Holiday Iced Sugar Cookies

GF Sugar Main 1

Grain-Free, Vegan, Paleo + SCD Options🌟

Happy Monday, Friends!
I know, that never sounds quite right, does it. Monday does not often bring with it happiness.
Well, how about, Happy 4 Weeks Until Christmas?!

GF Sugar Cookie 1

Yes, that’s right, 4 weeks of frantic holiday planning, buying + baking! It all seems so distant in the future until Thanksgiving rolls in and then wham! You’re right smack into the holidays.🎅🏼🎄

GF Sugar Cookie 2

But never fear, because we have a lot of your grain-free baking needs covered! We’ve got delicious stuffing, cherry-cranberry pie, scd pumpkin pie, molasses cake, gingerbread cookies, rugelach, peppermint cheesecake and oh yes, the reason we’re here today of course— holiday sugar cookies!

These are soft and chewy, with a slight crunch to the edges– all that you’d hope a sugar cookie would be. And there are several scrumptiously fun frosting + decorating possibilities. Make sure to check out the tips below!

GF Sugar Cookie 4

Tips For Today:
-You can find all four versions of this recipe along with traditional + naturally sweetened varieties of our frosting at the end of this post below.
-Here is the link to our farmer cheese frosting, you’ll find it at the end of that post.
-To make a cookie ornament, we use a toothpick to round out a hole toward the top of the cookie. Make sure you leave enough space around it so it does not crack. Bake the ornament cookies longer, so they’ll firm up more during the cooling process + provide a sturdier structure for hanging.
-For the traditional and vegan versions, we used these gorgeous sprinkles from Sweet Lulus. They have a huge variety.
-I recommend two different natural food coloring dyes, you can find them here and here.
India Tree sells natural sprinkles as well.
-For sugarless toppings: Wilton makes edible metallic hearts and stars in pink, silver and gold. And edible gold dust.
-If you are interested in using royal icing instead of our “buttercream” below, CK makes a great mix, although it does contain some cornstarch. But a grain-free version can easily be made at home. There a several easy royal icing recipes online, just sub in Wholesome! brand powdered sugar (which is grainless).
-Here are links to pastry bags and tips.
If you’d like to see how we roll our cookies out, click here to view our gingerbread cookie photos.
lilaruthgrainfree 2

Happy Holiday Baking + Enjoy The Recipes!❤️

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GF Sugar Cookie 2

Holiday Iced Sugar Cookies (traditional version)


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No reviews

  • Author: Lila Ruth
  • Total Time: 45 min
  • Yield: 10-12 cookies 1x

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 1/2 cups almond flour (Bob’s Red Mill)
  • 3/4 cup potato starch (not potato flour)
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3 tablespoons of butter or Earth Balance Spread, melted
  • 1 egg
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • FROSTING:
  • 3 cups powdered sugar (Wholesome! brand is grain-free)
  • 1/2 cup butter or Earth Balance
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons milk or almond milk
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • Food coloring, sprinkles +royal icing (options in Tips section in post above)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together almond flour, potato starch, sugar + baking soda.
  3. Add melted butter, egg + vanilla extract. Work wet ingredients into dry ingredients until dough forms, let dough sit 5 minutes, it will be a bit sticky.
  4. Roll dough out in between 2 pieces of parchment paper (this way, it will not stick to rolling pin). You can use a little potato starch to dust with if you prefer.
  5. Cut out desired shapes, lift and peel cookies and place on parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10-12 minutes. They will be soft in the middle. Let them cool for 15 minutes uninterrupted before transferring them to a plate. Let them cool completely before decorating.
  6. While cookies are cooling, blend frosting ingredients together and place into piping bag. Decorate cookies as desired. Store any leftovers in an airtight container. Enjoy!
  • Prep Time: 30 min
  • Cook Time: 15 min

 

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GF Sugar Cookie Main

Holiday Iced Sugar Cookies (Vegan Version)


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No reviews

  • Author: Lila Ruth
  • Total Time: 45 min
  • Yield: 10-12 cookies 1x

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 1/2 cups almond flour (Bob’s Red Mill)
  • 3/4 cup potato starch (not potato flour)
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon guar gum
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 cup Earth Balance Soy Free Spread, melted
  • 3 tablespoons almond milk
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • FROSTING:
  • 3 cups powdered sugar (Wholesome! brand is grain-free)
  • 1/2 cup Earth Balance Spread
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons almond milk
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • Food coloring, sprinkles +royal icing (options in Tips section in post above)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together almond flour, potato starch, sugar, guar gum + baking soda.
  3. Add butter, almond milk + vanilla extract. Work wet ingredients into dry ingredients until dough forms, let dough sit 5 minutes, it will be a bit sticky.
  4. Roll dough out in between 2 pieces of parchment paper (this way, it will not stick to rolling pin).
  5. Cut out desired shapes, lift and peel cookies and place on parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10-12 minutes. They will be soft in the middle. Let them cool for 15 minutes uninterrupted before transferring them to a plate. Let them cool completely before decorating.
  6. While cookies are cooling, blend frosting ingredients together. Then place frosting into a piping bag and decorate as desired. Store any leftovers in an airtight container. Enjoy!
  • Prep Time: 30 min
  • Cook Time: 15 min

