Healthy Gingersnap Cookies (No Gluten, No Refined Sugar)

These Healthy Gingersnap Cookies have just the same classic taste, but with no gluten, no refined sugar, no eggs, and no dairy!

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While the whole recipe is just below, don’t miss all my tips further down, including ingredient swaps, my cooking tips, and step-by-step shots!

Healthy Gingersnap Cookies

These Healthy Gingersnap Cookies have just the same classic taste, but with no gluten, no refined sugar, no eggs, and no dairy!

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time: 10 minutes mins

Cook Time: 18 minutes mins

Total Time: 28 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 8 cookies

Calories: 179.6 kcal

Author: Carine Claudepierre

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Ingredients

US Customary – Metric

• ▢ 1 cup Oat Flour - (note 1)
• ▢ ½ cup Almond Flour - (note 2)
• ▢ 3 tablespoons Melted Coconut Oil - (note 3)
• ▢ 1 tablespoon Molasses - (note 4)
• ▢ ¼ cup Maple Syrup - (note 5)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
• ▢ ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
• ▢ 1 ¼ teaspoons Ginger - (read note 6 to adjust ginger intensity)

To roll the cookies

• ▢ 1-2 tablespoons Coconut Sugar

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Lightly oil the paper with cooking oil spray. Set aside.
• Before you start, read note 6 carefully so you can decide now how much ginger you will add based on your taste buds.
• Place coconut sugar in a small bowl. Set aside for later.
• In a large mixing bowl, add oat flour, almond flour, cooled, melted coconut oil, molasses, maple syrup, ginger, baking soda, and cinnamon.
• Use a rubber spatula to stir, pressing all ingredients together until they form a consistent, soft, and sticky cookie dough.
• Oil your hands, grab 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough and roll into a ball, drop the cookie dough ball in the bowl containing coconut sugar and roll to coat fully.
• Place the sugar-coated cookie dough balls on the prepared baking sheet, oil the palm of your hand, and press the dough ball to flatten into a disc. The cookies will expand just a little, but the thickness you give now is basically what you get at the end. For crunchier cookies, make them flatter. For softer cookies, keep them a bit thicker.
• Repeat the steps above until you have formed 8 cookies, leaving 1 inch of space between each of the flattened cookies.
• Bake the cookies for 18-20 minutes at 350°F (180°C) until nicely golden brown and lightly cracked on the border.
• Let them cool down for 20 minutes at room temperature, on the baking sheet.
• Transfer onto a cooling rack for another hour, and they get their exact texture after they reach room temperature.

Notes

Note 1: Use gluten-free certified oats as needed and blend in a high-speed blender to make your own oat flour. You can’t swap oat flour for almond flour, the cookies would not crunch.

Note 2: Or more oat flour, but the cookies get way drier and lose their little chew! Other options are sesame seed flour, cashew flour, or sunflower seed flour in the same amount.

Note 3: Or plant-based butter, these two options guarantee the crunchy texture in your gingersnap. If you use other oil, like mild olive oil, they won’t crunch as much as they cool down.

Note 4: Or more maple syrup.

Note 5: Or agave syrup, coconut nectar.

Note 6: I recommend you taste the raw batter since all the ingredients are safe to be eaten raw. If you find the ginger flavor too mild, you can increase it by 1/4 teaspoon at a time. I am a huge ginger lover, and I use 2 teaspoons of ground ginger, which delivers an intense ginger flavor. For mild flavor, use 1 teaspoon. For a medium-flavor use 1 1/2 teaspoons.

Note 7: Or date sugar, or brown sugar. Rolling the gingersnap into sugar before baking ensures a crunchy cookie that crackles just a little on the border as you expect from a classic gingersnap recipe.

Oven Mode: I use the fan-forced (convection) mode. If you have to use conventional mode, I recommend increasing the temperature by 25°F (15 °C). The baking time should be the same, but it might take a few more minutes.

Storage: Store in an airtight cookie box for up to 7 days in the fridge. They stay crunchy if they are stored in an airtight environment. 

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Nutrition

Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 179.6kcal | Carbohydrates: 20.4g | Protein: 3.7g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 4.8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.8g | Sodium: 73.4mg | Potassium: 117.2mg | Fiber: 1.9g | Sugar: 8.4g | Vitamin A: 0.7IU | Vitamin C: 0.03mg | Calcium: 41.7mg | Iron: 1mg | Magnesium: 30mg | Phosphorus: 68.8mg | Zinc: 0.6mg

Ingredients and Substitutions

You only need a few simple ingredients to make this recipe. Here’s how to pick and swap them.

• Oat Flour – This ingredient provides structure to the cookies. It gives them a lovely texture and works as a solid gluten-free base. You can make it easily at home by blending rolled oats into a fine powder.
• Almond Flour – This gives the cookies a delicate, slightly chewy quality that almond flour is known for. You can also use other nut or seed flours like sesame, cashew, or sunflower seed flour in the same amount. The cookies won’t have the same chew if you use more oat flour, and they can get a little drier.
• Melted Coconut Oil – This is the primary fat in the recipe. It gives the cookies a wonderful, classic gingersnap crunch as they cool. Plant-based butter also works well, as both of these fats solidify when chilled to create that desired texture. Other oils like mild olive oil are fine, but the crunch won’t be as pronounced.
• Molasses – This ingredient is the key to the classic gingersnap flavor. It provides a deep, rich, and slightly smoky taste and a bit of color. For a lighter flavor, you can simply use more maple syrup.
• Maple Syrup – This is a natural sweetener that also adds moisture to the cookie dough. Agave syrup or coconut nectar also work as liquid sweeteners in this recipe.
• Cinnamon and Ginger – These spices create the warm, inviting flavor of gingersnap cookies. The ginger is the star of the show, and I love that you can adjust the amount to create a flavor that’s perfect for you, from mild to intensely spicy.
• Baking Soda – This is the leavening agent that helps the cookies rise and gives them a tender crumb.
• Coconut Sugar – Rolling the cookie dough in this sugar before baking creates a beautifully crunchy exterior and adds a nice sweetness. It gives the cookies that classic “crackled” look on the outside. Date sugar or brown sugar are also great options.

Carine’s Baking Tips

Let me share a few more tips for perfect gingersnap cookies.

• Adjust the Ginger – The ginger flavor is entirely up to you! I recommend tasting the raw batter to adjust the amount of ground ginger to your preference. If you prefer a mild ginger taste, one teaspoon might be enough. If you love a spicy kick, like me, you might want to add up to two teaspoons.
• Don’t Skip the Roll – Don’t skip the step of rolling the cookie dough in coconut sugar before baking. This simple step is key to creating that wonderful crunchy texture you expect from a classic gingersnap cookie.
• Keep Them Crunchy – It’s important to let the cookies cool completely on the baking sheet before transferring them. They are still soft when they come out of the oven. Letting them sit and cool allows them to finish setting up and develop their final crunchy texture.
• Chill the Dough – While this recipe doesn’t call for it, chilling the dough for 20-30 minutes can help prevent the cookies from spreading too much in the oven. It also allows the flours to fully hydrate, which can improve the final texture.
• Achieve the Crackle – To get that classic crackled look, be sure to roll the dough balls in the coconut sugar generously. Pressing the cookies into a disc before baking also helps create a wider surface area for the sugar to crack.
• Perfectly Baked – When the cookies are done, the edges will be a lovely golden brown and the centers will look dry. You can also look for light cracks on the borders, which is another great sign of a finished gingersnap.

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