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Monday, August 26, 2013

Gluten-Free Gingersnaps


Kind of a goofy headliner picture but I wanted you to see how nice the bottoms look as well as the pretty sugared tops. These cookies are simply marvelous in every way.

On a quest to use the cream cheese and apples in the fridge, I came across a cheesecake recipe. The crust is made from gingersnaps. I'd never had a gingersnap before so figured I'd might as well just make some and while I'm at it could make them gluten-free. Finding a gingersnap recipe, I substituted the regular flour with Pamela's. It worked out real swell, almost too good.

Gluten-Free Gingersnaps
adapted from Chez Panisse Gingersnaps at David Lebovitz
click to print

2 c Pamela's Artisan Flour Blend
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2/3 c butter, at room temperature
2/3 c sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 c mild molasses
1 large egg, at room temperature
turbinado sugar, about 2 tbsp

Stir together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and black pepper.


Beat the butter just until soft and fluffy.


Add the sugar and continue to beat until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice.


Stir in the vanilla, molasses and egg.


Beat in the dry ingredients gradually until the dough is smooth. Scrape bowl down.


Divide the dough in two equal portions and roll each into a log on a lightly-floured surface until each is about 2-inches (5cm) around.

After seeing how goopy the dough was and how it smeared across the floured surface, I used WAY more flour for the second log. It was still annoying but not nearly as much. I'd consider chilling the dough a little before doing this part.

Wrap each in plastic wrap then roll them lightly on the counter to smooth them out. Refrigerate or freeze the cookie logs until firm.

I chose to refrigerate my logs overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Slice cookie dough into 1/4-inch (a scant 1 cm) rounds with a sharp knife. Dip one side and press firmly in a bowl of coarse sugar and place sugar-side up on baking sheet, evenly-spaced about 2 inches apart.


Bake for 10-14 minutes, rotating the baking sheets midway during baking, until deep-golden brown. Bake on the lower end of the range for softer cookies and more for snappier ones.

I baked toward the longer range thinking I wanted a graham cracker-like consistency for the cheesecake.

Cool cookies two minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.



I didn't know a cookie including ground black pepper existed. It is probably the second best thing to happen to a girl*. I've eaten a handful of the crispy rounds of goodness and wonder if there will be enough left for the cheesecake. I cannot stress how delicious these are. Sweet, but not crazy, molasses-flavored yet not overbearing, peppery but not ridiculous. Absolute winner! Because they are so flavorful, any hint of being gluten-free is completely masked. Pamela's is a perfect stand-in in this recipe. You'll have NO clue these are gluten-free. These cookies are just outstanding!

One super awesome thing is that, if you have a fairly well-stocked baking section in your kitchen pantry, you'll have everything you need to make these cookies 95% of the time. My molasses was ancient but this was a perfect way to use it.

While I chose to refrigerate my cookies overnight, the time it took to do work was 2 hours. I'll make the label 2.5 hours, assuming 30 minutes of chilling in the freezer.

Cost:
  • Pamela's Artisan Flour Blend: $1.93
  • butter: $0.75
  • sugar: $0.32
  • vanilla extract: $0.04
  • mild molasses: $0.25, SWAG
  • egg: $0.30
  • turbinado sugar: $0.09
Total: $3.68 and rounding up for spices, $4 making each of 45 cookies about $0.09 each.

*Invention of tampons will always be number one in my book.

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