Lemony Rolled Sugar Cookies

My friend came over a few weeks ago and asked me to help her make gluten free sugar cookies. What we came up with was a soft, chewy cookie with crisp edges from rolling them in sugar before baking. They’re light, sweet, and fluffy with a bit of tang from the addition of cream cheese and from lemon juice. They’re perfect to brighten up a winter day (probably even better for spring and summer…let’s face it, they’re amazing year round). Recipe adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod.

• Ready In: 31 mins
• Serves: 18
• Yields: 36 cookies

Ingredients

• 3⁄4 cup  brown rice flour
• 3⁄4 cup  rice flour
• 3⁄4 cup sorghum flour
• 1⁄2 cup tapioca flour
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons xanthan gum
• 1  teaspoon baking soda
• 1⁄2 teaspoon baking powder, gluten free
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1⁄2 cups granulated sugar
• 3⁄4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2  ounces cream cheese
• 1  large egg
• 1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla extract, gluten free
• 2  tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1⁄3 cup granulated sugar, for rolling cookies

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350ËšF. Line your baking sheets with parchment or a silpat mat and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, mix together all the flours, xanthan gum, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and set aside.
3. Using a mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese until well combined and smooth.
4. Add the sugar and combine until smooth yet fluffy.
5. Add the egg, vanilla, and lemon. Mix until combined.
6. In a large bowl, add the dry ingredients gradually. Allow them to incorporate after every addition before adding more.
7. I use a cookie scoop to get evenly sized cookies. Place the extra sugar on a plate or in a bowl. You want them to be a rounded tablespoon. Roll the dough into a ball the sugar til coated on all around.
8. Place on a baking sheet 2 inches apart.
9. Bake 9-12 minutes. My bake time was 7 minutes, turn, and 4 minutes. You want them to be SLIGHTLY browned on the edges.
10. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes.
11. Transfer to a cooling rack. While most cookies are best right out of the oven, sugar cookies, in my opinion, are an exception. I think they're much better once completely cooled. Even better the next day actually. Something about how they rest I guess. Plus the flavors all seem to come together better once they have cooled. Store them in an airtight container to keep them soft and chewy.