Healthier Gingerbread Cookies
These fun and festive cookies Healthier Gingerbread Cookies are refined sugar free! Full of molasses and warming spices like ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves – they are perfect for the holiday season!
Nothing signifies that the Christmas holidays have begun better than traditional gingerbread cookies! Whether they’re shaped like gingerbread men/women, mittens, christmas trees, stars, snowflakes, or whatever shape they come in, they’re absolutely wonderful. These cookies are crispy on the edges, soft and tender in the center and packed full of warming spices and flavoured with molasses. I don’t know about you, but for me Christmas wouldn’t be complete without a plate of these cookies, a tall glass of my Holiday Nog and a night filled with cheesy Hallmark Christmas movies.
Healthier Ingredients
Unlike traditional gingerbread cookies which are made with all purpose flour and refined sugar, these are made with light spelt flour, almond flour and coconut sugar. If you prefer to make them gluten-free, simply swap the spelt flour with your favourite gluten-free all purpose flour! Now you can’t have gingerbread cookies without spices and molasses. I prefer using unsulphured molasses but if sulfites don’t bother you then go ahead and use regular molasses. As for butter, come on guys, we can all be a little naughty during the holiday season! But if butter ain’t your thang go ahead and swap it for vegan butter…I’m sure they will be equally delicious!
I think my favourite part of this recipe was decorating them, so much so that even Mr. Matt wanted to join in on the fun! This is such a fun activity to do with your loved ones, and you can be super creative. You can also add natural food colouring to the icing to make it even more festive, or add sprinkles on top of the icing before it dries to make them even prettier. But if you prefer to skip the icing, I promise you they will still be super yummy!
If you’re looking for more festive dessert recipes to enjoy during the holidays, you’re in the right place! I highly recommend you try my Homemade Cinnamon Rolls, you will definitely score some bonus points with your loved ones!
Happy Holidays to you and all your loved ones from the entire HealthNut family!!
If you make this recipe, be sure to share a photo on social media and tag me @healthnutnutrition #healthnuteats so that I can see your creations!
Recipe
Healthier Gingerbread Cookies
Ingredients:
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups light spelt flour
- ½ cup almond flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ tablespoon ground ginger
- 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ cup or 1 stick of unsalted grass fed butter softened
- ½ cup coconut sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ cup sulphur free black strap molasses
- 1 large egg
Icing Ingredients
- 2 cups organic powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions:
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, sift the spelt flour, almond flour, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter, sugar and vanilla on medium speed for about 1 to 2 minutes or until light and fluffy. Using a spatula scrape down the sides and stir until well combined. Add the molasses and egg and continue to beat for another 1 to 2 minutes until creamy and smooth.
- With the electric mixer on low speed, add ½ the flour mixture and mix until well incorporated. Add the rest of the flour mixture and continue mixing until combined. Using a spatula, scrape down the sides and stir into the dough mixture until no flour visible.
- On a well floured work surface, knead and shape the dough into a ball. Cut the dough in half and flatten each piece. Wrap each disc in beeswrap food wraps (or plastic wrap), and place in the refrigerator to chill for at least 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350℉. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Once chilled, remove 1 disk from the fridge and unwrap the dough. Place it on a well floured working surface and sprinkle some flour on top. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out until ¼ thick. You may need to sprinkle more flour on the dough as you are rolling so that it doesn’t stick.
- Using a cookie cutter (any shape you like), cut out the cookies. Transfer the cut out cookies onto the prepared baking sheet, about 1 inch apart. Set the scraps of dough to the side, while you repeat the process with the second chilled disc of dough. Gather all your scraps together and form into a new ball. Roll the dough out and cut out more shapes.
- Bake the cookies for about 9 to 11 minutes, until slightly risen and the edges are rounded and cookies feel firm to the touch. Remove the baking sheet form the oven and allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- While the cookies are cooling, prepare your icing. In a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, almond milk and vanilla, either by hand or with an electric mixer on low. Start with 1 tablespoon almond milk and add more as needed to reach the desired consistency (it should be soft and thick but not runny). If it’s too dry, add more almond milk, if it’s too runny add a tiny bit more powdered sugar. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a small round tip.
- Make sure the cookies are completely cooled before you begin decorating with the icing. Decorate your cookies however you like, this is where your creativity can shine, and allow the icing to set for at east 15 minutes before serving. Store any leftovers in an airtight container on the counter for up to 2 weeks. Enjoy and Happy Baking!
Leave a comment
These were so good! I love finding recipes that I feel good giving to my 16 month old as well, thanks!
Can these be put in the freezer?
I’m sure you could, yes! They would store well in a reusable silicone storage bag in the freezer since they seal well 🙂