Gluten Free Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies
These Gluten-Free Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies are a holiday favorite, made from scratch with gluten-free flour and spiced with the perfect blend of ginger, cinnamon, and molasses. Soft, chewy, and beautifully crinkled, they are the perfect treat for Christmas as a gluten free dessert!
The first time I made a crinkle cookie, I was hooked! I experimented with different crinkle cookie flavors like lemon, matcha, chocolate, and even red velvet! When Christmas rolled around, it was only natural that these ginger molasses cookies were a recipe that was right around the corner!
The outside is crinkled with a snowy layer of powdered sugar, while the inside is soft and chewy. Just like a warm bakery style molasses cookies where the taste of ginger snap meets Amish molasses cookies! Make them for a Christmas cookie exchange or for your holiday dessert spread!
✨Even though these are made with gluten free flour, feel free to make them with regular all purpose flour instead! Just swap the flour 1:1
🍪Grab These Before You Make Them
📖How To Make Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies
1️⃣ Combine Dry Ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients including; gluten free flour, salt, baking soda and gingerbread spice.
2️⃣ Combine Wet Ingredients: Using a stand mixer or hand mixer on medium speed combine melted butter molasses and sugar until fully combined. Add in egg and vanilla extract and fully incorporate.
3️⃣ Mix Dry Ingredients Into Wet Ingredients: Set the mixer on low and add dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in small batches until a dough is formed. Scrape down sides with rubber spatula if needed.
4️⃣ Form The Cookies: Once dough is formed, line a sheet pan with parchment paper and roll cookie dough into 1-1.5 inch balls. Chill in refrigerator for 2 hours.
5️⃣ Preheat Oven: Cookie dough balls have chilled, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
6️⃣ Roll Cookie Dough In Powdered Sugar: Place powdered sugar into a bowl and add cookie dough balls one by one making sure they are fully coated in sugar. If they are not fully coated, the sugar will absorb into the cookie and will not be white and crinkly.
7️⃣ Bake Cookies: Add gluten free ginger crinkle cookies rolled in powdered sugar onto a parchment lined sheet pan 2 inches apart. Bake for 18-20 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove from oven and let cool for 30 minutes before serving.
🫚Homemade Gingerbread Spice Recipe
If you cant find gingerbread spice at the store, make it homemade with this simple blend of spices you may already have in your pantry!
- 1 tsp Ground Ginger
- 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- ⅛ tsp Nutmeg
- ⅛ tsp Allspice
- ⅛ tsp Ground Cloves
Instructions: In a small bowl, combine all the spices and whisk until fully combined. Increase the recipe to make a bigger batch to save for other recipes.
❔FAQ
This molasses crinkle cookie recipe can be rolled in regular sugar, but they will not have that “cracked” white sugar look. The crinkle cookies will have a better powdered sugar crack if they are rolled in the powdered sugar after they are refrigerated.
I have not done so before, but there are plenty of recipes out there that use Betty Crocker molasses cookie mix to make cookies. Make sure you’re finding a gluten free baking mix if you’re worried about gluten.
Yes! If you’re not concerned about baked goods that are gluten free, you can use regular all purpose flour in a 1:1 ratio with the recipe as written.
Whenever I make a batch of gluten free ginger crinkle cookies I only cook half of it or else they would all be gone too quickly! I shape the rest of the dough into a log and wrap it in plastic wrap and place it in the freezer for up to 3 months. When I am ready to bake, I remove it the night before and let it thaw in the fridge.
To make these cookies vegan, use a flax egg (1 tablespoon flaxseed meal + 3 tablespoons water) in place of the egg and substitute the butter with a vegan option like Earth Balance. Please note I have not tested the recipe this way.
To get the crinkle effect, roll your cookie dough balls generously in powdered sugar before baking. As the cookies bake and expand, the sugar creates the crinkle appearance. I’ve found that you need to COVER them in sugar, more than you think you’d need to!
Gluten Free Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups Gluten Free Flour
- ¾ cup Light Brown Sugar
- ⅓ cup Molasses
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- ½ cup Butter melted
- 1 Egg
- ½ tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Baking Soda
- ½ cup Powdered Sugar
- Gingerbread Spice
Gingerbread Spice
- 1 tsp Ground Ginger
- 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- ⅛ tsp Nutmeg
- ⅛ tsp Allspice
- ⅛ tsp Ground Cloves
Instructions
- Combine Dry Ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients including; gluten free flour, salt, baking soda and gingerbread spice.
