Our gluten free funfetti cookies are chewy in the middle and lightly crisp on the edges, and are perfect for celebrating birthdays or anytime you want to add some fun to your day! These cookies are easy to make and are also dairy free, peanut free, and vegan.
If you’re craving those classic funfetti flavors but need something allergy friendly, our gluten free funfetti cookies are perfect!
These perfectly chewy and soft cookies have that funfetti taste you love but are made not only gluten free, but also dairy free, peanut free, egg free, and vegan. We loved these cookies, and they are easy to make with naturally dyed sprinkles if you are avoiding artificial food dyes, too.
Our cookies are perfect by themselves, or you can top them with some dairy free frosting and more sprinkles for an extra special treat for birthdays or parties! We also included some ideas for allergy friendly sprinkles as well.
Food allergy notes for our confetti cookies:
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Vegan/egg free
- Peanut free
What is “funfetti”?
Funfetti is a term coined and trademarked by Pillsbury in 1989 that’s a combination of the words “fun” and “confetti” used to describe their newly launched sprinkle cake mix.
The original mix is white cake mix with sprinkles in it, but it became popular and sparked spin-off Funfetti products, like Funfetti frosting, pancake mix, baking morsels, etc. and competitors created their own versions as well (they couldn’t use the trademarked term “Funfetti” though).
Even though Funfetti is a trademarked name, it’s been used so often that people use it synonymously with anything made with sprinkles added, like our funfetti cookies 🙂
So while we call these funfetti cookies, you can call them anything you want: sprinkle cookies, confetti cookies, or birthday cake cookies!
How to make gluten free funfetti cookies
These cookies are made with our chocolate chip cookie base dough (which is incredibly versatile by the way!), rainbow sprinkles, and a little bit of almond extract (which is optional).
Here are the steps to make these cookies, this is just an overview, the full recipe card is at the end of this post!
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream together the soft dairy free butter, the sugar, brown sugar, and extracts.
- Add in the gluten free all purpose baking mix and use a hand mixer to blend together.
- Add the sorghum flour, baking soda, and dairy free milk and mix again until a dough forms.
- Add the rainbow sprinkles and mix again until incorporated into the dough. We added 1/3 cup of sprinkles, but you can add more if you want these extra colorful.
- Roll the cookie dough into 1 to 1 1/2 inch balls and place them 2 inches apart on the baking sheet (no need to flatten them, they’ll spread) and bake for 11-12 minutes.
- Cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then move to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Note that in this recipe, we used the King Arthur all purpose gluten free baking mix vs the all purpose gluten free flour. You can read more of our explanation on the difference in another one of our cookie posts, but in brief, the baking mix has xanthan gum, salt and some baking soda in it already while not all gluten free all purpose flours include those ingredients.
So if you’re using a gluten free all purpose flour, make sure that it has xanthan gum in it since it holds these cookies together in the absence of gluten and eggs. And if your flour doesn’t have salt and baking soda in it, you can add a little bit of each to your cookies as well.
A note on almond extract
With my first batch, I didn’t add almond extract to the cookies since I didn’t have any on hand, and on my second batch I added just a tiny bit of almond extract for that classic funfetti flavor and while both batches were great, the second batch tasted more like funfetti.
If you have almond or tree nut allergies, you have options. Sometimes imitation almond extract is not made from actual almonds but is a synthetic flavor made from lab-derived benzaldehyde, which is the compound in almonds that gives them their flavor. While synthetic flavorings are not generally ideal, it might be an option if you have tree nut allergies (but always check with your allergist and the extract manufacturer first).
Many natural/pure almond flavorings are made from the pits of stone fruits to mimic almond flavor without using sweet almonds (the almonds people eat). The pits of stone fruits (like peaches) are typically called bitter almonds which are often used for flavorings, and they are still considered a tree nut, so pure/natural almond extracts should be avoided if you have almond allergies.
The almond extract in these cookies is purely optional and can be left out if you have tree nut allergies and don’t want to try synthetic almond extract. These cookies taste great both ways and are still amazing without the extract.
Don’t forget that no matter what you read here or on any website, it’s always best to check with your allergist about whether it’s safe for you to use imitation almond extract if you have almond or tree nut allergies.
Allergy friendly rainbow sprinkles
For our cookies, we just used the Great Value rainbow sprinkles that work for us, but if you’re looking for sprinkles that are made in dedicated facilities or lines for various food allergies, here are a few brands to check out:
- Kate’s Safe & Sweet sprinkles (top 8 allergen free)
- Vermont Nut Free sprinkles (made in a dedicated nut free facility)
- Sweet Eva’s natural rainbow sprinkles (listed on the package as nut free, dairy free, gluten free, etc.)
- Betty Crocker Rainbow Sprinkles (Contains: Soy; Produced on a dedicated line that does not process peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, milk or eggs)
- Supernatural sprinkles (according to their FAQs, the bulk 25 lb packages are made in facilities free of peanuts, tree nuts, milk, fish, shellfish, and wheat)
- American Sprinkle Company (peanut free facility, not sure if they sell to consumers or just wholesale)
Please remember to always check with the company or manufacturer for ingredient info or cross contact info since recipes and facilities can change over time and our list may not be current.
Check out our other allergy friendly cookie recipes!
- Gluten Free Sunbutter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Best Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Gluten Free Sunbutter Blossom Cookies
- Gluten Free Sugar Cookies
Gluten Free Funfetti Cookies (Dairy Free)
Ingredients
- ½ cup dairy free/vegan butter, softened* (we like the avocado oil or olive oil Country Crock Plant Butter sticks)
- ½ cup unbleached cane sugar
- ½ cup packed brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon almond extract optional
- 1 cups gluten free all purpose baking mix (we used King Arthur Flour gluten free all purpose baking mix)
- ¾ cup whole grain sorghum flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ cup rice or oat milk or other dairy free milk
- ⅓ cup rainbow sprinkles that fit your allergens** (or more if you want extra color)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream together the dairy free butter, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, and almond extract.
- Add the all purpose gluten free flour and baking soda and mix together.
- Add the sorghum flour and the dairy free milk and mix again.
- Add the rainbow sprinkles to the cookie dough and mix until evenly distributed.
- Scoop out cookie dough and roll into about 1 to 1 ½ inch balls, place on the cookie sheet about 2 inches apart, leaving them as balls (no need to press them flat, they will spread).
- Bake for 10-11 minutes for cookies that are chewy in the middle, or bake for 12-13 minutes for cookies that are more crispy.
- Allow to cool on the pan for about 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days (if they last that long!) or freeze them.
Notes
Nutrition
Sarah Jane Parker is the founder, recipe creator, and photographer behind The Fit Cookie. She’s a food allergy mom and healthy living blogger based in Wyoming. Sarah is also an ACSM Certified Personal Trainer, ACE Certified Health Coach, Revolution Running certified running coach, and an ACE Certified Fitness Nutrition Specialist