Soft and Chewy Gluten Free Gingerbread Men

I have a cookie deadline coming up, and it’s no laughing matter I tell you. There are cookies to be made! Each year, I make a box of Christmas cookies for each of the people on my husband’s team at work. This year, there are 17 cookie-eaters on the list (there were 18, but one person’s freelance contract was up last week and I’m a terrible person because my very first thought was that maybe I can make about 2 dozen fewer cookies and isn’t that a relief?!). Since there are just.so.many.cookies.to.make, I scaled down the boxes this year to 4-inch squares (I buy these sweet little boxes from Jam Paper and Envelope, usually on amazon). What? I’ve got Classic Snacks page proofs due back on the 19th, you see, and they’re not going to review themselves! And I’d rather make fewer cookies and make sure they’re all special than pack the boxes with cheater cookies. These soft and chewy gluten free gingerbread men cookies are the sort of cookies you put on the top of the cookie box. They’re anything but cheater cookies. They’re gingery and cinnamony…

…and they don’t mind a bit if you bite their heads off. Especially if it’s in service of showing their soft and toothsome insides. They’re generous like that.

Don’t get upset, but the dough is sticky. I know I know it’s not great fun to work with sticky cookie dough, but just follow my directions and it’ll all be okay. All you really need to do is roll the dough out between two sheets of unbleached parchment paper when it’s still soft (it will roll out nice and easy), cut out men with a floured cookie cutter, and then place the dough in the freezer to firm up. That will make the dough easy to roll, and the shapes easy to transfer to the baking sheet. Trust me!

Speaking of trust, I almost feel bad that these little guys are so peaceful and trusting. Right up until the moment when they get their heads bitten off. Or perhaps you start with the arms and legs, before you go for the head. So twisted, yet so delicious. The holidays can be confusing!

By the way, if you’re looking for cookie cutters, I seem to find the very best metal cookie cutters in (of all places) my local hardware store. I know! Crazy, right? I’m thinking about doing a post with all my favorite kitchen equipment, large and small, what brands I like best ,and where I buy everything. Like the baking pantry post, but about equipment. What do you think?

The post Soft and Chewy Gluten Free Gingerbread Men appeared first on Gluten-Free on a Shoestring.