the other day we had our third annual halloween gingerbread cookie baking bonanza at home! only this year, our cookies are gluten-free (GF). (i discovered my own, and possibly N’s, gluten intolerance this summer.) they turned out quite festive and yummy!
each year when we’ve made these, N has had the best time. witness our halloween baking (with gluten flour) in 2008:
and in 2009 (yup, still ignorant about the effects of gluten here, and eating it):
so this year, i searched the internet for GF gingerbread recipes, and there are tons out there. true to GF form, each one requires 700 different types of flours, but we settled on one that seemed most simple and healthy from veganchef.com, and what’s cool about them is that they’re vegan, so if your child has dairy or gluten allergies, these are a-okay! (i’ve posted the recipe at the bottom of this blog for your convenience.)
luckily, i had prepped the dough the night before and put it in the fridge. usually i make dough with N, but these GF cookies require a lot of my concentration to put together all of the random ingredients, so i opted to fly solo in advance on that one. i think my brain was on overload this week, so it was just easier this way.
well, i didn’t fly totally solo. be sure you have a sneaky halloween cat on top of your fridge to supervise.
the following afternoon, N, craig (daddy), and i got to work on our halloween baking! we were witchin’ in the kitchen!
the master decorator got to work with the sprinkles (and some raisins as ghost and jack-o-lantern eyes)
she was a patient, yet watchful, witch.
it only takes 6 minutes in the oven, but it's a long 6 minutes when you're three.
like most GF baked goods, these cookies can be quite crumbly, so pour yourself a tall glass of milk to go with them, or if you’re dairy intolerant along with the pesky gluten intolerance (they seem to go hand in hand) so delicious makes a tasty coconut milk!
here’s whatcha need:
- 2 cups brown rice flour
- 1 1/2 cups arrowroot, plus extra for rolling out cookies
- 1 1/2 cups amaranth flour
- 2 T. gluten free baking powder
- 2 t. gluten free baking soda
- 2 t. cinnamon
- 1 t. ground ginger
- 1 t. salt
- 1/2 t. ground nutmeg
- 1/2 t. ground cloves
- 1 1/2 cups Sucanat (or brown sugar from sugar beets)
- 1/2 cup applesauce
- 1/3 cup safflower oil
- 1/3 cup molasses
- 2 T. vanilla
- safflower oil, for oiling cookie sheets
- Decorations: sprinkles, dried currants, dried cranberries, and sunflower seeds
and here’s what to do:
In a small bowl, stir together the brown rice flour, arrowroot, amaranth flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt, nutmeg, and cloves, and set aside. In a medium bowl, place the remaining ingredients, and stir to combine. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir well to combine. Cover the bowl, place it in the refrigerator, and chill the dough for 1 hour or more. Using a little safflower oil, lightly oil (or mist with oil) two non-stick cookie sheets and set aside. Sprinkle a little arrowroot over a work surface. Divide the chilled dough into quarters, work with only one quarter of the dough at a time, and keep the remaining dough covered and chilled until needed. Working in batches, roll out the quarter of dough to 1/4-inch thickness, and cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Carefully transfer the cut cookies to the prepared cookie sheet. Bake them at 350 degrees for 6 minutes (the cookies will feel slightly soft to the touch). Allow them to cool on the cookie sheets for 3 minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool completely. Repeat the rolling and cutting-out procedure for the remaining cookie dough. Store the cookies in an airtight container. Yield: 3 – 4 Dozen
happy gluten-free halloweeny baking!
, and N is loving these… 3 rolling pins, stamps, and a dough cutter. mix this with some good ol’ cookie cutters, kid-safe scissors, and some of her tiny toy figurines, and she’s off and running for an entire morning.
