You’d never guess that these gingerbread men are gluten-free, dairy-free! The festive selection of spices, including cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves, combine with rich dark chocolate for an explosion of flavours. These are a treat to make so have fun getting creative with the decorations! Thanks to Eli Brecher (www.elibrecher.co.uk, @elibrechernutrition) for this recipe.
INGREDIENTS:
Makes about 30 small gingerbread cookies
- 1 egg (or flax egg for vegan option)
- 1/3 cup coconut sugar (or brown sugar)
- 1/4 cup smooth almond butter
- 4 tbsp honey (or molasses)
- 4 tbsp dairy-free butter (softened)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 heaped tbsp ground ginger
- 1 heaped tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup gluten-free flour
- 1/4 cup Just Ginger Dark Chocolate
- In a large mixing bowl, use a fork to vigorously beat together the softened butter, egg (or flax egg), honey, vanilla and almond butter. Then add the sugar, salt, spices and baking soda and continue to beat together very well until fully combined. Alternatively, use a cake mixer on low.
- Add gluten free flour to the wet ingredients and use your hands (yes your hands!) to work the dough together until completely combined and form it into a ball. You can add 2 tbsp milk of choice if necessary to help it bind.
- Wrap the ball of dough in cling film and place in the freezer for one hour.
- Line two baking trays with greaseproof paper and pre-heat the oven to 175 C. Cut the ball into two halves for ease of rolling.
- Use a rolling pin to roll out the first ball dough to about 4-5mm thick between two sheets of greaseproof paper or cling film. Remove the top sheet and use gingerbread cookie cutters (or any shape!) to cut out shapes. Place the cookies on the lined baking tray and repeat wit the second ball of dough. Bake for 8-10 minutes, then leave to cool.
- Once cooled, melt the dark chocolate and dunk the cookies in as much as you want - perhaps just the legs, the top side of the body or even the whole thing!
- When the chocolate has set, decorate with icing / sprinkles / toppings of choice. Store covered at room temperature for up to 5 days. Freeze for longer term storage. The batch should make about 30 cookies, depending on the size of your cookie cutter / or if you decide not to cut them and roll them into balls.
Eli Brecher is a London-based food blogger and healthy recipe developer. Eli created her blog in during her first year at university, when she was struggling with Crohn’s Disease. Since then she has worked with a wide range of brands in the food and wellness world, while living in Paris and Madrid obtaining a languages degree. She is now pursuing her passion for nutrition by studying a second degree in Human Nutrition. Follow along as she shares her delicious and nourishing recipes on Instagram at www.instagram.com/cerealandpeanutbutter and at www.elibrecher.co.uk .
