Gingerbread Men Cookies

I love the taste of ginger, especially in a cookie, and since it was the holiday season I decided to make a gingerbread man cookie! But these gingerbread men are not filled with gluten and refined sugar – they are gluten-, dairy- and refined sugar-free! You won’t have to feel guilty about eating these little fellas during the holidays! I made these guys with blackstrap molasses, which is loaded with beneficial nutrients. Together, the ginger and blackstrap molasses have some great mutually beneficial nutrients, including:

· Iron

· Calcium

· Magnesium

· Potassium

If you are looking for something gingerly spiced and satisfyingly sweet during the holidays, why not whip up a batch of these gingerbread cookies? They also make a great Christmas gift! Dress them up nice and put them in a colourful, Christmassy tin or box. A gift of delicious and nutrient-dense cookies – yes please!

Here is the recipe:

Yields: 18 cookies

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 8 minutes

Ingredients:

¾ cups brown rice flour

¾ cups buckwheat flour

¼ cup arrowroot starch

½ tablespoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon sea salt

¼ cup, plus 2 tablespoons of coconut sugar

½ cup coconut oil, melted

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

¼ cup blackstrap molasses

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Combine flours, arrowroot starch, spices and sea salt together in a medium-sized bowl.

3. In another medium-sized bowl, whisk coconut sugar, egg, vanilla and molasses. Once combined, fold in the dry ingredients to make the dough.

4. Place dough in the freezer for about 10 minutes until it firms up.

5. Roll dough between two pieces of parchment paper on a large baking sheet. Remove top parchment paper and use cookie cutter to make cookies.

6. Place the excess dough aside and complete the same steps on another baking sheet with parchment to make cookies out of the remaining dough.

7. Place cookies in oven for 8 minutes.

8. Remove from heat and place cookies on cooling rack.

Sources:

Balch, Phyllis A., and James F. Balch. Prescription for dietary wellness: using foods to heal. Garden City Park, NY: Avery Pub. Group, 1998. Print.

"Show Foods." Show Foods. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Dec. 2016. <https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/20048?manu=&%3Bfgcd=&%3Bds=>.