When I was growing up, I recall chilly fall or winter afternoons when we would make ourselves a cup of tea and sit around the table chatting, enjoying whatever baked good was in the house. I would dip my crisp gingersnap cookies into my large mug of Earl Grey tea, which could only be done once since the cookies soaked up the tea and quickly became soft. Risking a second dip might mean that the cookie would break off in the tea. The flavour combination of the hot tea with the gingersnap cookies was perfectly satisfying as the wind and cold blew outside the windows.
I have tried making a gluten-free version of these thin, crisp gingersnap cookies for quite some time. The first few versions just weren’t quite right. The dough ran or the spices weren’t properly balanced. Sometimes gluten-free baking is just a matter of finding the right combination of flours and starches, and after a few unsuccessful attempts, I’ve finally got it!
These cookies are not only gluten-free, but they are also dairy-free since they are made using oil instead of butter. They are light, crisp, and filled with the wonderful spicy flavour that I was looking for. They would work fantastic along side a Pumpkin Cream Cheese Dip, or you could crush them up to use them as the base for a cake (like my winning Pumpkin Cheesecake). But I prefer to enjoy them just as they are, with a nice hot cup of tea. 
Yields 100 1-1/4″ cookies
Ingredients:
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup oil (I used canola oil)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 1 cup sorghum flour
- 1/2 cup millet flour
- 1/2 cup brown rice flour
- 1/3 cup potato starch
- 1/4 cup tapioca starch
- 2 Tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp xanthan gum
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar (for rolling cookies in)
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375°F and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together 1 cup granulated sugar, oil, vanilla, eggs, and molasses.
- In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the flours and starches, xanthan gum, baking soda, and spices.
- Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, and stir until fully combined.
- Roll 1 teaspoon of dough into a ball, and roll in the remaining sugar to coat. Place on prepared baking sheet, leaving 2-inches between cookies.
- Bake in preheated oven for 8-10 minutes. Allow cookies to remain on cookie sheet for 2 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completely. Once cooled, store cookies in an airtight container.
This recipe was created in hopes of winning a trip from Manitoba Canola Growers to Food Bloggers of Canada Conference 2013, which is hosted by Food Bloggers of Canada. This type of opportunity hasn’t been available to Canadian food bloggers before, but I think it would be a great chance for me to grow and learn as a blogger. *Fingers crossed!*
Jeanine, these look amazing – an gluten free too? Bonus for all my gluten-free friends! Good luck in the FBC contest!
Thanks, Mardi! They are really good. My non-GF friend even agrees.
THanks for entering the My Cookies are the Best contest with Manitoba Canola Growers. A beautiful picture and a great recipe! Good luck. Ellen
Thanks, Ellen! Fingers are crossed now!!
Okay, I am new to your site with all your GF recipes, but those ginger snap cookies look sooooo good and real. My 8 y/o son hoped they might jump out of the computer screen, then he wouldn’t have to wait for Mum (that’s me) to bake them for us. The corn starch what can I use to replace it ? A little more of one of the other flours ? As mentioned in other comments, both of us are Celiacs with the added bonus allergies of corn, dairy and soy. (I use guar gum since X. gum is made from corn.) Yes, I like to bake and eat baking that works, because I’m not good at GF baking failures. Been there, done that
don’t need a repeat ! My baking supplies are going to be busy with these cookies tomorrow. Thank you times a gazillion says my son !
You can just use another 2 Tablespoons of rice flour, if you can’t have the corn. The cornstarch just adds a slight chewiness to the middle of the cookie, but either way, they’ll still be good.
Enjoy them!
Dunking cookies..I remember as a kid how we tried to accomplish double dunking but that usually failed and pretty soon our drink of choice tasted much like the cookies:) These cookies looks wonderful as usual, Jeanine and that doesn’t surprise me at all that you had success with this recipe. You work until you do:)
I have a problem…..being newly GF I don’t have a firm understanding of mixtures, so I tend to follow a recipe to a “T”. BUT, hubby is allergic to potatoes (night shades)! What should I substitute for potato starch in my flour mixture?! I sooooooo appreciate your help! TIA!
You could try using arrowroot starch, or even more tapioca starch. But, since I haven’t tried it, I can’t say if the results will be EXACTLY the same or not, but should be similar.
Jeanine~ I found your blog through Pinterest recently. I want to THANK-YOU! You are seriously saving my life! My 10 yr old and I were diagnosed with celiac this past June 2012 and it has been a struggle to find anything she likes! I can put up with “It’s better than Nothing” attitude, however, she doesn’t understand why she should have to. So Thank-you for all your hard work on our behave! I love to cook & bake and I have been having fun trying all of your delicious recipes. You are my HERO!
Jeanine,
We made these today and they were delicious! In the morning, I made the dry ingredient mixture and set the butter out to reach room temp. Later after lunch, I completed the recipe for the rest of the cookies. For one of the batches, the dough had been refrigerated a little bit, and they kept their shape better. They turned out great. Thank you for sharing your recipes!