Gingerbread Men

Last night we had a little "cookie party" with The Brown's.  They are like our kids adopted Auntie and Uncle!  We made some semi-healthy Gingerbread Men.  The kids had a blast.  Elliot said "this is the best night ever!"  We let them go CRAZY ;-) and each decorate a big cookie with all junk (I had a stash of sprinkles from last year).  Levi could hardly control himself.  He ate the whole leg off his man before we even baked it!  haha.

For round 2, we stuck to more Primal items.  They could use raisins, almonds, sunflower seeds, and 100% chocolate.  We also baked some plain (my favorite!)  

After dinner they were each able to eat 1/2 of their cookie.  I let them have the other 1/2 after lunch this afternoon.  This is when Ezra told me "Please give me my head back, Mommy!"  Cracked me up.  I had to tell him it in his stomach (or not.  HA!)

Here's the recipe we used from Primal Palate:

Ingredients:

• 3 cups blanched almond flour
• 1/2 cup molasses (if you have an aversion to molasses, another option would be to use yacon syrup, although the molasses is a key ingredient to getting the classic "gingerbread cookie" flavor and color.)
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 3 tablespoons palm shortening (Coconut Oil works fine as a substitute!  That's what we did!)
• 1 tablespoon coconut milk
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• gingerbread men/holiday cookie cutters

Process:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. In a sauce pan, heat molasses to a boil.
3. Add maple syrup, palm shortening, and coconut milk to sauce pan.
4. Stir ingredients until combined, then remove from heat.
5. In a small bowl, combine all dry ingredients.
6. Pour dry ingredients into wet, and mix with a wooden spoon until batter is fully blended.
7. Roll out dough between two sheets of parchment paper, until about 1/4 inch thick.
8. Cut batter with cookie cutters of choice.
9. Bake for 10 minutes on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.
10. Let cool, decorate as desired, and enjoy.