Gluten Free Chocolate Ginger Cookies (Soft and Chewy)

These soft and chewy fudgy gluten-free chocolate ginger cookies are a delicious twist on the classic, ginger molasses cookie.

Gluten Free Chocolate Ginger Molasses Cookies on a wire rack.

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Why You'll Love These Gluten Free Chocolate Ginger Cookies
Gluten Free Chocolate Ginger Cookie Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
How To Make The Best Gluten Free Chocolate Ginger Cookies
Substitutions & Variations
Expert Tips
Storage Instructions
FAQ
More Holiday Cookies Recipes You'll Love
Recipe
Reviews

Why You'll Love These Gluten Free Chocolate Ginger Cookies

Indulge in these irresistible soft and chewy gluten-free chocolate ginger cookies. A delicious twist on the classic, gluten-free ginger molasses cookie, these fudgy cookies are bursting with flavor, perfect for the holidays! Here are some more reasons why you will love this gluten free chocolate ginger cookie recipe:

Soft and chewy - These chocolate ginger molasses cookies have the most incredible texture. Soft and chewy with crisp edges and a fudgy center.
Rich and fudgy chocolate molasses flavors with a hint of spice - The combination of warm ginger and rich decadent dark chocolate makes for a unique and delicious holiday cookie.
Easy to make - This is an easy recipe to make during the holiday season the cookies will stay soft and chewy for days. It is the perfect cookie recipe to add to the holiday cookie plate.

You'll need the following ingredients to make these delicious chocolate gluten-free ginger cookies:

Ingredients for gluten free chocolate ginger cookies. Gluten-Free flour, sugar, dark brown sugar, spices, dutch process cocoa powder, espresso powder, butter, molasses, egg,salt baking soda, vanilla extract.

Ingredient Notes

Unsalted Butter: Softened butter creates a lighter tender cookie.
Egg: One large egg adds moisture to the dough and helps bind the ingredients.
Molasses: You'll want to use unsulphured molasses, not blackstrap molasses. Unsulphured molasses has the perfect amount of sweetness, while blackstrap molasses has the lowest sugar concentration and will make the dough taste bitter.
Dark Brown Sugar & White Sugar: The combination of dark brown sugar and organic cane sugar creates a soft and chewy cookie with crisp edges. The chocolate ginger cookie dough balls are rolled in additional white sugar for a crunchy crackly exterior.
Vanilla Extract: Use a high-quality vanilla extract for the best flavor.
Gluten-Free Flour: My favorite gluten-free flour blend to use is Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour. It gives these cookies the perfect texture!
Dutch Process Cocoa Powder: Were using Dutch process cocoa for a rich and fudgy chocolate dough flavor, similar to my gluten-free chocolate crinkle cookies and gluten-free double chocolate chip cookies.
Espresso Powder: Enhances the rich chocolate flavor.
Baking Soda: Two teaspoons of baking soda is what puffs up the cookies and gives them the lift they need to form that signature crack.
Salt: A pinch of salt brings all the flavors forward.
Spices: Ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground nutmeg, and ground cloves, are the perfect blend of gingerbread spices.

Find the printable recipe card with full instructions and measurements below.

How To Make The Best Gluten Free Chocolate Ginger Cookies

Step by step on how to make gluten-free chocolate ginger cookies. Whisk the dry ingredients, cream together the sugars, add the molasses, egg, and vanilla extract.

Step 1: Whisk the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the gluten-flour, dutch-process cocoa powder, espresso powder, ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, baking soda, and salt until combined. Set the bowl aside.
Step 2: Cream the butter and sugars. Add the softened butter, dark brown sugar, and sugar to a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Cream together on high speed for 4-5 minutes until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Step 3: Mix in the molasses. Add the molasses to the bowl and mix for an additional minute.
Step 4: Mix in the egg and vanilla extract. Add the egg and vanilla extract. Mix until fully combined.

Step showing how to make gluten-free chocolate ginger cookies. Add the dry ingredients, roll the dough in sugar, bake.

