Gluten-Free Gingerbread Cut-Out Cookie Recipe
Our children have so much fun cutting out and decorating these lovely gluten-free Christmas cookies! Just look at these photos, what is not to love? This time of year takes me back to baking gingerbread and sugar cookies with my mother. My brothers and I would decorate dozens of cookies with beautiful colored sprinkles and bright white icing. I wanted to share that experience with my own children, only with a healthier, gluten-free version. Thus, this recipe was born! It uses coconut sugar as the main sweetener, along with a powdered coconut sugar icing. Although coconut sugar is definitely a low-glycemic sweetener, it is still sugar, and these cookies are to be considered a sweet treat.
My recipe below calls for sweet rice flour. This type of white rice flour is made from sticky rice, or glutinous rice. It helps hold the cookies together without the use of gluten flour or gluten-free binders. I prefer to use this superfine sweet rice flour. Superfine flours are ground so finely that they lack the grittiness typically found in other types of rice flours.
You can follow my blog post for How to Make Powdered Coconut Sugar if you would like to use a more nutritious sugar in the icing. We like to decorate these cookies with nuts, seeds, and dried fruits. You can definitely get creative here with the toppings.
Gingerbread Hazelnut Cut-Out Cookies
These gluten-free cut-out cookies are fun to make with your children during the holidays! I use a powdered coconut sugar icing, which has a rich caramel flavor. You can refer to my blog post on How to Make Powdered Coconut Sugar in order to make this icing. Use currants, raisins, sliced almonds, natural sprinkles, or anything else you can imagine to decorate them. I find the dough is best if it is refrigerated overnight. You can make the dough after your children are in bed and then bake the cookies with them in the morning.
I use Bob's Red Mill Hazelnut Meal Flour. It works beautifully in baking. You can check your local health food store for it or buy it on Amazon.com.
Dry Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
Coconut Sugar Icing
cookies:
- Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
- In a separate, smaller bowl beat with an electric mixer (or vigorously whisk) together the wet ingredients. Add the wet to the dry and mix together.
- Form into a ball, cover, and place into the refrigerator for a couple of hours or overnight.
- When the dough is firm and chilled, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- Place a large piece of parchment or waxed paper down onto a clean, flat work surface. Lightly flour the paper with sweet rice flour.
- Take part of the dough and roll it out to a little less than 1/4 inch of thickness. Put the remaining dough back in the fridge to keep it chilled.
- Cut the dough out using your favorite holiday cookie cutters. Carefully peel away the dough around the cut-outs.
- Then take a thin spatula and lift the cookies onto a lightly greased cookie sheet (or parchment-lined cookie sheet).
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes depending on how crisp you like them. A few more minutes of baking makes them crispy. Just watch them so they don't overcook.
- Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool. Then repeat with remaining dough.
- Let cook completely before frosting.
Coconut sugar icing:
- Place powdered coconut sugar in a small bowl, whisk in the milk and vanilla.
- Use to ice cooled cookies.
- You might need to make more depending on how much icing you like on your cookies.
Use this recipe in our Meal Planner
About the Author
Ali Segersten
Alissa Segersten holds a Bachelor's of Science in Nutrition from Bastyr University and a Master’s of Science in Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine from the University of Western States. She is a Functional Nutritionist, the mother of five children, a whole foods cooking instructor, professional recipe developer, and cookbook author. She is passionate about helping others find a diet that will truly nourish them. Alissa is the author of two very popular gluten-free, whole foods cookbooks and guidebooks: The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook and Nourishing Meals. She is also the co-author of The Elimination Diet book. Alissa is the founder and owner of Nourishing Meals®.Nourishing Meals Newsletter
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I posted this giveaway on Facebook - gstaylor@nbnet.nb.ca
These look really tasty. I will try the dairy-free version and let you know how they turn out. Thanks for sharing! :)
These look really tasty. I will try the dairy-free version and let you know how they turn out. Thanks for sharing! :)
Cant wait to try!!
vanessaparks2 at Yahoo dot come
Awesome giveaway and recipe.
adina.vladoiu@yahoo.com
Can't wait to make these gingerbread with the hazelnuts I got at Costco. Perfect for the holidays.
Perfect! I need to make some for my son to take to school to make a house with his class! I think I will have to try this one!
Thanks Ali for the wonderful recipes. I can hardly wait to try out the gingerbread cookie recipe.
My email address is pletser@hotmail.com
this looks delish! i cant wait to make them for my family!
Ashley Wakefield
Thanks for your recipes and your cookbook. I would love to win one of these books.
Thanks for your blog and cookbook. I would love to win one of these books.
Just shared on FB, too!
Thank you for this great recipe! Hopefully, I will be making these next week to take to a gift wrapping party for toys for our local Headstart A yummy gluten free holiday treat to share with my community. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! Namaste.
