Gluten free gingersnaps are the ultimate crispy, spiced cookie. They make that snapping sound when you break them in half!
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What makes these the best gluten free gingersnaps?
As soon as the weather starts to cool, I no longer have to hide my obsession with making cookies of all sorts. I love baking anything and everything, but nothing beats cookies. They're portable, nearly always freeze beautifully, and make everyone happy.
These gluten free gingersnaps are so-named because they're super crisp and crunchy. So they make that “snap” when you break them.
Instead of using a spice blend like apple pie spice or pumpkin pie spice, I really prefer a custom-made blend of plenty of ground cinnamon, a bit less ground ginger, and a few turns of freshly ground black pepper. The cookies taste warm and comforting, with a little kick.
If you prefer more of a kick, you can add more black pepper. Up to double the amount of pepper would be great if you know your eaters would enjoy that.
Tips for making perfectly crispy gluten free gingersnap cookies
There are plenty of ways to make cookies that are crispy—and maintain their crispness for days after baking. We'll go over all of them, but of course it all begins with the right recipe (scroll all the way down if you want skip to that!).
Use the right gluten free ingredients
If you want your crispy cookies to have that snappy texture, you also need to use the ingredients called for in that recipe. The “ingredients and substitutions section” that I have above the recipe card in every post is a guide if you must.
Remember that each swap you make changes the recipe. The more ingredients you swap out, the further you get from the recipe as written. I provide the alternatives as a courtesy since it's better to bake differently than not bake at all. But, differences make a difference.
Oh, and please measure by weight, not volume. Volume is entirely unreliable, for all of us. It's not a matter of skill; it's a matter of being human and prone to error. ✋?
Bake your gf cookies at the right temperature
It's very common to have an oven that runs hot. Mine does, and yours probably does. When you're seeking to create a specific texture like we are in this recipe, you need a simple oven thermometer more than ever (they're super cheap, and I ignore my oven's dial in favor of checking the thermometer—and replace them regularly).
These cookies are baked in a very low oven (300°F/150°C) for quite a while (about 20 minutes) for such small pieces of cookie dough. There are a lot of different sorts of sugars in these cookies (brown and granulated sugars, molasses, honey), and sugar does have a tendency to burn in baking.
We are baking them very, very slowly so that we can bake them all the way through to being solid and rather dry inside (in a good way!)—without burning them. If your oven is running hot, you will burn the outside of your cookies long before the inside is baked properly.
For the absolute crispiest, snappiest cookies, after you've baked them for 20 minutes at 300°F, lower the oven temperature to 250°F. Continue to bake for another 7 to 8 minutes but not longer so they don't burn.
How to keep crisp gluten free cookies crispy
Once you've gone through all that trouble to make your gluten free gingersnaps, well, snappy, you want to keep them that way. If they absorb moisture from the air in their environment or from their container after they cool, they will lose their snap.
Homemade crispy cookies don't have the preservatives of store-bought cookies. The best way to help them maintain their texture is to store them in a sealed glass container, at room temperature.
I have a penchant for mason jars, so I have many of them in my kitchen. They are perfect for cookie storage.
A plastic container like a Tupperware or a plastic bag (even a reusable one) will make your cookies chewy faster than you think. I do wonder if a classic ceramic cookie jar would keep them crispy, but I can't spare the counter space to test the theory.
If you love gingerbread cookies but you're interested in perfectly chewy ones, try our recipe for chewy gluten free gingerbread men. All the right spices, but with a soft and chewy bite.
Substitutions for gluten free gingersnaps ingredients
How to make gluten free dairy free gingersnaps
In place of the butter in this recipe, I recommend trying vegan butter. My favorite brands are Melt and Miyoko's Kitchen.
I don't recommend using all Earth Balance buttery sticks in place of butter, as Earth Balance has a lot of moisture and will cause the cookies to spread too much during baking. You could try using half (56 grams) Earth Balance buttery sticks and half (56 g) Spectrum nonhydrogenated vegetable shortening, since the shortening doesn't have any moisture.
How to make gluten free gingersnaps without the egg
There is only one egg in this recipe. You should be able to replace it with one “chia egg” (1 tablespoon ground white chia seeds + 1 tablespoon lukewarm water, mixed and allowed to gel).
A note about cornstarch in this recipe (and how to avoid it)
If you can't have corn, try replacing the cornstarch with arrowroot.
