Turn your celebration into a fiesta with Gluten Free Sombrero Cookies!
My children have loved Mexican food since they were little. I still laugh remembering how quickly they took to bold, spicy flavors—homemade tacos, guacamole, salsas and carnitas have always been favorites. Cinco de Mayo gives us a reason to throw a Mexican-themed party at home. Tonight I’m making carnitas, refried beans, and guacamole (my husband insists on making that—it’s his specialty), and the adults will be enjoying margaritas.
For dessert I wanted something the kids could help make that matched the theme. I love getting my kids into the kitchen because it’s fun and helps my daughter build a positive relationship with food despite her dietary restrictions. I’d heard about sombrero hat cookies and thought they were adorable, so I developed a healthier twist that’s both gluten free and dairy free. For the sugar cookie base I used GFJules cut-out cookie mix, which worked beautifully.
Below is the simple, kid-friendly recipe so you can make these festive cookies too.
Gluten Free Sombrero Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups GF Jules Cut Out Cookie Mix
- 1 egg or egg replacer
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup palm oil shortening (I used Spectrum organic, non-hydrogenated)
- 1/4 cup almond milk, unflavored
- 1 cup coconut palm sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 12 fresh strawberries (smaller ones work best; use one per sombrero cookie)
- 1 cup white icing or frosting (I used a simple 2-ingredient frosting)
- Rainbow sprinkles
Instructions
- Prepare the cookie dough following the directions on GFJules’ cut-out sugar cookie mix. If you’re short on time, I tested skipping refrigeration and the cookies still turned out well.
- Allow the baked cookies to cool completely before decorating.
- Wash the strawberries and trim the tops so each one can stand with a flat bottom and a pointed top.
- Put your frosting into a zip-top bag and cut a small corner off to make a piping bag.
- Pipe a small circle of frosting in the center of each cookie, then press a strawberry onto the frosting so it sticks.
- Pipe a thin ring of frosting around the base of the strawberry, and another ring around the outer edge of the cookie.
- Generously sprinkle rainbow sprinkles over the frosting until covered.
- Gently shake each cookie to remove sprinkles that didn’t land on frosting.
- Repeat for all cookies, then serve and enjoy!
