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These maple sugar cookies are soft yet crisp cut out cookies, made using grain-free ingredients like maple sugar, almond flour, tapioca flour, and coconut oil. They taste amazing plain or are fun cookies to decorate for the holidays.

Maple sugar cookies on a table.

I don’t think a year goes by that I don’t decorate sugar cookies during the holidays. It’s a festive and delicious tradition that everyone in my family looks forward to.

I usually make my Sablés Sugar Cookie recipe, but I have been on the hunt for a dairy-free and gluten-free cut out cookie recipe and this maple sugar cookie recipe fits the bill. These cookies can easily be made into shapes and are a great recipe to have on hand this time of year.

What makes this recipe great

  • They are dairy-free and gluten-free.
  • They are made with maple sugar instead of white sugar.
  • They are made with the grain-free flours almond flour, tapioca flour, and coconut flour.
  • They are easy to make into cut out shapes and to decorate.
Paleo sugar cookies made with maple sugar.

Recipe ingredients

  • Coconut oil– if you buy refined coconut oil it has less of a coconut taste.
  • Maple sugar– this is the sugar that makes and flavors these cookies. I like this brand of maple sugar. It lasts me forever!
  • Egg– you’ll need a large egg. It binds the cookie batter together.
  • Vanilla– you can use vanilla extract either with or without alcohol.
  • Almond flour– make sure to use blanched almond flour because it is more refined in texture and better for baking.
  • Tapioca flour– the combination of almond flour, tapioca flour and coconut flour gives these cookies a good texture.
  • Coconut flour– You don’t need much of this.
  • Cream of tartar– this helps make the cookies chewy.
  • Baking soda– this is needed for the cookies to rise.
  • Cinnamon– it adds a nice flavor.

See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.

Step by step instructions

Step 1: Mix the soft coconut oil into the maple sugar, then add the egg and vanilla.

Step 2: Mix the almond flour, tapioca flour, coconut flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and cinnamon together..

Step 3: Add 1 cup of the flour mixture into the creamed maple sugar mixture and beat it using your stand mixer or hand-held electric mixer. You’ll repeat the process until all of the flour mixture is gone.

Step 4: Refrigerate the dough.

Step 5: Roll out the dough and cut shapes into it.

Step 6: Bake!

Maple sugar frosted cookies.

Expert tips

  • Use softened coconut oil– It is very important for this recipe that the coconut oil be softened. You can scoop up the hardened coconut oil and putting it into a bowl and heating it up in the microwave for 10 seconds. BUT make sure it isn’t melted.
    • It can’t be in a clear pool at the bottom of your bowl. And it can’t be too rock hard solid. Basically if you can easily scoop it out of the jar in large clumps, then thats perfect.
  • Use maple sugar. Maple sugar is much more rich in taste than coconut sugar.  I find that it melts better into the cookies while baking as well.
    • It adds a lovely maple taste.

Frosting options

  • Blueberry flavored frosting ( recipe in recipe card). It is made with maple sugar, tapioca flour, blueberry powder, water and vanilla. You mix everything in the food processor and it should be good to go.
    • Note: you don’t have to use blueberry powder, you can use any freeze-dried fruit powder. You can also make your own powder by putting some freeze dried fruit into a food processor and mixing it until it forms into a powder. I just had blueberry powder on hand.
  • Maple cinnamon frosting recipe in recipe card)- made with maple sugar, tapioca flour, water, vanilla, and cinnamon. This frosting uses more tapioca flour than the blueberry one, but it remains very similar in texture.
  • Store bought. My favorite is Mrs Jones frosting. It is dairy-free and made without dyes and is delicious!
Maple cut out cookies on a table.

Other holiday desserts you’ll love

Paleo Almond Flour Gingerbread Men Cookies– this gingerbread cookie recipe is main with dairy-free and gluten-free ingredients.

Paleo Snickerdoodles– full of cinnamon and coconut sugar.

Gluten-free Sugar Cookies by Meaningful Eats. They look like the perfect sugar cookies to decorate for the holidays.

Paleo sugar cookies– These are made with honey and maple syrup instead of sugar.

Crockpot Candy by This Vivacious Life is made in the slow cooker and a wonderful holiday recipe.

Did you try this recipe? Please leave me a ⭐ review below!

