Healthy Ginger Bread Men

Healthy Ginger Bread Men

Nov 28, 2017 | Sweet Things

My kids love baking, but if I’m honest they are still honing their skills so I’m always trying to think of really easy and fun recipes. These ginger bread men are perfect! I like to use wholemeal spelt flour which, compared to normal wheat flour, is higher in a range of nutrients. I also try to avoid sugar and so I use coconut sugar and maple syrup. All in all, these ginger bread men are definitely still a treat, but they are a much healthier baking option than traditional cookies or fairy cakes.
This recipe makes around 30 small ginger bread men, but if you don’t want to make that many you can split the dough and freeze half for another time. To use, simply defrost in the fridge overnight.

Makes approx. 12

Ingredients:

  • 250g wholemeal spelt flour
  • 2 tsp ground ginger
  • 50g coconut sugar
  • 100g maple syrup
  • 50g butter
  • 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 1 medium egg, beaten

Method:

  1. Mix the flour and ginger together in a large bowl.
  2. Place the coconut sugar, maple syrup and butter in a small saucepan and cook over a medium heat for a couple of minutes until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and stir in the bicarbonate of soda.
  3. Add the sugar mixture to the flour mixture and stir. Add the egg and mix well until you get a dough like consistency. Wrap the dough in cling film and chill for 15-20 minutes.
  4. Preheat the oven to 160c. Line three baking trays with baking paper and remove the dough from the fridge.
  5. Dust the work surface with a little flour and roll out the dough to approximately 3mm thickness. If the dough is too stick sprinkle it with a little flour.
  6. Using a ginger bread man cutter, cut out the shape of the cookies and place each on the baking trays leaving about 2cm between each ginger bread man.
  7. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes until the cookies are lightly browned. Transfer to a
    wire rack to cool.