These gluten free gingerbread cookies are comfortable, chewy, and completely spiced for all of your vacation cookie-baking wants, or any time of yr. Within the oven, they brown shortly, the facilities rise evenly for a easy end, and the spices bloom into that unmistakable vacation perfume.
I’ve formed these as gingerbread males, however the dough handles cleanly and works with any cutter in your assortment, from intricate stars to easy rounds!
Why this recipe works
These cookies preserve their traditional gingerbread form, with each little arm and leg staying precisely the place it ought to. The dough rolls out easily, cuts cleanly, and bakes with out spreading an excessive amount of, so that they’re superb for adorning and filling out an enormous vacation cookie tray.
Their texture is comfortable and chewy, with balanced heat from molasses, brown sugar, and honey. Saved correctly in a sealed glass container, they’re going to keep tender for days with out turning dry or brittle.
And the dough is genuinely simple to deal with. A brief chill and the best ingredient stability make it easy to roll, carry, and switch your cutouts with out tearing, stretching, or sticking. Whether or not you are baking with youngsters or powering via a number of trays alone, the entire course of feels intuitive and dependable proper from the beginning.
Key elements
Here is what you may must make these cookies at house, together with a proof for what the aim is of every ingredient to the proper gingerbread males:
- Gluten free flour: Gives a lot of the construction for the cookies, with sufficient xanthan gum to bind the moist elements along with the flour. I like Higher Batter’s traditional mix, which has sufficient xanthan gum already to bind the cookie dough collectively, or Nicole’s Finest multipurpose, with added xanthan gum. In case you’re utilizing Bob’s Crimson Mill 1-to-1 within the blue bag, it ought to work, however add one other 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum or the cookies won’t maintain their form as nicely.
- Brown sugar: Provides sweetness, depth of taste, and locks in moisture for comfortable, tender cookies.
- Baking soda: Helps the cookies brown within the oven by making the dough much less acidic.
- Spices: A mixture of floor ginger and floor cinnamon provides deep, woodsy taste and a few chunk to those gluten-free gingerbread cookies. Be certain your spices are recent so that they have a number of aroma and taste.
- Salt: Balances sweetness and brightens the opposite flavors.
- Butter: Add moisture, buttery taste, and helps the cookies brown and spready barely throughout baking.
- Molasses: Provides a deep earthy taste, moisture, and colour to the cookies. Helps them keep chewy for longer, too.
- Honey: Provides a lightweight, fruity sweetness and moisture.
- Egg: Helps carry the cookies collectively, provides moisture, some fats for tenderness and rise.
- Vanilla: Provides complicated depth of taste.
Step-by-step directions with pictures
Detailed directions are within the recipe card. Beneath is a visible overview of the way to make these cookies with explanations for every step to information you as you work from home:
1. Work the butter into the dry elements
Whisk collectively the gluten free flour with xanthan gum, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and brown sugar in a big mixing bowl. Chop room temperature butter roughly and toss it within the whisked dry elements.
Utilizing the again of your mixing spoon, work the butter into the dry elements and break up any lumps of brown sugar till there aren’t any seen items of butter. The combination will resemble coarse, barely moist sand.
2. Combine in moist elements together with molasses
Add the molasses, honey, overwhelmed egg and vanilla to the middle of the blending bowl, and blend the moist elements collectively first, then widen your mixing circles to incorporate the dry elements. This ensures that each ingredient is contained in each a part of the cookie dough. Whenever you’re carried out mixing, the combination needs to be sticky, however very thick and clumpy.
3. Chill the unshaped dough
Divide the combination in half, pat every right into a tough rectangle, and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. To make the dough much less sticky, refrigerate the wrapped items for about 10 minutes.
You may let the unshaped dough chill for longer. It will likely be a bit more durable to roll out if it is too agency, so let it soften at room temp a bit earlier than you roll it out.
4. Roll out the dough
Earlier than we form the dough, we’ll flour it on either side to stop sticking to the rolling pin or floor. Unwrap one piece of dough at a time, sprinkle a big piece of parchment on a flat floor with flour, place the dough on prime and mud it with flour.
