Loaded with spice and everything nice (but no sugar!), these Gingersnaps are full of flavor but Sugar Free, Nut Free, Gluten Free, and Dairy Free.  Make them as thin as you can to really put the snap in “Gingersnap.”

These cookies do not last long… and I’m the only on in the house eating them.  They’re just that good.  They’re full of ginger, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, and cinnamon, and even when I roll them out super thin, they still have the perfect tenderness that keeps them solidly in the realm of a cookie, not a cracker.

I’m thinking about doing a huge batch of these for the winter holidays to share with neighbors.  Even though these Sugar Free Gluten Free Gingersnaps have to be rolled out, they’re still easy to make.  No decorating needed, no stand mixer needed.  Just 15 minutes of chill time in the refrigerator, and you’re ready to roll (and cut and bake).

These cookies are truly the epitome of what I expect from a Gingersnap – beautifully thin, loaded with spices, and not overly sweet.  I love thick, soft, chewy gingerbread cookies, too, but that’s a different recipe (that I’m working on).  These Gingersnaps are inspired by the Moravian Christmas cookies that are an institution in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Moravian Christmas cookies were made by immigrants from Bohemia (what would now be a part of the Czech Republic) who were members of the Moravian Church and who had settled in the area around Winston-Salem.  They used molasses in their cookies which made them extra crunchy.  Crunchiness aside, the stellar feature of Moravian cookies is their sharp spiciness.  I’ve seen recipes that actually include black pepper and mustard (powdered) to achieve that tongue-tingling pungency. 

But, in developing my own recipe, I found that just using more ginger and cloves achieves the goal perfectly without any unwanted undertones.  Just warm, spicy perfection.

I hope you enjoy these cookies as much as I do.  They have become my go-to cookie lately on days when I want a lot of flavor and comfort but without a lot of fuss.  Happy Baking!

Why You’ll LOVE this Recipe:

• Gluten Free
• Sugar Free
• Nut Free
• Dairy Free
• Low FODMAP
• Low Cholesterol

Ingredients for Gluten Free Gingersnaps:

• Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour
• cornstarch
• baking soda
• kosher salt
• ground ginger
• ground cloves
• ground cinnamon
• ground allspice
• ground nutmeg
• Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks
• egg yolks
• maple syrup
• liquid stevia
• vanilla extract
• cold water

Notes on Ingredients:

Cornstarch – Adding cornstarch gives these cookies an extra tenderness so that they’re truly tender and not chewy.

Ginger, cloves, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg – All of these spices together is a lovely combination, but if you’re missing allspice or nutmeg, that’s okay.  The heavy hitters in this recipe are the ginger, cloves, and cinnamon.  As always, use the freshest spices possible.  This means that I almost always buy my spices in small jars, so that I use them up before they start losing their potency.  You don’t need to buy the most expensive brand, just keep them fresh. 

Maple syrup + liquid stevia – This recipe surprised me, because when I tried adding MORE maple syrup, it didn’t make the cookies sweeter.  It didn’t really do much of anything, oddly.  So, I have kept the amount of maple syrup low to just 4 teaspoons, and I have added a touch of liquid stevia to brighten the sweetness.  With 4 g of sugar in each teaspoon of maple syrup and 4 teaspoon of maple syrup in the entire recipe, that means the entire recipe has just 16 g of added sugars in the form of maple syrup.  Break that down, and that means .3 g of added sugars per cookie.  I’m pretty happy with that.  

Baking Tips for Making Gluten Free Sugar Free Gingersnaps:

1.  Cold Shortening – Keep your Earth Balance cold until you’re ready to use it.  This recipe is a bit like making pie – you want to rub the cold shortening into the dry ingredients using your fingers.  Once the mixture looks like wet sand, then you’re ready to add the wet ingredients.

2. Chill Time – Just 15 minutes in the refrigerator is enough to hydrate this dough and make it easier to roll out.  And that’s the goal with chilling here.  You can keep the dough in the fridge longer, and it should stay soft for a few hours.  If you leave the dough in the fridge for a much longer time (like, say, overnight), you might just need to rest the dough at room temperature for 10-15 minutes to allow the dough to soften a bit.

3. Parchment Paper – In most of my cookie recipes, I usually say that you can line your baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat mats.  However, in this recipe, using parchment paper works best, because we’re actually trying to get these cookies thin, crisp, and snappy.  Because the Silpat mats are made of silicone, the mats provide additional insulation.  Which generally is fine and actually helpful, because it keeps the bottoms of baked goods from burning.  But, for this particular recipe, parchment paper is the better choice. 

4. Roll Out Thin - When you’re ready to roll out, get two large sheets of parchment paper ready.  Sprinkle the bottom sheet of parchment paper with Gluten Free Flour to help keep the cookies from sticking.  Then cover the dough with the second sheet of parchment paper.  Rolling on top of the parchment paper, roll out the cookie dough as thin as possible.  If you can’t get the cookies off of the parchment paper, though, you have probably rolled them out too thin.  Roll them out as thin as you can while still being able to easily transfer them using a flat spatula to the baking sheets.

More Amazing Sugar Free Cookie Recipes

Argentinean Alfajores – Gluten Free Sugar Free

Butter Cookies – Gluten Free Nut Free

Sandwich Cookies – Gluten Free Nut Free

Gluten Free Nut Free Chocolate Chip Cookies – Sugar Free

Gluten Free Cinnamon Thins Cookies