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Home » Recipes » Gluten-free Cookies

Soft and Chewy Gluten-free Gingerbread Cookies

Published: Dec 1, 2023 · Modified: Jul 16, 2024 by Meeta Arora · Leave a Comment

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Soft and Chewy Gluten-free Gingerbread Cookies
Soft and Chewy Gluten-free Gingerbread Cookies

These Soft and Chewy Gluten-Free Gingerbread Cookies are always a hit. They're completely gluten-free without compromising taste. The combination of flavors and textures makes these cookies a must-have for any holiday gathering.

Irresistible soft gluten-free gingerbread cookies on a plate.

Gingerbread cookies hold the top spot as my absolute favorite Christmas treat. The best part? My husband isn't a fan, but that leaves more delightful cookies for me to savor during the holiday season. Aside from classic sugar cookies and molasses cookies, what other treat screams "holiday joy" louder than gingerbread?

The warm spices of ginger, cinnamon, and cloves in gingerbread cookies evoke nostalgic memories of cozying up by the fireplace and filling the house with a delightful Christmas aroma. Now that I am thinking about it, I need to make these more throughout the year because they are just that good!

Jump to:
  • Why You'll Want to Bake These Gingerbread Cookies All Season Long?
  • Ingredients For Gluten-Free Gingerbread Cookies
  • Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Gingerbread Cookies
  • Vegan Gluten-Free Gingerbread Cookies
  • How to Make Gluten-Free Gingerbread Cookies?
  • Tips For the Best Gluten-Free Gingerbread Men
  • Decorating Gluten-Free Gingerbread Cookies
  • How to Store Gingerbread Cookies?
  • Making Ahead or Freezing
  • More Gluten-Free Holiday Treats
  • 📖 Recipe

Why You'll Want to Bake These Gingerbread Cookies All Season Long?

  • Easy to make!
  • They are slightly crisp on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside!
  • They can be made ahead or frozen!
  • Full of holiday flavors!
  • Perfect for adding a bit of fun to your cookie trays!

Ingredients For Gluten-Free Gingerbread Cookies

  • Cassava Flour: It's like flour but without gluten. It makes gingerbread taste a bit nutty and cool. I use it in baking all the time.
  • Arrowroot Starch: Think of it as the glue that holds gingerbread together. It makes the cookies stay in one piece.
  • Guar Gum: Another helper to keep gingerbread together. It gives the dough a smooth and sticky feeling.
  • Spices and seasoning: Add a great flavor to these cookies with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, salt, and brown sugar.
  • Baking Soda: Helps the cookie puff up.
  • Molasses: This is the secret ingredient for yummy cookies. Don't forget; it gives a rich taste to your gingerbread.
  • Vanilla: Choose a good vanilla extract. It's like a magic touch that makes everything taste even better.
  • Butter: You can use regular or dairy-free butter.
  • Eggs: It holds everything together in the cookie, ensuring it's not too crumbly.

Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Gingerbread Cookies

Instead of regular butter, use Earth Balance, which has no dairy. It's like a magical swap that makes the cookies taste just as delicious.

So, if you can't have gluten or dairy or want a tasty treat, try making these cookies with Earth Balance. They're easy to make, and everyone can enjoy them!

Vegan Gluten-Free Gingerbread Cookies

These cookies are perfect for people who are into vegan treats. Instead of regular eggs, you can use flax eggs. It might sound fancy, but it's just ground flaxseeds mixed with water – super easy!

How to Make Gluten-Free Gingerbread Cookies?

