Delicious Gingerbread Cookies I Made for My Gluten Free Husband

Recently, I went on the hunt for some delicious gingerbread cookies that were gluten free. I’m not much of a baker. I mean, even before I met my hubby, I didn’t bake sweet treats. Truth be told, I’m more of a cook. I like dreaming up dishes or trying out new recipes. And I don’t find the clean up as much of a hassle as I do with baking. However, I do want to build some Christmas traditions now that I’m a mom and even though Baby J is too young to eat cookies, baking Christmas treats is something I want to do every year, like my mom did and still does.

However, there is one minor problem, and that is my husband is gluten intolerant. Whenever he eats gluten, he complains of headache, pain in his joints, and I notice he’s more anxious as well. He even claims he has crazy dreams as well. It’s hard to bake gluten free.

My Difficulties with Gluten Free Baking

Strictly speaking, I am supposed to be gluten free as well. I have IBS and some testing I did showed me to be both gluten and potato intolerant. Now, if you are surprised to hear about me being potato intolerant, believe me so was I. However, for two years I was very strict in my diet and ate nothing that contained gluten or potato and potato by-proudcts, such as xanthum gum and tapioca flour. Two common ingredients in gluten free products. So there wasn’t a lot of point in my baking as it was even harder to find gluten recipes that didn’t contain some kind of potato ingredient.

However, I did eventually start cheating. And then cheating a little more. And during my pregnancy I threw all my dietary restrictions out the window. And…I’m fine. None of the previous symptoms have returned. I still restrict my intake of these foods however, but I feel safe in beginning to bake with gluten free flour.

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Gingerbread Cookie Recipe

I hoped onto Pinterest, and searched for a gluten free gingerbread recipe. I love gingerbread and what would be more fun than gingerbread men to make during the holiday season? Nothing. Nothing at all. I found a recipe that sounded yummy at Iowa Girl Eats and got baking. I made sure to follow the recipe pretty closely as well, as I really wanted these to turn out. The only changes I made was using yellow sugar instead of brown sugar, and blackstrap molasses instead of just…molasses I guess.

What I love about this recipe is that is uses real spices, not some mix. I also really appreciated the detailed instructions. Because, as I said, I’m not a baker and I need good directions. I have to say, I had hopes for these to be delicious gingerbread cookies even though they were gluten free–which can be tricky to make tasty.

How The Cookies Turned Out

The cookies turned out beautifully! Instead of rolling in sugar and baking, I decided to roll out the dough and use cookie cutters. Because I wanted gingerbread men, not just gingerbread cookies. I was glad that I had chilled the dough overnight, as it made rolling it out easier.

Baker’s tip from my mom: sprinkle down some flour before rolling out to prevent your dough from sticking to the board. I also sprinkled my rolling pin, and was so glad I did as rolling out gluten free dough is tricky. I also had to roll it out a bit thicker than I would have liked, but I loved how the cookies turned out regardless so all is good.

And the taste! Perfect! Not too much ginger, as some gingerbread cookies I’ve had are a tad rich on the ginger. I mean, I love it. But I know it might not be for everyone. But these have the perfect blend of flavour. My husband loved these too. These delicious gingerbread cookies that are gluten free are definitely going to be a Christmas tradition for us from now on.

Decorating my Gingerbread Cookies

I decided at the very last minute that I wanted to decorate these cookies, so I ran out and bought some icing scribblers–who knew these things existed? And knowing I had no idea how to ice, I figured these would make the decorating much easier and they did. I had decided after cutting out a bunch of gingerbread men to try my star cookie cutter, and then tried my snowflake one on a whim and liked it better than the star, so I had some serious fun decorating these cookies. And, I don’t think they turned out too bad considering I’ve never iced before.

What are you baking this holiday season? Share in the comments below.