Name: Gluten-free Rolled Sugar Cookies
Ingredients: 1-1/2 cups white rice flour; 1/2 cup butter or margarine (cold); 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar; 1/2 cup sugar; 1/2 teaspoon baking soda; One egg (cold); 1-1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum; 1/2 teaspoon GF vanilla, lemon, or almond flavoring; 1/8 teaspoon salt

Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Gluten-free Rolled Sugar Cookies

Oven350°F

Time12 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the dough

Combine rice flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, xanthan gum, and salt, and mix well.
Cut in butter or margarine until the mixture is in crumbs the size of peas.
Beat sugar, egg, and vanilla (or other flavoring) together.
Add this mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until the dough pulls away from the sides.
Form the dough into a flat ball shape and refrigerate for one hour.

Roll and bake

Dust freezer paper (not wax paper) with GF flour or confectioners sugar.
Put the dough on the freezer paper and sprinkle with flour or confectioner's sugar.
Roll the dough to 1/4 inch thick and cut out shapes as desired.
Bake at 350°F for 12 minutes.
Cool on a wire rack.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

972Calories

25 gProtein

25 gFat

158 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 10 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Vanilla	1 tsp extract (4ml)	12
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Almond	1 almond (1.2g)	7
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,516 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together35,032 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Rice + vanillatop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,352 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

White rice flour: Forms the main structure of the cookie dough as the gluten-free base.
Butter or margarine: Adds fat that tenderizes the cookie and carries flavor.
Sugar: Sweetens the cookies and helps them brown lightly in the oven.
Egg: Binds the dough and adds moisture and richness.
Xanthan gum: Replaces gluten's binding and elasticity so the dough holds together.
Cream of tartar: Adds acidity that reacts with baking soda to help the cookies rise.

The step that matters

Chill the dough for one hour. Gluten-free dough with cold butter and egg is soft and sticky; chilling firms the fat so the dough rolls cleanly and the cut shapes keep their edges in the oven.

Swap the vanilla

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rice, flour, butter, cream, sugar, egg):

Vanillathe original
Raisinfits about as well
Coconutfits less well
Figfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against rice, flour, butter, cream, sugar, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

Rice Cake120 recipes

Vanilla Ice Cream108 recipes

Rice Cream43 recipes

Rice Jelly42 recipes

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Gluten-free Rolled Sugar Cookies