Tasty Treats - Gluten-Free Ginger Snaps

I love sweets.  Have I mentioned this before?  And the winter is a great time to bake.  So I've had to make some modifications to some of my favorite treats.

We tried this one tonite, and it's great.  This is modified from a Pamela's Products recipe.  I didn't have all of the ingredients, so I modified a few.  But the most important part is in the preparation.  I've put all that business in bold. 

To be fair, I'm a slacker baker.  I hardly sift thrice (or even once), so when it comes to prep, I think you should be able to throw all of the ingredients together and pop it in the oven.  So I've made these as simple as possible.

Gluten-free, Cane Sugar-free Ginger Snaps

2 & 1/4 cups of Gluten-Free Flour (I used Whole Foods 365 mix)

1/2 teaspoon salt
1 & 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard  (or 1/4 teaspoon prepared mustard)
1 teaspoon baking soda

1-3/4 sticks cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup maple sugar + 1/4 cup maple syrup (substitute for brown sugar)
1/2 cup brown rice syrup (substitute for molasses)
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

In a medium bowl, combine flour with salt, baking soda, spices and mustard (unless you are using prepared mustard, which is wet - add that in with the brown rice syrup). Whisk together thoroughly and set aside.

In a larger bowl, cream butter with sugar & maple syrup.  Add egg, mix to incorporate.  Add brown rice syrup, mix to incorporate.  Add vanilla.  Add dry ingredients, mix to incorporate.

Refrigerate for one hour to chill.

Using parchment paper on baking sheets, spoon 1/2 teaspoonfuls of dough onto cookie sheet.  You can get between 12-15 on a sheet, but this spreads really easily, so 12 is a safe measure (3x4 rows).

Bake in a preheated 350° oven for 6 to 8 minutes until browned on the edges and the middle does not look wet.  Remove immediately from oven and quickly remove the parchment paper (with cookies still on it) to a counter, so that the cookies stop cooking from the heat of the baking sheet, but still retain their shape.  Do not touch or attempt to move cookies for at least 5 minutes, as they will crumble if they are not cool enough.

Once the cookies are cool, they will be cute little ginger snaps.  There is enough here for at least a week, depending on how quickly you eat your cookies.  Mmm...