Almond Flour Sugar Cookies

 

Sweet and buttery, with crisp edges and chewy centers, these almond flour sugar cookies are naturally gluten free. Enjoy them plain, or dress them up with sprinkles or frosting. You need just a couple bowls to whip up these gluten-free sugar cookies—no mixer required!

If you’ve been searching for a soft-centered sugar cookie that just happens to be gluten free—not sandy, not dry, not crumbly—your search ends here! These almond flour sugar cookies are sweet and buttery with crisp edges and satisfyingly chewy

centers.

The almond flour adds a subtle nuttiness that makes these taste like a classic sugar cookie, but with just a little something extra. Taste testers were surprised to learn they were gluten free!

Keep them simple, mix in sprinkles, or top them with cookie decorating buttercream… they are also wonderful warm, straight off the cooling rack. (My team and I have done the research.)

Today’s almond flour sugar cookies don’t just taste good for a gluten-free cookie… they’re just plain delicious. The flavor! The chew! Everything you love in a sugar cookie.

Ingredients You Need

1.     Fine Blanched Almond Flour: Look for the kind labeled “fine” or “super-fine” blanched almond flour. Unblanched almond flour (which is made from whole almonds with the skins) or coarse-ground almond meal will both yield a gritty cookie.

2.     Cornstarch or Tapioca Starch: Essential for soft, chewy results in a gluten-free cookie. Our tests found cornstarch produced slightly better browning and a pleasantly chewier texture.

3.     Baking Powder & Baking Soda: For rise and spread.

4.     Salt: For flavor.

5.     Butter: We’re using melted butter here, which brings deep, rich buttery flavor and makes the dough wonderfully easy to mix—no mixer needed. It also helps keep the cookies chewy and tender, especially important in a gluten-free dough.

6.     Sugar: Granulated and brown sugar sweeten these almond flour sugar cookies. You also need a little more granulated sugar for coating the cookie dough balls in before baking.

7.     Egg: To bind all the ingredients together. Extra important when you don’t have gluten for structure.

8.     Vanilla & Almond Extracts: The same flavors you’ll find in my regular sugar cookies!

Tip: If you’d like to mix sprinkles into the dough, reach for the jimmies-style strands. Nonpareils bleed their color in cookie dough and cake batter.

How to Make Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies

This almond flour sugar cookie dough comes together quickly with just a couple bowls, a whisk, and a spatula. Combine the dry ingredients and then the wet ingredients. The dough is very soft from the melted butter, so it needs to chill for at least 2 hours before you can shape and bake the cookies.

Once it has firmed up, use a medium cookie scoop to shape 1.5-Tablespoon portions (about 28–30g each) of dough, roll into balls, and roll them in granulated sugar to coat.

Place them on a lined baking sheet and use the bottom of a measuring cup to gently flatten the cookie dough balls. These almond flour cookies won’t spread much on their own without a little head start.

Let the gorgeously crackled cookies cool and continue to set on the baking sheet for a little while, then enjoy!