
These thin and chewy gluten free ginger cookies are rich in warm winter spices with a hint of pepper, and rolled in sugar crystals before baking for a sweet crunchy shell.
Made in a hotter-than-usual oven in just 10 minutes flat, these cookies are rich in molasses for quick browning and deep flavor.


Why this recipe works
These peppery ginger cookies have such a mix of textures: super chewy inside, lightly crisp outside, with those beautiful sugar crystals all over that adds an extra sweet crunch. They’re similar to our gluten free snickerdoodles in their thin chewiness, but with a slightly spicy, peppery bite all their own.
The cookie dough is made easily in one bowl by whisking dry ingredients together first, then mixing in all the wet ingredients at one time. Then, the raw dough is rolled into a log and chilled for a super easy slice-and-bake cookie.
You can even store the cookie dough in the refrigerator and bake only as many cookies you need at one time.
Key ingredients explained
Rather than a pre-mixed blend of fall spices, these wintery cookies are made with a specific blend of ginger, cloves, and pepper. Learn more about the rest of the ingredients in these cookies, and the role each plays in a perfectly baked ginger cookie:


- Gluten free flour – Choose a blend with a finely ground rice flour base and enough structure to support the cookies and prevent them from overspreading during baking. I like Better Batter’s original blend, Nicole’s Best multipurpose (with added xanthan gum as directed by the recipe), or Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 gluten free in the blue bag (with 1/8 teaspoon additional xanthan gum because that blend has too little).
- Baking powder & soda – Add rise, and help the cookies brown quickly in the oven by raising the acidic pH level of the molasses.
- Salt – Balances sweetness and enhances the other flavors.
- Ginger, cloves, pepper – Add earthy, deep, warm flavor, pleasant bitterness, lightly cooling flavor, and a slightly sharp bite.
- Granulated sugar – Adds sweetness, and locks in moisture for added tenderness.
- Molasses – Adds a rich, earthy sweetness and rich color. We use unsulphured molasses (I use readily available Grandma’s brand) for the least amount of bitterness.
- Butter – Adds flavor, moisture, and tenderness to the cookies.
- Egg – One egg helps to bind the cookies together and create structure without making them thick and cakey.
- Vanilla extract – Adds complex depth of flavor.
How to make gluten free ginger cookies (step by step photos)
The full ingredient amounts and instructions are in the recipe card below. Here are some step by step photos to guide you, and explanations of why the recipe instructions call for the steps they do:
1. Make the cookie dough
Whisk together the powdered dry ingredients (gluten free flour blend with xanthan gum, baking powder and soda, salt, ginger, cloves, pepper, and granulated sugar) until well-combined to avoid any clumping that could create uneven cookies.
Add the softened butter, beaten egg, molasses and vanilla all at once on top of the dry ingredients. Mix first superficially to combine the wet ingredients, then slowly widen the movements of the mixing spoon to incorporate more and more dry ingredients. This ensures a fully combined, but not overmixed, result for a smooth cookie dough.








2. Shape and chill the dough
The cookie dough will be thick but soft and sticky. Place a large sheet of parchment or plastic wrap on a clean work surface. Place the dough on top in a rough 1 1/2-inch wide rectangle, enclose in the wrap and cinch the ends.
Rock the enclosed dough back and forth to create a rounded cylinder, and chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, or until firm. This is the easiest way to create cookie dough rounds without handling the dough too much.
3. Slice, shape & coat in sugar
Unwrap the chilled dough, and rock back and forth to round bottom edge, which will have flattened in the refrigerator. Compress the dough by pressing both small ends toward the center until the log measures about 24 centimeters, or about 9 1/2 inches, long.
Use a sharp knife to slice the dough by cross-section every 1 centimeter to create rounded slices, each slice in one swift motion, no sawing which will create unevenness.
Separate out the slices one at a time, and round the slice if necessary by enclosing it gently in the palm of your hand. Press each slice gently in a small bowl with coarse sugar crystals until completely covered on all sides and edges.








4. Bake and cool
Place the shaped and decorated slices about 2 1/2 inches apart from one another on a lined metal baking sheet. The cookies will spread to about double their size in the oven.
If the cookie dough is warm and very sticky to the touch, you can chill it again briefly on the baking sheet. Otherwise, it’s not necessary. The chilling is so the cookie dough is easier to slice and handle.
Bake at 375°F for 8 to 10 minutes, or until set all the way in the center (not glistening wet) and evenly golden brown. If your oven tends to run hot, be sure you’re using an oven thermometer to gauge temperature or watch the cookies carefully during baking. Molasses tends to increase the risk the cookies will burn on the bottom and sides.




Expert tips
Use room temperature butter
In this recipe, both the butter and the egg should be at room temperature. For butter, that means that a finger pressed into the center of the butter will make a dent but not come away feeling greasy. If your butter is too warm, even melted, the dough won’t hold its shape properly.
If your egg is cold, place it in a bowl of very warm water (not hot) and let it sit for about 15 minutes before breaking the shell. Adding a cold egg will cause the butter to become clumpy, and resist proper combining.
Chill the raw cookie dough
The raw cookie dough begins as quite a soft, smooth dough. Chilling it in the refrigerator for 45 minutes makes it easy to slice with a sharp knife, but the bottom of the cookies will still become compressed and flat. This shape doesn’t affect the way the cookies bake or taste, and can be reshaped into a round after slicing.
Slice the dough cleanly
After chilling, the slice-and-bake log should be firm enough to slice cleanly as long as you use a sharp knife and slice in a single motion, without sawing back and forth.
Reshape the dough after slicing
If you want perfectly round cookies, just press each raw slices a little here and there in the palm of your hand to coax it into a more perfect round. Then, continue to shape the dough as you press it gently but firmly into the coarse sugar on all sides.


