BEST Gluten Free Sugar Cookies Recipe! (2024)

FAQs

What flour is best for gluten-free cookies? ›

Oat flour is best for cookies and quick breads, though you can use it for other things in combination with other gluten free flours. When making yeast bread, you'll need extra yeast to make the dough rise, and other recipes need about 2 ½ teaspoons of baking powder per cup of oat flour.

Use a Binder

Binders like xanthan gum and guar gum provide structure in gluten-free baking to make up for the missing gluten. This prevents cookies from being too crumbly plus it also helps with freshness.

It's so easy to over add on flour which will make a dry cookie. Not enough flour though won't allow the cookie to hold its super crisp shape. The dough will be ready when it pulls away from the side of the bowl when mixing, is a cohesive dough (not super crumbly), and is soft and squishy.

2 teaspoons of baking powder per cup of gluten-free flour is necessary to ensure proper leavening. Baking soda and buttermilk can be used to leaven instead of baking powder, but 1-1/8 teaspoon of cream of tartar should be added for each 1/2 teaspoon baking soda used.

In contrast to tapioca flour, which is made from a starchy liquid extracted from the cassava root, cassava flour is made by grating and drying the whole root. This flour is gluten-, grain- and nut-free. It's most similar to white flour and can easily be used in recipes calling for all-purpose flour.

Gluten-free flours often contain fine starches, so they absorb more liquid than conventional flour. To address this, gluten-free recipes usually call for more liquid and produce looser batters. They may also call for a larger quantity of leavening, like baking powder, to help add volume and lighten the texture.

Using xanthan gum helps provide some of the stickiness that gluten free goods lack, replacing some elasticity. Xanthan gum mimics some of gluten's most essential properties by sticking to flour and its moisture. This helps create moist goods that hold their shape after being baked.

This is because cold dough is less sticky, and it doesn't spread as easily, too. If you're making a gluten-free cookie recipe that you don't want to spread too much (like crinkle cookies), make sure to chill the dough before baking it.

As with gluten, this could stop a cookie from spreading too much as it bakes. So I've decided to try adding a hydrocolloid to my gluten-free dough. Some grocery stores sell xanthan gum and guar gum, especially if the stores have a gluten-free aisle. Many gluten-free recipes call for xanthan gum.

Baking soda is typically used for chewy cookies, while baking powder is generally used for light and airy cookies. Since baking powder is comprised of a number of ingredients (baking soda, cream of tartar, cornstarch, etc.), using it instead of pure baking soda will affect the taste of your cookies.

What happens if I dont cream butter and sugar for cookies? ›

Undermixed butter and sugar looks gritty and chunky, which can lead to dense cookies and cakes. It is possible to overmix the butter and sugar. If you overmix, the butter will separate out of the mixture and it will be grainy and soupy. Be sure to stop once your butter becomes light and fluffy.

To create cookies, you typically use whole eggs and their proteins for flavor, leavening, structure, and color. Eggs promote puffiness and spreading in cookies, while also holding the cookie together during baking.

Moisture – for some reason gluten-free cakes tend to get a little dry. Any gluten-free cake will dry out super-fast and get hard on the outside if it's not properly refrigerated and covered. I swear by always using buttermilk and adding a little more fat into the batter to compensate for the dryness.

Black bean flour, white bean flour, fava bean flour, garfava (a blend of garbanzo bean and fava bean flour), garbanzo bean (chickpea) flour, green pea flour and soy flour are some of the readily available varieties.

Texture Differences

Gluten-free baked goods don't have quite the same texture as wheat-based products. However, huge improvements can be made by using combinations of flours and mixing in additives. Measuring according to weight and not volume also helps.

This may be due to the fact that gluten-free flours have a different flavor than wheat flour, or it may be due to the fact that other ingredients must be used to compensate for the lack of gluten and these ingredients can affect the taste of the final product.

Baking with gluten-free flour will produce some slight differences in taste or texture. Millet flour tends to have a mild flavor while buckwheat flour lends itself to a more earthy taste. In addition, quinoa flour has a nutty flavor and bean flour can actually sometimes taste like beans.