These gluten-free vanilla bean slice and bake cookies have the classic sugar cookie flavor and a soft, tender texture with a slight chew. Rolled in colorful Christmas sprinkles before slicing and baking, they’re an easy and festive holiday treat made with just 8 ingredients. The simple make-ahead dough makes your holiday baking a breeze and can be chilled up to 3 days before baking!
Gluten Free Vanilla Bean Slice and Bake Cookies for an Easy and Festive Christmas Treat
When I was developing these cranberry pistachio slice and bake cookies, I knew I also wanted to share a pared down version for the sugar cookie fans that aren’t particularly fond of having to roll out dough and use cookie cutters. These gluten free vanilla bean slice and bake cookies have the classic sugar cookie flavor with the perfect soft and tender texture. Instead of having to worry about decorating each cookie, the dough is shaped into logs, rolled in Christmas sprinkles, then chilled for 2 hours, or up to 3 days.
When you’re ready to bake, simply pop the dough out of the fridge, slice, and bake! That’s it! These gluten free Christmas cookies are such a simple way to add something festive to your holiday cookie boxes or platters without spending HOURS decorating. I love that they’re only made with 8 ingredients and that there’s no weird grittiness or dryness that can often happen with gluten free baked goods. To be honest, you could give these to someone and I doubt they would even know these are lacking gluten 😉
JUMP STRAIGHT TO:
- Key Ingredients for the Best Flavor and Texture
- Troubleshooting and Things to Avoid
- How to Make these Easy Gluten Free Christmas Cookies
- More Gluten Free Christmas Cookies for Your Holiday Baking
Key Ingredients for the Best Flavor and Texture
GLUTEN FREE FLOUR
I’ve tested these cookies with both Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten Free Baking Flour and King Arthur Gluten Free Measure for Measure Flour (not sponsored). Both work great in terms of texture and flavor but the Bob’s Red Mill does produce a slightly softer dough and chewier texture. Regardless of which blend you use, make sure you choose one with xanthan gum and PLEASE measure the flour by the weight for the most accurate results. I’ve included it in grams in the recipe card!
VANILLA BEAN PASTE
Since this cookie only has 8 ingredients and vanilla is the only flavor, I recommend using vanilla bean paste here over vanilla extract. Vanilla bean paste will give you a more robust vanilla flavor which I find really important here since there are no other competing flavors. I personally like the one from Trader Joe’s (not sponsored) because it is super affordable and yields consistent results every single time.
EGG YOLK
You’ll notice that there’s an extra egg yolk in the recipe. This is one of my go-to methods for combatting the dreaded dry and crumbly texture in gluten free cookies. It also helps lend that subtle chewiness to these along with a richer flavor.
Troubleshooting and Things to Avoid
Part of my job as a recipe developer is to anticipate things that might go wrong when the average person makes a recipe. In my opnion, the following steps and details are CRUCIAL to the final outcome of these gluten free cookies:
- Measure the flour by weight (in grams) rather than by volume. You’ll see this mentioned in a lot of gluten free recipes and that’s because it is the most accurate way to measure ingredients. Wondering why don’t you have to measure the others by weight? Because they won’t affect the final texture as much as the flour! Adding too much flour makes these dry and crumbly.
- Allow the butter, eggs, and egg yolk to come to room temperature before making the dough. You won’t be able to properly cream the butter and sugar if the butter is too cold which will cause the dough to be unevenly mixed and cause the cookies to be more dense rather than soft and tender.
- Chill the dough for at least 2 hours. This allows time for the butter to chill back down which will make slicing the dough so much easier. It also gives the gluten free flour time to properly hydrate which avoids that grittiness that often accompanies gluten free baked goods.
- Don’t overbake the cookies. In order for the cookies to be soft, you need to bake them just long enough for the tops to no longer look shiny/wet and the edges to be just set. The bottoms will be lightly golden brown. This takes about 12-15 minutes depending on your oven.
