Description
If Christmas cookies had a mascot, it would be a cut-out gingerbread man cookie. What screams Christmas more than a cute little cut-out cookie dressed up with royal icing and jimmies? My gluten free gingerbread cookies are so easy to prepare and fun to decorate with little ones! You’ll cut out about four dozen of these to last you throughout the holiday season.
Ingredients
For the gingerbread cookies:
3 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour, like mine!
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 egg, room temperature
1/2 cup molasses
For the royal icing:
3 cups confectioners sugar
2 pasteurized egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Food coloring of your choice
Extra sprinkles for decorating
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, spices, salt, and baking soda.
- In a separate large bowl, beat the butter and brown sugar on medium speed for two to three minutes until smooth and creamy. Beat in the egg on low speed for another minute. Beat in the molasses on low speed for another minute.
- Beat half of the flour mixture into the wet ingredients until combined, then beat in the remaining half until well combined.
- Divide the dough into two equal-sized balls, and press down on each of them to form a 6-inch disc. Wrap them tightly with plastic wrap and let them chill in the refrigerator for at least two hours or overnight. (If chilling overnight, remove them from the refrigerator ten minutes before you’re ready to cut out the cookies.
- When you’re ready to roll and cut out the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Take one disc out at a time, and place it on a piece of parchment paper. Roll out the dough until it is about 1/4 inch thick. If it helps, you can layer a second piece of parchment paper on top of the dough while rolling. Now, cut out as many cookies as you can with your cookie cutters and transfer to the lined baking sheet.
- Re-roll the dough as needed until you cut out as many cookies as possible. (I cut out about 18 with each half of the dough.)
- Bake the cookies for 10 minutes, rotating the trays on the oven racks halfway through.
- Transfer the trays to cooling racks and let them cool for 10 minutes on the trays before transferring the cookies to the cooling racks to cool the rest of the way.
- Next, prepare your royal icing by whisking the confectioners sugar, pasteurized egg whites, and vanilla together in a medium bowl until smooth and silky. Divvy out the icing into smaller bowls, depending on how many icing colors you want to create. Whisk in your food coloring of choice- remember, less is more! Start with the smallest possible amount and layer onto that as desired.
- Transfer the icing to piping bags and decorate the cookies to your taste. Top with sprinkles and jimmies, and let the icing set for 15 minutes before serving. These cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to five days, or frozen for up to two months.
- Prep Time: 2 hours 20 minutes, including chilling time
- Cook Time: 10