11
Nov

Gluten Free Gingersnap Cookies

A bowl of crunchy gluten free gingersnap cookies.

Are you tired of having Gluten Free Gingersnap Cookies that bend instead of snap? Working with Paleo flours can be tough to create a crispy cookie, and when I was still eating on the SCD, I gave up hope of creating one. After a few years of staying away from most starches and allowing my gut to heal, I slowly added back in a couple – mainly arrowroot starch. I still believe that there's not much of a place for these things on a Paleo or Specific Carbohydrate Diet, mostly because it is empty carbohydrates without any nutritional value and can feed the bad bacteria in your gut if you don't have a healthy gut ecosystem.

Grain-Free GingerSnaps by Danielle Walkers Against all Grain

HOWEVER, arrowroot powder does wonders for grain-free baked goods! You probably saw it make more of an appearance in my second book Meals Made Simple than it did in my first, Against all Grain. It was essential when I was trying to make nut-free and even coconut-free baked goods for you guys, and really aids to the elasticity and structure of breads, cookies, and muffins. It also helps to provide a great crunch, something that neither nut-flours or coconut-flours can really achieve. These are even able to be egg-free!

I've been wanting to do a gingersnap recipe for a long time and finally got one that has a good crunch to it! They are not quite like the traditional, because I do not use molasses, but they have a fabulous ginger taste and good little crisp when you bite into them. I have a hard time digesting high levels of free-fructose, so I typically stay away from molasses despite it’s high mineral content and health benefits. To understand different types of sugars and why I tend to use raw honey, pure maple syrup, and coconut sugar take a look at this article from Mark Sisson. Instead, I caramelize honey and low-glycemic coconut sugar to give these cookies a similar deep flavor.


Grain-Free GingerSnaps by Danielle Walker's Against all Grain

GingerSnaps-018

Gluten Free Gingersnap Cookies



AUTHOR:

SERVES: 12

Cuisine: American

Category: Desserts

PREP TIME: 15 mins

COOK TIME: 8 mins TOTAL TIME: 23 mins

Ingredients:

*blanched almond flour or finely ground raw sunflower seeds will work as well. Omit baking soda if using sunflower flour.

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Heat the honey in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Once it starts to bubble, reduce to low and simmer for 5 minutes, until it turns a dark amber color. Add the coconut sugar and continue to simmer for 2 minutes longer. Remove from heat and whisk in the butter and vanilla extract.
  3. Combine the remaining ingredients in the bowl of a food processor. Process for 1 minute, until everything is very finely ground.
  4. Pour in the melted ingredients and process again for 30 seconds, until a ball of dough forms.
  5. Form the dough with your hands into a ball then roll it out to 1/4-inch thickness between 2 pieces of parchment paper. Use cookie cutters to cut shapes of the dough, then peel away the remaining dough.
  6. Transfer the bottom sheet of parchment with the cookies to a baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes, until browned and crisp around the edges.
  7. Cool completely on wire racks before eating.

*store these in an airtight container in the fridge. They do lose their crispiness a bit after about 2 days.



Keywords: dairy free, egg free, gluten free, holiday, paleo, fall, ginger, Christmas