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If you’re looking for a delicious, healthier gingerbread cookie, this almond flour recipe is for you. I’ve spent weeks testing it— with various sweeteners and spices— and landed on this version, which is naturally sweetened with maple syrup and requires no eggs.
You can stir the cookie dough together in about 10 minutes, but do plan ahead, because cookie cutters will be easiest to work with when you chill the dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Featured Review
“These cookies are a game changer for me! I eat mostly paleo, and I’ve been making these for about 2 or 3 years now. I look forward to them EVERY Christmas time!! I make one batch crunchy and the other batch chewy! Thank you for sharing!” – Charity
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Almond Flour. This recipe calls for blanched almond flour, which means the skins have been removed from the almonds before they are ground finely. If you use almond meal (which has brown flecks from the skin being ground) the texture of the cookies might not turn out as intended.
- Arrowroot Starch. This addition helps the cookies turn out more like traditional ones, without the use of eggs or all-purpose flour. You can use cornstarch as a substitute, if you prefer.
- Maple Syrup. An all-natural sweetener that pairs perfectly with the ginger flavor.
- Spices. Ground cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt give these cookies a classic holiday taste.
- Molasses. I always keep blackstrap molasses in my pantry, which is the most bitter variety available. For a sweeter cookie, free to use regular molasses instead. This contributes to the classic gingerbread flavor.
- Coconut Oil. This is an alternative to butter, to keep the cookies dairy-free. (But feel free to use unsalted butter if you prefer.) For zero coconut taste, use refined or expeller-pressed coconut oil.
- Baking Powder. Helps the cookies rise and spread as they bake. Unlike baking soda, baking powder doesn’t require an acidic ingredient in the recipe, so it’s easier to work with.
How to Make Healthy Gingerbread Cookies
Step 1:
Preheat the oven to 350ºF and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, combine the almond flour, starch, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, salt, and baking powder. Use a whisk to mix the ingredients, breaking up any clumps as you go.
Step 2:
Next, add the maple syrup, melted coconut oil, and molasses.
Use a rubber spatula to stir until the dough looks uniform. Place the bowl of dough in the freezer for 30 minutes to chill. Or it can be chilled in the fridge for 1 to 2 hours.
Place a large piece of parchment paper on your work surface. Then, place the chilled cookie dough in the center of the paper.
Cover the dough with another piece of parchment paper to help prevent sticking. (This will also help prevent cross-contamination if your rolling pin has ever worked with gluten flour.) Use a rolling pin to roll the dough evenly into a flat layer about 1/4-inch thick.
Skip the cookie cutters
To make regular ginger cookies, scoop the dough with a tablespoon and roll each ball in cane sugar, if desired. Then, arrange the balls on a lined baking sheet and bake as directed.
Step 3:
Use your favorite cookie cutters to cut out fun shapes. Then, carefully remove the excess dough and transfer the cutouts to a large parchment-lined baking sheet.
Repeat with the remaining dough, rolling out the scraps to cut out more cookie shapes. You should get at least 12 cookies from this batch, but the number will vary depending on the size and shape of your cookie cutters. (I usually get more than 12!)
Bake the cookies at 350ºF for 10 to 12 minutes, depending on how crispy you like. The longer you cook them, the crispier they will be. Remove the cookies after just 10 minutes of baking for a soft center.
Decorating Gingerbread Cookies
Let the cookies cool on the pan for at least 10 minutes, as they will be fragile when warm. Once they have firmed up, you can transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling if you need to use the pan to bake more cookies.
Once the cookies are cool, you can add any decorations you like! Frost them with a simple powdered sugar frosting (recipe below), or try coconut sugar frosting for a naturally sweetened option.
Serve the cookies at room temperature, or transfer them to an airtight container and store them in the fridge for up to a week. You can also freeze these cookies for up to 3 months.
Healthy Gingerbread Cookies (Almond Flour)
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups almond flour (almond meal works, too)
- ¼ cup arrowroot or tapioca starch
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves (optional)
- ⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 2 Tablespoons melted coconut oil
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon blackstrap molasses
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large mixing bowl combined the almond flour, starch, ginger, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder and stir to combine. Add in the coconut oil, maple syrup and molasses and stir again until a sticky dough is formed.
- To make cut-out cookies, place the dough in the freezer for 30 minutes to help it firm up, or in the fridge for up to 2 hours. (Alternatively, you can skip the cut-out cookies and just roll the dough into tablespoon-sized balls, roll them in a bit of coconut sugar, and flatten them on the baking sheet with your hand.)
- Once the dough has been chilled, place the dough in the center of a large piece of parchment paper, then place another piece of parchment paper on top. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a flat layer, about 1/4-inch thick. Pull away the excess dough to reveal each shape, and re-roll the dough to create more shapes. You should end up with 12 to 15 cookies, if use use cookie cutters about the size of the palm of your hand.
- Bake the cookies at 350ºF for about 10 minutes for cookies with a soft center, or 12 to 14 minutes for a more crisp cookie. (The edges should brown for a crispier cookie.) Allow them to cool completely on the pan before icing and serving. They will firm up as they cool.
- Leftover cookies can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week in the fridge, or you can freeze them for up to 3 months.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
More Recipes to Try
- Almond Flour Sugar Cookies
- Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- Thumbprint Cookies
- Paleo No-Bake Cookies
- Cowboy Buckwheat Cookies
If you try this gingerbread cookie recipe, please leave a comment and star rating below, letting me know how you like it.
I won’t use your recipe because you fill my recipe with advertisments!!!!
Sorry that the ads got in the way, Penny. They help me provide free recipes (without charging my readers) and if you print the recipe, there won’t be any ads in the printed version.
Best wishes,
Megan
Is chilling the dough before baking ideal? If so, how long for?
These are densely packed with flavor! I’m sure not missing the work, time, gluten & calories of my old recipe. And because they’re so flavorful and rich with the almond flour it only takes two or three to satisfy my appetite for a treat. I cut back on the ginger a little, and added more cinnamon. I’ve been sharing this recipe with family members and everybody is loving them! The absolute perfect holiday gingerbread cookie for grown ups!
Can this be used to make a gingerbread house? Do you think it would hold up?
I think you’d have to over-bake these to make them crispy and sturdy enough. They are relatively soft in the center otherwise.
We make them every Christmas. Kids LOVE them.
I’m so happy to hear that!! Glad they are a hit. 🙂