I love gingerbread cookies. While I was growing up in Bulgaria they were not a thing, I only heard of them long after moving abroad. I was never interested in trying them until one of my personal training clients gifted me a gingerbread scented candle for Christmas. I lit it up one day at home and after less than half an hour both Alex and I wanted to eat the candle. It smelled so good it made me want to try the cookies. I googled a recipe, looked at the ingredients and was like: "Eh, meh, not that healthy but I don't make them every day."
The cookies were gone shortly after and I thought maybe I should try and make them a bit healthier if I'm going to make them EVERY DAMN DAY (okay, that's an exaggeration). If you are like me, here are some healthy versions of favourite gingerbread recipes to try. You should also check out these 5-ingredient Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe.
Healthy gingerbread muffins
These are naturally gluten free and lactose free. Recipe serves 12 muffins. Preparation time is 10 minutes and cooking time is 25 minutes.
Ingredients:
2 cups rolled oats
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup maple syrup
3/4 cups apple puree
2 eggs and 1 egg white
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp nutmeg
1.5 ground ginger
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 cup almond milk
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 170°C and prepare a greased muffin tin.
Blend the oats in a food processor until flour like consistency.
Add the rest of the ingredients and blend well.
Transfer the mixture to the muffin tin filling 3/4 of the way up.
Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Healthy gingerbread loaf
This recipe is lactose free, serves 12 slices, 194 kcal per slice. Preparation time is 10 minutes and cooking time is 45 minutes.
Ingredients:
2 cups spelt or whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup applesauce
1/2 molasses
1/4 cup maple syrup or honey
3 tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
Oil to grease the tin
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 170°C. Grease a loaf pan (mine was 22 by 12 cm).
In one big bowl mix all the dry ingredients. In a separate one mix all wet ingredients. Then pour the wet ingredients in the big bowl with the dry and mix gently with a spatula. Combine until smooth.
Pour into the loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
After taking it out from the oven let it cool for 5 minutes before removing if from the pan. Let it cool on a cooling rack.
Bonus: If you want to add icing, mix 1/2 cup powdered erythritol with 2 tbsp water and add it on top of the loaf after it has cooled down.
Healthy gingerbread cookies
This recipe yields 20-22 cookies just about 52 kcal each. They are dairy free and full of cozy flavours.
Ingredients:
1 cup + 6 tbsp (165g) white whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp melted coconut oil
1 large egg (room temperature)
1 1/2 vanilla extract
1/4 cup molasses
1 tsp vanilla creme stevia
Icing (optional)
10 tsp powdered stevia or erythritol
2 tsp water
Instructions:
In a bowl mix together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt.
In a bigger bowl mix together the rest of the ingredients.
Add the flour mixture and mix until you make the dough.
On a flat surface place a sheet of plastic wrap, transfer the dough to it and spread it to a 1 inch thick rectangle. Cover with another sheet of plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 170°C and place a sheet of baking paper on a baking tray.
With the dough between the plastic sheets roll it thin (you decide how thin you want the cookies to be).
Remove the tor plastic wrap and use a glass or your favourite cookie shape cutters to prepare the cookies.
Bake them for 8-10 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
If you are making icing too, mix the ingredients in a bowl and transfer to a zip-topped bag, cut a small part of the corner and decorate the cookies when they completely cool off.
Well, friends, these are the recipes I was most excited to try. I hope you want to try some of them too this year! If you do, let me know how it went. :) Thanks for reading, catch you up next time! :)
Resources:
Healthy gingerbread muffins recipe by The Clean Eating Couple
Healthy gingerbread loaf recipe by iFoodReal
Healthy gingerbread cookies recipe by Amy's Healthy Baking