Gluten Free Gingerbread Men/Women/Gender Non-Conforming and Jewish Star Cookies with Vegan Option

Gluten-Free with Vegan Option 

Gingerbread Men/Women/Gender Non-Conforming/

Jewish Stars

Adapted from King Arthur Flour by My Little Blue Heron

Happy Holidays! 

We have a new tax bill! If you're anyone less than ultra wealthy or a corporation, one more reason to bake, to meditate, to vote (register, if you're not registered), and to be vocal when you can. 

What's TAX spelled backward? 

Here's another "if you didn't tell me, I'd never know they were GF" confection from MLBH's kitchen.  Gingerbread cookies arriving in time for Christmas. Vegan options, too.

Use any gluten-free flour blend you like. I use different ones. Sometimes I blend my own. Sometimes I use King Arthur Flour's blend or Cup4Cup's blends. Here’s a link to a post (and a recipe for GF chocolate chip cookies!), where at the bottom of the post, you’ll find resources for some GF flour blends. If chick pea flour is your jam, use Bob’s Red Mill’s GF flour blend. It's not in my larder. Lots of people like it. Trader Joe's GF blend, I believe also has chick pea flour in the mix. Chick pea flour is a high protein flour. If you're blending your own, and chick pea flour is required (and you want to sub for it), choose another high protein flour in its place, like Teff flour. If you have sensitivity to stuff, you have to read labels. Bring a magnifying glass.

This is important: If your blend has Xanthan gum in it, don’t add more.

These are great undressed, or you can decorate them with royal icing (recipe below*) or candied fruit. (Have the kids or grandchildren join in the fun!)

Pour yourself a cup of tea, some egg nog, a glass of wine, champagne, gin, whisky or a tall glass of clean and delicious water. We're all playing in the same band, walking each other home. 

May you live in peace, with love, in good health and be well accomplished in all you do, living with ease, in and out of the kitchen.

xojane

Gluten-Free Gingerbread Cookies

Ingredients:

347 g. (2 ¼ c.) gluten-free multi-purpose flour blend.

96 g. (1 c.) almond flour (finely ground, blanched is recommended)

½ tsp. xanthan gum (omit if included in your GF flour blend)

¼ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. Kosher salt

1 ½ tsp. ground ginger

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

¼ tsp. ground cloves (freshly ground rock!)

85 g. (6 Tbsp.) unsalted butter, room temperature (butter replacement for vegan)

106 g. (1/2 c., packed tightly) dark brown sugar (moist and fresh)

1 egg, size large, at room temperature (or egg substitute for vegan)

170 g. (1/2 c.) molasses (preferably organic)

¼ heaping tsp. powdered vanilla (Authentic Foods) or 1 ½ tsp. pure vanilla extract

            (Powdered vanilla is gluten free, and I prefer to use it in GF baking. No alcohol

             seems to keep the GF gods happy.)

Procedure:

In a large bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together, until light and fluffy, the butter and brown sugar.

Add the molasses, egg and vanilla, and mix until the wet ingredients come together. (At first, they’ll look separated.)

Add the dry to the wet ingredients, and blend until incorporated.

Wrap in two to three portions, flattened into disks, in plastic wrap.

Refrigerate for several hours, or best, overnight.

The bake:

Preheat oven to 350º F. and line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Racks in oven should be in upper and lower third.

Roll dough (you may need a little flour at first for easy rolling) to about ¼” thick and cut out to desired shapes. You can use a cookie cutter, or cut them free-form.

Place on parchment lined cookie sheets and return to the fridge for 10-15 minutes to firm up the dough.

Bake for about 12-17 minutes, depending on how thick you’ve rolled, how hot your oven is, and where your shelves are in the oven. Rotate baking sheets front to back, top to bottom racks, mid-bake.

Remove from oven and cool on racks. (Cool before decorating.)

Yield: will vary, depending on your cutters, but figure a couple of dozen “people” cookies and double more if you're shooting for stars.

 _________________________________________
"Simple Cookie Glaze"

*Here’s King Arthur Flour’s recipe for “simple cookie glaze”. It calls for milk. If you’re dairy-free, substitute with almond milk, rice milk or cashew milk or coconut milk. Make sure it has fat in it. This will help keep the glaze together.

This glaze dries hard and shiny, and is perfect for coating the top of your cookies in preparation for decorating with food-safe pens or makers. This glaze is a little on the thick side, and it isn't perfectly smooth when you apply it, but should settle into a smooth surface within half a minute or so. Glaze one cookie and set it aside for a minute. Has the glaze settled into a smooth surface? If so, it's the right consistency. Remember, it's easier to add more liquid than to stir in more sugar, so start with a glaze that's thicker than you think it should be, then add milk little by little to adjust the consistency.

2 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

1 to 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon milk

Food coloring (optional)

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together. Stir until smooth; a fork works fine.

The glaze should be thick, but soft enough to "settle" when you spread it. If the glaze is too thick, dribble in another teaspoon of milk, 1/2 teaspoon at a time.

Add food color, if you like; gel paste food colors are preferable, as they yield vibrant color, and don't alter the liquid/sugar ratio as regular food colors might.

Tips from our bakers:

Be sure you measure accurately here. Too little milk, and the glaze won't spread nicely. Too much milk, and it will be thin, spotty and develop splotches overnight.

Once the glaze has hardened, you can color on it with food-safe markers, or you can pipe another color over the top with Royal Icing. You can sprinkle sugar on top of the wet royal icing for glam.