Girls, this is it. Part two. The sugar to my spice. Welcome to the wide world of sugar cookery. (Well, that makes it sound like I’m bubbling up some glorious sugar art inspired by the carbon copy Food Network Challenge specials. I’m sorry to disappoint, I won’t be making a Lisa Frank tableau in sugar.)
I was just about to say that this recipe wasn’t too difficult to test and that I finished it in 3 batches (unusually low). Then I remembered I’ve been working on a sugar cookie recipe for almost as long as this site has existed. Every iteration was somewhat lacking, although I’d be hard pressed to tell you just what was missing. I tried every variety of sugar under the sun (agave to palm) and vacillated between rolled out holiday cookies to sugar dusted drop cookies. Nothing was good enough to release into the wild. And then I made this batch. Simply put, they are the simplest of the bunch. And so it is with great pride and joy that I birth this recipe for sugar cookies and cross another treat off my list.
This dough is excellently flexible. Roll it into balls, top it with sugar and bake off some crystalline sugar cookies, roll the balls in cinnamon for a snickerdoodly treat, or roll the whole batch of dough out onto your counter and go to town with some cookie cutters. I’ll be making a batch of these and a batch of my Molasses Spice Bombs to populate my holiday cookie platters this year. That makes it sound like I have a tradition of cookie platters. I do not.
LET THE PLATTERING BEGIN!
Free of Gluten, Dairy, Corn, Soy, Nuts and Tree Nuts.
- 2/3 cup Sweet Rice Flour
- 2/3 cup White Rice Flour
- 1/3 cup Brown Rice Flour
- 1/3 cup Tapioca Starch
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Xanthan Gum
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 3/4 cup Coconut Oil (in its hard form)
- 3/4 cup Sugar (raw, cane, palm-I’ve used them all)
- 1 Egg
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- Cinnamon and/or sugar for dusting
Get Busy
- Whisk together the dry ingredients to make a complete flour blend.
- Using a stand mixer or electric hand mixer cream the coconut oil and sugar together in a large bowl. Whip them for about 3 minutes or until the sugar and oil have formed a more perfect union.
- Add the egg and vanilla and continue to beat until they are totally incorporated.
- Stir the dry ingredients into the wet mixture (you can use your stand/hand mixer or break out a good wooden spoon and take the dough into your arms).
- Cover the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
- When you take the dough out of the fridge it will be stiff. Knead it back to life until it is pliable but still cold. If you’re making round cookies, pinch off some dough and roll it between your hands. Pour some cinnamon and/or sugar into a bowl and roll the dough ball in it. Shake off the excess and place the dough on your cookie sheet. Flatten the cookie with the palm of your hand until it is about 1/4 inch thick.
- If you’re making rolled out cookies, dust your counter with some extra rice flour and roll the dough out until it is about 1/4 inch thick. Have at it with your cookie cutters.
- Baking times will be different for each cookie. Non-rolled cookies: 14-17 minutes. Rolled Cookies: 10-12 minutes.
- Let the cookies cool on the trays for five minutes before removing them to a cooling rack.
- Cookie platter!
Prep. Time: 15 minutes active, 60 minutes chilling
Baking Time: 14-17 minutes for non-rolled cookies, 10-12 minutes for rolled cookies
Yield: ~2 dozen cookies