I think I accidentally just commented on the wrong post! In any case, your blog has made 6 months' of the elimination diet not unpleasant. You've been a lifesaver! Now, unfortunately, I also need to do anti-candida... :( But I'd love to share a cookie with my daughter and niece this December.
Thank you for this great recipe! Hopefully, I will be making these next week to take to a gift wrapping party for toys for our local Headstart A yummy gluten free holiday treat to share with my community. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! Namaste.
Gingerbread are one of my favorite things about December. Can't wait to try a gf version!
I love your website. Thank you for sharing so many wonderful recipes!
I've been having a craving for gingerbread cookies! And I wouldn't have thought about grinding coconut sugar to make 'icing' sugar!
Soooo happy you posted a recipe for cut-out cookies! I tried to make some gluten-free ones unsuccessfully last year and am thrilled to now have a recipe! Thanks for all you do!
liljen240@yahoo.com
What an exciting giveaway! I would so love to have the Pure Kitchen cookbook since i just checked out her blog. wow! And these gingerbread cookies look wonderful and sound delicious. Thanks for all the work you do developing nourishing yummy foods and for sharing the recipes!!
sharmaust@gmail.com
Love these cookie cut-outs! What a great recipe and so easy!
I would love to see someone post an alternative flour for hazelnut, for those with tree nut issues! Looks good, though!
jessica (at) allergictoair (dot) com
Can't wait to try this!
delish! love the icing! :)
I am looking forward to trying these for our holiday dessert. Now, on to purchasing some hazlenut flour!
Yummy! We're making these on the weekend!
I follow you on FB and will share this post with my friends!
I am a subscriber via e-mail :)
Is there any way to make this egg free? Looks awesome and I'm looking for a gingerbread recipe to share with my gluten free, allergy free kiddos!
I love cookbooks and these look like a beautiful addition to my ever growing collection.
These cookies look pretty nummy too!
Those cookies look amazing! And the "Healthier Without Wheat" book sounds interesting! Thank you for posting!
~Sara
ferguson8705@hotmail.com
Just tweeted your page. Thanks and Merry Christmas
I Tweeted and FB shared your awesome give-a-way. And, I don't think my email is linked to my blog. I guess I should know that, hu? LOL
veronicarice at hotmail dot com
I liked you on facebook. My grown children will be following you. thank you.
Just posted on FB about your amazing page.
Gingerbread anything is wonderful for the holidays and anytime. Can't wait to try these cookies. They look delicious.
Merry Christmas.
I have never used hazelnut flour so am looking forward to trying these cookies and adding them to my large collection of your recipes. We love them all Ali!
I've been reading your blog for a while and have tried a few of your recipes - with great success! And, having recently figured out I'm wheat sensative, I'd be extatic to add a gluten free cookbook to my reference library :-)
hello Ali and Tom.. hmmm these look scrumptious.. I am just beginning to turn over to the gluten free world of cooking/baking. I until the last 2 yrs due to health reasons have baked over 3000 cookies, 15 varieties along with candies, nutroll and pumpkin rolls. I am on break of selling for a long while now as I deal with medical issues. I am having a bit of a challenge though trying to find recipes for my familys baking this holiday season.
I have been baking some recipes using brown rice flour and cornstarch with xanthum gum with good results. I look forward to checking further recipes out on your site and other bloggers here. Thank you for great choices. :)
I see in your recipe you use coconut sugar, I am not sure I will be able to find that. Is confectioners sugar the same or should I use raw sugar to sub for it?
Cookies and books look wonderful... Revamping my eating habits and would love to have more great recipes!
Theresa Palumbo
tpalumbo1@juno.com
I tweeted about the giveaway
I love your website and the books for the contest look amazing!
Courtney
Thanks for the recipe and the giveaway
ufg8trj@yahoo.com
Thanks for the delicious looking recipe!
These cookies look amazing! I made your Black Quinoa and Roasted Pumpkin Salad and the Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cheesecake for Thanksgiving. They were a hit!
I am already a follower, and have felt so much better since eliminating wheat, would look forward to any one of those cookbooks, but especially the vitamix. I am always so impressed with your posts when you talk about processing and cooking things in it.
I am pretty sure my e-mail is on my blog, but if not Africanaussie (Gillian)can be contacted at vemvaan (at)gmail (dot) com
what cute cookies! I just started following you lately, and I am loving your website! So many great recipes! And I know it's Christmas.. but I loved your healthier Easter Basket ideas.. I'm going to use some for stockings!
I was actually going to try to make my glutinous gingerbread cookies recipe gluten-free. You did it for me! Thanks! Also, I was wondering if there is another flour that would work other than hazelnut flour. I looked that one up and it is pretty expensive, even for gluten free flours. Thank you!
I'm following you on twitter!
I tweeted about this giveaway! @rebeccaablock