  1. In a large bowl, cream the butter, molasses, and brown sugar.
  2. Add in the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.
  3. In a separate medium bowl, measure out the cassava flour and arrowroot starch. Add the guar gum, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt. Whisk them all together.
  4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until a soft dough is formed.
  5. Transfer the dough to the center of some parchment paper or plastic wrap, covering and pressing the dough into a disc.
  6. Chill the dough for at least two hours or overnight.
  7. Once the dough is chilled, place it on parchment paper and roll it out using a rolling pin to the desired thickness. I like my cookies slightly thinner than ¼ in.
  8. Use a cookie cutter to shape the cookies as gingerbread men or any other holiday shapes you like.
  9. Place the cut cookies onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and freeze for about 15 minutes.
  10. Bake the cookies (without defrosting) for 10-12 minutes until the edges look golden.
  11. Allow the cookies to cool on a cooling rack, then transfer them to a baking sheet to cool completely before decorating.
Cut with cookie cutter Gingerbread Men cookie

Tips For the Best Gluten-Free Gingerbread Men

Chill the dough - This might sound like an obvious thing with any cutout cookie recipes, but it also helps give the cookies time for the flavors to develop in these cookies. I usually let the dough chill overnight, but at least two hours will greatly help.

This dough is soft. You can do a few things if you find it hard to roll it out after chilling. Freeze the dough for about 30 minutes, roll it out while still cold, and cut it cold. I also like to roll it out to my thickness and then pop it back into the freezer flat for a few minutes before cutting the shapes. You could lightly dust the dough with arrowroot starch, but I try to avoid adding a lot of extra so it doesn't mess with the final texture once the cookies are baked.

Measure the flours by weight - I find that using gluten-free flours gets the most consistent results. Measuring weight helps a lot. If you don't have a kitchen scale, I highly recommend you get one. They aren't expensive, but they can make a huge difference when gluten-free baking.

Freeze the cutouts before baking - This doesn't take long; about 10-15 minutes will do, but this helps the cookies bake more evenly and helps prevent them from spreading as much.

Let them cool: Make sure the cookies are completely cooled before decorating them.

A close-up of a batch of soft gluten-free gingerbread cookies

Decorating Gluten-Free Gingerbread Cookies

I know many people use royal icing to decorate gingerbread cookies, but honestly, I'm not a fan of it on these cookies. I much prefer a milder, slightly sweeter frosting, which is still easy to decorate with.

My Favorite Cookie Frosting for Gingerbread:

  • Two tablespoon Butter
  • One cup Powdered Sugar - I use Wholesome Sweet Brand since it's grain-free. If your powdered sugar brand says "powdered sugar" as the ingredient, it likely contains cornstarch.
  • ¼ teaspoon Vanilla
  • Milk of Choice until you get the consistency you want.

Mix everything and color if desired. This can easily be doubled or more if you make lots of cookies you need to decorate.

An inviting plate of soft gluten-free gingerbread cookies

How to Store Gingerbread Cookies?

I store gingerbread cookies in a sealed, airtight container at room temperature. They never last longer than a week in my house, but if you want to store them longer, I suggest popping them into the freezer.

Making Ahead or Freezing

You can easily make this gingerbread cookie dough ahead of time. Make the dough, which can rest in the fridge, wrapped up for up to a week.

You can freeze the dough wrapped in plastic wrap and sealed into a freezer bag for up to 3 months if you prefer.

When you want to bake them, let the dough defrost slightly so it's soft enough to roll and cut out your cookies.

You can even bake the cookies ahead of time and then freeze them as well. Just make sure they are completely cooled before doing so. Pack them on a lined baking sheet and freeze them. Then, you can place them in a ziploc freezer bag and store them for a couple of months.

More Gluten-Free Holiday Treats

  • Gluten free cut out cookies with sprinkles on the top
    Easy Gluten-free Cut Out Sugar Cookies
  • Looking down on some gluten-free shortbread cookies sitting on a cooling rack, some have been dipped into some chocolate.
    Easy Gluten-free Shortbread Cookies
  • Close up of pinwheel cookies being sliced.
    Gluten-free Pinwheel Sugar Cookies
  • Christmas Meringue Cookies spread on a table.
    Easy 5 Ingredient Christmas Meringue Cookies
  • Gluten Free Oatmeal Cream Pies with milk on the side
    Better than Little Debbie Gluten-free Oatmeal Cream Pies
  • Gluten-free rice krispie treats cut and up close to see the texture.
    The Best Gluten-free Rice Krispie Treats

