Good old favourite gingerbread cookies but with a healthy twist. Free from gluten, dairy and refined sugar, they are a delicious treat to enjoy over the festive season without excessive calories.
It would not be Christmas without the festive little gingerbread men! I love making these biscuits with my not-so-little-any-more daughter. It’s a lovely way to spend quality time with her and as a huge bonus, you get healthy gingerbread men biscuits to enjoy as the fruits of your joint labour. A win-win situation, don’t you think?
This year I set on a mission to ‘healthify’ the good old gingerbread men and make them a lot friendlier for the waist. I must admit, it took 3 batches to perfect the recipe (and a lot of huffs and puffs) but it was really worth it.
A little note before you set to make these gingerbread men. The biscuits themselves are not very sweet (definitely not as sweet as traditional ones) but when you add icing on top, it makes them just sweet enough. If you prefer your biscuits slightly on the sweeter side, just taste a tiny bit of dough once you’ve mixed all ingredients and add more sugar if required.
For the sugar free icing, I used an all natural alternative to icing sugar Sukrin Icing, which is a UK product (please note I have NOT been sponsored to showcase this product). It has a GI of zero, zero carbohydrates and does not affect the blood sugar. I just mixed half a cup of this icing sugar with around 3 tablespoons of nut milk to get it to the right, slightly runny, consistency.
I personally like my biscuits on the crunchier side, hence I kept them in the oven a little longer, to give them time to crisp up a little. If you prefer your gingerbread men cookies on the softer side, reduce the baking time by a few minutes and take them out when they’ve just turned golden brown.
As always, thank you for stopping by and supporting my blog. Wishing you a wonderful and healthy day ahead.
Healthfully yours, Tania x
Healthy gluten & sugar free gingerbread cookies
Ingredients
For the cookie mixture:
- 1 ½ cup buckwheat flour + extra for dusting
- 2 x ¼ tsp baking soda
- 2 tbsp ground psyllium husk
- 2 tbsp ground ginger
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ cup + 3 tbsp organic coconut sugar
- 2 eggs , lightly beaten
- ¼ cup coconut oil (cold)
- Around 3 tbsp nut milk* (add a table spoon at a time)
For the icing:
- ½ cup icing sugar alternative (I used Sukrin)
- Around 2-3 tablespoons of nut milk
Instructions
- 1. In a big bowl mix together buckwheat flour, baking soda, psyllium husk, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and salt.
- 2. In a food processor, combine cold coconut oil with coconut sugar and mix for a couple of minutes until well combined.
- 3. Transfer the sugar and coconut oil mixture into the bowl with dry ingredients and mix until everything is well combined.
- 4. Stir in the beaten eggs and mix well.
- 5. Start adding the milk, one tablespoon at a time. Your cookie mixture should hold well (although not too wet). If it’s too crumbly, add extra milk (one tablespoon at a time). Once all the ingredients are combined, place the dough ball on the worktop surface sprinkled with buckwheat flour. Knead the dough a little more until all the flour is well incorporated (be careful not to overknead the mixture). Wrap the dough ball into cling film and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
- 6. Once the dough is chilled, take it out of the fridge and preheat the oven to 180C.
- 7. Take the dough out of the cling film and place on a well floured surface. Sprinkle the dough with a little flour to ensure the rolling pin doesn’t stick to it. Gently roll out the dough into a bug circular shape until it’s about half a centimetre thick. Cut out the gingerbread men with a cookie cutter and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- 8. Bake in the oven for around 15 minutes until the cookies have turned golden brown. If you prefer your gingerbread men slightly on the crunchy side, leave them in the oven a few minutes longer.
- 9. Take the biscuits out of the oven a let them cool down completely before putting the icing on (if using).
- 10. For the icing, combine the icing sugar with 2-3 tablespoons for but milk (add a tablespoon at a time) until the mixture turns into ever so slightly runny consistency. Transfer the icing mixture into in an icing bag and decorate to your heart’s content.
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