Make these super fun gluten free sugar cookie tie dye Christmas tree cookies for your holidays. Slightly crispy outside with a chewy middle and perfectly balanced buttery sugar flavor. Each cookie is its own unique tie dye design.
I have never been one to become some crazy Christmas cookie lady during the holidays.
I like to have one very short, very stressful baking session with my kids, you know "for the memories". And that's about all I can handle.
But this year is different. This year I have a recipe they can't mess up and I know won't fail.
Plus, these gluten free sugar cookies have now made their debut for two other holidays (Valentine's Day and Halloween), so you better believe they get to have a spotlight for Christmas too.
These cookies are your jam if you..
- Want to make a Christmas cookie that tastes sweet and buttery
- Are looking for a festive cookie that isn't a pain in the a** to make
- Love making cut out cookies with your kids family or friends but not decorating with icing
I like baking for one reason, and that's to eat delicious food. Other than that I want in and out of the kitchen with the least amount of stress possible.
That's what makes these no fail gluten free cookies a real gem. If you follow the directions they are easy and will not let you down.
Ingredients and substitutions
Here is what you will need to make these cookies:
- gluten free 1-1 flour (the kind with xanthan gum) I used this brand of gluten free flour
- unsalted butter
- sugar
- vanilla
- baking powder and salt
- egg
- green food coloring
Substitutions
1-1 flour- I don't really recommend trying to switch out the flour in this recipe. I accidentally did it during one of my recipe tests and used a gluten free all purpose flour. It was really difficult to work with and did not taste great. Stick with the 1-1 type flour.
How to make ahead of time
If you wanted to make these cookies ahead of time you could do a few things.
- Make the dough the day before and keep in the fridge for up to 24 hours before you roll out and bake. Just set the dough out a bit to make rolling it out easier.
- You could also make these cookies as written, let them cool, and then freeze the baked cookies. I like to double wrap by placing in plastic wrap and then an air tight container or freezer bag. Unthaw when you are ready to eat them!
Expert tips and storage
It is super important to read this section and follow these tips for the best results. I tried making these cookies 2 times when I was in a hurry...without following my own tips, and they just didn't work out.
Don't skip the chilling
- Don't try and rush the chilling process. They need an hour in the fridge or longer. An hour is the easiest because you don't have the dough get too hard and have to wait for it to be a little warmer before you roll.
- When you are making the cookies place the cut cookies in the fridge on a cookie sheet while you are cutting out and rerolling the dough.
- If you do not keep the dough cool they will spread too much and lose their Christmas tree shape.
Use room temperature cookie sheets
- If you do not have multiple cookie sheets, be sure to let the one you use to bake the cookies cool before placing more dough on them.
Don't overbake
- You will only want to bake these until they are JUST turning golden on the bottom and the tiniest bit on the edges. Golden, not brown. Not overbaking will give you a wonderful crispy outside and chewy inside.
Recipe
Tie Dye Christmas Tree Cookies (GF)
- Total Time: 79
- Yield: 18 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
Make these super fun gluten free sugar cookie tie dye Christmas tree cookies for your holidays. Slightly crispy outside with a chewy middle and perfectly balanced buttery sugar flavor. Each cookie its own unique design.
Ingredients
- 1½ cups gluten free flour (use a 1-1 gluten free flour with xanthan gum and use a “spoon and level” method to measure)
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¾ cup granulated white sugar
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 tsp baking powder
- green food coloring
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375°. Prepare two- three large cookie sheets with parchment paper. (see notes)
- In a stand mixer or hand mixer, cream together your sugar and butter . Cream until the mix becomes pale and smooth. Once smooth, add in your egg and vanilla.
- While that is creaming together, in a separate bowl whisk together your flour, salt, and baking powder.
- Once your butter and eggs have creamed together, turn the mixer down and slowly add your flour about ½ cup at a time. Once all flour has been added, mix until just combined being sure to scrape the sides of the bowl if needed. It is ok if it is a little crumbly. The dough will come together in the next step.
- Remove half the cookie dough from the bowl and form into a round ball. Divide the dough ball in half and place each half in plastic wrap. With the other half of dough in the bowl, add your green food coloring until desired color is reached. I used a natural gel and it was about ½ teaspoon of gel. Mix the cooking dough with a large spoon or by hand until the green is incorporated evenly. Repeat the above steps by dividing the green dough in half and wrapping in plastic wrap. You will have 4 total dough balls (2 white, 2 green).
- Chill dough balls in the refrigerator for 1 hour, up to overnight. Do not skip this step.
- When you are ready to make your cookies remove only one green and one white dough ball at a time.
- Remove from plastic wrap, and divide each ball into two. You now have 4 dough balls to work with. Stack the dough on top of each other alternating the colors. Ex, green, white, green white. Place on parchment paper lightly floured to prevent sticking, and use a rolling pin to roll the dough out until it is even and ⅛ inch thick. I used plastic wrap over my dough to make rolling it out even easier. As you roll the colors will start to peek through and make a swirly, tie dye design.
- Using a Christmas tree cookie cutter, cut the dough by pressing the cookie cutter into the dough and moving back and forth slightly to ensure a clean cut. Place cookie dough onto prepared cookie sheet, leaving 2 inches between each cookie. You will need to re-roll the dough and continue cutting until it is all used up. To keep the colors from mixing together too much, I would scoot the dough back together versus roll. Once the first dough roll is used you can remove the other dough out of the fridge and proceed in the same steps.
- Bake at 375° for 9 minutes. All ovens are different, you do not want to over bake. The bottoms of the cookies will start to become lightly golden when finished baking.
- Cool on baking sheet for 3-5 minutes then remove with spatula and cool on a cooling rack the remainder of the way.
- You can freeze these cookies after baking and cooled or store in an airtight container at room temperature.
Notes
- Be sure to use cookies sheets that are room temperature if you do not have more than one baking sheet. Placing the dough on a warm cookie sheet will make these spread more.
- It is very important to keep this dough cool and not skip chilling times so that you get a nice Christmas tree shape.
- Prep Time: 70
- Cook Time: 9
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Holiday
Keywords: gluten free christmas cookies, christmas tree cookies, gluten free sugar cookies
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