This basic gluten-free vegan vanilla cut-out cookies recipe is super easy to make and is perfect for gifting and holiday cookie swaps. It's one of my favorite cut-out recipes as it can be made and ready within half an hour {no chilling required} and it's a very sturdy and easy to work with dough that will get you nicely shaped {and tasty} cookies every time!
I used a snowflake press cookie cutter to get the detail on the pictured cookies, but these look just as lovely when made with plain and simple cookie cutters too. They can be frosted or iced {try the easy vegan royal icing from this recipe, for instance}, or turned into Christmas ornaments {if you pierce a hole with a skewer close to one of the ends for threading before baking}.
Gluten-Free Vegan Vanilla Cut-Out Cookies
A classic gluten-free vanilla cut-out cookie for the holidays. Simple, quick to whip up, and free from refined sugar. Vegan and dairy-free.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 11 minutes
- Total Time: 31 minutes
- Yield: 26 - 28 2" cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Dessert
Ingredients
- ½ cup non-dairy butter, at room temperature OR coconut oil, softened
- ½ cup maple syrup {or liquid sweetener of your choice}
- ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp ground vanilla bean {or scrape out contents of ½ a vanilla bean pod}{this ingredient is optional but highly recommended for fragrant vanilla cookies!}
- dash of salt
- 2¼ cups gluten-free flour blend {I recommend Pamela's Artisan Flour Blend} {or make your own by combining: 1 cup brown rice flour, ¾ cup tapioca starch, ½ cup sweet rice flour, ½ teaspoon guar gum}
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Prepare a rolling area with two additional sheets of parchment paper for that, and have your cookie cutter(s) handy.
- Place butter in a large mixing bowl and whip it with a mixer until it's creamy. Add sweetener, vanilla extract and bean, and salt and mix once again to combine. Add in flour and use a wooden spoon to mix. Then get in there with your hands and mix everything together by working the dough until you can shape it into a ball {note: as depending on the flour mix you use there may be a slight variance, know that the consistency of the dough should not be sticky but should press together when pinched -- be sure to knead it really well first for some time -- if it's a little sticky, add a little more flour (try 1-2 tbsp); if it's a little dry add a little more sweetener (try 1 tbsp)}. Shape the dough into 2 balls and then flatten each into a disk.
- Roll out one of the dough balls between two sheets of parchment paper to ¼" thickness {or thinner or thicker depending on how you want your cookies to turn out}. Use a cookie cutter to cut out the cookies. Carefully transfer to a prepared cookie sheets, spacing them ½" apart {they won't spread as they bake}. Gather up any dough scraps and repeat until all dough is used up. Repeat the process with the second dough ball.
- Bake in a pre-heated oven for approximately 11-13 minutes, until the edges just begin to become golden. Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack. {Note: cookies will harden a little within minutes of cooling, so don't overbake}. Allow the cookies to cool for 10 minutes and enjoy!
Jamie says
I made these yesterday for a friend. I found the recipe quite easy and my friend loved them. We were decorating Valentine cookies with our kids! I may make more to share with other friends who are gluten and dairy free. Thanks for the great and easy recipe.
The Real Person!
Hi Jamie. Thanks so much for the lovely feedback. So glad your friend enjoyed these! :)
Di says
Tried this recipe, couldn’t cut out shapes and it tasted awful when baked, had the exact ingredients and followed the recipe. I was baking for students end of year treat and it was expensive, time consuming and pointless as I couldn’t let anyone eat something so awful.
The Real Person!
Hi Di, thanks for the feedback and sorry the recipe didn't work out for you. If the cookies couldn't even be cut out then it sounds like something went wrong in the dough mix/ingredients stage. May I ask what flour mix you used? And what type of vegan butter? And whether you used maple syrup or something else? I'd love to figure out what might have gone wrong.
Audrey K says
Loved the recipe. It was easy to make, it used simple ingredients and it cut out perfect cookies.
The Real Person!
Thanks for the lovely feedback, Audrey! I'm so glad you enjoyed these.
Lindsay Considine says
Thank you for this recipe- it’s been my go to cookie recipe for a couple years now! Today my kids and I used this recipe and your chocolate cutout cookie recipe to make checkerboard cookies. They turned out great and they were so fun to make!
The Real Person!
Hi Lindsay, that sounds amazing! :) I can picture the cookies and the making of process being fun. So glad the recipes are working well for you.
Gillian says
I can see this is gluten and dairy free, but is the recipe wheat free as well? I'd love to make them for my brother if they are
The Real Person!
