Erin’s Recipe Rundown
I love baking up gluten-free gingersnaps during the holidays. They’re simple enough for a cozy night at home, yet impressive enough for a Christmas party or cookie exchange.
A great make-ahead recipe, these easy cookies make holiday baking a breeze and offer a timeless flavor that makes them the perfect treat any time of year.
Why You’ll Love It: These gluten-free gingersnaps have everything you’d want in a classic holiday cookie: deep molasses flavor, cozy spices, and the perfect texture. I even provide instructions on how to make them chewy or crispy so you can bake them just how you like!
Top Tip: Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes. It allows the gluten-free flour to hydrate, help the cookies hold their shape, and creates that signature crackly top.
If you like these cookies, try these gluten-free molasses cookies, gluten-free gingerbread cookies, or this gluten-free gingerbread house! You also might like these gluten-free gingerbread bars or this gluten-free gingerbread cake.
xoxo erin
Featured Comment
From Brianne: “I think these were the best gingersnaps I’ve ever had, gluten free or not. Perfect recipe.”
Ingredients You’ll Need
Here are a few notes on some of the key ingredients to make these gluten-free gingersnaps. Jump to the recipe card below for the exact measurements.
- Gluten-free flour: I recommend using high-quality gluten-free flour blend that contains xanthan gum. This is my favorite brand!
- Molasses: Use unsulfured molasses, not blackstrap. Blackstrap is more bitter and can overpower the cookies. Unsulfured offers a natural sweetness that’s perfect for baking!
- Spices: Ginger, cinnamon, and cloves create the warm gingersnap flavor! You can also use pumpkin pie spice for ease or even fresh ginger for a stronger ginger flavor.
- Brown sugar: You can use light or dark brown sugar. The dark brown sugar will add a stronger molasses flavor and give the cookies a chewier texture!
For more gluten-free Christmas cookies, check out this full collection of recipes! Some favorites include gluten-free sugar cookies, gluten-free snowball cookies and gluten-free thumbprint cookies.
How to Make Gluten-Free Ginger Snaps
Here’s an overview of how to make this recipe. You can jump to the recipe for the full instructions!
In separate bowls: In one bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Using a stand mixer, or a hand mixer and second bowl, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
Add ingredients: Mix the molasses and egg into the butter/sugar. Pause to scrape down the bowl for even mixing, then slowly add in the dry mixture. Scrape again, then mix one more time to ensure everything is fully incorporated.
Chill and roll: Cover the bowl and refrigerate before shaping the dough into 1½ tablespoon-sized balls and rolling them in sugar. If chilled longer than 30 minutes, let the dough sit out so it becomes slightly tacky. We want the sugar to stick for that crackly top!
Bake and serve: Place the dough balls 3 inches apart to allow for spreading. Decision time: Should the gingersnaps be chewy or crunchy? I provide baking times for both options!
MORE GLUTEn-FREE CHRISTMAS TREATS
Gluten-Free Gingersnaps (Old Fashioned!)
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 2¼ cups (337g) gluten-free measure-for-measure flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1½ teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Other
- ¾ cup (170g) butter, at room temperature
- ¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (53g) brown sugar
- ⅓ cup (80ml) molasses
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar, for rolling
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the gluten-free flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and salt.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or using a hand mixer, cream together the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add the molasses and egg and mix until well-combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- With the mixer running on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until well-combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, then mix again until fully incorporated.
- Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or up to 3 days. (If chilling for more than a few hours, let the dough sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before scooping.)
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Scoop the cookie dough into round balls, 1½ tablespoons per ball, then roll in granulated sugar.
- Place on the prepared baking sheets, about 3 inches apart. For chewy cookies, bake for 13-15 minutes. For crisp cookies, bake for 16-18 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Nutrition
This post was originally published in November 2022. It was updated with new photos and instructions in November 2025.
I’m usually not a very good baker, but these were so easy to make! They are absolutely delicious and you can’t even tell they’re gluten free. These will definitely be added to the holiday baking list for years to come!
Hi Kay, that’s great to hear! Thanks so much for sharing and happy holidays!
My cookies didn’t rise and turned out to be one big blob! What did I do?
Hi Deb, sorry these didn’t turn out as expected! It sounds like the dough may need to chill longer. 30 minutes is really the minimum, but an hour or more will ensure they have more structure. It also depends on the temperature of your butter, the type of gluten-free flour used (King Arthur measure-for-measure is best!), and your oven temperature. If your oven runs cool, the cookies may spread before they have a chance to set. Hope this helps!
The best recipe I found . Thanks for sharing !! Sooooo Good ❣️
Hi Leslie, thanks so much for your review! Glad you enjoyed these!
This recipe makes the best-tasting snaps I’ve ever had. I had only one problem in that the balls all melted together on the baking sheet. So, I simply broke them up for easier serving. Next time (tomorrow) I’ll make them again but will put the trays in the fridge for an hour or so prior to baking.
This is my favorite recipe for gingersnaps. Never again will I try another recipe. Thank you for posting this wonderful recipe.
Hi Jan, yes, it sounds like they needed some time to chill before baking to hold their shape. Thanks for the great review!
these are delicious. I have a problem before though. I recently moved to a higher elevation and now all of my cookies are going flat. They used to turn out perfect. Any thoughts on how to fix this?
Hi Kimberly, great question! We recommend reducing the baking soda down to 1 1/2 tsp. If you’re above 6,000 ft, you could cut it to 1 1/4 tsp. You may also need to add 1-2 tablespoons more of gluten-free flour to give them more structure, and chill the dough longer. Start by cutting the baking soda and go from there!
I just made these cookies following the recipe exactly, these are delicious and so hard not to eat them all at once. I made them soft and chewy and baked for 13 minutes, definitely a keeper for baking. Thank you so much for these great cookies.
Hi Angela, you’re so welcome! Glad you enjoyed them!
Delicious.
Hi Rashelle, glad you thought so! Thanks so much for the review!
My family loves these. I have made them twice already!
Hi Martha, that’s great to hear! Glad you’ve enjoyed them!
My gluten free flour mix does not contain xanthan gum. How much xanthan gum should I add to this recipe?
Hi Debbie, the standard is 1 teaspoon xanthan gum per cup of gluten-free flour, so this would need a little more than 2 teaspoons. But we really recommend using a high-quality measure-for-measure flour with xanthan gum for best results, such as King Arthur measure-for-measure gluten-free flour!