Ingredient substitutions
Dairy free
Replace the butter Melt or Miyoko’s Kitchen brand vegan butter. Avoid using Earth Balance buttery sticks, since they have a lot of moisture and your cookies will probably spread way too much.
Egg free
There’s only one egg in this recipe, so you should be able to replace it successfully with my favorite egg-replacement, a “chia egg.” To make a chia egg, place 1 tablespoon ground white chia seeds in a small bowl, add 1 tablespoon lukewarm water, mix and allow to sit until it gels.
Ground cloves
You can try replacing the 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves with 1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg, 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon. You can also replace it with pumpkin pie spice, which contains cloves.
Ginger
The ground ginger is what makes these ginger cookies. If you’d like a similar chewy cookie without ginger, try our gluten free molasses cookies. If you’d like to try using fresh ginger root, you’ll need 1 1/2 teaspoons grated ginger, since ground spices are typically twice as potent as fresh.
Fresh ginger has a sharper taste than more mellow ground ginger. It will also add some moisture, so you may need to add another teaspoon or two (3 to 6 grams) all purpose gluten free flour to compensate.
Molasses
If you don’t have unsulphured molasses, and won’t go buy it, try replacing the granulated sugar with dark brown sugar by weight, and replace the 2 tablespoons (42 grams) of molasses with 1 tablespoon extra brown sugar and 1 tablespoon of honey. The cookies have less flavor, but the recipe should still work!
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Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line rimmed baking sheets with unbleached parchment paper and set them aside.
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In a large bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, salt, ginger, cloves, pepper, baking soda, baking powder, and sugar, and whisk to combine well.
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Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the butter, molasses, egg, and vanilla, and mix to combine.
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Press the wet ingredients into the dry using the back of the mixing spoon to work everything together fully. The dough will be very soft but should hold together well and be smooth.
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Transfer the dough to a large piece of plastic wrap or parchment paper and shape into a cylinder about 1 1/2-inches in diameter. Roll the cylinder tightly in the wrapping, rocking it back and forth to create a proper cylinder shape, then twist the ends to seal.
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Place the shaped dough on a flat surface in the refrigerator to chill for about 45 minutes or until firm enough to slice.
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Once the dough is chilled, place it on a cutting surface, rock it back and forth to round the bottom edge again, and unwrap the dough.
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Using a sharp knife and a smooth motion, slice the dough by cross-section into 24 equal pieces, each about 1 cm wide.
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Place the coarse sugar in a small bowl. Working with each slice of cookie dough at a time, coax it into a proper round as some of the edges may be misshapen. Then, press the dough into the coarse sugar firmly enough for it to adhere on all sides.
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Place the rounds of dough about 2 1/2-inches apart from one another on the prepared baking sheets. They will spread significantly during baking.
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Place the baking sheets, one at a time, in the center of the preheated oven. Bake until lightly golden brown all over and set in the center, about 10 minutes.
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Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes or until firm.
I recommend Better Batter’s classic blend without adding xanthan gum, Nicole’s Best multipurpose plus xanthan gum, Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 gluten free (in the blue bag) with an added 1/8 teaspoon xanthan gum. Vitacost Multi-Blend gluten free flour plus xanthan gum also works very well.
For a DIY version of Better Batter or the original Cup4Cup blend, which would work well here, too, see our all purpose gluten free flour blends page.
Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 107kcal | Carbohydrates: 17g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 17mg | Sodium: 80mg | Potassium: 35mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 117IU | Vitamin C: 0.001mg | Calcium: 13mg | Iron: 0.2mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.


Storage suggestions
Store these cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
You can also chill the well-wrapped raw and unsliced log of dough for up to 1 week before baking. Then proceed with the recipe as written.
For longer storage of finished cookies, place them in a freezer-safe zip top bag, squeeze out as much air as possible to prevent freezer burn, and freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost at room temperature.
FAQs
Yes! When you first make the cookie dough, it’s too soft to slice into disks with even the sharpest knife. Chilling it in the refrigerator while it’s wrapped tightly for between 30 minutes and one hour makes it possible to slice it properly into 1 centimeter wide disks.
You can use Sugar In The Raw, which is a brand of coarsely ground turbinado sugar that has larger crystals that have more texture and add some sparkle. It’s available in most larger grocery stores in the baking aisle. If you can plan ahead, try these large, clear sugar crystals.
These cookies are thin and chewy, lightly-sweet, and packed with warm spices and an ever so slightly crisp edge. What they are not is crispy and crunchy. We’ll leave that to our gluten free gingersnaps cookies, which actually snap when you break them open!
No, these cookies are made to spread in the oven into rounds, and won’t hold a shape cleanly if you attempt to roll out and cut the dough with cookie cutters. Instead, try our wildly popular recipe for gluten free gingerbread men is waiting for you.
The 1/8 teaspoon, or just a dash, of freshly ground black pepper gives these soft ginger cookies a tiny bit of a bite, to go along with the warmth of the ginger and cloves. It doesn’t make them taste “peppery,” though. If you’d rather not have that flavor, or you can’t have pepper, just leave it out.
No, blackstrap molasses is much more bitter and less sweet than unsulphured molasses. I don’t recommend baking cookies with it.
If you don’t have and don’t want to wait until you can buy Sugar in the Raw, you can just coat the outside of the cookies in regular granulated sugar. It won’t sparkle like coarse sugar, since the cookie dough will mostly absorb it, but it should still form a thin sugary crust on the outside.
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