It’s easy to be overwhelmed with too many sweet and sugary treats during the holiday season! Why not bake up some healthy versions to indulge in instead?!
Here are two ‘healthy’ versions of a holiday classic: one gluten-free version using sorghum flour (bottom 6 cookies in picture below); and one paleo version using coconut flour (top 4 cookies). Both are gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free and can be made with or without the egg for a vegan version.
Gingerbread Men Cookies (makes 24)
Ingredients
- 1 egg (omit for vegan version)
- ¼ cup virgin coconut oil, melted
- ½ cup blackstrap molasses
- ¼ cup coconut sugar (or raw cane sugar) – note, this makes a mildly sweet cookie, use another few tablespoons if you like a sweeter cookie
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ¼ cup arrowroot powder
- ½ tsp baking powder
Gluten-free version:
- ¼ cup brown rice flour
- 1 cup sorghum flour, plus 2-4 Tbsp extra
OR Paleo version:
- ½ cup coconut flour, plus 1-4 Tbsp extra
Directions
- Heat oven to 350. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a mixing bowl, beat together the egg (if using), coconut oil, blackstrap molasses, sugar, ginger and cinnamon.
- Blend int the arrowroot powder and baking powder.
- Fold in the brown rice flour and sorghum flour (GF version) OR coconut flour (paleo version). Add more sorghum or coconut flour until your dough is stiff enough and ready to roll out.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and roll to about a 1/4 cm thick. Cut out the shapes using a cutter and place onto the lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 12 minutes. Let cool completely.
- For the ‘icing’ I used 2 Tbsp coconut oil + 2 Tbsp coconut butter + 1 Tbsp honey + 1 Tbsp arrowroot powder, and squeezed it out through a ziplock bag with a little cut in the corner.
Enjoy!
Eat clean, run strong, be well… Cheers,
