Gluten Free Soft Molasses Cookies

These suuuuuper soft molasses cookies are a memory that still remains from my mom who passed away when I was six. And I have a copy of this recipe in her handwriting! Of course, her recipe was not gluten-free and called for refined sugars. With some tweaking, I was able to make these delicious cookies gluten-free and free of refined sugars! My daughter prefers these with gluten-free flour over regular flour. She says they are softer. They are in her top 3 favorite cookies!

Notes

• This dough is VERY soft, and it doesn’t have eggs in it. So just be prepared and work it gently.
• Turning the dough out onto plastic wrap and giving it a 1 hour chill really helps the structure. Allowing the butter to chill and set makes it easier to work with, while also giving the flours time to hydrate.

• Tapioca starch is your friend! You can’t really use too much, so don’t feel shy in the amount you put on the counter, your hands, or your cookie cutter.
• Let these cookies fully cool on the cooling rack before you try to stack them for storage. Again, they are very soft!
• While these are spice cookies, we eat them year-round! They aren’t just a holiday cookie in our house.

Gluten Free Soft Molasses Cookies

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These SUPER soft molasses cookies are free of gluten and refined sugars, and I have provided options for dairy free. Trust me, though, so they are so so good! Just delicious, spiced pillows. Yum!

• Author: Jessie
• Prep Time: 80 minutes
• Cook Time: 20 minutes
• Total Time: 2 hours
• Yield: 24, 4-inch cookies 1x
• Category: Sweet Treats
• Diet: Gluten Free

Ingredients

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3/4 cup (155g) unsalted butter, softened (vegan butter works if needing a dairy free option)

1 cup (156g) coconut sugar

1 cup (315g) dark molasses

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup (250g) milk (dairy or almond milk)

1 TBS vinegar

4 TBS baking soda

2 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp salt

4 cups (592g) gluten free flour blend (I prefer Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Baking Flour)

1 cup (148g) gluten free flour blend (I prefer Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Baking Flour)

Tapioca starch for dusting the counter

About 1/2 cup maple sugar for sprinkling on top

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Instructions

1. Mix milk and vinegar and set aside.
2. In a stand mixer, cream butter and coconut sugar for at least 5 minutes until the butter is light and fluffy.
3. While the butter is creaming, whisk the dry ingredients (baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, 4 cups flour) until combined.
4. When butter is finished creaming, add the molasses and vanilla, mixing until fully combined. Then alternate adding the spiced flour mixture, then milk, until it is all incorporated. You will then want to slowly add portions of the 1 cup of flour until your dough starts to come together and look like cookie dough. You may not need all the 1 cup of flour, but I often use that much. This is a time where you eyeball it! The dough will be QUITE soft.
5. Lay out two sheets of plastic wrap on the counter with the long sides slightly overlapping. This will give you a big enough surface area to wrap up the dough. Turn the dough out from your mixer bowl onto the plastic wrap and fully cover. Place wrapped dough in the fridge for 1 hour.
6. When dough has chilled, remove from fridge. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Sprinkle tapioca starch onto your clean counter, then unwrap dough and place on top of the starched counter. Get some of the tapioca starch onto your hands so your hands don’t stick. Pat out to the thickness desired (I like them on the thicker side). Dip a circle cutter into the tapioca starch to prevent dough sticking and cut out circles. I usually a larger circle cutter (4 inches) for larger cookies, but you can make them whatever size works for you!
7. Prepare cookie sheets with parchment paper. As you pick up the cut cookie dough and place on the cookie sheet, they may lose their shape a little bit because of how soft this dough is. Just scooch them back into a circle using your fingers or the cookie cutter. Top your cookies with a sprinkling of maple sugar.
8. Bake at 375 degrees for 8 – 10 minutes. Be careful not to overbake. If you can actually see browning on these cookies with the molasses, you have overbaked them. Gently touch them and feel how firm they are and see if the dough has set.

Notes

You do not have to be nervous using tapioca starch on the counter or your hands. You are not at risk for using too much! Use what you need to in order to prevent sticking.