One December during my middle school years, my aunt flew out from Arizona to visit us for the holidays. On her first full day at our house, she suggested that we made gingerbread cookies as an afternoon project, and since Mom usually lacked the patience for baking anything besides boxed mix brownies, my brother and I immediately agreed.
We found a recipe in one of our faded old cookbooks and quickly set to work measuring and mixing together the ingredients. After rolling out the dough and slicing it into fun shapes with our eclectic collection of cookie cutters, everything from candy canes and Santa’s sleigh to Mickey Mouse and the Pillsbury Dough Boy, we popped the trays into the oven to bake.
A couple of hours later, we sat down at the kitchen table to decorate our treats. Instead of mixing up traditional royal icing, we just stirred together milk and powdered sugar in a handful of small bowls, then squirted in a few drops of food coloring to dye them pastel shades of pink, green, yellow, and blue.
When we finished icing the cookies, we arranged them on large dinner plates and safely tucked those away on top of the refrigerator. Our golden retriever could easily jump up on the counters and eat anything in sight!
That evening, I slipped into the kitchen to sneak a cookie before dinner when Mom wasn’t looking. After grabbing a small star, I hastily slid the plate back on top of the fridge and brushed the crumbs off my fingertips, but when Mom opened the refrigerator door a few minutes later to pull out some vegetables…
That plate tumbled down and shattered on the kitchen floor, sending broken pieces of stoneware and cookies into every nook and cranny. Whoops!
Ever since then, I’ve thought of my aunt and that little refrigerator incident whenever I’ve eaten gingerbread cookies… But since she passed away six years ago, I haven’t actually baked any homemade ones. However, I decided to change that this year, so I set out to create this recipe for the Ultimate Healthy Gingerbread Cookies. They’re full of the same cozy flavors as traditional recipes, but without any butter, refined flour or sugar, they come with none of the guilt. And I know my aunt would’ve loved these!
(And I stashed the leftover cookies on a shelf in the pantry this time, not the top of the fridge!)
KEY INGREDIENTS TO MAKE THE BEST HEALTHY GINGERBREAD COOKIES
To make these healthier gingerbread cookies, you’ll start with white whole wheat flour. That sounds a little contradictory, doesn’t it? Normally white flour and whole wheat flour are two totally different things! However, white whole wheat flour is made by finely grinding a special type of white wheat, whereas regular whole wheat flour comes from a heartier variety of red wheat. This gives white whole wheat flour a lighter taste and texture, similar to all-purpose flour, but it still has the same health benefits as regular whole wheat flour (like extra fiber!).
The gingerbread flavor comes from two main sources: ground ginger and molasses. I’m sure you guessed the first of those ingredients! The molasses provides the deep, rich, cozy undertones, and it’s absolutely crucial when making gingerbread cookies. Don’t skip it! Molasses is inexpensive, shelf-stable, and keeps for ages. This is the kind that I buy, and you can find it at most grocery stores near the honey or maple syrup.
In addition to the molasses, you’ll sweeten these cookies with one of my favorite ingredients: vanilla crème stevia. Stevia is a plant-based, no-calorie sweetener that’s clean eating friendly, and it’s very concentrated. A little goes a long way — you just need 1 teaspoon for this entire batch of cookies! This is the kind that I buy because I love its warm vanilla flavor and don’t notice any strange aftertastes like with some other stevia products. You can find it at many health-oriented grocery stores, but I usually buy mine online here because that’s the cheapest price I’ve found. (And you’ll use it in all of these recipes of mine, too!)
HOW TO MAKE THE BEST HEALTHY GINGERBREAD COOKIES
I have a special trick to share with you about how to easily roll out cookie dough with absolutely NO mess… You’ll roll it out between two large sheets of plastic wrap! With this trick, you don’t need to flour your work surface OR the cookie dough OR the rolling pin. It works like a charm for pie crusts and my sugar cookies, too! (Bonus: Your rolling pin won’t get dirty, so you don’t have to wash it!)
Here’s another pro tip for how to create perfectly shaped cut-out cookies… After pressing down the cookie cutters into the dough, peel the extra dough away from those shapes. (If you pull the cut-out cookie dough away from the extra dough, it usually stretches and turns misshapen!) Then slide a knife underneath the cut-out cookie dough to loosen it from the plastic wrap, and transfer it to your baking sheet. Ta da! Perfectly shaped cookies!
Then after a quick trip to the oven…
Time to pour a glass of milk and enjoy your cookies! Although with how much my family loved these, you may need to bake a second batch to make sure you have enough for Santa on Christmas Eve… 😉
And when you make your own, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees I’ll see your picture! 🙂 ) I’d love to see your ultimate healthy gingerbread cookies!
The Ultimate Healthy Gingerbread Cookies
Ingredients
FOR THE COOKIES
- 1 cup + 6 tbsp (165g) white whole wheat flour (measured like this)
- ¾ tsp cornstarch
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- 1 ½ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- ⅛ tsp ground nutmeg
- ⅛ tsp ground cloves
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp (28g) unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ cup (60mL) molasses (not blackstrap!)
- 1 tsp vanilla crème stevia (see Notes!)
FOR THE ICING (optional)
- 10 tsp confectioners' style erythritol (see Notes!)
