By: Susan Joy | The JOYful Table
Serves: 30 | Prep Time: 00:30 | Cooking Time: 00:15
Gingerbread cookies are a traditional Christmas treat. This healthy paleo version of gingerbread has a slightly soft and chewy centre and is topped with homemade white chocolate icing. The icing dresses the cookies up for Christmas but best of all it makes them taste so good!
Ingredients
1/2 cup almond meal/flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup arrowroot flour
8 Lge Medjool date(s), pitted
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp baking soda (bicarb)
1/4 tsp pink Himalayan salt
1/4 cup ghee
2 Lge egg(s)
2 Tbsp molasses (organic unsulphured)
WHITE CHOCOLATE ICING:
100g cacao butter
100g coconut butter
1 Tbsp maple syrup, 100%, or honey
1 – 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (organic)
Pinch of pink Himalayan salt
Directions
Preheat oven to 160c and line 2 baking trays with baking paper.
Add the almond meal/flour, coconut flour, arrowroot, dates, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda and salt to a food processor or similar. Process for approximately 10 seconds to produce a finer texture and for the dates to break down.
Add the ghee, eggs and molasses, process until the mixture is soft and gathers at the sides of the bowl. Remove the blade, scrape down the sides and give a good mix by hand. The mixture will be soft and sticky but firms up a little as the coconut flour soaks up moisture.
Roll heaped teaspoonfuls of dough into approx. 30 small balls. Place on the prepared trays leaving 5cm between them. To make a nice round cookie shape, place a small square of baking paper over a ball of dough and use the flat bottom of a glass to gently press down through the paper. Repeat for each ball.
Bake for 15 – 18 minutes. The bottoms of the cookies will brown but the tops won’t change much in colour. Allow the cookies to completely cool on the trays before handling.
Coat the cooled cookies with the white chocolate icing, leaving a little of the gingerbread showing at the edges. (I find a teaspoon works great for this job. Drop the chocolate in the centre of the cookie, then turn the spoon over and use the back to smooth around forming a circle). Place your tray of iced gingerbread into the fridge for a few minutes to set.
Store gingerbread cookies in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
To make the White Chocolate Icing: Add the cacao butter and coconut butter to a small saucepan over a medium – low heat. Stir continually until both melt (don’t allow the mixture to get too hot, the stirring will help with the melting). Remove from the heat. Pour the mixture into a variable speed blender, add the maple syrup, vanilla and salt. Place on lid and slowly turn to a low speed of 3 and blend for 10 – 12 seconds to emulsify.
Pour the white chocolate mixture into a glass jug and allow to start cooling. Stir from time to time to help it cool. You can place the chocolate into the fridge to shorten the cooling time but you must watch it carefully (continue to mix as the sides will set before the middle and this could make it become lumpy). You want the chocolate to be thick but spreadable. Don’t stress if you come back later and find your white chocolate has set firm, it can be melted again.
Article supplied with thanks to The JOYful Table.
About the Author: Susan Joy is author of The JOYful Table cookbook containing gluten & grain free, and Paleo inspired recipes for good health and well being.