Flour the rolling pin and roll the dough right into a rectangle about 1/4-inch thick. Transfer the dough often, turning it over and again, sprinkling with flour as wanted to stop sticking. It is necessary that the dough not be sticky on both facet earlier than you narrow out shapes, otherwise you will not have the ability to transfer the shapes.
5. Reduce out shapes
Press a cookie cutter into the dough as many occasions as you’ll be able to with out overlapping. Pull the dough between the shapes away, and collect it to reroll.
6. Chill the cutout shapes
Slide the parchment with the shapes onto a flat, transportable floor like a slicing board. Place it within the fridge to relax the shapes for about 10 minutes or till agency to stop an excessive amount of unfold within the oven which disturbs their form and wrinkles the cookies.
7. Bake and funky the cookies
Peel the chilled cookie shapes off the parchment (they need to come off simply), and place about 1 1/2-inches aside on a lined baking sheet. They are going to unfold, however not lots.
They’re carried out baking once they’re puffed, evenly golden brown throughout, and do not seem moist even within the very middle. This often takes lower than 10 minutes. Do not overbake or they will not be chewy, and the molasses makes them blacken simply on the bottoms.
Allow them to cool utterly on the baking sheets, after which enhance in case you like!
Knowledgeable suggestions
Roll out the dough evenly
Roll out your uncooked cookies dough to a constant thickness so the cookies bake evenly. Run your palms excessive of the dough as you roll it, because it’s a lot simpler to really feel uneven elements than it’s to see them.
Flour as wanted
In case your uncooked cookie dough appears troublesome to roll with out sticking, sprinkle it with gluten free flour (your mix or simply tapioca starch or superfine rice flour is ok) as essential to preserve it from getting caught on the rolling pin. Flip the dough over periodically, too, to make sure that the dough is not sticking on the underside, even when it is easy to roll on prime.
Chill the uncooked shapes
Roll and minimize out the dough on a bit of parchment, slide the paper with the shapes nonetheless on it onto a flat floor, and place it within the fridge till agency. This can make it simpler to switch the shapes to the baking sheet with out stretching out the shapes, and (most significantly) the cookies will unfold a lot much less and seem smoother on prime.
Adorning suggestions
For a fundamental, conventional gingerbread man with two eyes and some buttons, a easy royal icing in a piping bag with a really small spherical open tip (like an Ateco #2 tip) is ideal. Or you’ll be able to simply combine collectively confectioners’ sugar with a little bit of water or milk till it is very thickly pipeable. It will not set as laborious, although.
Let the icing set
Whether or not you’ve got used precise royal icing that’s higher at setting very laborious, or simply a mixture of sugar and water or milk, it should take about 24 hours to set absolutely.
Ingredient substitutions
Dairy free
Instead of the butter on this recipe, strive utilizing block-style vegan butter. My favourite manufacturers are Soften and Miyoko’s Kitchen. You’ll in all probability have so as to add extra flour throughout shaping, however keep away from including an excessive amount of or the cookies will lose taste.
I do not suggest Earth’s Stability buttery sticks vegan butter different, because it comprises an excessive amount of moisture. Your cookies will not maintain their form throughout baking.
Egg free
As a substitute of an egg, strive utilizing a “chia egg,” Bob’s Crimson Mill’s egg replacer in line with bundle instructions, or JustEgg refrigerated liquid egg replacer.
Storage directions
The cookies will keep recent and retain their texture in a sealed glass container at room temperature for at the least 1 week.
For longer storage, place them in a freezer-safe zip-top bag, squeeze all of the air out, and freeze for as much as 3 months. Defrost at room temperature.
I like to recommend ready to embellish your cookies till you are about 1 day away from serving them (the icing wants 24 hours to set absolutely). This ensures that the decorations do not get get crushed or in any other case disturbed.
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Line rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and set them apart.
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In a big bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and brown sugar, and whisk to mix nicely.
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Chop the butter roughly and add it to the dry elements. Combine the butter in, urgent down with the again of the spoon to work the butter into the dry elements till the combination resembles coarse sand. There needs to be no seen clumps of butter remaining.
