Gluten Free Butter Cookies

Butter Cookies are known for their rich, buttery flavor and a tender, shortbread like texture. Unlike the storebought version (you know, the one in a blue tin), my gluten free butter cookies are crispy on the outside and a soft and chewy center. Piped into charming swirls, these cookies are not only delicious but also pretty to look at. Enhance their charm by dipping them in melted chocolate and topping them with festive sprinkles, transforming them into irresistible Christmas cookies everyone will adore.

Recipe Ingredient Notes

Gluten Free Flour: This Gluten Free Butter Cookie Recipe is very forgiving. I have tested it with Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1, King Arthur Measure for Measure and my own Gluten Free Flour Blend. While all 3 blends work very well in this recipe, the butter cookies made with King Arthur were more compact (less spreading) than the ones made with my own flour blend or Bob's Red Mill 1-1. While the cookies made with King Arthur may stay softer and fresher for a few extra days, I do prefer using Bob's Red Mill or my own blend here. Make sure your choice of gluten free flour blend does contain xanthan gum.

Butter: Unsalted Butter is the star ingredient of Gluten Free Butter Cookies. It adds not only delicious buttery flavor but also structure. Make sure the butter is at room temperature, around 65F, which is a lot colder than many of us consider room temperature. To test if your butter is at room temperature, nudge it with your finger. You should see an indent, but the butter should not feel like you can poke right through it. If the butter is too soft, the butter cookies will spread in the oven.

Almond Flour: I love adding Almond Flour to my butter cookies. The nutty and slightly sweet flavor complements the buttery taste of the cookies. It adds a depth of flavor that regular all-purpose flour alone may not provide. If you are on a nut free diet, please substitute the almond flour with gluten free flour.

Powdered Sugar: Powdered sugar gives the gluten free cookies a more delicate crumb. Some people also call it confectionary sugar or icing sugar.

Heavy Cream: Adding a little bit of heavy cream to the cookie dough helps to thin it out so one can pipe the butter cookies. Feel free to replace it with whole milk or even non-dairy milk. The amount can depend on the brand of gluten free flour and how "large" the eggs are you use.

Almond Extract: I use Nielsen Massey Almond Extract which is an Optional Ingredient. Almond Extract does not taste like almonds since it is made with bitter almond oil and ethyl alcohol. Whole bitter almonds are actually inedible, but their oil has a strong, sweet flavor and gives the buttery spritz cookies a little extra hint of almonds. Please be very careful with this extract. A little goes a very long way! 

Tools needed to make Gluten Free Butter Cookies

To successfully make this buttery spritz cookie recipe, you will need a few kitchen tools. Most of them are available on Amazon which I have linked.

A piping bag and a pastry tip: For piping butter cookies, I recommend using an Open Star Tip, like Ateco 828, Ateco 827 or even Wilton 1M. If the Pastry Tip is too small it will be impossible to pipe the butter cookies. I also recommend investing in disposable piping bags. You can use a zip lock bag with a corner cut-off in case you do not own piping tips or a pastry bag. Just be aware that ziplock bags may not be sturdy enough for the butter cookie dough. You could always use two ziplock bags to make them sturdier. To do so, transfer the cookie dough to a bag with no tip. Cut the tip of that bag and place it inside the second ziplock bag that is fitted with the pastry tip. (This also works if your disposable piping bags are not very sturdy)

Sheet Trays/Baking Sheet: you will need two sheet trays lined with parchment paper for this recipe. You will not be able to bake all the gluten free butter cookies on one sheet tray (I tried). I like using Nordic Ware Half Sheets.

You will also need a mixer (electric hand mixer or stand mixer), a mixing bowl, a whisk and a flexible rubber spatula.

How to make Gluten Free Butter Cookie Dough

Making Butter Cookie Dough is very straight forward. Make sure the butter and the eggs are at room temperature.

Step 1: Fit a piping bag with a large pastry tip (preferably something like Ateco 828, Ateco 827 or even Wilton 1M) and set aside. Line two sheet pans with parchment paper.

Step 2: In a small bowl sift or whisk together the gluten free flour, almond flour and kosher salt. Set aside.

Step 3: In the bowl of the stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the unsalted butter and powdered sugar. Cream the two ingredients together at a medium speed until light and fluffy, around 3-4 minutes. Make sure to stop the mixer halfway and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a flexible spatula.

Step 3: Add the whole egg, egg yolk, vanilla extract and if using, the almond extract. Mix on high speed until combined for about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl and mix for another 10-15 seconds. It is possible the mixture will look curdled.

Step 4:  Add the flour mixture and the heavy cream (or milk) to the wet ingredients. Mix on low speed until combined. Make sure all the dry ingredients are incorporated. The butter cookie dough will be thick but should be smooth and look pipeable. The amount of heavy cream needed can depend on the brand of gluten free flour and how "large" the eggs are you use. If the dough appears very thick, add 1-2 additional teaspoons of liquid. Please be aware the more liquid one adds the more the shortbread cookies will spread while being baked.

