Chewy Coconut Sugar Cookies (Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Egg Free)

If you've been scouring the internet, looking for the perfect gluten free sugar cookie recipe to make for Christmas, then look no further. These sugar cookies are so good, you literally cannot tell that they're gluten free.

And these aren't only the best gluten free sugar cookies I've ever made, they're the best sugar cookies I've ever made period.

Sugar cookies aren't usually my thing. They have a tendency to be dry and flavorless, tasting like nothing but sugar. I usually head for the fudge and peanut butter blossoms before I start looking at the sugar cookies. But these... These cookies are different.

One of the best parts about these sugar cookies (other than the obvious chewiness and flavor factors) is that when the frosting sets, they taste like Lofthouse sugar cookies. You know, those ones you get at the grocery store? Only these are approximately one hundred bajillion times better.

I had an idea in my mind the other day to try using Coconut Flour for making gluten free sugar cookies. When I grabbed my bag of coconut flour, I was pleasantly surprised to see a gluten free sugar cookie recipe on the back of the bag. So of course I had to try it.

But then I saw that it had no eggs, a bunch of liquid was added, and the batter was supposed to be "moist and fluffy", I had a bad feeling that these might turn out cakey, but I was too far in to turn back now. 

I was also worried about the amount of rice flour. Rice flour tends to make cookies gritty. My theory is that gluten free recipes like this German chocolate cake are not gritty because the rice flour gets moistened by all the liquid. So I guess the person who made up this recipe knew what they were doing.

The amount of liquid in these cookies really eliminates all the grittiness you expect with rice flour cookies. The flavor was awesome and the texture was flawless. I decided to make a few small batches to experiment. I tried replacing the butter with Coconut Oil in one batch (to be dairy free), I replaced all of the coconut flour with some rice flour in another batch (since coconut flour isn't always around the house), and I made one batch pretty much following the recipe, using the butter and coconut flour. Here's what I found:



The coconut oil ones were definitely the best. They were the chewiest, thickest, and they were also the sturdiest. The rice flour ones were a bit more crumbly and the flavor wasn't quite as good, but they weren't bad. I would make them again if I ever don't have coconut flour around. The actual recipe using butter was good too, but not as good as the coconut oil.

So, in summary, I highly suggest you make these using coconut oil and coconut flour, but if you don't have those ingredients around, you can easily swap them out and you'll still have an awesome gluten free cookie. The frosting is dairy free, but if you don't have the ingredients try this buttercream recipe. Have fun.

• Chewy Coconut Sugar Cookies
• Adapted from Bob's Red Mill
• Makes about 2 dozen
• 
  
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup Coconut Oil (or butter)
• 1/3 cup coconut milk (I actually used rice since I didn't have any more coconut. Almond, soy, or even regular milk would probably be fine too)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3/4 cup White Rice Flour
• 1/3 cup Coconut Flour(or another 3/4 cup more rice flour)
• 2 tablespoons Potato Starch
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• Coconut frosting (recipe below)
•  
• Mix together the sugar and coconut oil (or butter). Add the milk and vanilla and mix until well combined. Mix together the dry ingredients and add to the rest. Batter will be moist and fluffy. 
• Allow to sit on the counter for a few minutes while you preheat the oven to 350ºF.
• Place rounded tablespoonfuls on greased baking sheets and bake for about 10 minutes or until desired doneness is reached. Cool before frosting.
• 
  
• Coconut Frosting:
• 1/4 cup Coconut Oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla 
• 3 1/4 cups powdered sugar
• 6 tablespoons Full Fat Coconut Milk (regular coconut milk might be okay too)
• 
  
• Mix together the coconut oil and vanilla. Alternately add the powdered sugar and milk, mixing after each addition. If it's too thin, add more sugar. If it's too thick, add more milk.

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