These Gluten Free Ginger Cookies are soft, chewy and loaded with ginger, cinnamon and molasses! Coated in granulated sugar they have a nice crisp exterior while still being super soft in the middle and are the perfect blend of sweetness and spice. They’re gluten free, egg free, nut free, seed free and can easily be vegan!
In a large bowl, whisk together the 2 cups gluten free flour, 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda, ½ teaspoon baking powder, 2 teaspoons ground ginger, 1 ¾ teaspoons ground cinnamon and 1 pinch of kosher salt. Set aside.
In a small bowl, using a spoon, combine the 2 heaping tablespoons cornstarch and the 3 tablespoons water until it is thin and watery. It will be thick and tacky at first. Set aside.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer or using a hand held mixer, beat the ¾ cup of room temperature butter or vegan baking stick with ¾ cup of dark brown sugar until smooth and creamy. About 2 minutes.
Add the ¼ cup unsulphured molasses and beat until combined. Slowly add in the cornstarch water mixture and the 1 ¾ teaspoons pure vanilla extract and beat until combined. It will be chunky and that's normal.
With the mixer on low speed, slowly add in the gluten free flour mixture and mix until just combined.Scrape down the sides of the bowl with the spatula and combine.
The dough will be super sticky. Form into a disc, wrap in plastic and freeze for 30 min. If it's too sticky to form into a disc, transfer the dough to a freezer safe bowl and pop the entire bowl uncovered in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.When the dough has 15 minutes left of chilling, preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Take the dough out of the freezer. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop the dough out into 12 scoops. The cookie dough will be quite sticky and may stick to your hands if they're warm. If this happens, rinse your hands and then shake off any excess water. You want them slightly wet but not dripping wet. This will help prevent the dough from sticking. You can also wash the cookie scoop half way through.
After scooping the dough balls, flatten each scoop into a thick disc versus a ball. If you don't do this step, the cookies will remain in the ball shape when baking.Coat each dough disc in the ¼ cup granulated sugar: front, back and sides.
Place 6 dough discs about 3-4 inches apart on the parchment lined baking sheet. Place the other dough discs into the fridge.
Bake the cookies in the center rack of the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 11 minutes until crackly on top.Immediately reshape the cookies into a circle with a spatula when they come out of the oven and let cool on the baking sheet for 5 min before transferring to a cooling rack. If you don't let them cool on the baking sheet, the cookies will break apart into a giant mess.Bake the other 6 dough discs.
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Notes
For smaller cookies: Use a small cookie scoop and bake at same temperature for 9 min. Make sure to keep dough in the fridge in-between baking the batches.Vegan: Use a dairy free gluten free flour, vegan sugar, vegan baking sticks and vegan molasses. All Purpose Flour: I cannot test this due to celiac disease, but use 2 packed cups of AP flour (336 grams). Still chill the dough.Storing: Once cool, keep extra cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Freezing: Wrap dough in a disc in plastic wrap and then pop it in a zip top bag. Freeze for up to 30 days. Thaw dough in the fridge the night prior to using. Nutrition: The info below is a generated estimate and is not guaranteed to be accurate.