Gingerbread cookies are a staple at Christmas time, and we made an allergy friendly version! Our gluten free gingerbread cookies are soft and chewy in the middle, slightly crisp on the outside, and perfect for frosting or eating plain. Our gingerbread cookies are also vegan and nut free!Makes about 28 cookies (exact number will vary by thickness of dough and the size of your cookie cutters)Gluten free, vegan; Free of: eggs, dairy, soy, wheat, peanuts, tree nuts
Course Cookies, Desserts
Cuisine English
Keyword gluten free gingerbread cookies, vegan gingerbread cookies
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
In a medium bowl, beat together the dairy free butter, brown sugar, molasses, and vanilla.
In a separate small bowl, whisk together the flours, spices, and salt.
Add half the flour mixture to the butter mixture and blend together.
Add the rest of the flour mix to the bowl with the oat/rice milk and beat together until a thick dough forms that sticks together when pressed together. Mixing the flour in parts makes it much easier to mix the dough.
If the dough seems a little dry and doesn't come together, add more milk 1 teaspoon at a time, mixing and testing how cohesive it is after each addition, until a thick dough forms. It needs to be thick and able to rolled out (so not too soft or moist).
If the dough seems a little too moist to roll, add an additional 1-2 Tablespoons gluten free baking mix flour and chill the dough for 1-2 hours to help it firm up a bit before rolling.
Divide dough into 2 balls, flatten slightly into disks. While rolling one disc of dough, wrap the other one with plastic wrap to keep it from drying out. If you are cutting out large shapes (like gingerbread house pieces), don't divide the dough.
Flour a pastry mat with some of the gluten free flour and roll out one of the cookie dough disks 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick and cut out with cookie cutters.
For the best texture, the dough shouldn't be rolled less than 1/8th inch. Between 1/8 to 1/4 inch is ideal.
Use a lightly floured spatula to lift the cut out cookies onto the baking sheet.
Press the scraps together, roll out again, and cut again until most (or all) of the cookie dough is used up.
Repeat all steps with the other cookie dough disk until all the dough is used.
Bake the cookies for 8 minutes. If you have thicker cookies, you can bake for 9 minutes, but don't cook much longer than this or they will get crunchy and hard. Small shapes should be baked for 6-7 minutes.
Allow the cookies to cool about 10 minutes on the pan before moving to a cooling rack. They will firm up as they cool and will seem pretty soft at first so they'll need to cool a bit before moving onto the cooling rack.
Cool completely before adding frosting or icing.
For thicker and softer gingerbread cookies:
If you'd like a softer gingerbread cookie, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness and cut your shapes, bigger shapes (2-3 inches) are idea for softer cookies with this dough.
Bake the cookies for 8-9 minutes and allow them to cool for 10 minutes before removing from the baking pan to a cooling rack. As soon as they are completely cool, store them in an airtight container or bag to keep them soft.
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Notes
*We used gluten free baking mix (vs. gluten free all purpose flour) that has baking soda, salt, and xanthan gum in the mix already. Our gingerbread cookies aren't super sweet, so they are perfect with frosting added to make them even more sweet and they won't be overly sweet when you add frosting.