These zippy ginger molasses crinkle cookies are gluten-free, paleo friendly and filled with holiday spice.
I love the smell of the holidays. We’ve got a few weeks yet to go before the season really gets under way, but I couldn’t resist getting a head start on the festivities with a batch of spicy ginger molasses cookies.
Nothing speaks of holiday cheer like fresh homemade cookies and the sweet, inviting smell that envelopes your home as they come out of the oven. The act of baking is so intimately tied to moments of celebration and joy; the scent of spice, warm and rich, soothes the senses and instantly puts everyone in a cheerful mood. Cookies are certainly the perfume of the holiday season.
With their crackly tops and spicy complex flavor these paleo ginger cookies are high on my list of cold weather favorites.
Soft and chewy thanks to the hint of molasses, they invigorate your palate with a zippy combination of both fresh and dried ginger for a well-rounded, deep spiciness. Pleasantly spicy without being hot, the two layers of ginger create a deeper dimension of heat each building upon the other, quietly supported by the gentle warmth of cinnamon and allspice.
Thankfully they come together in a matter of minutes and are as easy as can be. Just a few minutes of measuring, grating and whisking results in a soft dark dough that’s then scooped by the spoonful onto awaiting baking sheets; puffing up and out as they bake, creating the hallmark cracks of a traditional crinkle cookie but without any gluten or grains.
Time to get baking, the season is nearly here!
More gluten-free holiday cookies:
Chewy Paleo Ginger Cookies
Made with spicy ginger, cinnamon and molasses, these chewy paleo ginger molasses cookies will be a cookie jar favorite.
Ingredients
- 1 cup/256g almond butter (roasted unsalted)
- 3 Tablespoons/45g unsulphured molasses
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger root
- ¾ cup/144g coconut sugar
- ¼ cup/30g coconut flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- A pinch of freshly ground pepper
Instructions
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper . Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or by hand, beat together the almond butter, molasses, eggs and freshly grated ginger until smooth.
- Into a medium bowl, sift together coconut sugar, coconut flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, salt and pepper.
- Slowly add the sugar and spice mixture to the almond butter mixture while mixing on low until just combined.
- Drop the dough by the rounded teaspoonfuls about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
- Bake cookies, rotating baking sheets halfway through, until firm around the edges and starting to crack in the center (the cookies will looked slightly puffed but will flatten and crackle more as they cool), about 8 minutes. Cool 2 minutes on the baking sheets out of the oven then transfer the parchment paper with the cookies to wire racks to cool completely.
Notes
Gluten-Free, Grain-Free, Paleo Friendly
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
30Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 94Total Fat: 5gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 12mgSodium: 85mgCarbohydrates: 10gFiber: 1gSugar: 9gProtein: 2g
Nutritional information for recipes contained on this website, such as calories, fat, carbs, etc. are only estimates and are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Sylvie Shirazi is the recipe developer and food photographer behind Gourmande in the Kitchen. For the last 10 years she's been making eating more healthfully easy and accessible with gluten-free, grain-free, paleo and vegan recipes that are free from processed ingredients.
Renee says
I've been waiting to make these for the holidays and am so happy! Molasses cookies is one of my favorites and these are amazing. I subbed in arrowroot flour for the coconut flour and added 1/2 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger. WOW! Super excited to share these at Thanksgiving tomorrow. 🙂 Have a wonderful Holiday! Peace.
AniaK says
Could another nut butter be substituted for the almond butter? I would love to make these for Christmas, but the sister-in-law has a mild almond allergy.
Thanks much!
Sylvie says
You can try sunflower butter for a nut-free version but be warned that it may give the cookies a slight greenish hue as it has a tendency to in a lot of baked goods. If it's only almonds you need to avoid then I'd suggest trying cashew butter but the color of the cookies won't be as brown. Hope that helps!
Magical Mysteria says
Just made a batch of these and they have such a great texture and flavour you’d never know they were gluten free. Love the rich ginger molasses taste, simply fantastic. Your recipes never disappoint.
Sylvie says
Thanks so much, I'm glad to hear you enjoyed them!
Linda says
Hi Sylvie. These look amazing. Do you have any idea of the carb count for those of us following a LCHF diet?
Sylvie says
Hi Linda unfortunately I don't, but as they do use coconut sugar as a sweetener that is going to increase the carb count in these some. The best bet would be to input the ingredients into a nutritional calculator (like this one: http://nutritiondata.self.com/mynd/myrecipes/welcome?returnto=/mynd/myrecipes) which should give you a more accurate carb count. Hope that helps!
Becky says
Hi, I entered the recipe just as written in Spark Recipes and with 30 cookies, each cookie has 4.8g Carbs and 2.5g Protein.Hope that helps! 🙂 I have to tweak most dessert recipes because hubby is diabetic and we both eat Paleo/Primal and really watch his carbs, so I was pleasantly surprised that this one wasn't as high in carbs as I initially thought it would be. I'll be making these for us and for Christmas gifts this year :-)Thanks for what looks like a great recipe!
Sylvie says
That's very helpful, thank you so much for taking the time to do that Becky!
Lorraine says
Hello,
I've decided these will be Santa's cookies this Christmas. My son is now 2, so it's time to start the family traditions! I am not a big fan of coconut flavoured things. Do you think I could replace the coconut sugar with white organic sugar and the coconut flour with a grain four (wheat, kamut or spelt)? Thanks!
Sylvie says
Hi Lorraine, Coconut sugar actually doesn't taste like coconut at all, it's similar to brown sugar with a caramel-like taste. That being said if you'd prefer to use a natural brown sugar here you could do that as well. Unfortunately you can't replace the coconut flout with regular flour as they have very different properties and can't be substituted for one another and the small quantity used in the recipe will not give it a coconut flavor either. Hope that helps!
Lorraine says
Thanks for the information! I don't bake very often but I'm going to be adventurous this year and try your cookies. You should get a message from me in December. I'll tell you how they turned out.
Leanne @ Healthful Pursuit says
Yes! These are awesome. Can't wait to share them this week 😀
Kate says
Not that you need another pat on the back, but I made these tonight and they were awesome! Chewy as promised and high on flavor, best cookie I've made so far!
Sylvie says
Glad to hear that!
Carrie C says
Just made these; I had to reduce the sugar to make it a little lower carb, but OH MY GOODNESS these are amazing. I tried a few other paleo/gluten-free recipes recently that were truly TERRIBLE, so I was reluctant to try another one...but I'm so glad I did! These are excellent, thank you!
Sylvie says
I'm so happy to hear that! I'm very glad you enjoyed them.
Luv What You Do says
Yum! I love ginger cookies!
These look delish!
Jasmine | The Gluten Free Scallywag says
ohmygoshness, these looks so full of deliciousness I could nearly bust out a happy dance right here! Definitely making these babies.