Many rice flours are naturally gluten-free and are an excellent ingredient to give cookies a crumbly, melt in the mouth texture that keeps you going back for more.
If you’re gluten-free and looking for a delicious cookie recipe, then you’ve come to the right place.
In this article, I will provide you with a simple rice flour cookie recipe and a step-by-step guide on how to make deliciously gluten-free rice flour cookies!
So, let’s get started.
Ingredients notes
Rice flour – Rice flour is a staple for a tonne of baking recipes. You can find rice flour in most grocery stores. However, be aware of rice flour in Asian supermarkets that often contain gluten, as this flour won’t work as well for this particular recipe.
If you’re unsure of whether the rice flour contains gluten, always ask someone at the store and check.
Unsalted butter – Using unsalted butter in this recipe allows you to control the salt content in this recipe. However, if you’re in a bind without unsalted butter, you should omit the salt that this recipe calls for.
Cornstarch – Also known as corn flour, cornstarch adds a nice crumbly melt-in-the-mouth element to his recipe while lightening the texture of the cookie.
Powdered sugar – Also known as confectioners sugar or icing sugar, powdered sugar provides a smooth texture. When looking for powdered sugar always buy one made from cane sugar as it does not have the grainy consistency that beet sugar does.
Vanilla extract – Vanilla extract is perfect for flavoring these rice flour cookies. However, it also colors the dough. If you’re aiming for a white dough, add clear vanilla extract to prevent this from happening.
Equipment that you’ll need
- A mixing bowl
- A spoon
- A cookie cutter
- Baking sheets
- Baking parchment
Ingredients
- 1½ cup (240 g) of rice flour
- ½ cup (100 g) of butter
- ¾ cup (90 g) of powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon of cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon of water or up to 4 tablespoons if required
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon of salt
Instructions
- To begin your rice flour cookie dough, grab a large mixing bowl. Cream butter and the powdered sugar together until they are a smooth consistency.
- Next, add vanilla extract, cornstarch, and salt and stir until the mixture has combined well.
- Following this, add the rice flour in two batches and combine well.
- If the dough feels too dry after you have added the rice flour, try adding a tablespoon of water at a time to hydrate the cookie dough. One or two tablespoons of water should suffice here, but you can add up to 4 tablespoons of water if the dough requires it.
- Once the dough is the right consistency, divide it up into two discs.
- Wrap the dough in plastic and allow it to chill in the refrigerator for about an hour. You want to allow it to chill until it is firm enough to roll out nicely.
- Before rolling out your cookie dough, preheat the oven to 170 C/ 340 F.
- Next, take out the cookie dough from the refrigerator. Lightly dust the surface with rice flour before rolling out the dough. This should prevent it from sticking.
- Once you have rolled out the dough to an even thickness, cut out the cookies using a cookie cutter of your choice.
- Transfer the rice flour cookies to a parchment-lined baking tray and place them at an equal distance from each other.
- If you don’t have a cookie cutter, you can alternatively roll the dough into balls, flatten them on your palm, and place them on a baking tray.
- Once you have transferred all of your cookies to the baking tray, it’s time to place them in the oven to bake. Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes or until the edges start to slightly color.
- Due to the rice flour base, these cookies are white even after baking so it’s very easy to overbake them. Be cautious of this and make sure that you take them out of the oven as soon as you think that the cookies are done.
- When the cookies are baked, remove them from the oven and place them onto a cooling rack. Allow them to cool completely.
- Serve and enjoy these cookies warm or store them in an airtight cookie jar for later! When stored like this, these cookies will keep for up to 2 weeks.
Yes, you can chill the rice flour cookie dough overnight. If the dough is wrapped well in plastic wrap, these cookies can usually be kept in the fridge for 5 to 6 days before baking.
In addition, you can even place the cookies on a parchment-lined tray, wrapped well with cling wrap, for about 3 to 4 days until you are ready to place them in the oven for a delicious sweet treat!
This rice flour sugar cookie dough can also be frozen for a month or more if covered well. This makes them a great recipe that you can make ahead of time without the stress of preparing it on the day!
While this recipe is egg and gluten-free, it contains dairy in the form of butter so it is not vegan. That being said, if you’re vegan or follow a plant-based diet and are curious to give this recipe a try then you could substitute the butter for dairy-free butter instead!
A cold oven will result in over-spread cookies. As a result, to make sure that your cookies keep their shape when cooked you need to always ensure that the oven has been preheated well before adding the cookies.
In addition, if you live in a warm place, it’s best to chill the cookies in the refrigerator on the tray before baking as this will prevent them from spreading too much.
