Hello dear friends! I am stepping out of my comfort zone a little bit today to join some wonderful bloggers for a cookie recipe hop. Today we are sharing “Eight Christmas Cookies To Jingle Your Bells!” This fun hop was organized by Marissa of My Casa Di Bella.  If you are coming over from Michelle’s beautiful blog at Thistle Key Lane, I know you have been inspired! I have to admit I was a little intimidated about this hop because it has been forever since I have made cookies from scratch due to so many food allergies and also avoiding sugar for health reasons. Nevertheless I was up for the challenge and I am so glad I decided to participate, because I discovered a delicious allergy-friendly and refined sugar free gingerbread cookie recipe to try, and the cookies turned out amazing!

Three of us our family have gluten, dairy, and egg allergies, and two of us have to avoid extra sugar. I have tried making allergy friendly cookies in the past but they were never worth the effort and expense, especially since there are some really good allergy-friendly pre-made cookie doughs at our local health food store. Still I have missed making Christmas cookies, and I have never found a gingerbread cookie dough or mix we could eat. When I was presented with the challenge of this blog hop I hit Pinterest to search for some recipes that would be suitable for my family’s dietary restrictions. Finally I found a hopeful gingerbread recipe at Minimalist Baker that looked like it might work with a few modifications, including my favorite non-gmo and organic ingredients.

I used to bake all the time and I collect vintage rolling pins, but I didn’t have any that hadn’t been used to make gluten foods in the past, so I had to pick up a new one. I also purchased some new gingerbread men cookie cutters just to be on the safe side.

Oh, are you guys LOVING my marble counter top? Just kidding…it’s only $4.00 contact paper I rolled out just to take a pretty picture (Fake it ’til ya make it!) We are getting new wood counter tops sometime after Christmas though and I am getting so excited! Sorry, I get a little sidetracked when I think of our long awaited kitchen update!

Here’s the recipe:

Gluten Free Vegan Gingerbread Cookies (Using organic and non-gmo ingredients)

Directions

~Add softened butter, molasses coconut sugar spices, neat egg, and baking soda to a large bowl and mix on low speed with a hand mixer until well blended.

~Add gluten free flour to the wet ingredients and stir with a mixing spoon until well combined. The dough should hold it’s shape when pressed together, but it shouldn’t be too dry. You might have to adjust the gluten free flour mix to a little more or less depending on the blend of ingredients in the specific mix you are using.

~Restrain yourself from eating all of the batter….

~Cover and chill dough for at least one hour or overnight if possible

~ After the dough has chilled, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using a rolling pin, roll out dough to about 1/8 inch between two sheets of  parchment paper or wax paper. Make sure to sprinkle the bottom layer and the top of the dough with a little flour. Don’t “over roll” the dough or it will be too thin.

~ Working quickly, dust your cookie cutter with a little gf flour and cut out the shapes if you are using a cooking cutter. Otherwise you can just roll the dough into balls and flatten them to make gingersnaps. Keeping the dough on the paper, carefully transfer the paper with the dough onto a baking sheet and put it in the freezer for five minutes to so they will be firm and less likely to break apart when you removed the paper or if you are going to transfer them to a different baking sheet.

Only one casualty…not bad for the first try! (Note: I used the vegan butter to butter the pan but it wasn’t necessary, and the second batch turned out better on an ungreased pan).

~With a lightly floured spatula, carefully quickly and carefully transfer the cookies to a baking sheet placing them about 2 inches apart.

~Bake for 8-10 minutes or until slightly browned around edge. They may seem a little soft when you remove them, but they will keep firming up as they cool.

~After they have cooled you can decorate them with frosting if you prefer.

~The cookies can be kept covered at room temperature for several days.  This batch should yield about 10 gingerbread men or around 18 cookies if you roll them into balls.

Enjoy your cookies with hot coffee, tea or cocoa!

When I first tried out this gluten free vegan gingerbread cookie recipe, it was on the night of our first snow.  I had just finished decorating our Merry and Bright Farmhouse Christmas Kitchen, and the family was listening to Christmas music as the wonderful aroma of baking gingerbread filled the kitchen. Up until that evening I was really struggling to get in the Christmas spirit for some reason, but making the cookies on a snowy night ended up giving me all the Christmas feels!

This weekend I decorated the porch for Christmas! Since we were having a mild winter weekend, it was the perfect time for enjoying a little Christmas snack on the front porch. You can see more of the porch in my post, Easy Christmas Porch Decor that I shared today for the Christmas Festival Blog Hop.

I have to say that these turned out to be some of the best cookies I have ever tasted! Even Mr. Snowman couldn’t resist the temptation! Since the recipe still has lots of natural sugar, I won’t be able to make a habit of eating them, but it will be nice to finally have a cookie to enjoy in moderation for holiday parties. Even if you don’t have food allergies, I highly recommend these gingerbread cookies, especially if you are wanting a little healthier option.

Now it’s time to check out all of the other delicious looking recipes! Next up is Jamie of Family Savvy.  Her cookies look absolutely delicious, but I am also loving her beautiful centerpiece with moss and candles too!

Enjoy the recipes!