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With their trademark crinkly tops, crunchy sugar, and warm spice - gluten free soft gingersnaps are the perfect cookies to kick off the holiday season. Plus they're gluten free and dairy free too.
Gingersnaps just smell and taste like fall, holidays, and Christmas! Pair them with hot chocolate, warm herb tea, or a glass of cold milk for a memorable treat.
Reasons to Love These Cookies
- These gingersnaps are both gluten free and dairy free.
- Yes we all know they are cookies, but they also contain some ingredients that you can feel good about - flax sed meal, whole grain millet and coconut flours, and unrefined coconut oil.
- You can make them ahead of time and freeze them for later. Great for a holiday baking session!
- This is the perfect recipe to have your kids help you with. Rolling the dough balls is lots of fun, but the sugar dunk is the best part 🙂
Keep scrolling for the recipe! ⤵️
Here's What You'll Need
- my Brown Rice Flour blend, get info on that here
- millet flour ( you could sub sorghum flour if you need to)
- coconut flour
- cinnamon
- powdered ginger
- baking soda, xanthan gum, and salt
- coconut oil - I prefer unrefined coconut oil for the subtle coconut taste that makes these cookies so fragrant and memorable!
- sugar - if you can find natural cane sugar use that for a more rustic, crunchy sugar topping.
- eggs
- molasses
- flax seed meal - not seeds, it has to be ground up to work in this recipe
What if I'm Allergic to Coconut?
If you can't have coconut, you can replace the coconut flour with an equal amount of Brown Rice Flour blend.
And you can replace the coconut oil with an equal amount of softened butter, or non dairy Earth Balance.
Let's Bake Some Gingersnaps!
Step 1. Mix flours and other dry ingredients.
Step 2. Mix oil, eggs, sugar, molasses, and flax.
Step 3. Add dry ingredients to wet. Mix for 1 minute.
Step 4. Cover and let the dough rest for 15-20 minutes.
Step 5. Combine cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl.
Step 6. Form dough into balls, roll in sugar mixture.
Step 7. Place on cookie sheet and flatten slightly.
Step 8. Bake at 350 F until set.
Step 9. Let cookies cool before removing them from cookie sheet.
My Cookie Baking Faves
Gluten Free Gingersnap FAQs
Two possible reasons: One - moving the cookies when they're still too hot. Gluten free starches and flours need time to solidify and set after baking, or they will shatter into crumbs. 5-10 minutes to cool down will make a big difference.
Two - not hydrating the flours enough before baking. Gluten free flours don't absorb liquid as well as regular flour made from wheat, so we need to mix the dough for a longer time, and/or let the dough rest by chilling it in the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour which will allow time for the gluten free flours to get well hydrated.
Ginger is made from the root of a flowering plant, so it is generally safe for people with celiac disease or gluten intolerance to eat.
Quite the opposite! Ginger has been shown to cut down on bloating, gas, and stomach cramps, so it can actually be helpful for your gut.
Get Gluten Free Baking for Beginners
What gluten free flour is best? And where do you buy it at the best price? Learn the basics along with some super easy recipes in my free PDF, Gluten Free Baking for Beginners.
Gluten Free Soft Gingersnaps
With their trademark crinkly tops, crunchy sugar, and warm spice - gluten free soft gingersnaps are the perfect cookies to kick off the holiday season. Plus they're gluten free and dairy free too.
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 16 cookies 1x
Ingredients
- ¾ cup brown rice flour blend
- ¾ cup millet flour (or sorghum)
- ½ cup coconut flour
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 Tablespoon ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup coconut oil (may need 1 cup)
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup molasses
- 2 Tablespoons flax seed meal
Also needed: and additional 1 teaspoon cinnamon + ¼ cup sugar to roll the cookie dough balls in
Instructions
- Mix flours, cinnamon, ginger, xanthan gum, and salt in a bowl and stir together to blend.
- Beat coconut oil, sugar, egg, molasses, and flaxseed meal in a mixer until blended and smooth.
- Slowly add flour mixture and beat until a soft dough forms.
- Let the dough rest for about 15-20 minutes to give the gluten free flours time to get fully hydrated. You can also chill this dough in the fridge for 30 minutes or more if you want to bake it later.
- Using a spoon or small cookie scoop and your hands, form the dough into 1-2 inch balls.
- Combine ¼ cup sugar with 1 teaspoon cinnamon in a small bowl.
- Drop the cookie balls into the sugar mixture and roll them around until coated.
- Place on cookie sheet and flatten slightly.
- Bake at 330-340℉ for 10- 15 minutes until set.
- Let the cookies cool for about 5 - 10 minutes before removing from the cookie sheet.
Notes
*Note: Brown rice flour blend is - 3 parts brown rice flour, 1 part potato starch, and 1 part tapioca starch.
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: dessert
- Method: bake
- Diet: Gluten Free
Helpful Tips ⭐️
- Make sure you let the dough rest before you bake it for at least 15-20 minutes. Gluten free flours need that extra time to absorb the liquids in the recipe and get fully hydrated.
- Letting the cookies cool, even for 5 or 10 minutes will keep them from breaking apart, and will make them easier to store later. Don't worry, they will still be warm by then, and perfect for dunking into milk!
- For more tips, be sure to read "Best Beginner's Tips for Successful Gluten Free Baking".
Storage
These cookies stay soft and chewy for several days at room temperature, so they're great to keep in a cookie jar.
They can easily be frozen as well. I like to freeze my gluten free baked goods in a sturdy container with a lid instead of a freezer bag, so the cookies don't break into crumbs if they get shifted around in the freezer.