Pop into any grocery store and you can find at least one kind of gluten free cookie that you can buy. All of my local stores carry something for when I get the cookie munchies. But again, the selection of gluten free cookies is very limited.

Gluten free cookies can be one of your baking successes. They are very forgiving, more so than cakes or pies, and if you flub up you can always crumble them and put them on top of ice cream, make a crumble topping or throw them on your morning oatmeal.

 Gluten Free Cookies: 7 Easy Tips

 Using these tips will help you be the master gluten free baker I know you are. Just like Mrs. Fields.

Tip #1

Make sure you read the entire recipe before you begin. You want to make sure you have everything you need. Emergency trips to the store when you are in the middle of cookie making are annoying.

Tip #2

Go ahead and preheat the oven, unless your dough needs to chill. 10 minutes before you pull the dough out of the freezer or refrigerator is plenty of time to get the oven up to temperature.

 
Tip #3

You really need two cookie/baking sheets. That way, you can rotate them in and out of the oven as each batch bakes. It allows the pans to cool enough for the next batch and makes your cookie baking go a lot faster.

Tip #4

 Make sure to aerate your gluten free flour blend before you measure. I keep mine in a large food grade plastic container. I just flip it upside down a few times to loosen the flour before I measure. The tried and true “dip and sweep” method works the best. Dip a spoon into your flour container and then fill the measuring cup.  Sweep off to level the top.

Tip #5

 If you forgot to place your butter on the counter to soften, go ahead and use the microwave. I place my stick of butter into a silicone measuring cup which then goes into the microwave. Use high power in 5 second intervals until you can push your finger into the butter. Make sure you don’t melt it!

Tip #6

It is easier to whisk ALL of your dry ingredients together before you add it to your wet ingredients. Whisking allows the baking powder, soda, xanthum gum, spices (all the small stuff) to become thoroughly incorporated into the flour. It keeps you from having lumps of xanthum gum in your cookies. Not very appetizing.

Tip #7 

You can use ANY gluten free flour for these recipes. I encourage you to start grinding your own flours. There is nothing that compares to freshly ground flour.

 

I usually add a  little coconut flour in most of the cookie recipes, no more than 1/3 cup. It imparts a nice flavor and has many added nutrients that help to increase the nutritional punch of your cookies.

 

Cornstarch or Tapioca flour is used to help lighten up the texture of the more nutritious brown rice, bean and coconut flours. It gives the cookies that melt-in-your mouth appeal. Without it, the cookies will be heavy.

So check the ingredients of your flour mix that you are using.

If it has very little starch in it , I would take out some of the flour and in about 1/4 cup of starch for every cup of heavier flour. If your flour blend is half and half, just leave it alone. It should work fine.

One more thing to look for. Check and see if the manufacturer has already added xanthum gum to their flour mix. If they have, do not add the xanthum gum in the recipe. If you do, your cookies will chew like rubber bands! We don’t want that. Read your labels!

If you ever need any help, please email me:

ka***@yo*******************.com

I am here to help you become the best baker you can be.

Kathy

ps…. I put all my best cookie recipes in my book Your Gluten Free Cookie Jar.