Meet your new favorite competition-winning Christmas cookie! These gluten-free peppermint sour cream sugar cookies are full of peppermint crunch and topped with sour cream frosting. Serve them chilled for the best texture!
You also might like these recipes for gluten-free cut-out cookies or gluten-free chocolate mint cookies.
This is my version of a “swig cookie” made for Christmas! Picture a soft, sour cream sour cookie full of peppermint bark chunks and a sour cream frosting. You’ll have to taste them to believe how good they are!
These thick, chewy cookies with slightly crispy edges are dotted with delicious candy cane pieces and topped with thick, chilled frosting.
You can skip the rolling pin and cookie cutter with these easy sugar cookies. Just flatten the gluten-free peppermint cookies dough with a glass cup to get perfectly imperfect, edges and then pop them in the oven.
You also might like this collection of gluten-free recipes.
Why I Love This Recipe
- Deliciously soft and chewy: Sour cream + underbaking gives these gluten-free peppermint cookies the BEST texture.
- Perfect holiday cookie: Who doesn’t LOVE a delicious peppermint flavor dessert at a holiday party? They’ll fill everyone with holiday cheer!
- Great for gifting: Your friends, family, and neighbors will be thrilled with this holiday treat!
- Served chilled: Seriously, the chilled cookie and cool, thick frosting are irresistible!
- No rolling required: No rolling out the dough — just form balls, smash them down with a glass, and you’re ready to pop them in the oven!
Ingredients You’ll Need
Here are some notes on the key ingredients in these gluten-free peppermint cookies!
- Gluten-free flour: It’s important to use high-quality gluten-free flour blends with xanthan gum for this gluten-free peppermint cookie recipe. I tested this recipe with King Arthur Gluten-Free Measure-for-Measure Flour.
- Combination of oil/sour cream: These two ingredients give the cookies an amazing texture. They’re moist, rich and almost creamy in the middle. Be sure to use full-fat sour cream.
- Andes peppermint crunch: You want to use the RED Andes peppermint crunch variety for these cookies, not the green. You can use the Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips that come in a bag, or use the Andes Peppermint Crunch Thins and chop them up until you have about 1 cup.
How to Make Gluten-Free Peppermint Cookies
Make the Wet Ingredients: In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl with an electric hand mixer), add the butter and mix on medium speed for 2-3 minutes, until light and fluffy.
Add the wet ingredients, starting by mixing the oil for another 1-2 minutes. Add the sour cream, egg and granulated sugar, vanilla extract and peppermint extract and mix on medium-low speed until well combined.
Add the Dry Ingredients: Add the baking powder, salt and ⅓ of the flour. Mix until well combined. With the mixer running on low, slowly add the rest of the flour and mix until evenly combined. Mix in the Andes Peppermint Crunch Chips.
Shape the Cookies: Use a cookie scoop to make ¼ cup-sized portions and roll the cookie dough into balls. Place the gluten-free peppermint cookies several inches apart on the prepared cookie sheet – I do 6 gluten-free peppermint cookies per baking sheet.
Add about 1/2 cup granulated sugar to a shallow dish or bowl. Lightly spray the bottom of a ¼ or ⅓ cup measuring cup (or small glass) with cooking spray and dip the bottom of the measuring cup into the sugar.
Press cookie dough into an even thickness dipping the bottom of the glass into the sugar between each press (no need to spray it again with cooking spray after the first time). The edges of the gluten-free peppermint cookies will ruffle out in an uneven way (imperfect is what you want!) They should be about 1/2-inch thick.
Bake/Frost the Cookies: Bake for 6-8 minutes. DO NOT OVERBAKE! These gluten-free peppermint cookies should not turn golden. You want them to be slightly underbaked from a normal sugar cookie so they’re soft and creamy when chilled.
Let the gluten-free peppermint cookies cool almost completely on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire cooling rack.
Frost the gluten-free peppermint cookies. For best results chill for at least 1 hour (or up to 2 days) before serving. Cookies are best served chilled right out of the fridge!
Storage Instructions
Store these cookies in an airtight container in the fridge for up to five days.
Recipe Tips
- DO NOT OVERBAKE these cookies! These gluten-free peppermint cookies should not turn golden brown at all, otherwise they will lose moisture in the fridge and turn out dry and crumbly. You want them to be slightly underbaked so they’re soft and creamy when chilled.
