Clean Eating Gingerbread Shortbread Recipe
This time of year, cookie baking is fast becoming a family tradition for us, as it is for many families. I’m always on the lookout for new cookie recipes because so far, I haven’t found any that are truly family staples. I mean, we all love cookies around here, but there haven’t been any recipes so far that stand out so much that we absolutely HAVE to make it each and every year. So this year, I took a crack at this clean eating gingerbread shortbread recipe.
While these still aren’t the cookies we’ll look forward to most each holiday season, they were definitely yummy enough for me to share here. Mini Chef in particular enjoyed these. I think they’re a great “kids cookie”.
I find myself continuously trying to recreate the cookie flavors I had in Germany. This was another of those attempts. And while it’s definitely not an exact match, I keep getting closer with every try.
This clean eating gingerbread shortbread recipe makes a hearty cookie. Dense, but dry like a typical shortbread. It’s definitely a whole grain cookie with a whole grain texture. This is not a delicate shortbread. But it is delicious.
This recipe adapted from the Kind Arthur website.
YOU MIGHT ALSO ENJOY THESE CLEAN EATING RECIPES:
CLEAN EATING GINGERBREAD SHORTBREAD RECIPE:
Clean Eating Gingerbread Shortbread Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 cups white whole wheat flour (affiliate link)
- 1 ½ cups powdered Sucanat I just buy the regular stuff and run it through the grinder at home)
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup butter (room temperature)
- 1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp. ground cloves
- ½ tsp. ground ginger
- ½ tsp. ground cardamom
- ¼ tsp. ground anise seed
- ¼ tsp. ground allspice
- ⅛ tsp. ground nutmeg
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300 F.
- Grease an 9 x 13 spring form cake pan and set aside. (Pan can be slightly larger, but not smaller)
- Sift the flour and set aside.
- In a stand mixer, beat the butter, adding the Sucanat and vanilla extract. until the mixture is well combined and the butter is very soft.
- On slow speed, a little at a time, add the flour until it's completely mixed into the butter.
- Add all the spices and mix until well combined.
- If you have a dough hook attachment, switch to that at this point.
- The dough will be very crumbly at this point. Like a big bowl of bread crumbs. Add 1 tbsp. of water at a time until it holds together. Just keep in mind this is supposed to be a dry dough. So don't overdo it. (I added 3 or 4 tbsp. - the need for water will vary and some folks may not need it at all.)
- Press the dough into the cake pan and press until it evenly covers the entire cake pan. This can take a few minutes with a dry dough, but be patient. It will work.
- Next, prick the dough with a fork at even intervals to allow for proper baking.
- Bake for about 40 minutes or until the dough is golden brown around the edges.
- Remove the pan from the oven, immediately release the sides of the pan and cut the cookies while everything is still warm. (If your cake pan scratches easily, you may want to carefully transfer this to a cutting board first.)
- Cut into 28 squares and allow to cool completely.
- Store in the fridge or freezer until ready to serve.
Notes
Nutrition
I used too much water but these still came out amazing! sooo delicious, came out tasting just like gingerbread. I didn’t have cardamom or anise but I added a little extra of the other spices and that worked well.
Merry Christmas!!
Kyra – I’m so happy you loved them! Thanks for the feedback!