A holiday classic, these gluten-free cookies are festive and fabulous! Super quick and easy recipe yields cookies with the most amazing texture and flavor.
New! I added a cooking video so you can see how easy it is to make these gluten-free Gingerbread Cookies.
Hope you love them!
Original post…
These Gluten-free Gingerbread Cookies are a holiday favorite!
When I was younger we used to make gingerbread cookies all the time as part of our holiday cookie baking day. But somehow when the kids were younger and my youngest was diagnosed with celiac disease and started a gluten-free diet, we stopped making them for no other reason than time constraints.
Last year was the first time we’ve made this family recipe since going gluten-free and it worked beautifully.
To be honest, I was a bit nervous trying them for the first time (By now you know, I like recipes that are quick and easy. I shy away from labor intensive baking and the idea of rolling dough is not my favorite!)
But I was blown away by how easy it was to roll out the dough and use the cookie cutters to make gingerbread shapes!
And the cookies have the most an amazing texture and gingerbread flavor!
And the only change I made to the family recipe was to use GF Jules gluten-free all purpose flour — they tasted just like the original!
You may have noticed that we are affiliate for GFJules. A great gluten-free flour is so important with gluten-free baking! To learn more about why we love GFJules flour and why we have used it for 10 years, click here. Bonus: at the bottom of that post is a one-time use affiliate Discount Code.
And importantly, purchasing through an affiliate link does not change your cost at all. It generates a small percentage of the sale for me, and purchasing through an affiliate link helps me fund this website and all the recipes I share, so thank you!
Back to the Gluten-free Gingerbread Cookies…..
The dough is super easy to whip up!
All you need is 11 ingredients, mostly spices.
You’ll need: sugar
gluten-free all purpose flour
sugar
molasses
ground ginger
cinnamon
cloves
nutmeg
pepper
baking soda
butter or dairy free butter
egg.
And if you’re looking for a nourishing grab and go snack with the same great gingerbread flavor, try our Gingerbread Bliss Bites.
And the dough comes together quickly, stovetop!
First you heat the sugar, molasses and spices.
Then you remove from heat and stir in the baking soda. This part is really fun because it is like a chemistry experiment and the mixture foams up!
Then one by one, you mix in the butter, egg and flour until a dough forms. That’s it!
The dough is warm and you knead it just a few times to make sure all the ingredients are well combined, then you divide the dough in two (wrapping 1 piece to keep from drying out) and start rolling!
The dough rolls sooooo smoothly and easily!
And the cookie cut outs lift without any sticking at all!
Roll about 1/4 inch for a classic, slightly chewy cookie. Roll thinner for a crisper one.
You make the cookie first, then decorate later.
The icing is simply powdered sugar, milk and a touch of vanilla extra.
When you mix it together, it will at first seem clumpy, like it needs more milk but milk vigorously as it will continue to thin before adding too much more liquid.
Place the icing in a piping bag or ziploc bag and cut a very tiny hole at the bottom.
Then decorate and have fun!
Hope you love them as much as we do.
PIN it!
Scroll down for recipe and leave a comment if you try.
A holiday classic, these gluten-free cookies are festive and fabulous! They are easy to make, easy to roll and cut out, and they have an amazing texture and gingerbread flavor!. Gluten-Free, Dairy Free optional.
Author: Healthy Gluten-Free Family
Recipe type: Holiday Baking, Cookies, Dessert
Cuisine: Gluten-Free, Dairy Free optional
Serves: 48 gingerbread people
Ingredients
Gingerbread cookie dough
½ cup sugar
½ cup light molasses
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground pepper
2 teaspoon baking soda
½ cup butter or dairy free alternative, cut up
1 large egg
3¼ - 3½ cups gluten-free all purpose flour (with xanthum gum) (We used GF Jules all purpose flour- affiliate link)
Simple Icing
2 cups powdered sugar
2-4 tablespoons milk
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Make dough
In a 3 quart sauce pan, heat sugar, molasses, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and pepper over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until reaching a boil.
Remove from heat.
Stir in baking soda. (Mixture will foam up in the pan).
Stir in butter until melted.
With a fork, stir in egg.
Then with a fork or spoon stir in flour until very well combined. (the original recipe calls for 3½ cups but I found the dough was perfect with only 3¼ cups recently)
Remove dough from pan and knead as needed until thoroughly mixed. Doesn't require much kneading.
