This is the best ever Paleo gingerbread cookies recipe. They are great to make for Christmas to hang on your tree or just eat. Eating a Paleo diet at Christmas time can be challenging. Everyone is eating a bunch of treats that you can’t eat and it not only makes you feel left out, but it also takes away a whole social part of your life.
That’s why it’s so nice to have a few Christmas cookie recipes, like these cookies up your sleeve! That way when there’s a party, I just always volunteer to bring some food and I make it so it’s something I can eat and pretty much always everyone else loves it and they could care less that it’s Paleo.
Our family is like many in that we like to make Christmas cookies. My 11-year-old daughter, in particular, LOVES to bake. We were asked to contribute some cookies so we could go caroling with my parents and most of my brothers and sisters. We wanted to visit some of the elderly, lonely people in our neighborhood and eat the leftover cookies with hot chocolate after. That’s all fine and good unless you are on a restricted diet. My daughter wanted to make gingerbread cookies, but I said they had to be Paleo.
So I developed this Paleo gingerbread men recipe and I’m so happy with how it turned out. This dough holds its shape perfectly when baked…it doesn’t spread at all! I love how the almond flour gives it a nutty crunch and I love how there are relatively few ingredients. I was also surprised to learn that most people think that molasses is Paleo because it would be hard to duplicate that flavor. The real maple syrup * gives it a similar flavor to brown sugar but is so much healthier for you than brown sugar.
Please let me know if you enjoy these gluten-free and Paleo cookies by commenting below. I would love to know how if you just make them for yourself or if you share them with others.
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PrintThe Best Ever Paleo Gingerbread Cookies
These gingerbread cookies hold their shape when cooked and have a nutty flavor and they’re Paleo too.
- Prep Time: 50 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 60 minutes
- Yield: 15 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: Paleo
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 Cups Almond Flour *
- 3/4 Cup Tapioca Flour *
- 3/4 tsp Ground Ginger
- 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp Ground Cloves
- 1/4 tsp Real Salt *
- 3 Tbl Coconut Oil (melted)
- 2 1/2 tsp Pure Maple Syrup *
- 3 Tbl Molasses
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together the almond flour, tapioca starch, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and salt.
- Add the coconut oil, maple syrup, molasses, and vanilla to the dry ingredients and beat with an electric mixer until a thick dough forms (It will resemble wet crumbs that stick together when you pinch them with your finger). You may need to mix for a minute of two until the dough comes together. Don’t worry about over-mixing the dough, since it contains no gluten you can’t over-develop it and cause tough cookies. (It’s important to use an electric mixer or the ingredients won’t be able to combine enough to get wet.)
- Combine the dough by pressing it together by hand, until it forms one large ball.
- Place the dough in-between two sheets of parchment paper. Roll out the dough to a 1/4″ thickness. Refrigerate dough for 30 minutes.
- Peel the top layer of parchment off of the sheet of dough. Cut out gingerbread man shapes with a cookie cutter and place the gingerbread men 1″ apart on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes. Let cool on the pan and store in an airtight container immediately. To keep soft while storing, add a piece of bread to the container or one of those clay bears soaked in water.
- Decorate with desired icing and toppings!
Notes
If your mix is either really dry and won’t come together to a ball or if you like a softer cookie AND you don’t eat Vegan, try adding 1-2 egg yolks.
Keywords: Paleo, Nutty, Healthy, Christmas
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ST
I made these on Christmas as a break from the normal sugar of the holidays. The dough definitely would not have worked if I didn’t add a couple tablespoons of water. It was still tough to roll out, but in the end it worked and made gingerbread cookies on the crunchier side. The perfect taste of spices though! (Would’ve used gingerbread men cutters but they were misplaced 🙁) I would probably not make them again because of the struggle with the dough, but they’re a great Christmas treat u won’t feel guilty about eating.
★★★★★
Whitney Hofmann
The best Paleo Christmas cookies!
★★★★★
Laura
These turned out great!!
★★★★★
Elizabeth
Nice and crispy. These turned out great. Held their shape and tasty. Not very sweet, but really tasty.
★★★★★
Rachael Hebblewhite
Do you think I could use this dough to make a pie crust?
Rebecca Baron
I wouldn’t think so. It isn’t the same texture at all. Sorry. . .
