Gluten-Free Easter Bunny Sugar Cookies (Vegan, Allergy-Free)

Published: Mar 25, 2019 · Modified: Feb 28, 2023 by Rebecca Pytell · This post may contain affiliate links.

Everyone will love these easy Gluten-Free Easter Bunny Sugar Cookies! They're vegan, allergy-free, kid-friendly, and such an adorable Easter treat! Fun to decorate and customize, this cut-out sugar cookie recipe is a healthier dessert for all your holiday guests!

Spring is in the air and that means Easter is right around the corner! While that also means it's prime time to go carrot cake crazy, a little traditional holiday cookie baking and decorating is called for too! Classic cut-out sugar cookies are always a great holiday dessert to serve to guests, but these Gluten-Free Easter Cookies are a perfect allergy-free and vegan alternative to Easter egg dying and traditional baking!

Egg-Free Easter Activity For Kids

These gluten-free Easter cookies are a perfect alternative to traditional Easter egg dyeing! A fun, creative, and edible activity kids will still love, but safe for those with an egg allergy-free or who live a vegan lifestyle! After these gluten-free sugar cookies are baked, kids can customize them with colorful icings, sprinkles, and decorations, just like Easter eggs, but 100% tastier! Not only are these cookies egg-free, but they're also:

Gluten-Free
Vegan & Vegetarian
Allergy-free (Dairy-Free, Soy-Free, Egg-Free, Nut-Free, Peanut-Free, Wheat-Free, Sesame-Free, Corn-Free, Coconut-Free)
Low-Sugar or Sugar-Free
Easy, Kid-Friendly, Customizable
Make-Ahead & Freezer-Friendly
Adorable Easter Dessert or Gift

Ingredients For Easter Sugar Cookies

Gluten-Free Baking Flour: Use your favorite gluten-free baking flour for these cookies. I like to use baking flour instead of all-purpose, as these blends tend to be sweeter and lighter in texture, making them ideal for desserts. The original recipe for these cookies, published in 2019, called for half baking flour and half millet flour. Either way works, but for simplicity's sake, using just baking flour is easier!
Baking Powder: A pinch of baking powder to give your gluten-free cookies the right amount of pillowy lightness and chew.
Granulated Sweetener: You can use a sugar-free granulated sweetener, like Swerve, or your standard granulated sugar in this recipe.
Egg Replacement: I use a powdered vegan egg replacement in this recipe. You can also use ¼ cup of softened vegan cream cheese which works wonderfully in cookie recipes!
Vanilla Extract: You can have sugar cookies without that background essence of vanilla!
Vegan Butter: Perfectly buttery, soft, vegan sugar cookies call for some vegan butter!
Non-Dairy Milk: A few tablespoons of unsweetened dairy-free milk can help get your cookie dough to the perfect rollable consistency. This is used "as needed".

How To Make Gluten-Free Easter Cookies

In a large mixing bowl, combine the gluten-free flour, baking powder, and sweetener. Whisk together to combine.
Add the vanilla, cubed softened vegan butter, and prepared egg replacement to the flour, and mix the dough together with a fork. Slowly add in, one tablespoon at a time, the dairy-free milk and knead the dough with your hands until all the butter is incorporated and the dough is thick.
Place the cookie dough in the fridge for 30 minutes to chill. Speed it up by placing the dough in the freezer for 15 minutes! Preheat the oven to 375°F while you wait.
Once the dough has chilled, roll the cookie dough out between 2 floured Silpats or parchment paper, to about ¼-inch thickness.
Use a bunny cookie cutter to cut out the cookies. Re-roll the dough as needed to get as many cookies as possible (I got 15 bunny cookies).
Place the cut-out cookies on a baking sheet lined with a Silpat or parchment paper and bake them in the oven for about 14-16 minutes, just until the edges are golden brown.
Remove the sugar cookies from the oven and allow them to cool for a minute or two on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

How To Decorate Easter Bunny Sugar Cookies

This is the fun part, where you get to customize your sugar cookies with icing, sprinkles, colors, and edible decorations!

For The Icing:

To make standard white icing, mix together powdered sugar-free sweetener, or normal powdered sugar, with a few teaspoons of water until you get a thick but slightly drippy consistency.
You can add natural food coloring to your white icing to make different colors for decorating.

Other Decorations:

Sugar Crystal Sprinkles: I used plain sugar crystals and added some natural red dye to make them pink for the bunny tail!
Mini Chocolate Chips: Mini vegan chocolate chips can be used as eyes for the bunnies.
Food Gels: I used black food gel to draw a mouth. You can use other colors for decorating the body of the bunny as well.
Mini Vegan Marshmallows: Mini marshmallows are great for making tails or ears!

I found the easiest way to get the body of the cookies fully covered in white icing was to dip the front of the cookie in a wide bowl of the prepared white icing. Allow excess icing to drip off before flipping it over and smoothing it out with a butter knife. To make this easier for kids, you can use a spoon to ice the cookies. Remember to add any dry decorations to the icing while it's still wet so that the decorations stick to the cookies!

What's The Best Easter Bunny Cookie Cutter?

I hit the jackpot when I stumbled upon this exact bunny cookie cutter at The Christmas Tree Shop and was able to snag it for a mere 69¢! (Also the moment this entire recipe idea came to fruition in my mind!) Lucky for you, I also found it online. However, feel free to use whatever Easter bunny cookie cutter you can find or already have on hand! Other shapes, like eggs, chicks, or carrots, work too!

Recipe Tips & Troubleshooting

What If My Sugar Cookies Spread When Baking?

If your cookies spread, that means you didn't chill the dough long enough. The sugar cookie dough needs to be cold enough to withstand the rolling and cutting process before they get baked in the oven. If you end up with slightly spread cookies, here is a life-saving tip: take the cookies out of the oven and while they're still warm, "re-cut" the spread-out cookies with the same cookie cutter and remove the excess cookie edges!

What If The Cookie Icing Dries Too Soon?

If you weren't able to finish sticking decorations onto your cookies, simply add a dab more icing to the specific part of the cookie you want something to stick to!

What If My Icing Is Too Runny or Too Thick?

If the icing is too runny, slowly add more powdered sugar. If the icing is too thick to spread, add more water.

How To Store Gluten-Free Easter Cookies

Once cooled and the decorations have hardened, you can store these gluten-free Easter cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days. To extend their freshness, store the decorated cookies in the fridge for 4-6 days in a single layer with wax or parchment paper in between. Bring them to room temperature for optimal taste and soft chewiness when you're ready to eat.

If you make the cookies ahead of time and plan on decorating them later, store the baked and cooled sugar cookies in an airtight container or Ziplock bag at room temperature if you plan on decorating them within 1-2 days, otherwise, freeze them.

Do These Sugar Cookies Freeze Well?

You can freeze the undecorated or decorated sugar cookies in an airtight container with pieces of wax or parchment paper in between layers for about 6-8 months. Allow the cookies to thaw overnight in the fridge or for a few hours at room temperature, in a single layer without the wax paper covering them.

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