Gluten Free Gingerbread Men
Yay its the 1st of December. Its Officially Christmas right?? Time to start on the Christmas Recipes! Holiday baking is one of my favourite ways to celebrate the Christmas season!
This recipe for Gluten Free Gingerbread Men results in cookies your whole family can enjoy this Christmas. Great for Santa too.
These Gluten Free Gingerbread Men are soft and chewy and taste amazing. I am so pleased with the texture that I am confident they could even make the perfect gingerbread house.
Just the aroma of the treacle, cinnamon and ginger is enough to transport you to Santa’s workshop and make you feel like one of his baker elves.
Just be aware that while the recipe says to bake the cookies for 12 – 15 minutes, you might need a little more or less time depending on whether your cookie cutters are small or extra large.
If you love ginger, be sure to check out my Gluten Free Jamaica Ginger Cake.
- 3 cups/660g gluten free flour
- ¾ tsp xanthan gum
- 4 tbsp/36g cornflour
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- 1½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ cup/50g granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup/73g packed light brown sugar
- 3 tbsp/63g treacle
- 2 tbsp/42g honey
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 5 tbsp/70g unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 egg (beaten)
- FOR THE ROYAL ICING:
- 1 and ½ cup/180g powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp/30ml warm water
- ½ tbsp/10g Golden syrup or light corn syrup
- ⅛ teaspoon vanilla
- Preheat your oven to 325°F/180°C Fan/ Gas 4.
- Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set them aside.
- In a large bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, corn flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt and granulated sugar, and whisk to combine well. Add the brown sugar, and whisk once more to combine, working out any lumps in the brown sugar.
- Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and add the treacle, honey, vanilla, butter and egg, mixing to combine after each addition. The dough will be thick and smooth, and somewhat sticky to the touch.
- Transfer the dough to a large sheet parchment paper, cover with another sheet of parchment and roll into a rectangle about ⅜-inch thick (more than ¼-inch, less than ½-inch). If you are concerned that the dough will be difficult to handle, place it in the refrigerator or freezer after you roll it out to allow it to firm up. Dip a gingerbread man cutter in gluten free flour or corn flour, and use it to cut out shapes from the cookie dough.
- With each cut, jiggle the cutter back and forth to create a neat shape. Peel back the rest of the dough from around the cut-outs, and carefully peel off the men and place them, about 1½-inches apart, on the prepared baking sheets. Gather and re-roll scraps, and repeat the process until you have used all the dough.
- Place in the center of the oven and bake until dry to the touch (about 12 - 15 minutes). Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on the baking sheets
- FOR THE ROYAL ICING:
- Place powdered sugar in a medium bowl and set aside. In a small bowl, combine warm water, golden syrup or light corn syrup, and extract. Stir until syrup is dissolved.
- Add syrup water to powdered sugar and stir until completely combined. Mixture will be thick. The consistency you're looking for is a slowly dripping icing that disappears into the bowl within about 12 seconds. Add water by drop if you think it's too thick. If it becomes too thin, add more powdered sugar by the teaspoon.
- Add into a piping bag and decorate your gingerbread men.