Step 5: Add the dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and beat until combined and no streaks of flour remain. The dough will be thick and sticky. Cover the bowl and chill the dough for 2 hours or up to 24 hours before baking.
Step 6: Roll the cookie dough balls in sugar. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set them aside. Remove the cookie dough from the refrigerator. If the dough has chilled for over 2 hours, let it come to room temperature for 20 minutes. Pour the extra granulated sugar into a small bowl. Scoop and roll the chilled dough between clean palms into 30-gram balls (2 Tablespoons), weighed on a food scale. Then roll each ball of dough in the cane sugar.
Step 7: Bake Cookies. Place 6 cookie dough balls on a prepared baking sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the cookies have puffed up and crinkled but are still gooey in the middle. (We love the texture at 9 minutes!)
Step 8: Round out the cookies and let them cool. To create bakery-style cookies, use a large circular cookie cutter or circular glass, and coax the cookies into perfect circles while they are hot from the oven if desired. Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to continue cooling.

Gluten Free Chocolate Ginger Cookie, close up of granulated sugar.

Substitutions & Variations

Add chopped chocolate to the mix - Create melty chocolate puddles by adding a ½ cup of your favorite chopped chocolate bar or chocolate chips to the dough.
Dip the cookies in melted chocolate - Once the cookies have cooled, dip half of each cookie in melted dark chocolate or melted white chocolate.
Add crystalized ginger - Sprinkle chopped crystallized ginger onto the tops of the freshly dipped chocolate coating or add ½ a cup of chopped crystallized ginger to the cookie dough.
Make a cookie sandwich - Turn these irresistible chocolate ginger cookies into a cookie sandwich by adding chocolate ganache or vanilla ice cream between two cookies.
Dairy-free chocolate ginger cookies - You can easily make these chocolate gluten free ginger cookies dairy-free by replacing the regular butter with vegan butter, like Earth Balance buttery sticks.

Expert Tips

Use Dutch-process cocoa not natural cocoa powder - I highly recommend using Dutch-processed cocoa instead of natural cocoa because it makes the best cookies! Dutch-processed cocoa has a richer chocolatey flavor and creates a more decadent cookie.
Chill the dough for at least two hours - Chilling the cookie dough allows for the gluten-free flour to properly hydrate while enhancing the flavors of the dough.
Measure using a food scale - I highly recommend weighing your ingredients using a kitchen scale for best results.
Use proper room-temperature butter. Cold or melted butter will not cream properly for this recipe. Pull the butter out of the refrigerator at least 30-40 minutes before starting the recipe. Insert a thermometer into the center of the block of butter—when your butter has reached room temperature, it should read between 65 and 72 degrees.

Storage Instructions

Storage: Store these soft gluten free ginger cookies in an airtight sealed glass container for up to 4 days.
Freezing the raw cookie dough balls: After the dough has chilled in the refrigerator for two hours, scoop and roll the dough into 30-gram balls, and place the balls of dough onto a lined baking sheet and into the freezer for 1 hour. Once the balls of dough are frozen, transfer them to an airtight container or freezer bag for up to 1 month. When ready to bake, remove the dough from the freezer and allow the balls of dough to come to room temperature for 30 minutes. Then roll each ball of dough into the granulated sugar, and bake.
Freezing baked cookies: Once the baked chocolate ginger cookies have cooled to room temperature, place them in an airtight container or freezer-safe bag and into the freezer for up to 1 month. When ready to eat, remove the cookies from the freezer and allow them to come to room temperature.

Gluten Free Chocolate Ginger Cookies inside shot of fudgy center.

FAQ

What kind of dark molasses should I use?

Regular dark unsulfured molasses, like Grandma's brand, creates the best ginger cookies. Blackstrap molasses is too bitter for the recipe, due to its low amounts of sugar.

Why don’t my gluten-free chocolate ginger cookies have cracks?

The combination of baking soda, molasses, and dark brown sugar gives these gluten-free cookies a rise, in which they will puff up in the oven and collapse and crack while cooling. If you have any issues with the crackling, check to make sure your baking soda has not expired and that you are measuring your ingredients with a food scale. Too much flour can be another reason the cookies will not spread and crack.

Does the chocolate ginger cookie dough need to be chilled?

Yes, the gluten-free flour needs to properly hydrate to prevent the cookies from over-spreading or becoming grainy in texture.

More Holiday Cookies Recipes You'll Love

I hope you love this gluten free chocolate ginger cookie recipe as much as I do! If you make it, I’d love to hear how it turned out in the comment box below. Your review will help other readers in the community.