My mom was so good about creating family traditions, especially at Christmastime. One of the traditions that I loved the most…decorating sugar cookies on Christmas Eve. All of the cousins would come over and we would gather around the table with stacks of cookies, every color of frosting and sprinkles galore. There would also be gingerbread men cookies. Giant gingerbread men cookies (I mean, they were seriously huge). We would each get one gingerbread man to decorate and it was the big finale of the cooking decorating extravaganza.
Carrying on with the tradition, I make sugar cookies for my family to decorate on Christmas Eve. I also make a batch of gingerbread men. It just doesn’t feel the same without those little guys. This recipe may be gluten, egg, and dairy free, but taste just like the original gingerbread men we know and love. Soft on the inside with a crisp edge. You can decorate with just the simple icing or add a few candy decorations. My kids like to go a little a crazy with the sprinkles and that’s ok with me!
- 2 3/4 cups Sarah's gluten free flour blend
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups organic powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 1/3 cup coconut oil, soft
- 1/4 cup So Deliciousunsweetened coconut milk, room temperature
- 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups organic powdered sugar
- 2-3 tablespoons So Delicious unsweetened coconut milk
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In medium bowl, sift together flour blend, cinnamon, ginger, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In bowl of stand mixer, beat together powdered sugar, molasses, coconut oil, coconut milk and vanilla until smooth. Add flour mixture and continue to mix for 1-2 minutes.
- Use hands to knead dough until it comes together. Form into two discs and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate dough for 1 hour.
- On counter, lay out large piece of plastic wrap. Place one disc of cookie dough in the center and top with another piece of plastic wrap. Roll with rolling pin until dough is about 1/4" thick.
- Cut dough using gingerbread man cookie cutter or desired shape. Carefully place cookies on prepared baking sheets (place dough back in refrigerator if it gets too soft to work with).
- Bake for 7-8 minutes. Do not over bake, as cookies won't turn golden brown. Remove cookies from oven and place on cooling rack to cool completely.
- While cookies are cooling, make simple icing. Mix together powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons coconut milk. Stir until smooth. Add more coconut milk as needed.
- Place glaze in piping bag with round tip. Pipe onto cooled cookies.
Could this be used for a gingerbread house?
I was wondering the same thing!
I made a gingerbread house with this recipe and it worked so well! I changed minor things like using almond milk instead of coconut milk, using golden syrup instead of molasses because I dislike the flavour, and increasing spices to 2 teaspoons of cinnamon and ginger, and adding 1/2 a teaspoon of nutmeg and ground cloves. I baked the pieces for 15-20 depending on their size/thickness and they were strong and stable but still soft enough to eat.
Hopefully this helps someone 🙂
I just made these just as round cookies–they're great! also made the vegan lemon cookies which I love. thank you!
Just made them and the shape did not turn out. All the cookies blobbed out and didn’t take a cookie structure at all. Any idea why?
have you ever made dough night before and stored in fridge?
Sarah, I’ve always found your recipes to work beautifully but I had a horrible time with this one. After refrigerating for an hour the dough was rock hard and when I rolled it out it crumbled into a thousand pieces. Added water and used the heat from my hands to get it acting like dough. We managed to get cookies out of it but it was a lot of work. Any suggestions?
I’m so sorry to hear you had a hard time with these gingerbread cookies. It might have been that there was too much flour added. With coconut oil in the dough, it can become hard quickly. Allowing it to sit out on the counter for a few minutes can help!