Gluten-Free Gingerbread Cookies

Sugar, spice, and everything nice. That’s what these gluten-free gingerbread cookies are made of! Full of all the classic flavors you’d expect, these gingerbread cut-out cookies are perfect for cookie exchanges, holiday parties, or sweet gifts for teachers or coworkers.

🎄 What Makes This Recipe So Good

• Gluten-free gingerbread cookies are delightful, delicious, and so easy to make. They’re made with all the rich, warm spices and crisp-but-chewy texture of traditional gingerbread cookies, but with none of the gluten.
• This dough recipe is designed for cut-out cookies. You can make gingerbread men, trees, candy canes, gift boxes, or even gingerbread houses without fear of the cookies spreading and morphing into cookie blobs.
• You can decorate the cookies however you like! Use store-bought or homemade cookie icing, Red Hots, sprinkles, buttercream, melted chocolate, powdered sugar, gumdrops, cream cheese frosting, OR just enjoy them without any decoration at all.

Holiday Baking to Warm Your Kitchen

Gluten-Free Christmas Cookies with Homemade Icing

Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls (Cinnabon Copycat)

Paleo Cranberry Bliss Bars (Vegan Cranberry Bliss Bars) [Grain & Gluten-Free]

Christmas Confetti Cookies

👩🏼‍🍳 Chef’s Tips

• Use the spoon-and-level method to measure your gluten-free flour. What does that mean? Instead of sticking the measuring cup straight into the bag of flour, use a spoon to transfer the flour from the bag to the measuring cup. Don’t pack the flour into the cup, just scoop spoonfuls in until it’s full. Once the measuring cup’s full, take the straight edge of a knife and gently scrape it across the top of the flour to level it even with the edges of the measuring cup. This method helps ensure you’re not using too much flour.
• If you plan to decorate your cookies, make sure they’re completely cooled first. Any residual heat will make the icing melt or run, and the cookies can crumble if they’re handled too much while they’re warm. If you want defined designs and perfect cookies, the cookies absolutely must be cool.
• The dough can become sticky or unmanageable as it warms up. If you have trouble rolling or cutting out the dough, put it back in the fridge to chill it again as many times as you need to.

More Gluten-Free Recipes You Have to Try

• Gluten Free Breakfast Casserole
• Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread
• Paleo Meatloaf (Whole30, Low Carb, Gluten Free)
• Whole30 Chicken Tenders (Paleo, Low Carb, Gluten Free)
• Gluten Free Cream of Chicken Soup

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Gluten-Free Gingerbread Cookies

Prep:45 minutes minutes

Cook:15 minutes minutes

Chill:2 hours hours

Total:3 hours hours

Classic, spicy gingerbread cookies made with absolutely zero gluten. Perfect for cut-out cookies or gingerbread houses, enjoy them as-is, dusted with powdered sugar, or decorated with icing and sweets.

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24 cookies

Ingredients

• ▢ ½ cup unsalted butter softened
• ▢ ¾ packed cup brown sugar light or dark
• ▢ 1 large egg at room temperature
• ▢ ¼ cup unsulphured molasses
• ▢ 2 ½ cups gluten-free all-purpose flour with xanthan gum; plus more to flour work surface
• ▢ ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• ▢ 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• ▢ ½ teaspoon allspice
• ▢ ½ teaspoon ground cloves

Equipment

• stand mixer bowl or large mixing bowl
• stand mixer or hand mixer
• Flour sifter
• Medium mixing bowl
• Whisk
• Plastic wrap
• Oven
• Baking sheet
• Parchment Paper
• Rolling Pin
• Cookie cutters
• cookie spatula
• Wire cooling rack
• tools to decorate cookies optional

Instructions 

To Prepare Cookie Dough

• Add softened butter and brown sugar to stand mixer bowl (or large mixing bowl). Using stand mixer (or hand mixer), mix ingredients together on low speed 30 seconds, then increase speed to medium. Continue mixing 1 to 3 minutes, until ingredients are creamed. Mixture should be fully combined, light, and fluffy. Note: Be careful not to overmix. Overmixing will make mixture greasy and soupy. If you overmix, discard mixture and start again.
  
• Once butter and sugar are creamed, pause mixer and crack egg directly into mixing bowl. Add vanilla extract and molasses, then resume mixing on low speed. Mix until ingredients are just combined, approximately 1 minute.
• Sift flour through sifter and directly into medium mixing bowl, making sure any clumps are broken up. Once flour is smooth, add baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves. Whisk dry ingredients together to incorporate.
  
• While mixing on low speed, slowly pour flour mixture into butter mixture, adding dry ingredients in gradual increments and mixing well between each addition. Once entire flour mixture has been added, mix on low until thick cookie dough forms.
• When ingredients are fully combined into thick cookie dough, cover mixing bowl with plastic wrap or lid and place bowl in refrigerator. Chill dough at least 2 hours and no more than 3 days.
  

To Bake Cookies

• Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit. Line large baking sheet with parchment paper and set baking sheet aside. Cover large section of kitchen counter or similar flat area with light layer of flour. Lightly flour rolling pin.
• Remove mixing bowl from refrigerator and transfer chilled dough to floured surface. Roll dough into evenly flat sheet approximately ½-inch thick. Add flour to rolling pin as needed, being careful not to add too much.
• Use cookie cutters to cut sheet of dough into shapes. Carefully lift cookies off parchment paper and transfer to baking sheet. Place cookies approximately ½ to 1 inch apart on baking sheet. Repeat process of rolling dough and cutting shapes until dough is completely cut.
  
• Place baking sheet in preheated oven. Bake cookies 10 minutes, then check doneness. Continue baking 1 to 4 minutes as needed until cookie edges are firm and the centers are just set.
• Carefully remove baking sheet from oven. Let cookies rest on baking sheet 5 minutes, then carefully transfer cookies to wire cooling rack and allow to cool completely. Serve gingerbread cookies plain, or decorate cooled gingerbread cookies as desired.

Notes

• Gluten-Free Flour: Your flour needs to contain xanthan gum for the cookies to have the right texture. If you’re using a flour without xanthan gum, you’ll need to add some yourself.
• Number of cookies will vary depending on size(s) and shape(s) of cookie cutters used.
• If you’re unsure about the doneness of your cookies, it’s better to slightly underbake them than to overbake them. They’ll continue baking while they rest.
• If your dough becomes sticky or unmanageable while you’re rolling and cutting, pop it back in the fridge and chill it as many times as you need to.

Nutrition Information

Serving Size: 1cookie, Calories: 129kcal, Protein: 1g, Fat: 4g, Saturated Fat: 3g, Trans Fat: 0.2g, Cholesterol: 18mg, Sodium: 58mg, Potassium: 93mg, Total Carbs: 22g, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 9g, Net Carbs: 21g, Vitamin A: 130IU, Vitamin C: 0.02mg, Calcium: 19mg, Iron: 0.3mg

Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.

 

Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.

 

To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.

© Author: Sam Guarnieri