Easy Gluten Free Drop Sugar Cookie Recipe (2024)

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If you need easy gluten free drop sugar cookies, look no further! This gluten free drop sugar cookie recipe requires no rolling cookie dough, and no chilling. Ultra chewy gluten free drop sugar cookies will quickly become your go-to recipe!

Easy Gluten Free Drop Sugar Cookie Recipe (1)

How do you make Easy Gluten Free drop Sugar Cookies?

I'm famous for my gluten free sugar cookies.

They are cakey and lightly sweet (just like those Lofthouse cookies in the plastic clam-shells at the grocery store.)

These super easy, chewy cookies are like my frosted sugar cookies sparkly cousin. (Sparkly because of all the sugar they are rolled in.)

They have all of the same ingredients, but the ratios have changed slightly so that your gluten free drop sugar cookies will gently spread in the oven into chewy, sparkly rounds.

More sugar to butter equals a chewy gluten free drop sugar cookie with crisp edges.
Less flour equals an easy gluten free drop sugar cookie that will spread on its own (which means no rolling pin or chilling required. Hurrah!)

Perfect with a glass of milk, or get fancy and add some frosting on top.

How do you make gluten free drop sugar cookies from scratch?

This gluten free sugar drop cookie dough couldn't be easier!

It requires no chilling.

Simply mix the dough together, scoop into a small bowl of sugar, roll to coat, and place on your baking sheet.

What do you need to make gluten free sugar cookie dough?

To make gluten free drop sugar cookie dough you'll need:

Butter- You can use dairy-free/vegan butter or palm shortening, or you can use softened dairy butter.
White (Granulated) Sugar- I haven't tried many granulated sugar substitutes but I suspect they'll work fine.
Eggs- You can use regular chicken eggs, or an egg substitute. Bob's
Red Mill's Egg Replacer is my favorite, but it should also work with Ener-G or a flax egg.
Baking Soda- Helps your cookies to spread.
Xanthan gum- Replace the structure that gluten gives traditional cookie. If you are using a gluten-free flour blend that already has xanthan gum, go ahead and omit the xanthan gum the recipe calls for.
Vanilla extract- For flavor! You can also use lemon extract, almond extract, or any extract your heart desires for a different flavor twist.
Gluten Free Flour- I use my own gluten free flour blend, but another blend may work well.IF you are substituting a different gluten-free four, please read the section down below with essential tips for swapping gluten-free flours, they don't all work the same

To mix the dough, first you'll need butter and sugar.

Cream them together until fluffy and then beat in the egg.

(I like using my stand mixer or my electric handheld mixer, however you can make this dough using just a bowl, spoon, and a lot of elbow grease.)

Next, add the baking soda, xanthan gum, and vanilla and mix until combined.

I add these ingredients before the gluten free flour to ensure they get evenly distributed.

Last but not least, add the gluten free flour.

(Keep reading, I've got some important gluten free flour notes below that are crucial to your gluten free chewy drop sugar cookie success!)

Here come the sparkles!

Scoop your gluten free drop sugar cookie dough using a cookie scoop, and give it a quick dip in granulated sugar.

Or you can be super lazy, like I normally am.

Scoop your gluten free drop sugar cookie dough and drop it directly onto your cookie sheet, then sprinkle the top liberally with granulated sugar.

How do you measure gluten free flour?

When baking with gluten free flour is it essential to measure your gluten free flour very carefully.

Whisking your gluten free flour (or if it is in a container, give it a good shake.) This ensures the flour is well combined and it is aerated.
Carefully scoop your gluten free flour into a measuring cup USING A SPOON. Don't scoop the flour directly with the cup. You'll inadvertently get too much gluten free flour.
Level your measuring cup off with a knife, or using the handle of the spoon. I have some self-leveling measuring cups that I love. If I'm using them, I never forget to level off my gluten free flour.

What gluten free flour do you use for drop sugar cookies?

I tested this recipe with my gluten free flour blend.

You can certainly use another gluten free flour, but you may need a little less flour depending on the absorption rate.

I've discovered that both Bob's Red Mill's 1 to 1 gluten free flour and Ryze's Blue Bag Gluten Free Flour need a little less gluten free flour than what I use in my recipes.

You can always add more flour but you can't take it away.

So do yourself a favor and if you are using any gluten free flour than mine, start with 1 cup of gluten free flour.

Bake a single cookie to test how it spreads.If it comes out too thin and crispy, add more flour to get a thicker cookie.

Easy Gluten Free Drop Sugar Cookie Recipe (3)

How do you make gluten free drop sugar cookies vegan?

I've made this easy gluten free drop sugar cookie recipe vegan many times! All you need are a few easy substitutions and you'll be set.

What do you use instead of butter to make gluten free drop sugar cookies vegan?

Instead of the butter, use your favorite vegan butter or palm shortening.

I've found best results when I use half vegan butter and half palm shorting (take the total amount of butter and divide it in half and use that measurement for each).

The reason I like using half vegan butter and half palm shortening is that sometimes vegan butter can make the cookies have a "fake butter" taste.

