Flourless chewy ginger molasses cookies are delicious gluten free holiday cookies, made with real food ingredients! These chewy molasses cookies are a healthier version of the childhood favorite molasses cookies your grandma made. With real molasses, candied ginger chips and no oils, this may be your new favorite molasses cookie recipe! Vegan option in recipe.
After last month’s Amaretto cake bites for breakfast confessions, I feel like I can tell you all just about anything. So it’s official, I’ve switched to eating flourless chewy ginger molasses cookies for breakfast. Just kidding. Kinda.
But let’s back this up and I’ll tell you how these flourless molasses cookies got to my breakfast plate in the first place.
Two words.
Hello NOVEMBER!
Actually no, HELLO HOLIDAYS. And 2 months till 2018. Goodness gracious, I do not understand where time goes. But don’t we always say that? The fact is, these next 2 months are going to FLY and be filled with all kinds of holiday shenanigans. Including treats, boozy and all.
Which leads me back to my first confession and semi tangent start. Cookies for breakfast. Again…Oops.
But what if we could make November a littler healthier? If we’re going to enjoy holidays and holiday food, the least we could do is make it a wee bit healthier. Why? Because a little goes a long way.
Here’s my thinking in regards to my statement above: Maybe we have a theme for this month (and next really). We can call it Nurturing November or Nourishing November? We’re nurturing our mind and soul by enjoying the season’s best. AND… we are nurturing our body by making holiday recipes a little healthier.
Maybe that can justify my cookies for breakfast, yes? Haha! Mmmm Molasses Cookies. Be still, my chewy, flourless cookie-loving heart.
Alright, so let’s kick off Nurturing November!
Today I am all making flourless candied ginger molasses cookies and adding a little zing of nutrition and taste!
And here’s why:
These flourless cookies are… drum roll please…
Made with real food ingredients –> Almond butter, molasses, ginger, cinnamon, eggs, unrefined sugar, and a just a handful of candied (crystallized) ginger chips. Okay fine, the candied ginger chips are not the healthiest, but they are still real food, and mighty tasty!
Don’t have eggs? No prob! These molasses cookies are delicious with flax egg as well. Or you can make my cranberry molasses cookies.
Secondly, no oil or butter is needed. These lovely cookies are deliciously nutritious; grain free and dairy free folks!
And third, the health perks of molasses and ginger actually make these molasses cookies suitable for breakfast.
- Do you know that 5 tablespoons of molasses contains 95 percent of your daily allowance of iron? This is great for those with anemia or vegans/vegetarians who may not get enough iron in their diet already.
- Do you know that using ground ginger powder for baking is an excellent way to sneak in more immunity boosting nutrients into your diet?
All this to say that the key to making a good holiday cookie doesn’t have to include the traditional flours and sugars. In fact, sometimes I find the ones that taste the best are the flourless cookies that pack in a punch of spice and texture. I suggest you make these for your next holiday gathering and have others test out this cookie concept themselves. Report back with your findings. Mmmm k? Thanks.
A few notes before we start making the flourless chewy ginger molasses cookie recipe:
- If you don’t have arrowroot flour/starch, you can use tapioca flour, but the texture will be a little different.
- Brown sugar can replace the coconut sugar, but brown sugar is refined sugar. Just so you know.
- Lastly, I made these at altitude. Ugh, like 3 times. So I give suggestions on how to bake them on different sheets/parchment in the recipe notes.
- If you are looking for candied ginger chips or crystalized ginger, I buy these. SO GOOD!
- These cookies can also be made flat and crispy. I’ve made them both chewy and crispy, so be sure to check out notes in recipe for your preference.
- Lastly, if you are in need of flourless baking tips, you must check out Run with Spoons Flourless Baking Cookbook. It’s perfect for the holidays! This recipe is inspired by that book. Thank you AMANDA!
Candied Ginger Molasses Cookies {Flourless}
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 12–15 cookies 1x
Description
Flourless chewy ginger molasses cookies are delicious gluten free holiday cookies, made with real food ingredients! Easy to make, no oils, dairy free, healthy, and delicious!
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup dark molasses
- 2 Tablespoons coconut palm sugar or brown sugar divided) – see notes for substitutes
- 1 cup no stir creamy almond or peanut butter
- 1 large egg (at room temperature works best) – see notes for vegan flax egg option.
- 1 Tablespoon arrowroot starch or tapioca starch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅔ cup candied ginger chips (or chopped crystalized ginger)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350ºF (176ºC) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. You can also use aa non-stick baking mat. See notes.
- In a large bowl, combine your molasses and almond butter, mix together. Add your egg and coconut sugar and beat with hand mixer or stand mixer until smooth.
- Add the arrowroot starch, spices, and baking soda, mixing until well combined.
- Fold in your ginger chips.
- You can either place the dough in the fridge to harden a bit or immediately Scoop out a large tablespoon of dough, roll into a ball, and then place on a cookie sheet. Continue to roll dough into balls until dough is used up, spacing 2 inches a part. The oils from the nut butter might start to drip from the dough, but that shouldn’t be a problem when baking.
- Sprinkle extra sugar on top or roll each ball in a little bit of extra sugar. .
- Bake for 9-11 minutes on silicon mat or 8-10 minutes on regular parchment. Check at 7 minutes in case your oven cooks fast. If you want more chewy, remove cookies at 7-9 minutes.
- Remove and let cool 10 minutes before place on cookie plate or storing. Store in ziplock bag or airtight container.
- See notes for vegan option.
