Paleo, Gluten Free Gingerbread Cookies

By Denise Nassar © 2012

Nothing says Christmas like the flavor of winter spices on gingerbread cut-out cookies... except for maybe gingerbread houses? I guess that should be my next experiment. These cookies were a lot of fun to make. My 3 year old, Lilah, loves to help me cook and she often makes cookies with play dough and pretends to be writing recipes for "Willoughby Wallaby" (Edible Harmony). This was the perfect opportunity to get her involved in the kitchen and let her experience cookie making with real ingredients. She was so proud of this cookie she made for her daddy all by herself (below).

To create Paleo-Friendly, Gluten-Free Gingerbread Cookies I modified the traditional recipe by substituting wheat flour with coconut and almond flour, and I replaced the molasses with a mix of dates and maple syrup. The end result was delicious; I couldn’t even tell that the molasses was missing!

For other grain-free cookie recipes, you may also wish to try my chocolate chip cookies or my thumb-print almond cookies.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of almond flour
• 1 tbsp of coconut flour
• ½ cup of pitted dates, packed (about 12 deglet dates)
• ½ cup of maple syrup
• 3 tbsp of coconut oil
• 1 tsp of ground cinnamon
• 3 tsp of ginger powder 
• ½ tsp of ground all spice 
• ¼ to 1/2 tsp of ground cloves 
• ¼ to 1/2 tsp of ground nutmeg 
• ¼ tsp of salt 

To decorate use coconut butter, currants, raisins, nuts or goji berries.

Cookie decorated by my 3 year old for her Dad. 

Preparation: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Using a blender or food processor, blend the dates, maple syrup, coconut oil and spices until smooth.

Add the coconut flour and blend for a few seconds.

Add the almond flour and run the food processor until a ball is formed with the dough. If you are using a blender you will need to transfer the dough to a bowl and mix in the almond flour by hand.

Let the dough stand for 15 to 20 minutes at room temperature before rolling out.

Set the dough on a piece of parchment paper. Flatten it with your hands. Place another piece of parchment paper on top of the dough and using a rolling-pin, a bottle or a large glass to roll the dough flat until it is about a ¼ inch thick.

Cut the dough with cookie cutters and transfer cookies to parchment paper lined cookie sheet. To prevent the dough from sticking to the cookie cutter, dip it in water before cutting each cookie, wetting your hands will prevent them from sticking to it as well.

Roll the remaining cut out pieces into a ball, flatten the dough again and cut out more cookies until all the dough is used.

Bake for about 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Decorate as desired. If you are using nuts and raisins you can decorate before baking. If you are using goji berries put those on the cookie right after they come out of the oven - you can use raw honey to help them stick. If you are using coconut butter put it over the cookie once it has cooled down, soften it with your hands as if you were kneading play dough.

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Additional Recipes by Denise Nassar:

Have Your Cake and Eat It Too! Gluten-free, Grain-free, Dairy-free, Soy-free, Fruit Sweetened Pound Cake

Gluten-free Chicken Nuggets

Raw Cacao-Avocado Pudding or Frosting (Gluten-free / Dairy-free)

Paleo Pumpkin Donuts

Home site: EdibleHarmony.com