If you’re looking for a festive treat for 4th of July, look no further than this Gluten Free American Flag Cookie Cake. It’s made of a gluten free sugar cookie topped with cream cheese frosting and fresh fruit. It’s a real crowd pleaser!
I love to decorate cookies and cakes for special occasions, but sometimes I want to make something beautiful without all the effort. That’s where this gluten free cookie cake comes in.
Cookie cakes (or dessert pizza) are great for parties of all kinds because they don’t take a lot of effort, yet they’re visually stunning and taste delicious. By using colorful toppings you can create a festive dessert without any previous decorating skills!
Everyone loves this American Flag Cookie Cake recipe. It’s a beautiful 4th of July dessert that tastes just as good as it looks!
What is a Cookie Cake or Dessert Pizza?
A cookie cake, also sometimes known as a dessert pizza, is a dessert that contains a slab of cookie, often in a rectangle or circle shape, covered with some kind of frosting and sprinkled with toppings, such as fruit or candy.
There are many variations of cookie cakes and dessert pizzas.
This cookie pizza is made from a gluten free sugar cookie base, topped with a cream cheese frosting, and decorated with strawberries, raspberries and blueberries to look like an American Flag.
What makes this American Flag Cookie Cake Gluten Free?
To make this 4th of July cookie cake gluten free, I’ve made a gluten free sugar cookie base.
For this recipe, I like to use a gluten free flour blend like Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten Free Baking Flour. If your blend doesn’t already contain xanthan gum, be sure to add it as specified in the recipe. Many flour blends, like the Bob’s Red Mill flour already contain xanthan gum, so you don’t have to add it.
The cream cheese frosting is naturally gluten free so no modifications are necessary.
How can I make this cookie cake recipe dairy free?
You can easily make this American flag cookie cake recipe dairy free by making a few easy swaps.
Use a margarine or dairy-free butter alternative instead of the butter in the sugar cookie crust recipe. You can also use a butter flavored shortening if you prefer.
For the cream cheese frosting, use a vegan cream cheese and dairy-free butter alternative. You can also use any dairy-free frosting that you would like instead of a cream cheese base.
You can check out the vegan frosting I used on my Vegan Red White and Blue Cookie Cups and use it in this recipe!
What if I don’t want to make my cookie cake look like a flag?
Don’t worry, you don’t have to make this delicious dessert pizza look like an American Flag if you don’t want to. If you’re still looking to stay with the 4th of July dessert theme, you can sprinkle the blueberries, strawberries and raspberries sporadically over the frosting for more of a abstract look.
For other holidays, like Christmas, you can use fruits like strawberries and kiwi to create a red and green theme.
For Valentine’s Day, a combination of red and pink fruits like strawberries, raspberries, dragonfruit, pomegranate, and cherries would be absolutely stunning.
For Halloween, you can nix the fruit all together and cover with your favorite candies.
There are so many ways you can dress up this sugar cookie pizza!
How to Store American Flag Cookie Cake
To store your sugar cookie flag cake, place it covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Make sure to store the cookie cake flat, as the icing is easy to dent if slices are stacked on top of each other.
I like to store my cookie cake in the quarter sheet pan I baked it in and cover with aluminum foil.
How to Make Ahead This Gluten Free Cookie Pizza
While this gluten free cookie pizza can be stored in the refrigerator for a few days, for the best presentation follow these tips to make it ahead of an event.
The cookie base of this dessert pizza can be made 1-2 days in advance. You can store it at room temperature tightly wrapped or covered.
You can also make the cream cheese frosting ahead of time and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Wait to assemble the flag cookie cake until the day of your event for best presentation.
While I highly suggest drying off the individual strawberry slices before placing on top of the frosting, the precipitation in the refrigerator can make the strawberries and raspberries bleed onto the frosting if left in the refrigerator for more than a few hours.
Your cookie cake will still taste delicious, but it won’t have the same effect visually.
If you follow these tips, you will have such a delicious and festive dessert for your event!
Ready for 4th of July? Try These Other Gluten Free Patriotic Recipes:
- Vegan Red, White and Blue Cookie Cups are a fun, portable gluten-free treat for the 4th of July!
- 4th of July Sugar Cookies are decorated with royal icing and so festive!
- Beat the heat with these Red, White and Blueberry Popsicles
- For adults over 21, these Stained Glass Jello Shots are so beautiful with their vibrant colors!
- Looking for some beverages that don’t contain alcohol? Try these 4th of July Mocktails!
American Flag Sugar Cookie Cake Recipe
This easy, festive 4th of July dessert is quite the show stopper. And it’s delicious! Cream cheese frosting tops a sugar cookie base and is decorated with fresh fruit for this Gluten Free American Flag Cookie Cake recipe. It’s a great party dessert!