Charlotte Haldiman
I’m not much of a cookie baker and ginger was never an ingredient I liked. After making these cookies, I absolutely love everything about them!! My hubby says they’re better than a chef we know that makes dozens and dozens of these every Christmas. Going to make some this weekend for St. Patrick’s Day!!
★★★★★
Rebecca
I’m so glad you like them. Are gingerbread cookies a common treat for St. Patrick’s Day or did you just think they sounded good?
Katie
I don’t have molasses, what can I substitute it with???
Rebecca
I’m sorry but I’ve only ever used molasses in the recipe. It’s part of what gives it the gingerbread flavor. But I’m sure if you do a Google search you will get some ideas. . .
Yvonne
You could just use extra maple syrup – it won’t have the same rich flavour as gingerbread but it should still work.
Jackie
Hi Rebecca, What do you think about automatically adding a vegan egg, chia??? I want to make these but wanted your take before giving it a try.
Rebecca
I personally don’t think it’s necessary, because they do come together, but they do tend to be a bit on the harder side, so if you like them a little softer or if they don’t come together for you, I think it’s a good option.
Jackie
Thank you. I’m always looking for vegan desserts. I’ll be making these minus the “egg”.
Rebecca
Glad I could help. You totally don’t need the egg.
Rebekah
The ingredients say Tapioca Flour, but the recipe says Tapioca Starch. Which is it? Or are they interchangeable? I’m used to using starch, and know that it’s important not to sub anything in gf recipes unless you really know what you’re doing, ha!
Looking forward to trying these!
Rebecca
Sorry about that. That can be confusing, but they are totally interchangeable and totally the same thing.
Susan
I was a little nervous to make these cause some people said they were dry, but I tried them and they turned out perfect and look just like the picture. I used this Paleo icing – http://www.greatfoodlifestyle.com/paleo-royal-icing/
★★★★★
Rebecca
I’m glad you liked them. There’s nothing like the smell of freshly baked gingerbread!
Cara
I tried this but the dough didn’t “come together”…it was just a powder. I added a bit more oil, but didn’t help. 2 eggs (for my double batch) did the trick, though. Just in case it helps someone.
I found the thicker cookies ended up moister. Nice recipe. Thanks!
Ashley Merryman
Wait, you need eggs? I didn’t see that in the receipe and mine is a powder now too ?.
Rebecca
No, you aren’t supposed to use eggs, but that’s the solution she came up with. I can’t figure out why it works for some people and not others. I’m wondering if it has something to do with the brand of ingredients. Like, what brand of almond flour, tapioca flour, syrup and molasses are you using? Those the main things I can think of that would have moisture in them that would vary by brand. Maybe if we can figure out what doesn’t work, that will help narrow it down to what does work.
Rebecca
I’m also going to try making them again in the next day or two and see if I can figure out what’s going on. There’s got to be a foolproof way to get these to work. . .
Rebecca
I made these again a few days ago and they turned out just like the photo without modifying the recipe. I also updated the instructions a little to make it clearer on how to form the dough, cause it was confusing before. I hope it helps!
Amelia
Thank you! What icing recipe do you use?
Rebecca
I feel so bad. I totally can’t remember. I experiment with so many different recipes and this recipe is from like three years ago. Why didn’t I write it down? This recipe looks familiar, so I think I at least tried it at one point – http://kelleyandcricket.com/chai-spiced-sugar-cookies-grain-free-gluten-free-paleo/ Sorry. Wish I was more helpful.
maggie
can’t wait to try these 🙂 can you recommend a a clean icing recipe please?
Rebecca
This one looks promising – http://kelleyandcricket.com/chai-spiced-sugar-cookies-grain-free-gluten-free-paleo/
Jennifer
Does anyone have a paleo friendly recipe for the icing?
Rebecca
Sorry about that. I replied to some others just now who asked the same question.
Emma
I’m excited to finally find a good Paleo gingerbread cookie recipe. I’m going to make these for my grandkids for Christmas this year.
★★★★★
Amelia
Quick follow up question–I love that you have nutrition information, thank you! Is the nutrition information per cookie or for the whole batch? Thanks again!
Rebecca
The nutrition information is about per cookie.