Gluten Free Gingerbread

 Gluten Free, those two words have been sending a shiver down my spine ever since my daughter was diagnosed Gluten Intolerant in 2017.

Proudly iced by Miss 10 and Master 8

It was around October and I remember selfishly thinking about all the yummy baked goods I was going to miss out on at Christmas.

Well duh! Mum. You're missing out on them because your daughter can no longer eat them.

That moment of self pity lasted only for a few minutes but that was long enough. I set myself the goal of finding Gluten free variations of all our favourites.

It took a while. I have scars from the oven racks for all my failed attempts at a gluten free pizza base and I have not yet been able to find a GOOD gluten free cinnamon roll recipe...that works for us! ( I know there are A LOT out there)

Gingerbread was one of the easier Christmas treats to make Gluten Free.

The recipe I use seems to tick all the boxes.

Gluten free

Tastes good

Can be rolled to make a Gingerbread family. ( I have not yet attempted a Gingerbread House but I think its on the cards this year)

I'm sharing the recipe I use mainly so other gluten free mums who, like myself, are not professional bakers may find it and breathe a sigh of relief. I found as I was reading through recipe after recipe that they all declared to be the best GF, and they went in to the science about why they use the flour they do when all I wanted them to say was "This looks like gingerbread, this tastes like gingerbread and it won't make your Gluten Intolerant family members ill" Hmm, think I should have used that as my Post title!

There is a whole paragraph needed to discuss Xanthan Gum when baking GF but as I do not use it in this recipe I'll save it for another day.

Recipe

350 grams GF Plain Flour

175 grams Brown Sugar

100 grams Butter

80 grams Golden Syrup

1 teaspoon Bicarb Soda

1 tablespoon Cinnamon

1 tablespoon Ground Ginger

1 egg

First up you are going to melt the Butter, Sugar and Syrup in a small saucepan on the stove. Once its all melted and mixed together set it aside to let it cool.

Next you need to mix together your flour, spices, and Bicarb soda in a mixing bowl.

Mix in the egg

Once cooled stir in your butter mixture.

Right... here is where it gets tricky.

Your mixture will be sticky and runny. You can leave it as it is, pour it on to a greased baking tray and pop it in the oven @200C for around 8 - 15 minutes. I know that seems pretty vague. You will know when it is ready. Firm around the edges not too soft in the middle. It will harden as it cools, after which you can slice it into squares. Or, I once used cookie cutters to make Halloween shapes from the cooked slice.

If you want to roll it out and cut your shapes prior to baking you will need to add around another cup of flour, Mix it all together. It will still seem sticky but it will also do that thing where it pulls together and leaves the sides of the bowl clean. ( Did I mention I'm not a professional?)

Once your dough is like that, stick it in the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes. Today I pulled mine out right on the 30 minute mark and it was still warm - I'm not a follow the rules kind of baker, I did not let my butter mixture cool - it still worked but remained sticky for longer than it would have had it been chilled.

Once it is chilled, throw some more GF flour on your work top and pour your gingerbread mixture on top. work the flour in until it is easy to work with and doesn't stick to you like flies on a summers day.

Then roll out and cut with whichever cookie cutter shape you please. Today I took the only two Halloween shapes I could somewhat pass off as Christmas shapes which is what my son asked for. We ended up with 'Ghosts of Christmas past' and 'Snow Webs'

Doing it this way may make your gingerbread a little drier however I have never made a batch that was crumbly and inedible.

Place the shapes on a greased baking tray and bake for 8-10 minutes @200C

I have had times where there has been excess flour on my cookies, it brushes off with a pastry brush and once iced you'd never know it was there. Like I said, I'm no professional, just a Mum trying to provide fun baking for my GF kid.

We don't do Royal Icing in our home. I think I've asked my Best Friend for her Royal Icing recipe for at least the last 3 years running with grand plans to attempt to be artsy and each year - this year being no different - I've just made the most basic of basic icing and let the kids have their fun.