Gluten Free Lemon Cookies
I’m about to do something different…I’m about to throw a punch at you and see if you can roll with it. What the hell does this all mean? Here it is – I’m cooking with a gluten free flour. No paleo flour, no almond flour, no cassava flour. Nope. Just plain ole gluten free flour. Why? I don’t know, I just felt like it. I haven’t messed around with gluten free flour hardly at all, but when I was home alone for 10 days straight when my husband was out of town, I started digging in the pantry and decided to give it a go! Could this recipe be made with a paleo flour? I’m not sure, I haven’t tested it that way! But this recipe CAN be made with a gluten free flour, I’ll promise you that. I’ve been trying different types of foods lately, like incorporating beans into my diet after staying away from beans for about 10 years, and I’ve really enjoyed the experience. So I’m making things outside of the box and loving every second of it! This gluten free flour is made from rice flours, potato starch, tapioca flour, and a few others, all of which I would eat anyways. So I apologize if you’re sticking strictly with paleo, but I’m trying some new things around here so GET READY!
But something that won’t change around here is cooking gluten free! I eat completely gluten free because it makes me feel my best and I want to continue to share those recipes with you, both paleo AND gluten free. If I ever eat bread in the US, I don’t normally feel that great, so I just stay away from it. But I do feel great when I eat rice. That means I normally eat rice 3x/day and it’s my favorite 3 meals of the day. But I’ve been scared to share rice recipes on here and have to deal with the backlash of sharing non-paleo recipes. Luckily I’ve been yelled at on a daily basis over the internet for years now so at this point, nothing really scares me. That being said, get ready for even more types of recipes. Recipes with rice, recipes with beans, recipes with gluten free flour, and of course, paleo recipes! I’ve learned a lot over the past 9 years of cooking and eating, and I want to pass those new experiences on to you. I hope you’re on board and ready for my punch! Now let’s go eat some cookies!
Gluten Free Lemon Cookies
- Author: juli
- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 16 cookies 1x
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoons softened (room temperature) ghee
- 3/4 cup maple sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoon lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- pinch of salt
- 1 1/2 cups gluten free flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, add ghee and maple sugar. Use a hand mixer to beat the ghee and sugar together until smooth and creamy. Then add the egg, vanilla extract, lemon zest, and lemon juice, and beat once more with the hand mixture until smooth. Lastly add the baking soda and salt, then slowly add the gluten free flour 1/4 cup at a time, beating with the hand mixer throughout until the flour completely mixes into the dough. Place in fridge for 30 minutes.
- Use a cookie scoop to scoop out 16 cookie dough balls and place them evenly throughout a baking sheet (you may need to use 2 baking sheets, depending on the size it’s size). Place in the oven to bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the cookies flatten out and then edges begin to brown, ever so slightly.
- Cool on a baking sheet then eat up!
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You May Also Like:
Lemon Raspberry Cheesecake Bars
Collagen Chocolate Chip Cookies
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Oh, Hi! I’m Juli.
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45 thoughts on “Gluten Free Lemon Cookies”
I love how simple this recipe is! I can’t get enough lemon right now and crinkly cookies are just my favorite. Thanks Juli!
★★★★★
hope you like the recipe, Rayna!
COOL! Rice is the only grain my body will tolerate and I had to add it back into my diet because I couldn’t sleep while eating strict paleo. Needed a little starch. Also, I’ve always appreciated that you aren’t dogmatic about your food and recipes. Life’s too short!
I’ve been obsessed with all things lemon lately. I’m definitely making these this weekend!
Btw, It looks like the recipe picture is a salad.
so weird, reaching out to my developer now! thanks for letting me know!
I want ALLLLLLLL the recipes, Juli!! I am not strict Paleo by any means. But like you— absolutely NO gluten. Also no dairy for me. Appreciate your honesty and willingness to change in order to feel your best. Listening to your body is THE BEST!
thanks for the love Elizabeth!
These look amazing! Lemon is my favorite! And I love that there’s only one egg. My son is allergic, so I have to sub and the less eggs the better.
absolutely! hope you like the recipe Amanda!
I’m here for it! My kids school is nut-free so most paleo baked good are out for us, I’ll be trying this for sure!
hope you like it sue!
