Notes: White whole wheat flour or all-purpose flour may be substituted for the whole wheat pastry flour. Regular whole wheat flour may be substituted in a pinch, but the cookies will have detectable “wheat-y” taste.
Use a store-bought gluten-free flour blend (like
this one!) for the gluten-free option, but make sure you measure it carefully,
like this or with my favorite kitchen scale!
It’s very important to measure the flour correctly, using
this method or a
kitchen scale. (← That’s the one I own and love!) Too much will dry out your cookie dough and make your sugar cookies crumbly.
This is my favorite cinnamon. It has a stronger, richer, and slightly sweeter flavor than regular cinnamon (and it’s really affordable!).
If using coconut oil, the cookies may have a faintly detectable coconut flour.
Vanilla extract may be substituted for the butter extract, but the cookies will not have the same iconic “sugar cookie” taste.
Honey or
agave may be substituted for the pure maple syrup.
This is the liquid stevia that I use. It’s one of my favorite ingredients (you’ll use it in all of
these recipes of mine, too!), and I buy it online
here because that’s the cheapest price I’ve found. You cannot substitute additional pure maple syrup for the liquid stevia because cookies require a precise balance of wet and dry ingredients. (See Nerd Alert #6 in my blog post above for more information.)
This is my favorite plastic wrap. It clings SO much better than other brands I’ve tried! And
this is my favorite rolling pin. Its surface is much more even than traditional wooden rolling pins, and it’s perfect for rolling out cinnamon roll dough too!
If chilling the cookie dough longer than 2 hours, it may be necessary to “thaw” the cookie dough on the counter for 15-20 minutes before trying to roll it out. It gets stiffer the longer it chills, so letting it rest on the counter for a short period of time makes it easier for you to roll it out!
If your cookies have air bubbles in their tops after baking, place another (room temperature!) baking sheet on top of them shortly after removing the cookies from the oven. Leave the baking sheet on top while they cool to room temperature.
This is the pumpkin-shaped cookie cutter that I used.
For more information regarding the ingredients and instructions, please see the Nerd Alerts (#1-10) in my blog post above. {gluten-free, vegan, clean eating, low fat, low sugar}