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Throughout my childhood, I always wanted to make a gingerbread house. I saw plenty of them in department stores and supermarkets while out running errands with Mom, and they looked so sweet and whimsical! Â
Tile roofs made of red hots and adorned with sugary gumdrops⌠Miniature candy canes bordering each side of the front door⌠Green lifesaver wreaths hung above the front door⌠Vanilla icing windows carefully piped on⌠Glittery snow made from coarse sugar sprinkles⌠Every sweet detail looked magical at that young age!
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One year, my brotherâs boy scout troop hosted a gingerbread house event and invited the siblings to participate too. Mom immediately signed us upâshe knew how much weâd look forward to building with frosting and candy!
Instead of traditional gingerbread, the mothers in charge opted for graham crackers to avoid spending hours baking in their kitchens⌠But those sheets broke a little too easily, so we ended up with crumbs everywhereâalong with dried icing all over our hands and more candy in our bellies than on the graham crackers!
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After that labor-intensive fiasco, our family never again attempted to construct gingerbread houses⌠We much prefer these Healthy Gingerbread Blossoms instead! Theyâre much easier to make (no rolling pins, icing, or meticulous assembly required!), and they still come with a little bit of âgrown-upâ dark chocolate candy pressed into the centers. Even better, theyâre just 61 calories with no refined flour or added sugar!
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To make these guilt-free holiday cookies, youâll start with white whole wheat flour (like this⌠it has the same health benefits as regular whole wheat flour but a lighter taste and texture!) and lots of spices. Ginger (obviously⌠canât make gingerbread cookies without it!), cinnamon (â that kind is my current favorite!), nutmeg, and cloves. I love measuring out those spices⌠They fill my kitchen with such a cozy, comforting aroma!
Next, youâll need a tiny bit of melted butter (or coconut oil⌠but I truly prefer the flavor of butter!), an egg white, and vanilla extract. All fairly common ingredients in cookies! But because weâre cutting back on calories by just using 2 tablespoons of butter and no egg yolk, youâll also mix in a bit of room temperature milk to give the cookie dough enough moisture.
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Instead of granulated sugar, youâll sweeten your cookies with more wholesome options: molasses (like this) and vanilla stevia (like this). These ingredients might not be as familiar as the others! Along with ginger, molasses is what creates that iconic gingerbread flavorârich, warm, cozy, comforting, wintery bliss. Please donât substitute anything for it! Itâs inexpensive and shelf-stable. This is the kind I buy. (And youâll use it in all of these recipes of mine, too!)
As for the vanilla stevia, itâs a plant-based, no-calorie sweetener that contains nothing refined or artificial (aka itâs clean-eating friendly!). Itâs also very concentrated. You just need 2 Âź teaspoons to sweeten all 30 cookies! This is the kind I use because I love its warm flavor and donât notice any funky aftertaste. You can find it at many health-oriented grocery stores, but I buy mine online here because thatâs the cheapest price Iâve found. (And youâll use it in all of these recipes of mine, too!)
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After you roll your cookie dough into small spheres and place those on your baking sheet, you must flatten the cookie dough. It doesnât spread at all while in the oven! I use the flat bottom of a glass to gently press down on the spheres. Super easy!
As soon as your cookies come out of the oven, press a dark chocolate Hershey kiss (this kind) into the center of each! The hot cookies will immediately melt the bottom of the chocolate kiss. As the cookies and chocolate cool, they stay stuck together. How cute do they look?
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Perfect for holiday parties and cookie exchanges! Or maybe Santaâs Christmas Eve snack⌠Or just satisfying your cookie sweet tooth! ??? 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 Iâll see your picture! ?) Iâd love to see your cookies and feature them in my Sunday Spotlight series!
| Healthy Gingerbread Blossoms | | Print |
- 1 ž cups (210g) white whole wheat flour or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
- 1 ½ tsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 ž tsp ground ginger
- Âź tsp ground cinnamon
- â tsp ground nutmeg
- â tsp ground cloves
- Âź tsp salt
- 2 tbsp (28g) unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted
- 1 large egg white, room temperature
- 2 Âź tsp vanilla stevia
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- Âź cup (60mL) nonfat milk, room temperature
- Âź cup (60mL) molasses
- 30 dark chocolate kisses (unwrap them before you start making the cookie dough!)