5 from 1 vote

Maple Sugar Cookies (Paleo, Gluten-Free)

Servings: 25 cookies
Prep: 1 hour 20 minutes
Cook: 10 minutes
Total: 1 hour 30 minutes
Paleo Cut-Out Cinnamon Maple Sugar Cookies (GF) | Perchance to Cook, www.perchancetocook.com
A delicious grain-free, dairy-free, gluten-free, paleo cut-out sugar cookie recipe made with maple sugar, coconut oil, almond flour, tapioca flour, and coconut flour.

Ingredients 

Cookie Ingredients:

Maple blueberry frosting ingredients:

Maple cinnamon frosting ingredients:

Instructions 

Cookie instructions:

  • In a large bowl, beat the softened coconut oil and maple sugar together with an electric hand-held mixer or in a stand mixer. **Note: the coconut oil needs to be softened, not too hard and not melted. It was cold in my house so it was hard. 10 seconds in the microwave was perfect to soften it. In the summer, though, when its warmer out, my coconut oil is always in a softened state.
  • Add the egg and vanilla to the bowl and beat until well mixed.
  • In a separate bowl, mix the almond flour, tapioca flour, coconut flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and cinnamon together.
  • Add 1 cup of the flour mixture to the wet mixture and beat until blended. Add another cup of the flour mixture and beat until well blended. Add the remaining flour mixture and beat until just blended. Take everything out of the bowl and form one big ball of dough with your hands.
  • Divide the dough into 3 equal pieces and roll each piece into smaller balls in your hands. Put each piece into a separate plastic bag and refrigerate the dough in the fridge for 45 minutes-1 hour.
  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  • Take one of the balls of dough out of the fridge. Kneed it in between your hands to warm it up and make it easier to roll out. Place the dough in between 2 pieces of parchment paper, and push the ball down. Roll the dough with a rolling pin until you get the dough to your desired thickness, between 1/8 of an inch to 1/4 of an inch thick. Use cookie cutters to cut the dough into shapes using cookie cutters.
  • **Note: if you like softer thicker cookies, roll the dough out thicker. If you want harder crispier cookies, roll the dough out thinner.
  • Roll the scraps of the dough into a ball and roll out again in between the parchment paper and cut the dough into shapes using cookie cutters. Put the remaining dough back into the fridge.
  • Take the next ball of dough out of the fridge and repeat the process of kneading it, rolling it out and cutting it into shapes with cookies cutters.
  • Eventually combine all of the scraps and cut the dough into shapes with cookie cutters until there is no dough left.
  • Place the cookies onto a covered cookie sheet ( silicone liner or parchment paper) and bake for 8-10 minutes. Only put one cookie sheet into the oven at a time. Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes and then place them on a wire rack to cool further.
  • **Note: Cook them for 8 minutes for softer cookies, 10 for crispier cookies. I cooked mine for 8 because I like softer cookies.
  • **Note: You’ll probably fill up a cookie sheet with cookie shapes prior to using up all of the dough. Bake the cookies when one cookie sheet is filled up and continue cutting the rest of the dough into shapes in the process.

Frosting Instructions:

  • For the maple blueberry frosting: add ½ cup of maple sugar, 1 Tbs tapioca flour, ½ tsp blueberry powder, 3 tsp water, and 1 tsp vanilla to a food processor and mix until smooth.
  • For the maple cinnamon frosting: add ½ cup of maple sugar, 1 Tbs tapioca flour, 3 tsp water, 1 tsp vanilla, and ½ tsp cinnamon to a food processor and mix until smooth. Then add 1 Tbs of tapioca flour and mix again. Add another Tbs of tapioca flour and mix again. Add the last Tbs of tapioca flour and mix again.
  • **Note: the frosting will harden on the cookies eventually, but this doesn’t happen right away.
  • ** Note: feel free to use a different fruit powder if you do not want blueberry powder. You can make your own by putting freeze-dried fruit into a food processor. 

Notes

**Note: You can leave the dough in the fridge overnight. If you do this, take it out of the fridge for 2 hours before rolling it out to make into cookie shapes.
**Note: Make sure your coconut oil is softened. It can’t be rock hard and it can not be melted. It was cold in my house so it was hard. 10 seconds in the microwave was perfect to soften it. In the summer, though, when its warmer out, my coconut oil is always in a softened state.

Nutrition

Calories: 171kcalCarbohydrates: 20gProtein: 2gFat: 10gSaturated Fat: 6gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.2gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.5gTrans Fat: 0.001gCholesterol: 7mgSodium: 29mgPotassium: 54mgFiber: 1gSugar: 12gVitamin A: 11IUVitamin C: 0.005mgCalcium: 29mgIron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: cookies, Paleo
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