between parchment paper cut out all my shapes and stuck the sheet in the freezer for a bit and then pulled them apart. When the dough is cold it was easy to separate. Hope that helps.
I appreciate your input, Laurie!
Best,
Melissa
This recipe was too dry and flavor less. It needs for sugar or brown sugar. Definitely missing something.
I’m sorry to hear you didn’t enjoy the recipe, Dee. My apologies. You could always add more granulated sugar. I wouldn’t recommend using brown sugar. Generally sugar cookies are a more lightly sweetened cookie, more like a shortbread, because there’s frosting added to the top.
Best,
Melissa
Look forward to trying these!
Let me know what you think!
Best,
Melissa
Working with the dough was tricky as it was very crumbly and difficult to keep the cookie together. I still managed to make a good amount of cookies (and by the way, they are delicious), but I lost some of the dough because of the crumbling issue. Any tips? I used King Arthur 1:1 flour. Thank you!
Hi Blythe,
Hmm, I have tried the recipe with KA and didn’t notice any difference with the consistency of the dough. Did you use regular butter? Also, if the dough is very cold it will crumble a bit, but after it warms a bit it’s very easy to roll out. Was the dough very cold when you were rolling it?
Best,
Melissa
First time making these. I used non dairy butter to make them gf/df. Chilled the dough in the freezer for 30 mins. Very easy to roll out and work with. These turned out great.
Thank you so much, Tammy! I’m so happy you can enjoy a DF and GF treat for the holidays!
Best,
Melissa
So soft and delicious! Everything you want in a sugar cookie. You wouldn’t even be able to tell they’re GF.
Thank you so much, Veronica. I love hearing this! Happy holidays!
Best,
Melissa
Great cut thick and cooked to be soft or cut thin and cooked to be crunchy. These cookies turned out spot on nostalgic sugar cookie flavor. They were a perfect balance of smooth but grainy (sugar crunch) that we wanted. They rolled out, held together, baked beautifully! Decorations (gel or sprinkles) held well.
Lovely to hear, Andrea! I appreciate you taking a moment to leave a comment. 🙂
Best,
Melissa
We used Bob Mill’s 1 to 1 GF flour and these were seriously the best sugar cookies for cut outs. Very tasty!
Thank you so much, Candi! And it’s always appreciated when readers share what GF flour blend they used. So helpful for others!
Best,
Melissa
Wonderful! They remind me of Lofthouse cookies with a soft texture and nice light flavor. I made a royal icing for them. No one could believe they were gluten free.
Yes, best compliment ever, Jane! Thanks so much for taking the time to let me know.
Best,
Melissa
Enjoyed this recipe for cutout cookies. We made it dairy free (substituted coconut milk), ‘not’ butter, and egg replacer. I also added cinnamon. We used the ‘harden’ icing’ link on the cookie recipe (used coconut milk to make it dairy free) and topped with holiday sprinkles. Very happy with the results (the gluten eaters gave it a thumbs up)! Notes: With egg substitute, you may need to cook a bit longer or add a bit more dairy free milk.
Thank you so much for taking the time to share! I’m sure others will appreciate knowing they work out egg-free as well as your tips!
Best,
Melissa
This is the best gf sugar cookie recipe!
Thank you so much, Melissa! I appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment. 🙂
Best,
Melissa
I made this and substituted 1 tbsp of the 2 tbsp of vanilla with 3-5 drops of Horchata candy oil. These were so good we couldn’t put them down. The whole house smelled like a dream.
Oh my gosh, that sounds amazing!! Thank so much for sharing that awesome idea!
Best,
Melissa
Fun, and easy recipe. Made these sugar cookies – the first time I’ve done this + Christmas cookie cutters- so fun.
Used GF king arthur (as always) measure for measure.
So helpful, Brittney! Thanks for sharing and I always love hearing with GF flour blends reader use!
Best,
Melissa
I love sugar cookies, and I’m wondering how to cut the sugar content in them for those that need to be mindful to cut back on the sugar. Could you do half and half it would alter the consistency or the recipe? By much
Hi Hilda,
Just cutting back on the sugar amount shouldn’t be a problem. Replacing it with a sugar-free substitute would alter the recipe and I wouldn’t recommend that, or I would at least try it with amount of dough first to check that it works. Hope this helps!
Best,
Melissa
Hello! Do you recommend freezing the dough before baking? If so for how long? Thank you!
Hello,
Do you mean freezing the unrolled dough or rolled out dough? I’ve done both. If I can’t roll and bake the cookies within a day, I freeze the dough. If it’s unrolled, let it defrost in the fridge overnight. If they are rolled out and cut out unbaked, then bake the cookies straight from frozen.
Best,
Melissa
I think you said your flour recommendation contained dairy? When I look on Amazon I don’t see dairy listed (the blue package). Did they change the ingredients? Do you still recommend it?
Hi Linda! Yes, I’ll make an adjustment to that in the recipe. They changed it recently and I tested the cookies with the new blend. I still recommend it!
Best,
Melissa
lovely and quick! great recipe for last minute holidays or just to snack on!!
10/10, my family loved it
Thank you so much, Selishia! Happy holidays!
Best,
Melissa
I followed your instructions perfectly my cookies are crunchy. Why? Not real sure. I’m loving them. Help me out convince me.
Hi Rhonda,
The cookies could have been crunchy for a few reasons. The dough could have been rolled out thinner, or the oven temp could be running hotter than 350. Also, which GF flour blend did you use? Some are grittier and absorb moisture more readily than others. The dough works with a variety of blends, but the taste and texture will vary depending on which blend you use.
Best,
Melissa
I tried these for our family sugar cookie decoration contest and tasted fine to me. I used King Arthur measure for measure. You had 292 grams but my bag said 248 g but I used your measurements.
Glad to hear, Tina! And it’s always helpful for others to hear which GF flours they used. There are so many options!
Best,
Melissa
Very easy to follow and came out amazingly! I don’t have a stand mixer so I just mixed everything by hand, but it still came out great!
Awesome, Leah! This is so helpful to know! Thanks for sharing!
Best,
Melissa
WE LOVE THEM
Thank you so much! I appreciate it!
Best,
Melissa
My rating should be 4.5
I made a half recipe to see if I’d like these GF sugar cookies- next batch will be a full recipe! These are quite good tasting although they look rather pasty. This minor flaw will be remedied by icing!
I rolled the dough slightly less than 1/4 inch so my bake time was a total of 9 mins, 4.5 mins then moved to a lower rack for an additional 4.5 mins.
Thanks for a tasty and EASY TO ROLL out dough!
Great to hear, Linda. If you’d like a little darker color you can bump the oven temp up 25 degrees. They will be a little crispier if you don’t mind that!
Best,
Melissa
Can you freeze the dough a few days ahead of cutting?
Hi Lisa,
Yes you can. Thaw overnight in the fridge. Another option would be to make it, roll out the cookies and cut them out. Then freeze the cut out cookies before baking. You can bake straight from frozen. They would just have to bake 1 minute longer.
Best,
Melissa
I make these for the grandkids birthdays and Christmas. Thankyou so much for this easy, easy to follow recipe. Freezing after baking is a bonus and time saver!!!
Thank you, Cathryn! I really appreciate you taking the time to let me know!
Best,
Melissa