Oat Flour Sugar Cookies are a delicious gluten-free holiday cookie recipe. Made with one simple flour, they can be stirred together quickly in one bowl!
These gluten-free sugar cookies are as delicious as those made with all-purpose flour.
Oat flour is made from ground oats, so you can even make your own oat flour at home to save yourself a trip to the store. It has a very similar texture to all-purpose flour, creating a chewy texture without relying on multiple flours.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Oats are naturally gluten-free, but be sure to buy certified gluten-free oats and oat flour when serving someone gluten-free. (Oats can be contaminated during the manufacturing process.)
I use white sugar to keep the cookies looking like traditional ones for my kids, but coconut sugar will work, too, if you don’t mind a darker hue to your sugar cookies.
This recipe calls for almond extract to hide this flour’s “oaty” flavor. But you can leave that out if you need a nut-free cookie.
Prefer to use almond flour?
Check out my Almond Flour Sugar Cookies if you need another gluten-free alternative. (Don’t use another flour without expecting different results.)
How to Make Oat Flour Sugar Cookies
Preheat your oven to 350ºF and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. If you want to bake the whole batch at once, prepare two cookie sheets.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter and sugar and mix well. Add the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract, and stir again until the mixture looks smooth.
Next, add the oat flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir well until the dough comes together and looks uniform.
Place the dough in the fridge to chill for 10 to 15 minutes, if you want to make cut-out shapes. (The dough will become quite hard if you leave it in the fridge longer, so keep that in mind if you want to make them ahead. It will soften up with time again, though!)
Or, use a cookie scoop to scoop the dough into mounds on your baking sheet. You can roll these in cane sugar for a simple sugar cookie.
To make cut-out cookies, arrange a large piece of parchment paper on your counter and set the chilled dough in the center of it. Place another piece of parchment paper on top of the dough, then use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a flat sheet about a 1/4-inch thick.
Use your favorite cookie cutters to cut out the cookie dough. Remove the excess dough, then transfer the cut-outs to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat the process, rolling out the scraps until you’ve used all the cookie dough.
You should get roughly 24 cookies from this batch, depending on the size of your cookie cutters.
Arrange the cookies at least 2 inches apart on the lined baking sheet. Add some sprinkles, if you’d like, or leave them plain if you plan on frosting them later.
Bake at 350ºF for 7 to 10 minutes. Pull them out of the oven at the 7-minute mark for softer cookies, and let them finish cooling directly on the pan. They will firm up as they cool.
For crispier sugar cookies, let them bake for 10 minutes, then cool on the pan. You can decorate the cookies with your favorite frosting if desired.
Any leftover cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or in the refrigerator for up to a week. You can also freeze cookies for up to 3 months and let them thaw before serving.
Looking for more gluten-free cookie recipes? Try Oat Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies, Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies, or Gluten-Free Chocolate Cookies for more ideas.
- ½ cup butter , softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 2 ¾ cups oat flour (certified gluten-free, if needed)
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
Powdered Sugar Frosting (optional)
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 3 to 4 teaspoons water , as needed to thin
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Preheat the oven to 350ºF and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, combine the butter and sugar and mix well.
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Add in the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract, and mix again until smooth.
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Next, add in the oat flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir well, until the dough looks thick and uniform. Place the bowl of cookie dough in the fridge to chill for 15 minutes. (The dough will become quite firm if you leave it in the fridge longer, but it will soften at room temperature again.)
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Arrange a large piece of parchment paper on your work surface, and place the cookie dough in the center. Place another piece of parchment paper over the top, then use a rolling pin to flatten the dough into a sheet, about a 1/4-inch thick. Use cookie cutters to cut the dough into shapes, and remove the excess dough. Repeat the process with the scraps, until you’ve cut out all of the dough.
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Transfer the cut-out cookies to the prepared baking sheet, keeping the cookies about 1 inch apart from each other to allow for a bit of spreading. Bake the cookies at 350ºF for 7 to 10 minutes, depending on how crisp you like them. (I stick to 7 minutes for softer centers.)
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Let the cookies cool on the pan until they feel firm enough to handle, about 10 to 15 minutes. Then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely, and bake any remaining cookies using the baking sheet again.
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As soon as the cookies are cool, you can decorate them with your favorite frosting. To make a powdered sugar frosting, combine 1 cup of powdered sugar with a 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla and almond extract, and about 3 to 4 teaspoons of water, as needed to thin out the texture. Spread the frosting on the cookies, and add any sprinkles you like while the frosting is still wet. (It will eventually harden as it rests.)
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Serve the cookies at room temperature, or store them in an airtight container in the fridge until you’re ready to serve them. They will keep well in the fridge for up to a week, or store them in the freezer for up to 3 months.
• For a nut-free cookie: Omit the almond extract. This is added to help hide the oat flavor and make it taste more like a classic sugar cookie.
• For a refined sugar-free cookie: Use coconut sugar in the cookie dough, and try making my Coconut Sugar Frosting or Cashew Frosting, which is sweetened with maple syrup.
• For a vegan cookie: Replace the butter with refined coconut oil (expeller pressed oil will add zero coconut flavor) and swap the egg for a psyllium egg, which is 1 tablespoon of whole psyllium husk mixed with a 1/4 cup of water. You can also try using your favorite powdered egg substitute, or a flax egg, instead.
Calories: 126kcal | Carbohydrates: 17g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 18mg | Sodium: 60mg | Potassium: 64mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 129IU | Calcium: 14mg | Iron: 1mg
If you try these Oat Flour Sugar Cookies, please leave a comment and star rating below, letting me know how you like them!
