This easy recipe for Texas Sheet Cake cookies is a great way to enjoy classic Texas sheet cake in cookie form that is completely gluten free. These soft baked cookies are topped with a glossy layer of chocolate icing and are great for a cookie exchange, to give as a gift or for any holiday. Make these cookies from scratch or use a chocolate cake box mix.
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) by using the same flavors along with gluten free flour so those with celiac can enjoy them.
What You’ll Need
- Butter: This 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: 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: These 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 slightly.
- Powdered Sugar: This is 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: Some milk may be needed to bring the icing together and make it smooth.
How To Make Texas Sheet Cake Cookies
- 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.
Texas Sheet Cake Cookies Using Chocolate Cake Box 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.
- 1 box Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Mix
- 2 Eggs
- ⅓ cup Melted Butter
- Mix all ingredients in a large bowl.
- Scoop in tablespoon size onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes.
- Cool completely before icing.
Variations
- Add chopped pecans or walnuts to the cookie dough.
- Make it 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.
Recipe Tips
Make sure butter and egg is room temperature. This helps ensure the cookie cooks 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.
You’ll Love These 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
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.
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