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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Comments
Looks like a great recipe that is easily modified to fit our GFCF diet. Thanks!
Ah! today is the day for contests! Thanks for the chance to win things.
Sue Clark
Wonderful! I'm going home for school break in a week, and was hoping to hold a cookie decorating party. We'll see if my friends notice the difference!
Thank you always for your effort in sharing these awesome recipes- they always seem to pop up just when I need them :)
Excellent! And thanks for educating me about coconut sugar...we're loving it:)
Never tried the hazlenut meal, but I think I'll get some for these!
-Sarah P
I tweeted and shared on FB :).
I LOVE GINGERBREAD COOKIES!
Haven't been able to have them for years,
I am so excited to try your recipie.
Thank you & Happy Holidays!
I tweeted and shared on FB :)
JUST what I was looking for! I love decorative cookies and it's such a hard thing to find with a gluten-free recipe. AND it's made with powdered coconut sugar, so a much lower glycemic index! Every year, my husband and I bake cookies and send them back to our friends and family back east (we're in San Francisco), and now I can send them pretty cookies that are better for them! Thank you so much!
karrie.myers@gmail.com
I LOVED gingerbread! Thanks for this recipe :)
I'm so grateful for all your amazing recipe posts and tips. I send my patients to your blog all the time when I'm shifting their diet off wheat and gluten. Thank you for all the passion, time, and energy you put into this site, and the generosity with which you share it. YAY!
Dr. Tonia Winchester, ND, Nanaimo, BC, Canada http://www.arbourcentre.com
I tweeted the giveaway!
These cookies look great! Love your decorating ideas!!
Count me in!
I love gingerbread.
Thank you for this delicious recipe--we are so excited to make gingerbread cookies for our first family GF holiday!
Gingerbread cookies. The VERY first recipe I made on my own, I love them. It's kind of funny too because I was just looking at your coconut powdered sugar recipe yesterday! OK, Laurel, egg & dairy replacers - forward ho!
Perfect timing! I have been looking for a good ginger bread,GF, recipe. Thanks!
I will have to give this one a try. Thanks.
--Amy
I love gingerbread cookies, thanks for the recipe!
pauladecaria(at)yahoo.com
This recipe looks great! I'll definitely be making these for Christmas this year :) Thank you Ali
This recipe looks great! I will definitely be trying it this year :)
Oh, how I enjoy receiving your timely email recipes! My husband just asked me this past week if I would be make Gingerbread cookies for the Holidays....now I guess am! - Not only do I have to omit the dairy, but eggs as well. Though I have no choice for myself, I also love making GF/DF/EG/SF goodies for my friends and family knowing I'm feeding them a bit "healthier" version of our old favorites (most don't even know it until I blab!), and now the Cocount Sugar...ooooo, I can't wait to try it! - Blessings to you WLNK, and Happy Holidays!
Looking forward to trying this recipe with my little sister.
Yummy! Maybe we'll try adding some hazelnut flour to the "old" gingerbread cookie recipe in your book since eggs and dairy are still on the off list for D. These sound soooo good though! Yes, gingerbread cookies are certainly one of those foods that bring back happy holiday memories!
juniper_g(at)yahoo(dot)com
The gingerbread cookies look so yummy! I think I'm going to splurge on hazelnut flour and make it with the kids for the holidays!
Cutest cookies! I'd love any of these books,
emilyolivemama@AOL.com
Shared it on Facebook
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The gingerbread cookies look amazing! I saw your post for the powdered sugar and couldn't wait for this one!
I flipped the calendar to December this morning and Christmas hit me like a snowball! This was the perfect recipe to show up on my facebook page shortly after.
Going to try dairy free as well as replacing that egg - cookie recipes are always tricky for my family as we can't have the eggs!
Thanks!
phantasmagorical@gmail.com
I shared them on FB
Looks yummy! Can't wait to try them.
I remember as a kid making gingerbread cookies and houses with my mom. I made them with my boys when they were little but have not gone back to them since being gluten and dairy free. I think we're going to have to give these a try. It just looks like so much fun to me.
those look delish! I love getting all the new ideas!
lovely looking recipe...my fam just might turn into taste testers this holiday season ;D
lovely looking recipe...my fam might turn into taste testers this holiday season ;D
LOVE the powdered coconut sugar idea! I will be using my coffe grinder until I can get a dry container for my Vita Mix.
What darling cookies you've made! The hazelnut flour is intriguing -- they must have a wonderful flavor. I'm sure I'd love them!
Looks yummy!
I shared this post on facebook.
What a delightful recipe! Simple list of ingredients and fun for the whole family. I'm looking forward to making these and sharing with others.
What great giveaways too!
I always look forward to the recipes you share, Ali. You are a blessing.
Look forward to trying this! Love gingerbread cookies! Do you think I could make my gingerbread houses out of this recipe also?
This recipe looks great - I may try it with almond flour since I don't have hazelnut. Thanks for doing the giveaway too!
I shared on Facebook!
I tweeted!
These cookies look amazing! Definitely on the list for Christmas! Thank you for sharing!
I have sucanat so I would love to try these. Would almond flour sub for the hazelnut flour? I have that on hand. I'd like to try it the right way too but sounds like fun to try right away. My son loves ginger cookies and so do I. . .and cut out cookies are one of the best memories of Christmas I think :)
No need to enter me Ali, just dropping by to say hi and tell you that your cookies (and coconut powdered sugar) look DELISH!!!
xo,
Heidi
These look great!
These look like so much fun. I can't wait to try them with the kids! roseofsharonsch@yahoo.com
Tweeted it for the giveaway!! Thanks!