After many cookie failures I landed on this gluten free cookie flour blend. I had success with some cookies but many recipes did not work with my everyday flour blend. If you're trying to remake old recipes, or haven't perfected cookies yet, try this 4-ingredient flour blend.
I bake cookies all year long but November kicks off the holiday baking season. One day we're looking at pumpkin recipes and the next we're talking about gingerbread and shortbread. I have cookie recipes from every stage of my gluten free baking journey which I review below. For more cookie recipes take a look at my roundup of gluten free cookie recipes.
Jump to:
- Ingredients
- Substitutions
- Instructions: How To Make a Cookie Flour Blend
- Recipes Using this Cookie Flour Blend
- Printable Pages: Cookie Flour Recipe & Tips
- Get the Tools to Make Cookies
- Top Tip for Remaking Holiday Cookies
- What is the best flour for gluten free cookie recipes?
- Gluten Free Cookie Flour Blend
- Podcast Interview on Gluten Free Cookies
Ingredients
The year I got serious about perfecting my holiday cookies this blend was a game changer! It won't work in every single cookie recipe you try (because no one flour blend will ever do that), but it helped me remake seven of my holiday favourites.
- Brown rice flour - Helps with crispness in cookie recipes.
- Almond flour - The higher protein helps with body and structure.
- Potato starch & tapioca starch - Two starches tend to give better results in gluten free baking compared to a larger amount of one starch.
- Xanthan gum - This is the glue that adds structure to gluten free baking. It seems expensive but is used in tiny amounts. Just buy it!
See recipe card for exact amounts.
Substitutions
Starches - Some of you avoid potato, some tapioca and some corn. Gluten free cooks always need options and tips for experimenting. To get started I recommend using any two starches you can tolerate. Don't double either one in the recipe, always use two starches for best results.
Choose from cornstarch, arrowroot starch or even sweet rice flour which is very close to a starch. Make small batches of the flour blend and do a head-to-head comparison with one cookie recipe. Take good notes and keep refining your recipe until it's perfect for you.
Xanthan gum - The best substitute for xanthan is guar gum. Use it in equal amounts in any recipe calling for xanthan gum.
Instructions: How To Make a Cookie Flour Blend
Recipes Using this Cookie Flour Blend
Once my gingerbread recipe finally worked I was encouraged to experiment using this cookie flour blend. These are the gluten free version of some of my old holiday favourites.
Printable Pages: Cookie Flour Recipe & Tips
Print this recipe page and attach it to a container to store the flour or the inside of a cupboard door.
Print this page for tips to work with gluten free cookie dough.
Get the Tools to Make Cookies
Every kitchen needs tools. Many items will last for decades so buy quality. During a holiday cookie baking spree I might use all of these.
- Technically a cookie sheet has no rim allowing optimal air circulation in the oven during baking.
- Rimmed baking sheets are better for roasting vegetables or making granola but they can double for a serious cookie baking session. I have a set of two for baking (no garlic allowed) and another set of two for cooking.
- Parchment paper has been a good option for lining baking pans for years. It's available on a roll or flat packages with individual sheets. Look for compostable parchment.
- Reusable baking pan liners are the best environmental choice, just wash and reuse. I recommend buying ones the size of your pans for maximum use of the space. Avoid dark coloured liners as the cookies brown too quickly.
- Portion scoops are time efficient, they make uniformly sized cookies for even baking and for some cookies they give the nice rounded look you want.
Top Tip for Remaking Holiday Cookies
Choose one or two recipes to master and start early. Review this post, Tips For Making Gluten Free Cookies or print my Cookie Dough Tip Sheet. Once you have success take a moment to enjoy it. Then try one more. That's how I got started remaking my old holiday cookie recipes.
What is the best flour for gluten free cookie recipes?
There is never one answer when it comes to baking with gluten free flour, but there is always more than one way to find success. These cookies reflect the five different ways I've tried and succeeded to make gluten free cookies.
- Using a single flour (quinoa flour) I make these peanut butter cookies and a chocolate chip cookie pizza.
- Cookies made using my EGFG gluten free flour blend are chocolate chip cookies and ginger molasses cookies.
- By weighing individual flours and starches I make the best sugar cookies and my whipped shortbread.
- Another way is to use your favourite gluten free flour blend plus adding a smaller amount of another flour. That's what I did for these chocolate chip cookies with teff flour and pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.
- Finally, the cookies I listed about made using this cookie flour blend (see list above).
Gluten Free Cookie Flour Blend
Ingredients
- 90 grams brown rice flour (⅔ cup)
- 25 grams almond flour* (¼ cup)
- 30 grams potato starch sifted (3 Tbsp)
- 15 grams tapioca starch (1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoon )
- ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine. Store in airtight container. Makes 1¼ cups.
Notes
Nutrition
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New here? I've got the help you need to learn to make gluten free food the whole family wants to eat. Subscribe and get your free resource, 29 Tips for GF flour.
🎉 I made it into the Top 100 Gluten Free Blogs for 2025. Learn all the ways I can help you by visiting this page, Everyday Gluten Free Gourmet.
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Podcast Interview on Gluten Free Cookies
Listen to A Canadian Celiac Podcast: episode 43 Baking Gluten Free Cookies.
Barb
Hello,
I cannot use anything made with potato, arrowroot, cassava, or tapioca starch or flour. What would be a good substitute for these two items (and how much to use) in this recipe?