- Use RED Andes peppermint crunch. Don’t use the green Andes mints for these gluten-free peppermint cookies — red is what you want. You can use the Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips that come in a bag, or chop up Andes Peppermint Crunch Thins until you have one cup.
- Spread out your cookies. These are generously sized gluten-free peppermint cookies that will spread a bit as they bake, so be sure to give them plenty of room on the baking sheet. I like to do six per baking sheet.
- Dip the glass in sugar. Don’t forget to dip the glass in sugar before you press out the gluten-free peppermint cookies dough balls. The layer of sugar adds great texture and sweetness!
- Serve chilled cookies. For best results, you need to serve these gluten-free peppermint cookies chilled! Although I don’t recommend serving them at room temperature, they would of course still be delicious.
More Gluten-Free Holiday Cookies
I hope you love this recipe as much as we do! If you try these gluten-free peppermint cookies, be sure to leave me a comment/rating below. I’d love to hear from you!
Gluten-Free Peppermint Sour Cream Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
For the Cookies:
- 1/2 cup (113g) butter, softened
- 1/2 cup (110g) vegetable oil
- 1 cup (240g) sour cream, full fat
- 1 large egg
- 1 ½ (300g) cups granulated sugar, plus more for rolling
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 3/4 (560g) cups gluten-free measure-for-measure flour (add up to 1/4 cup more if dough is too sticky)
- 1 cup Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips or Andes Peppermint Crunch Thins, chopped
For the Frosting:
- 6 tablespoons (84g) butter, softened
- 1/3 cup (80g) sour cream
- 4 cups (450g) powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- 1 tiny drop red food coloring
Instructions
Make the Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl with an electric hand mixer), add the butter and mix on medium speed for 2-3 minutes, until light and fluffy.
- Add the oil and mix for another 1-2 minutes.
- Add the sour cream, egg and granulated sugar, vanilla extract and peppermint extract and mix on medium-low speed until well combined.
- Add the baking powder, salt and ⅓ of the gluten-free flour. Mix until well combined. With the mixer running on low, slowly add the rest of the gluten-free flour and mix until evenly combined. (Check the dough texture here: Depending on your flour brand you may want to add up to 1/4 cup flour if the dough is too sticky.) Mix in the Andes Peppermint Crunch.
Scoop the Cookies
- Scoop the dough into about ¼ cup-sized portions and roll into balls. Place several inches apart on the prepared baking sheets – I do 6 per baking sheet.
- Add about 1/2 cup granulated sugar to a shallow dish or bowl. Lightly spray the bottom of a ¼ or ⅓ cup measuring cup (or small glass) with cooking spray and dip the bottom of the measuring cup into the sugar.
- Press each cookie into an even thickness dipping the bottom of the glass into the sugar between each press (no need to spray it again with cooking spray after the first time). The edges of the cookie will ruffle out in an uneven way (imperfect is what you want!) They should be about 1/2-inch thick.
Bake/Frost the Cookies
- Bake for 6-8 minutes. DO NOT OVERBAKE! The cookies should not turn golden. You want them to be slightly underbaked from a normal sugar cookie so they’re soft and creamy when chilled.
- Let the cookies cool almost completely on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack.
- FROSTING: Using a hand mixer, mix together the butter, sour cream, powdered sugar, salt, peppermint extract, vanilla extra and 1 drop of red food coloring. Mix in a tablespoon or so of milk (or the liquid from the sour cream!) to get the frosting consistency you want. (I usually add 1-2 tablespoons.)
- Frost the cookies. For best results chill for at least 1 hour (or up to 2 days) before serving. Cookies are best served chilled right out of the fridge! Enjoy 🙂
Notes
- You want to use the RED Andes peppermint crunch variety for these cookies. You can either use the Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips that come in a bag, or chop up 1 cup of the Andes Peppermint Crunch Thins.
- Don’t be tempted to overbake these cookies! They should not be golden at all. You want them to be slightly underbaked so they’re soft and creamy when chilled.
