Gluten Free Gingerbread Cookies
a Mountain Rose Herbs recipe
All the old-fashioned goodness of traditional gingerbread cookies, but without the gluten. Recipe makes 3-4 dozen.
2 cups brown rice flour
1 1/2 cups arrowroot, plus extra for rolling out cookies
1 1/2 cups amaranth flour
2 T. baking powder
2 t. baking soda
2 t. cinnamon
1 t. ground ginger
1 t. salt
1/2 t. ground nutmeg
1/2 t. ground cloves
1 1/2 cups Sucanat (or brown sugar from sugar beets)
1/2 cup applesauce
1/3 cup safflower oil
1/3 cup molasses
2 T. organic Vanilla Extract
safflower oil, for oiling cookie sheets
Decorations: hemp seeds, dried currants, dried cranberries, cacao nibs, coconut flakes, and sunflower seeds.
In a small bowl, stir together the brown rice flour, arrowroot, amaranth flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt, nutmeg, and cloves, and set aside. In a medium bowl, place the remaining ingredients, and stir to combine. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir well to combine. Cover the bowl, place it in the refrigerator, and chill the dough for 1 hour or more. Using a little safflower oil, lightly oil (or mist with oil) two non-stick cookie sheets and set aside. Sprinkle a little arrowroot over a work surface. Divide the chilled dough into quarters, work with only one quarter of the dough at a time, and keep the remaining dough covered and chilled until needed. Working in batches, roll out the quarter of dough to 1/4-inch thickness, and cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Carefully transfer the cut cookies to the prepared cookie sheet. Bake them at 350 degrees for 6 minutes (the cookies will feel slightly soft to the touch). Allow them to cool on the cookie sheets for 3 minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool completely. Repeat the rolling and cutting-out procedure for the remaining cookie dough. Store the cookies in an airtight container.
To make Gingerbread People: Cut the dough using a person-shaped cookie cutter. Carefully transfer the cut cookies to the prepared cookie sheets. To decorate them: use two dried currants for eyes, pressing them slightly into the dough; squeeze one dried cranberry with your fingers to form it into a mouth, pressing it slightly into the dough; and then use 8 sunflower seeds to make the outline of a vest, or 10 sunflower seeds to make the outline of a dress, pressing them slightly into the dough. Bake as directed above. The dried currants, dried cranberries, and sunflower seeds can also be used to decorate other cut shapes of cookies.
To make Glazed Gingerbread Cookies: Cut cookies as desired and bake as directed above. Prepare frosting and use it to decorate the completely cooled cookies, as desired. Allow the frosting to set completely before transferring the cookies to an airtight container.