Cinde Little
Hi Barb! It always requires a bit of recipe testing so here are some tips to help you. We know that using a smaller amount of 2 starches always gives better results than too much of any single one. You can consider sweet rice flour as a starch since it is very low in protein so I would try that. Replace both the potato starch and tapioca starch with sweet rice flour and see what you think. Work in small batches and tweak as you go. I buy sweet rice flour at the Asian grocery store and the bag says 'glutinous rice flour.' It is made from a sticky type of rice and is gluten free. I hope that helps, let me know how it goes.
Cliff
Is there another flour to substitute for Almond Flour that might be "almost" as good. I donate baked goods to my church and they have a "No Nut" policy due to some kids having issues.
Thanks
Cinde Little
Hi Cliff! You can try certified gluten free oat flour or sorghum flour. I haven't tried either of those so for cookies it will take some trial and error to see how it works. I never started using almond flour until my son was finished school so I have many nut free cookie recipes. Do look within this post for the section where I talk about the 4 other types of cookies I make. They're all nut free. Happy baking!
cliff venier
Thanks! I will try that. My wife has gluten issues so I have all those different flours around. You inspired me with one of your posts about mixing and experimenting with different flours. I made pancakes by using millet- sorghum- banana- and coconut flour and it was delicious! Now I didn't measure, so I probably can never completely replicate it, but it opened my eyes that you can make your own blends. I normally use the ATK blend and make about 5 lbs at a time.
Cinde Little
That's exciting news Cliff! As you start to experiment more I recommend you come up with some method to track what you're doing. You can claim a recipe as perfect and move on to the next but I don't really do that. For me as long as I'm baking I'm learning. My go-to is the banana muffin recipe and I wrote it to use your 'favourite blend' and then add a smaller amount of anything you want to try. I sometimes print the recipe and then make two batches at a time writing the changes I made. You could try that with your pancake recipe or anything you make often. Best of luck!
Sharon
I cant use rice flour. what could I sub it with?
Cinde Little
Hi Sharon! There is no easy answer to that question when it comes to cookies. I haven't tried these but I would suggest sorghum flour, oat flour or quinoa flour as possible substitutes. Try anyone of them in a cookie recipe you have made before or one that you'd like to be your experimental recipe. (Pick a favourite because someone has to eat all those cookies). I would also recommend making two versions on the same day if you can. This will allow you to do a head-to-head comparison and not rely on your memory. I have cookie recipes from every step of my GF journey so you may also want to look up the recipes under RICE FREE BAKING. Just type that into the Search bar. If you can come back and tell me what you learned I would love to share that with my readers. Happy baking!
Baz
Hi there! Is there a reason you prefer brown rice flour to white rice flour in this blend? I often find that brown rice flour provides that crispness you mentioned, as well as adding some "body" to things if that makes sense. However, it can sometimes be a bit gritty, whereas white rice flour gives me a more tender crumb and can be lighter and sometimes almost fluffy. I may try using using a mix of both!
I know this is a bit of an older post, but I found it while searching for GF blend recipes made specifically for cookies. Just wondered if you had any thoughts on the matter!
Cinde Little
Hi Sharon, thanks for your comment. The reason I chose brown rice flour in this blend is that my cookies were too soft and I wanted to make a crisp cookie. At the time I had also been using America's Test Kitchen first blend and my baking had that "gluten free taste" I was trying to get past. I certainly use white rice flour in some individual recipes, including some cookies, but I can tell when there is "too much" white rice flour. There is certainly no right or wrong way to bake gluten free so I recommend you do a head-to-head comparison. Make your favourite cookie recipe using this blend as it is written, and a second batch with this blend using white rice flour as a substitute for brown rice flour. This is the best way to really find your favourite blend so it's worth the time and effort. There is a limit to how much recipe testing one person can do so I'd love to hear what you learn. It's also nice for others to know what flour they can substitute and know the recipe will still turn out. Happy baking!
Mary Fuesting
I used your EGFG flour blend to make a Peanut Butter Bundt Cake. The recipe was not intended to be gluten free. I brought this cake to a pot luck at work and received rave reviews. I did not have sorghum flour, I substituted tapioca flour.
The 11 Gluten Free Flour Recipe Guide has a confidence booster for me.
Thanks
Cinde Little
Oh Mary, that is fantastic. I'm so happy that my guide has been helpful. Isn't it great that you can take gluten free baking anywhere and people love it! That's a game changer for gluten free cooks, bravo. Your cake sounds delicious, thanks so much for sharing.
Alene
I cannot eat any rice at all. I know you spent time and ingredients creating this flour blend.
Do you have a suggestion as to what I can substitute for the rice flour? I do have other blends without rice flour, but I don't know if any 9f them are good with cookies. Thank you! V
Cinde Little
Hi Alene! That's an excellent question and you won't be the only one wondering that. I have 2 recipes made with quinoa flour; Chocolate Chip Cookie Pizza (you can make them like normal cookies) and Peanut Butter Cookies. My cookie flour blend you mentioned didn't work in every cookie recipe I tried so I know there is always more to learn. Do experiment if quinoa flour works for you. I have also seen cookies made with almond flour alone and other cookie recipes combining whole oats and oat flour. That should give you a good start on your cookie baking adventure without rice. Happy baking!
Lastly I want to give a plug for my favourite resource, America's Test Kitchen Cookbooks. I have How Can It Be Gluten Free, both volume 1 and 2. They have a newer book published in 2019 so take a look at them all if you're in the market for a physical book. I'm pretty sure delicious cookies are in your future.