Almond Flour Sugar Cookies

These almond flour sugar cookies are perfect for decorating! They are soft and chewy in the center and have golden crisp edges. The only flour you need to make these is almond flour!

Baking sugar cookies is one of the holiday traditions that dates back decades in my family. Not only did my sister and I decorate dozens of sugar cookies on Christmas Eve, we’d also make every other Christmas cookie we could leading up to the holiday.

So naturally, baking cookies is in my DNA. While I love making oat flour cookies and magic cookie bars during the holidays, there is nothing quite like the simple sweetness of these almond flour sugar cookies. They’re soft and buttery, golden around the edges, and taste amazing with or without frosting.

I developed this simple sugar cookie recipe with almond flour to make with my kids because every gluten free sugar cookie recipe I tried was a disaster. Most of the cookies wouldn’t hold their shape, or they were gritty, dry, or too hard in the center.

With this recipe, the dough is easy to work with and the cookies are sturdy and great for decorating. The only flour required is almond flour, and they bake up in 10 minutes!

Ingredient Notes

• Blanched almond flour – I recommend using a fine blanched almond flour for the best texture.
• Ghee – Ghee is butter with all the milk solids removed. It’s just like butter, but can be stored at room temperature.
• Pure maple syrup – I recommend using a dark maple syrup for the best flavor.

Substitutions

Because this recipe is simple and only has four ingredients, I would recommend sticking to it. But, if you find yourself short, here are the swaps I’ve tried:

Maple syrup – Swap for raw honey

Ghee – You can easily swap this for butter

Vanilla extract – Use ¼ teaspoon almond extract for a nuttier almond flavor

How to Make Almond Flour Sugar Cookies

This recipe is easy to make and only requires five simple ingredients!

1. Prep: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Mix the dough: In a large bowl, fold all the ingredients together until combined. Place the dough in the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes. The dough should be slightly firm to the touch.
3. Cut into Shapes: Sprinkle a clean, flat surface and rolling pin with coconut flour. Roll out the dough until it is just under ½ inch thick. Using your favorite cookie cutters, cut the dough into shapes. Carefully transfer the unbaked cookies to the prepared baking sheet with a spatula. For round sugar cookies, see note. 
4. Repeat: Gather the remaining scraps and roll the dough into a ball. Repeat the process of rolling the dough out and cutting it into shapes until the dough is used up. If the dough becomes warm during this process, return it to the fridge for 15-20 minutes. 
5. Bake: Bake the cookies for 11-12 minutes, or until the edges turn lightly golden brown (see tip). Decorate with frosting and sprinkles if desired. 

Baking Tips

• Before mixing the dough, whisk the almond flour to get rid of any clumps.
• Because cookie cutters make shapes of all sizes, start watching your cookies right at 10 minutes. Remove the smaller ones from the oven when they start to show golden color.
• For the dough to cut clean shapes, chill the dough for at least 30 minutes.
• I like to make two separate sugar cookie batches, and throw the first batch back in the fridge when it gets too soft, and start rolling out the dough of the second one.
• I use this stainless steel spatula to transfer the cookies to the baking tray.
• Dust your surface and/or rolling pin with coconut flour or a tapioca flour to keep the dough from sticking.
• Let the cookies completely cool before decorating. I like to bake them, then decorate the following day.

Making Round Sugar Cookies

Don’t want to use cookie cutters? No problem! These cookies can easily be rolled into balls and flattened to make simple round sugar cookies.

Just roll the dough into twelve 1¼-inch balls. Place the dough balls on the prepared baking sheet and flatten each cookie using the palm of your hand or a wide-bottomed drinking glass. If you use a drinking glass to flatten the cookies, I recommend dusting the bottom of the glass with a little tapioca flour. Bake the cookies for 9 to 10 minutes.

Decorating Tips

The best part about this recipe is that the dough is easy to work with! Over the years, I’ve developed a few extra tips and tricks for cutting and decorating stellar sugar cookies.

1. Make sure your dough is sufficiently chilled. It will help the dough roll out easily and release from the cookie cutters. Roll the dough out to just under ½ inch thick. I like to use larger cookie cutters without a ton of intricate edges because they’re easier for the kids to cut and decorate.
2. Use coconut flour or tapioca flour to dust your surface and rolling pin. It’s finer and will keep your surface dry. Do not use almond flour as it’s too moist. I like to use this baking silicone mat for rolling out the dough.
3. Roll the dough into a ball and place it back it the refrigerator to chill if you dough becomes soft. I recommend doubling the recipe and making the dough in two separate batches. Keep the second batch in the fridge in case the first one becomes too soft. Then swap!

Frosting and Sprinkles

For decorating, I personally love Simple Mills Vanilla Frosting. I’ve used both ColorKitchen Natural Food Coloring and Supernatural Food Coloring with success to dye the frosting. Start slow with the food coloring, and add more as needed to get more concentrated colors. My kids love ColorKitchen Sprinkles and Supernatural Sprinkles. Tons of fun shapes and colors to get creative!

FAQs

Storage and Freezing

STORE: These cookies will last at room temperature for up to a week and up to two weeks in the fridge. Frosted sugar cookies may need to be stored in the fridge depending on the frosting.

FREEZE: These cookies freeze well! To freeze, just let them cool to room temperature and place them in a freezer safe zip-top storage bag. I recommend freezing them unfrosted. Separate each cookie with a small piece of parchment paper so the cookies don’t stick together. They will keep in the freezer up to three months.

TO FREEZE DOUGH: Roll the dough into one large ball and place it in the fridge for 30 minutes. Remove the dough from the fridge and place it on a piece of parchment paper. Flatten the dough into a 2-inch thick disk and place a second piece of parchment paper on top. Place the dough in a freezer-safe sealable bag. Store in the freezer for up to 3 months. When you want to use the dough, let it thaw in the fridge overnight.

More Holiday Recipes

• Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Magic Cookie Bars
• Gingerbread Coffee Cake
• Fudgy Paleo Brownies (Crackly Top, Gluten-Free)
• Paleo Chocolate Banana Bread