Gluten Free Sugar Cookies for Valentine's Day

These gluten free sugar cookies are soft, buttery and sturdy enough to roll, cut and decorate, so nobody at the party will guess they're gluten free! Cut them into hearts, flood them with pink, red and white royal icing, and you've got the cutest gluten free Valentine cookies around.

The dough holds together well enough to cut into crisp little shapes, and the baked cookies aren't crumbly at all, so they're easy to ice. And best of all, they taste amazing. Even the gluten lovers in the family go back for seconds!

Key Ingredients & Substitutions

• Gluten free all-purpose flour. This is the base of the dough. Any good 1:1 blend works, and I like King Arthur Measure for Measure. Keep a little extra on hand for dusting your counter when you roll out the dough.
• Tapioca starch, potato starch and white rice flour. These three team up with the flour blend to give the cookies a tender, classic sugar cookie texture instead of a gritty one. Look for tapioca starch (sometimes sold as tapioca flour), potato starch (not potato flour) and white rice flour in the gluten free baking aisle.
• Xanthan gum. This is what holds gluten free dough together so you can roll and cut it. A small bag of xanthan gum lasts a long time. If your flour blend already contains xanthan gum, you can cut it back to 2 teaspoons.
• Shortening and butter. Using both gives you the best of each. Butter brings the flavor and shortening helps the cookies hold their shape in the oven. Use softened butter so it creams up nice and fluffy. All butter works too, but the edges won't be quite as sharp.
• Powdered sugar and granulated sugar. A mix of the two keeps the cookies sweet and tender with a soft bite.
• Eggs and vanilla. Three large eggs bind the dough, and a full tablespoon of pure vanilla gives these that bakery sugar cookie flavor.
• Royal icing. Plain egg whites and powdered sugar whip up into a smooth icing that dries hard and shiny. If you'd rather not use raw egg whites, use pasteurized egg whites from a carton or meringue powder instead.

Helpful Tips

Don't skip the chill. An hour in the refrigerator firms up the fats so the dough rolls out smoothly and the shapes stay crisp. If the dough gets soft while you work, pop it back in the fridge for 10 minutes.

Dust with gluten free flour. It's so easy to grab regular flour out of habit! Use your gluten free blend on the counter and the rolling pin so the cookies stay completely gluten free.

Roll to an even ¼ inch. Cookies that are all the same thickness bake at the same speed, so you won't end up with some too brown and others underdone. A heart cookie cutter set with a few different sizes makes for a fun mix on the platter.

Move them off the pan right away. Gluten free cookies are a bit fragile while they're hot. Use a thin spatula to slide them onto a cooling rack as soon as they come out of the oven, and let them cool completely before you ice them.

Make plenty of icing. This batch makes about 50 cookies, so the icing in the recipe card is a big batch on purpose. Tint it with gel food coloring, which gives you bright pinks and reds without thinning the icing.

Variations

• Sprinkle hearts. Skip the royal icing and press Valentine sprinkles or colored sanding sugar onto the dough before baking.
• Frosted sugar cookies. Swap the royal icing for a soft topping like this easy cream cheese frosting. Just keep the cookies in the fridge.
• Almond sugar cookies. Use 2 teaspoons of vanilla and 1 teaspoon of almond extract for a sweet, bakery-style flavor.
• Lemon or orange. Add a tablespoon of finely grated lemon or orange zest to the butter and sugar for a bright, fresh twist.
• Sandwich cookies. Cut small hearts out of the centers of half the cookies, then sandwich them with seedless raspberry jam.

Serving Ideas

Pile these on a big platter for a class party, an office treat or a Galentine's get-together. They also look so pretty tucked into cellophane bags tied with ribbon as Valentine's gifts for neighbors, teachers and friends who eat gluten free.

For a sweet spread, set them out with hot chocolate on a hot chocolate charcuterie board, or serve them alongside Valentine Red Velvet Cupcakes and a pot of coffee. Need more ideas for a party table? Our Valentine's Day desserts round-up has plenty.

Storing & Freezing

Let the icing dry completely, which takes a few hours (or overnight to be safe), with the cookies laid flat in a single layer. Then stack them with parchment between the layers in an airtight container at room temperature. They stay fresh for up to 1 week.

These cookies freeze well. Freeze undecorated baked cookies in a freezer bag for up to 3 months, then thaw them at room temperature before icing. You can also freeze the wrapped dough for up to 3 months and thaw it overnight in the refrigerator before rolling.

Iced cookies can be frozen too. Freeze them in a single layer until hard, then pack them in a container with parchment between the layers. Let them thaw in the container so condensation doesn't spot the icing.

More Valentine's Day Recipes

If you loved these cookies, here are a few more sweet treats for Valentine's Day:

• Valentine Red Velvet Cupcakes
• Valentine's Rice Krispie Treats
• Red Velvet Cake Mix Cookies
• Flourless Chocolate Cake with Dark Chocolate Ganache (gluten free)

Recipe