The other day we had friends over and made tons of gluten free gingerbread men cookies. So many little hands rolling and cutting out dough. We decorated our gingerbread men with dried fruit and nuts. The kids even cut loose and made free form cookie shapes as well.
Gingerbread Men Cookies
Ingredients
- 5 cups blanched almond flour (not almond meal)
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ cup grapeseed oil or palm shortening
- ½ cup agave nectar or honey
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup yacon syrup
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine almond flour, cinnamon, ginger powder, cloves, salt and baking soda
- In a small bowl, mix together grapeseed oil, agave, vanilla, yacon, eggs and lemon zest
- Stir wet ingredients into dry
- Chill dough in freezer for 1-2 hours
- Roll out dough between two pieces of parchment paper to ½ inch thick
- To make dough even easier to handle sprinkle with almond flour
- Remove top sheet of parchment paper, cut out cookies using a medium ginger bread man cookie cutter
- Decorate with nuts and dried fruit-- we used pieces of lemon rind for the mouth
- Transfer with a spatula to a parchment paper lined baking sheet
- Cook at 350°F for 12-15 minutes
- Cool and serve
Prep Time 10 minutes
Freeze Time 1 hour
Cook Time 12 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 22 minutes
Tried this recipe?Mention @elanaspantry or tag #elanaspantry!
I have been working on this gluten free, dairy free gingerbread recipe for years. At last, I find myself sufficiently satisfied with the recipe and offer it to you for some Christmas cookie baking fun.
elana says
Betsy,
When I had yeast issues I did not use any sweeteners other than stevia, I even avoided fresh raw fruit.
Yes, I do use yacon syrup for it’s dark molasses flavor, for further info on this sweetener please see my faq.
Elana
Betsy says
Hey Elana
Do you know if yacon syrup is an acceptable sweetener for people with yeast issues and why would you use it over other sweeteners in a recipe (besides offering a dark, molassey flavor)?
Thanks!
elana says
christin,
You can try and experiment with any ingredient that you desire for this recipe and others, though I don’t know what the results will be. I haven’t cooked with molasses in a decade, though don’t have anything against it.
Elana
christin says
I was just wondering if I could try my black-strap molasses in this recipe that I have in the fridge. Or do you have something against it? I have heard it’s gluten free and has some minerals in it. Thanks, Christin..I LOVE this site!!
elana says
Hi Christianne,
If you find the yacon syrup sold outside the US let me know, and then I will share it in the faq section with my International readers.
Have fun with the adorable gingerbread man cookie cutter.
xo Elana
Isabelle says
Elana, I have found two sites (one in canada) for your canadian readers that sell yacon syrup.
I have never tried it nor ever heard of it, but I’m eager to try.
here’s the two sites:
http://www.raworganicsuperfoods.ca/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=5
http://www.upayanaturals.com/Yacon_Syrup_8_oz_raw_Sustainably_Grown_Pest_p/nfl-1259.htm
hth
Isabelle
Christianne says
HI Elana,
Yes, I meant syrup, sorry for the mix-up! The website you link to doesn’t sell outside the US so I searched for it here. Thanks for the advice, I will start experimenting here (I have an adorable gingerbreadman cookie cutter that is just dying to be of use) and will let you know how it worked out, maybe that’ll be helpful to European readers…
Thanks again and have a great day in the peachpit! (WOW, quel chance!)
CHristianne
elana says
Hi Christianne-
I haven’t ever used yacon powder –I use and link to yacon syrup. I generally link my unusual ingredients to sites that describe and sell them.
The yacon in this recipe gives the dough a darker color and rich flavor (sort of like the molasses in a standard ginger bread recipe).
I hope this helps and have a great weekend.
Elana
Christianne says
HI Elana,
Great that you have this recipe online! But what is yacon powder exactly? I did a search online and it is only (and very limitly) available as syrup in Europe (and hot even in Holland…) I will try to substitute with a little more agave, but if you have any advice here, that’d be very welcome!
Thanks so much and enjoy a relaxed sunday!
xox Christianne
Ashley says
Hi Elana,
Yacon syrup is sooooo expensive $23.00 for a small container at our local health food store. Wondering if you and suggest an alternative? Thank you
elana says
Hi Susan-
You could try my coconut flour recipes. Just enter “coconut flour” into the search bar on the upper right side of my site. The coconut flour recipes will appear and most of those are nut free.
Alternatively, you could experiment with the recipes in terms of replacements. Since I specialize in almond flour, my experimentation is in creating and perfecting recipes with that ingredient. I stay away from rice flour and most of the other gluten-free flours as they are super high glycemic.
Hope this helps.
Elana
Susan Cody says
I am looking for good gluten free recipes and came upon your web site. Everything looks and sounds great. Unfortunately, my adult son who has just been diagnosed as gluten intolerant, is also allergic to tree nuts and soy. This limits his use of flours. Is there a flour we can use to replace the almond flour in your recipes? Almond flour sounds delicious but…
I’m looking forward to your advice. I also run an extended day program in a Waldorf School and would love to use some of these recipes for our snacks, but we are committed to being a nut free kitchen, too. Thanks, Susan
Alena says
Hi Susan,
I’ve started experimenting with sunflower seeds ground into a meal as a substitute for nuts in recipes so my children can take them to school. It’s a very similar consistency, but very different flavour, but I’m persisting… looking forward to trying these gingerbread men! Hope that helps, Alena