Hi Gillian, all wheat contains gluten by default, so when a recipe is labelled gluten-free you can rest assured it's wheat-free also. I hope your brother enjoys these :)
Helen says
Had to point out that this isn’t always true - some gluten free products, including gluten free flour mixes, contain gluten free wheat starch, which would be very bad for someone with a wheat allergy.
Gluten free is not always wheat free so always best to double check!
The Real Person!
Fascinating. I have never heard of this, nor ever seen wheat starch in a gf product. Live and learn :) Thanks for pointing it out. I stand corrected.
Margaret Harrison says
These were simple and good. Sprinkled tops of cutouts with Demarara sugar before baking. Dough was easy to work with; I use combo of White rice and brown rice flours, arrowroot and tapioca for my all purpose flour. Mine didn't brown though.
The Real Person!
Hi Margaret. Thanks so much for sharing. So glad these worked out well for you :)
Sabrina says
Is it a self raising flour blend or plain? I want to make these for my friends for Xmas. So easy looking
The Real Person!
Hi Sabrina, the flour is plain. Enjoy :)
GM says
Hi, these look amazing. Do you think honey as a replacement for maple syrup would work?
The Real Person!
I haven't tried these with honey myself, but I think a clear and runny variety should work just fine.
Megan says
This recipe turned out great using Bobs 1:1 flour and coconut oil. My little GF kiddos are so happy with our first cookies this holiday season!
The Real Person!
Thanks so much for the lovely feedback, Megan. Glad it worked so well with Bob's flour too! Enjoy them :)
Chris says
This recipe worked so well for us - we made our own mix up using your guidelines and subbed xanthan gum for guar gum. Totally amazing to find a cookie that works so well and that both my boys LOVED! Think that’s a first!! Thanks 💖
The Real Person!
Awesome -- so happy you've been enjoying these :) Thanks for sharing your subs too!
Leora says
Hi there- can I use "almond flour" or does it need to be a blend? Thanks!
The Real Person!
Hi Leora, yes the recipe needs to be made with a flour mix, as almond flour on its own is not absorbent enough. However, if you're looking for some almond flour-based cookies, here are a few other recipes I have on the blog:
https://www.unconventionalbaker.com/alfajores-gluten-free-grain-free-dairy-free-refined-sugar-free/
https://www.unconventionalbaker.com/autumn-acorn-cookies-gluten-free-grain-free-dairy-free-refined-sugar-free/
https://www.unconventionalbaker.com/gluten-free-vegan-and-paleo-cherry-almond-biscotti/
Maria says
Not sure what I did wrong. Dough was super sticky even after adding 2 extra tablespoons of flour. I couldn't get them to roll out and kept sticking to the parchment. I even tried refrigerating the batter. I used regular butter so maybe this the problem?
The Real Person!
Hi Maria. Hm, that's odd. What flour blend did you use?
Jessica says
I had the same issue with stickiness after using Bob's All Purpose GF flour blend. I was hoping to find Pamela's locally, but I could not. I ended up rolling the cookies into balls then flattening them out with my palm in order to bake them.
Since I did not use the flour that was recommended I still wanted to give the recipe 5 stars, since this was the first issue I've had with any recipes from your website.
Lavender Goomes says
They taste a bit like crackers... but in a good way! They are possibly the first cookies(gf/v) to easily cut out into shapes and place on the tray!! 10/10 would recommend on yelp.
The Real Person!
Thanks so much for the awesome feedback. And agreed -- they're pretty sturdy for cutouts!
Sara says
is it possible if I used vanilla extract?? I'm making these cookies soon.
The Real Person!
Hi Sara. I'm not sure what you mean? There is vanilla extract in the cookies recipe. Do you mean use it in place of the ground vanilla as well? If so, then yes, but you will lose the vanilla speckles and the fresh vanilla flavor. You'll need to use a bit more of it too, since fresh (raw ground vanilla) is much more concentrated. I'd add another tsp of it to replace the ground vanilla.
Deniece says
Love these! I recently cut sugar and white flour out of my diet and I didn't miss either of those things in these cookies ( and I LOVE sugar). I made them with 100% real maple syrup and white whole wheat flour and they turned out great. Thank you for a great recipe!
The Real Person!
That's wonderful -- and thanks so much for sharing that it worked with regular wheat flour and maple syrup (a lot of people ask, so it's always good to hear that confirmed).
Jenna says
Deniece, how much maple syrup did you use?
The Real Person!
Hi Jenna. Not sure how much Deniece used, but I always use 1/2 a cup in this recipe.
Kymberli says
I followed directions but they came out dry and crumbly. Cardboard would have tasted better.
The Real Person!
