These Gluten-Free Ginger Cookies really are the things that dreams are made of! Filled with a tasty salted caramel cream cheese frosting, these cookies will be the star of the show! Perfect for the holidays and cookie exchanges!
If you're looking for a dessert addition to your Thanksgiving menu or pre-planning a way to be the hit of the holiday cookie exchange, these little gems are your ticket! Time consuming? Yes. Worth it? Absolutely!
How to Make Gluten-Free Ginger Cookies
For the Ginger-Molasses Cookies:
-
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
-
In a medium bowl, whisk together 1 cup flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon ginger, ¼ teaspoon allspice, ¼ teaspoon cloves, and ¼ teaspoon salt.
-
In the bowl of a freestanding electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the 4 tablespoons butter and ½ cup sugar on medium-high speed for at least 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy.
-
When the butter and sugar is light and fluffy, turn the mixer down to its lowest speed and add 1 egg white and whip until just incorporated but also smooth. Once the egg white has been incorporated, slowly drizzle in 4 tablespoons molasses until just incorporated and even.
-
Once the molasses has been incorporated into the mixture, stop the mixer and use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Sprinkle your dry ingredients (from the second step)over the liquid mixture in the electric mixer bowl and turn your mixer back on to its lowest speed, mixing the flour into the batter until just incorporated. Be careful not to over mix the dough at this point, or your cookies will be tough and I will cry for you!
-
Transfer the mixture to the refrigerator and allow the dough to cool until the dough becomes harder and easier to work with — it took me about 30 minutes of cooling to get it to the consistency I wanted.
-
Roll dough into tiny balls, roughly the diameter of a quarter. These cookies expand a lot! Roll them in a small bowl of granulated sugar until covered completely, before arranging on a baking tray with 3.5 inches between each dough ball. Use the flat of your palm ora rubber spatula to gently squish the dough balls flat — this helps create perfectly round cookies.
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Bake the cookies for 13 - 15 minutes in the preheated oven, then allow to cool completely on the baking sheet set on a cooling rack. The cookies will crack as they cool; for more dramatic cracks, allow the dough to come to room temperature before baking, but that's not necessary.
Salted Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting:
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Put sugar and water into a heavy pot (heavy prevents scorching) over medium high heat stirring until it starts to boil. Once it boils, do not stir anymore. Let bubble for about 7-10 minutes or until it turns golden brown and smells like caramel. Remove from heat and stir in butter until it melts. Then beat on low speed with your mixer until it emulsifies. Add vanilla, cream cheese and salt and beat until creamy. Scrape into a heatproof bowl and cool down (it will thicken as it cools).
The perfect holiday cookie recipe!
Is it even the holidays without a ginger cookie?! These little beauties are so divine I can't even begin to tell you! They are so perfect to serving to family and friends and I'm pretty sure they'll be a hit at any cookie exchange!
How long do gluten-free ginger cookies keep?
The cookies, before frosting, will keep well for about 3 or 4 days in an airtight box. The cookies can also be frozen, separate the layers with parchment before freezing and defrost them at room temperature. Once frosted, the cookies should be enjoyed within a few hours.
The cookies are sure to impress!
We had a dessert only Friendsgiving, and Emily bought these to the party, they disappeared so quickly and no one could believe they were gluten-free! It was only right that they make an appearance on the blog so that you can all enjoy them too!
Top Tips to Make Gluten-Free Ginger Cookies
- All the ingredients should be at room temperature before mixing.
- Be careful not to over mix the cookie dough.
- Bake the cookies in a pre-heated oven.
- Let the cookies cool completely before icing them.
Be sure to check out these other cookie recipes!
Almond Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies
If you have tried these gluten-free ginger cookies, be sure to leave me a comment and star rating below!
Gluten-Free Ginger Molasses Cookies with Salted Caramel Cream Cheese Filling
These cookies are the things that dreams are made of!
