Soft Molasses Cookies (gluten-free)

My husband loves molasses cookies, so I recently developed this recipe for him.  These cookies are soft and chewy, or if you freeze them they become more like a crispy gingersnap. My husband has proclaimed these to be the "best cookies ever"; although I've never been a huge fan of molasses cookies, I do enjoy these.

Soft Molasses Cookies
Makes about 20 cookies*

• 1 cup sucanat
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• 1 Tb blackstrap molasses**
• 2 tsp organic vanilla extract
• 2 eggs, preferably from pastured hens
• 3/4 cup white rice flour*** (click here if you wonder why I use white rice instead of brown)
• 1/3 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 tsp celtic sea salt
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• pinch of ground nutmeg
• 3/4 tsp baking soda

1. In a large bowl or stand mixer, cream together the sucanat and softened butter for a few minutes.  
2. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine the rice flour, coconut flour, salt, spices, and baking soda.  Whisk these all together and make sure there are no clumps.
3. Break the eggs into a measuring cup (preferably a glass one with a pour spout).  Add the vanilla to the eggs.
4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
5. Add the molasses to the butter/sucanat mixture and mix it in.  Then, with the mixer running, pour in the eggs one at a time. (A stand mixer comes in very handy for adding these ingredients while it is running.)  Allow the first egg to be fully incorporated before adding the next egg.  Then mix well for another minute or so.
6. Slowly add the dry ingredients, a little at a time, and mix until everything is incorporated.
7. Grease a cookie sheet with butter, or line it with parchment paper or a Silpat (I love to use Silpats, because the cookies never stick).
8. Use a spoon or scoop to scoop the cookie dough onto the cookie sheet.  There is no need to press these cookies down, as they will spread well on their own in the oven.
9. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the edges are a bit more browned.  (It may take a couple extra minutes if you are baking them on a stoneware.) If you have to cook subsequent batches on an already-warmed cookie sheet, start checking them for done-ness a couple minutes earlier.
10. Allow to cool a bit, then transfer to a cooling rack. These are particularly enjoyable with a big glass of raw milk.
11. These cookies can be stored at room temperature for a few days, in the freezer for a week, or in the freezer for months.

*Save time in the future by doubling this recipe!  Then just store the cookies in the freezer and you'll have plenty to last awhile.  They are delicious even straight from the freezer, and that makes them more like a crispy gingersnap instead of a soft cookie.
**One tablespoon of molasses may not seem like much, but since sucanat is dried sugar cane that still has the molasses in it, these cookies will have plenty of molasses flavor.  Blackstrap molasses is a great choice because of it high nutrient content.
***My family has found white rice to be much easier on digestion than brown rice as we transition off the GAPS Diet.