- Preheat the oven to 325°F, and line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the butter, egg, vanilla stevia, and vanilla extract. Stir in the milk and molasses. Add in the flour mixture, stirring just until incorporated.
- Divide the dough into 30 equal portions, and roll each into a ball. Place onto the prepared baking sheet. Using the flat bottom of a drinking glass, flatten the cookie dough to be slightly larger than the bottom of the dark chocolate kisses. (Note: These cookies donât spread while baking!)
- Bake at 325°F for 7-9 minutes. Once the cookies come out of the oven, immediately (but gently!) press a chocolate kiss into the center of each cookie. Cool on the baking sheet for at least 10 minutes before carefully transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Whole wheat pastry flour, regular whole wheat flour, or all-purpose flour may be substituted for the white whole wheat flour
The cornstarch helps keep the cookies soft and chewy. Donât skip it!
Any type of milk can be substituted for the nonfat milk.
I do not recommend substituting anything for the molasses! Along with the ground ginger, itâs what creates the iconic gingersnap flavor: deep, complex, rich, and cozy. This is the kind that I use, and itâs completely shelf-stable. You can generally find it near the honey on the baking aisle, and youâll use it in all of these recipes of mine too!
I highly recommend using the vanilla stevia! Itâs one of my favorite ingredients, and youâll use it in all of these recipes of mine, too. Although you can find it at many health-oriented grocery stores, I buy mine online here because thatâs the cheapest price Iâve found.
If you prefer not to use the vanilla stevia, then substitute 1 cup (192g) of coconut sugar, brown sugar, or granulated sugar AND omit the milk. If using this substitution, chill the cookie dough for at least 1 hour after Step 2. After chilling, if the cookie dough is still too sticky to roll, then using a spoon and spatula (or a cookie scoop), drop one portion of cookie dough into rounded mounds in the bowl of sugar. Rotate it until itâs fully coated; then roll it between your palms into a ball. Drop it back in the spiced sugar, coat again, and place on the prepared baking sheet. Do not flatten the cookies; they should spread fairly well while baking.
These are the dark chocolate kisses that I used. For a fun flavor variation, I bet these caramel-filled kisses or these pumpkin spice kisses would taste amazing! If you try that, leave me a comment and report back! If you prefer a âclean eatingâ version, then substitute a small ½â square of your favorite dark chocolate instead.
{gluten-free, clean eating option, low fat}
View Nutrition Information
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You may also like Amy’s other recipesâŚ
âĄÂ   The Ultimate Healthy Peanut Butter Blossoms
âĄÂ   Healthy Dark Chocolate Blossoms
âĄÂ   Healthy Pumpkin Blossoms
âĄÂ   The Ultimate Healthy Gingerbread Cookies
âĄÂ   The Ultimate Healthy Gingersnaps
âĄÂ   Healthy Soft-Baked Ginger Cookies
âĄÂ   Healthy Chocolate Chip Gingerbread Oatmeal Cookies
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Made these Healthy Gingerbread Blossoms today, could not find white wholemeal wheat flour, so i substetuted with bio-dynamic wholemeal Spelt flour. Also could not obtain the dark chocolate kisses locally ( could order online ) in time, so i again substetuted with dark chocolate covered apricots. Great success and compliments from all. Tank you very much for the recipe, and hope you will enjoy a great Christmas period
I’m so glad you enjoyed these cookies Arild! I love your idea of dark chocolate covered apricots. I need to remember that! đ Happy holidays to you and your loved ones!
Amy my question is if I wanted to make these for kids , can I switch to coconut sugar instead of stevia and non-fat milk with 2% milk , also should I then keep the quantity same ?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Sarosh! I’ve actually answered this in the Notes section of the recipe, which is located directly underneath the Instructions. đ I can’t wait to hear what you and your kids think of these cookies!
I tried these cookies today and Iâm sorry to say I wasnât a fan. Way too many spices going on and I didnât think the dark chocolate went well with the spices. I think it mightâve been better with no chocolate and less spices-too busy for a cookie .
I truly appreciate your interest in my recipe Penelope! I do prefer my gingerbread cookies on the spicy side, but you’re welcome to reduce them to better suit your tastes. You can also omit the dark chocolate. I understand not everyone enjoys that flavor combo! đ