Good news! You’ll never need another sugar cookie recipe again because this one has it all! Soft & chewy cut out-style almond flour sugar cookies with crispy edges that actually keep their shape in the oven. Paired with an easy icing, they make the perfect holiday cookie!
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Almond Flour Sugar Cookies
Is it really the holiday season with out a batch of cut-out sugar cookies? The kid in me tells me absolutely not. I remember spending hours at the kitchen table with my family every year rolling out the dough and stamping out festive shapes with cookie cutters. I was the one that tried to get as many cookies as I could with my portion of the dough. Smart kid if you as me.
The icing part is always super fun too! I went with a simple white icing here to show off that golden brown color of the almond flour sugar cookies but feel free to spice it up with some color! Same goes for the sprinkles. These natural sprinkles are so fun and festive if you're looking for a vegan and gluten-free option.
How to make the ultimate gluten-free sugar cookies
My favorite part about this recipe is by how easy it is to make. There's no chilling the dough (unless needed due to timing), you only need a few gluten-free pantry staples, and the dough is quite easy to roll out!
Step 1 : Prepare the dough
These almond flour sugar cookies are made just like your typical cookie recipe. Simply beat together the wet ingredients and then add in the dry ingredients. I like to use a KitchenAid mixer as it ensures the flour is incorporated well. You should be left with a big ball of cookie dough like above! If it's a little sticky, that's okay. It will lose some of that stickiness once it's rolled out.
Step 2 : Roll out the dough
Once the dough is made, roll it out on a piece of parchment paper. I have found the parchment paper to be KEY with gluten-free cookie dough. First, sprinkle a little extra tapioca flour onto your parchment paper. Then place the ball of dough on top and sprinkle with a little more tapioca flour. The tapioca flour is your friend in the rolling process.
Roll out the dough to about ½ inch in thickness with a rolling pin. To get nice chewy sugar cookies, you want a little bit of height to the dough. This leads to nice soft yet crispy almond flour sugar cookies!
Step 3 : Cut out shapes with cookie cutters
Next, use some festive cookie cutters to slice up the dough. I like to cut out as many cookies as I can with the first piece of rolled out dough and then peel the extra dough away.
Use a flat spatula to transfer the cookies to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. These cookies won't spread too much so just leave a little space in between each.
Roll the excess dough out again to about ½ inch in thickness. You may need a little tapioca flour again to help with this and repeat the process until you're out of dough! If you find that you have a bunch of cut out cookies but a batch already in the oven, keep them in the fridge until they're ready to bake. This ensures they don't get too soft and maintain their shape!
Step 4 : Decorate
Ahh, the best part! Once the cookies have cooled, it's time to decorate! You can use an easy royal icing or, my favorite, melt some coconut butter. The coconut butter will make these almond flour sugar cookies paleo-friendly and you can easily dye it with a little food coloring. This plant-based food coloring is a great "healthier option".
While the icing is somewhat wet, add some sprinkles. If you don't have sprinkles, raw cane sugar or monk fruit work as well!
Tips to making the perfect almond flour sugar cookies
As with most recipes, there are a few little tips & tricks I’ve discovered to make sure every batch is the absolute best:
- Don’t over mix your dough. Once there are no more flour clumps in the batter, give the mixture one more big mix and then it's done.
- Some rolling tips. Use a generous amount of tapioca flour when handling the dough and a high quality rolling pin. When first rolling out your dough, sprinkle some extra flour on top of the dough and on your surface. Continue to sprinkle as you roll out the dough. I recommend dividing the dough in half as smaller sections are easier to handle. I have a marble rolling pin and absolutely love it! It definitely weighs a couple pounds but the added weight helps roll out the dough nice and smoothly.
- Finally, if you struggle with transferring the cut out cookie dough to your baking sheet here is a quick tip. Roll out your dough on a piece of parchment paper the size of your baking sheet. Cut your cookies on the sheet and peel off the excess dough around each cut out. Transfer the parchment paper to the baking sheet. And voila! You’ve successfully transferred the cookies to your baking sheet without having to struggle to lift them off your surface
Crispy almond flour cookies FAQs
Yes, if you don't have tapioca flour, arrowroot starch/flour is a great alternative.
I have not tried this recipe with another flour other than almond flour. If needed, a gluten-free 1:1 flour will probably be the best option.
Yes, but make sure that it's a "liquid" sweetener. Honey or agave syrup would be great substitutes.
These cookies are best stored in an air-tight container. Make sure the icing is completely dry before stacking them on top of one another though. They will keep fresh for about 5 days on the counter and up to a week in the fridge.
The best way to freeze the dough is once the cookies are already cut out. Because this dough is gluten-free, it may be a hard to roll out after it's frozen. I recommend rolling it out, cutting out the cookies, and then freezing the cookies. Simply thaw and bake when ready!
More festive cookie recipes you'll love!
Recipe
Healthy Gluten free Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
For the Cookies
- 2 cups almond flour
- ¾ cup tapioca flour - plus more when rolling out the dough - at least ½ cup
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 2 Tbsp coconut oil - melted and cooled
For the Icing
- ⅔ cup powdered sugar or monk fruit powdered sugar - sub. melted coconut butter to make paleo
- 2 - 3 Tbsp unsweetened almond milk
- Sprinkles - optional, I love this all natural sprinkle brand
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F. In a bowl, whisk together the almond flour, tapioca flour, baking soda, and sea salt; set aside.
- In a separate bowl, add the egg, vanilla, maple syrup, and coconut oil and stir to combine.
- Slowly fold the flour mixture into the bowl with the egg, about ⅓ of the flour mixture at a time, until no flour clumps remain.
- Place a piece of parchment paper on a flat surface and sprinkle some tapioca flour on top. Place the dough on top and sprinkle a little more tapioca flour on top of the dough. Roll dough out to about ½ inch in thickness. Using cookie cutter, cut the dough into shapes and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or greased with oil. Bake for 9 - 11 minutes until they turn a golden brown color. Let cool before icing.
- For the icing, mix the powdered sugar and almond milk until the powdered sugar is dissolved. Use icing to frost cookies then dust with sprinkles.
- To store, allow the icing to dry all the way. Then place in an air-tight container. They will keep fresh for about 5 days on the counter and up to a week in the fridge.
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