Gluten Free Molasses Cookies

Big, flat cracked allllll over and absolutely utterly chewy and even bendy. I love these so much! What makes these ginger molasses cookies extra chewy is the changes I made to the recipe to make them both dairy and egg free. Let’s talk about it! 

Recipe Origins

Last year I brought you a brown butter ginger molasses cookie recipe, and they are just everything you’d want from a ginger molasses cookie: chewy, flavorful, thick and delicious. They’ve even got those signature gorgeous cracks!  

Except on occasion, I need to bake for people with gluten allergies and so I will usually find a way to swap in oat flour for the all purpose. It isn’t always a 1:1 swap and the prep for the cookie dough tends to be a bit different. The result is always an even chewier texture and I absolutely love it. I think it works exceptionally well in a cookie like this one. 

For this recipe, I decided I’d also use an egg swap because I wanted to not only retain that extra chew but enhance it even more. Without the egg, the cookie has less water in it and it reacts differently when heated. So, it turns out that a bigger, chewier cookie (with even MORE cracks!) is also a great recipe for someone with an egg and/or a gluten allergy! 

Recipe Ingredients 

Butter: unsalted butter, american or european style (82-83% butterfat) is fine. You can use a vegan butter substitute as well (the kind that will brown well). 

Ginger: I use a combination of fresh ginger (minced) and ground ginger. It gives the cookies that signature ‘ginger bite’. If you aren’t sure how much ginger you like just use the ground ginger. 

Cinnamon: ground cinnamon. 

Flaxseed meal: these are ground flaxseeds. They are our egg substitute once we mix the meal with water and let it sit briefly. 

Salt & vanilla: fine sea salt (halve it if using table salt) and pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste. 

Brown sugar: light or dark is fine, it should be soft and not organic (organic tends to be rougher as it has less moisture). 

Granulated sugar: fine granulated sugar. If you want to roll the cookies in sugar before baking, you’ll want a little more than the amount listed in the recipe. 

Molasses: unsulphured molasses (I use Grandma’s). I haven’t tested this with blackstrap molasses, but from previous experience can say it will be a much stronger molasses taste and slightly bitter (some people like that!). 

Oat flour: storebought. If you need to make your cookies gluten free, check the label (oat flour by nature is gluten free but some oat flour brands don’t guarantee it because of the potential cross contamination). 

Baking soda: for leavening. Make sure it’s fresh! 

How to make Gluten Free Ginger Molasses Cookies

Brown the butter: 

Mince the ginger and add it and the spices to the hot butter: 

Let the butter cool and mix the flaxseed and water together: 

Add the salt, vanilla and sugars to the butter and whisk: 

Add the flax “egg” and whisk well

Whisk in the molasses: 

Stir in the oat flour and baking soda: 

Let rest at room temperature, covered: 

Prep the pans & preheat the oven

Scoop, roll in sugar and bake: 

Making the Cookies Ahead of Time 

If you’d like to have this dough ready days, weeks (or months?) before you want to bake it, make the cookie dough, do the room temperature rest and portion the cookies. Roll them in sugar if you like. Then place them on a plate or tray and freeze them for about 15 minutes, until solid. Once solid, transfer to a ziplock bag. 

When you’re ready to bake the cookies, set the frozen dough on the prepared cookie sheets and let them come to room temperature, then bake. 

Gluten Free Ginger Molasses Cookies Recipe 

Gluten Free Ginger Molasses Cookies (also Egg Free)

Super chewy molasses cookies made with fresh and ground ginger, ground cinnamon and unsulphured molasses. This recipe is made with oat flour for extra chew (making the cookies gluten free) and with flaxseed in lieu of the egg.

Prep Time: 20 minutes mins

Cook Time: 13 minutes mins

Rest and Chill Time: 30 minutes mins

Yields: 12 large cookies

5 from 3 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients

• 140g or about 1 stick plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 inch piece fresh ginger minced (optional, for that ginger bite)
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed
• 3 tablespoons cool water
• ½ tsp fine sea salt
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 100g or ½ cup light brown sugar
• 100g or ½ cup fine granulated sugar
• 100g or ⅓ cup molasses grandma’s
• 270g or 2 ½ cups oat flour, gluten free if using cups, pack in the flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

Method

• Brown the butter: place the butter in a light colored small saucepan set over medium heat. Cook, as it melts, then begins to sputter and spit. You’ll see tiny panko-like bits at the bottom of the pan. Keep stirring and cooking, the bits will turn an amber brown then a toasty medium brown. Once they are all brown immediately transfer to a medium sized bowl.
• While butter is hot, add the ginger and spices (ginger and cinnamon) and stir gently. Let it cool.
• Mix the water and ground flax together in a small bowl and let sit for 5 minutes until thickened.
• Into the cooled, spiced brown butter mixture add the vanilla, salt, brown sugar and granulated sugar. Whisk for about 30 seconds.
• Add the thickened flax to the bowl and whisk until the batter becomes cohesive and thick. Add the molasses and whisk for another 20-30 seconds.
• Add the oat flour and baking soda and stir until no streaks of flour remain (the dough will be stiff).
• Cover the bowl and leave at room temperature for two hours or chill in the fridge for an hour.
• Preheat the oven to 350 F and line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• Use a disher to portion the cookies into 2 tablespoons of dough per cookie. Leave enough space for the cookies to spread - at least a 2 inch diameter around each.
• Roll each ball of dough between your palms to smooth it over. The dough will be a lot looser at this stage.
• If you like, roll the cookies in a bowl with granulated sugar to coat them.
• Bake the cookies until cracked all over and there’s a slight color developing around the edges, for about 12 minutes.
• Store leftovers in an airtight container. The cookies are chewier the next day!

Did you make this recipe?

Share & tag me on instagram @buttermilkbysam

11 comments