Can you smell it, friends?!
Christmas. Spending time with family. Festive food. And, of course, cookies.
Truth be told, cut-out sugar cookies were never really my thing. I definitely enjoyed making them as a kid, but given the choice between a sugar cookie that looked like santa or a soft and chewy peanut butter cookie with a peanut butter cup in the middle?
Yeah, I’m going to choose the peanut butter cookie every dang time.
Well, almost every dang time.
Because this dang time. This dang time, I might just choose the cut-outs.
This recipe exists because a reader requested it a few weeks ago on Facebook! And because Mark was all, “Cut-out cookies are my favorite Christmas cookies!” And because I thought the internet, nay the world, needed a super simple gluten free & vegan cut-out sugar cookie recipe for the holidays.
And guys, this recipe seriously turned out better than I ever could have dreamed of.
We’re starting with my favorite gluten free cookie flour combo: almond flour and coconut flour. It creates a supremely soft cookie with crispy sides – aka. the perfect cut-out sugar cookie texture. I’m typically a soft cookie girl (typically), but sugar cookies need that lil’ bit of crunch on the sides. Yum yum!
And we’re getting our sweetness from maple syrup, which is a necessity on anything and everything this time of year, plus a little [snow] sprinkle of some evaporated cane juice/coarse sugar! Mark & I loved the crunch of sugar on top, so I highly suggest you do it too! You can use coconut sugar, but your cookies will be a bit darker in color on top. No biggie. But definitely don’t skip that dark chocolate drizzle on top – mama mia yesssss.
Now, these cookies also call for a bit of nut butter, and you can use your fave. That being said, I have a couple of pointers:
- I made one batch of these cookies with almond butter and another batch with peanut butter. I preferred the peanut butter ones because…well…peanut butter. But the almond butter ones were super tasty too. If you want a less pronounced nutty taste, I’d suggest trying cashew butter; cashews are super buttery which would go perfectly in these sugar cookies!
- It’s easier to roll out your dough if your nut butter isn’t drippy. It’s definitely doable if drippy nut butter is all you have, but try to go with one that is a little firmer. My recs: Kirkland (Costco) Organic for the peanut butter or Barney Butter Bare Smooth for the almond butter.
Oh I hope that you guys have a chance to make these babies for your holiday celebrations! They’re just so much fun, and I bet they’d be a great project to get your kiddos involved with the holiday prep.
Enjoy!
Peanut Butter Cut-Out Sugar Cookies
https://www.fooduzzi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/gluten-free-vegan-cut-out-sugar-cookies-7.jpg
| Prep: | Cook: | Yield: serves 12-14 | Total: |
These vegan & gluten free cut-out sugar cookies are perfect for the holidays! They're packed with nut butter flavor and super soft and chewy!
You'll Need...
- 1 cup almond flour
- 2 Tbsp. + 2 tsp. coconut flour
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1 Tbsp. coconut oil
- 2 Tbsp. peanut butter (or your fave nut butter)*
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/2 Tbsp. vanilla extract
- evaporated cane juice/coconut sugar/coarse sugar for topping, optional
- melted vegan dark chocolate for topping, optional
Directions
- Mix almond flour, coconut flour, and baking soda in a bowl, making sure to remove all lumps. Set aside.
- In a smaller bowl, melt coconut oil and nut butter together. Mix to combine. Add maple syrup and vanilla extract and mix.
- Add your wet ingredients to your dry ingredients and mix until combined. The dough should come together in a ball.
- Scoop dough into a piece of plastic wrap, and set in the fridge for 3-4 hours, or up to overnight.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Place another sheet of parchment paper onto your surface. Dust the parchment paper with a bit of coconut flour. Add your dough ball to the coconut flour, and dust a bit more flour on top. Roll out your dough to 1/4-inch. The dough will be soft, so continue dusting on a small amount of coconut flour so your rolling pin won't stick.
- Cut out your shapes using a cookie cutter. Carefully remove excess dough and place cut cookies on your parchment-lined baking sheet. Roll the excess dough into a ball, roll out, and cut more shapes until no more dough is left.
- Sprinkle cut cookies with evaporated cane juice if desired. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the edges are browned. Allow cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, and then move to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Decorate with dark chocolate if desired. Store in an air-tight container.
Additional Notes
*I made one batch of cookies with almond butter and one with peanut butter. While any nut/seed butter will work here, it's better if your nut butter isn't drippy. Favorite brands: Barney Butter for almond butter and Kirkland (Costco) for peanut butter.
ah these look amazing! now all i need are some cookie cutters :)
They’re a great thing to have on hand this time of year! :)
Oooh I love that you added the twist of peanut butter to the classic sugar cookies! These look great :)
Thanks so much, Sarah! They’re super yummy :)
These are the cutest! I feel like traditional cut out sugar cookies are just for aesthetic because I’ve never actually had one that tasted good, you know? So I’m totally with you on that boat. These, however, sound delicious because PEANUT BUTTER, obvi. Pinned!
Thanks, Lucia! I’m totally with you; traditional sugar cookies are totally not my thing. PEANUT BUTTER sugar cookies on the other hand… ;)
The perfect combination between my two favorite cookies! This is holiday magic right here.
Ha! You’re totally right; these cookies ARE holiday magic!
Can you make a suggestion for an almond flour alternative that would bake a similar way? I have a tree nut allergy (but, peanut butter is ok, thank goodness! Yay legumes!).
Hey, Morgann! That is a great question. I’ll test it out soon using oat flour and report back. :) You could also try something like cashew flour if you can tolerate cashews!
Loving that you made PEANUT BUTTER cut outs! Girl, you’re speaking my lingo. Definitely going to try these very soon :)
:) I knew you’d love these, Liz!
When it comes to our christmas baking selection I always pick the chocolate brownies over the cookies. How un-festive am I? Making cut-out cookies is the most fun though.
Oh my gosh, I’m right there with you though ;) I hope I can get a chewy brownie recipe out soon!
Ooooh I could just see myself going through a whole batch of these all by my self!
I can tell you from experience that it’s way too easy to go through a whole batch by yourself ;)