I’ve been craving something sweet and needing an excuse to use these super cute cookie cutters a friend gave me several Christmases ago. Thus gingerbread in the summer! I halfed the recipe for ease.
INGREDIENTS:
- 2/3 cup canola oil
- 1/4 cup blackstrap molasses
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 3 cups 1 to 1 gluten free flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill this time)
- 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp. ground ginger
- 1 tsp. ground cloves
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. salt
1. Whisk together the flour, spices, soda and salt and set them aside.
2. Using a hand mixer, mix the oil, molasses and brown sugar.
3. Mix in the eggs, one at a time.
4. Slowly stir in the dry ingredients.
5. The dough will still be very sticky. Dump it out onto a heavily floured surface and with floured hands, work in more flour with your hands until the dough is no longer sticky. I find its easiest to really cover your hands in flour and then pat the dough and push gently until it incorporates rather than digging your hands in (that’s just messy).
6. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
8. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough 1/4 inch thick. Then it’s time to bust out the cookie cutters! I’ve been dying to use these super cute Star Wars themed ones.
They’re really interesting because one side cuts out the shape and the other side punches a design into the cookie. I’d never seen this style of cookie cutter before. It was a little difficult to get the hang of it, but eventually I was rewarded with all six characters in gingerbread form!
9. Bake for 8 minutes until they appear “cracked.”
10. Let cool for 2 minutes before removing.
MY TAKEAWAYS:
I find that imply substituting a 1 to 1 GF flour often works best with cookies or brownies. Far less room for error! But even so I wasn’t sure if these would turn out soft (as the recipe promised) or rock hard. I was so happy with the texture! “Melt in your mouth” is such a cliche, but it’s true for these cookies. They are soft and entirely too easy to eat.
They also aren’t too sweet. The gingerbread has a nice spice filled taste to it. And they held their shape very well! Even keeping the stamped design.
TL;DR These cookies are a definite triumph. They were spicy, soft and exactly what I wanted them to be without having to make any major adjustments to the recipe. The only thing I’d say is be aware that you will definitely need more flour than the recipe calls for!
Here is the original recipe.
Gluten Free Gal 