 

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GF Sugar Cookie 1

Holiday Iced Sugar Cookies (paleo version)


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No reviews

  • Author: Lila Ruth
  • Total Time: 45 min
  • Yield: 10-12 cookies 1x

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 1/2 cups almond flour (Bob’s Red Mill)
  • 1/2 cup arrowroot flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 3 tablespoons Earth Balance (Soy-Free or Coconut Spread)
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon almond milk
  • FROSTING:
  • 2/3 cup Spectrum Shortening (or Earth Balance Spread Coconut Spread)
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1/3 cup egg white powder (Hoosier Hill Farms) or plain egg white protein powder will do.
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons arrowroot flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • Natural food coloring options along with sugarless toppers in “Tips” section in post above.

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together almond flour, arrowroot starch, and baking soda.
  3. Add honey, Earth Balance, vanilla extract + almond milk and work through until dough forms. Dough will be a bit sticky, let dough rest for 5 minutes.
  4. Roll out dough between two sheets of parchment paper, the top layer of paper will keep it from sticking to the rolling pin. Cut cookies into desired shapes.
  5. Gently peel and lift cookie cutouts and transfer to parchment lined baking sheet.
  6. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes–you want them to be a little soft. Let them cool on the baking sheet, they will firm up a bit during the cooling process.
  7. Blend frosting ingredients together with hand mixer while you’re waiting for your cookies to cool. Chill frosting for 10 minutes in freezer, it will firm up a touch. Blend again, frost and decorate as desired. Store leftovers in an airtight container. Enjoy!
  • Prep Time: 30 min
  • Cook Time: 15 min

 

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GF Sugar Cookie 4

Holiday Iced Sugar Cookies (scd version)


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No reviews

  • Author: Lila Ruth
  • Total Time: 45 min
  • Yield: 10-12 cookies 1x

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 1/2 cups almond flour 
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1.5 tablespoon almond milk
  • FROSTING: (link to our farmer cheese frosting above in tips section)
  • 2/3 cup Spectrum Shortening or butter
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup egg white powder (Hoosier Hill Farms) or plain egg white protein powder will do.
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • natural food coloring (plant based varieties) links in “tips” section in post above.

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together almond flour and baking soda. Cut butter into flour with a pastry cutter or fork.
  3. Add honey, almond milk + vanilla extract and work through by hand until dough starts to form. Dough will be a bit sticky, let dough rest for 5 minutes.
  4. Roll out dough between two sheets of parchment paper, the top layer of paper will keep it from sticking to the rolling pin. Cut cookies into desired shapes.
  5. Gently peel and lift cookie cutouts and transfer carefully to parchment lined baking sheet.
  6. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes–when they’re ready, they will still be soft but starting to brown a touch around the edges. Let them cool completely on the baking sheet–DO NOT move them, they will firm up during the cooling process.
  7. Blend frosting ingredients together with hand mixer while you’re waiting for your cookies to cool. Chill frosting for 10 minutes in freezer, it will thicken. Blend frosting again, place into piping bag and decorate as desired. Store leftovers in an airtight container. Enjoy!
  • Prep Time: 30 min
  • Cook Time: 15 min

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16 Comments

  1. These are hands down the most beautiful iced sugar cookies! They really bring out the magic in Christmas. I can’t wait to have our traditional family baking day. Even though my boys are adults now, they still love Christmas cookie baking & decorating. Thank you Catherine for these beautiful recipes!

    1. Oh thank you so much for your kind words, my friend! I know your Christmas cookies + cakes must be absolutely gorgeous! And I can imagine your boys love to bake with you just as much now as they always did–you’re never too old for Christmas baking! 😀

  2. Happy 4 weeks until Christmas!! That’s so hard to believe! You are saving the day with all these delicious recipes!! Thank you! These are absolutely stunning! I love all the beautiful magical colors , they looks so delightful! I can’t wait to make them Thank you for sharing how to roll out the dough along with pictures, this helps me huge. I never knew about the healthier version of food coloring great idea! I’m so excited to make these with my family this year!!

    1. I know, right?! I’m so excited but as always, so much to do!! And I’m so delighted you like these! Thank you sweet Natalie for your kind words + hope you guys will love the recipe! They’re so much fun to make as a family!:D

  3. These look so yummy, and that frosting!! I want to try the vegan ones but I don’t have guar gum. Can I substitute with xanthan gum instead?

    1. Hi Emily! Thanks so much! 😀 And yes, you can definitely sub in the xanthan gum, no problem! I hope you enjoy the recipe!

    1. Hello! The 3.5 cups is correct. There is no potato starch or sugar in the SCD version, but there is additional almond flour. It does lead to a slightly larger batch overall, but the recipe is tested, tried + true (and delicious too)! Hope you enjoy it 😀

    1. I’m so very sorry for the glitch!!!! We’ve gone in and corrected it, it’s 1.5 tbsp of almond milk. I hope you enjoy the cookies!!

      1. Thank you! I actually made them before you responded and used 1 Tablespoon…worked out just fine and my 11-year old SCD-er LOVES them! Thank you!

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