If someone in your family is gluten-intolerant or has celiac disease, ensuring that your meals, and particularly desserts, are gluten-free can be a challenge.

Gluten is pervasive in the American diet and even hides under various names in packaged foods. Cooking breakfast, lunch, and dinner for your family becomes a game of playing detective, either reading every label of every packaged product or going in search of gluten-free recipes that are practical and, equally important, as satisfying as their original gluten-containing renditions. And since wheat flour is the base for most cookie recipes, many moms simply swear off desserts (unless they are made from store-bought gluten-free mixes).

There is no reason to deprive your inner baker

However, if your family loves the aroma of freshly baked cookies wafting through the house, there is no reason you can’t indulge your inner baker and spend time in the kitchen baking with your kids. The key is finding palatable (and easy) substitutes for wheat flours. The following gluten-free cookie recipes are either naturally flour-free or use gluten-free flours, such as tapioca flour, soy flour, rice flour or potato starch flour, which can be found in health food stores and increasingly so at the supermarket.

So, don’t deprive your kids (or yourself) the sweet satisfaction of biting into a homemade cookie warm from the oven. Keep these gluten-free cookie recipes on hand and put them to use when your sweet tooth calls or you need an afternoon project to do with the kids.

Gluten-free cookie recipes

Gluten-free Coconut Macaroons
Makes 2 1/2 dozen macaroons

No cookie recipe collection would be complete with coconut macaroons. Light and tasty, these cookies contain no flour and are naturally gluten-free.

Ingredients:
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 egg whites
1 1/4 cups superfine sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups sweetened shredded coconut

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and line cookie sheets with parchment paper. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, add salt to egg whites and beat with an electric mixer to form stiff peaks. Add sugar slowly and beat just until sugar is dissolved.

2. Stir in vanilla and coconut, gently mixing to combine. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto the parchment. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Slide parchment onto the counter and let stand for 1 minute. Loosen cookies and cool on wire racks. If cookies stick to the parchment, place parchment on top of damp paper towels and let stand for 1 minute. Store cooled cookies in an airtight container.

Gluten-free Chunky Dark Chocolate Squares
Makes 24 squares

What cookie lover doesn’t love chocolate? Dark chocolate and walnuts gives these indulgent treats a boost of antioxidants and good-for-you fat. For a change, substitute the dark chocolate with cinnamon chips, white chocolate baking morsels, or milk chocolate. Pecans are especially good with chocolate, too.

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups rice flour
1 1/4 cups soy flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
1 cup lightly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup corn syrup
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 eggs
8 ounces dark chocolate, chopped into chunks
1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and grease a 9×13-inch baking dish. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy. Slowly beat in corn syrup. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.

2. Gradually add flour mixture, blending until combined. Add chocolate and nuts. Transfer batter to baking dish and bake for 30 minutes or until cooked through and lightly browned. Cool in pan for 10 minutes before cutting. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

Gluten-free Carrot Craisin Cookies
Makes 4 dozen cookies

Cookies, for the most part, are not considered a health food. However, adding carrots and dried cranberries does improve their nutritional value. These carrot craisin drop cookies are quick to make and can be stored in the freezer to always have on hand.

Ingredients:
1 cup gluten-free flour (recipe below)
1/2 cup soy flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cups gluten-free cereal, finely crushed
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
3 eggs
1 cup corn syrup
2 cups finely grated carrots
1 cup dried cranberries or Craisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and grease baking sheets. In a medium-sized bowl, mix together flours, baking soda, cinnamon and cereal. In a large bowl, cream butter with an electric mixer. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Beat in corn syrup until combined. Add flour mixture and carrots and mix well. Stir in cranberries and nuts.

2. Drop tablespoonfuls of dough onto cookie sheets, spacing them 2 inches apart. Bake 12 minutes or until cookies feel firm when touched. Transfer cookies to paper towels or wire racks to cool. Store in an airtight container.

Gluten-free flour: Combine 2 cups rice flour, 2/3 cup potato starch flour, and 1/3 cup tapioca flour in an airtight container and keep on hand for baking.

Gluten-free Sugar Cookies
Makes 3 dozen

No reason to deprive your kids of cookie fun if they are gluten-intolerant. These sugar cookies are an ideal afternoon project in the summer when its too hot out or in the winter when the temperatures are too low to play.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup butter-flavor vegetable shortening
4 egg yolks
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups potato starch flour
2/3 cup tapioca flour
2/3 cup cornstarch
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. and grease cookie sheets. In a large mixing bowl, cream sugar and shortening. Add egg yolks and vanilla and blend until combined. In a medium-sized bowl, mix flours, cornstarch, baking powder and salt. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture and mix with your hands to combine and form a ball of dough.

2. Roll dough on wax paper to 1/8-inch thickness. Use round or shaped cookie cutters to cut dough into 3 dozen cookies, combining dough scraps and rerolling, as needed. Transfer to cookie sheets and bake 8 to 10 minutes or until firm. Cool on wire racks. Cooled cookies can be decorated and stored in an airtight container.