- Combine Wet Ingredients: Using a stand mixer or hand mixer on medium speed combine melted butter molasses and sugar until fully combined. Add in egg and vanilla extract and fully incorporate.
- Mix Dry Ingredients Into Wet Ingredients: Set the mixer on low and add dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in small batches until a dough is formed. Scrape down sides with rubber spatula if needed.
- Form The Cookies: Once dough is formed, line a sheet pan with parchment paper and roll cookie dough into 1-1.5 inch balls. Chill in refrigerator for 2 hours.
- Preheat Oven: Cookie dough balls have chilled, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- Roll Cookie Dough In Powdered Sugar: Place powdered sugar into a bowl and add cookie dough balls one by one making sure they are fully coated in sugar. If they are not fully coated, the sugar will absorb into the cookie and will not be white and crinkly. You can roll them in granulated sugar first THEN powdered sugar if you'd like a lot of powdered sugar on your cookie.
- Bake Cookies: Add cookies rolled in powdered sugar onto a parchment lined sheet pan 2 inches apart. Bake for 18-20 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove from oven and let cool for 30 minutes before serving.
Hi, I am so excited to this recipe. I just love traditional crinkle cookies, they remind me of my beloved grandmother. My son has some food allergies and is allergic to eggs, do you think this would work using either applesauce or an egg replacer instead of real eggs? Thank you!
Hi! I haven’t made these egg free before but I would try it with an egg replacer instead of applesauce. Let me know how it comes out!
Hi there, could I use maple syrup instead of molasses?
Hi Becky, I have not tried this with maple syrup before. The texture and taste may change a bit as maple syrup is a lot thinner and a lot less intense in flavor but I don’t see why this variation wouldn’t work. Let me know how it goes!
I love the flavor of ginger and I love the spice too. These biscuits are great as a snack box treat.
These Gingerbread cookies may be my new favorite! I love all things gingerbread and I’m so glad I tried this recipe. Also love how they are gluten-free. Will be making these soon!
I’m always searching for really good and chewy gingerbread cookies (because you can never have too many, right? haha) and these really hit the spot! They smell and taste so good and I love the size. It’s perfect for snacking on while working from home!
My brother is gluten free and he loves a good spiced cookie during the Holiday Season. These were a huge hit with the whole family. Thanks for the recipe!
I was SO excited to share these with our friends who are gluten free! They absolutely loved them. Thank you for a great recipe!
We love soft cookies at home! My sister in law can’t eat gluten so this recipe will be totally perfect this year when we all get together! Thank you for sharing 🙂
Love how crinkly these cookies look! I absolutely love gingerbread flavor and always on the hunt for new recipes, will try them soon.
These look and sound amazing. I love crinkle cookies and have yet to try a gingerbread version. Will have to add this to my holiday baking list.
Who doesn’t love gingerbread crinkle cookies for Christmas? They always take a special place on our Holiday table. Your cookies look absolutely delicious. I will give your recipe a try.
Sounds amazing- getting ingredients together but 2 questions
1- ingredient list doesn’t include vanilla extract but in your instructions you mention adding w the egg. How much do you add if you use vanilla extract in this recipe?
2- your gingerspice recipe proportions for making a large batch ahead call for more cinnamon and less nutmeg than the one you include in this recipe- is there a reason for that? 8x a tsp is closer to 3tbsp…
thanks!
Hi Deborah,
I’ve updated this post to remove the gingerbread spice bulk recipe. Use the amounts listed in the recipe card for a single batch. Vanilla extract is 1 tsp per batch 🙂
Do you think it’d be okay to substitute brown sugar with coconut sugar?
Yes! Let me know how it goes 🙂
We made these last week and loved them! Best texture and taste we have found for gluten free gingerbread! Would this dough be suitable to roll out for gingerbread cutouts?
Hi Victoria, so glad you enjoy them! I’m not sure how they would do as a roll out cookie but I would definitey give it a try but maybe remove or half the baking soda so they don’t rise. Let me know how it goes!
This may be a silly question, but just making sure. The powdered sugar is only for rolling, right? Or does some powdered sugar go in the dough?
Hi Susan, that is correct!