Gluten Free Almond and White Chocolate Sprinkles Cookies

These are the happiest cookies I’ve ever made. It’s amazing how gleeful you can get tossing cookie dough into heaps of rainbow sprinkles. Sprinkles! They’re such a great invention! These cookies are an homage to the incredible Liz of Cup of Ambition – another stellar baking blog that you should absolutely check out right now. It’s not all gluten free but it’s super inspirational and has some great gluten free options! She has an awesome Sprinkles Cookies recipe over there and after staring at her photos and wishing I had one of those pockets-of-sunshine on my brief lunch break (here’s to working from home and having a “home office” right next to the kitchen – all the snacks!!), I decided I needed to figure out a gluten free version pronto. Herein ensued an exciting work break later that afternoon, looking through my other cookie recipes and seeing which structure would fit the best with a million tiny colored sugar sticks (or, hundreds and thousands as they’re called across the pond – evokes quite the image).

The resulting cookie is practically a cousin of my other nut-flour-cookie recipes, like these pistachio cookies or our hazelnut chocolate cookies. The thing is, gluten free flour often has a bit of a tinge of….something to it. There’s a distinctive flavor that most plain gluten free baked goods have, which is why I run towards recipe ideas that lean heavily on other added flavors like chocolate or raspberry or almond! These cookies are packed with blanched almond meal, which, while not overwhelmingly nutty like a pecan or hazelnut flour, is light, delicate, and also produces moist desserts (which is why most of our recipes have at least a bit of it in them). I also use arrowroot starch which lends itself to chewy cookies (personal preference, the chewier the better), and a little bit of almond extract to balance the tablespoon of vanilla (go big or go home). The last little addition that really makes these cookies pop (other than their colorful exteriors), is chunks of good-quality white chocolate folded into the center of each one. Similar to our chocolate hazelnut cookies that have a secret pocket of melted chocolate inside, these have a hidden lake of creamy, melty white chocolate. I’m not a huge white chocolate fan by nature but in these they really give that extra oomph.

Here’s to making our lives a little sunnier, more rainbow-covered and diverse, both with our food, and with our friends! As a reminder, it’s never too late to sign up to be a Baker Against Racism – just host your very own Bakers Against Racism virtual bake sale (either shipping your goods or offering delivery/pick up locally) to raise money for so many amazing organizations fighting for Black Lives Matter. Heck, bakers have made a HUGE impact already through bake sales since June, and we’re not about to stop! Every cookie, cake, muffin, croissant, brownie, or cupcake counts!

Print Recipe

4 from 2 votes

Gluten Free Almond and White Chocolate Sprinkle Cookies

These are the ultimate happy cookie – light and chewy, filled with white chocolate and rolled in a million sprinkles

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time11 minutes mins

Chilling time4 hours hrs

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Gluten Free

Keyword: almond, cookies, easy, gluten free, pride, rainbow, simple, sprinkles, white chocolate

Servings: 48 2.5 inch cookies

Calories: 200kcal

Author: Amelia Farber

Equipment

• Cookie sheet

Ingredients

• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/2 Cup white sugar
• 3/4 Cup canola oil
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 1/4-1/2 tsp almond extract optional
• 1 1/4 Cup gluten free 1-1 flour mix with xanthan gum in it (if your mix does not contain xanthan gum add 1/2 tsp now)
• 2 3/4 Cup blanched almond meal/flour
• 1 1/4 Cup arrowroot starch
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 48 small chunks good-quality white chocolate, or white chocolate chips
• 1 Cup gluten free sprinkles for rolling

Instructions

• Your cookie dough will need to chill for at least four hours (I put mine in the fridge overnight), so make this ahead of time! In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, oil, vanilla, and almond extract (if you don't like the flavor of almond extract, leave it out!). Then add in the almond flour and continue to whisk until smooth and blended. Add in the gluten free flour, arrowroot starch, baking powder, and salt, and stir using a spatula or wooden spoon until fully combined. The dough will be much stiffer – it will take a bit of working to stir in all of the flour. Once it's combined, cover the dough with plastic wrap and put in the fridge for at least 4 hours.
• Once the dough is chilled, preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit. Grease a cookie sheet and line with parchment paper, then grease the parchment paper with cooking spray or butter. Take your cookie dough out of the fridge and remove plastic wrap. Get your white chocolate and sprinkles ready! Pour your sprinkles into a small bowl. Chop the good-quality white chocolate into small chunks (small enough to put into a cookie), or open your bag of white chocolate chips. Scoop out enough dough to roll into a 1-inch ball, then press one chunk of white chocolate or a few chips into the center, and roll again. Plop these rolled cookie balls into the sprinkle bowl and coat the entire cookie. Place sprinkle-covered cookie balls onto the cookie sheet – do not press down! They will flatten as they bake. Once your cookie sheet is full (I put about a dozen on each sheet), bake for 10-12 minutes. I bake them for 11 minutes in my oven – but do not overbake!
• Let cookies cool for at least 5 minutes before digging in, and enjoy!

Tag @sisterssansgluten on Instagram if you snap a photo of your cookies!

Food photography and styling by Amelia Farber