Christmas Sugar Cookies (Top 14 free, Gluten free & Vegan)

These lovely little Christmas Sugar Cookies are gluten free & nut free and suitable for vegans!  Make these simple biscuits with ground ginger, vanilla bean paste or simply leave plain. The soft dough is easy enough for little hands to handle and can be re-rolled as many times as you like OR kept in the fridge for a week for all those last minute festive get togethers!

Flavouring basic Christmas Sugar Cookie Dough

I do love a good Christmas party especially one involving lots of glittery crafty things, Santa & yummy food!  These little biscuits are so easy to make and the dough is beautifully soft.  I always make a batch of these for Christmas parties and they are guaranteed to disappear!

There are also endless ways to flavour the dough depending on your preferences and occasion you are baking for.  Just remember to check ingredients to make sure any additional ingredients are still suitable for your dietary needs.

One of the simplest & quickest ways to flavour the dough is by using flavoured icing sugars, just switch out the plain for whichever flavour you fancy!  I tend to use Sugar & Crumbs as it is fairly easy to get hold of either online and through our local cake supplies shop or hobbycraft.

You can also add ground spices to the dough, like cinnamon or ginger as well as adding lemon zest or cocoa powder for a chocolately version.

The other simple way to add flavour is to make a plain dough but use fruit juice, ginger ale or even coffee to make the icing – its definitely worth experimenting.

Gluten Free Sugar Cookies

I don’t bake gluten free very often but this one is super easy and the dough is lovely and soft.

As with wheat flour, not all gluten free flours are created equally, my favourites are Sainsbury’s own label free from flour (which contains rice) AND  Free From Fairy wholegrain flour (which doesn’t!).

I am not a fan of Dove’s Farm or Asda own.  They have far too much rice in which cause eczema flares in this house. But use whatever you prefer.

And finally don’t forget that while a lot of gluten free flours have xanthan gum in them, some do not.  If this is the case for your favourite brand then don’t forget to add a little xanthan gum.  Just add to the flour before making the dough otherwise it will not hold together.

Other Gluten free, Vegan Christmas Recipe Ideas

These little sugar cookies, make lovely Christmas presents or a fab activity for the kids on a cold, winter day.  The dough also is a great base for making pretty stained glass biscuits.

For more recipe ideas for baking festive gifts check out my Quick Vegan Mincemeat flavoured with whisky & ginger ale and why not use it to whip up this speedy Mincemeat Christmas Cake.  For a special someone, why not give my Luxury, fruit vegan mincemeat a try, filled with festive flavours of apple, ginger and persimmons.

These Candy Cane Cookies are perfect for the kids to make for teachers end of term gifts or why not try my Christmas spiced Biscotti or quick and easy vegan Cheese Crackers that just use 3 ingredients!

And don’t forget the cakes this Christmas – why not try our spectacular showstopping Vegan Black Forest Layer Cake, Luxurious Vegan Bailey’s Chocolate Cake or this lovely spicy, sticky Vegan Gingerbread Cake, great with a cuppa!

Recipe for Top 14 Free Christmas Sugar Cookies

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5 from 4 votes

Christmas Sugar Cookies (dairy, gluten, nut free & vegan)

These lovely little Christmas Sugar Cookies are gluten free & nut free and suitable for vegans!  Make these simple biscuits with ground ginger, vanilla bean paste or simply leave plain. The soft dough is easy enough for little hands to handle and can be re-rolled as many times as you like OR kept in the fridge for a week for all those last minute festive get togethers!

Prep Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 25 minutes

Author Midge

Ingredients

For the biscuits:

• 250 g Dairy Free Baking Block or Vegan Butter like Pure or Vitalite
• 120 g Icing Sugar
• 20 g Granulated Sugar
• 1 tbsp Golden Syrup
• 500 g Gluten Free Self Raising Flour Sainsburys, FreeFrom Fairy

For the Icing:

• 2 Tbsp Icing Sugar
• Lemon Juice
• Edible Gold Dust

Optional flavourings.... Use ONE or combination of them!

• 1/4 tsp Ground Ginger (optional)
• 120 g Flavoured Icing Sugar Sub for plain
• 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 tsp Lemon Juice

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 180C and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper or silicone baking sheet

For the Dough

• Beat the margarine, granulated sugar and icing sugar together.  Add the golden syrup and beat again until completely combined.  
• Gently stir in the flour and tip out onto cling film.  Use your hands to mould into a ball of soft dough & wrap tightly in cling film.
• Chill in the fridge for at least 30minutes.
• Cut the dough into quarters.  Take one quarter and re-wrap the rest.  The best thing about this dough is that you can roll & re-roll as many times as you like!
• Gently roll until about the thickness of a pound coin.  Dip your chosen cutters in a pile of flour and press into the dough.  Remove excess dough and transfer the shapes to the lined baking sheet.
• TO MAKE THE BUTTONS....

  Use a large piping nozzle or small round cutter & cut out a circle.  Flatten slightly and then press the original cutter gently into the surface to make the button edge.  Then make four small holes in the centre of the buttons with a skewer.
• Bake for 12-15minutes until just starting to turn golden brown.  They will harden as they cool.

For the Icing

• Mix the icing sugar with a small amount (1/8tsp) of gold dust and then turn into a fairly thick but pourable paste with some of the lemon juice.  You need it to hold itself into blobs but still be able to dip the biscuits in.  
• Decorate the biscuits however you want! 

Pin #FreefromChristmas Biscuits For Later:

For More #FreeFromChristmas recipes follow the links below (which I will update across December as they go LIVE) or just search for #FreeFromChristmas on social media!

• Non Alcoholic Paleo Christmas Cake  from Renee at Mummy Tries (GF, DF, Paleo, Refined Sugar Free)
• Christmas Biscuits from Nathalie at The Intolerant Gourmand (GF, DF, Ve)
• Healthy Vegan Mince Pies from Eva at The Healthy Tart (GF, DF, Ve, Refined Sugar Free)
• Cranberry & Clementine Wreath Bread from Vicki at The Free From Fairy (GF, NF, SyF can be DF, Low FODMAP)
• Pork, Sage & Onion Stuffing Balls from Eb at Easy Peasy Foodie (GF, DF, EF, NF)
• Mini Christmas Cakes from Rebecca at Glutarama (DF EF V NF GF)
• Protein Hot Chocolate with Orange (GF, DF, Ve)
  Dairy Free Homemade Bailey’s (GF, DF) – Glutarama, Rebecca Smith
  Traditional Christmas Cake (GF, DF) – Dairy free kids, Laura Kenny –
  Boozy Bailey’s Real Hot Chocolate (GF, NF optional DF and RSF) – Gluten Free Alchemist, Kate Dowse
  #FreeFromChristmas Biscuits and Black Forest Christmas Cake (DF EF SyF GF NF) – Peachicks’ Bakery, Midge Peacock
  Easy Christmas Cake Muffins (GF, NF, can be DF, Alcohol Free) 
  The ultimate Christmas Sandwich (GF,DF) – A Balanced Belly, Jenna Farmer 
  Healthy Cinnamon Hot Chocolate (GF, DF, NF, RSF) – Free From Farmhouse, Emma Amoscato 
• Vegan GingerBread Hot Chocolate (GF DF EF V) – Modern Food Stories

Linky Love: