Healthy Mr Gingerbread

Healthy vegan gingerbread men did you say? These are for you (or your homemade gifts)! Think buttery crumbly shortbread, spiced with Mr Claus’s favourites, made extra spesh thanks to a few secret additions. Vegan, dairy free, low sugar + no refined sugar.

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 10

Total Time 25

Servings

Calories 170kcal

Author Buffy Ellen Gill

Ingredients

Dry Mix:

1 1/2 cups wholegrain flour
3 tbsp coconut sugar
5 tsp ginger powder
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp guar gum
1/4 tsp salt

Wet Mix:

1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon coconut oil softened
1/2 cup almond butter
2 Tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract

To dust:

Coconut flour

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 175°C (345°F) on fan bake.
Blend all dry ingredients in a food processor until fine and combined.
Mix wet ingredients in a separate bowl, whisking until well combined, then pour into your processor with the dry ingredients and mix on low or pulse until combined. Scrape down the sides with a spatula as needed to bring in all dry ingredients. Be careful not to over mix.
Pour out dough on a board that’s floured or lined with baking paper, then flatten with a rolling pin to around 0.5cm high. Cut out your desired shapes, reusing any leftover pieces (roll and flatten again then recut).
Bake for 10 minutes until just golden brown, then remove and let cool on tray for 10 minutes before removing (they’ll continue to cook during this time). Carefully remove to a drying rack or cool tray using a spatula, then let cool completely before eating!
Dust with coconut flour if desired, then eat immediately or store in a well sealed container. Enjoy!

Notes

Make it gluten free - this flour blend I’ve used (whole wheat, rye, barley, oats), is naturally lower in gluten than a standard white supermarket flour. But if you’re super gluten sensitive (coeliac, auto-immune, IBS), then use your favourite gluten free blend - you’ll be a pro at this by now I’m sure, but if not, I find a 1/3 + 1/3 + 1/3 brown rice, buckwheat, almond blend works well, and add a good few tablespoons of tapioca and cornflour too, or increase to 1 tsp guar gum (for hold).
Make it paleo: use a paleo flour blend - the one above would work great, just take out the brown rice flour and increase the buckwheat & almond flours accordingly.
Make it keto: use the flour blend specified above, and replace the coconut sugar and maple syrup with stevia or monk fruit powder or erythritol. For the latter, just add an extra tbsp each of coconut oil and almond butter to compensate.
Make it nut-free: simply replace the almond butter with a nut-free equivalent - I think hulled tahini (like this one here) would work fantastically, while producing a slightly different but still delish flavour!
Zentrofan milled flour is a little dried than other flours (6% says Mr Google), so just be conscious of this when you’re using elsewhere, you may need a little more liquid.
These taste best on the day of eating or 1-2 days after. After that they soften slightly (but can be crisped up again in the oven if you like).
You can use any shape cookie cutter you like for these! While I used (and loved) the classic gingerbread man cutter, you could mix it up with some hearts for a loved one, or stars for a novel biscuit. You could even try these cute as animal-shaped cookie cutters for a truly unique treat!
To amplify the flavour of these little ginger cookies even more, you could experiment with adding a couple drops of ginger, cinnamon or clove essential oils to the wet mix! If you'd like to learn more about the incredible therapeutic benefits of plant-based essential oils, and how you can use them in your life and food, check out my introductory workshop here.

Nutrition