Molasses Crinkle Cookies, or as some may call them Ginger Snap Cookies, are one of my most favorite cookies to make. When we had to go gluten free in our family for our three kids with celiac disease, this was one recipe that I was bound and determined to figure out.
Things I have learned in this process are
- Oven temperature matters. Gluten free flours absorb moisture and fats VERY SLOWLY. So we need to decrease our oven temperature to help give our flour blends time to absorb the melting butter or whatever fat source you used.
- Most gluten free flours do not absorb moisture or fat well. SO, we need to add other ingredients to help it. This is especially important in cookies unless you like super flat cookies, which I don’t. Psyllium husk powder and xanthan gum have become very important in my cookie baking adventures and I try and always have them on hand.
- Just a little bit of refined coconut oil goes a long way. Again, your gluten free flours aren’t great at absorbing, but a little coconut oil will give the crispy outside that we love about cookies.
- And lastly, decreasing the brown or granulated sugar and adding a little powdered sugar(lighter) can make a big difference in the height your cookies can achieve.
So when you are experimenting with your own flour blends, keep these tips in mind. This recipe is made with my all purpose flour blend. If you use a different one, your results will be different. That is one of the sad things about baking with gluten free flour blends. They all act a bit differently when baking. So, when I am experimenting, I try to make a half batch and then tweak as needed.
Molasses Crinkle Cookies
Equipment
- 1 baking sheet
- parchment paper
- 1 large glass bowl
- hand mixer
- measuring cups, spoons, spatula, small cookie scoop
- small bowls to measure ingredients
- cooling rack
Ingredients
- 1/2 C butter, unsalted, softened
- 1 tsp refined coconut oil
- 3/4 C brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/2 TBSP chia seeds + 1 TBSP water mix in a separate bowl until chia seeds absorb the water
- 1/4 C molasses
- 2 1/2 C Emma's gluten free all purpose flour blend
- 1 TBSP psyllium husk powder
- 1 tsp xanthan gum
- 3 TBSP powdered sugar
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
For Rolling
- 1/3 C granulated sugar
Instructions
- In a large glass bowl, mix butter and refined coconut oil with a hand mixer. Add brown sugar and mix well. Add egg and chia seed/water mixture and mix well. Use a spatula if needed to scrape down sides.
- Add molasses and mix.
- In a separate bowl, add gluten free flour blend, psyllium husk powder, xanthan gum, powdered sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cloves, and sea salt and mix well.
- Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredient in the large glass bowl and mix until well combined.
- Cover the bowl and place it in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes for the dough to firm up.
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Gather your baking sheet and place parchment paper on it. Make sure your parchment paper fits your sheet pan properly so that it's not curved up on the sides. You want the parchment paper to lie flat on the pan.
- In a small bowl, add 1/3 C granulated sugar for rolling the dough balls.
- Take dough out of the refrigerator. Using a small cookie scoop, scoop dough balls into the sugar. Coat completely and place on the baking sheet. Place a total of 12 round balls on the sheet pan. This recipe works best if you bake only one baking sheet at a time. Or at least that is my experience with my "old" oven.
- Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the sheet pan from the oven and let cookies cool on the sheet pan for 2 more minutes. Remove cookies to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
These Molasses Crinkle Cookies make a perfect after school treat, a dessert for a family party, bridal shower, or work luncheon.
I hope that you will enjoy making these cookies. And if you do, please tag me on Instagram.
