Gluten Free Texas Sheet Cake Cookies
This easy recipe for Texas Sheet Cake Cookies is a great way to enjoy classic Texas sheet cake in gluten-free cookie form. These soft baked cookies are topped with a layer of chocolate icing -great for cookie exchanges and holiday gifting. Make from scratch or use a chocolate boxed cake mix.
What is Texas Sheet Can?
Texas sheet cake is a chocolate cake that is made in a jelly roll pan and topped with a shiny chocolate icing made with cocoa powder and powdered sugar. It’s a thin cake that packs a lot of flavor and is a hit at parties for everyone to enjoy.
This recipe turns the classic cake into cookies (popularized by the Pioneer Woman) using the same flavors but made celiac-friendly with gluten free flour.
📝 What You’ll Need
- Butter: is what gives the cookie a natural dense richness and buttery flavor. It’s also used as the base of the icing.
- Light Brown Sugar: has a deep flavor lending a gentle sweetness to the cookies.
- Egg: helps bind the cookies together when baking.
- Vanilla Extract: lends a comforting vanilla flavor.
- Chocolate Chips: are melted then folded into the dough for a chocolate flavor.
- Gluten Free Flour: I used King Arthur Gluten Free Flour Blend in this recipe because it contains xanthan gum and can be used 1:1 with all-purpose flour.
- Baking Powder: helps the cookies rise.
- Powdered Sugar: gets mixed in with the icing to give it a sweet flavor and glossy look.
- Cocoa Powder: makes the icing have a light chocolate flavor.
- Milk: may be needed to bring the icing together and make it smooth.
📖 How to Make Texas Sheet Cake Cookies
1️⃣ Preheat oven and prep baking sheet:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line 1 to 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
2️⃣ Mix wet ingredients together:
In a stading mixer on medium speed, cream together ½ cup of butter (1 stick) and brown sugar, making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Then, add the egg and vanilla extract. Mix until fully combined.
3️⃣ Mix dry ingredients together:
In a separate bowl, whisk together baking powder, gluten free flour and salt.
4️⃣ Mix dry and wet ingredients together:
In 3 batches, add flour mixture to the wet mixture and mix until a batter is formed while scraping down the sides. Batter will be very thick.
5️⃣ Add melted chocolate:
In the microwave, melt ½ cup of chocolate chips in 30 second intervals and stir until melted. Add the melted chocolate to the dough mixture and mix on medium speed until the chocolate is fully incorporated.
6️⃣ Shape cookies:
Using a tablespoon or small ice cream scoop, drop cookies onto the parchment lined baking sheet, 2 inches apart. You may need to use 2 baking sheets to make sure they don’t spread into each other.
7️⃣ Bake:
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. It’s important that they do not over bake. When you take them out of the oven they may seem under done. Let them cool and they will become the perfect texture.
8️⃣ Make chocolate icing:
While cookies cool completely, make the chocolate icing. First, melt butter in a small saucepan. Add powdered sugar and milk and stir until a sauce forms. Sift in cocoa powder and stir until everything is evenly combined.
9️⃣ Add icing:
Arrange cooled cookies next to each other, crowding them together. Pour icing over the top of the cookies, making sure the surface of each cookie is coated. Some icing will get in between the cookies and that’s ok. Let icing fully set for about 1 hour before removing from the baking sheet and serving.
🧑🍳 Recipe Tips
- Make sure butter and egg are room temperature. This helps ensure the cookies cook evenly in the recommended time amount.
- It’s important to use melted chocolate chips and not cocoa powder IN the cookie batter as this helps with the texture.
- When making the icing, be sure to sift the cocoa powder and/or powdered sugar into the saucepan to make sure there are no clumps in the icing.
- Under baking is important for a soft chewy texture. As the cookie cools it will bake slightly right out of the oven, so don’t worry if it looks too soft right out of the oven.
- Cookies need to be fully cooled before pouring icing on top.
- Icing needs to be set and dry completely. Otherwise, it will come right off.
👉 Texas Sheet Cake Cookies with Boxed Cake Mix
You can make this recipe using a box of chocolate cake mix. To make it gluten free, use King Arthur Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Mix. The cookie will be a bit flatter than if you made it from scratch but will still be delicious! Use the same instructions for the icing in the original recipe.
Ingredients:
- 1 Box Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake Mix
- 2 Eggs
- ⅓ cup Melted Butter
Instructions:
1️⃣ In a large bowl, add all ingredients and mix until the batter is smooth and well combined.
2️⃣ Using a tablespoon of batter for each cookie, drip cookies onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.
3️⃣ Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes.
4️⃣ Let cool completely before icing.
🔁 Variations
Add chopped pecans or walnuts to the cookie dough.
Make a white Texas sheet cake cookie by using melted white chocolate chips in the dough and adding ½ tsp vanilla extract to the icing.
Add a pinch of cinnamon and cayenne to the icing for a Mexican Texas sheet cake cookie.
More Gluten Free Desserts
Gluten Free Strawberry Lemon Bars
Gluten Free Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies
Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Zucchini Banana Bread
Gluten Free Peanut Butter Pie
Almond Flour Sugar Cookies
Gluten Free Texas Sheet Cake Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup Butter unsalted & room temp
- ⅓ cup Light Brown Sugar
- 1 egg room temperature
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- ½ cup Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips
- ½ tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 ½ cups Gluten Free Flour Blend with xanthan gum
FOR ICING
- ½ cup Butter melted
- 2 tbsp Cocoa Powder
- 2 tbsp Milk or Almond Milk
- 2 cups Powdered Sugar
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and line 1-2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a stand mixer on medium speed, cream together ½ cup of butter (1 stick) and brown sugar making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Once mixed, add in egg, and vanilla extract. Mix until fully combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together baking powder, gluten free flour and salt.
- In 3 batches, add flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until a batter is formed while scraping down the sides. Batter will be very thick.
- In the microwave, melt ½ cup of chocolate chips in 30 second intervals and stir until all chocolate is melted. Add the melted chocolate to the dough mixture and mix on medium speed until the chocolate is fully incorporated.
- Using a tablespoon measure or small ice cream scoop, drop cookies onto the parchment lined baking sheet 2 inches apart. You may need to use 2 baking sheets to make sure they don’t spread into each other.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes. It’s important that they don’t over bake. When you take them out of the oven they may seem undercooked but let them cool and they will be the perfect texture.
- While cookies are completely cooling, make the chocolate icing by melting butter into a small saucepan. Add powdered sugar and milk and stir until a sauce texture forms. Sift in cocoa powder and stir until everything is evenly combined.
- Arrange cooled cookies right next to each other and crowd them together. Pour icing over the top of the cookies and make sure each cookie top is fully coated. Some icing will get in between the cookies and that’s ok.
- Let icing fully set for about 1 hour before removing from the sheet and serving.
