Anyway. My baby had a bad few days wrestling with technology (he won!) and I decided to start the holiday baking early to give him a treat. Also I had been craving gingerbread- I mean, who doesn't this time of year?
I went in search of a moist, chewy gingerbread cookie that had plenty of gingery bite and a decadent, rich texture to them. It was also important that they be sorta-kinda- good for you...because I would likely be eating about 10 of them.
I found several that I rather liked on line and tweaked them around until I was happy with the results. I hope you are too!
You will need:
- slices of candied ginger for the topping (optional).
- 2 cups of flour- I used organic all purpose whole wheat. You could also use gluten free flour!
- 1 T cinnamon powder
- 2T ginger powder
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1tsp ground clove
- 1tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
sift all these together into a bowl and make sure the spices are mixed well. If you want these to have extra warmth, put just a wee pinch of cayenne powder in there as well. I mean it.
- 3/4 cups brown or organic cane sugar
- 1/4 cup milk substitute: for this I used a blend of cashew/almond/hazelnut. Divine! You could also use SOY NOG OMG GUYS. I am now sad I didn't think of that until just now. Next time, for sure. Maybe even oat milk. Hmm.
- 1/4 cup molasses. If this is too molasses-y for you, cut it in 1/2 and top up the rest with maple syrup.
- 1/4 cup apple sauce, unsweetened, or pure pumpkin puree (not pie filling).
Whisk all of these together until well blended and the sugar crystals are starting to dissolve. This takes about 2-3 minutes.
Mix the dry ingredients into the wet in 2-3 batches so it mixes well. I found I had to get in there with my hands and really munch it around to make sure all the dry was evenly distributed. Roll in into a ball and flatten it into a 1.5 inch thick disc and pop it into a ziplock bag and let it harden in the fridge for a couple of hours. You can store it overnight, if necessary.
When you are ready to bake: line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Roll out the dough in two batches for easier handling to a thickness of just shy of 1/4 inch. I used a 2x2 inch square cookie cutter on the ones pictured below and they rose to a good size. You can make them smaller if you want wee nibble cookies instead. My dough yielded 22 cookies, so not bad! I found that 12 minutes was the perfect time for them, if you'd like them a bit crispier then probably 14 minutes. Enjoy and happy holidays- whatever you celebrate. Let the days grow longer and be filled with joy. And cookies.
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| And Voila! happy vegan gingerbread cookies. |
