Gluten-free gingerbread mummy cookies

Make this Halloween extra special with these easy mummified gluten-free gingerbread men. Don’t be afraid! They’re just cookies.

Never fear! They may be wrapped up like mummies, but they’re really just snappy and sweet gluten-free gingerbread cookies wrapped in a simple white frosting. Make your kids’ gluten-free Halloween extra special this year with these quick-and-easy gluten-free mummy cookies. I tinted some of the frosting green and gave them super-scary green eyes, but green sixlets or M&Ms would work great, too. Just be sure to wrap the frosting straight across their mouths, or you never know what secrets they might tell. Better safe than sorry this gluten-free Halloween!

Gluten-free gingerbread mummy cookies recipe

Yields 24 mummy cookies

Ingredients:

Gingerbread men

• 2 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour (use your favorite blend, or my go-to blend: 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons superfine white rice flour plus 7 tablespoons potato starch plus 4-1/2 tablespoons tapioca flour/starch)
• 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup warm water
• 5 tablespoons vegetable shortening, melted
• 4 tablespoons unsulphured molasses
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Mummy frosting

• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 4 tablespoons milk, at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons meringue powder
• 3-1/2 to 4 cups confectioners’ sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper and set it aside.
2. In a large bowl, place flour blend, xanthan gum, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt, brown sugar and granulated sugar, and whisk to combine well, working out any lumps in the brown sugar. Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and add the water, shortening, molasses, honey and vanilla, mixing to combine well after each addition. The dough will be soft and smooth. Turn out the dough onto a floured sheet of unbleached parchment paper. Dust the top with more flour, and top with another sheet of parchment paper. Roll out into a rectangle about 1/4-inch thick. Place in the freezer to chill until firm, about 10 minutes.
3. Flour a gingerbread man cookie cutter and cut out shapes. Peel back the surrounding dough and place the cutouts evenly spaced on rimmed baking sheets (about 1 inch apart from one another). Gather and reroll any scraps, sprinkling with flour as necessary to prevent the dough from sticking to the paper. Chill and cut out shapes again. Place the pan in the center of the preheated oven and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until just lifting off the pan easily (longer for crisp cookies). Remove from the oven and cool completely before decorating.
4. While the cookies are cooling, make the frosting. In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, place the butter, milk and vanilla, and mix on medium speed until combined. Turn the speed up to high and mix until creamy. Add the salt, meringue powder and about 3-1/2 cups of confectioners’ sugar. Mix slowly until the sugar is incorporated. Turn the mixer up to high and beat until it becomes uniformly thick. Add the rest of the confectioners’ sugar if necessary to thicken the frosting.
5. If desired, tint some of the frosting green and dot two small eyes on each gingerbread man. Then, fill a pastry bag fitted with a #44 pastry trip with the white frosting, and decorate each gingerbread man like a mummy with a crisscross pattern as shown in the photo. Any pattern with do, really. Just wrap him up. Allow to sit at room temperature until set (the frosting will harded slightly and become more stable).

More gluten-free recipes

Gluten-free pumpkin whoopie pies with chocolate filling
Gluten-free apple cider muffins
Mini gluten-free apple crisps