• Cooking Time: 10
• Servings: 18
• Preparation Time: 10
• 1 cup sorghum flour
• ¾ cup packed light brown sugar
• ½ cup garbanzo (chickpea) flour
• ½ cup vegan buttery spread (I used Earth Balance) or you could use butter
• ¼ cup molasses (not blackstrap)
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• ½ tsp ground cloves
• ½ tsp xanthan
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp Celtic sea salt
• ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper (optional see note at bottom)
• **2 Tbsp evaporated cane juice or sanding sugar, for rolling

1. Place a rack in the lower third of the oven.
2. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
3. Line a 9x13-inch metal baking sheet (not nonstick) with parchment paper.
4. In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat the buttery spread, molasses, brown sugar, and vanilla on low speed until well blended.
5. Add the sorghum flour, garbanzo flour, ginger, cinnamon, xanthan gum, nutmeg, cloves, baking soda, salt, and black pepper (if using) and beat until well blended.
6. With a #50 (1¼ tablespoon-size) metal ice cream scoop, shape 9 balls, roll each into a smooth ball with your hands, and roll each in the evaporated cane juice.
7. Place them at least two inches apart on the baking sheet.
8. Bake until the cookies look firm and began to show little cracks on top, about 8 to 10 minutes. Do not overbake.
9. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet on a wire rack for about 5 minutes, then transfer to the wire rack to cool completely.
10. Repeat with the remaining dough.
11. Makes 18 cookies.
12. **You can process these cookies into crumbs in a food processor for a pie crust (about 1 ½ cups for a 9-inch piecrust)
13. **Adding the optional black pepper turns them into Pfeffernüsse - a traditional German treat served during the Christmas holidays.

I got this recipe from Carol Fenster from Carol Fenster Cooks. This was Recipe #4 in the "Gluten Free Baking With KitchenAid" event. This recipe published here with permission from 125 Gluten-Free Vegetarian Recipes by Carol Fenster (Avery/Penguin Group, 2011) As Carol says, "These cookies are moist and very flavourful and are perfect for dessert. But you can also process them into crumbs in a food processor for a pie crust (about 1 ½ cups for a 9-inch crust). Adding the optional black pepper turns them into Pfeffernüsse, a traditional German treat served during Christmas holidays." Get to know Carol Fenster through her blog, her weekly menu recipe planner on GFree Cuisine. Check out Carol's Books: 125 Gluten-Free Vegetarian Recipes, 100 Best Gluten-Free Recipes, 1,000 Gluten-Free Recipes, Gluten-Free 101, Gluten-Free Quick and Easy, Cooking Free, Wheat-Free Recipes and Menus, Special Diet Celebrations, and Special Diet Solutions.