Hello! I am curious about the flour measure. A cup of flour (AP or GF) is ~120 grams, so 3.75 cups is about 420g. The recipe calls for another full cup, 4.75 cups plus more if they are too sticky. Can you confirm the amount of flour? Thanks so much
Hi Stacey, good question! The recipe is correct. At the end of the day a cup measurement is subjective – and we think the manufacturer doesn’t realize gluten-free flour is denser than traditional wheat flour. Traditional wheat flour is 120 grams/cup, but we find that 1 cup of KAF weighs much closer to 150 grams. Erin likes to make her recipes so they will turn out for both people using cup measurements and grams measurements. Her measurement for the KAF flour is consistent across all of her recipes, even though it’s not the same as KAF’s label. We hope this helps!
I’ve been a baker for years. Gluten free for over 20 years. These are one of the best cookie recipes I’ve ever baked. I couldn’t leave them alone and my family loves them as well. Amazing!
Yay! We’re so happy to hear how much you loved the recipe, Dana! Thank you for sharing your positive experience with us.
These were absolutely amazing. Only complaint is that I couldn’t stop eating them! Everyone loves them, even non-GF folks.
Aww, thank you for such kind feedback, Kait! We’re so glad the recipe was such a hit!
Do they have to be in the refrigerator after they are iced due to the sour cream in the frosting?
Hi TJ, yes they should be stored in the fridge in an airtight container. They’ll keep for up to 5 days. We hope you enjoy the recipe! Happy baking!
I enjoy underbaked chocolate chip cookies, but it turns out that underbaked sugar cookies are not to my liking. I skipped the frosting and put them in the freezer so I can have par-baked cookies on hand. The flavor is good, I just don’t enjoy the texture, so I’m sure they’ll be delicious with a little extra baking.
Hi Sarah Jane, we’re glad you liked the flavor! We hope the par-baked cookies bake up nice for you. Happy baking!
So amazingly creamy and delicious. I got loads of compliments on them.
We’re so glad the recipe was a hit, Lindsey! Thank you for sharing your positive feedback with us!
Would chopped up candy canes work?
Hi Stephanie, we haven’t tried it ourselves, but it definitely sounds like it would work. If you decide to give it a try, we’d love to hear how it goes!
I made these for Christmas and they’re wonderful! I substituted the food coloring with fresh raspberry juice for a healthier option.
We’re so glad you enjoyed the cookies, Erin! That’s great to know the natural food coloring worked well for you – thanks for sharing!
This recipe looks amazing but I’m not necessarily in the market for gluten free recipes… I assume using all-purpose flour would work fine?
Hi Karen, yes you can make it with all-purpose flour. We haven’t tested that flour out ourselves, but it should work as a 1:1 swap for the gf flour. We hope you enjoy the cookies!
I made these with just regular flour and they are INSANE. I am a baked goods snob – they are light but substantial. The texture melts in your mouth but also chewy. Makes no sense but who cares YUM
Aww, thank you for such a kind review, Lauren! We’re so happy to hear how much you loved the recipe! It’s good to know this recipe worked well with regular flour too. Happy baking!
Want to make these in advance for a gluten free cookie exchange. Can i freeze them fully cooked and frosted?
Hi Natalie, yes they can be frozen! Freeze them on a baking sheet first, just until they’re firm, then store them in an airtight container or freezer bag in the freezer for long-term storage. Happy baking!
My co-worker made these and they were amazing!!!
Thank you for the kind feedback, Amy! We’re so happy to hear you loved the cookies!
The dough is delightful! Although I had a hard time with the cooking time and having them actually set. When I made smaller ones they set better
Hi Janice, we’re glad you loved them and that the smaller size worked well for you! Happy baking!
Hi, can you replace the vegetable oil with olive oil or coconut oil?
Hi Nicole, another neutral oil, like olive or avocado oil, will work in place of the vegetable oil. We hope you enjoy the cookies!
Wanting to try this (LOVE peppermint and benefit from GF) and curious if swapping Greek yogurt in for the sour cream would work? We commonly sub it in our household for other uses, but don’t want to change the essence of the cookie here!
Hi Tiffany, we haven’t tried that substitute ourselves to say how it would change taste/texture. If you decide to give it a try, we’d love to hear how it goes!
Can these be frozen?
Hi Stephanie, yes the baked cookies can be frozen. Freeze them on a baking sheet first, just until they’re firm, then store them in an airtight container or freezer bag in the freezer for long-term storage. We hope this helps!
I am wondering about avocado oil instead of vegetable oil in this recipe? I am new to gluten free and am excited to make these and your cinnamon rolls this weekend. Thank you.
Hi Ruthann, avocado oil should work great! We hope you enjoy both recipes!