Ginger Snap Cookies you don’t have to feel guilty about!

This Thanksgiving, our family went home to Saskatchewan to visit with family, as we knew it would be challenging to do so in the upcoming months. While there, my mom served her Gingersnap cookies that our daughters went crazy for.

She used the same recipe that she made when I was little girl. I just love that, don’t you?! Food related memories are one of the special things about going home. Quite surprisingly, her recipe was vegan… With some tweaking, I found a way to remove the added oil and sweeten them in a more natural way.

My mom’s recipe contains shortening which, while vegan, is absolutely terrible for you. (Sorry mom.) Shortening ingredients are; soybean oil, fully hydrogenated palm oil, palm oil, mono and diglycerides, citric acid and TBHQ (an additive that causes abnormal reactions in the immune system that triggers food allergies). You can read more about the deleterious effects of TBHQ here. I’m not sure how this actually became a food, to be honest.

Why use shortening when there are so many healthier options? I first tried making the recipe using a vegan butter which works well, but is still not that healthy. Then I decided to take it a step further and completely replace the oil with almond butter. Zero added oil made the Gingersnaps a bit too dry, so I settled on adding just one tablespoon of oil to the entire recipe. Just that tiny amount made a huge difference to the consistency.

I also switched out the sugar from regular white sugar to date sugar, which Dr. Greger says is actually healthy, as it is just dehydrated and powdered dates (read more here). With molasses as the other sugar in this recipe, (and the second healthiest sugar according to Dr. Greger), your body will thank you!

You can either roll this recipe out and use cookie cutters, or simply roll balls of dough between your palms and press into a 1/4 to 1/2 inch high mound. The more you press, the crispier they will be. The less you press, the chewier.

This recipe will make 20-24 cookies, depending on the size of the balls you roll.

You can roll them out with a rolling pin, use Christmas cookie cutters and decorate them, or just quickly roll them into little pops of goodness to share!

No Guilt Gingersnaps

Print

Serves: 20-24 cookies Prep Time: 20 minutes Cooking Time: 8-10 minutes 8-10 minutes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1/3 cup almond butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup non-bleached all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2/3 cup date sugar
• 1 tablespoon powdered ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Add water, molasses and almond butter to a medium pot. Stir frequently.  Once the mixture comes to a boil, remove from heat.  Stir in the oil. 
3. Mix the dry ingredients into a medium bowl and whisk. (You may want to put the ingredients through a sieve to make sure there are no lumps.)
4. Pour the dry ingredients into the pot and mix well with a wooden spoon.
5. Roll small balls of batter in your hands and press onto parchment paper lined sheets.  Press with the tines of a fork to create the imprint if you like. 
6. If you prefer, you can roll the dough out with a rolling pin, cut out shapes and decorate. 
7. Bake for 8-10 minutes depending on thickness.  
8. Let cool for a few minutes and enjoy!

 

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Notes

To make these gluten free, you can substitute a gluten free flour mix.