The Best Gluten-Free Cookie Recipes
Whether you have a gluten intolerance or just want to mix up your dessert repertoire to make sure it is inclusive for all your guests, this collection of irresistible gluten-free cookies is sure to please. From classic sugar cookies to a crinkle cookie made with gluten-free pretzels, there's something here for everyone. Get ready to bake a batch of goodness!
Gluten-Free Cacao Nib Meringues
Made with chocolate, cacao, and cocoa, these intensely flavored meringues have a delicate, crispy exterior with a soft, chewy, marshmallow-like interior. Plus, with only 5 ingredients and less than half an hour of active preparation, they come together seamlessly.
Chocolate Pretzel Crinkle Cookies
Chocolate crinkle cookies are often more cloying than satisfying. By substituting the flour with Glutino pretzels, this version of the holiday staple is not only gluten-free but also perfectly salty-sweet, with the best-ever chewy center.
Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies
Classic sugar cookies get the gluten-free treatment in this recipe with cinnamon, nutmeg and almond extract that give this cookie dough a nice hint of spice. But letting the dough rest overnight to better hydrate the flour is the secret to the tender texture of these sugar cookies. When you roll out the dough, place it between two pieces of parchment so it doesn't stick to the counter, and be sure to flour your cookie cutters. We suggest topping the cookies with a classic vanilla-scented icing and sparkling sugar to make them fit any occasion that calls for cookies.
Peanut Butter Cookie Moon Pies
Gluten-free peanut butter cookies can be sandwiched with marshmallow cream and dipped in melted chocolate for a delicious gluten-free treat. For a less-sweet moon pie, dip the cookies in dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate.
Fun and Fancy Macarons
To add an extra-festive holiday touch to macarons, pastry chef Paola Velez paints them with several different colors of edible shimmering luster dust. As for the filling? Pick from homemade dark chocolate ganache, or store-bought holiday jam, apple butter, or firm caramel sauce. The macarons can be made in advance and frozen; wait to fill until ready to serve.
Frosted Brownie Cookies
Fudgy, chocolaty and huge, these cookies are for people who like decadent, over-the-top desserts. The key to this recipe is Silvana’s gluten-free all-purpose flour recipe that combines rice flour, tapioca flour, potato starch, and xanthan gum.
Crunchy Peanut Butter Cookies
Peanut butter binds these super nutty flourless cookies from Southern cook Elizabeth Woodson, a former art director at F&W. Better yet, these little delicacies come together in less than half an hour. Use a fork to make a crosshatch pattern on each cookie for a simple decoration.
Gluten-Free Triple-Chocolate Coconut Krembos
Airy meringue piped into tall swirls sits atop rich chocolate ganache resting on crumbly, buttery coconut cookies before being coated in a dark chocolate magic shell for the ultimate homemade treat. Keep Krembos without a magic shell in the freezer, and dip a few hours before serving for an impressive make-ahead dessert.
Mudslide Meringues
Swirled with chocolate syrup and a creamy concoction of vodka, coffee liqueur, and Baileys Irish Cream, the mudslide cocktail gives off adult chocolate milk vibes. To distill the cocktail’s essence into a cookie, baker Laurie Ellen Pellicano pairs light and silky espresso meringue with a rich chocolate base to yield a cloudlike, chewy treat with a shattery, marble-streaked exterior. This cookie has a transcendent texture comparable to eating only the crispy part of the brownie.
Coconut Macaroons
These sweet and chewy two-bite macaroons have only five ingredients (not including the delicious bittersweet-chocolate drizzle). Baker Danny Cohen, a.k.a. Danny Macaroons, doesn't think all macaroons have to be round. “Make whatever shape you want,” he says. “There are no rules.”
