Gluten Free

37 Gluten-Free Cookies for All the Fun, Without the Wheat

Whether you’re craving melt-in-your-mouth meringues or easy peanut butter cookies, we’ve got all the festive holiday treats you need—hold the gluten.
Glutenfree citrus sugar cookies.
Photo by Tara Donne, Food styling by Liza Jernow

Looking to bake some gluten-free cookies, but not sure where to start? We have enough options for gluten-free Christmas cookies and gluten-free all-the-time-cookies to fill your cookie jar many times over. Scroll down for our best recipes for GF gingerbread, wheat-free oatmeal cookies with chocolate chunks, flourless chocolate cookies, cute little sugar-dusted pyramid cookies from baking maven Dorie Greenspan, and more options. Wrap these cookies up to give as gifts, or put ’em in lunch boxes for lucky kiddos.

  • Several pistachio and dried cranberrystudded cookies drizzled with white chocolate on a pale pink platter.
    Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Beatrice Chastka, Food Styling by Olivia Mack Anderson
    1/37

    No-Bake Pistachio–White Chocolate Cookies

    These no-bake, gluten-free cookies rely on nut butter and white chocolate for their creamy, chewy texture. Pistachios add crunch, oats add chew, and cranberries add a zingy sweetness.

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  • Photo by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich
    2/37

    Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

    Studded with chocolate and with a crisp yet yielding texture, these gluten-free chocolate chip cookies could compete with any classic version.

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  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell
    3/37

    3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies

    These classic gluten free cookies are as simple as 1-2-3. The active prep time is just 20 minutes, and all you need is peanut butter, sugar, and an egg. Line your rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper before you start to avoid sticking.

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  • Photo by Tara Donne
    4/37

    Gluten-Free Vegan Gingerbread Cookies

    You don't have to get through the holiday season without gingerbread—even if you're avoiding wheat. These fan favorites combine all-purpose gluten-free flour, rice flour, and arrowroot for a light, crisp texture. In even better news: you can share them with your vegan friends, because they're dairy and egg-free.

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  • Photo by Tara Donne, Food styling by Liza Jernow
    5/37

    Gluten-Free Citrus Sugar Cookies

    These pretty (gluten-free!) butter cookies come in three flavors: lime, lemon, and grapefruit. Or just pick one variety and triple the amount of zest and juice. You'll find psyllium-husk powder, flax seed, chia seed, and rice-based gluten-free flour at most natural foods stores.

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  • Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Christopher Barsch
    6/37

    Peanut Butter Coconut Cream Cookie Sandwiches

    Make your favorite gluten-free Christmas cookies a little more glam with an easy blender frosting that's also dairy-free.

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  • Chris Craymer
    7/37

    Tuckers

    These little cookies from baking expert Dorie Greenspan start with unsweetened shredded coconut, egg whites, sugar, and vanilla. They're scented with rose extract, which is optional but delightful.

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  • Tara Donne, food styling by Liza Jernow
    8/37

    Gluten-Free Lacy Oat Sandwich Cookies

    These crisp and buttery cookies will class up any cookie plate. The soft chocolate filling has a touch of Cointreau for orange flavor.

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  • photo by Con Poulos
    9/37

    Flourless Oatmeal Chocolate-Chunk Cookies

    Oatmeal cookies are even better with chocolate chunks. Santa might devour a whole plateful—you might want to double the batch.

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  • Photo by David Japy
    10/37

    Ginger and Almond Bars

    Fresh and candied ginger team up to make an uplifting, zesty treat that can be prepared in any season. This quick yet impressive dessert lends itself to endless reincarnations, using various dried fruits and citrus zests, or even cocoa for chocolate lover.

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  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell
    11/37

    Double-Decker Peanut Butter Brownies

    These two-layer flourless brownies are endlessly customizable. Top with chocolate chips, chopped pretzels, or any crunchy snack you have in the pantry.

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  • Dan Forbes
    12/37

    Fudgy Meringue Cookies

    These rich chocolate cookies are best eaten the day they're made. Which won't be a problem, since they're so delicious.

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  • Tara Donne, food styling by Liza Jernow
    13/37

    Gluten-Free Pistachio Truffle Cookies

    These naturally gluten-free cookies are a cross between two favorite holiday delights: truffles and macaroons.