Sorry they didn't work out for you, Kymberli. It sounds like something went wrong -- like there was too much flour in the batter? Either that, or they may have been over-baked (oven temp too hot or uneven -- it happens). Were they dry and cracking before they went into the oven? Was the dough easy to work with or too dry? Did you change anything in the ingredients? Just trying to figure out where things might have gone wrong.. They definitely don't come out dry and crumbly for me.
Kylie says
I thought this was recipe was great. It’s the first one I’ve found that’s vegan and gluten free where I could cut decent shapes out. However mine did come out crumbly, but they weren’t when they went in. Any thoughts on how I can improve? I used honey instead of maple syrup.
The Real Person!
Hi Kylie. Was the honey clear and very runny? Maple syrup (what I use normally) is usually quite runny so you want to find an equivalent. If your honey is a bit thicker, can always add a touch more vegan butter to the mix to compensate for that. However, based on your comment, if they cut out nicely and went in fine but came out crumbly, it might be that they over-baked (either baked for too long, or the oven temperature is a bit too hot -- most ovens tend to be somewhat off in temperature) so you can try baking them for a slightly shorter amount of time or at a slightly lower temperature next time and see how you do.
Heather says
I made Christmas cookies with my grandma ever since I had to stand on a step stool to reach the cutting board. Now my family saves the tradition for Christmas Eve. 2 days ago I was told I'm allergic to eggs & dairy but I was determined not to miss out on one of my biggest memories! THANK YOU for creating & sharing this recipe!!! I made them tonight so I can decorate them tomorrow with my family! These cookies are so tasty I'm enjoying a few with a glass of cashew milk right now :) I used the Earth Balance in the tub since my store was out of the sticks & Bob's Red Mill 1:1 Gluten Free flour. Thanks again & Merry Christmas!!
The Real Person!
Hi Heather, thank you so much for sharing both your experience, and your substitutions. I'm so happy you could enjoy these -- your comment made my day :)
MEGAN says
Anyone try Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 flour for this recipe, do you know?
The Real Person!
Hi Megan. I haven't tried, but a few readers told me they made these with regular flour -- so if that works, I don't see why Bob's wouldn't :) I'd give it a try.
Lauren Jackson says
Do we need to add anything to use regular flour?
The Real Person!
Hi Lauren, no it should work fine as a measure-for-measure substitute for the gf flour mix.
Marimba says
Hi these look amazing do you know if the dough freezes well or could the cookies be baked then frozen?
The Real Person!
Hi Marimba -- I actually never tried freezing these, so to be honest I'm not 100% sure, but I think if you were to go ahead and cut them out, lay them out on a baking sheet ready-to-be-baked, and then freeze, you should be ok to then bake them at a later time.
Sharon @ What The Fork Food Blog says
These look so perfect, love the snowflakes!
The Real Person!
Thanks Sharon! :)
Going to check out your vanilla chia pudding now -- I can already sense it's going to be a delicious treat ;)
Elise @frugalfarmwife.com says
Wow, these cookies look amazing! You are so talented! And I love the addition of the vanilla bean. I have some in my pantry, but I always forget to use them!
The Real Person!
Thank you, Elise! Baking is my creative outlet and my way to tell food allergies to beat it ;) . These cookies are super easy to make though and probably "the most untalented baker" can make them no problem -- most of the "pretty effect" is thanks to the beautiful cookie cutter and the easy to work with dough. And of course the vanilla specks make them extra special ;)
sahar says
Hello i have a question ..my husband hates anything made with coconut oil and we do have vegan butter where I live...can I use olive oil instead?
sahar says
**sorry meant we do not hsve vegan butter
jules says
I love the recommendation for vanilla bean pods in these cookies - it really makes all the difference in the world. Beautiful cookies, Audrey!
~jules
The Real Person!
Thanks, Jules! Seeing vanilla bean specks makes me happy :)
gretchen | kumquat says
wow.. these are so lovely! what a fun cutter... and you can't beat those specks of vanilla beans peeking out of those cookies.
The Real Person!
Thanks, Gretchen! These cutters are actually super fun to use -- I got them on Amazon and absolutely love them.
Love your blog by the way -- thanks so much for stopping by! :)
Rachel E says
these are pretty and would be great all year round using te various cookie cuttes and presses for different seasons.
The Real Person!
Thanks Rachel! I made these during Christmas season {obviously ;) } hence the look, but yes, they can definitely be dressed up for any occasion {in fact I make these all the time in various shapes}.
Thalia @ butter and brioche says
These vanilla snowflake cookies look PERFECT. Seriously wish I had a couple to devour right now, great recipe!
The Real Person!
Hi Thalia -- Thank you so much for the lovely comment!
So sorry for the super late response here, btw. I just discovered my site has been throwing a whole lot of genuine comments into the spam folder and I just noticed them all in there today -- and yours was amongst them! : /