If you're using a higher starch all purpose gluten free flour blend, like Cup4Cup (or my mock Cup4Cup blend), instead of 1/4 cup (36 g) cornstarch, use an equal amount of your higher starch gluten free flour blend.
How to make crispy crunchy gluten free gingersnaps, step by step
Crispy, Crunchy Gluten Free Gingersnaps | they snap!
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups (210 g) all purpose gluten free flour (I used Better Batter)
- ¾ teaspoon xanthan gum omit if your blend already contains it
- ¼ cup (36 g) cornstarch
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup (73 g) packed light brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons (63 g) unsulphured molasses
- 2 tablespoons (42 g) honey
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 8 tablespoons (112 g) unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 (50 g (weighed out of shell)) egg at room temperature, beaten
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 300°F. Line rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and set them aside.
- In a large bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, cornstarch, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt, pepper, and granulated sugar, and whisk to combine well. Add the brown sugar, and mix to combine, breaking up any lumps in the brown sugar.
- Add the molasses, honey, vanilla, butter, and egg, and mix until fully combined. The cookie dough will be smooth and soft, and not too sticky.
- Scoop the cookie dough into teaspoon-sized portions and place about 1 1/2-inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Roll each gently into a ball between clean palms, and replace on the baking sheet.
- Place the baking sheets, one at a time, in the center of the preheated oven and bake until fully set and firm to the touch, about 20 minutes.
- For the crispiest, snappiest cookies, lower the temperature to about 250°F and bake for another 7 to 8 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on the baking sheets. They will crisp as they cool.
- Once the cookies are completely cool, store them in a sealed glass container at room temperature to maintain crispness. If you leave them out, uncovered, for a long time, they’ll soften.
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Thanks for stopping by!
Hi, I’m Nicole. I create gluten free recipes that really work and taste as good as you remember. No more making separate meals when someone is GF, or buying packaged foods that aren’t good enough to justify the price. At Gluten Free on a Shoestring, “good, for gluten free” just isn’t good enough! Come visit my bio!
Lois says
Oh my goodness Nicole, these cookies are divine, thank you so much for another classic xxx
Nicole Hunn says
So glad you enjoyed the gingersnaps, Lois! You’re very welcome.
Ava Rae says
These are fantastic!
Danielle Hawley says
These are simply the best. A friend makes these for me (a double batch) for Christmas every year. I put them in the freezer and take our as a special treat. I actually love the black pepper in the recipe and I have asked her to increase the amount. The cookies are awesome with a cup of ginger tea. So many gluten free cookies are too sweet for me and these are perfect.
Nicole Hunn says
So glad you enjoy them, Danielle!
Kathrine says
Can these be rolled out to use with cookie cutters? Or would the dough need to be chilled for a bit? Thanks!
Nicole Hunn says
No, Katherine, this is a recipe for drop cookies, not cutouts. Please plug “crispy gingerbread men cookies” into the search function. That’s what you’re looking for!
Cindy says
Will the ginger snaps stay crisp if I freeze them till Christmas?
Nicole Hunn says
Crisp cookies generally stay that way when stored at room temperature in a sealed glass jar, Cindy. Freezing isn’t recommended.
Kelly says
This is my first time baking GF, I bought Trader Joe’s GF flour to make gingersnap cookies to turn into crust for pie. What does the cornstarch do in this recipe?
Nicole Hunn says
You cannot use Trader Joe’s gluten free flour blend successfully in my recipes, Kelly. Please click the link in the recipe for the “all purpose gluten free flour” for more information.
lizzie says
Yum! I made these the other night— they’re delish and the texture/snap is spot on. I swapped out the pepper for a little bit of nutmeg and they taste exactly how I remember ginger snaps tasting when I was a kid! Rolled mine in sugar before the oven because it’s not a ginger snap if it doesn’t hurt your tongue, right? Thanks for the recipe! Will definitely be making these again (because we are the first batch while the second was baking).
Nicole Hunn says
Haha Lizzie sounds like you had the whole nostalgic experience. That’s the best!
Zoe says
Hi Nicole, I don’t normally have molasses or honey. Can I still bake these cookies and get decent results? Molasses is hard to come by where I live (outside of the states). What would you recommend?
Nicole Hunn says
I’m afraid you can’t make them and have them taste at all like they are meant to without either molasses or honey, no. Maybe you’d prefer another crisp cookie with a different flavor profile, like these gluten free vanilla wafers?