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  • Leigh Beisch
    14/37

    Buckwheat Linzer Cookies

    These pretty little numbers look as though they are fussy to make, but they are actually slice-and-bake cookies, with holes cut from half of them about halfway through the baking. Buckwheat pairs well with any dark berry or cherry flavor, so feel free to try different preserves.

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  • Photo by Peden + Munk
    15/37

    Spiced Praline Meringues

    These meringues are intentionally oversized—just as good hung from the Christmas tree as an ornament as they are to eat—and last for ten days, so, fortunately, their use as both decoration and edible treat are not mutually exclusive options.

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  • Photo by Chris Court, William Meppem, Anson Smart, Ben Dearnley
    16/37

    Raw Peppermint Slice

    With a wheat-free coconut-date cookie crumb–like crust, a creamy coconut layer, and a rich chocolate topping, these bar cookies will remind you of your favorite candy but taste so much better.

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  • Photo by Ditte Isager
    17/37

    Chocolate Brownie Cookies

    Great news for gluten-free eaters: these moist, chewy, chocolate cookies simply have no need for wheat.

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  • Photo by Michael Graydon & Nikole Herriott
    18/37

    Chocolate-Covered Marshmallow Cookies

    This ambitious Mallomars-inspired recipe is a project: Make the (wheat-free!) cookie base and top with marshmallow on day one; enrobe in chocolate on day two.

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  • Photo by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Micah Marie Morton
    19/37

    Crunchy Pecan Cookies

    These six-ingredient cookies are crisp, golden, and just so happen to be gluten-free.

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  • Romulo Yanes
    20/37

    Chocolate Macarons With Orange Ganache

    These spiced chocolate macarons are truly the perfect snow-day baking project. Feel free to skip the gold dust that's brushed on top of each tiny sandwich.

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  • Photo by Michael Graydon & Nikole Herriott
    21/37

    Black-and-White Halvah

    Both types of tahini should be roughly the same consistency for this halvah recipe—ideally pretty loose and pourable—which makes it easy to marble them.

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  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Astrid Chastka, Food Styling by Anna Hampton
    22/37

    Chocolate, Pistachio, and Tahini Truffles

    Tahini replaces the traditional heavy cream in these orange-scented truffles for a nuttier but equally rich flavor.

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  • Photo by Alex Lau
    23/37

    Tuscan Almond Cookies (Ricciarelli)

    These traditional almond cookies hail from Tuscany; their texture is chewy, similar to macaroons.

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  • Photo by Yossy Arefi
    24/37

    Potato Chip–Crusted Magic Bars

    Whether you call them magic bars or seven-layer (or sometimes five-layer) cookies, you probably know these treats. Chunky bits—like chocolate chips, nuts, and coconut—get layered over sticky condensed milk and a crisp cookie crust.

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  • Photo by Jerrelle Guy
    29/37

    Sweet Potato Rice Crispies

    Sweet-potato-infused crispy rice treats make an excellent choice for a Thanksgiving cookie plate. Then again, they make an excellent choice at any single point in the fall too.

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  • Photo by Kelsey McClellan
    30/37

    Granola Cluster Cookies

    These meringue-like cookies have all our favorite granola ingredients. You can swap in equal amounts of other nuts and seeds, such as hazelnuts, peanuts, or sunflower seeds.

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  • Catherine McCord
    35/37

    Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

    If you're looking for healthy cookies, these might qualify. There's no added sugar, just the sweetness of dates, bananas, and chocolate chips or raisins.

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  • Clare Barboza
    36/37

    Gluten-Free Spritz Cookies

    This gluten-free spritz recipe makes about eight dozen. Yes, you read that right—eight dozen. And the cookies are quick to prepare and ideal for giving as gifts or bringing to cookie parties. You can serve the baked cookies plain or decorate them any number of ways. I like to slather melted chocolate between two cookies for an elegant sandwich cookie. It's also fun to drizzle melted chocolate over the tops. You can also sprinkle the cookies with colored sugar or decorate them with royal icing.

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  • Carol Kicinski
    37/37

    Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

    A red velvet version of the classic frosting-stuffed, tender sandwich cookie. Gluten-free cookies like these are the ultimate lunchbox treat.

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