Gluten Free Gingersnaps. The fragrance gets me every time. The sweet smell of ginger and cinnamon, sugar and molasses all blending into crisp perfection in a hot oven. Of all the Christmas cookie recipes I have, one shouts CHRISTMAS the loudest. Gingersnaps. I like them snappy crisp, full of pungent spice and a little bit of heat as you savor the buttery flavor. I’ve discovered a way to make them gluten free which brings great joy to my husband’s and my seriously gluten intolerant guts. (Odd to use the word ‘guts’ in a cookie post but if you’re gluten intolerant like we are, you know exactly what I mean!)
I posted this recipe for Spicy and Crisp Gingersnaps last Christmas and as much as I love it, I’m sticking with a gluten free version this year. Although you could easily make last years gluten free with a flour blend like this one: King Arthur Flour All-Purpose Baking Mix.
To keep these cookies gluten free I use almond flour, good pastured butter, coconut sugar, a little arrowroot powder (which is a healthy starch and gluten free thickener) to make them crisp, molasses and lots of spice. One word of caution: these cookies are buttery which is a good thing in my book because good pastured butter is a healthy fat, but all the butter and the fat from the almond flour means these babies will spread.
Don’t put more than a dozen at a time on your cookie sheet and in truth, nine would be better. Also, I use a little scoop to measure out my cookies and it’s only a couple teaspoons. So keep them on the small side. They are very light and crisp and you know what? They’d be incredible layered with vanilla ice-cream for crisp and Christmas-y ice cream sandwiches. Or crumbled atop fresh whipped cream or yogurt. Hmmmm……
Gluten Free Gingersnaps
- ½ cup pastured or organic unsalted butter (I use Kerry Gold or Plugra)
- 1 cup coconut sugar or organic brown sugar
- 1 organic egg
- ¼ cup molasses
- 2 cups almond flour
- ¼ cup arrowroot powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt (I use RealSalt exclusively)
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Preheat oven to 350. Grease 2 large baking sheets or to save clean up, cover each sheet with parchment paper.
- Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix until well combined. Add the egg and molasses. Mix until combined.
- In a separate bowl, mix the almond flour, arrowroot powder, baking soda, salt and spices until blended. Add to the sugar and butter mix slowly and mix until just blended.
- Chill mixture in the refrigerator for at least an hour but up to a couple days.
- Using a scoop if you have it or a teaspoon, make small balls, about an inch in diameter, and place 2 inches apart on parchment lined cookie sheets. Bake a total of 12 to 14 minutes, rotating cookie sheet halfway through baking.
- Remove from oven when cookies have spread and are a rich brown color. Let cool for 1 minute on the baking sheet.
- Remove each cookie carefully and place on a wire rack to cool. Cookies will get crisp as they cool.
- To keep cookies crisp, store in a covered container.
Kate’s Tips
- Add a couple tablespoons of freshly grated ginger to the recipe for even more ginger flavor.
- Or, add some finely chopped crystallized ginger to the recipe.
- If you cut the sugar in half, I have a feeling these would be a wonderful addition to a cheese plate!
- For a fancy presentation, drizzle cookies with melted white chocolate. Oh my heavens!
Some of the products I used to make this recipe*
- Organic Coconut Palm Sugar
- Wholesome Sweeteners Organic Molasses
- Bob’s Red Mill Almond Meal
- Bob’s Red Mill Arrowroot Starch Flour
- Real Salt Sea Salt
- Beyond Gourmet Unbleached Parchment Paper, 71-Squ
- Wear-Ever Half Size Natural Finish Aluminum Sheet Pan
- OXO Good Grips Small Cookie Scoop
Please let me know if you try these. I hope you love them as much as we do!
* this post contains affiliate links.
Gluten Free Cranberry Upside Down Cake
I rolled out my dough into a large circle, baked it to where it just started to crisp, transferred it to a pie shell and used it as my crust for Gluten Free pumpkin Pie. YUM
What a fantastic idea Mimi! Thank you for sharing! Blessings 🙂