Gluten-free Halloween Cookies

Celebrate the spooky season by baking these wickedly good Halloween cookies! A scrumptious sugar cookie base decorated with royal icing, these melt-in-your-mouth cookies are soft on the inside with a lovely crisp exterior and a sweet vanilla flavor. Delicious to eat, adorable to behold, and super fun to decorate!

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Is it just me, or does Halloween actually get better with age? When I was a kid, I loved Halloween parties, dressing up in scary costumes, and of course, gobbling up delicious Halloween treats. Now I’m an adult, and I enjoy all the same things about Halloween, except now I get to make all the delicious treats myself!

I had a blast making (and eating) these gluten-free Halloween cookies. I wanted to spend the bulk of my time on decoration, so I chose a quick and easy gluten-free sugar cookie recipe adapted from Momables. As for the shape of the cookies, feel free to use whatever Halloween cookie cutters you prefer, but I went for a ghost, bat, and a circle for a pumpkin. My cookies are decorated with royal icing (it dries much harder and faster than buttercream) but you could definitely use buttercream frosting if you prefer the taste.

Even though the recipe is very simple, the cookies taste absolutely delicious, and most people won’t have any idea that they’re gluten-free! If you’re looking for a sweet treat to make at home with your family for Halloween, or for something fun to bring to a party or event, look no further than these gluten-free Halloween cookies!

What you will need

These cookies come together in a snap and require minimal ingredients. I would strongly suggest using gel food coloring instead of liquid coloring (it’s less runny and the color is more concentrated). Here’s everything you need:

• caster or granulated sugar
• soft unsalted butter
• 1 large egg
• milk
• vanilla extract
• gluten-free all-purpose flour- I used Doves Farm Freee
• salt
• cinnamon
• xanthan gum
• royal icing mix
• cold water
• orange and black gel food coloring (or whatever colors you prefer)- I used Wilton gel

How to make Gluten-free Halloween Cookies

First, let’s make the sugar cookies. Before you start making the cookie dough, make sure that your butter is nice and soft so it can be whipped up easily. In a mixing bowl, cream the soft butter and sugar together at medium speed using a stand mixer or electric mixer for (about 2 minutes). Add the egg, milk, and vanilla and beat until combined.

Add the flour, salt, xanthan gum, and cinnamon and mix at a low speed until combined. Cover the dough and refrigerate for at least one hour (or up to overnight).

Preheat the oven to 350⁰F / 180⁰C / 160⁰C fan. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set it aside.

Roll out the dough about ¼ inch thick onto a lightly floured surface.

Cut out the dough with Halloween-themed cookie cutters, and place the cookies on the parchment paper (make sure the cookies are not touching).

Remove any scrap dough, reform it, and roll it out, then continue cutting more cookies.

Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes, until lightly brown around the edges. Remove from the oven and allow cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet. Transfer to a wire rack to allow them to cool completely.

And now, it’s decorating time! I decorated my cookies with royal icing, which is considerably easier to make than buttercream frosting. Feel free to make your own, but I was short on time so I used a store-bought royal icing mix.

Combine royal icing mix with 5 tbsp of cold water, and beat on a low speed using an electric mixer or stand mixer until combined. Test the consistency (it should have the consistency of honey), and add a little more water, if needed.

Separate the royal icing into 3 bowls. Add a few drops of black food coloring to one bowl, and orange food coloring to another. Mix well, and add more food coloring if needed.

Fill a piping bag with one color and decorate cookies as desired. (I used a small round nozzle tip to pipe on the royal icing, and then a toothpick to smooth it over the top to create the base color. I used a different color to pipe on the facial features once the base had dried.) But of course, feel free to use your imagination and decorate these cookies however you please.

And that’s it! These frighteningly adorable gluten-free cookies would make a big splash at a Halloween party or bake sale. Perfect for the spooky season, but good enough to eat at any time of the year.

Tips for success!

• I recommend weighing your ingredients for better accuracy. Since I bought a kitchen scale, I find it so much easier and faster than measuring by cups.
• You need soft butter for the creaming process. I usually let my butter sit out of the fridge on the counter for a few hours before baking if the weather is warm, or overnight in the colder months.
• Chill that cookie dough! The dough will be very sticky after you make it, and chilling it helps it firm up so you can easily roll it out. It also helps the cookies stay crispy on the outside but soft on the inside. So don’t skip this step!
• When making the royal icing, start with the minimum amount of water, then gradually add more to get the right consistency. If it becomes too runny, just add a little more royal icing mix.

Gluten-free Halloween Cookies

A scrumptious sugar cookie base decorated with royal icing, these melt-in-your-mouth cookies are soft on the inside with a lovely crisp exterior and a sweet vanilla flavor. Delicious to eat, adorable to behold, and super fun to decorate!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Dough chilling time 1 hour hr

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American

Servings 32

Ingredients

  

For the cookies:

• 200g caster or granulated sugar (1 cup)
• 113g soft unsalted butter (½ cup)
• 1 large egg
• 1 tbsp milk
• 1.5 tsp vanilla
• 300g gluten-free all-purpose flour (2 cups) I used Doves Farm Freee
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp xanthan gum

For the royal icing:

• 500g royal icing mix
• 5-6 tbsp cold water
• orange and black gel food coloring or whatever colors you prefer

Instructions

 

For the cookies:

• In a mixing bowl, cream the soft butter and sugar together at medium speed using a stand mixer or electric mixer for (about 2 minutes).
• Add the egg, milk and vanilla and beat until combined.
• Add the flour, salt, xanthan gum and cinnamon and mix at a low speed until combined.
• Cover the dough and refrigerate for at least one hour (or up to overnight).
• Preheat the oven to 350⁰F / 180⁰C / 160⁰C fan. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set it aside.
• Roll out the dough about ¼ inch thick onto a lightly floured surface. Cut out the dough with Halloween-themed cookie cutters, and place the cookies on the parchment paper (make sure the cookies are not touching).
• Remove any scrap dough, reform, and roll it out, then continue cutting more cookies.
• Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes, until lightly brown around the edges. Remove from the oven and allow cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet. Transfer to a wire rack to allow them to cool completely.

For the royal icing and decoration:

• Combine Royal Icing mix with 5 tbsp of cold water, and beat on a low speed using an electric mixer or stand mixer until combined. Test the consistency (it should have the consistency of honey), and add a little more water, if needed.
• Separate the royal icing into 3 bowls. Add a few drops of black food coloring to one bowl, and orange food coloring to another. Mix well, and add more food coloring if needed.
• Fill a piping bag with one color and decorate cookies as desired. (I used a small round nozzle tip to pipe on the royal icing, and then a toothpick to smooth it over the top to create the base color. I used a different color to pipe on the facial features once the base had dried.)

Notes

• Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
• To freeze the cookie dough: form the dough into a ball and wrap it tightly in plastic wrap. Put the wrapped dough in a ziplock bag in the freezer and store for up to 3 months.
• To freeze the royal icing: put the icing in a ziplock bag (one color per bag) and store it in the freezer for up to 2 months.

Keyword autumn recipes, easy dessert, gluten-free cookies, Halloween, royal icing, sugar cookies

This nutritional information is based on the brands and ingredients I used for this recipe. They may not be 100% accurate for you. Please check your nutrition labels for more precise information.