Snappy and thin, these Gluten Free Butter Cookies are deliciously buttery and Nut Free, Dairy Free, and Sugar Free. Perfect as an accompaniment to tea or as a light snack, these Gluten Free Butter Cookies are sure to win you over.
I love it when friends make recipe requests. The biggest motivation for me is cooking for the people I love, and I also love the challenge of figuring out a recipe that someone needs. I suppose I should say “wants”, but, come on, there are definitely days when we NEED cookies.
This request for Butter Cookies comes from a very special friend, Karla. She is an amazing young woman and mom and therapist-in-training, and she is wise beyond her years. We met about 15 years ago, because she was one of my high school students! When I left that school and moved out of state, I gave out my e-mail to anyone who wanted to keep in touch. Some students did for some time, but with Karla, the e-mails never stopped, and over the years, as the age gap lessened and especially after we both became moms, our friendship became deeper.
I think it’s very special to have friends across different generations. She keeps me young, and I am always curious to understand how she sees the world from younger eyes. I’m immensely proud of her for being so perseverant in pursuing her career. She’s just a few months away from finishing her master’s degree, and I know how hard it has been, but she never gives up. I’m speechless with pride.
So… here are the desired Butter Cookies – sweetened only with a little maple syrup. They’re cookies that you can feel good about sending with your kids to school (they’re Nut Free!) or indulging in yourself. I really love being able to tell my daughter that she can have as many cookies as she wants of home-baked cookies, because everything I bake is low in sugar.
These Gluten Free Butter Cookies are also the base for my Sandwich Cookies recipe which is one of my personal favorites.
Why You’ll LOVE this Recipe:
- Gluten Free
- Nut Free
- Dairy Free
- Sugar Free
- Low Cholesterol
- Low FODMAP
Ingredients for Gluten Free Butter Cookies:
- Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour
- Cornstarch
- baking powder
- kosher salt
- Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks
- egg yolks
- vanilla extract
- maple syrup
- cold water
Notes on Ingredients:
Cornstarch – Cornstarch is the magic ingredient that makes these cookies crispier and snappier.
Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks – Make sure your shortening is cold, straight out of the fridge. Making these cookies is more like making pie crust. We want it “short” which mean that the butter isn’t creamed and fluffy. We want the cookies to snap and to have a deep buttery flavor.
Egg yolks – Using just the egg yolks instead of a whole egg means that we’re getting the fat and moisture from the eggs so that the cookies maintain the perfect tenderness while still being snappy. The egg yolks also help with the color, so that the cookies really look golden and buttery.
Cold water – Instead of using another source of moisture, we want water here (just like in a pie crust) so that the steam from the water and from the shortening creates some thin layers within the cookies which makes the cookies snappy (in a pie crust, the result would be a “flaky” crust).
How to Make Gluten Free Butter Cookies From Scratch
Make the Cookie Dough
Combine the dry ingredients first. In a small bowl, whisk together the Gluten Free Flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt.
Take your Earth Balance straight out of the fridge (you want it to be cold). Chop the Earth Balance into small chunks. Add to the dry ingredients, and use your fingers to rub the Earth Balance into the flour until the mixture looks like wet sand. This is very much like the technique used for making pie dough.
Add the egg yolks, maple syrup, and vanilla. Mix until incorporated. I just used my hands – you could use a spoon, but I like being able to squeeze the dough to help it to combine well.
Now, you need to add the water. There are a lot of factors that can affect how much water you will need including the weather and your geographic location, so we’re going to add the water ONE TABLESPOON AT A TIME. It is so easy to just add more water if needed – it is NOT easy to deal with a dough that is too wet. So. Adding one tablespoon at a time and mixing until the water is completely incorporated, add 6-8 tablespoons of cold water until the mixture holds together. Use your hands to mix the dough after each addition of cold water. Your cookie dough should feel like dough, not like a mud pie. You don’t want it to be slippery and sloppy. It should feel like something the could be rolled out into cookies.
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 15 minutes. I have found that gluten free doughs just don’t need as much time in the fridge as regular doughs with gluten. For one, we’re not trying to “relax the gluten” and “prevent gluten development”, because there is NO gluten. Also, if gluten free dough gets too cold and hard, it’s really difficult to roll out. I found that 15 minutes is perfect.
Roll Out the Cookies
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line two baking sheets with Silpat mats or parchment paper.
Take the cookie dough out of the fridge. Roll out the cookie dough between two sheets of parchment paper until about 2 cm thick. You want the dough to be thin but not so thin that you can’t move the cut-out cookies from the parchment paper to the baking tray. Sprinkle gluten free flour under and on top of the dough before rolling out to prevent sticking.
Use a 2 inch round crenellated cutter to cut out the cookies. Transfer them to the prepared baking sheets.
Bake the Cookies
Bake for 10-12 minutes. The cookies will be quite pale, but the edges should be turning golden.
Allow cookies to cool completely before eating. They will be soft right out of the oven, but they will become snappy once they are cool. Enjoy!
More Delicious Nut Free Recipes
Gluten Free Nut Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
Gluten Free Nut Free Vanilla Cupcakes with Marshmallow Frosting
Gluten Free Belgian Waffles with Yeast – Nut Free
Gluten Free Cinnamon Thins Cookies – Nut Free
Gluten Free Butter Cookies – Nut Free Sugar Free Dairy Free
Ingredients
- 250 g Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour
- 120 g cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks, 1 stick, cold
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 4 teaspoon maple syrup
- 6-8 tablespoon cold water
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together the Gluten Free Flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt.
- Chop the Earth Balance into small chunks. Add to the dry ingredients, and use your fingers to rub the Earth Balance into the flour until the mixture looks like wet sand.
- Add the egg yolks, maple syrup, and vanilla. Mix until incorporated.
- Adding one tablespoon at a time and mixing until the water is completely incorporated, add 6-8 tablespoons of cold water until the mixture holds together. Use your hands to mix the dough after each addition of cold water.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Line two baking sheets with Silpat mats or parchment paper.
- Roll out the cookie dough between two sheets of parchment paper until about 2 cm thick. You want the dough to be thin but not so thin that you can’t move the cut-out cookies from the parchment paper to the baking tray. Sprinkle gluten free flour under and on top of the dough before rolling out to prevent sticking.
- Use a 2 inch round crenellated cutter to cut out the cookies. Transfer them to the prepared baking sheets.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes. The cookies will be quite pale, but the edges should be turning golden.
- Allow cookies to cool completely before eating. They will be soft right out of the oven, but they will become snappy once they are cool.
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