This is so my style. I have plenty of gluten free flour and lemon zest just waiting for this recipe.
Oh and agreed. As much as I like paleo, I’m not giving up rice and beans!
hope you like the recipe Mindy!
Mine didn’t turn out crinkly like yours, but are more cake-like. Wondering if it’s the elevation/climate difference between Denver & the dry heat of a California summer? The flavor is good, I just really don’t like cakey cookies. 😉
★★★
I think it might be too much baking soda for sea level – there’s a baking soda aftertaste as well. I’ll experiment with less next time & report back!
yes, let me know how it turns out at sea level!
Haven’t made the cookies (yet), just wanted to say your photo staging is so beautiful.
thanks Taryn!
Is there a substitute for the maple sugar? I would love to make these cookies soon but don’t have any of that sugar. Thanks!
you can use any sugar you like! organic cane sugar will help the cookies stay a light color, coconut sugar will darken the color of the cookies
What alternative can I use instead of ghee?
you could always use butter or coconut oil
I am not sure what I did wrong. Made sure my flour had xanthan gum. Used a cookie scoop to put 16 cookie dough on sheet pan. Batter tasted great. Set the timer for 13 minutes… When I took them out of the oven I had one big flat cookie on the sheet pan. All the individual cooked as one flat cookie. Still tasted good Any Suggestions what could have gone wrong???
did you maybe forget the baking soda? the baking soda is what makes the cookie rise so if they didn’t and they just spread out, that ingredient may be missing
This sounds great! I love all things lemon! Can’t wait to try them. Yummmmmmm! (It’s so refreshing to hear when someone stays true to themselves. This could pave the way for others and encourage others to do the same. Only you know what’s best for you. Paleo or not….YOU GO GIRL!!!)
awwwwww thanks for the love Marisol!
I made these today and they taste good but not as pretty as yours — they turned out more dome-shaped and not crinkly. I used coconut sugar so they’re darker, and regular butter. Same baking soda, and I’m in Longmont, so roughly same elevation as you.
★★★★★
i retested the recipe and it seems like the baking soda needs to be reduced. so i changed it to 1/2 teaspoon instead!
I just tried it and have the same results as hers… maybe not enough liquid? I used maple sugar and ghee, but I am at a much lower elevation than either of you.
★★★★
I’m out of gluten-free flour can I use regular all purpose?
not sure, haven’t tried the recipe that way
I don’t have a lemon for juice and zest….can I sub lemon extract, do you think? I really want to try these…now!!🤣
i’m not sure! i haven’t tested the recipe that way!
In my experience, lemon extract has a much different flavor than lemon juice. A better substitute would be bottled lemon juice, but making this recipe without the zest will really limit the lemon flavor!
Delicious! I’ve made these twice now, using gluten free flour from Costco, softened butter instead of ghee, and regular white sugar. They taste great but did not spread at all – domed like some of the comments above. I’m wondering if it’s either the flour or the butter. Maybe I should have melted the butter instead of just softened?
hmmmmmm i’m going to retest this recipe this weekend to see what may be going on. i used softened, definitely not melted
I reread the recipe, and realized I used maple syrup rather than maple sugar, would that have made a difference in the batter being a “cake batter”?
hmmmmm it could have. changing the recipe often changes the outcome. i haven’t tested the recipe that way so i can’t say for sure.
I made these for a small get together last weekend and they were SO good everyone loved them, super soft but really crumbly-like fall apart in your hand if you’re not careful. I saw you did an insta story where you left them in the fridge for different times but I can’t remember what you suggested?? After reading the comments I also might adjust the baking soda next time.
★★★★
Warning : Don’t try to make these cookies with Splenda. It was a crumbled mess. 🙁
★★★
yep, i wouldn’t recommend that whatsoever. but please do not rate the recipe based on your substitutions that were not recommended in the recipe in the first place
I would love it if you shared rice recipes! I, too, feel better eating rice. No backlash on that from me! 😀
you got it! i’ll definitely add that to my list!
I made these with coconut sugar instead of maple sugar, they were very fluffy and light, and yummy! Thank you!
awesome!! so glad to hear it!