- 2 tsp nonfat milk (or adjusted to achieve your desired consistency)
Instructions
- To prepare the cookies, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the butter, egg, and vanilla extract. Stir in the molasses and vanilla stevia. Add in the flour mixture, stirring just until incorporated. Transfer the dough to the center of a large sheet of plastic wrap, and shape into a 1”-tall rectangle. Cover the top with another large sheet of plastic wrap. Chill the dough for at least 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 325°F, and line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.
- Leaving the cookie dough between the sheets of plastic wrap, roll it out until ⅛” thick. Lightly flour your cookie cutter, and press it into the dough, making sure each shape lies as close to its neighbors as possible to minimize unused dough. Peel the unused dough away from the shapes, and place them onto the prepared baking sheets. Reroll the unused dough, and repeat.
- Bake the cut out cookie dough at 325°F for 8-10 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- To prepare the icing, stir together the confectioner’s style erythritol and milk in a small bowl. Spoon into a zip-topped bag, and snip off the corner. Pipe onto the cooled cookies.
Notes
View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
You may also enjoy Amy’s other recipes…
♡ The Ultimate Healthy Sugar Cookies
♡ Soft-Baked Ginger Cookies
♡ Gingerbread Oatmeal Cookies
♡ Gingerbread Breakfast Cookies
♡ Classic Gingerbread with Maple Glaze
♡ Gingerbread Muffins
♡ Gingerbread Protein Overnight Oats
♡ Baked Gingerbread Donuts with Maple Glaze
♡ …and the rest of Amy’s healthy cookie recipes and healthy holiday recipes!
Note: The recipe video was sponsored by SweetLeaf®. As always, all thoughts, text, photos, videos, and recipes are my own.
Now I know which gingerbread cookie recipe to make with my brother this year!! Except I’LL be making the dough, my brother can do the rolling and the cutting. 😉 Another reason why you and I are twins! 😀
Awwww!! That means SO much to me that you’d change recipes this year to try mine — you’re such a sweetheart Marina! I can’t wait to hear what you think of the cookies… And whether the official cookie-cutter-outer did an excellent job! 😉 😉
Amy, I like getting your blog posts in my email! Thanks for sharing your recipes with us.
That means so much to me that you’ve subscribed to my blog’s emails Erin — thank you so much! ♡
oh man busted!! hopefully some of the cookies were salvageable?? probably not i guess, haha! at least its a fun memory! These cookies look gorgeous Amy!
Thank you so much Karen! 🙂 Funny enough, my mom actually didn’t remember the plate falling and breaking when I asked her about it the other day… But at least we had four more plates still tucked safely away on top of the fridge, even after that one broke!
” but no butter, refined flour or sugar!” actually there is butter…
Thanks for catching that Caterina! I’ve updated the recipe and blog post accordingly. 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think if you try the cookies!
Why do I still see butter? I can’t get whether the recipe requires it or not :/
I appreciate your interest in my recipe Caterina! You can either use coconut oil or butter — the choice is yours! If you use the former, then there isn’t any butter in these cookies. 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think if you try them!
If I had a plate of gingerbread cookies on top of my fridge, I’m sure I’d be tempted to sneak one every so often, too! What a shame that the plate ended up tumbling onto the floor – at least you’d manage to eat that star before it happened! Gingerbread cookies certainly are difficult to resist, and these look fantastic! I love that tip about rolling out the dough between 2 sheets of plastic wrap – it can be tricky when the dough just gets stuck to the table and rolling pin, so that’s a really useful trick to know!
I love how you always look on the bright side and find the silver lining Katie! You’re completely right — I would’ve been much more upset if I didn’t get to eat a cookie first. 😉 I use that plastic wrap trick for rolling out any cut-out cookies or pie crust (I’m lazy and don’t want to wash more dishes!), so I hope it works for you too!
Do you know of any sugar free molasses?
No, I actually haven’t heard of sugar-free molasses before. If it exists, I wouldn’t recommend substituting it in this recipe because its flavor won’t be the same. I’d love to hear what you think if you try the gingerbread cookies Shelley!
Never seen a gingerbread recipe with cornstarch before! Sounds very interesting, gonna try this recipe for Christmas this year
That means a lot to me that you plan on trying my recipe for Christmas Maria! The cornstarch helps keep the cookies soft. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of them!
These look delicious! Hearing the story behind the recipe made me think, sometimes the memories make the recipe, too. What a treasured walk down memory lane. <3
Thanks Morgan! It’s so true about how memories can make a recipe even better. 🙂
Can I substitute vanilla stevia instead of vanilla cream – couldn’t find the one you used here in Vancouver
Yes, that should work Christina! If it’s a different brand than the one I use, then you may need to adjust the amount of stevia because different brands can have different concentrations of sweetness. The one I use has a serving size of 5 drops. If your bottle says the same thing, no adjustments necessary! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of the cookies!
Thank you,! It’s the same brand and I used 1/2 teaspoon but there’s definitely an after taste. My girls don’t seem to mind, but maybe I didn’t need 1/2 teaspoon?
The icing helps with the taste too:)
I’m glad your girls enjoyed the cookies Christina! 🙂 If it’s the same brand, then it should be a one-to-one substitution. I don’t notice any aftertastes with the vanilla creme flavor, so it could just be that the vanilla flavor doesn’t mask the stevia aftertaste as well. Either way, I’m glad the icing helped too!
Sorry I meant I used 1 teaspoon of the stevia 🙂
Too funny — I read your “1/2 teaspoon” as “1 teaspoon” anyway Christina! We must be on the same brain wavelength. 😉