This gingerbread recipe is very versatile! You can make cutout cookies, ginger snaps, decorated cutouts, plain cutouts, or sugar-coated cutouts. They are great plain with your morning coffee, or as an after dinner treat with a cup of hot tea. Eating these cookies, I realized they were the perfect definition of sugar and spice! Have FUN with this recipe, I would love to see what you create with the dough. 🙂 Don’t forget to tag me on social media if you share a picture of your creations!

Facebook or Instagram

Ingredients

2 1/2 c. all-purpose gluten-free flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cardamom

1 flax egg (combine 1 TBSP ground flax + 3 TBSP water, set aside for 5 minutes)

1/2 c. coconut oil
1/2 c. coconut sugar
3 TBSP. molasses
1 TBSP. almond butter
1 tsp. almond extract
1 TBSP. maple syrup

Topping Ideas

Goji berries, dried
Cranberries, dried
Dates
Organic white sugar
Maple syrup

You will also need:
Cookie cutters
Basting brush
Parchment paper (this is essential for successful gluten-free, vegan cutout cookies)
Rolling pin

Preheat oven to 350°F (Makes 18 small gingerbread cutouts and 8 ginger snaps.)

1. In a medium bowl, combine all the dry ingredients.
2. Mix up your flax egg and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, use a whisk to whip the coconut oil until creamy, very minimal lumps.
4. Add the coconut sugar and mix well.
5. Add the molasses and almond butter, whisk again until creamy.
6. Add the almond extract and maple syrup, stir well to combine.
7. Add your flax egg, and stir to combine.
8. Slowly add 1/2 c. at a time, of the flour and spice mixture. Use the whisk the first two scoops of flour, then switch to a wooden spoon. Continue adding flour mixture to the wet mixture slowly, stirring well after each addition.
9. Once all the flour has been added and combined, gather and shape dough into a ball using your hands.

Once all the flour is added, you will have a nice, thick dough.

Making Cookie Cutouts

1. Lay parchment paper on the counter and weigh down the corners to prevent it from rolling back up on you. I use the pre-cut sheets which are 12.5″x16″. I laid two down, overlapping on the edge just a little, to be sure I had enough space to roll out the dough.
2. Also, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. This will be used once the cookies are cut out.
3. Place the dough ball on the parchment paper, and flatten it down with the palm of your hand, to make rolling easier in the next step. Take care to reseal the cracking edges by shaping and molding with your hands.
4. Using the rolling pin, start at the center and gently roll out to the edge, lifting up as you roll over the edge. Always start at the center and work your way out, as you move around the dough. You do this by thinking of a clock, or compass and make sure you hit 12, 3, 6 and 9 OR North, South, East, West – whatever visual works best for you. If you have issues with the dough sticking to the rolling pin, place a second sheet of parchment paper on top of the dough as you roll. The dough will be sandwiched between the papers and will prevent sticking. Roll the dough out until it’s about ~1/4″ thick.
5. Use your cookie cutters to make all the fun shapes you want! I always try to get each one as close to the other as possible, to utilize the most dough.
6. Once all the dough has been cut, you can start pulling out the excess dough; the overflow. Place all those pieces into a pile on the side as you go.
7. Using a spatula, very quickly and carefully, slide the spatula under the shape. The faster you go, the less smooshed it will get! Once you get it off the parchment paper, and onto the spatula, flip the spatula over, so gravity helps the shape fall off and into your hand. Now you can plop the cookie onto the parchment lined baking sheet.
8. Once all the cookie shapes are on the baking pan, bake at 350°F for 8-10 minutes. Keep a close eye on them, you don’t want to overcook them – unless you like a really crunchy cookie!
9. Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack.

These are SO good plain, and especially with a cup of coffee. I like to call them adult cookies, but really they are good for anyone who doesn’t have a huge sweet tooth. 🙂 Special thanks to Tammy, of Momma Tammy blog. I won this mug, along with some other goodies at her Gilmore Girls watch party! 🙂

Making Ginger Snaps

1. If you started with the cookie cutouts, and you have the excess dough in a pile, combine that all together into a new ball, using your hands.
2. Use a cookie scoop or tablespoon to scoop out and measure each cookie. Placing each blob onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
3. Once they are all measured, shape and smooth them into balls.
4. Fill a small dish with organic sugar for rolling the dough balls in.
5. Drop each dough ball into the dish, roll around to completely coat and place back on the pan. Do NOT flatten them yet! 🙂
6. Once they are all coated in sugar, bake at 350°F for 4 minutes – remove from oven – using a flat (not slotted) spatula or glass bottom, flatten down the cookies, to create the cracked/split edges. Return to oven and bake for an additional 4-5 minutes.
7. Remove and place on cooling rack once baking is complete.

Remove from oven, smoosh down, and return to oven.

Decorating the cutouts!

This is the fun part where you get to do whatever you want! I went back and forth on whether to do white chocolate, chocolate, a sugar glaze, or just leave them plain. These cookies are so yummy alone, I didn’t want to make them overly sweet. So instead, I kept with the natural, more healthy approach and used dried fruit from my pantry. I used kitchen scissors and cut up a date to make a scarf or boot cuffs, and some cut up cranberries and goji berries for buttons and eyes. I also used a basting brush to coat the cutouts with maple syrup and then sprinkled on some organic white sugar. It was fun! But I only did about 5. The rest I left plain or simply basted with maple syrup and topped with sugar.

Below is a slideshow of the main steps as well.

Are these slideshows helpful? Or do you just prefer the step-by-step instructions?

I’m trying to decide if I should keep doing them. Thanks for the feedback!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.