Vegan, Gluten-Free Gingerbread Cookie Recipe (and it works for houses too!)

This crunchy cookie makes picture-perfect gingerbread people, stained glass cookies, decorations (you can make edible ornaments with the dough), and gingerbread houses. If you don't like palm shortening or Smart Balance, try this with butter. You can substitute xanthan or guar for the agar, but I strongly urge you to try the agar if you haven't yet. If you don't have rapadura, which is evaporated cane juice, you can substitute 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar. Just omit the maple syrup, too. If you don't have all the flours I recommend below, you can use all-purpose gluten-free flour. Make sure it does NOT have added xanthan or guar or leavening.

The dough is a bit dry at first, but rolls out beautifully and holds together well.

Cake and Commerce's Gingerbread Cookies

Yield: approximately 29 oz (822g)

• 1/2 C (4 oz) Jungle (Palm) Shortening or other trans-fat free vegetable shortening
• 1/2 C Rapadura
• 1 T Maple Syrup

• 1/2 C Unsulphured Molasses
• 1/2 t Vanilla Extract
• 1 T water, cool

• 2-1/2 t Ground Ginger
• 1 t Cinnamon
• 1/2 t Fresh Ground Nutmeg
• 1/4 t Ground Cloves

• 1-1/4 t Baking Soda
• 1/2 t Sea Salt
• 1-1/4 t Agar Powder
• 1/2 C Teff Flour
• 3/4 C Light Buckwheat Flour
• 1/2 C Brown Rice Flour
• 3/4 C Tapioca Flour

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 350 (or 325 in Convection oven).

Combine shortening, rapadura and maple in the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix with a paddle until light and fluffy. Add in molasses, water and vanilla and continue to mix.

Separately, combine all dry ingredients together. Add to the wet mixture. The dough will be crumbly at first but will soon come together. It may take a few minutes. Finish kneading by hand.

The dough can be rolled out right away and cut into cookies or it may sit, wrapped in plastic, in the refrigerator overnight. It may be frozen and stored up to a month.

The dough should be very easy to roll out - it does not need to be rolled out between two sheets of parchment.

Bake on a parchment-lined sheet pan for 8-10 minutes, or until slightly risen with a touch of color at the edges. Cool. Store in a airtight container for up to a month.

Comments

[toola]

Those look so cute and yummy! I'm so happy when I find a recipe without xanthan gum :) Could you recommend a sub for the teff?

[Lovliebutterfly]

These look yummy. I have a friend who is gluten intolerant. So I'm gonna try this recipe and make some cookies for her. I haven't seen any teff flour around here though. I'll have to work around this. Thanks for the recipe!

[DeannaS]

I just made a batch of these for a benefit bake sale. They're delicious and so easy to work with. Thank you!

[Hope]

Found you through Adventures of A Gluten Free Mom's blog. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe! Made my first ever gingerbread house with it today.

[Cake and Commerce]

So happy to hear it! Would love to see pictures.

[vegan frosting]

Wow, those look really amazing. I'm going to have to try out this recipe, thanks!

[Saly]

Looks amazing! I would like to make those cookies, but don't have Rapadura... can you tell me what substitutes Rapadura? Thanks in advance.