Ingredients
For the Ginger-Molasses Cookies:
- 1 cup Pure Pantry All Organic Baking Mix
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons (½ stick) butter, at room temperature
- ½ cup granulated sugar plus extra for rolling
- 2 egg whites at room temperature if using regular flour, 1 egg is sufficient, 2 will keep the gluten-free cookies from drying
- 4 tablespoons molasses
Salted Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 1 cup white or light brown sugar
- ½ cup water
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 8 oz. cream cheese cut into cubes (these should be room temperature and not overly softened or the icing will have a hard time thickening enough to hold the two cookies together. If you still find trouble with thickening, add confectioners sugar until you achieve desired consistency.)
Instructions
For the Ginger-Molasses Cookies:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together 1 cup flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon ginger, ¼ teaspoon allspice, ¼ teaspoon cloves, and ¼ teaspoon salt.
- In the bowl of a freestanding electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the 4 tablespoons butter and ½ cup sugar on medium-high speed for at least 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy.
- When the butter and sugar is light and fluffy, turn the mixer down to its lowest speed and add 1 egg white and whip until just incorporated but also smooth. Once the egg white has been incorporated, slowly drizzle in 4 tablespoons molasses until just incorporated and even.
- Once the molasses has been incorporated into the mixture, stop the mixer and use a rubber spatulato scrape down the sides of the bowl. Sprinkle your dry ingredients (from the second steover the liquid mixture in the electric mixer bowl and turn your mixer back on to its lowest speed, mixing the flour into the batter until just incorporated. Be careful not to overmix the dough at this point, or your cookies will be tough and I will cry for you!
- Transfer the mixture to the refrigerator and allow the dough to cool until the dough becomes harder and easier to work with — it took me about 30 minutes of cooling to get it to the consistency I wanted.
- Roll dough into tiny balls, roughly the diameter of a quarter. These cookies expand a lot! Roll them in a small bowl of granulated sugar until covered completely, before arranging on a baking tray with 3.5 inches between each dough ball. Use the flat of your palm ora rubber spatula to gently squish the dough balls flat — this helps create perfectly round cookies.
- Bake the cookies for 13 - 15 minutes in the preheated oven, then allow to cool completely on the baking sheet set on a cooling rack. The cookies will crack as they cool; for more dramatic cracks, allow the dough to come to room temperature before baking, but that's not necessary.
Salted Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting:
- Put sugar and water into a heavy pot (heavy prevents scorchinover medium high heat stirring until it starts to boil. Once it boils, do not stir anymore. Let bubble for about 7-10 minutes or until it turns golden brown and smells like caramel. Remove from heat and stir in butter until it melts. Then beat on low speed with your mixer until it emulsifies. Add vanilla, cream cheese and salt and beat until creamy. Scrape into a heatproof bowl and cool down (it will thicken as it cools).
Notes
Gluten-Free Ginger Molasses Cookies adapted from this recipe on Hummingbird High.
Salted Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting adapted from this recipe from Crunchy Gooey.
Nutrition
Nutrition Facts
Gluten-Free Ginger Molasses Cookies with Salted Caramel Cream Cheese Filling
Amount per Serving
Calories
82
% Daily Value*
Fat
5
g
8
%
Saturated Fat
3
g
19
%
Cholesterol
13
mg
4
%
Sodium
118
mg
5
%
Potassium
37
mg
1
%
Carbohydrates
9
g
3
%
Fiber
1
g
4
%
Sugar
8
g
9
%
Protein
1
g
2
%
Vitamin A
151
IU
3
%
Calcium
13
mg
1
%
Iron
1
mg
6
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Cecil says
Wonderful post 🙂 you have such a great blog!
http://windittight.com/alexander-mcqueen/
Cyd says
These sound INCREDIBLE!
Jen Pinkston says
Thanks, Cyd!
Jill says
I made these and they were a hit! I doubled the recipe, baked them without flattening them, and hand stirred the dry into wet ingredients. The only hitch I had was that the filling never hardened, so I used it as a dip for the cookies. Thanks for sharing this great gluten free dessert!
Chel says
Sounds delicious and great recipe!