Step 5: Transfer the gluten free butter cookie dough to the prepared pastry bag and get ready to pipe some beautiful butter cookies. If you like you can also work with just half of the dough at a time. I recommend this especially if you have never worked with a piping bag before.

How to pipe Gluten Free Butter Cookies

Piping the butter cookie dough can be a tricky especially if the dough is stiff. While developing this gluten free butter cookie recipe, I played with the amount of heavy cream in the recipe. I quickly realized the more liquid I added the more the cookies spread in the oven losing their beautiful shape and texture.

Make sure to use a large pastry tip, preferably an open star tip. This way the dough will be easier to get out of the pastry bag. Another tip: gently warm up the cookie dough. I do this by laying the pastry bag on my stove top for a minute (only works if your oven already happens to be turned on and warmed up your stove top). This will soften the butter and make the dough smooth and easy to pipe. You can also soak a kitchen towel in hot water and lay the pastry bag on the hot towel for a few minutes. Another way is to just gently rub the pastry bag with your warm hands. It doesn't take much to soften the butter again.

Pipe the butter cookies into circles on to the parchement paper. Apply even pressure to the piping bag while turning it in a circular motion to create a rosette shape. Start from the center and work your way outward. The cookies should be about 1 ½ to 2" in diameter. Leave 2" space in between.

Once all the cookies have been piped, place the sheet pans in your fridge and allow the cookies to chill for at least 30 minutes. Lighty wrap them with plastic wrap or use a sheet tray cover. Chilling will ensure they won't spread in the oven and hold their shape. At this point you may refrigerate the cookie dough for 2 days.

Alternative way: If you don't want to invest in a piping bag and pastry tips you may always scoop the gluten free butter cookie dough with a medium cookie scoop. Roll each cookie dough portion into a ball and with a dinner fork make a cross-hatch design (criss-cross) on top of the cookie dough. This will press the cookies down and give them a pretty look. Refrigerate the cookies for at least 30 minutes before baking.

How to bake Gluten Free Butter Cookies

When ready to bake the butter cookies, preheat the oven to 365F. Make sure the oven wire rack is arranged in the middle. If the cookies are baked to close to the heat source (most American Ovens are heated from the bottom), the bottoms of the butter cookies will burn.

If you like, sprinkle the butter cookies with some granulated sugar before baking. Bake the cookies, one sheet tray at a time, in the fully preheated oven for 14-16 minutes. The cookies should be light golden brown. Baking time as always depends on how big or how small you made your butter cookies and your oven. So keep an eye on them (smaller cookies should be ready after around 12 minutes). If you would like for your butter cookies to be on the crisper side, bake them for an additional 2-3 minutes (16+ minutes).

Remove the cookies from the oven and allow for them to cool on the sheet pan for a few minutes before carefully transferring them to a cooling rack. Allow them to cool completely if you plan on dipping them in some melted chocolate.

Storage & Freezing

The best way to store Butter Cookies is to keep them in an airtight container at room temperature for 5-7 days. Avoid storing them in the refrigerator, as the excess moisture can affect their texture and flavor. You can also freeze the fully baked butter cookies for up to one month. Thaw at room temperature.

To freeze the unbaked butter cookies, pipe them into rosettes on a sheet tray and freeze them on the sheet tray. Once fully frozen transfer them to a ziplock bag and keep in the freezer up to one month. When ready to bake, arrange the frozen cookies on a sheet tray and bake from frozen as directed. You may need to add 1-2 minutes of baking time to ensure they are fully baked through.

Note about Salt in my Recipes

I use Diamond Kosher Crystal Salt in all of my recipes unless otherwise stated. If use use a different brand or kind of salt in your kitchen please adjust accordingly since some salts can be saltier. If you use Morton’s Kosher Salt please be aware that their salt granules are smaller in size, denser, and crunchier and twice as salty.

Baking in grams

I share my recipes in grams and by weight since baking by weight is the most accurate way to bake. Digital Scales are very affordable and easy to use. You can purchase them on Amazon for less than a set of measuring cups. For small amounts under 10 grams, I like to use this Precision Pocket Scale. Measuring cups are very inaccurate which can cause significant errors when it comes to gluten-free baking or baking in general. Especially since I bake with gluten-free flours which weigh differently than “regular” flours. I do provide some ingredients like spices and leavening agents in measuring spoons. To learn more about Baking with a digital scale, make sure to check out my post about Baking by weight.

Note about Ovens and Oven Temperatures

All my recipes are tested and developed with a conventional oven. I always bake my baked goods on the rack placed in the MIDDLE of my oven. This way the heat coming from the bottom will not burn my baked goods.

If you are baking with convection (fan-forced), please adjust the recipes accordingly. Convection oven can cause baked goods to dry out quickly and still be raw inside. Since takes at least 15-20 minutes for a standard American Oven to be fully preheated. I highly recommend investing in an Oven Thermometer.

Substitutions and Modifications

Any dietary or ingredient modifications/substitutions to this recipe may alter the end result in appearance and taste. I test my recipes several times as published in this post and The Gluten Free Austrian Blog is not responsible for the outcome of any recipe you find on our website.