Recipe Time! Let’s Bake one of Anna’s favorite things!

Gingerbread Cookies (gluten free)

I love this recipe from Gluten Free on a Shoestring. Since my family is chock full of Celiac disease, we make ours gluten free! Did you know a lot of us folks from Northern European descent are prone to Celiac? One more of life’s adventures!

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups (210 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend

• ¾ teaspoon xanthan gum (omit if your blend already contains it)

• ¼ cup (36 g) cornstarch (replace with more Cup4Cup if that is your all purpose gluten free flour blend)

• ¾ teaspoon baking soda

• 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon

• 1 teaspoon ground ginger

• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt

• ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar

• ⅓ cup (73 g) packed light brown sugar

• 3 tablespoons (63 g) unsulphured molasses

• 2 tablespoons honey

• ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• 5 tablespoons (70 g) unsalted butter at room temperature

• 1 (50 g (weighed out of shell)) egg at room temperature, beaten

• Royal icing for decorating (optional)

Instructions

• Preheat your oven to 325°F. Line rimmed baking sheets with unbleached parchment paper and set them aside.

• In a large bowl, place the flour blend, xanthan gum, cornstarch, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt and granulated sugar, and whisk to combine well. Add the brown sugar, and whisk once more to combine, working out any lumps in the brown sugar.

• Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and add the molasses, honey, vanilla, butter and egg, mixing to combine after each addition. The dough will be thick and smooth, and somewhat sticky to the touch.

• Transfer the dough to a large sheet of unbleached parchment paper, cover with another sheet of parchment and roll into a rectangle about 3/8-inch thick (more than 1/4-inch, less than 1/2-inch). If you are concerned that the dough will be difficult to handle, place it in the refrigerator or freezer after you roll it out to allow it to firm up.

• Dip a gingerbread man cutter in all purpose gluten free flour or cornstarch, and use it to cut out shapes from the cookie dough. With each cut, jiggle the cutter back and forth to create a neat shape.

• Peel back the rest of the dough from around the cut-outs, and carefully peel off the men and place them, about 1 1/2-inches apart, on the prepared baking sheets.

• Gather and reroll scraps, and repeat the process until you have used all the dough.

• Place the cut-outs on the baking sheets in the refrigerator or freezer until firm (about 20 minutes in the refrigerator, or just 5 minutes in the freezer).

• Place in the center of the preheated oven and bake until dry to the touch (about 15 minutes).

• Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on the baking sheets. They will crisp as they cool.

Let’s start with some book club questions….

Discussion Questions from the Author:

1. Immigration is a hot topic. Why did the Germans want to leave their home country? In what ways were they proud to be German? What did they hope to gain by traveling to Texas? What obstacles did they face?

2. Discuss similarities and differences with the obstacles the German immigrants faced and current immigration problems. How can we empathize with those making a new start in America today?

3.  I grew up hearing my grandmother tease that she would “sell us back to the Indians” if we didn’t straighten up. Often, we have bits of our history woven into our lives without even realizing it. Where do you think my grandmother’s saying came from? What sayings might be in your life you haven’t even noticed before? 

4. Henry struggles to come to terms with the consequences of his actions. What things occur in the story that shape him into becoming the man he so desires to be? What things get in the way?

5.  Anna’s mother states at the end of the book, “We’ve made new friends and that friendship may save us our lives. God is good to us, children, and He has helped us forgive wrongs and receive forgiveness. Let us pray tonight that the men in the expedition are receiving the same grace.” What do you think grace means? The name Anna in German means full of grace. How does Anna show grace throughout the book to those around her? How did others show grace to her?

6.  In Chapter 9, Henry says, “The Indians aren’t so different from us if you think about the terrible things people did to each other in our own country,” and goes on to add, “Why do you think people do such terrible, terrible things?” Why do you think people do terrible things to others and how as an individual or a society can we change that?

7. How can we show respect to other groups of people the way Meusebach did to the Comanche chiefs?

8. Anna says that “All of life is an adventure.” How can everyday things be an adventure? How can you apply this to your life?