Sugar cookies are one the most irresistible cookies out there! I’m a sucker for a soft and chewy gluten free sugar cookie. But then bake it to look like candy corns and top it with frosting and you have an incredibly cute fall treat. No refrigeration required before baking. No rolling and cutting dough. You’ll be surprised how easy it is to make these gluten free candy corn-shaped sugar cookie bars!
If you live at high altitude, you may have noticed that sugar cookies can be difficult to roll out and cut. They seem to always spread when you bake. If this is a problem you encounter, consider baking your sugar cookies in bar form.
What kind of gluten free flour blend to use
Most gluten free flour blends you purchase contain xanthan gum, which I found out early on does not settle well with my stomach! As a result, I make my own flour blend using a variety of flours and starches, blended and measured to create a perfect blend I prefer over any other blend to date. Guar gum or Tara gum are great replacements for xanthan gum; however, I prefer to add it to the recipe as needed and you’ll see notes in every recipe on Just As Good Gluten Free with the recommended amounts to use. You can find the recipe to make your own mix here.
I completely understand this takes time, effort and space to make your own mix. Believe me, I’ve tried purchasing blends from stores, but I ALWAYS come back to this one. If you do not have the margin or desire to make your own blend, here are two I would recommend as a suitable substitute: King Arthur Measure for Measure Flour or Bob’s Red Mill 1to1 Baking Flour. NOTE*** If you use a different gluten free flour blend than what is stated in the recipe, please check your brand to see how many grams per cup is recommended. It varies significantly in flour blends and can entirely throw the recipe off.
How to color your gluten free sugar cookie dough
Have you ever used half a bottle of food coloring just to get a good color? I have a cookie wreath I make every year and I plow through green food coloring. Out of frustration of using so much to get good colors, I started searching for other options. I tried little containers where you dip a toothpick in. But that didn’t work and was a huge waste of toothpicks as you have to keep going back and forth to get the right color. Then I stumbled across gel food coloring.
Gel food coloring is one of my favorite tools for achieving bright colors. As a bonus, it comes in a little squeeze bottle so you can put one drop at a time in until you have the perfect color. I used about 2-3 drops per color in these sugar cookies.
How to cut sugar cookie bars to look like candy corn
After the cookie is baked, cooled and frosted, it is now time to cut like cute little candy corns! This is pretty simple to do, as you can see from the picture below.
Take a large, sharp knife and divide the entire cookie bar by 3 even strips. If you used an 8×8 pan, each section will about 2.66 inches, if you used a 9×9 pan, cut each strip into 3 inch sections. Next, cut each strip into triangles (as seen below).
**Notes:
- you can always cut these cookies smaller. Adjust your measurements accordingly either by adding in an additional strip or cutting the triangles smaller.
- The picture below is from an 8×8 pan and the cookies came out 2.5 inch tall. You can make them less tall by using a 9×9 pan.
- Make sure you put the frosting on and let it dry before slicing.
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Gluten Free Candy Corn-Shaped Sugar Cookie Bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, room temperature
- 1 cup white granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups (375 grams) gluten free flour blend
- ¾ teaspoon guar or xanthan gum (omit if in blend)
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- yellow and orange food coloring
Frosting:
- ⅓ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 1 lb. powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare an 8×8 or 9×9 square pan by lightly coating with cooking spray and then lining with parchment paper.
- In a small bowl, sift gluten free flour blend, guar or xanthan gum (don't use if it's in your blend), baking powder and salt.
- In a stand mixer using a paddle attachment, combine butter and sugar. Add egg and vanilla extract until well-blended.
- Add flour mixture to butter and eggs and mix until all of the flour is incorporated. Remove ⅔ of dough and set aside.
- With ⅓ of dough in mixing bowl, add yellow food coloring until you reach your desired color. Remove from bowl and gently press into the bottom of your prepared baking dish. Wipe bowl and paddle clean if necessary.
- Put ⅔ of dough back in mixing bowl and add orange food coloring until you reach your desired color. Gently press the orange dough on top of the yellow dough.
- Bake for 20-22 minutes if using an 8×8 pan, 18-20 minutes if using a 9×9 pan. The cookie bar will be slightly browned on top, but shouldn't jiggle in the center. Remove from oven and cool completely. Be careful not to remove from pan before cooling as the cookie may break.
Frosting:
- In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, cream the butter until light and fluffy. Slowly add powdered sugar and heavy cream on low speed. Increase speed once everything is mixed in and mix until well combined. Add vanilla extract.
- Carefully spread frosting over cookie bar and allow to set until frosting is mostly hardened. This shouldn't take too long, maybe 20 minutes or so. Note: if you want to add sprinkles, do so very quickly after frosting as it hardens fairly quick.
- Cut your bars into three equal strips. Then, cut triangles out of each strip.
- Store in an airtight container.
Frosting recipe adapted from https://www.julieseatsandtreats.com/homemade-sugar-cookie-frosting-that-hardens/
Hey there! Just As Good Gluten Free LLC participates in the Amazon Associates Program, which mean many outgoing links on Just As Good Gluten Free are affiliate links. After clicking on a link, I may receive a small percentage of the sale for referring you, which comes at no extra cost to you. This allows me to continue creating gluten free recipes for you! Many thanks – Amy
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