I love putting a new spin on old recipes for the holidays. Gingersnaps can seem a little ho-hum compared to other holiday cookies. But with a healthy dose of candied ginger and a little orange glaze, these are cookies you’ll be proud to serve to Santa! This is also the third and final post in a series using King Arthur Flour. For these cookies I used King Arthur’s Gluten-Free Measure for Measure Flour. Non-yeast recipes are a great way to swap out regular flour for a gluten-free one. And the punch of ginger in this recipe from both ground and candied works really well, since we all know gluten-free baked goods need a little extra help in the flavor department.
Cookie dough often needs to chill before baking. This makes it ideal for gluten-free flour because these types of flours absorb wet ingredients differently and usually need a resting period before baking.
While gingersnaps are normally a crisp cookie, I kept these soft and chewy with butter and a mixture of molasses and honey. Make sure you use a regular molasses, such as Grandma’s molasses. Blackstrap molasses will give these cookies a very strong molasses flavor and almost bitter taste. Gingersnaps usually don’t have an icing as well, but with gluten-free I find that any way to add a little extra flavor is a good thing and prevents them from tasting flat.
When using the stainless steel bowl for creaming, cream the butter and sugar for about a minute and then stop and scrape down the roller before creaming the rest of the way. This prevents portions of the butter from staying in the grooves and not fully incorporating into the dough.
Make sure you flour the work surface and rolling pin when rolling and cutting out cookies. Just use the same gluten-free flour.
These cookies bake quickly. They will seem very soft when you first pull them out but will firm up as they cool. If you bake for more than the recommended time, they will become crispy. Make sure you let them cool completely before glazing.
Let us know if you have any questions or comments, and happy holidays, and baking!
Gluten-Free Gingersnaps with Orange Glaze
Prep Time: 27 minutes
Bake Time: 7 minutes
Gingersnaps:
172 g. (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
228 g. (1 cup) sugar
43 g. (2 Tbsp.) molasses
42 g. (2 Tbsp.) honey
60 g. (1/4 cup) water
1 egg
9 g. (1 Tbsp.) ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1 g. (1/2 tsp.) cinnamon
2 g. (1/2 tsp.) salt
4 g. (1 tsp.) baking soda
2 g (1/2 tsp.) baking powder
1 tsp. freshly grated orange zest
64 g. (1/3 cup) finely chopped candied ginger
420 g. (3 1/2 cups) King Arthur Gluten-Free Measure for Measure Flour
extra gluten-free flour for dusting
Orange Glaze:
227 g. (2 cups) powdered sugar
45 g. (3 Tbsp.) orange juice
1/2 tsp. freshly grated orange zest
Combine the butter, sugar, molasses and honey in the Ankarsrum stainless steel mixing bowl with the roller/scraper. Mix on medium-high speed (4 o’clock) until mixture comes together. Scrape down roller and then cream for 4 minutes on same speed.
Add the water and egg and mix on the same speed until combined.
Whisk the remaining ginger snap ingredients together in a medium bowl. Add half the flour mixture to wet ingredients. Start on the lowest speed and then increase to medium (3 o’clock) until flour is incorporated. Add the remaining flour, again starting on the lowest speed and then increasing to medium until flour mixture is fully incorporated into dough. Cover and place in the refrigerator for 4 hours.
Once dough has chilled, preheat oven to 400º F. Line half sheet or baking pans with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
Lightly dust a clean surface with gluten-free flour. Take 1/3 of the cookie dough and roll to about 1/4 inch thickness. Keep remaining cookie dough in the refrigerator until ready to work with. Cut out with cookie cutters. Reroll and cut out scraps.
Place about 2 inches apart on half sheet pans and bake for 7 minutes, until edges are just starting to set. Center will still be quite soft until it cools.
Let cool 5 minutes on the sheet pans and then remove to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
Repeat rolling, cutting and baking with remaining cookie dough.
Once cookies have cooled, whisk together the glaze ingredients in a small bowl. Place a piece of parchment paper underneath the cooling racks to catch any drips. Using a fork or small whisk, drizzle the glaze over the cookies.
Let the glaze set and then serve or store in an airtight container for 2-3 days.
Yield: 7 dozen
