These delicious gluten-free sugar cookies are no fuss, no chill, and ready to bake within 20 minutes! I was intimidated by the Linzer cookie recipe at first because it just seemed too complicated to make. But I was pleasantly surprised by how easy and simple it is to make something as beautiful as these cookies!
If you would like to see the step-by-step video with expert tips, you can purchase my Christmas cookies masterclass here!
Go to this post for more gluten-free discard recipes!
Ingredients
- Sugar - use caster or powdered sugar, not the granulated kind.
- Gluten-free flour - I love using my homemade rice flour blend. In this particular recipe, I used sorghum flour, rice flour, and cornstarch.
- Starter discard - you can use discard from the fridge or an active starter. If your starter is watery, you might need to add more flour.
- Butter - it needs to be softened, at room temperature.
- Egg - at room temperature.
- Xanthan gum - you can use psyllium husk if you can't have xanthan gum. You will need more psyllium than xanthan gum.
Substitutes
Xanthan gum - you can use psyllium husk or any psyllium substitute.
Butter - use coconut oil for a dairy-free version.
Egg - I haven't tested this recipe with egg substitutes, you might want to check out this vegan cookie recipe for ideas.
More gluten-free sourdough discard recipes!
Get my new gluten-free sourdough recipes eBook
The top 22 recipes of 2024!
📖 Recipe
Gluten-Free Sourdough Linzer Cookies
Ingredients
For the Cookies
- 100 grams butter, softened
- 100 grams caster sugar
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 1½ tsp vanilla extract
- 100 grams gluten-free starter discard
- 270 grams gluten-free flour I used: 25% sorghum, 25% rice flour, 50% starch of choice (potato, corn, tapioca, etc.)
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
- ¼ teaspoon salt
For the Filling
- powdered sugar as needed
- jam of choice as needed
Instructions
Make the Cookies
- Start preheating the oven to 350F/175C.
- Mix the gluten-free flour, xanthan gum, and salt in a medium-sized mixing bowl and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add softened butter, sugar, egg, sourdough starter discard, vanilla, and the flour mix. Bring the dough together with your hands. I don't recommend using an electric mixer to avoid incorporating air into the dough.
- Turn the dough onto a well-floured working surface. If the dough is too sticky, roll it in flour on all sides to make it easier to work with.
- Roll out the dough with a rolling pin into a large square or a rectangular. The thickness should be about ¼ in or ½ cm.
- Take a long offset spatula and slide it under the dough to make sure it isn't sticking to the surface.
- When cutting out the shapes, you need to make sure that the tops and bottoms are the same size. You can use any shape (heart, flower, round, etc.). Once you cut out all of the cookies, use a smaller cookie cutter or the back side of a piping bag tip to cut out the centers from half of the cookies.
- Line your baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat and transfer the unbaked cookies to it. You don't need to leave much space in between the cookies as they aren't going to spread.
- Bake for 9-11 minutes at 350F/175C or until the edges just barely start browning. Let the cookies chill for a minute or two and transfer them to the cookie tray.
Assemble
- Once the cookies cool down, take the tops with the centers cut out and align them all on a baking sheet, a table, or a tray.
- Take a fine mesh sieve, add powdered sugar to it, and spread the sugar on top of the cookie tops by tapping on the side of the sieve.
- Take the bottoms and spread jam on them. Place the tops onto the bottoms with jam without pressing too hard.
- Let the cookies sit for 12 hours before eating as they will become softer after some time. Enjoy!
MKS says
If the gluten-free flour blend has xanthan gum in it already, do I need to add more? Wanting to know before investing time and ingredients in making these, as they look really delicious!
Natasha Levai says
If your blend already has xanthan gum, then you don't need to add extra!
Wendy Taylor says
Love the sourdough starter discard / gluten free cookie recipes- especially when they seem easy to make! I always substitute lectin free flours for rice flour, etc. Looking forward to making these!