Cookie Calendar Day 14: Vegan Gluten-Free Gingerbread Cookies from Bunner’s bake shop

THE COOKIE: Rejoice all ye with food sensitivities! Bunner’s has saved Christmas from gluten’s evil clutches with its version of the classic gingerbread cookie. Spicy and fragrant, it warms the senses, throat and tummy. Vegan and gluten-free, it brings back that happy glow to those that have long had to steer clear of wheat’s problematic protein. “We try to tackle all those things people would miss,” says Bunner’s owner Ashley Wittig, 31. “With everything we do here, we try to be as traditional as possible.”
THE BAKERY: If the Junction Bunner’s is the size of a “postcard,” the Bunner’s Kensington Market location is as big as a post office. Large and airy, with space to roam, it’s also humid from all the baking going on just beyond the front counter. A giant chalkboard advertises the offerings, but the eye is immediately drawn to the cookies, muffins and freshly baked bread.
THE TRICK: If you’re after moist cookies, make them a bit thicker and bake them a little less.
Bunner’s, 3054 Dundas St. West in the Junction 647-352-2975 and 244 Augusta Ave. in Kensington Market 647-350-2975, bunners.ca
Bunner’s Vegan and Gluten-Free Gingerbread Cookies
No love will be lost if you make a batch for non-sufferers, you know. They may not even be able to tell the difference — especially with the extra spice from a hunk of crystallized ginger pressed into the middle of each cookie.
2 cups (500 mL) Gluten-free all-purpose flour, such as Bobs Red Mill Natural Foods brand
1-1/2 tsp (7.5 mL) ground ginger
1/2 tsp (2.5 mL) each: ground cinnamon; ground nutmeg; gluten free baking powder; baking soda; xanthan gum; sea salt
1/2 cup (125 mL) organic cane sugar
1/3 cup (80 mL) canola oil
1/4 cup (60 mL) organic fancy molasses
1/4 cup (60 mL) rice milk
5 pieces of crystallized ginger, coarsely chopped
In large bowl, sift together flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, sea salt, sugar. Using wooden spoon, mix canola oil, molasses and rice milk into dry mixture.
Divide dough into two balls and flatten into discs. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. On floured surface roll out dough to 1/2 cm (0.6 inch) thickness. Using 9 cm (3.5 inch) cookie cutter, cut out cookies and place 2.5 cm (1-inch) apart on parchment-lined baking sheet.
Press one piece crystallized ginger into each cookie. Bake in preheated 350F (180C) oven 12 to 15 minutes until slightly puffy, or to desired doneness. Let cook on baking sheet 10 minutes. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
Makes about 15 cookies.
More cookie calendar recipes
Star-tested by Michele Henry
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