Sparkle Cookies
Sparkle, they say is a girl’s best friend. I’d like to double down on that and say that sparkle cookies, are in fact, a girl’s best friend. Especially when they are these delicious melt-in-your-mouth gluten-free and vegan sparkle sugar cookies. Covered in crisp glittery sparkly sprinkles, these cookies are pure magic.
Note: This post contains affiliate links to which I earn a small commission, but don’t worry there’s no extra cost to you! Thank you for supporting CAKED by Katie.
Sparkle Sugar Cookies
A crispy sparkle outside that glimmers and glitters covers a delicately soft center that practically melts in your mouth with every delicious sparkle sugar cookie bite. Made with bright eye-catching sprinkles, these vegan and gluten-free sugar cookies are everything fun and whimsical. You’ll be surprised how easy these cookies are to make and everyone, young and old alike, will marvel at their pure magic.
Glittery Sugar Sprinkles
I make a conscious effort to base my recipes on easy, approachable, and accessible ingredients. With that said, these cookies are next-level sparkle magic due to the glittery sugar sprinkles. They are a gluten-free and vegan blend of colored sugar crystals that sparkle and shine even after baking.
With all of that said, I highly encourage you to grab a bottle of these sprinkles. They are truly magical and make the perfect sparkle cookie. If you are not able to get these sprinkles, I found a DIY recipe for homemade sparkly colored sugar that is worth trying.
How To Make Sparkle Cookies
Let’s start by saying that you should always check your ingredients to ensure that they are indeed gluten-free and vegan. I used a 1:1 gluten-free all-purpose flour blend and added in xanthan gum. If your blend contains xanthan gum, omit the xanthan gum the recipe calls for.
Combine the cornstarch and water in a small mixing bowl and set aside. Begin to cream the vegan butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy. This first step generally takes 2-3 minutes. After the butter and sugar is well whipped, add in the cornstarch and water mixture and the pure vanilla extract. Again, mix on high for another 2 minutes.
The next step to these gluten-free and vegan sparkle cookies is to add in the remaining dry ingredients except the sprinkles. Mix on low until a soft dough is formed. Be advised that this cookie dough is quite soft and sticky and will require an hour of chilling. And on that note, cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and allow to chill in the fridge for 1 hour. Chilling the dough creates a thicker chewier cookie and makes them easier to roll in the sparkly glittery sprinkles.
How To Make The Cookies Sparkle
Here’s the fun part: the sparkle! There are two different methods to rolling the cookie dough in the sprinkles. The first method, which is traditional, is to pour the glittery sugar into a bowl and roll each cookie dough ball in the sprinkles.
Second, and my preferred method, is to pour the glittery sugar into a medium Ziploc bag. Place the cookie dough ball into the bag and gently shake the bag to cover the cookie dough. Both methods will have the same results, so choose whichever you prefer.
Can I Make These Not Gluten-Free And Vegan?
Yes! These sparkle cookies can easily be made with regular dairy and gluten products. I recommend using all-purpose flour and to go by the cup measurement and not the weight measurement as gluten-free and regular flour weigh different. Omit the xanthan gum as well if made with regular flour.
Like the flour, simply swap regular butter in place of the vegan butter if you are not concerned about making these sparkle cookies vegan. Instead of the cornstarch and water mixture, omit and replace it with two large room temperature eggs. Easy peasy!
The Best Gluten-Free and Vegan Sparkle Cookies
Are you ready for cookie joy? Pure cookie magic? I hope so as these gluten-free and vegan sparkle cookies are a true delight. Covered in glittery sparkly sprinkles, these melt-in-your-mouth sugar cookies have a crisp sprinkle outside and a soft chewy middle. A special birthday treat, a fun and delicious surprise snack, or simply a glittery cookie to bring out your inner child, these sparkle cookies are pure delight!
Easy Cookie Recipes
A cookie a day keeps the doctor away, right? Let’s hope so because I have some scrumptious cookies recipes that you should try next!
- Funfetti Sugar Cookies
- Double Chocolate Cookies
- Honey Sugar Cookies
- Cranberry Honey Cookies
- Key Lime Pie Cookies
- Cherry Oatmeal Cookies
- Raspberry Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Marshmallow Chocolate Chip Cookies
Sparkle Cookies
- Total Time: 1 Hour 20 Minutes
- Yield: 3 Dozen Cookies 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
These melt-in-your-mouth sparkle cookies are pure magic. An easy gluten-free and vegan recipe for these delicious and fun cookies perfect for a sparkly splash of pure delight.
Ingredients
Sparkle Cookies
- 2 tablespoons (16g) cornstarch
- 6 tablespoons (80ml) water, room temperature
- 1 cup (240g) dairy-free salted butter, room temperature
- 1 ½ cups (300g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ¾ cups (440g) gluten-free 1:1 all-purpose flour blend
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum *
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- Pink Glittery Sugar
- Rainbow Glittery Sugar
Instructions
Sparkle Cookies
- In a small mixing bowl combine the cornstarch and water and mix together into a slurry. Set aside.
-
In the bowl of a stand mixer cream the butter and sugar on high for 3 minutes until light and fluffy.
-
Add in the cornstarch and water mixture from step 1 and the vanilla extract and mix on high for another 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl when necessary.
-
Add in the flour, xanthan gum, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cream of tartar to the bowl and mix on low until fully incorporated and a dough forms.
-
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow to chill in the fridge for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF degrees and line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Pour the glittery sugar sprinkles into a bowl or Ziploc bag (read up in the post for greater detail.)
-
Using a 1½ tablespoon cookie scoop scoop the dough and gently roll it in your hands for a uniform ball. Place the cookie dough ball into the bowl or bag of sprinkles, cover completely, and place it onto the prepared cookie sheet. Note that the dough will still be quite soft, that’s okay!
-
Bake the cookies for 9-10 minutes or until the edges are lightly golden. Remove from the oven and while still hot, bang the cookie sheet against the counter.
-
Allow the cookies to fully cool on the cookie tray. Enjoy!
- Store leftover cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 7 days and in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Notes
* Omit xanthan gum if your gluten-free flour mix already contains it.
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 10
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Cookie
- Calories: 121
- Sugar: 11 Grams
- Sodium: 67 Miligrams
- Fat: 6 Grams
- Saturated Fat: 3 Grams
- Unsaturated Fat: 2 Grams
- Trans Fat: 0 Grams
- Carbohydrates: 19 Grams
- Fiber: 0 Grams
- Protein: 1 Gram
- Cholesterol: 25 Miligrams
Keywords: sparkle cookies, gluten-free sparkle cookies, sparkly cookies, vegan sparkle cookie, gluten-free vegan sparkle cookies, glitter cookies, glittery cookies
So freaking delicious!!! They are the perfect soft, chewy combination and the flavour is so good. My kids loved making them with me.
★★★★★
I hope your kids thought they were as magical as mine did!
Made these with my kids and had so much fun rolling them in sprinkles.
★★★★★
There’s something totally magical about sprinkles for kids, right?! Thanks for sharing Anita.
Can I use regular butter regular flour in these cookies
Yes, you absolutely can!
Not sure why but i had to bake them for twice as long as suggested. Real butter?
They should be slightly under-baked when you take them out to keep them soft and chewy.
I wasn’t sure how the cornstarch mixture was going to work instead of an egg, but it worked really well! That makes these cookies truly vegan for my DIL, gluten free for my son and using plant butter for me! My cookies seemed to take longer to brown also, could that be because of no eggs?
Hi Pam, I am thrilled you enjoyed these cookies. And yes, they don’t brown very much due to the cornstarch mixture/no egg.