Gluten-free, dairy-free and nut-free cookies can be tasty. Just because you can’t have certain foods, it doesn’t mean you have to miss out on great tasting bakes.
Cookies are an amazing snack or dessert. They’re so versatile. You can take them on the go as a snack or with lunch.
We’re going to go from bland cookies to flavour filled cookies.
TIPS FOR MAKING GLUTEN-FREE, DAIRY-FREE, NUT-FREE COOKIES
Removing gluten, dairy and nuts from baking can change the results of baked goods. Here are some easy ways to improve your cookie making experience.
- Bring all ingredients to room temperature.
- Check your ingredients are gluten-free and dairy-free before baking. Ingredients like baking powder can contain gluten.
- Check your gluten-free flour blend to see if it contains a binder like xanthan gum, guar gum or flax. If it doesn’t, add ¼ tsp xanthan gum to 1 cup of flour.
- Weigh your ingredients rather than using cups.
- Use baking paper on the bottom of your baking trays. This stops the cookies from sticking. It also makes washing up easier.
- If the cookie dough is dry, add 1-2 tbsp of dairy-free milk.
- If the cookie dough is too sticky, stick it in the fridge for 30-60 minutes.
- Use an ice cream or cookie scoop to create cookies of the same size. If you don’t have either, you can use 2 spoons.
- Fill a cup ¼ full with gluten-free flour and dip your scoop into it every time you create a scoop of dough. This stops it from sticking.
- Take them out a couple of minutes before they look done. They will continue cooking as they cool.
FREEZING GLUTEN-FREE COOKIE DOUGH
Gluten-free cookie dough can be frozen! This means you can pull out the dough and have homemade cookies in no time. Frozen cookie dough can last 3 months in the freezer.
3 BEST COOKIE DOUGH’S TO FREEZE
- Cut out cookies e.g. shortbread and sugar cookies
- Drop cookies e.g. chocolate chip cookies
- Gingerbread
TIPS FOR FREEZING COOKIE DOUGH
- For drop cookies, shape them and freeze on a baking tray. Once frozen, transfer to a freezer bag.
- For cut out cookies, either shape the dough into a ball and wrap it in baking paper then foil. Or roll out the dough between 2 pieces of baking paper and freeze on a tray.
- Add the type of cookie, date you freeze it and how to cook it onto the freezer bag.
BAKING GLUTEN-FREE COOKIES FROM FROZEN
To bake cookies from frozen, preheat the oven, place the cookies on the tray and bake for 1-2 minutes longer than the recipe states.
DEFROSTING COOKIE DOUGH
For shortbread and sugar cookies frozen in a ball, move the dough to the fridge the night before you want to bake them.
OR
Take the cookie dough out the freezer 2-3 hours before you want to bake them. Let them defrost on the worktop side.
COOKIE ADD-INS
There are so many flavour options that you can add into gluten-free cookies.
- Candied ginger, chopped
- Cinnamon
- Confetti sprinkles
- Currants
- Dairy-free chocolate chips
- Dairy-free cocoa powder
- Dairy-free custard powder
- Dairy-free lemon curd
- Dried apples, chopped
- Dried blueberries
- Dried cherries
- Dried peaches, chopped
- Dried pineapple, chopped
- Freeze dried raspberry pieces
- Freeze dried strawberry pieces
- Fruit jam
- Ginger
- Glace cherries, diced
- Gluten-free dairy-free mini marshmallows
- Gluten-free pretzels
- Lemon zest
- Lime extract
- Lime zest
- Nutmeg
- Orange extract
- Orange zest
- Peppermint extract
- Raisins
- Sea salt
- Seeds, pieces or chopped
- Shredded coconut
- Sunflower seed butter
- Vanilla extract or paste
Gluten-free Dairy-free No-fail Cookies
Ingredients
- 113 grams dairy-free margarine
- 100 grams sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 340 grams gluten-free self-raising flour
- 1/2 tsp gluten-free baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1-2 tbsp rice milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C and line 2 baking trays with baking paper.
- Beat the dairy-free margarine and sugar together until combined and looks pale and like buttercream. Approximately 2 minutes.
- Add the egg and vanilla. Beat until combined; it will be a runny consistency and the mix will look slightly separated.
- Mix in the gluten-free flour, baking powder, and salt until combined. It should be pulling away from the bowl when you stir the dough.
- Add the rice milk and stir.
- Add in flavours here. See notes.
- Scoop it out onto the trays using 2 spoons or ice cream or cookie scoop.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes, rotating the trays ½ way through the cooking time.
- Store in an airtight container for 2-3 days.
Notes
What are your favourite cookies? What flavours do you enjoy?
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