4th of July Sugar Cookies

A bite reveals the contrast between the soft warm interior and the crisp sugary exterior.

5 from 1 vote

These 4th of July Sugar Cookies are soft and chewy buttery sugar cookies that are loaded with red, white and blue sprinkles. These cookies are so simple to make; no mixer is needed at all! You'll have festive cookies in an hour from start to finish! Best yet, these are gluten free sugar cookies, eggless sugar cookies, are nut free, and can easily be dairy free (vegan)!

Prep Time15

Cook Time15

Freeze Time30

Total Time1

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Gluten Free, Vegan

Servings: large cookies

Calories: 230kcal

Author: Lee

Ingredients

1 ¾ cups multipurpose gluten free flour (I use a gluten free multipurpose flour with xanthan gum already in it)
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt
2 rounded tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 3 tablespoons water
½ cup unsalted butter or vegan baking stick, melted and cooled
1 ¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar (reserve 1 tablespoons for the tops)
1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
¼ cup milk
1 cup red, white and blue sprinkles (reserve ¼ cup for the tops)

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Place the ½ cup unsalted butter or vegan baking stick in a heat safe bowl. Place a paper towel on top of the bowl so the butter doesn't splatter.
Microwave in 11 second increments until almost melted. Whisk until fully melted; the residual heat will melt the rest. Set aside to cool. Do not microwave until it bubbles or browns.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the 1 ¾ cups multipurpose gluten free flour, 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder and ½ teaspoon kosher salt. Set aside.
In a small bowl, using a spoon, mix together the 2 rounded tablespoons of cornstarch and the 3 tablespoons of water until thin and watery. It will be thick and tacky at first.
Whisk the cooled butter until a creamy liquid. It may be thick from sitting out.
Into the cooled and creamy melted butter, whisk in 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar, the cornstarch water and the 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract until fully emulsified.
Starting and ending with the flour mixture, whisk half the flour mixture into the melted butter mixture. Then add the ¼ cup milk and whisk to combine.
Add in the second half of the flour mixture gently with a spatula. Do not over mix or the dough will become shiny and too sticky.
Pour in ¾ cup of the sprinkles and use a spatula to mix into the dough.
The dough will be very sticky. Add it to a freezer safe bowl, cover the top with plastic wrap and pop the entire bowl of dough in the freezer for 30 min.
When the dough is almost done chilling, preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Do not grease.
After 30 min, using a large cookie scoop, make 14 scoops with the dough. (I use a 2 ounce cookie scoop).
If the dough is sticking to the cookie scoop, wash the scoop half way through to get off any stuck on dough.
Flatten each scoop into a thick disc versus a ball. If you don't do this step, the cookies will remain in the ball shape when baking.
Push the top of each dough discs into a small bowl of the remaining ¼ cup of sprinkles.
Drop the top of the disc in the extra 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar and coat the top only. Do not coat the bottom or sides with sugar or the cookies will caramelize on the edges and bottom and burn.
It must be in this order otherwise the sprinkles will not stick to the dough.
Place the discs about 3-4 inches apart on the parchment lined baking sheet. Bake the cookies at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes.
I only bake 6 at a time. Pop the rest of the dough discs in the fridge while the first batch is baking.
Immediately reshape the cookies when they come out of the oven. Use a spatula to push them into a circle and let cool on the baking sheet for 5 min before transferring to a cooling rack. If you don't let them cool on the pan, the cookies will break apart into a giant mess when you try to lift them up.
Repeat this with the remaining dough discs.

Video

Notes

Vegan: Use a dairy-free gluten free flour, vegan sugar, vegan baking sticks, non-dairy milk and vegan sprinkles.

All Purpose Flour: I cannot test this due to celiac disease, but use 1 ¾ cup packed cups of flour (294 grams) and 2 tablespoons of milk. Still chill the dough.

Storing: Keep extra cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Freezing: To freeze already baked cookies, place cookies (not stacked) on a parchment lined baking sheet and pop in the freezer uncovered. Freeze for 10-15 minutes or until the cookies are hard. Once frozen, store them stacked in a freezer safe airtight container or zip top bag in the freezer for up to 1 month. To defrost, take the container out and leave at room temperature until soft.

Nutrition: The info below is a generated estimate and is not guaranteed to be accurate.

Nutrition