Divide dough in half, wrap half of it in plastic and set aside.
Roll out cookies and bake
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and place parchment paper on 2 baking sheets.
On a pastry mat, roll dough until slightly thinner than ¼ inch.
Use assorted cookie cutters to cut dough into cookies, place cut outs on cookie sheets.
Repeat process until dough is used.
Bake cookies for 10-minutes or until edges starting to brown-- you don't want to over cook.
Let cool and enjoy or decorate as desired.
Store in a seal container for several weeks.
NOTE: do not mix with other cookies in the same container when storing or the other cookies will smell of gingerbread!
Simple Icing
Whisk all ingredients, starting with 2 tablespoons milk, together in a bowl until smooth It will continue to thin out as you mix it. If your icing is too thin, add in a little more powdered sugar. If your icing is too thick, add the extra tablespoon of milk or a touch more as needed.
Use a piping bag or a ziplock bag (with a VERY TINY corner snipped off) to pipe icing on to cookies as desired.
These cookies were excellent! The dough is a little dry/tough when you first start kneading it but I just added a splash of milk to help it come together a bit easier. I found that the dough would dry out if not covered (the a raps between the cut outs) so a drop of milk really helped this problem.
This dough is perfect! It is so durable that you can do it effortlessly and easily lift up the cutouts. It made beautifully crispy gingerbread men that were wonderfully spicy. Don’t be afraid to roll it thin as the dough is easy to handle regardless! Made 4 dozen cookies!
Great question! I have only ever made this with egg so I can’t be certain. If you know of a liquid egg substitute (as opposed to flax egg), I might try that. Let me know if you make them.
Tried this recipe for my first gingerbread cookie ever. The directions and descriptions were spot on and the dough was very easy to work with. The cookies were tasty and crispy. I think this would make a great gingerbread house!
I loved these cookies. The dough was very easy to work with and the frosting recipe was perfect for decorating. My husband had to ask if they were gluten-free because they were so good. Thank you for all of your recipes. During this last year, I have returned to cooking for my family and you have been a lifesaver!
Hi! My name is Karen, and I’m the mom in our Healthy Gluten-Free Family. My posts and pictures here and on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter are labors of love that allow me to share a very personal journey with you, one our family has taken together — learning, experimenting and sharing how to raise a healthy happy gluten-free family. Read more ...
Great recipe! Tried them yesterday and they are really yummy and so easy to make! Thank you for sharing!?
Yay! So happy you loved them too! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
These cookies were excellent! The dough is a little dry/tough when you first start kneading it but I just added a splash of milk to help it come together a bit easier. I found that the dough would dry out if not covered (the a raps between the cut outs) so a drop of milk really helped this problem.
This dough is perfect! It is so durable that you can do it effortlessly and easily lift up the cutouts. It made beautifully crispy gingerbread men that were wonderfully spicy. Don’t be afraid to roll it thin as the dough is easy to handle regardless! Made 4 dozen cookies!
I am making these tomorrow. Do these cookies spread at all? Should I refrigerate the dough before baking?
Hi! Sorry I missed this! They don’t spread too much and you don’t need to refrigerate the dough…. Hope you love them!
What could I replace the egg with that will give it the same consistency?
Great question! I have only ever made this with egg so I can’t be certain. If you know of a liquid egg substitute (as opposed to flax egg), I might try that. Let me know if you make them.
They turned out absolutely amazing and so easy to make!!!
Thanks Danielle! So happy you loved them!
This may be a silly question but does the icing harden?
Not a silly question! And yes, it hardens rather quickly!
I was so impressed by this dough!! Probably some of the best and easiest gf dough I’ve ever worked this!! They also taste delicious!!
Isn’t it such a nice dough? Thank you! So happy you love it!
Do you have the nutrition facts or the calories for each cookies?
Tried this recipe for my first gingerbread cookie ever. The directions and descriptions were spot on and the dough was very easy to work with. The cookies were tasty and crispy. I think this would make a great gingerbread house!
Thanks Kristen! Happy you loved them! And yes! Many people have used this recipe to make gingerbread houses! Great tip!
I loved these cookies. The dough was very easy to work with and the frosting recipe was perfect for decorating. My husband had to ask if they were gluten-free because they were so good. Thank you for all of your recipes. During this last year, I have returned to cooking for my family and you have been a lifesaver!
So happy you loved them! Thank you! And happy you’re enjoying our recipes as you get back to cooking! 🙂