Gingersnaps
Sometimes all you need is a homemade gingery snap to jazz up your day. Ginger cookies are, after all, a perfect punctuation to October’s turning leaves. I’m grateful to have found this BabyCakes gluten-free recipe to keep my ginger habit going. It was a great excuse for me to buy a melon baller, which you’ll absolutely need because the dough is supremely sticky. I found that slightly wetting the heel of my hand before pressing each cookie helped a lot. Instead of making applesauce from scratch (which BabyCakes does), I used organic unsweetened applesauce.
These cookies are very chewy and should be handled with a metal spatula, but are absolutely worth the effort. They really should be spaced apart at least two inches.
Gingersnaps
¾ cup coconut oil
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon sea salt
3 tablespoons molasses
2 tablespoons vanilla
1.25 cups evaporated cane juice
2 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour
¼ cup flax meal
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 tablespoon ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
1.5 tsp xanthan gum
Preheat oven to 325 and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, combine oil, applesauce, salt, molasses, vanilla, and cane juice. In another medium bowl, whisk flour, flax, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, and xanthan gum. With a rubber spatula, add dry ingredients to the wet mixture a little bit at a time, and stir until a thick batter is formed. Using a mellon baller and a small spoon, scoop the batter onto the sheets, spacing the cookies at least 2 inches apart. Gently press on each cookie with the (wet) heel of your hand to help them spread. Bake on the center rack for 15-16 minutes, and rotate the pans 180 degrees after around 10 minutes. Let cookies rest on the sheets for 10 minutes. With a metal spatula, transfer them to a wire rack to cool.