These gingerbread cookies are the perfect sweet treat for the wintery months- crispy outside and crumbly inside! Better yet, they are so simple and quick to make, requiring minimal washing up (yay!). And I can’t explain how amazing they make your kitchen smell! The sweetness from the brown sugar pairs beautifully with the spices, giving the cookies a flavour that has depth and warmth. Gingerbread cookies for me are so nostalgic, and they’re something I bake every year around Christmas. Give them a try today- I’m sure you won’t regret it!
I love making homemade gingerbread cookies because I find that they always beat store-bought gingerbread biscuits. Especially now since being low FODMAP, it is difficult to find a really good quality gluten free and dairy free gingerbread in the shops. If I do manage to find one, I often read the huge, long list of ingredients packed with preservatives and items that I can’t even pronounce. This gingerbread cookie recipe is far healthier, much more delicious and so cheap to make. Another thing I love about making my own gingerbread is the fact that they are not overly sweet (like most store-bought varieties) and you can adjust the sweetness and the various spices to your own specific taste!
You can substitute the egg in this recipe for a flax or chia egg to make this recipe vegan. Whilst this may slightly change the taste and texture of your gingerbread cookies, it will be hardly noticeable! I love making gingerbread cookies and giving them out to my friends and family as a little Christmas present. They can also be great to make as a social activity as you can sit together, bake and decorate them! It’s a great idea to help you get into the festive mood. I love to make gingerbread with my family, alongside some German Christmassy bakes. It always puts us in a great mood (plus we get to eat loads of cookies over the coming days)!
If you like these cookies, you might also like my other sweet baking recipes:
- Protein Chocolate Chunk Peanut Oatmeal Cookies
- Chocolate Chunk Tahini Cookies
- Sweet Potato Chocolate Chunk Biscuits
- Protein Cookie Dough
- Double Chocolate Brownies
- Chocolate Orange Brownies
It is so important that you sieve the dry ingredients into the wet. The last thing you want is to have unseen lumps of the spices! This will mean that you may end up biting into a pocket of spice. I can tell you from experience, this is not what you want to find in your cookie! Pure ground ginger or cinnamon is not a surprise you want to find in your gingerbread cookies, it is disgusting!! So please make sure that you sieve your dry ingredients to prevent this from happening!
If your IBS is triggered by dark brown sugar, you can substitute it for brown sugar, white sugar or coconut sugar. Regarding the butter, you can use dairy free butter, regular butter (if you are not dairy free) or any nut/seed butters. I used peanut butter in my recipe because I love the depth and rich nuttiness it gives the cookies. I find that it also compliments the spices really well. Additionally, peanut butter is a healthier alternative as it has healthy fats and nutrients. You will find that I love using this substitution in a lot of my bakes.
It’s important to put your dough in the fridge briefly before rolling it out! This is because cooling the dough makes it a lot less sticky due to the butter content. This step is less important if you are using a nut or seed butter. But especially in the case of using butter (dairy-free or normal), the warmth from your hands will melt the butter. This therefore make the dough wetter and stickier to handle. With nut butters, I recommend refrigerating for around 30 minutes. But if using normal or dairy-free butter, it is recommended to refrigerate your dough for at least 4-5 hours.
A great tip I learned is to use icing sugar on the surface and rolling pin to stop the dough sticking. It is a great alternative to flour because the icing sugar also helps to boost the sweetness of the cookies! I was surprised how well the sugar works to stop the dough from sticking. I often find that gingerbread can be a tricky, sticky dough to work with! Using flour to stop sticking would also work, but I love the subtle additional sweetness of this alternative method!
If you want to check out some more Autumnal and Wintery Recipes:
- Tomato and Basil Soup
- Sweet Potato and Carrot Soup
- Kale, Potato and Spinach Superfood Soup
- Pumpkin Spice Pancakes
- Pumpkin Spice Porridge Bowl
- Maple Pecan Granola
A little tip I’ve learned is to wet your baking sheets with water before placing your parchment paper on them! This stops the parchment paper from moving around and shifting out of place whilst you’re trying to place your goods onto the tray! This tip also works amazingly well with loaf tins. I find that the parchment always wants to pop out again- honestly such a nuisance. Give this tip a try, and your life will be changed- I know mine was!!
You want to ensure that your cookies are golden brown and are slightly soft to the touch when you get them out the oven! This way, you ensure that you are not over-baking them. Your cookies will harden and become crunchier after they come out of the oven and are allowed to cool slightly. Leaving the cookies in for longer means you are likely to overbake your gingerbread cookies and they will be dry. The cookies will also darken in colour after the cooling process, giving your gingerbread a lovely, dark brown crispy exterior.
Ingredients: (makes around 30 cookies)
- 3 cups gluten free flour
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup dairy free butter (check description for substitutions)
- 3/4 cup dark brown sugar (check description for alternatives)
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla sugar or vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup almond milk
Method:
Step 1: add flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder and salt in a big bowl. Mix.
Step 2: in a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar until fully combined.
Step 3: to the butter and sugar, add the maple syrup, egg, vanilla extract/sugar and mix well.
Step 4: sieve your dry ingredients to the wet and mix until fully combined. Gradually add in your almond milk till your dough combines- you may need to mix with your hands here!
Step 5: place your dough into the fridge for 30mins (this makes the dough easier to work with).
Step 6: preheat your oven to 180°C. Roll out the dough until is it about 3/4cm in thickness.
Step 7: cut out your shapes (I chose gingerbread men and stars).
Step 8: place on a lined baking tray and bake for 8-10 mins.
Step 9: leave to completely cool and then decorate!!
These cookies will keep in an airtight container for a week.
Please send me over your gingerbread cookies’ photos- my Instagram page is TheLazyLowFODMAP. Tag me in your images so I see them!