The vegan butter can also melt too quickly, resulting in oily cookies.

The palm shortening melts slower, helping the cookie to spread not to much and not too little, but just the right amount.

The palm shortening is also unflavored, and when combined with the vegan butter I feel like I get the perfect taste.

What do you use instead of eggs to make gluten free drop sugar cookies vegan?

Now that the dairy is out of the way, you just need an egg substitute.

My go-to is a flax egg (for each egg, 1 tablespoon flax meal mixed with 3 tablespoons hot water and let sit for 5 minutes to gel) and I also really love Bob's Red Mill's Egg Replacer.

I haven't tested, but have heard great things about Ener-G Egg Replacer, and aquafaba (the liquid from a can of chickpeas).

Can I make sugar cookies without sugar?

Great question! This recipe may work with a sugar substitute, but I haven't tested any.

If you are looking for a low-sugar recipe, I'd recommend my friend Taylor's Low Sugar Healthy Sugar Cookies .

Want more cookie recipes like this one?

Check out my cookbook, Gluten-Free Cookies All Year Round, for more than 60 gluten-free & allergy friendly cookie recipes for every occasion.

Check it out!

📖 Recipe

Gluten Free Drop Sugar Cookies Recipe

Yield: 1 ½ dozen gluten free sugar cookies

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Easy gluten free sugar cookies with no chilling or rolling required! Easy drop cookies that make perfectly chewy gluten free sugar cookies.

Ingredients

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the egg and mix until smooth.
Add the vanilla extract, salt, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, and gluten-free flour and mix until combined.
Scoop the dough using a 1 ½ tablespoon cookie scoop, roll in additional sugar or colored sanding sugar, and place on the prepared baking sheet. You may also sprinkle each cookie with a little sugar instead of dipping or rolling each cookie dough ball.
Bake for 8-10 minutes.

Notes

If you like your sugar cookies thinner with golden crispy edges and a chewy center, decrease the flour to 1 cup.

I used Earth Balance as my vegan butter in this recipe. I have the best dairy free results using 4 tablespoons vegan butter with 2 tablespoons palm shortening. Or you can use 6 tablespoons of softened butter if you can do dairy.

Did you make this recipe?

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Easy Gluten Free Drop Sugar Cookie Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How do you keep gluten-free cookies from falling apart? ›

Chilling helps the flours and xanthan gum absorb liquid, which makes the dough sturdier and easier to handle. Without a proper rest, your cookies are likely to crumble. Think of mix-ins as the Spanx of the cookie world. They are a sly way to ensure that your cookies look like cookies, not misshapen gluten-free blobs.

Why poke holes in sugar cookies? ›

The holes trick

There's also a new technique going around when preventing craters in a second layer of icing: poke holes in the base flood (under the area you'll cover with a second layer of icing). You can even do this when the first layer flood has completely dried!

How do you get sugar cookie dough to stick together? ›

Add more liquid

To fix dry and crumbly cookie dough by adding more liquid, start slowly by mixing in one extra teaspoon at a time. Add more of whatever liquid is in the original recipe, be it water, eggs, or milk (for example). Stop before it gets wet or too sticky and rest it before baking.

Explore More ›

What is the best gluten-free flour for cookies? ›

What's the best gluten-free flour for baking? Bob's Red Mill gluten-free 1-to-1 baking mix is my favorite gluten-free all-purpose flour blend for baking. It has a mild texture and plenty of "stick" thanks to a blend of sweet rice flour, brown rice flour, and sorghum flour, plus some starches and xanthan gum.

Discover More Details ›

What happens when you use gluten-free flour in cookies? ›

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.

Get More Info Here ›

What holds gluten-free cookies together? ›

Binding agents (such as xanthan gum, guar gum, or flax) help give gluten-free baked goods the elasticity needed to create structure — so if your favorite gluten-free flour mix doesn't contain one, you'll probably want to add one.

Know More ›

Why do gluten-free cookies crumble? ›

Gluten-free flour is not a perfect substitute for wheat flour. Each mixture out there is designed to mostly work in certain kinds of recipe, but not in all of them. And yes, it is perfectly normal for a gluten-free cookie to be crumbly, since it is the gluten itself that holds wheat cookes together.

Learn More ›

Why are gluten-free cookies so crumbly? ›

Another reason is that gluten-free flours, such as almond flour or coconut flour, can behave differently than wheat flour in baking. They may absorb more liquid, for example, which can result in dry or crumbly cookies.

Get More Info ›

How to bind gluten-free cookies? ›

If your blend doesn't have a binder a good rule of thumb is to add ¼ teaspoon of xanthan gum for every 1 cup of gluten free flour. This changes depending on the type of recipe you're making so it's simply a guide.

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Why is gluten free baking crumbly? ›

The Gluten Free Cake is Dry or Crumbly:

If your cake is dry, most likely you didn't use enough liquid ingredients (or you had too much flour.) See above for gluten free flour measuring tips. Another cause of a dry cake is overbaking. If you bake your cake too long, moisture is baked out of the cake.