For me, gingerbread is a big part of Christmas. I can remember making huge batches of gingerbread men with my mum at this time of year, which always so much fun! Since I like to eat so much gingerbread, I’ve come up with a recipe that’s a bit lighter, but still full of that warming spicy goodness.
Let’s face it, when we think about Christmas we hardly consider it to be the healthiest time of the year. Rather than obsessing over the calories and indulgences, I like to try to strike that balance that always works well for me. I love to bake and just by upgrading some of the ingredients I can make my festive bakes a little healthier and nourishing. With these healthy gingerbread cookies, I’ve swapped out some of the traditional ingredients to make them more wholesome, without compromising on flavour.
- 350 g wholemeal plain flour plus extra for dusting
- 3 tsp ground ginger or to taste
- 1 tsp of baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp allspice
- 150 g coconut sugar
- 120 g of unsweetened apple sauce or puree
- 1 egg
- 5 tbsp melted coconut oil
- 3 tbsp dark molasses
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Sift the flour, ginger, cinnamon, allspice and baking soda in a large bowl and stir together.
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In a separate bowl, combine the melted coconut oil, apple sauce, egg and molasses and pour into the dry ingredients.
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Stir together, until the mixture begins to clump, forming a dough. Bring the dough together and wrap in cling film. Allow it to rest for 30 minutes in the fridge before rolling out.
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Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and line 2 baking trays with greaseproof paper.
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Roll out the cookie dough (approximately 0.5cm thickness) on a lightly floured surface and cut out the cookie shapes. Place the cookies on to the baking sheets and bake for 8-10 minutes.
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Allow to cool on a baking rack before decorating.
If you are unsure on the dough's texture, it will not hurt to mix in more flour. I have tried these cookies with the extra flour and it just results in more dough (no complaints there!) and a more crisp cookie.
These cookies contain no butter or refined sugar; instead, I’ve used coconut oil and coconut sugar, so lots of healthy fats and less likelihood of blood sugar spikes. Also, I’ve used plain wholemeal flour for the extra fibre and whole grain goodness. Since it’s Christmas, I decorated my cookies with some icing and sprinkles, but they are just as good plain or dipped in chocolate.
If you’re still not feeling festive enough then I think that these decorated gingerbread cookies will give you a massive boost of Christmas cheer. Obviously, adding the extra icing and decorations does increase the sugar content, but I think a bit of what you fancy does you the world of good. Plus, the actual cookie is pretty wholesome anyway, it’s all about the 80/20 rule, right?
I love seeing a recipe for gingerbread that isn’t loaded with sugar and syrup! These look great and love that they aren’t filled with junk.
I know exactly what you mean. I do like to make healthier sweet treats. The coconut sugar is much better than processed sugar.
These look just beautiful, I adore gingerbread! Your icing is so delicate and pretty. These look like the perfect lighter Christmas treat!
They turned out much better than I expected them too. Thank you!
These are really cute, and I love how you’ve made them healthier by using wholegrain flour! So important to keep up fibre intake this time of year. The silver balls remind me of fun times making fairy cakes as kids – love it!
Thanks, Ceri! Yes, I love that they are higher in fibre. We always had silver balls when decorating cakes as a kid too, good times!
So love your use of applesauce and coconut oil in these – they look so delightfully delicious!
Thank you! stick coconut oil in practically anything.
These look very pretty. You must have a steady hand I’m sure I’d make a total mess myself.
Haha! It’s not that steady, I can assure you.
I love how you’ve decorated these, so cute and festive! Definitely a perfect bake for Christmas!
Oh thank you! I think they would look great hung on a tree.
These look amazing, your decoration skills are amazing! x
Thank you!
I love gingerbread cookies, so definitely going to give these a go when I do my Xmas baking. Your icing looks stunning x
Thanks, Rhian. I’m going to be making another batch of these next week as part of my Christmas baking.
I love the healthier adaptations you have made and the cookies are just gorgeous!
Thanks Sarah, I’m pretty pleased with how they turned out.
I am loving the look of these gingerbread cookies though I have never actually made any before but would love to try one day
They are so easy to make! 🙂
These look adorable nad so very pretty. I have not baked with coconut sugar before so will check it out.
Thank you! Coconut sugar works so well in baked goods.
What a lovely sounding recipe! Not sure that coconut sugar is any more healthy than table sugar, as sugar is sugar is sugar no matter what you call it – it’s metabolised in the same way, but it still sounds like a nice recipe. 🙂
Thank you! I would have to disagree. Yes, sugar is sugar, but some offer better nutritional value than others. It actually offers a lot more health benefits than regular table sugar: less processed, higher nutrient content, and much less fructose which the body converts to fat. 🙂
put the kettle on as I am on my way – these truly look and sound amazing
They look so pretty! I usually go for dipped in chocolate as I don’t have the skills for all that piping!
These look incredible and decorated s beautifully and despite being the healthy alternative they sound just absolutely divine x
These sound delicious and they are absolutely gorgeous. I’ve never really been a big gingerbread fan but these could tempt me!
When I first read ‘HEALTHY’ I was wondering how a biscuit could be healthy, and now I’m going to make thousands of them with our feeling guilty haha these sound awesome and they look lush too!
I have never made ginger bread cookies before but these look lovely! need to make some soon
These look lovely and the decorations are beautiful!
What a healthy alternative and we love the way you’ve decorated them. Beautiful x
Fabulous recipe! It is all too easy to overindulge at Christmas so having a healthier version of my favourite biscuit would be brilliant. Thanks for sharing xx
This recipe is lovely! I love gingerbread so having it a little healthier is a great recommendation. I have to say though I doubt mine would look as near as beautiful as yours do! x
These look great. I love building and decorating gingerbread houses so I’m hoping to do that sometime!
I can eat a ton of gingerbread biscuits so I need to get baking this recipe asap!!