Gingerbread Men Question

[HiDee]

I volunteered to make gingerbread men for my son's kindergarten class and the teacher gave me a recipe to use. I told her I was celiac and would be making gluten-free cookies but I'm thinking I'll stick to the recipe as much as possible instead of finding a different one because I think the amount she needs is dependent on the recipe. The only thing is that I don't have or use xanthan or guar gum anymore but I'm thinking chia seed might be okay to help this recipe. And I imagine the molasses should help hold things together as well. I just wanted to run this recipe by the experts and see what you all have to say about converting it.

1 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 cup molasses

2 Tbsp. vinegar

5 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp. soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. cloves

I'm thinking it should be fine to sub gluten-free flour with maybe a tablespoon of ground chia seeds or something. Any thoughts?

P.S. I have no idea why the recipe doesn't call for ginger......

[GottaSki]

I use the standard recipe from the old better homes and gardens red plaid cookbook - only replacement I do is gluten-free all purpose flour worked great.

If others don't chime in I will compare your recipe to it when I get home.

Great idea to provide these so all the kids have the same gingerlessmen for this project - way to go Mom!

[GottaSki]

http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/380827_10150594992533574_977311029_n.webp

Your recipe is identical to mine except mine calls for the additional:

2 teaspoons of ground ginger

[HiDee]

Thanks for the reply! Do you use xanthan gum or do you think it would work fine without?

[HiDee]

PS It's nice to see a picture of how they turn out. Thanks!

[kareng]

http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/380827_10150594992533574_977311029_n.webp

Your recipe is identical to mine except mine calls for the additional:

2 teaspoons of ground ginger

What kind of all purpose flour are you using? Some have the Xantham gum added.

[GottaSki]

I used bob's red mill ap flour for these - I'm fairly certain it has xathan in it.

If you use your own flour mix I think you might need xathan - maybe do a small sample batch - they are yummy or could be crumbled to make a pie or cheese cake crust if they don't turn out perfect for the gingermen the class needs without xantan.

[kareng]

I used bob's red mill ap flour for these - I'm fairly certain it has xathan in it.

If you use your own flour mix I think you might need xathan - maybe do a small sample batch - they are yummy or could be crumbled to make a pie or cheese cake crust if they don't turn out perfect for the gingermen the class needs without xantan.

Open Original Shared Link

Doesn't mention Xantham.

Gingerbread men and palm trees? How do you even know its Christmas there?

[GottaSki]

Certainly not by the weather - Christmas morn always has the best surf - it's called the "Christmas Curl"

And it is usually sunny too

[kareng]

Certainly not by the weather - Christmas morn always has the best surf - it's called the "Christmas Curl"

And it is usually sunny too

So, just to clairfy for the masses who can't wait to make gingerbread palm trees and surf boards...

that was the flour blend you use & it has no "gum" and you add no gum? Just some ginger is the only difference?

[GottaSki]

yep just checked my bag of brm's ap flour - NO xanthan.

To the recipe HiLee posted I only switched to gluten-free all purpose flour and add 2 teaspoons of ground ginger

This was one of the first tradition recipes I used after going gluten-free. I find it often much easier and better tasting to use "trad" rather than "gluten-free" ones - these cookies were identical because they are rolled flat - other cookies are a different story - tasty, but flatter than "trad" recipe.

[GottaSki]

Ps - thanks for checking Karen! I didn't think I had the bag as I dump into a flour container, but do have an emergency bag in the camping supplies.

[kareng]

yep just checked my bag of brm's ap flour - NO xanthan.

To the recipe HiLee posted I only switched to gluten-free all purpose flour and add 2 teaspoons of ground ginger

This was one of the first tradition recipes I used after going gluten-free. I find it often much easier and better tasting to use "trad" rather than "gluten-free" ones - these cookies were identical because they are rolled flat - other cookies are a different story - tasty, but flatter than "trad" recipe.

You will notice that my picture changed to Santa. He is now gluten free and he wants gingerbread!

[HiDee]

Thanks everyone, you're awesome!

[GottaSki]

You will notice that my picture changed to Santa. He is now gluten free and he wants gingerbread!

Love the new picture...thinking I should send my palm tree cookie cutter East to make Santa scratch his whiskers as he wonders why he is getting identical cookies in different parts of the country

Good Luck Dee - great thing you are doing for your son and his class!

[HiDee]

They turned out just fine, though they spread a lot and the cookie cutter shapes kind of got lost after baking if they weren't rolled really thin. It was a little difficult to roll them out because the dough is so sticky and soft (even after a night in the refridgerator), it required a lot of flour for rolling. Mine were definitely more brown than the picture above, maybe it's the kind of molasses. I think if I make them again, I'll cut down the molasses a bit so the dough isn't so sticky. I also added the two tsp. of ginger, I thought it would be a shame to make gingerless men when they were doing the whole gingerbread man story in class and everything.

Thanks again!

[GottaSki]

Oh good start...sorry yours were a bit different then mine.

Yes...definitely took much more flour to roll these than the pre-gluten-free version. It's been a year so I forgot...I found that I used a really small portion at a time leaving several small balls in the frig -- I only baked one sheet at a time in the oven -- not both racks.

If you still have trouble try the rolling between two pieces of parchment paper.

The dough does keep in the frig -- last year we made a lot one day but did keep some dough in the frig to make for family that came to town the week after Christmas.

Edited...forgot...also make sure you dip the cookie cutter in flour...that helps A LOT

[kareng]

I put plastic wrap on the top and bottom of sticky pizza dough while rolling out. I like that I can see thru it.

If they come out blobby shaped, we call them guinea pigs shaped cookies. Or my dad sticks some red hots in the middle before baking and we call them volcanoes.