Gluten Free Flag Cookie Cake
If you're looking for a festive treat for 4th of July, look no further than this Gluten Free American Flag Cookie Cake. It's made of a gluten free sugar cookie topped with cream cheese frosting and fresh fruit. It's a real crowd pleaser!
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Ingredients
For the Cookie:
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2/ tsp salt
- 1 1/4 cups gluten free flour blend
- 1/4 tsp xanthan gum - if your blend doesn't already contain it
- 1/2 cup butter - softened
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla
For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 4 oz cream cheese - softened
- 2 tbsp butter - softened
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
To Decorate:
- 1 cup blueberries
- 1 cup strawberries - sliced
- 1 cup raspberries
**Use the toggle button above to turn the instruction photos on and off!
Instructions
For the Cookie:
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line a quarter sheet pan or 9x13 baking dish with parchment paper, leaving a 1-inch overhang on all sides.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the baking powder, salt, gluten free flour blend and xanthan gum (if using) until combined. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, add softened butter and granulated sugar. Cream together until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Add in the egg and vanilla and mix until combined.
- Then gradually mix in the flour mixture, until no white streaks remain.
- Scoop the cookie dough out on onto the prepared pan. With your hands, press the dough into the pan until you get an even layer that covers the whole pan. It helps to slightly wet your hands so the dough does not stick to your hands.
- Bake the cookie at 350F for 15-18 minutes, until the cookie is lightly browned, being sure not to over bake. Let cool completely.
For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
- Add the softened cream cheese and butter in a medium size bowl.
- With an electric mixer, cream the cream cheese and butter until smooth.
- Then, stir in the vanilla extract until combined.
- Gradually add in the powdered sugar, mixing in between each addition, until combined. You can add additional powdered sugar until you reach your preferred consistency.
To Decorate:
- When the cookie is completely cool, pour the cream cheese frosting onto the cookie.
- With an offset spatula or the back of a spoon, smooth the frosting to cover the entire cookie.
- Starting with the blueberries, make a box in the upper left hand corner of the cookie. I did a row of 7 blueberries across and 5 blueberries down.
- Next, create a line along the top with the sliced strawberries, letting them slightly overlap.
- Leave about an inch space of white frosting, and then create another horizontal line, this time with the raspberries.
- Continue alternating lines of strawberries and raspberries (leaving white space in between) until you reach the bottom of the cookie cake.
- Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Notes
Note: It helps to dry off some of the moisture from the strawberry slices before placing them on top of the frosting to get a clean look.
Nutrition
Calories: 216kcal | Carbohydrates: 30g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 37mg | Sodium: 164mg | Potassium: 61mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 22g | Vitamin A: 335IU | Vitamin C: 8.2mg | Calcium: 27mg | Iron: 0.5mg
Note: This post was originally posted on July 4, 2012 and updated on June 22, 2019 with updated photos, recipe and tips and tricks to help you make this gluten free treat perfectly every time!
These are all so cute!
Why thank you miss jodie 🙂
Gorgeous cake Meg! Love the star cookies too. Pinned them to my Red, White and Blue Pinterest board!
xo
Mary
Thanks Aunt Mary!
When you say to “pour” the dough mixture into the pan, there is no “pouring”. It is very thick and doesn’t seem like enough dough for a 9×13 inch sheet cake. Are the portions correct? Am I missing something?
Hi Debra, By pour I just meant to dump it all onto the pan. And then you press it into the baking sheet until flat. It’s not a cake, very much a thin cookie cake. I’d say 1/3″ high. But yes, the batter should be thick, like cookie dough.
I followed the recipe to the letter and the cookie cake looked alright, yet the cookie totally fell apart. I didn’t get an opportunity to try the fun decorating part. I can’t imagine what I could have done to cause this–as cookie was totally cooled.
Hi Kariene, It sounds like you had just a bit too much flour if it crumbled apart. I can think of two things that may be the reason, either the flour blend or the measuring method for the flour. Which gluten-free flour blend did you use? How do you measure your flour in the measuring cup? If you scoop the measuring cup into the flour, you may be compacting it a bit too much and it can result in too much flour. You should get 175g of flour from 1.25 cups. Hope this helps!
Delicious!! Even non-gluten free people loved it. I doubled it for a 1/2 sheet pan and will definitely make again!!
So glad you enjoyed this, Laura! Thanks for sharing!
This recipe is outstanding! My daughter said it didn’t taste gluten free and was better than a crumbl cookie! Will definitely make again!
Thanks so much Heather! I’m so glad your daughter enjoyed it! Her saying it’s better than a crumbl cookie makes my day! 🙂
Made thus and turned out sooo good!!