Name: Cotton Candy Sugar Cookies - Gluten Free
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 25 min
Cuisine: gluten free
Ingredients: 3/4 cups vegan butter (or real butter softened); 1 cups white sugar; 2 eggs; 2 tsp GF Vanilla (seeds from vanilla bean will also do); 2 1/2 cups gf flour (Bob’s Redmill 1 to 1); 1 tsp baking powder; 1/2 tsp salt; 2 drops cotton candy flavoring; 2 Cups Powdered Sugar; 2 TBSP Meringue Powder; 1/4 warm water (+ extra to thin icing); 1 tsp Clear vanilla extract or regular vanilla extract; 2 drops Cotton Candy flavoring; Tipless piping bags; 2 Wilton star tips 4B; Pink and Blue food coloring (Americolor); White Sanding sugar

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‘Tis the season for holiday cookie baking! Keeping last week’s cookie theme going, today I have sweet cotton candy sugar cookies to share! These yummy little bites are dreamy to eat, a breeze to make and will look lovely on festive dessert boards in pastel pink and blue! The cookies are also made with gluten free flour and dairy free butter and a treat that everyone can enjoy!

Cotton Candy Sugar Cookies – Gluten Free

Bite-sized gluten free sugar cookies, lightly flavored with cotton candy oil and decorated with cotton candy royal icing.

Cotton Candy Flavoring

LORANN Oils Cotton Candy flavoring is subtle and not too overpowering when added to desserts and frostings, so it was the perfect flavoring to uses for the recipe. Just a few drops in the dough and icing is all that you’ll need! A little bit will go a long way!

How to Decorate Cotton Candy Sugar Cookies

There are a variety of ways to decorate these cute little sugar cookies! To make them as seen here, cut cookies into 1 3/4″ rounds using a shot glass, once baked top each with piped stiff cotton candy icing, tinted soft pink and blue. Use Wilton 4B star tips to add the festive shape, or whatever tips you have on hand. Lastly, dust the tops of the cookies with white sanding sugar!

Perhaps not your typical holiday cookie, but these cuties fit right in with the crowd! They are non-traditional pink and blue colors but still lovely for winter with flavors reminiscent of the magic this season is all about!

Cotton Candy Sugar Cookies – Gluten Free

Author: Posh Little Designs
Prep Time: 20
Cook Time: 5
Total Time: 25 minutes
Category: Cookies
Method: Baking
Cuisine: gluten free

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Description

Bite-sized gluten free sugar cookies, lightly flavored with cotton candy oil and decorated with cotton candy royal icing.

Ingredients

Scale

3/4 cups vegan butter (or real butter softened)

1 cups white sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp GF Vanilla (seeds from vanilla bean will also do)

2 1/2 cups gf flour (Bob’s Redmill 1 to 1)

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 drops cotton candy flavoring

FOR THE ROYAL ICING:

2 Cups Powdered Sugar

2 TBSP Meringue Powder

1/4 warm water (+ extra to thin icing)

1 tsp Clear vanilla extract or regular vanilla extract

2 drops Cotton Candy flavoring

EXTRA SUPPLIES:

Tipless piping bags

2 Wilton star tips 4B

Pink and Blue food coloring (Americolor)

White Sanding sugar

Instructions

INSTRUCTIONS

FOR THE SUGAR COOKIES

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Cream together butter and sugar in a mixing bowl, until combined.

Mix in eggs, cotton candy flavoring and vanilla until combined.

Stir in flour, baking powder and salt, 1/3rd at a time.

Mix on med-hi until combined.

You’ll know your cookie mix is ready when it pulls away from the mixing bowl. (If still too wet, add a little more flour to the dough)

Roll dough out onto parchment surface (about 1/2 inch thick)

Cut into 1 3/4″ round shapes using a small cutter or shot glass.

Bake cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet for 4 minutes. (Pull from oven before brown and be careful not to over-bake)

Remove from heat and cool.

FOR THE COTTON CANDY ROYAL ICING:

Fit 2 piping bags with Wilton Star Tip 4B

Combine powdered sugar and meringue powder in the bowl of an electric mixer.

Add extract and water and beat on high for about 5 minutes.

For piping:

The icing will be very thick. Add warm water a few splashes at a time until the frosting is the consistency of toothpaste. Spoon out 1/2 of the toothpaste-like white icing into a bowl and add a dash of blue food coloring. Mix until combined. Transfer to a tipless piping bag fitted with Wilton tip 4B. Seal closed.

Add a dash of pink coloring to the toothpaste-like icing that’s still in the mixing bowl. Mix until well blended then Transfer to a tipless piping bag also fitted with a star tip 4B and seal closed.

Starting in the center of each cookie, gently squeeze stiff pink icing. Continue to squeeze until the entire circumference of the cookie is covered, then release and dust with sanding sugar. Repeat these steps for half of the sugar cookies, then use the same technique to decorate with blue icing. Dust with sanding sugar, then allow 1 hour to set before serving.

Notes

These cookies freeze well and can be made in advance for holidays or special occasions.

Keywords: gluten free, baking, recipes, cotton candy, holiday cookies, sugar cookie, royal icing

How to make Gluten Free Sugar Cookies

Baking with gluten free flour can be tricky. Since I now eat mostly gluten free, I’ve been working to develop a sugar cookie recipe that has a nice texture while still tasting good. Alternative flours have a tendency to bake up on the dryer side, but so far I’ve discovered Bob’s Red Mill GF Blend 1-1 is the best to work with. Earth Balance vegan and (soy free) buttery spread as a nice alternative to butter.

Wondering the key soft cookies made with gluten free flour? Don’t over-bake! Pulling from the oven right at 4 minutes will allow the cookies to maintain texture and lightness. As a bonus the cookies will soften up even more once decorated with icing.