Notes
- These molasses cookies can be cooked for flat and crispy texture as well. I’ve made them both chewy and crispy . If you want the cookies to be crispy, simply use your hand or flat-bottomed jar to flatten each cookie before baking. Be sure to place the flat cookie dough evenly on cookie sheet with extra space. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove and let cool 10 minutes before storing.
- For VEGAN ginger molasses cookies, replace the egg with flax egg (1 tablespoon ground flaxseed mixed with 2-3 tablespoon water. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes to gel). Add the flax egg where it calls fo egg, just do not over beat. Stir in remaining ingredients. Let it chill in freezer for 5- 10 minutes before rolling into balls. Baking times will vary for vegan option. Closer to 12-14 minutes. Do not touch them until cooled.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: dessert
- Method: baked
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 120
- Sugar: 8g
- Fat: 7g
- Saturated Fat: 2g
- Carbohydrates: 11g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 3g
Keywords: cookies, molasses cookies, flourless, gluten free, dairy free, holiday desserts
Ending confession. Every morning the kiwi rides to work. This wife (me) has been sending him off with a cookie in hand. Heck, it’s healthier than most of those dense energy bars anyway. Yep, that’s the way I nurture my husband’s need.
Favorite holiday cookie? Are you up for Nurture November? Haha, please say YES!!
Cookie consumption justified. BAM!
Cheers friends!
Wow. I made these yesterday and I’m making them again today. I subbed the egg with a flax egg, peanut butter instead of almond butter, maple syrup instead of the coconut sugar, and tapioca instead of the arrowroot, just because that’s what I had available. They came out amazing. I’ll be making these a LOT. Thank you.
★★★★★
Hi, I am dying to try this recipe ? but I am not sure if I use honey instead of sugar. Would it be ok?
Thanks
Hmmm I think it may change cookie texture. A sugar free substitute can be used, like stevia baking sugar (will be more sweet), Swerve, or you could even use raw cane sugar.
If you do end up trying it with honey, lmk how it goes!
I followed the recipe but the mixture was nowhere near a consistency that could be rolled in to a ball, and I even added a third of a cup of almond flour to try and firm it up. I assume this is because I didn’t freeze the mixture. I will try again, because they were delicious.
Oh sorry to hear. Yes, definitely freeze. It helps a ton!! Did you use a different flour?
I used arrowroot starch, but I also used dark brown sugar instead of coconut sugar. I will certainly try this recipe again. I have a silicone truffle mold I could use to freeze the batter in.
Please keep me posted!
These are absolutely delicious cookies! As s cyclist, it is great to find cookie recipes with no flour of any sort and no unrefined sugar (except maybe in the ginger chips). Thank you so much for creating this recipe. I will use the rest of the ginger chips this weekend To make a second batch. They keep very well!
Oh I am so glad! Yes, they are actually great for breakfast too. Hehe! MErry christmas sarah!
I love cookies, especially the simple recipe. I will make them for my family this weekend. When I come across a problem, I will come back.
These are so yummy, made them last week. My hubby asked me to make them again tonight!
Oh yay!! so glad! They are delicious I agree. Haha
LOOKS SO PERFECT GIRLFRIEND.
i’ll pick up two dozen tomorrow 😉
I want a stack!
Oooh, I need to get my hands on some of these!
You can send me off to work with these, and by work I mean juggle the tiny human. Hell I’d feel good about sharing these with her too, even if I don’t actually want to share. At least I know she’d be getting real food ingredients and a shitton of iron.
I would gladly deliver this and coffee (maybe with a shot of bourbon) to you any day! How are you? I miss your face.
So much goodness in these cookies, Linds! And I love the molasses in there… it is SO good for us. So I need to eat more cookies, right? I like your theme for November. We need more of this, especially during the holidays when our time for nurturing can be sucked up by all the things. Delicious work my dear! xo
Nut butters can make seriously amazing cookies without the regular butter. I love that you’re going with the Nurturing November theme. One thing I never get from your blog is restriction but nourishment and excitement about finding ways to fuel the body and mind and soul with such good, delicious food. Bookmarking these to make soon!
Nourishing November… On it!! LOVE ginger! Favorite cookies… Anything molasses/ginger/snickerdoodle 🙂
Is there a sweetener replacement I can use? I love ginger molasses cookies, but am diabetic and I can’t eat any sugar…even palm sugar. I am just learning to cook with sweetener replacements so I am asking first rather than experimenting for myself ;> Thanks! (PS I am following the THM eating plan to help control my diabetes)
totally understand! Are you wanting to replace molasses?
no the palm sugar. Will one of the THM products work? or truvia or pyure or stevia in the raw? These look so yummy..I can have the molasses, for some reason it doesn’t raise my BS levels, but any kind of sugar will…
You can totally use Stevia in the raw! I did that too. Super easy and still tasty. Keep me posted Jackie
Any baked goods are my favorite. Bonus if they include chocolate. 😉
or bourbon. right? 😉
I love ALL cookies. LOL Will you send me a batch of these for my birthday pretty please?
Anything for you!
OMG !!!! You know this is all for me!!!!!!! ?????????????????????????
I shall deliver!
I am in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
These look and sound amazing. I love the fact about iron and molasses. Around here people drink Guinness when they need iron. It actually used to be prescribed to pregnant women to keep their iron up. Personally I’ll go with cookies for iron. Gorgeous!
Haha no way! My husband is part irish so he love guinness!
I love everything about these cookies 🙂
and I love you!