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Create a nicely within the middle of the dry elements and add the molasses, honey, egg and vanilla.
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Combine to mix. The combination will likely be thick and sticky, however will maintain collectively in massive clumps.
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Divide the dough into 2 equal elements, every about 350 grams. Wrap every tightly in plastic wrap, press every right into a small rectangle, and refrigerate for about 10 minutes. This can make rolling it out simpler.
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Working with one half of the dough at a time, take away the plastic, and place on a big sheet of parchment paper, evenly floured. Sprinkle the highest of the dough will extra flour.
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Roll the dough right into a rectangle about 1/4-inch thick, sprinkling the rolling pin and dough evenly with extra flour as vital to stop sticking. Flip the dough over and transfer it across the parchment paper freqently to make sure it isn’t sticking.
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Use a gingerbread man-shaped cookie cutter to chop out as many shapes from the cookie dough as doable with out overlapping. Draw back the remaining uncooked dough and collect it to reroll.
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Brush away any remaining flour dustings and slide the cookie shapes, nonetheless on the parchment, onto a flat transportable floor. Place within the fridge till agency (about 10 minutes).
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Whereas the shapes are chilling, preheat your oven to 350°F.
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As soon as chilled, rigorously peel off the cut-out shapes and place them, about 1 1/2-inches aside, on the ready baking sheets.
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Bake within the middle of the preheated oven till puffed, evenly golden brown throughout, and set within the middle, about 9 minutes. Take away from the oven and permit to chill utterly on the baking sheets.
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Repeat the method with the remaining dough.
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Embellish the utterly cooled cookies with royal icing, if desired. Permit the icing to set for twenty-four hours earlier than stacking the cookies for show or storage.
My favourite gluten free flour blends are Higher Batter’s authentic mix gluten free flour and Nicole’s Finest multipurpose mix (with added xanthan gum). Bob’s Crimson Mill 1-to-1 Gluten Free Baking Flour must also work, however add an extra 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum to the dry elements or the cookies could unfold an excessive amount of.
To make your individual mix utilizing certainly one of my “mock” recipes, please see the all function gluten free flour blends web page.
Recipe yield
The dietary info is predicated on 30 small cookies made with a cookie cutter that is about 3-inches tall and a couple of inches from fingertip to fingertip. It doesn’t embrace royal icing or another ornament. The yield will rely solely on the dimensions of your cookie cutter and the way thick you roll the dough.
Serving: 1cookie | Energy: 67kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 1g | Fats: 0.1g | Saturated Fats: 0.05g | Polyunsaturated Fats: 0.03g | Monounsaturated Fats: 0.1g | Trans Fats: 0.001g | Ldl cholesterol: 5mg | Sodium: 78mg | Potassium: 51mg | Fiber: 0.5g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 8IU | Vitamin C: 0.01mg | Calcium: 12mg | Iron: 0.2mg
Vitamin info is robotically calculated, so ought to solely be used as an approximation.
FAQs
All of the molasses within the cookies makes the dough extra acidic and brown shortly, which is a part of why they’ll bake and brown in lower than 10 minutes. It additionally means they’re fast to blacken on the underside. Ensure your oven is not operating sizzling by gauging temperature utilizing a standalone oven thermometer that you simply exchange typically. And perhaps decrease the oven temperature to 325°F and bake for about 12 minutes.
This gluten free gingerbread males recipe is certainly near what it’s worthwhile to make gingerbread homes, nevertheless it’s not fairly proper as a result of the tip result’s too chewy — homes want extra structural integrity! Use my gluten free gingerbread home recipe as a substitute for higher outcomes.
You will have rolled the cookie dough too skinny or baked it for too lengthy.
In case your cookies unfold an excessive amount of whereas baking, they’ll lose their form. The dough may have extra time to relax earlier than baking, your oven will not be sizzling sufficient so your cookies are “melting” earlier than they set, or your butter could have been too heat. “Room temperature butter” yields to your fingertip once you press the butter, however your finger would not come away greasy.