📖 Recipe

Delicious gluten-free gingerbread cookies on a white platter

Soft and Chewy Gluten-free Gingerbread Cookies

Meeta Arora
These Soft and Chewy Gingerbread Cookies are always a hit. They're completely gluten-free without compromising taste. The combination of flavors and textures makes these cookies a must-have for any holiday gathering.
5 from 1 vote
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 2 hours hrs 15 minutes mins
Cook Time 11 minutes mins
Total Time 2 hours hrs 30 minutes mins
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 24
Calories 127 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 1 ¾ cup Cassava Flour 175 g
  • ½ cup Arrowroot Starch 72 g
  • 1 teaspoon Guar Gum
  • ¾ teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 1 ¼ teaspoon Cinnamon
  • 1 ½ teaspoon Ground Ginger
  • ⅛ teaspoon Nutmeg
  • ½ teaspoon Salt
  • 1 cup Brown Sugar
  • ¼ cup Molasses
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla
  • ½ cup Unsalted Butter softened, or use a dairy-free alternative like Earth Balance
  • 2 Large Eggs

Instructions
 

  • In a large bowl, cream the butter, molasses, and brown sugar.
  • Add in the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined and smooth
  • In a separate bowl, measure out the cassava flour and arrowroot starch. Add the guar gum, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt. Whisk them all together.
  • Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients bowl and mix until combined and a soft dough is formed.
  • Transfer the dough to the center of some parchment paper or plastic wrap, covering and pressing the dough into a disc.
  • Chill the dough for at least two hours or overnight.
  • Once the dough is chilled, place it on parchment paper and roll it out using a rolling pin to the desired thickness. I like my cookies slightly thinner than ¼ in. Use a cookie cutter to shape the cookies as gingerbread men or any other holiday shapes you like.
  • Place the cut cookies onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and freeze for about 15 minutes.
  • Bake the cookies (without defrosting) for 10-12 minutes until the edges just start to look a little golden.
  • Allow the cookies to cool and then transfer to a baking sheet to completely cool before decorating.

Notes

Chill the dough – This might sound like an obvious thing with a cutout cookie, but it also helps give the cookies time for the flavors to develop in these cookies. I usually like to let the dough chill overnight, but at least two hours will help a lot.
Measure the flours by weight – I find that using gluten-free flours to get the most consistent results by measuring by weight helps a lot. If you don’t have a kitchen scale, I highly recommend you get one. They aren’t expensive, but they can make a huge difference when gluten-free baking.
Freeze the cutouts before baking – This doesn’t take long; about 10-15 minutes will do, but this helps the cookies bake more evenly and helps prevent them from spreading as much.
My Favorite Cookie Frosting for Gingerbread:
  • 2 tablespoon Butter
  • 1 cup Powdered Sugar – I use Wholesome Sweet Brand since it’s grain-free. If your powdered sugar brand just says “powdered sugar” as the ingredient, it likely contains cornstarch.
  • ¼ teaspoon Vanilla
  • Milk of Choice until you get the consistency you want.
Mix everything together and color if desired. This can easily be doubled or more if you are making lots of cookies you need to decorate.

Nutrition

Calories: 127kcalCarbohydrates: 21gProtein: 1gFat: 4gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.2gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 26mgSodium: 123mgPotassium: 75mgFiber: 0.4gSugar: 12gVitamin A: 141IUVitamin C: 0.4mgCalcium: 34mgIron: 1mg
Keyword gluten free christmas cookies, gluten free gingerbread cookies
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

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Meeta Arora, writer at Grain Free Table

Welcome to Grain Free Table! I’m Meeta- a busy wife, mom of two girls, and lover of food. Here you’ll find lots of easy and delicious gluten & allergy-friendly recipes, info about my favorite food & products, for a gluten-free way of life!

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