These may some of the most iconic cookies known to children across the Christmas-celebrating world. From finger-painted gingerbread people at age three, to a one-legged gingerbread fellow in Shrek, decorated gingerbread cookies hold nostalgia and holiday cliche in the perfectly-spiced, cookie-cutter package. So it seemed only appropriate that this year, of all years, we go back to our deepest, nearly-forgotten family traditions and make a truck load of gingerbread cookies and spend an entire evening decorating them and turning the kitchen table into a royal icing Jackson Pollock. This was actually our first time making homemade gingerbread dough in recent memory, so we totally underestimated how many gingerbread cookies could be packed into the multiple rollings-out of the dough, and the amount of royal icing we’d need to cover them all. Not to fear, we made all the mistakes so that you don’t have to! Check out the recipe below to make your very own gingerbread folks, stars, deer, snowpeople, santas, bells, or Christmas trees.
There’s something so cozy and satisfying about a gingerbread cookies. Gingerbread in general – we have a fantastic gingerbread bundt cake that’s also heavenly, heavily spiced, and fantastic warm with a glass of milk. But for now, go make a whole herd of gingerbread reindeer to spice up the socially-distant holidays. This recipe makes quite a few cookies, so you’ll be well-stocked to snack on one (or ten) while you’re decorating the rest. This was our first time using royal icing on cookies and while it was a bit nerve wracking, it was easy enough to get the hang of it! (and, if you’re like us, just watch a few cookie decorating videos first and it’ll be a lot more straight forward!).
If you’re looking for other holiday recipes to kick off these solitary next few weeks, try that gingerbread bundt we mentioned, or one of our favorite cozy winter desserts, Persimmon Pudding, these chocolate hazelnut snow cookies, these melt-in-your-mouth creme fraiche chocolate truffles, or these brown butter pecan shortbread cookies!
Gluten Free Gingerbread Cookies
Equipment
- Two cookie sheets
- Parchment paper
- Plastic wrap
- Rolling Pin
- Cookie cutters
- Electric mixer
Ingredients
For the gingerbread cookies:
- 1 Cup salted butter room temperature
- 2 large eggs
- 1 Cup molasses
- 1 1/4 Cup packed brown sugar
- 7 1/2 Cups gluten free 1-1 flour mix with xanthan gum in it (if your mix does not contain xanthan gum, add 2 tsp of it now)
- 1 Tbsp ground ginger
- 1 Tbsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp ground allspice
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
For the icing to decorate:
- 1/2 Cup pasteurized egg whites
- 4 1/2 – 5 Cups sifted powdered sugar
- Food coloring optional
- Additional candies for decorating optional
Instructions
To make the cookies:
- In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, cream the butter and packed brown sugar until smooth. Add the eggs and molasses and beat to combine. Add in the spices, salt and baking powder and beat until smooth. Using a strong wooden spoon, begin stirring in the flour, one cup at a time. It will get stiff and difficult to stir in the last two cups, but keep working it together! It should not be sticky, and should mold easily into a ball and hold its shape. Split the dough in two parts, pat into a large ball, and wrap both in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least two hours.
- Once the dough is chilled, preheat the oven to 350° and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and grease lightly with cooking spray. Roll one dough ball out at a time to 1cm (a little more than 1/4 inch) thickness between two sheets of wax paper and use cookie cutters to cut out your cookies! Place cookies 1/2 inch apart on the cookies sheets, and then freeze cookies on sheets for 15 minutes before baking.
- Once frozen, bake for 12-15 minutes or until firm on the edges and dry to the touch. Let cool completely before decorating.
To make the decorating icing:
- In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the pasteurized egg whites until foamy. Add in 1 cup of powdered sugar at a time, continuing to beat until thick and smooth. You're looking for a thick consistency, not runny, that you can pipe onto cookies. If you want to, scoop 1/2 cup of the icing into small bowls and mix with food coloring before scooping each color into clean piping bags. Snip off a tiny tip of each piping back before decorating cookies.
Tag @sisterssansgluten on Instagram if you snap a photo of your cookies!
Food photography and styling by Amelia Farber
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