Vegan Fat-Free Gingerbread Molasses Cookies.

Holiday cookies are a family staple. Traditionally we saved baking for that magical lull between Christmas Day proper and NYE. As an adult pagan of awesome non-pagan parents, I walk that fine, fun line between enjoying many of the family traditions I grew up with, without any of the Christian holiday themes. Frankly though, let's face it- 90% of the symbolism and traditions around the 25th of December are way not associated with that nice Jewish kid out of Bethlehem. Pretty sure Josh never saw holly or mistletoe or sleigh bells in his life.

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. 

And Voila! happy vegan gingerbread cookies.