Gluten-Free Easter Sugar Cookies
Easter is a perfect time to make a batch of gluten-free sugar cookies and have fun decorating them! Then put in a pretty tin. I love the bright colours! They are great on your table at Easter or as a hostess gift.
This is a very easy sugar cookie recipe. The dough comes together nicely. I love thin, crunchy sugar cookies and these deliver. The recipe makes about two dozen cookies depending on the size of your shapes. I got 29 cookies this time and I made an E for Easter out of the left over bit. Let cookies cool before you decorate. If making ahead of time I freeze them undecorated. You can freeze decorated cookies but the icing doesn't look as fresh and pretty.
Once cool let your imagination go wild. I like pastel colours at Easter. Make sure the sprinkles you use are gluten-free. I love using candies such as jelly beans for decorations and they add a nice extra chewiness to the cookie. You could also decorate them with coloured sugar or sprinkles before baking if you don't like icing.
Easter is a fun time to decorate with children! Put all the candies out in little bowls and let them decorate as you ice.
Yvonne's Gluten-Free Sugar Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp flavoring (I use vanilla extract or sometimes almond extract)
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 cups of your favorite gluten-free flour
- 1/2 cup ground almonds
Directions
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Cream the butter and sugar together.
- Add the egg and mix.
- Add the flavoring and the dry ingredients and mix till combined.
- Now you have two ways to roll out your dough. You can flour your rolling surface with gluten-free flour and roll out or you can put the dough between two pieces of wax or parchment paper and roll out. Put a little water under the bottom layer of paper to keep it in place as you roll. I like to use the parchment paper as I think it gives you a lighter cookie as no extra flour is being added, but either way works.
- I rolled mine to about a 1/4 of an inch in thickness, and then cut out into desired shapes.
- Line you baking tray with parchment paper. Lightly spray with cooking oil. Don't crowd the cookies.
- Now is the time to add sugar, coloured sugar or sprinkles on the cookies if you want the decorations to bake into the cookies instead of icing later.
- Bake for about 8 to 10 minutes in a 375 F oven. Be careful they don't burn.
- Cool and decorate as you wish.
I use a standing mixer to make my dough. A hand mixer works just as good. You can mix by hand too it just takes more time. I also like thin cookies so I try to roll them out as flat as possible.
Simple Glaze Icing
Ingredients
- 1 cup icing sugar
- 1 teaspoon butter, optional
- enough water to make a thick, smooth paste
- food colouring
- decorations - sprinkles, candy
Directions
- Melt butter
- Stir about 1 cup of icing sugar (confectioners sugar) with one teaspoon of butter and enough water to make a smooth but thick paste.
- Add food colouring and mix well.
- You can make multiple colours, each in their own bowl and them dip the cookies in the glaze.
- Time to decorate! Candies and sprinkles need to be added while the glaze icing is still wet.
- If you want to pipe icing decorations then let the base glaze dry. Put the piping icing in a piping bag or small ziplock bag with the tip cut off and enjoy making patterns.
- Let icing dry, and enjoy eating them! You can serve on a plate or in a tin. I keep mine in the fridge. They can be frozen but the icing won't look as pretty. If making ahead of time just freeze the undecorated cookies.
