These easy gluten free cookie recipes come after like most people, I attempted to make my own gluten free cookies with disastrous results. After spending way too much on ingredients only to have horrible tasting cookies that crumbled apart, I’ve learned now that the easiest and most cost affordable thing to do is start with a well respected, tested, and proven cookie mix and then start tweaking or manipulating it into a much better gluten free cookie – or make cookies that don’t involve flour.
While I’m sure eventually I’ll get brave enough to make cookies again on my own, especially because I would rather make a sugar free version, for now, the pre-made cake, brownie, and cookie mixes and recipes that don’t require flour are the way to go.
The first successful gluten free cookie I ever made is a recipe I used based on what I used to do when baking regular cookies. They’re called cake mix cookies, and they are very affordable and easy to make, and I was delighted to find out they worked out with the Betty Crocker gluten free cake mixes available in my grocery store. While two dozen cookies cost me over $6 to make, I still found that a much better deal than experimenting with costly flour blends and throwing them into the trash.
Here’s my Chocolate Chip Chocolate Cookie Cake Mix Recipe:
1 Package Betty Crocker Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Mix
1 egg or equivalent gluten free egg replacer substitute
3/4 stick of butter
1/2 cup gluten free chocolate chips
Powdered Sugar
Directions: In a large microwave safe mixing bowl, microwave for 20-30 seconds the 3/4 stick of butter so it’s softened/half melted. My mother used to take the butter out of the fridge and let it sit out for hours before making cookies, but these days who has time for that?
Beat in the egg and mix in the cake mix until all ingredients are well blended together. It may be sticky or it may be crumbly, depending on how melted your butter is. Feel free to experiment with more/less butter, but you have to be careful sometimes! Next, stir in the chocolate chips.
Once all of the ingredients are mixed together, roll into about 1/2 inch sized balls. (I’ve learned with gluten free baking, smaller cookies stay together better!) and roll in the powdered sugar and place on the baking sheet. (On a standard cookie sheet, I’d say you can fit about 3 rows across that are 4-5 cookies deep)
Bake for about 12-15 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Check them often – because of the flour used they’ll look like they’re done but they won’t actually be (will be runny/sticky). My test is to kind of “shake” the pan and see if the cookie jiggles. If they’re done, they don’t jiggle, if they’re not done, they do. You have to be careful though that you don’t burn them, too – otherwise you’ll have some tasty but hard to eat chocolate rocks!
Another variation of this recipe I’ve used for cake mix cookies is to before cooking them, roll them in either in a mixture of crushed almonds. These are a Christmas cookie favorite and staple for us!
Peanut Butter Cookies
Making gluten free peanut butter cookies is especially easy to do because you don’t really need flour at all – the peanut butter works very well as something to bind and hold it all together! If you’re someone who struggles with baking with gluten free flours, this is the perfect recipe for you.
Two cups creamy/chunky peanut butter (Depends if you want chunky or smooth cookies)
Two cups of sugar
Two teaspoons baking powder
Two eggs or egg replacer substitute
Directions: With a mixing spoon, mix the sugar, eggs, peanut butter, and baking soda together. (You should probably mix the baking soda with the sugar first to make sure it’s evenly distributed, but hey, if you’re like me and just start throwing stuff in a bowl, that’s okay, too)
Once all the ingredients are mixed together, get another few tablespoons of sugar in a bowl and roll the dough into 3/4 inch balls and then through the sugar and place on a lined baking sheet. Peanut butter cookies are best known for their trademark design with a fork, so once you have all of your cookies lined up on the baking sheet, you’ll want to take a fork and press it into the cookie to indent it criss-crossed. Bake for 8-10 minutes in a 350 degree oven.
Fun variations to this cookie include adding chocolate chips, or after they are baked, dip them into melted semi-sweet chocolate. You should get about 2 dozen cookies from this recipe, depending on how big you make them.
We’ll be likely posting many more gluten free cookie recipes, but these are two very easy ones that will leave you satisfied and cure your cookie cravings. Who knew a gluten free cookie recipe could be so easy and tasty at the same time?
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