The Best Gluten-Free Christmas Cookies

Basic Ingredients You’ll Need

Of course, all gluten-free cookie recipes are different, but there are a few different gluten-free ingredient staples you can count on using when making gluten-free Christmas cookies of all kinds including a variety of flours, binders, and pantry staples!

Grain Free & Gluten-Free Flours

Depending on what kind of cookies you’re making, you will most likely need to use at least one of the gluten-free flour alternatives below. However, each flour gives a different texture. So, it’s important to follow the instructions carefully and make proper adjustments if you swap out the flours!

• Almond Flour – Perfect for gluten-free and paleo cookies, almond flour is made from finely ground almonds and can be used to replace traditional wheat flours.
• Coconut Flour – Gluten-free and paleo, and made with healthy fats, coconut flour is a great option for a wide variety of baked goods.
• Gluten-Free rolled oats or Oat Flour – Similar to almond flour, oat flour is an easy way to replace gluten-containing wheat flour without heavily altering the taste or texture of traditional cookie recipes!
• Gluten-Free Rice Rice Flour – Gluten-Free Rice Flour is a great gluten-free flour alternative that results in perfectly spongy cakes, cookies, and more.
• 1:1 All Purpose Flour – An easy to work with blend, 1:1 gluten-free flour can replace regular wheat flour with ease in everything except those recipes containing yeast.
• All Purpose Gluten-Free Flour – Unlike 1:1 gluten-free flour blends, all purpose gluten-free flour is made without xanthan or guar gums, making it a super versatile option for nearly any baked good.
• Gluten-Free Flour Blend – This homemade gluten-free flour blend features not one but two different variations with a regular all-purpose gluten-free flour blend and a 1:1 baking blend to cover all your gluten-free recipe needs.

Binders & Egg Replacers

For gluten-free recipes and those that have been made vegan or without eggs, there needs to be something that holds the ingredients together. That’s where binders come into play!

• Arrowroot or Tapioca Starch – Used somewhat interchangeably, these starches function as binders in egg-free Christmas cookie recipes. They also provide volume for that soft, fluffy texture everyone loves!
• Flaxseed or Chia Seed – When combined with water, flaxseed can be used to replace the eggs in cookie recipes. It also acts similarly to gluten and adds moisture and softness to cookies.

Extra Components for The Best Texture

Of course, the primary ingredients of whatever gluten-free cookie you’re making are crucial to the recipe’s success. However, you don’t want to skip over the details either! Incorporating the ingredients below will result in enhanced flavors, improved textures, and more!

• Nut or Seed Butter such as Peanut Butter, Almond Butter, Cashew Butter, or Sunflower Seed Butter – Not only are nut and seed butters delicious and can be used to add flavor to cookies, bars, cakes, brownies, muffins, and more, but they can also be used as a replacement for butter and even eggs in recipes!

• Baking Powder – Without getting too nerdy here, baking powder adds carbon dioxide to your cookie batter, allowing the cookies to rise and spread. Read more about how baking powder works.
• Baking Soda – Due to the fact that baking soda is alkaline, it causes baked goods to rise when it encounters an acidic ingredient such as sour cream, buttermilk, or brown sugar.
• Coconut Palm Sugar or Brown Sugar – Depending on what type of gluten-free Christmas cookies you’re making, brown sugar plays a wide variety of roles. Light brown sugar is used more commonly than regular brown sugar and is an acidic substance. It can help some cookies spread, keep others from spreading, contribute to a soft texture, or even create a crunchy cookie, depending on how it’s used in conjunction with other ingredients.
• Granulated Sugar or Monk Fruit Sweetener – Neutral in flavor, granulated sugar is most commonly used simply to contribute to the sweetness of cookies and enhance the other flavors without being overpowering. Or, use a Monk Fruit sweetener for an unrefined-sugar substitute suitable for a wide variety of diets including paleo, vegan, and more!
• Flavor Enhancers – It’s hard to find a cookie recipe that doesn’t include flavor-enhancing ingredients such as salt and vanilla extract. They’re crucial to bringing out the taste of the rest of the ingredients.