Gingerbread Cookies

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!

Bonus! From Nov 30 – Dec 14, 2019 use code “HGFFHoliday” for 15% your GF Jules (affiliate link) purchase. One time use per customer. Minimum purchase $20.

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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, and an 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.

Scroll down for recipe and leave a comment if you try.