gluten free cookie baking help (2024)

Of all the categories of gluten-free baking, it might come as a surprise to you that the one that seems to cause the most problems is not bread, but cookies! (Bread is a very close second, though!)

Particularly if the cookies must be both gluten-free and dairy-free … and (gasp) … what if they must be egg-free, too? Would it surprise you to learn that using Ener-G® Egg Replacer instead of eggs actually helps keep most gluten-free cookie recipes from spreading?!)

While most people tend to get a bit frustrated with their “free from” cookie baking results, if you keep these 14 tips (A Baker’s Dozen + 1!) handy next time you’re baking cookies, you’ll be baking your way to moist, chewy success!

14 Gluten Free Cookie Baking Tips

1- Cream the butter or shortening with the sugar with an electric mixer before doing anything else. This step will help whip up the butter or shortening and make it fluffier, while also breaking down the sugar a bit, so that it doesn’t melt as much (e.g. spread) when baking.

2- Bake with a combination of butter (or non-dairy butter alternative – i.e. Earth Balance® Buttery Sticks — NOT spreads because they … spread! — see my dairy-free butter recommendations here) and shortening, rather than just butter alone. The combination works to give more body to the dough to prevent spreading. To see more on the benefits of this combination, see my video! The shortening I recommend is Spectrum Palm Oil Shortening — it’s organic, Fair Trade Certified and Sustainable Palm Oil Certified. It’s also non-hydrogenated. It works well when you’re experiencing cookie spread.

3- Always cover cookie sheets with parchment paper unless the recipe directs otherwise. It prevents the cookies from sticking to the sheet (and then breaking apart when removed), doesn’t leave a greasy aftertaste on the bottoms of the cookies, and helps you spend less time in the kitchen doing clean-up duty when you’re done – BONUS!

4- Chill your dough well before baking! (Particularly when dealing with rolled cookie doughs, although I happen to think it’s a good rule of thumb no matter what!)

5- Don’t put too many additions into any cookie recipe. For example, with chocolate chip cookies, adding too many chocolate chips will cause the cookies to spread, as there is not enough dough to bake up for support. This is one reason why I like using Enjoy Life® MINI chips (and they’re dairy, soy & nut-free, too!).

6- If your cookies still insist on spreading, add an extra 1/4 cup of my gfJules Gluten Free All Purpose Flour to the remaining dough to help hold them together (also helps at high altitude!).

7- If your cookie dough is too dry and crumbly, just add back to the mixing bowl and stir in a couple tablespoons of your favorite milk or an egg. Add more if needed – the dough needs to hold together, but most cookie doughs shouldn’t be sticky. Sometimes I’ll keep cookie dough in my fridge or freezer and when I go to bake some, the dough has dried out from the cold. Same solution: bring to room temperature then mix in a few tablespoons of milk. Voila – cookie dough like new!

8- Baking by weight, as opposed to volume, is always more accurate. One measured cup of my gfJules All Purpose Gluten-Free Flour should weigh 135 grams. If using my gfJules Multigrain Biscuit and Breakfast Baking Flour (corn-free), 1 cup weighs 140 grams. If using my grain-free Nada Flour, 1 cup weighs 110 grams.

Measuring your ingredients inaccurately can throw any recipe off, especially finicky cookie recipes! Read more about how to accurately measure your gluten free flour in this post, and grab a kitchen scale here — you won’t regret it!

9- If your oven has the option, try baking using convection settings, rather than static temperature. If you have a convection setting on your oven and a convection temperature is not given, simply reduce the static temperature by 25 degrees when using your convection setting and bake for a bit less time. Watch closely so you don’t over-bake!

10- In fact, go ahead and reduce the temperature on your oven by 25 degrees anyway. If your oven is baking too hot (shockingly, most ovens don’t cook at the accurate temperature!), your cookies will definitely spread! The sugar in the dough may even sneak out the sides of the cookie and form a lacy texture. If this is happening, try baking the next batch at a lower temperature and see what works best with your oven.

11- Take your cookies out BEFORE they look done. With chocolate chip cookies, for example, I remove them when the centers still look a bit doughy. As they cool, they are still cooking. Taking them out of the oven at this point will ensure that they stay chewy!

12- Let your cookies cool before removing them from the parchment. I slide the parchment onto wire cooling racks after 5 minutes or so, and let them fully cool before I remove them. Once they’re cooled, they are no longer fragile … but still chewy and delicious!

13- Make sure your baking soda and/or baking powder are fresh. These are the leavening agents in your cookie recipe and if they are no longer active, your cookies won’t puff up and may spread more. Try a fresh container if they’ve been open longer than 3 months.

14- Use a tried and true gluten free cookie mix. It’s faster and easier than weighing out and adding other ingredients, and you’ll know that it works! Try my delectable and uber-versatile, award-winning gfJules Cookie Mixand my easy gfJules Sugar Cut Out Cookie Mix! And don’t forget homemade gluten free graham crackers with my gluten free Graham Cracker/Gingerbread Mix!

♦Want the gluten free recipes for my Vanilla Wafers, Oatmeal Cookies, Hamantaschen, Spritz, Snowball Cookies, Chocolate Crinkle Cookies, Sugar Cookies, Peanut Butter Cookies and Snickerdoodles, all pictured here? Search my RECIPES tab or the search bar at the top of every page and you’ll find over 60 gluten free cookie recipes for the taking!♦

And don’t forget to sign up for all things Gluten-Free Cookie by joining the Gluten-Free Cookie Swap – your community cookie recipe share site on Facebook!

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