How to Make these Easy Gluten Free Christmas Cookies
Cream the butter and sugar first. It will look grainy at first then transform into a creamy texture. Once it’s creamy, add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla. Mix until fully combined and creamy. In a separate bowl, whisk your gluten free flour, baking powder, and salt to combine.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until the dough comes together and starts balling up on the paddle. Don’t worry about overmixing it since there’s no gluten here. Form the dough into a big ball, divide it in half, and roll each half into a log about 6 inches long. Roll each log in the Christmas sprinkles.
Once the logs of dough are coated in sprinkles, cover them with plastic wrap or parchment then chill them for a minimum of 2 hours. You can chill them for as long as 3 days! When you’re ready to bake, trim off the very ends then cut into 1/4-inch thick slices and place on lined baking sheets.
Bake the cookies until the tops are no longer shiny and look more matte/dry and the edges are just set. The bottoms will be lightly golden brown. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for at least 15 mintues to allow them to continue to set once they make it out of the oven.
More Gluten Free Christmas Cookies for Your Holiday Baking
If you’re all about easy gluten free cookies and aren’t a fan of having to decorate anything, you’ll love these chocolate cardamom crinkle cookies! If you want cookies like NOW and don’t want something that has to be chilled, I highly recommend these chocolate peppermint coconut macaroons. Want a bar instead of a cookie? Try these gluten free pecan pie bars made without corn syrup or these gluten free cranberry mandarin crumble bars.
Gluten Free Vanilla Bean Slice and Bake Cookies
- Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
- Yield: 20–22 1x
- Diet: Gluten-Free, Vegetarian
Description
These gluten-free vanilla bean slice and bake cookies have the classic sugar cookie flavor and a soft, tender texture with a slight chew. Rolled in colorful Christmas sprinkles before slicing and baking, they’re an easy and festive holiday treat made with just 8 ingredients. The simple make-ahead dough makes your holiday baking a breeze and can be chilled up to 3 days before baking!
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
- 2 ¼ cups (270 grams) gluten free measure for measure flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 3-oz container Christmas jimmies (sprinkles)
Instructions
- Cream the butter and sugar together on medium-low speed in a stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Once the mixture is creamy, scrape the bottom of the bowl and the paddle. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and beat on medium-low until fully combined.
- Whisk the gluten free flour, baking powder, and sea salt in a bowl. With the mixer running on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet until the cookie dough is fully mixed and gathering around the paddle.
- Roll the dough into a big ball then divide it into two equal portions. Roll each portion into a log that is about 6 inches long. Pour about half of the sprinkles on a piece of parchment then carefully roll the log in the sprinkles to coat. Add more sprinkles as needed for the second log. Wrap both logs in plastic wrap then chill for at least 2 hours or up to 3 days.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
- Slice off and discard the very ends of each log, then cut the logs into ¼-inch thick slices. Place the cookies on the parchment lined baking sheets at least 1 1/2 inches apart.
- Bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes until the tops no longer look shiny and look matte/dry and the bottoms are lightly golden brown.
- Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 15 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Notes
I’ve tested this recipe with both King Arthur Gluten Free Measure for Measure Flour and Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Baking Flour. Both produce reliable and delicious results. Just make sure to measure the flour by weight for the most accurate results.
For the sprinkles, I’ve noticed that jimmies don’t bleed their color as easily as nonpareil style sprinkles or colored sanding sugars. I recommend jimmies for that reason though you can honestly use whatever you like if you don’t mind the colors bleeding into the dough!
You might not use all of the sprinkles in the container but I recommend having an entire 3-ounce container ready. Pour out half of the sprinkles at first to roll the first log of dough, then add more as needed for the second one.
The cookie dough will be on the softer side but not sticky. You can use plastic wrap or parchment paper to help shape and roll it into logs as needed.
I don’t recommend chilling the dough for longer than 3 days in the fridge as it tends to start drying out.
A sharp chef’s knife is best for slicing the cookies. Cut straight down rather than sawing back and forth.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Chilling Time: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 12-15 minutes
- Category: Dessert
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